Verdict with Ted Cruz - House Budget VICTORY, Cartels Escalate War Zone at Southern Border & Dems DIg in on Boys in Girls' Sports

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.280 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, as always.

00:00:10.180 And Senator, it was a wild night last night in Washington, D.C.

00:00:15.780 And the big headline is a $4.5 trillion tax cut has passed the House.

00:00:20.720 It was touch and go.

00:00:22.560 It's a slim majority in the House, but they got it done for the American people.

00:00:26.860 Well, this is the first step.

00:00:28.120 So you and I are recording this.

00:00:29.660 It is 1220 in the morning, Tuesday night.

00:00:33.020 The House had a touch and go vote on the floor of the House on whether to begin the first step of budget reconciliation.

00:00:41.060 They ended up getting the votes by one vote.

00:00:44.740 Initially, they put it on the floor of the House and it failed.

00:00:47.860 Then they brought it back.

00:00:49.220 President Trump was whipping the votes that were on the on the sidelines and it passed by one vote.

00:00:55.000 Now, this doesn't mean it's done, but it's the beginning of the process.

00:00:59.020 We're going to break that down.

00:01:00.640 We're going to explain what it means, what that what that is starting us on the path to do.

00:01:06.160 We're also going to talk about the rather shocking news from this week about an IED that exploded in South Texas, blowing up a Texas rancher.

00:01:14.840 As the Mexican cartels are engaged in in what you would have to call just open warfare at this point, IEDs you envision in Iraq, you envision in in war zones.

00:01:27.160 You don't envision them in the state of Texas.

00:01:28.920 We're going to break that down.

00:01:30.340 And finally, we're going to talk about the the latest step in the battle over boys and girls sports, which is the Department of Justice is coming after the state of Maine, the state of California and the state of Minnesota to comply with the federal law.

00:01:45.020 And and Trump's executive order concerning boys and girls sports and Maine and California and Minnesota are saying, hell no.

00:01:52.880 We're going to break that down as well.

00:01:54.640 Yeah, it's awesome.

00:01:55.420 I got to tell you today, I did something that was just really fun, and it was to spend a little time at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Dallas, Texas, with my friends at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

00:02:09.240 And I got to see just what their work looks like with some videos that I was shown, some pictures of the impact that so many of you are having by being involved with IFCJ and helping the people in Israel.

00:02:22.500 After more than a year of war, terror and pain in Israel, there is still a great demand for basic humanitarian aid.

00:02:30.040 And that is where the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has supported.

00:02:33.560 And they continue to support those in the Holy Land still facing the lingering horrors of war and those who are in desperate need right now.

00:02:42.340 Your ongoing monthly gift of forty five dollars will provide critically needed aid to communities in the north and the south that have been devastated by the ongoing attacks against the Jewish people.

00:02:55.520 Now, your generous donation each month helps deliver to those that are in need the most, including the evacuees and the refugees from all of these different war torn areas.

00:03:05.300 There's also a lot of first responders and volunteers and wounded soldiers, even elderly Holocaust survivors that are in desperate need and you are helping them.

00:03:15.400 That is why I just want to say, number one, thank you for getting involved and helping so many people in this great time of need and uncertainty.

00:03:24.100 Your gift to bless Israel and her people.

00:03:26.520 You can do that by visiting support.

00:03:30.660 IFCJ dot org.

00:03:31.920 That's one word support.

00:03:34.840 IFCJ dot org.

00:03:36.220 Or you can call them 888-488-IFCJ.

00:03:41.100 That's 888-488-IFCJ.

00:03:45.400 888-488-4325.

00:03:48.220 Or support.

00:03:49.540 IFCJ dot org.

00:03:51.320 All right.

00:03:51.600 So, Senator, it was an exciting and intense night on the floor of the House.

00:03:55.400 It was the vote was on.

00:03:56.620 It was off.

00:03:57.180 You literally could physically see people on the floor taking phone calls, speaking on the phone that's been reported was with the president of the United States of America.

00:04:06.420 This was part of the whipping votes.

00:04:07.820 And by the way, this is when I tell people, please share this podcast on social media because we're going to pull back the curtain here and explain to you what happened and what is next.

00:04:18.240 So, you guys, they're messing with the algorithms now.

00:04:21.360 So, we ask for your support of this show by sharing it on social media, hitting that subscribe or download the episode button every time you see the show.

00:04:30.240 But, Senator, this was one of those moments where it's like, okay, this is real.

00:04:34.560 It's a tight majority in the House.

00:04:36.220 And it passes because of phone calls literally from the president on the floor.

00:04:40.520 Well, tonight was the first step in delivering on our promises to the American people.

00:04:47.040 And if you look at the election in November, there was a mandate from the voters.

00:04:51.060 Number one, the mandate is secure the border.

00:04:53.520 And that is the most overwhelming mandate we have.

00:04:56.960 Beyond that, there's a mandate to rebuild the military and defend America.

00:05:00.720 There's a mandate to unleash American energy and by doing so to lower energy costs, to lower inflation.

00:05:07.300 And there's a mandate to bring the economy back, to help small businesses.

00:05:12.380 And that means extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts that are expiring this year.

00:05:17.840 All of that, we've got to get done.

00:05:20.740 And I've got to say, failure is not an option.

00:05:25.260 So, tonight, what the House did is they voted on their budget resolution.

00:05:30.300 Now, why does a budget resolution matter?

00:05:31.900 The reason it matters is, ordinarily, to pass legislation in the Congress, you need 60 votes in the Senate.

00:05:40.660 Why is that?

00:05:41.380 Because the Senate rules give the minority the ability to filibuster.

00:05:45.260 And the ability to filibuster is the ability to block legislation unless you have 60 votes to cut off debate.

00:05:52.660 Now, we only have 53 Republicans in the Senate, which means if you need 60 votes, you need seven Democrats.

00:05:59.460 The seven Democrats are not going to vote.

00:06:01.440 There are not seven Democrats.

00:06:03.400 There's not even one Democrat who's going to vote to secure the border, who's going to vote to cut taxes, who's going to vote to rebuild our military.

00:06:10.200 And so, if you've got to go through the filibuster, you can't win.

00:06:13.420 Now, the main exception to the Senate filibuster rule is something called budget reconciliation.

00:06:21.100 Budget reconciliation is a law that was passed in the 1970s that provides for moving forward on budgetary matters.

00:06:30.020 And by statute, a budget reconciliation cannot be filibusters, which means you can pass it with only 50 votes in the Senate.

00:06:40.440 You don't need 60.

00:06:41.260 So, if you go back to 2017, the 2017 Trump tax cuts we passed using budget reconciliation.

00:06:49.540 If you go back to the Biden administration, the Democrats used budget reconciliation multiple times to pass things like their incredibly misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which was the Green New Deal spending scam. 0.63

00:07:03.180 They used that because they couldn't get 60.

00:07:07.260 Now, in order to pass our agenda, we are trying to pass budget reconciliation.

00:07:12.440 The House and Senate have a difference in strategy on how to do this.

00:07:18.600 And we've talked about this in a previous podcast, but I'm going to explain a little bit of it.

00:07:23.260 The House, the Speaker of the House, believes we should pass one single reconciliation bill.

00:07:29.600 What he refers to it as is one big, beautiful bill.

00:07:34.440 Donald Trump has repeated that multiple times.

00:07:36.520 And he believes that's the best way with his exceptionally narrow majority in the House to get all of this across the finish line.

00:07:45.320 I will tell you, virtually every Republican senator, including myself, believes the way to do this is two bills, starting with one bill that secures the border, rebuilds the military and unleashes energy.

00:07:59.800 And then a second bill that extends the tax cuts and makes them bigger and bolder.

00:08:07.480 I don't know who's right.

00:08:08.780 I don't know if the Senate's right or the House is right.

00:08:11.260 But at some level, Ben, I don't care.

00:08:14.020 We just have to get the job done.

00:08:16.960 So tonight, I had dinner with Steve Scalise.

00:08:19.860 Steve is a good friend.

00:08:21.040 He is the House majority leader.

00:08:23.180 By the way, how's he doing for people that know his history of being shot and the health issues?

00:08:29.880 I just I want to pause and ask, how is he doing physically?

00:08:34.000 Really, really well.

00:08:35.120 So Steve Steve has been is a good friend.

00:08:37.700 He's from Louisiana.

00:08:38.880 He's a conservative.

00:08:40.060 He's a friend.

00:08:40.660 He and I have been friends a long time.

00:08:43.220 He's doing great.

00:08:44.220 And listen, Steve, we all remember where Steve was shot with with the crazed, angry leftist who went to the practice of the congressional baseball game and wanted to kill Republicans and and shot and and badly wounded.

00:09:00.860 Steve shot him in the pelvis and he was in a coma for several days.

00:09:04.940 He almost died.

00:09:06.500 He's recovered from that.

00:09:07.940 And then I got to say, Steve has had some some tough health scares because he had just a couple of years ago cancer.

00:09:14.760 And he was down in Houston at MD Anderson being treated.

00:09:19.720 And MD Anderson is an amazing hospital.

00:09:22.720 My mom, who's 90 now, she she was treated there for cancer.

00:09:26.760 It is.

00:09:27.340 Look, cancer is a terrifying diagnosis.

00:09:31.060 I hope never in my life to be a patient at MD Anderson.

00:09:34.300 I don't want to be a patient there because you're only a patient there.

00:09:36.800 If you have cancer, I'd really like not to have cancer.

00:09:39.580 But I'll tell you this, if I ever get cancer, you better believe I want to be a patient at MD Anderson.

00:09:45.460 I mean, they do an amazing job.

00:09:47.220 And I got to say, Steve, his health is doing great.

00:09:50.300 I told him tonight he is he's in remission.

00:09:54.120 He's finished with his cancer treatment.

00:09:56.940 He is strong.

00:09:58.760 His color is back.

00:10:00.460 He is full of life and vim and vigor.

00:10:03.660 I told him, I said, look, even, you know, five, six months ago when he was coming out of the cancer treatment, you could see, look, when you go through that, you go through chemo, it weakens you.

00:10:13.820 You can just see it's hard.

00:10:15.280 Your body is is I mean, it it it exacts the cost.

00:10:20.700 It's brutal.

00:10:21.580 But you know what?

00:10:22.440 Steve is strong and effective and good.

00:10:25.320 I was really encouraged.

00:10:27.000 It's the best I've seen Steve in years.

00:10:29.280 And he's come through this and he was jubilant.

00:10:32.320 So he was on the House floor.

00:10:34.660 He's he's the House Majority Leader.

00:10:36.020 He was trying to get the votes to pass this on the House and he wasn't sure.

00:10:40.180 So the first time they brought it on the House, it failed.

00:10:42.980 And then he kept pressing and then he got it done and he got it done.

00:10:47.720 Look, a critical piece of getting it done was President Trump.

00:10:50.720 And I sort of joked when Steve showed up at dinner.

00:10:53.400 I said, you know, it does help when the chief whip in the House is named Donald J.

00:10:58.180 Trump.

00:10:58.840 Yeah, no doubt about it.

00:11:00.020 And they were putting President Trump on the phone with the Republican votes that are wobbly.

00:11:05.860 And he was saying, listen, I need you to vote with us.

00:11:08.300 And he flipped the votes.

00:11:09.800 And so it was Steve told me.

00:11:13.120 So we're supposed to have dinner at 730.

00:11:15.080 He didn't get there to about about 830 because he was on the floor badly.

00:11:18.820 Sure.

00:11:19.240 And Steve told me he's like, all right, I'm late for dinner.

00:11:22.280 So he said, I'm picking up the tab, which I appreciated.

00:11:24.840 Last time Steve and I had dinner, I picked up the tab.

00:11:27.680 And he said, I'll tell you what.

00:11:29.680 Order a drink, whatever you like.

00:11:32.240 Make it expensive.

00:11:33.420 I'm paying.

00:11:35.100 And he said, I want to celebrate.

00:11:36.420 That's what I want to know.

00:11:37.480 Did you make it hurt a little bit?

00:11:38.720 So I ordered McAllen 25 Neat.

00:11:41.880 There you go.

00:11:42.840 Which is a great single malt scotch.

00:11:45.300 And, you know, Steve is not a big scotch guy.

00:11:48.400 I actually don't drink scotch a lot.

00:11:50.040 But I do like McAllen.

00:11:51.820 And so we toasted.

00:11:53.240 And when someone else, by the way, is paying, it's just a nice little touch there.

00:11:57.220 Look, Steve said hurt me a little bit and ordered something pricey.

00:12:01.320 So I thought about Michelob Ultra, but somehow McAllen 25 seemed a better call.

00:12:07.700 As long as it wasn't a Bud Light or a Budweiser, I'm good with it.

00:12:10.740 I'm still on the boycott train there, by the way.

00:12:14.020 By the way, I will say, you and I have been to a lot of Astros games.

00:12:18.560 Yes.

00:12:19.260 I love the Stros.

00:12:20.980 You know, it used to be a few years ago, I'd go to the Astros,

00:12:23.860 and in every baseball game, I'd have a Bud Light.

00:12:25.920 I mean, that's just what I drank, you know.

00:12:27.860 So I'm old enough that I'd drink light beer instead of regular beer

00:12:33.340 because, you know, I like, you know, water that's slightly flavored.

00:12:39.100 I like it.

00:12:40.600 But after the whole Bud Light thing, it's an amazing thing.

00:12:44.960 You go to the Minute Maid Stadium.

00:12:49.140 You go to watch, although I guess it's now the Daikin Stadium.

00:12:52.960 I was saying, the Daikin's like, no, no, we paid a lot of money to change that name.

00:12:56.600 I know, but it's hard to make the shift.

00:12:58.580 It's always going to be Minute Maid.

00:12:59.800 I laugh because when they change it, I'm like, dude,

00:13:02.220 how many people are going to remember this?

00:13:03.660 It's going to be Minute Maid for the majority of my lifetime.

00:13:07.600 But I'll say this.

00:13:08.760 You'd go to the stadium, and a few years ago,

00:13:11.360 like everyone was drinking Bud Light.

00:13:13.100 It was literally every person in the stadium, that's what they drink.

00:13:16.000 And now, I don't even think they sell Bud Light.

00:13:19.160 I mean, it is an astonishing difference.

00:13:22.340 No, it is.

00:13:23.160 It is a real boycott.

00:13:24.700 It has not gone away at all.

00:13:27.420 And I do love every once in a while when conservatives say,

00:13:31.300 okay, you insult us to this point.

00:13:32.940 Enough already.

00:13:33.820 We're not backing down.

00:13:34.860 And we have it.

00:13:35.520 Like, I don't think I'll ever drink one again the rest of my life.

00:13:38.340 So, by the way, there's a structural reason for that.

00:13:41.780 So, listen, you take something like the NBA.

00:13:44.360 The NBA got all woke. 0.99

00:13:45.900 It put all the damn slogans on the court and on the jerseys. 1.00

00:13:49.600 It pissed me off. 1.00

00:13:51.480 It pissed a lot of conservatives off.

00:13:53.060 Here's the problem.

00:13:54.700 I love basketball.

00:13:56.180 Like, for me, the price of boycotting the NBA,

00:14:00.340 the price of boycotting the NFL,

00:14:02.260 the price of boycotting sports is painful.

00:14:04.340 Like, I get great joy from watching professional sports.

00:14:08.500 And so, I didn't like their politics, but I'm like,

00:14:11.240 I'm not willing to sacrifice my joy just because I'm pissed about politics.

00:14:18.360 What got Bud Light is they have a product that is easily substitutable.

00:14:25.700 Yeah, easily replaceable.

00:14:27.980 Every place you could get a Bud Light, there's a Coors Light.

00:14:32.220 Yeah.

00:14:33.220 There's a Miller's Light.

00:14:34.280 It's right next to it.

00:14:35.540 There's an Ultra.

00:14:36.220 And by the way, show me the guy that if you do a blind taste test between Bud Light,

00:14:41.660 Miller's Light, and Coors Light could tell you the difference.

00:14:44.120 I don't know.

00:14:44.580 That's someone with a better palate than me.

00:14:46.420 They're all light beers, and they all taste pretty much the same to me.

00:14:49.500 You know, I'll probably piss off some listeners.

00:14:51.760 There's, but I can tell the difference between a Guinness and a Bud Light.

00:14:55.480 Yes, yes.

00:14:56.600 But I'll be damned if I can tell the difference between a Bud Light and a Coors Light.

00:14:59.440 That meant every customer, it was not a boycott that was painful.

00:15:04.420 It was not a boycott that's like, I got to give up something that gives joy to me.

00:15:07.820 It was a boycott that said, oh, I can have the exact same.

00:15:10.700 Literally, hold my beer or let me return it, and I'm going to get a different one

00:15:14.000 and watch how easy this is for me.

00:15:15.760 Right, right.

00:15:16.620 And that got them in real trouble.

00:15:19.340 By the way, Target got in a little bit of this when they got super woke,

00:15:23.540 and Target is somewhat substitutable, but I'll say I think Target,

00:15:27.860 and they suffered a big drop, but I think they've come back because, listen,

00:15:33.180 I mean, I guess instead of Target, you can go to Walmart,

00:15:36.800 but they're not a ton of choices.

00:15:39.240 I'll tell you, my girls, I'll confess, my teenage girls love Target.

00:15:43.480 Yeah.

00:15:44.180 Trust me, my wife loves it, and there's no way she was substituting Walmart for it.

00:15:47.820 Yeah, I mean, but it's a more expensive substitution.

00:15:53.200 Bud Light got hit because it was a cost-free way to say, I don't like what you did.

00:15:58.920 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, 1.00

00:16:04.080 their elected leaders, and the world around them.

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00:16:30.540 All right.

00:16:31.080 I want to ask you one other question on the budget issue.

00:16:33.740 So for people that say, okay, this passed, how quick is this going to move forward?

00:16:38.060 Or how long is this going to take?

00:16:39.900 There's a long way to go.

00:16:40.780 So what's the timeline on this?

00:16:42.540 So we limit expectations or be realistic?

00:16:45.720 So the budget resolution just starts this process.

00:16:48.720 Now what's happened in the House is they've directed each of the House committees to draft

00:16:54.260 the underlying bill.

00:16:56.160 So what was voted on tonight was not securing the border.

00:16:59.420 It was not rebuilding the military.

00:17:01.320 It was not cutting taxes.

00:17:03.080 It was the opening resolution to say, go draft that legislation.

00:17:09.220 That was a real fight.

00:17:11.460 So this is the first inning to use a baseball analogy.

00:17:14.600 Yes.

00:17:14.860 Now, it actually gets your batter at the plate.

00:17:18.440 Like if they'd failed, they don't even get a batter at the plate.

00:17:21.880 So now we can start swinging.

00:17:24.080 We're in the game.

00:17:25.200 But there are going to be harder steps forward.

00:17:29.420 And I believe we're going to get this done.

00:17:31.680 I believe we're going to get this done.

00:17:33.500 We're going to secure the border.

00:17:34.660 We're going to rebuild the military.

00:17:35.880 We're going to unleash American energy.

00:17:37.600 And we're going to extend the tax cuts.

00:17:40.200 But it is going to be a lot of tradeoffs.

00:17:42.580 It's going to be hard.

00:17:45.200 It's going to be hard because the House majority is so excruciatingly tiny that on any issue,

00:17:52.000 if you lose two votes, you're out of luck.

00:17:55.340 But I think we will get the job done.

00:17:58.580 And I will say both Mike Johnson, the Speaker, and Steve Scalise, the majority leader, they're

00:18:03.340 both good friends.

00:18:04.180 I work very closely with both of them.

00:18:06.880 And I think we will go through some difficult paths to get there.

00:18:14.700 But all of us, from the most conservative Republican to the most moderate, squishy, wobbly Republican,

00:18:21.960 all of us want to produce these victories.

00:18:25.140 We get there was a mandate from the election and we can't fail.

00:18:29.780 And by the way, if we fail, if we don't secure the border, if we don't rebuild the military,

00:18:35.460 if we don't unleash energy, if we don't extend the tax cuts, we'll get killed in November of

00:18:42.800 next year.

00:18:43.300 Yeah, and that's probably a lot of what Donald Trump said on the floor, right?

00:18:48.140 Like, hey, you don't want to be involved in this.

00:18:50.440 Right.

00:18:50.760 Get it done.

00:18:52.080 We made a promise to the voters.

00:18:54.060 Let's deliver on the voters.

00:18:55.420 And I think today was an important step to doing that.

00:18:58.200 Let's talk about the border for a second.

00:18:59.940 There was there was another big story.

00:19:01.920 And I want you to just read part of this for people, because it truly is heartbreaking.

00:19:07.880 It makes me angry.

00:19:09.700 It's what you see in war in the Middle East.

00:19:12.360 And it's happening now against ranchers and people in agriculture.

00:19:17.500 The warning is very real now that the cartels are acting like what they are, terrorist organizations.

00:19:24.800 I think this is another example of the president getting it right, saying we're going to declare

00:19:28.800 them as terrorist organizations because that's what they do.

00:19:32.160 They are terrorist organizations.

00:19:34.180 And now we have another data point of saying, here's the proof.

00:19:38.200 So let me read from a story in the New York Post.

00:19:40.340 First, Texas rancher killed by suspected cartel IED on Mexican border as authorities warn of

00:19:48.400 growing threat.

00:19:49.880 Here's what the New York Post reported, quote, a Texas border rancher was killed near the

00:19:55.860 border by a suspected cartel IED earlier this month.

00:20:00.440 The Texas Department of Agriculture told the Post Tuesday, as officials issued an urgent safety

00:20:07.620 warning for the Rio Grande Valley.

00:20:10.540 Rancher Antonio Gaspérez Saldierna, 74, who worked on both sides of the border, along with

00:20:19.920 Horatio Lopez-Pena, was killed in the blast in Tamaulipas, Mexico, which was just south of

00:20:29.020 Brownsville, Texas.

00:20:31.080 Lopez's wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega, was hospitalized with injuries.

00:20:37.720 Saldierna was driving on his ranch when he hit the explosive device, causing it to detonate,

00:20:44.900 according to KRGV.

00:20:46.320 Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the deadly explosion is part of a, quote,

00:20:52.440 growing threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border and encourages ranchers

00:20:59.120 to, quote, exercise extreme caution in the area.

00:21:03.440 Quote, I encourage everyone in the agricultural industry to stay vigilant, remain aware of their

00:21:09.660 surroundings and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.

00:21:13.100 Additionally, you can avoid dirt roads and remote areas, refrain from touching unfamiliar

00:21:20.480 objects that could be explosive devices, limit travel to daylight hours, stay on main roads,

00:21:26.920 and avoid cartel-controlled regions, said Miller.

00:21:30.920 This is happening right at the Texas-Mexico border.

00:21:34.880 It, I gotta say, it is dangerous and it shows, you know, some in the media say, gosh, it's

00:21:42.880 hyperbole, it's rhetoric to call the cartels terrorists. 0.94

00:21:46.260 They are terrorists and they're murdering Texans. 1.00

00:21:50.560 What does this mean moving forward if they continue this? 0.80

00:21:53.680 And how could this change the way that we interact with them?

00:21:56.680 Because I think there's a lot of Americans right now, they're like, look, if we're going

00:22:00.740 to call them terrorists, let's go after them like they're terrorists.

00:22:04.000 How dare them be allowed to do this? 0.80

00:22:07.180 Well, I believe we're going to do that.

00:22:08.460 I believe we're starting with, we saw on January 20th, President Trump securing the border.

00:22:14.820 We've seen the numbers of illegal crossings plummet, drop 90%.

00:22:19.940 We're going to go after them, we're going to go after them, we're going to go after the 1.00

00:22:24.140 people who are here, the murderers, the rapists, the child molesters, the gang members. 0.96

00:22:29.460 We're arresting them, we're deporting them, we're going to send them back. 0.99

00:22:33.060 But we're also stopping the traffic coming in.

00:22:35.800 The human traffickers, the drug traffickers, that is impacting the cartels' bottom lines.

00:22:41.040 But I think we're going to use leverage to go after the cartels directly and try to,

00:22:47.820 Joe Biden and the Democrats gave billions of dollars to the cartels.

00:22:54.000 A stat you and I have talked about multiple times, but it's a stunning stat.

00:22:58.680 In 2018, the Mexican drug cartels made roughly $500 million from human trafficking.

00:23:06.540 $500 million is a lot of money.

00:23:08.720 Last year, they made $13 billion, a 2,600% increase.

00:23:17.820 That is ending now.

00:23:20.280 And I have every confidence the Trump administration is going to go after their money, it's going

00:23:24.980 to go after them directly, and you are going to see the cartels targeted just like we target

00:23:29.820 al-Qaeda and Hamas and Hezbollah.

00:23:32.980 The days of the cartels terrorizing Americans, those days are ending.

00:23:38.280 Yeah, thank goodness.

00:23:39.200 And there's clearly a mandate from the American people.

00:23:41.860 While we may have won this election, the fight to restore a great nation is only beginning.

00:23:46.280 And now is the time to take a stand.

00:23:48.700 And Patriot Mobile is leading the charge.

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00:24:06.120 One, I save money over what I was paying before with Big Mobile.

00:24:09.660 And two, I'm no longer supporting the radical left.

00:24:12.600 Now, I didn't realize until someone told me just how radical Big Mobile had gotten, where

00:24:18.060 they are supporting organizations that pay for abortions, are supporting radical democratic

00:24:22.480 causes and organizations.

00:24:24.060 They're helping Democrats get elected at the local, state, and national level.

00:24:28.160 That is actually why, over a decade ago, Patriot Mobile was started.

00:24:32.320 And they are now America's only Christian conservative wireless provider.

00:24:37.140 Now, let's talk about coverage.

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00:25:00.440 But when you pay your bill, this is where the magic happens.

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00:26:14.820 All right, Senator.

00:26:15.500 Lastly, there is a war that is taking place between Donald Trump and certain states that are

00:26:22.240 saying we're not going to listen to you.

00:26:24.840 Maine now is the latest state to tell the DOJ, in essence, this is adding to California

00:26:31.280 and Minnesota, saying we're not going to comply with the federal laws protecting girls' sports. 0.96

00:26:38.520 I'm trying to figure this out.

00:26:40.280 Is this pure arrogance or is this a political move by the radical left to say we're not going

00:26:46.580 to comply and we think it's going to be good for us to raise money and for our base?

00:26:51.940 Break this down for us.

00:26:53.240 What do you think?

00:26:54.500 Well, listen, unfortunately, elected Democrats remain radical.

00:26:59.220 They have not learned any lessons from the November election.

00:27:02.760 So if you look at Democrats in Congress, if you looked at Democrat governors, they continue

00:27:09.000 to support open borders.

00:27:10.240 They continue to support releasing murderers and rapists and child molesters into this country.

00:27:16.220 You look at we talked about this in last week's pod, how Massachusetts is literally releasing

00:27:23.020 violent child rapists who are illegal immigrants rather than turn them over to ICE to be deported.

00:27:30.180 And I got to say, look, this is not a 60-40 issue. 0.90

00:27:34.860 It's not a 70-30 issue.

00:27:37.040 This is an 80-20 or a 90-10 issue. 0.81

00:27:40.460 I mean, if you ask any rational, insane person, a violent child rapist, should we release him 0.77

00:27:48.960 into our community? 1.00

00:27:51.260 Any rational person, most normal Democrats would say, hell no, that's a dumbass idea. 0.99

00:27:57.280 And yet, the elected Democrats in Massachusetts, their answer is, let them go. 0.97

00:28:03.780 We are opposed to deporting anyone, no matter how vile.

00:28:08.200 They're continuing the same position on, they continue to support, the Democrats in Congress

00:28:15.480 continue to support sterilizing and castrating children for sex change operations.

00:28:21.560 Again, that's an 80-20 issue.

00:28:23.760 They're on the wrong side of it, but they're listening to their radical base.

00:28:27.380 And when it comes to men and women's sports, this is another 80-20 issue.

00:28:32.800 The American people don't want boys competing against their daughters. 1.00

00:28:37.000 They don't want men competing against women. 1.00

00:28:39.740 And yet, the Democrats are all in on that.

00:28:42.500 And I've been amazed.

00:28:44.000 Normally, when your party gets clobbered in an election, you go and reassess, gosh, maybe

00:28:50.900 we miscalibrated.

00:28:52.500 Maybe we should change where we stand.

00:28:55.280 The Democrats are not doing that.

00:28:57.460 And so what happened this week is Pam Bondi, the new attorney general, targeted in particular

00:29:04.420 three states.

00:29:05.960 Targeted Maine, California, and Minnesota.

00:29:08.880 And she issued a warning to them that those states have to comply with federal anti-discrimination

00:29:14.900 laws that require them to keep boys at a girl's sports. 0.74

00:29:18.560 And here's what Pam Bondi said, quote, this Department of Justice will defend women and 1.00

00:29:24.720 does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law.

00:29:29.440 We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and

00:29:37.860 President Trump's executive order protecting women's sports.

00:29:41.760 And she continues, the Department of Justice says, quote, as President Trump's recent executive

00:29:47.380 order 14201 on this subject explains, allowing men and boys to compete in women's and girls

00:29:54.040 sports, quote, is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.

00:30:00.680 This practice is also illegal under federal law.

00:30:04.340 It denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports 0.77

00:30:10.800 in violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972.

00:30:16.920 And so understand, the Department of Justice is making clear they intend to sue these states

00:30:21.440 and they intend to cut off federal funds to these states if they continue to embrace the

00:30:27.360 radical notion that they're going to let boys compete in girls' sports.

00:30:30.360 We talked about in Monday's pod how the governor of Maine is in open defiance saying, to hell

00:30:36.740 with you, we'll see you in court.

00:30:39.200 It's amazing Democrats continue to embrace these radical positions.

00:30:43.760 Yeah, it really is.

00:30:44.860 Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

00:30:47.260 Hit that subscribe or auto download button on those in-between days.

00:30:51.300 Grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:30:54.020 And if you want a quick morning update of what's going on, grab the 47 morning update.

00:30:58.480 I give you the three biggest stories of the day in about a 10-minute short-form podcast.

00:31:02.500 Grab that as well.

00:31:03.760 The Senator and I will see you back here on Friday morning.

00:31:07.560 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:31:10.420 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 26, 2025

House Budget VICTORY, Cartels Escalate War Zone at Southern Border & Dems DIg in on Boys in Girls' Sports

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