Verdict with Ted Cruz - Tax Day Bonanza, Steyer & ICE plus Mamdani Wants your Money

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00:00:20.020 Welcome. It is Vertical Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:23.020 It's so nice to have you with us on radio stations around the country.

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00:00:34.620 Senator, we've got a lot to talk about on the show, including we had tax day.

00:00:39.480 I wrote my big check, and man, it made me mad.

00:00:42.040 Just want to be clear about that because I'm like, what am I getting from all of this?

00:00:45.760 I know many Americans feel the same way, but the good news is you paid a lot less this year

00:00:51.040 than you would have if Democrats were still in charge.

00:00:54.260 Well, April 15th, tax day, just came and went.

00:00:58.080 And number one, if Democrats had been in charge, we would have seen a $4 trillion tax increase on January 1st. 1.00

00:01:05.720 That's what Kamala Harris wanted. That's what Democrats wanted, which means every one of us, every working family in America would have paid more taxes. 0.99

00:01:13.100 Every small business in America, every employer in America would have paid a lot more in taxes.

00:01:19.240 That's number one.

00:01:20.600 But number two, not only did we make the Trump tax cuts permanent, but we passed major new tax cuts.

00:01:29.140 And people are just seeing the benefits of it right now.

00:01:32.120 So more than 53 million people, that's almost half of all tax filers in America, have taken advantage of the new tax cuts that we passed into law.

00:01:43.520 And some of the numbers are stunning.

00:01:45.600 So no tax on overtime.

00:01:47.980 More than 25 million Americans claimed no tax on overtime.

00:01:52.440 The average deduction was over $3,100.

00:01:57.380 Now, no tax on tips.

00:01:59.500 No tax on tips.

00:02:00.720 I wrote that legislation.

00:02:02.140 That was my legislation.

00:02:04.300 More than 6 million Americans have claimed no tax on tips.

00:02:08.900 The average deduction was more than $7,100.

00:02:13.580 I'll tell you, I got a haircut today.

00:02:16.600 My barber was giving me a high five.

00:02:20.280 He was thrilled and said it made an awesome difference for him.

00:02:24.240 Seven grand, that's real money.

00:02:26.540 Especially if you're working on those hourly wages and you depend on those tips.

00:02:31.660 It's a large part of your income.

00:02:35.040 It absolutely is, and no tax on tips is benefiting waiters and waitresses

00:02:40.740 and barbers and hairstylists and taxicab drivers and people who drive Ubers

00:02:46.600 and millions of Americans who rely on tips and are working hard to provide for their families.

00:02:53.640 Yeah, they really are.

00:02:54.360 And I want to ask you about just how big of a delay this was because of reality of it kicking in now.

00:02:59.820 We're going to talk about that in a moment.

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00:04:24.120 Senator, let's go back to the tip aspect of this

00:04:27.700 And this is a part that I think for so many Americans

00:04:30.560 And this was part of the struggle of the White House

00:04:33.060 When I was talking with them

00:04:34.020 You do this legislation

00:04:35.700 And then it takes time for it to become a reality

00:04:38.600 After it's passed

00:04:39.800 And so, so much of what Donald Trump did

00:04:42.480 In the first year in office

00:04:43.460 You don't feel it until the next year

00:04:45.600 When it becomes law

00:04:47.360 We just now are seeing the fruits of the labor

00:04:50.340 Of you pushing so hard

00:04:51.660 The president pushing so hard

00:04:53.220 for no tax on tips and no tax on overtime that's why you didn't get that high five from your barber

00:04:58.920 nine months ago you got it yesterday when you got your hair cut well correct and and the tax

00:05:05.100 the tax cut was signed into law on the 4th of july last year and it went into effect in 2025

00:05:11.680 uh but but the problem is most people don't immediately realize the benefit of a tax cut

00:05:17.580 when it goes into effect they realize it in april when they file their taxes and and most people get

00:05:22.820 a refund let me give you some more stats because we're not done in terms of who's benefited from

00:05:26.820 this so no tax on car loans over a million americans claimed that benefit the average

00:05:36.080 benefit was right just over 1 800 for for no tax on car car loans now here's the most families if

00:05:44.100 you've got two cars or you've got kids you have three car loans that that happens i mean my point

00:05:48.740 In my family's life, I know they had a car loan on four different cars.

00:05:52.720 That's real, real money.

00:05:54.460 I mean, you're talking that can be three, four grand a year to a family of four that's trying to survive.

00:06:00.800 That's not a little bit of money.

00:06:02.200 That covers maintenance.

00:06:03.320 That covers tires.

00:06:04.360 That covers gas.

00:06:05.900 All of these different things towards your car.

00:06:08.020 It's a huge savings.

00:06:09.940 Undoubtedly.

00:06:10.380 And the most far-reaching of all of these was no tax on Social Security.

00:06:15.000 More than 30 million tax filers claimed that.

00:06:18.740 And the average deduction was more than seven thousand five hundred dollars each.

00:06:24.820 That is real money for seniors who need relief, for seniors who were hit hard by the Biden inflation.

00:06:31.960 So what did that shake out to people?

00:06:34.780 Well, the average refund was a little bit more than three thousand four hundred dollars that you got back.

00:06:40.160 That is an 11 percent increase.

00:06:41.960 So the refunds are larger this year than they were last year because of the tax cut.

00:06:46.220 And a total of about $274 billion in refunds have gone out.

00:06:52.840 And then I will say, on top of that, we also have nearly 5 million kids have already signed up for the Trump accounts.

00:07:05.460 And a total of 1.2 million kids qualify for the initial $1,000 contribution.

00:07:14.420 And so the Trump accounts are going to have a massive impact.

00:07:18.320 I wrote that legislation as well.

00:07:21.360 Between No Tax on Tips and the Trump accounts, you're talking about millions and millions of people benefiting.

00:07:29.900 And, you know, I told you the story of where the idea for No Tax on Tips came from.

00:07:35.360 Yeah, but many people may not remember that story.

00:07:38.660 So President Trump, this is during the 2024 campaign.

00:07:41.880 He was in he was in Las Vegas. And he was in town if there's ever been one.

00:07:47.780 He was getting ready to do a huge rally and he was sitting there having lunch.

00:07:51.180 And so he tells all the Republican senators this story. He said there was a waitress who was serving him lunch who came up.

00:07:58.240 And Trump goes, and she was beautiful. She was beautiful.

00:08:02.820 And he said she looked she looked a little frenzied. And he said, how are you how are you doing? What's going on?

00:08:07.900 And she said she said it was really a really difficult is really burdensome to keep track of all the tips and and and to comply with with the taxes on tips.

00:08:18.440 And Trump said he just pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and he wrote down four words, no tax on tips.

00:08:26.800 And he held it up to her and said, what do you think of this?

00:08:29.060 She said, fantastic.

00:08:30.360 So he went out to this rally, you know, thousands and thousands of people.

00:08:34.060 And he said, I figured I'd just try it out.

00:08:36.680 So he said, no tax on tips.

00:08:38.600 And everyone went crazy.

00:08:40.160 And Nevada, 25% of the workers are tipped workers.

00:08:44.580 And so he rolled it out at the rally.

00:08:46.600 He tells all of us that story.

00:08:48.900 And I went to my team and said, let's draft the legislation right now.

00:08:52.300 So we wrote the bill.

00:08:53.640 It was his idea he came up with at the rally.

00:08:55.640 But we wrote the bill.

00:08:57.000 That's what passed into law.

00:08:58.720 And all together, 53 million people are benefiting from these tax cuts.

00:09:04.240 Thinking about buying the right home, but not sure when?

00:09:07.540 What if you had the right design, the right lot, and finishes at the right price?

00:09:12.220 Not someday, but right now.

00:09:15.000 Register at democrathomes.com and get everything you want right now.

00:09:20.040 There is a big race out there in California that's happening.

00:09:24.020 You may have heard a little bit about it if you're listening.

00:09:25.900 There's some congressman guy, Eric Swalwell, that likes sleeping with spies from China.

00:09:32.160 He's now out of a job and out of the race

00:09:35.160 And that race in California for the governor's office

00:09:38.020 There's also a billionaire that's ripping on billionaires

00:09:41.660 Wanting to tax more Americans in California

00:09:44.060 And he also said, if you'll just elect me

00:09:47.060 I'm going to go find ICE agents and put them in jail

00:09:50.760 And this is now the Democratic Party in California

00:09:53.820 Yeah, look, the political scene in California is a basket case

00:09:59.000 That's actually not fair to baskets

00:10:00.800 I mean, it is an absolute mess.

00:10:04.440 Just a few days ago, Eric Swalwell was the frontrunner, the Democrat frontrunner running for governor.

00:10:10.900 Swalwell has since dropped out of the race and resigned from Congress.

00:10:14.620 So we all said to Mr. Swalwell, bye-bye.

00:10:18.820 He left.

00:10:19.860 I will point out this podcast predicted on Monday, predicted that Swalwell would drop out and that Tony Gonzalez,

00:10:26.420 A Republican from Texas who also had an affair with a staffer and the circumstances surrounding it are disturbing and really tragic that that staffer took her life by lighting herself on fire.

00:10:40.880 It was really it was horrific.

00:10:43.780 And we predicted on Monday that both would end up resigning and both did resign.

00:10:51.280 That happened this week.

00:10:52.820 And so we're down two members of Congress, one Democrat, one Republican.

00:10:56.420 You know, Swalwell resigned because he faced multiple allegations of really gross sexual harassment of staffers who worked for him.

00:11:07.380 Also, allegations of not just harassment, but actual sexual assault and rape.

00:11:12.580 I don't know if those allegations are true or not, but they were serious and credible and multiple journalistic outlets reported on them. 0.98

00:11:19.180 So the Democrat frontrunner is an accused rapist.

00:11:22.960 He drops out. 0.95

00:11:24.340 And who's the next guy in line?

00:11:25.780 The next guy in line is Tom Steyer. Tom Steyer, in classic Democrat hypocrite status, Tom Steyer is a billionaire because, look, to be honest, their party is the party of the rich. 0.86

00:11:38.780 That's who they represent. But he's not just a billionaire. He's a hypocrite billionaire. 0.96

00:11:43.500 So he made much of his money investing in energy and oil and gas. 0.99

00:11:47.400 And now he's a climate zealot because now that he's made his money, he's perfectly happy to impoverish you, to drive your electricity costs through the roof, to drive your gas costs through the roof, to do everything to hurt your family and make it harder for you to provide for your kids. 0.97

00:12:02.500 But even so, a Democrat primary, especially in California, is a race to see who can be the most bat crap crazy. 0.90

00:12:15.600 And by the way, Swalwell was winning. 0.99

00:12:17.720 He was the most bat crap crazy, but he couldn't keep his pants on, so he's out. 0.98

00:12:23.560 So Tom Steyer immediately says, I'm your Huckleberry. 0.99

00:12:26.940 I can be every bit as crazy as Eric Swalwell.

00:12:29.520 Now, as best we know, there was not a Chinese spy named Fang Fang around, so he didn't just take her to his bedroom. 0.85

00:12:37.940 He decided instead to tweet, wow is right.

00:12:43.480 ICE is a criminal organization.

00:12:47.140 As governor, I'll prosecute them like one.

00:12:52.160 And that is astonishing.

00:12:58.020 Look, the Democrats are an open border party.

00:13:00.640 They don't pretend anymore.

00:13:02.560 They are for full open borders. 0.99

00:13:04.700 They are the party of illegal aliens. 0.98

00:13:07.080 As Chris Murphy admitted candidly on MSNBC, 0.91

00:13:10.780 The people they care most about, they being Democrats, are illegal aliens. 0.55

00:13:16.040 That's who they're fighting for. 0.60

00:13:18.080 Tom Steyer is also apparently the governor for the drug traffickers and the human traffickers for the Mexican drug cartels.

00:13:26.480 And he's really upset at ICE because ICE has this nasty little habit of arresting violent criminals,

00:13:33.400 arresting murderers, arresting rapists, arresting child molesters, arresting gangbangers.

00:13:39.260 And what is Tom Steyer saying?

00:13:41.260 If he is the governor, he doesn't want the murderers arrested.

00:13:44.520 No, no, no, that's his base. 0.88

00:13:46.220 The rapists, the child molesters, the gangbangers. 0.97

00:13:48.520 He wants more gangbangers in your neighborhood. 0.99

00:13:51.320 That's what the Democrats are promising you.

00:13:52.980 No, what he's going to do is he's going to arrest and prosecute and put in jail federal law enforcement officers. 0.97

00:14:01.240 This is, even for the Democrats, beyond extreme, and it shows just who they are and how nuts they are. 0.94

00:14:12.720 Yeah, it does.

00:14:13.880 And, again, he thinks it's the issue to run off of.

00:14:17.200 And that's the part I also think is so shocking about this.

00:14:19.480 And it may be.

00:14:19.660 The sad thing is this could be accurate, good politics in California Democrat, a primary.

00:14:26.940 Well, and if it goes well for him, it's going to embolden other Democrats to openly run on the same issues they tried to push down our throats a couple years ago when it was defund the police, right?

00:14:38.320 That was a great example, and they were going after the police.

00:14:40.980 They wanted to defund them.

00:14:42.200 They wanted to shut down the jails.

00:14:43.760 They wanted to shut down police officers and headquarters and just get rid of anybody with a badge.

00:14:48.140 Now he's saying it with ICE.

00:14:49.320 If you have him run off this and it does well, I think there's no doubt that the Democrats would float this for their presidential platform in 2028 as well.

00:14:58.200 And understand this Banana Republic kook is not even saying defund the police.

00:15:05.800 He's saying put the police in jail that he wants to lock up and understand, by the way, he knows he's lying to to his people.

00:15:15.360 It isn't going to happen.

00:15:17.240 And if he tried, let me tell you what would happen if he tried.

00:15:20.600 Number one, because he's saying that he's giving the middle finger, not only the Supreme Court, but also to federal laws.

00:15:26.060 Yeah. So so look, it's reminiscent, actually.

00:15:30.040 Well, here, give a listen. I was asked by The Wall Street Journal this week about it.

00:15:33.900 And give a listen to what I said of who it's reminiscent of.

00:15:38.480 So, on immigration, the Democrats are now square on an open border party.

00:15:44.900 Today, Tom Steyer, the leading Democrat candidate for governor in California,

00:15:49.780 is saying if he's elected governor, he is going to arrest federal ICE officers and put them in jail.

00:15:56.880 That's an extreme position.

00:15:59.280 That is reminiscent, actually, of another Democrat from a different era, Bull Connor,

00:16:03.820 where you had Southern Democrats that did not want to comply with federal law

00:16:09.220 that pledged massive resistance, that extremism is not good for the country.

00:16:14.200 It's not good for the country, but this is now the Democratic Party,

00:16:17.700 which I'll say it over and over again, Senator.

00:16:19.780 I believe the Democratic Party is dead.

00:16:21.460 I believe they're now Marxist, Socialists, and Communists.

00:16:23.580 And now some of them are just showing who they actually are and what they actually believe in.

00:16:27.740 We've seen this, by the way, in D.C. with the defunding of ICE agents there.

00:16:30.840 Like, this is socialism that has now completely infiltrated the Democratic Party.

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00:17:51.820 Let's talk about reality here

00:17:54.600 What would happen if you had a governor

00:17:57.200 Who ordered the police and state law enforcement to actually do this

00:18:01.860 And what would the repercussions actually be?

00:18:04.980 So generally you avoid conflicts like this

00:18:08.620 State and federal law enforcement

00:18:10.500 They don't go after each other

00:18:11.900 And there's just an element of comedy

00:18:13.920 Where the two sides don't try to lock each other up

00:18:17.480 And there was an episode, actually, of the West Wing where they had this happen, a battle between the federal government.

00:18:26.020 And, of course, they had it as a Republican governor in the South who was threatening to lock up federal agents.

00:18:33.200 And at the end of the day, the states are going to lose that battle.

00:18:38.600 We've seen Democrats try that before.

00:18:40.700 As I mentioned, Bull Connor and the Southern Democrats, they tried massive resistance.

00:18:46.160 By the way, I'm just mad at you right now because now I'm going to have to go watch that West Wing episode

00:18:49.800 and figure out which season it is because that's one of my favorite shows.

00:18:52.700 Also one of your favorites, but now I'm like, great, now I know what I'm doing tonight.

00:18:56.220 Well, I don't remember what episode it was.

00:18:57.860 It's been a while since I've watched the series, but it is a great series.

00:19:02.660 Look, if they actually ended up arresting federal agents,

00:19:06.300 then you would see the Department of Justice go and file, first of all, a writ of habeas corpus,

00:19:11.640 which is Latin for produce the body.

00:19:13.560 and a federal judge would order them released, that there is law enforcement immunity and they

00:19:17.880 would be ordered released. But beyond that, if you actually had, so you have Tom Steyer ordering

00:19:23.120 police, go arrest them, go stop them from carrying out their job, there are a host of federal criminal

00:19:28.900 statutes that put criminal penalties for impeding federal law enforcement. So for example, there's

00:19:35.680 18 U.S.C. section 372. That is conspiracy to prevent a federal officer from discharging

00:19:43.060 duties. And because it's a conspiracy, it would reach the governor. And I guarantee

00:19:48.300 you, if you had Tom Steyer locking up and putting ICE agents in jail, I have a high

00:19:54.760 level of confidence that the attorney general under Donald Trump would show up at the governor's

00:19:58.840 office and arrest Tom Steyer, if he ended up as governor, would arrest him and charge

00:20:04.060 him with violating 18 U.S.C. Section 372. That's not it. There's another statute, 18 U.S.C. Section

00:20:11.680 111. That makes it a crime assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers. That's what Tom

00:20:18.660 Steyer's talking about doing. There's another statute, 18 U.S.C. Section 1509. That makes it

00:20:26.620 a federal crime obstruction of court orders, and this is relevant if a federal court has

00:20:32.800 authorized ICE activity, if they're out pursuant to a federal court order, the governor would only

00:20:41.380 have qualified immunity for 1983 claims and arresting federal law enforcement is outside

00:20:49.920 the boundary of clearly established law. So what does that mean? It means that if you sue the

00:20:55.180 governor for damages. There's something called qualified immunity that protects a government

00:21:02.800 official from being sued, but that only applies if the conduct at question is not in violation

00:21:13.320 of clearly established law. Going and arresting federal law enforcement officers, you would face

00:21:19.220 not only criminal prosecution you you would face civil liability and then hold on there's one more

00:21:26.820 approach the most extreme approach that that to be honest president trump would continue consider

00:21:32.400 would be mobilizing the military to free federal law enforcement the insurrection act

00:21:38.160 allows for the deployment of troops uh that's 10 usc section 252 and and here's what it says

00:21:47.840 use of militia and armed forces to enforce federal authority. Whenever the president

00:21:53.540 considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority

00:22:03.140 of the United States make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any state

00:22:10.280 by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into service, federal service,

00:22:17.840 such of the militia of any state, and use such of the armed forces as he considers necessary

00:22:26.320 to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion. And by the way, this is not theoretical.

00:22:33.980 President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock because the governor, another Democrat,

00:22:40.460 Orville Faubus, defied him. And that's what Eisenhower did. And so if Tom Steyer really

00:22:46.180 wants to go down that road, an option that Trump would have available is sending the military

00:22:52.080 to free the law enforcement and also to detain and prosecute Tom Steyer. That's why Steyer knows

00:23:01.460 he's bluffing, but he's counting on Democrat voters not to know anything about the law and

00:23:06.740 just to love his appeal to lawlessness. We hate the police. That's the Democrat base.

00:23:13.060 Let me ask you another question.

00:23:14.880 Just I've become so cynical.

00:23:16.740 One, I feel like there's a long history now of like looking at elected officials that commit crimes or do things that are like this and they don't really get held accountable for it.

00:23:28.080 So there's part of me that says just being devil's advocate here.

00:23:31.180 OK, if if I'm Tom, there would be like a legitimate like pride flag of Donald Trump came and arrested me, which could possibly make you even more popular.

00:23:42.160 Like it would these if you're charging in the way that you just described it, would he actually really go to jail or would just be like a mugshot?

00:23:50.820 And he'd be like, Donald Trump arrested me and I stood strong kind of thing, like a political thing.

00:23:54.780 I'm not joking. That's I think that's where the Democrats are.

00:23:58.180 There's no doubt that's where the Democrats are.

00:24:00.460 Now. Now, there was this this judge, this state judge, I think I think it was Minnesota.

00:24:06.280 Where was the state judge who impeded ICE and secreted the illegal immigrant out of her courtyard?

00:24:11.660 If I remember correctly, yeah. 0.96

00:24:12.740 And she was prosecuted.

00:24:14.180 She has lost her job, and she's been prosecuted and criminally convicted.

00:24:18.120 She was helping them get out of the courthouse.

00:24:19.880 People may not remember that story, but she literally knew that ICE was there

00:24:23.500 and walked out an illegal immigrant to help them flee from being detained by ICE.

00:24:28.960 And they went and caught the illegal immigrant, and she smuggled him out of the courtroom,

00:24:32.580 and she was prosecuted, and she's no longer a judge, and she's been criminally convicted.

00:24:37.860 I believe she's serving jail time, although I don't have that in front of me,

00:24:40.960 But that's that's what I think happened. So you think that this would be real if it actually happened, like he would get more than a mugshot?

00:24:47.360 It depends what he does. So he would actually have to significantly obstruct federal law enforcement if he just tweeting it is not a crime.

00:24:57.920 Yep. If he actually did it, that would be criminal. I don't think he'd do it.

00:25:04.460 And by the way, it's not clear to me at all. Law enforcement would follow his orders to do it.

00:25:08.700 If you're the police officer, you don't really want to go arrest federal law enforcement.

00:25:13.820 And you could face prosecution for that.

00:25:15.620 That's why these things normally get...

00:25:17.700 By the way, we got an update on this.

00:25:18.340 I had to look. 0.96

00:25:19.240 So Hannah Duggan, the Milwaukee County, Wisconsin judge, was convicted of felony obstruction...

00:25:24.720 Oh, Wisconsin, so it was not Minnesota, it was Wisconsin.

00:25:26.500 It was not Minnesota, it was Wisconsin.

00:25:28.000 She was convicted of felony obstruction on December the 18th, 2025 for helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal ICE agents outside her courtroom.

00:25:36.480 She resigned in January of 26 amid impeachment threats and now faces up to five years in prison.

00:25:42.340 She's currently seeking a new trial.

00:25:44.220 So there's your latest official update there.

00:25:46.620 So look, when this started, I suspect, like most of the radical left, she felt completely empowered.

00:25:54.720 Yeah, I'm sticking it to the man.

00:25:56.600 Well, it turns out when you commit federal crimes, it doesn't work out well for you.

00:26:03.080 That's a great point.

00:26:03.980 Look, look, at the end of the day, I think there's a real chance that that that California police would decline Steyer's order because I mean, this is why this normally works out just through comedy, through federal and local law enforcement respecting each other, because we don't tend to have these kind of conflicts very often.

00:26:26.580 Yeah. And it is a sign of just how extreme Democrats are today.

00:26:33.600 All right, I got to tell you really something exciting.

00:26:36.140 We got a new puppy at Christmas.

00:26:38.040 I've talked about our new dog, Birdie, on the show, and Birdie is now taking Rough Greens.

00:26:44.360 Why?

00:26:45.080 Because it's a brand new puppy, right?

00:26:46.680 Like, why do you need to give him Rough Greens?

00:26:48.600 After we saw what happened with our older dog, Memphis, we realized, why wait until

00:26:54.000 the dog's older?

00:26:55.080 Why not give Rough Greens right now to little Birdie? 0.94

00:26:58.700 And we know what it does.

00:27:00.140 It supports long-term health by providing live, bioavailable nutrients, including essential vitamins, minerals, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and omega oils.

00:27:11.420 Now, the ingredients, they work together to improve nutrition absorption.

00:27:15.200 Also, help Birdie maintain joint and muscle health as she grows and enhance her overall vitality.

00:27:22.380 Now, we care about Birdie's longevity.

00:27:25.460 We've already lost two dogs, unfortunately, when they got older.

00:27:28.700 And this is a way we can do everything we can to keep birdie around as long as possible.

00:27:34.560 Now, there are deficiencies found in processed dog food, but Rough Greens, it supplements your dog or your puppy's diet with natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that help reduce oxidative stress, support immune defense as well, and slow age-related decline.

00:27:53.960 That's what we love the most.

00:27:55.500 Now, it's easy.

00:27:56.360 You're not buying new food.

00:27:57.540 You just sprinkle it on, the current food that your dog eats, and bam, they love it.

00:28:03.940 So whether you've got a puppy or an older dog, you need to check out and try Rough Greens.

00:28:09.960 You will see a difference.

00:28:11.800 Now, you don't have to change your dog's food.

00:28:13.880 You just add Rough Greens.

00:28:15.460 And I'm going to offer you a free Jumpstart trial bag.

00:28:19.640 You just cover shipping, use the discount code VERDICT to claim your free Jump Start

00:28:25.520 trial bag at roughgreens.com.

00:28:29.060 That's R-U-F-F, greens with an S, dot com, promo code VERDICT.

00:28:34.560 So don't change your dog's food, just add Rough Greens and watch the health benefits

00:28:38.820 come alive.

00:28:39.900 Yeah, it really is.

00:28:41.080 I want to move on to something else that I think is a really interesting issue as well,

00:28:44.380 and it's happening in New York City.

00:28:47.240 We'll go back to the tax issue a little bit.

00:28:49.020 But Donnie there, man, what a guy.

00:28:51.900 He is just all hardcore all the time,

00:28:55.440 touting a new $500 million a year tax on luxury second homes.

00:29:00.420 That's just one of his new ideas to steal from the rich and give to the poor.

00:29:04.380 Yeah, play the video because you really got to listen to this guy.

00:29:08.000 When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich.

00:29:13.060 Well, today, we're taxing the rich.

00:29:15.000 I'm thrilled to announce we've secured a pied-à-terre tax,

00:29:17.820 the first in New York's history.

00:29:19.840 This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million

00:29:23.060 whose owners do not live full-time in the city.

00:29:26.000 Like for this penthouse,

00:29:28.080 which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million.

00:29:31.760 This peer-to-tear tax is specifically designed for the richest of the rich,

00:29:35.320 those who store their wealth in New York City real estate but who don't actually live.

00:29:38.820 But even so, they're able to reap the huge financial rewards of owning property

00:29:42.420 in, dare I say, the greatest city in the world.

00:29:44.600 And most of the time, these units are sitting empty,

00:29:46.700 since, again, they don't actually live here.

00:29:49.520 This is a fundamentally unfair system that hurts working New Yorkers.

00:29:53.280 Now, it's coming to an end.

00:29:55.160 This tax will raise at least $500 million directly for the city.

00:29:59.380 It'll help fund things like free childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods.

00:30:03.200 As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play in contributing to our city,

00:30:07.260 and some a little bit more than others.

00:30:09.900 Happy Tax Day, New York.

00:30:11.780 If you're trying to run every person out of New York City

00:30:15.960 that has any amount of money, this is a plan to do it.

00:30:18.960 But I don't think he minds doing that because he's also obsessed

00:30:22.040 with free rent and rent control and having rents come down

00:30:25.960 and saying, I'm for the poor guy, not the rich guy.

00:30:28.960 So if you haven't actually watched that video, you should watch it.

00:30:34.280 Mandani is so gleeful.

00:30:37.060 He is smarmy.

00:30:38.180 He is snarky.

00:30:40.180 This is vengeful and vindictive.

00:30:43.360 And understand, this is what the left is. They hate people who are successful. Look, there's a hypocrisy. We talked about Tom Steyer as a billionaire. You know, there's a hypocrisy because they're also funded by the rich. But at the same time, Ken Griffin, who he attacks by name, happens to be a Republican. That's not an accident that he's attacking him by name.

00:31:05.300 Yeah, that was on purpose.

00:31:07.020 And I got to say, by the way, number one, the vindictiveness of him to go after that.

00:31:13.180 There are a whole lot of people that saw that and picked up the phone and called a realtor and said, get me the hell out of here.

00:31:19.900 I'm headed to Texas.

00:31:21.260 I'm headed to Florida.

00:31:23.840 And I got to say, let's just take Ken Griffin. 1.00

00:31:27.700 Look, I hope Ken Griffin, number one, sells the damn place. 0.99

00:31:31.080 Yeah. 0.99

00:31:31.200 But number two, I just pulled out my phone and I Googled, Ken Griffin is the CEO of Citadel, a big, big financial firm.

00:31:39.100 I just Googled, how many people does Citadel employ in New York City?

00:31:44.220 And the AI overview that came up said, as of late 2025, Citadel employs approximately 1,300 to 1,500 people in New York City.

00:31:55.420 The headquarters is in Miami.

00:31:57.540 They move from Chicago down to Miami.

00:31:59.000 Yeah, and a lot of people move there for this exact reason, by the way.

00:32:00.840 I have friends that moved to Miami because when COVID happened and then the taxing stuff, it was a one-two punch.

00:32:06.540 And they were like, let's get the hell out of here because they're sick and tired of paying these taxes.

00:32:09.720 There was executives who said, I want to work for you.

00:32:12.080 I don't want to work for you in New York City anymore.

00:32:14.440 Look, I hope Ken Griffin decides to close Citadel's New York office and move all 1,500 employees out of New York City.

00:32:22.620 Because apparently Mondami thinks people that run companies and employ 1,500 people are not doing anything beneficial for the city.

00:32:30.320 Instead, they're villains that he wants to gleefully attack.

00:32:34.320 And I really, I would, I think it would be a beautiful response.

00:32:40.840 And by the way, look, Democrats did this to Elon Musk.

00:32:43.740 You know, Elon used to have seven homes in California.

00:32:46.640 He employed thousands and thousands of Californians.

00:32:50.640 And Democrats hated him so much.

00:32:53.860 Look, during COVID, when we had the COVID lockdowns, I called Elon on the phone.

00:32:58.240 He was still a Californian at the time.

00:32:59.820 And I said, Elon, come to Texas.

00:33:05.540 California, they're a bunch of communists. 0.98

00:33:08.240 They hate you.

00:33:10.140 You're not a communist.

00:33:11.760 And there was actually a state senator in California who tweeted, if I remember right, she tweeted, get the F out to Elon.

00:33:20.180 And you know what he did?

00:33:21.540 He came to Texas.

00:33:22.640 He moved to Texas.

00:33:23.520 And he moved Tesla to Texas.

00:33:25.240 He moved SpaceX to Texas.

00:33:27.100 He's moved his companies to Texas.

00:33:28.640 He's moved the jobs to Texas. And by the way, Texas is booming.

00:33:32.240 Elon is employing a lot of Texans with really high paying jobs.

00:33:37.280 You know, this is Mondani is trying to his zealotry.

00:33:43.000 You watch this video. And if you can get out of New York City, you will.

00:33:47.340 But but here's Mondani telling you that he just doesn't think anyone will leave.

00:33:50.660 Give a listen to Mondani explaining his views.

00:33:52.780 and so for all of the discussion of the imagined exodus that would take place were we to tax the

00:34:01.060 wealthiest new yorkers by the appropriate amount i say imagined because before i was a mayor i was

00:34:06.260 a state legislator and i was part of an effort to increase taxes on millionaires at that time

00:34:10.460 we were told the same thing then and what we find now is that we have more millionaires today than

00:34:15.180 we did at that time even after having passed that tax and so for all of that conversation about this

00:34:20.440 imagined exodus we have to reckon with the very real exodus that we are seeing in the city an

00:34:27.320 exodus of working class people an exodus of those who cannot afford to live here and for many who

00:34:33.920 work here who now find their residence in jersey city or in connecticut or in pennsylvania anywhere

00:34:39.620 else where their dollar can go a little bit further and we've seen just in in a snapshot

00:34:46.340 thought from 2000 to 2020, the city lost 200,000 of its black residents. That is the cost of

00:34:54.300 inaction. And so that also speaks to the urgency of this conversation and this advocacy. And it is

00:35:00.920 a representation of the fact that while this is a global issue, it is also very much a local issue

00:35:05.780 here in New York City. I love the globalism aspect of this, right? It's like, well, I mean,

00:35:10.060 it's a global issue, too. Like, let's spread this globally. But it's also a New York issue.

00:35:14.700 When they say crazy things like this, believe them.

00:35:19.220 This is what they believe.

00:35:20.220 And understand, when he says it's a global issue,

00:35:22.320 he means he wants to take money from all Americans

00:35:24.500 and give it to people in other countries.

00:35:28.560 He wants to redistribute the wealth within America,

00:35:31.240 then he wants to redistribute America's wealth to everybody else

00:35:34.500 because every other country on planet Earth is poorer than the United States,

00:35:38.420 and most are much poorer.

00:35:40.940 In fact, there was a recent poll in the United Kingdom where they asked British people where they thought the United Kingdom ranked versus U.S. states in income per person.

00:35:55.540 And what do you think Brit said?

00:35:58.020 What is it?

00:35:59.540 So they answered that they thought they came in seventh, that the U.K. income in the U.K. was wealthier than 43 states.

00:36:08.420 Do you know where they actually fall?

00:36:10.620 Where are they?

00:36:11.760 Dead last.

00:36:12.980 Really?

00:36:13.980 The United Kingdom has lower income per person than every single state in America. 0.86

00:36:19.780 Number 50, I'm sorry, is Mississippi. 0.66

00:36:23.320 That's right.

00:36:24.460 Mississippi is 50. 0.72

00:36:25.700 I'm glad you pointed that out, though. 0.77

00:36:27.580 But it's still ahead of the U.K., so we've got that.

00:36:31.240 It is.

00:36:32.480 And by the way, when British people find out the truth, 27% are shocked, 22% are concerned,

00:36:39.760 and 15% are disappointed or embarrassed, and only 14% are motivated for change.

00:36:45.680 Look, Mondani, he means it, and I will say it's interesting contrasting his comments

00:36:54.980 with Kathy Hochul, the Democrat governor, who we talked about at a prior podcast.

00:36:58.660 We played her pleading with wealthy New Yorkers who have fled to come back,

00:37:04.000 and she says, come back, why?

00:37:05.900 Because our social programs are super expensive, 0.98

00:37:08.760 and we need you to come back so we can tax the hell out of you

00:37:11.960 to pay for the spending that I want to do.

00:37:14.260 And it literally is, I don't think there's one human being

00:37:17.460 who would be persuaded by that argument.

00:37:20.300 But I do want to say one thing to wealthy New Yorkers

00:37:22.680 who don't like the new taxes that are coming. 1.00

00:37:26.660 If you vote Democrat, stay and take your damn medicine. 1.00

00:37:30.640 If you vote to put these clowns in office, you are not welcome in Texas. 1.00

00:37:34.300 Don't come to our state. 1.00

00:37:35.720 Don't bring your disease to us.

00:37:38.700 Look, Steven Spielberg, he fled California to get away from Gavin Newsom's wealth tax.

00:37:44.720 He moved to New York City.

00:37:46.920 Well, you know what?

00:37:48.620 Spielberg, enjoy the new taxes.

00:37:51.260 If you wanted to go from one communist to another, that's fine. 0.99

00:37:53.700 But don't come to a red state if you're going to vote for this garbage in our states. 0.99

00:37:57.480 Amen to that. 0.99

00:37:58.420 Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday, Friday as a podcast.

00:38:01.900 So if you're listening on radio, make sure you download Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcasts.

00:38:06.200 And if you like to watch the show, you can do that as well on YouTube or Facebook.

00:38:10.220 And The Center and I will see you back here next week on this radio station and on the podcast all week long.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - April 17, 2026

Tax Day Bonanza, Steyer & ICE plus Mamdani Wants your Money

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