Verdict with Ted Cruz - The END of America WITHOUT a Filibuster; What's at Stake in this Election

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.660 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.300 Welcome.

00:00:05.900 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you as always.

00:00:09.700 And Senator, this is one of those shows that I really hope people grab their pens, their

00:00:15.060 paper, and they're going to hopefully learn a lot.

00:00:18.600 And it's going to deal with something that we're going to break down.

00:00:21.360 It's the threat of ending the filibuster.

00:00:24.020 Now, people hear that word and sometimes they just tune in like, I don't know what it means.

00:00:27.100 We're going to explain it to you and what this new threat from Kamala Harris means to

00:00:31.800 this country, to the republic, to democracy in general.

00:00:36.100 That's exactly right.

00:00:37.740 We are going to explain in this podcast.

00:00:40.880 Today, we are less than 40 days out from the election.

00:00:44.740 What are the stakes of the election?

00:00:47.480 And in particular, I want to talk about what the stakes are if, God forbid, the Democrats

00:00:52.440 win the White House, the House, and the Senate.

00:00:55.340 And we are literally one vote away from ending the basic liberties we enjoy in America, from

00:01:04.500 ending our democracy as we know it.

00:01:07.160 I'm going to lay out exactly why that's the case and how we are one vote away from that

00:01:12.080 happening.

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00:02:48.820 All right, Senator.

00:02:49.760 So when people hear the word filibuster, it seems like it's like inside baseball.

00:02:54.560 You go back.

00:02:55.420 You're watching an old episode of the West Wing, which you and I love.

00:02:58.700 But we're political junkies.

00:03:00.440 And a lot of people just tune out.

00:03:02.040 They're like, I don't even know what they're talking about.

00:03:03.840 So let's break down what the filibuster is, what its intent is, why we had it in the first

00:03:10.800 place, and then why Kamala Harris is threatening to get rid of it. 0.53

00:03:15.440 Well, the filibuster is actually very simple to understand.

00:03:19.360 It is the requirement in the U.S. Senate that in order to proceed on major legislation,

00:03:24.940 you need 60 votes.

00:03:26.960 You can't just proceed with 50 votes, but you need a supermajority.

00:03:31.840 You need 60 out of 100.

00:03:33.820 There are 100 senators, and almost any major legislation to go forward, you've got to get

00:03:38.520 60 votes.

00:03:39.300 What it forces you to do is on most major issues to get bipartisan support.

00:03:44.680 It prevents Democrats, when they get in office, from enacting a radical agenda.

00:03:51.580 Now, there's another meaning of the word filibuster.

00:03:53.840 It's the one many people think of, and they think of the old movie, Mr. Smith Goes to

00:03:57.960 Washington, and they think of Jimmy Stewart standing on the Senate floor and talking and

00:04:02.400 talking and talking.

00:04:03.320 And it's true, a filibuster.

00:04:04.500 You'll recall, my first year in the Senate, I did a 21-hour filibuster.

00:04:09.600 I stood on the floor of the Senate.

00:04:11.700 I did not sit down.

00:04:12.780 I did not leave the floor of the Senate.

00:04:14.520 I did not go to the bathroom.

00:04:16.260 That's actually the most frequent question I get.

00:04:18.500 No, you cannot go to the bathroom because you cannot leave the floor of the Senate.

00:04:21.620 For 21 hours.

00:04:24.780 And a pro tip, right?

00:04:25.980 Do not wear cowboy boots.

00:04:27.300 I think someone told you that, if I remember the story correctly.

00:04:30.220 Well, it was actually, if you remember in 2013, Rand Paul, earlier in the year, had done

00:04:35.800 an 11-hour filibuster.

00:04:37.980 And he was sharing some thoughts on it.

00:04:40.620 And he said, number one, what he said was wear comfortable shoes, which was really good

00:04:45.260 advice.

00:04:45.700 I wear cowboy boots almost every single day in the Senate.

00:04:49.100 The day of my filibuster, I went the day before and bought black tennis shoes, and I wore

00:04:53.480 black tennis shoes.

00:04:54.900 And I actually have to admit, Ben, I confessed on the floor of the Senate mid-filibuster.

00:05:00.060 I apologized to the people of Texas that I lacked the fortitude to wear my boots for

00:05:06.120 21 hours.

00:05:07.100 And so, but the tennis shoes did save my calves.

00:05:10.680 Um, the other thing Rand said, and this was excellent advice, he said he wasn't taken

00:05:15.660 down by his legs, he was taken down by his bladder. 0.72

00:05:18.780 And that was very good advice.

00:05:21.220 And look, I didn't know, I don't know if you ever tried to go 21 hours without going to

00:05:24.640 the restroom.

00:05:25.240 It's not something...

00:05:25.980 That's a long time.

00:05:26.540 That's just a long time.

00:05:27.780 So let me give a very simple principle.

00:05:30.380 Nothing in, nothing out.

00:05:31.840 There you go.

00:05:32.620 In the entire course of 21 hours, I drank one very small glass of water.

00:05:36.840 And that, that helped.

00:05:40.920 Um, but...

00:05:42.040 Can I ask a personal note here?

00:05:43.420 Yeah.

00:05:43.580 At what point were you just looking at the clock?

00:05:46.360 Like, when did you, when was your first time in your head when you thought about tapping

00:05:50.660 out?

00:05:50.900 How many hours in?

00:05:51.660 I gotta know.

00:05:52.680 So, actually never.

00:05:55.460 So, so there was an intense point.

00:05:57.200 So I started, uh, middle of the afternoon and I went all night and, you know, midnight,

00:06:02.580 one, two, and three in the morning.

00:06:03.980 And about three in the morning, you're a little bit punch drunk and Mike Lee is there

00:06:07.940 and, and, and he was there and he's a little punch drunk and, and, you know, we're, you

00:06:11.960 know, you're just kind of, there, there, there are points during the filibuster where you're

00:06:16.020 just really tired.

00:06:16.880 They had people showing up and participating.

00:06:19.220 Now, what you can do in a filibuster is you can yield to a question.

00:06:24.400 And so one of the ways people will support someone in a filibuster is, is if I'm standing

00:06:28.840 up there filibustering and let's say Senator Ferguson walks up and can stand and say,

00:06:33.980 will the Senator yield for a question?

00:06:35.880 And you can say, I will yield for a question without yielding the floor.

00:06:39.480 I still have the floor, but what someone can do is they can step up and ask a 30 minute

00:06:44.360 question and, and basically give a speech or say whatever they want.

00:06:48.640 And then at the end of it, say, wouldn't you agree?

00:06:50.940 And hand it back to you.

00:06:52.040 So it is a way.

00:06:53.400 Can you sit down for that?

00:06:55.440 Okay.

00:06:55.680 So you cannot see it.

00:06:56.720 You must stay standing.

00:06:57.900 If you sit down, you have yielded the floor.

00:06:59.900 Now, can you lean on the podium for that 30 minute question?

00:07:03.820 Not really.

00:07:04.760 Okay.

00:07:05.180 So it's, but it's just a way to just not have to talk.

00:07:07.640 Yeah.

00:07:08.040 It lets you rest your voice for a little bit.

00:07:10.340 And so throughout the 21, 21 hour filibuster, there were multiple people who spelled me and

00:07:15.640 and jumped in and, and, and gave me a period to, to rest my voice.

00:07:20.800 Um, but so the longest filibuster in history was Strom Thurmond against the civil rights

00:07:26.560 act.

00:07:26.900 And that's 24 hours.

00:07:28.640 I wanted to break that record.

00:07:31.080 Unfortunately, when I was filibustering, Harry Reed had already entered into the Senate floor

00:07:37.840 via unanimous consent, an agreement that at noon, the next day, we would immediately proceed

00:07:44.060 to the next matter.

00:07:45.620 So if you seize the floor and there's no unanimous consent request in place, you can keep the

00:07:52.160 floor as long as you want.

00:07:54.680 I had, you think you could have made it?

00:07:56.680 Yes.

00:07:56.820 Three more hours?

00:07:57.780 Absolutely.

00:07:58.800 So, so I had locked into the Senate rules an end point of noon the next day and, and I

00:08:04.880 didn't have any way to extend it.

00:08:06.280 So at like 11 AM, I actually had my team go and ask, Harry Reed was the majority leader,

00:08:12.680 ask Harry Reed's team if they would allow me to extend it to break Strom Thurmond's record.

00:08:19.920 And Harry, they just said, no.

00:08:22.480 I mean, they just, which I actually, I really dislike that the record for the longest filibuster

00:08:27.180 is, is a Democrat filibustering against the civil rights laws.

00:08:31.440 I mean, I think that needs to be broken and, and I have no doubt at 21 hours, I easily could

00:08:36.880 have gone another three hours.

00:08:38.060 I, that, that, that, that, that was not an issue at that point.

00:08:41.380 Did your, now you've got a sharp mind and I'm asking the question everybody else is thinking

00:08:45.340 right now.

00:08:45.740 So I'm going to do this because this is so fun for me because I'm warning, did your mind

00:08:49.460 start?

00:08:50.100 And I'm just talking about how many hours were you up?

00:08:52.140 Did you take a nap before you started?

00:08:54.360 No, but how did you prep?

00:08:56.200 No, it's just, just an all nighter.

00:08:57.600 I had different material.

00:08:58.500 Now, look, I was filibustering about all of the, the problems of Obamacare and how

00:09:03.240 it was hurting Texans and hurting Americans.

00:09:05.000 And I was walking through, so a lot of the filibuster, I'm, I'm reading people's examples.

00:09:09.220 I'm, I'm, I'm talking about how individual people are, are losing their doctor.

00:09:13.680 Remember Obama lied.

00:09:14.740 If you, if you, if you want to keep your doctor, you can keep your doctor.

00:09:18.580 Well, that was a lie.

00:09:19.520 You could, many people could not keep their doctor.

00:09:21.480 They could not keep their health insurance.

00:09:23.080 And so I was walking through all the examples of how this was hurting Americans.

00:09:27.320 I was also, uh, during that filibuster, I read a number of tweets on the Senate floor.

00:09:32.420 I think that's the first time in history tweets have been read on the Senate floor.

00:09:36.380 And, and there was a hashtag that trended that was make DC listen.

00:09:40.420 And, and, and it was, it was trending globally.

00:09:43.700 Were you allowed to use a phone or did someone have to print those off?

00:09:46.740 They would print them out and hand them to me.

00:09:48.900 And I had staff that was giving me materials that would come in.

00:09:52.120 So people would send in stories and I'm read them on the Senate floor.

00:09:55.300 People would send in tweets.

00:09:57.200 Um, this was also the filibuster where, where you may recall, I read green eggs and ham.

00:10:02.560 Oh yeah.

00:10:03.500 Do you know why I read green eggs and ham?

00:10:05.660 It was seared girls, right? 1.00

00:10:07.200 At bedtime, the time you would normally.

00:10:09.120 That, that, that, that's exactly right.

00:10:10.860 So, so it was, I mean, the girls were little.

00:10:13.040 I mean, that, I mean, they, they were, uh, what, uh, four and six.

00:10:18.840 And, um, and so three, three and five, they, they, they were even younger than that.

00:10:24.680 They were three and five.

00:10:25.800 So one of the first things you ever showed me, if I'm not mistaken at your house is a

00:10:30.880 picture of them seeing you on TV.

00:10:32.360 Either you show me on your phone or I think it's framed in your house, right?

00:10:35.480 And you were reading it.

00:10:36.420 It's not in my house.

00:10:37.340 It's, it's in my office in DC.

00:10:39.080 And, and so.

00:10:39.460 That's where it is.

00:10:40.060 So, so what happened when they were little at night, when I was home, I would read them

00:10:45.660 bedtime stories and it's, you know, so it was really fun.

00:10:47.580 I'm sure you read your kids' bedtime stories.

00:10:49.540 It's a great thing to do.

00:10:50.780 And so, and I tried to do that every night when I was at home, read them bedtime stories.

00:10:54.720 And so since I was going, uh, we came up, it was actually a guy on my, on my team that

00:10:59.900 came up with the idea of, well, why don't you read them a bedtime story during the filibuster?

00:11:03.580 And so green eggs and ham, when I was a kid, green eggs and ham was my favorite book as a

00:11:08.280 little kid and I have read it to the girls many, many times.

00:11:11.640 And so we called home and told them, turn on the TV, turn on C-SPAN.

00:11:17.660 And, and I read them green eggs and ham because it was their bedtime.

00:11:20.500 And the picture you saw is a picture of the two of them.

00:11:23.380 They're both in their pajamas.

00:11:24.980 It's, it's absolutely adorable.

00:11:27.640 Um, Catherine, who's three at the time, they're in matching pajamas, which, which sadly

00:11:32.220 they're teenagers now, so they don't match anymore.

00:11:34.060 But at three and five, they matched.

00:11:35.900 It was precious.

00:11:37.100 Catherine is reaching her hand out and touching the TV.

00:11:39.740 And it's just like in wonderment that like, wait, daddy is reading me Dr. Seuss on TV.

00:11:44.680 And it's just, the look is, is hysterical.

00:11:47.980 And, and then Caroline, who's my eldest, whom I adore, she's five and she's just cracking

00:11:54.180 up laughing.

00:11:55.220 And, and, and look, Caroline has always been pretty cynical kid and, and pretty much nothing 0.93

00:12:01.460 I've done in the Senate has impressed her when I, when I came home after that, she looked

00:12:05.940 at me, she had her arms crossed and she went, okay, dad, that was kind of cool.

00:12:11.380 And so it was like, yes, you know, I mean, look, scoring points with, with, with your five

00:12:15.640 year old.

00:12:16.200 It's hard with a five year old to score points.

00:12:18.080 Let's be honest.

00:12:19.360 So, but that's why I read green eggs and ham is because it was bedtime.

00:12:22.340 And, uh, but that filibuster is not the really consequential one because at the end of the

00:12:29.560 day, a filibuster can delay things for 21 hours or 24 hours.

00:12:37.060 But, but at the end of the day, if there's a dedicated majority that moves forward, you

00:12:41.400 can't talk long enough to stop it.

00:12:43.340 So what the filibuster really is that is of consequence is how the Senate rules operate

00:12:49.620 in order to proceed to take up most forms of legislation.

00:12:54.300 You must have 60 votes, uh, to do what is called invoking cloture, which is just a fancy

00:13:00.860 procedural word for ending debate because senators have unlimited debate.

00:13:06.400 You've got to end debate before you have a vote.

00:13:08.920 And that takes 60 votes.

00:13:10.580 The requirement of 60 votes has stopped most of the dramatic and extreme proposals from

00:13:20.180 the Democrats from going into office.

00:13:22.020 And so just this week, Kamala Harris was explicit. 0.88

00:13:26.140 She plans to end the filibuster. 1.00

00:13:27.880 I want you to listen to her saying that, and then we're going to talk about what it means

00:13:31.520 because this is, if she follows through on this, it will be the end of America as we

00:13:38.180 know it.

00:13:38.560 So give a listen to what Kamala said.

00:13:39.900 Now to abortion, you've said you want to work with Congress to pass a federal bill to codify

00:13:45.920 abortion rights.

00:13:47.720 How do you plan to get enough support in Congress to restore abortion rights when you'd likely

00:13:53.280 need to pass a Senate filibuster? 0.96

00:13:55.460 You'd have potential legal hurdles.

00:13:58.140 Well, let me first say to all your listeners, you must reelect your Senator Tammy Baldwin because

00:14:04.060 we need the votes in Congress to do exactly what you are saying.

00:14:08.400 And that's true.

00:14:09.400 And it is well within our reach to hold on to the majority in the Senate and take back

00:14:15.420 the House.

00:14:16.060 And so I would also emphasize that while the presidential election is extremely important

00:14:21.580 and dispositive of where we go moving forward, it also is about what we need to do to hold

00:14:27.760 on to the Senate and win seats in the House.

00:14:30.580 That being said, I've been very clear.

00:14:32.920 I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe and get us to the point where 51 votes would

00:14:41.220 be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and

00:14:47.680 for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not

00:14:52.640 have their government tell them what to do.

00:14:54.320 So to be clear, what she's talking about in this filibuster is extremely different.

00:15:00.660 Well, what she's talking about is ending the requirement that you need 60 votes to move

00:15:06.360 to major legislation, allowing the Senate to move forward with just 50 votes and the vice

00:15:12.120 president.

00:15:12.800 Now, let me tell you, and she's tried to frame it in terms of abortion, but she's not talking 0.99

00:15:16.960 about limiting it to that at all.

00:15:18.240 She's talking about fundamentally changing the Senate, and that fundamentally changes the country.

00:15:24.740 Let me tell you why.

00:15:26.180 So, look, you and I both hope we have a great election in November.

00:15:31.120 We hope that Donald Trump is re-elected president.

00:15:33.860 We hope we have a Republican Senate and we have a Republican House.

00:15:36.760 And if we do, there's a lot of good things that can happen.

00:15:39.260 We'll do another podcast where we talk about the good things that will happen with a great election.

00:15:44.320 But let's focus on this podcast on the bad things that will happen with a bad election.

00:15:51.240 If we wake up the day after Election Day and Kamala Harris has been elected president and

00:15:56.360 the Democrats have won the House and the Democrats gain one seat in the Senate, one, here's what

00:16:05.040 happens.

00:16:05.720 So right now, Chuck Schumer has 49 votes to end the filibuster.

00:16:11.260 He needs one more.

00:16:12.060 If he goes from 49 votes to 50 votes to end the filibuster, I want to tell you what January

00:16:19.680 of 2025 will look like.

00:16:22.320 The first thing Chuck Schumer, as the majority leader, will do in January 2025 is eliminate

00:16:29.280 the filibuster forever.

00:16:30.840 And the way that operates, by the way, is doing something called the nuclear option, which

00:16:36.560 is he would move to proceed to a piece of legislation, and they'd probably do it to something abortion 0.63

00:16:46.040 related, because that's been the context of the promises that many politicians have made.

00:16:52.220 And he would then ask a question of the presiding officer, a parliamentary inquiry.

00:16:58.940 What is the vote threshold to move to proceed to this?

00:17:03.500 And the presiding officer would say under the Senate rules, it requires 60 votes to proceed

00:17:08.780 to this matter.

00:17:09.440 He would then appeal the ruling of the chair.

00:17:14.240 That's called the nuclear option.

00:17:16.500 To appeal the ruling of the chair, you overturn what the chair has just ruled, that it requires

00:17:21.400 60 votes.

00:17:23.080 In order to overturn the ruling of the chair, you only need 50 votes.

00:17:27.140 So what he would do is appeal the ruling of the chair.

00:17:29.520 You'd have a vote on the Senate floor, and 50 Democrats would vote to overturn the ruling

00:17:35.960 of the chair, the vice president, in this horrible scenario, it's Tim Waltz, would concur, and

00:17:41.860 the result would be, number one, the ruling of the chair is overturned, but number two, that

00:17:47.060 becomes a precedent that binds the Senate, and it effectively amends the Senate rules so

00:17:52.600 that it no longer requires 60 votes to proceed to legislation, it requires instead 50.

00:17:59.440 That's a bunch of procedural gobbledygook.

00:18:01.600 Look, the important thing to know about it is with one additional left-wing Democrat, just

00:18:09.300 one, Chuck Schumer can end the filibuster.

00:18:12.380 If he does that, let me tell you the first four bills that Chuck Schumer will pass into

00:18:17.260 law.

00:18:17.940 Now, but before we give you that list, I want to talk to you real quick about the International

00:18:22.080 Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and with the rise in anti-Semitism and continued attacks

00:18:28.400 on Israel, it is more important than ever to stand with Israel and the Jewish people.

00:18:33.340 And as we are approaching the one-year mark of October the 7th, the International Fellowship

00:18:39.340 of Christians and Jews is partnering with over 230 churches and other organizations across

00:18:46.220 America in Flags of Fellowship by planting Israeli flags to remember the over 1,200 victims.

00:18:54.340 You can be a part of Flags of Fellowship as well.

00:18:58.900 There is a tremendous need for food and basic supplies for the evacuated families trying to

00:19:04.600 survive in communities impacted by the ongoing war.

00:19:08.320 You may have seen that Israel has been hit over the last few days again, and that's why

00:19:12.580 I'm asking 1,200 of you listening to make a gift of $100 to help provide emergency food

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00:20:09.000 And I say this sincerely, thank you for all of you that are getting together and standing

00:20:14.300 with Israel.

00:20:15.340 All right, Senator, so you said four major things that would happen.

00:20:19.320 Let's roll through those because this is really how I think a lot of people should be looking

00:20:23.620 at the importance of this election.

00:20:25.960 Yes.

00:20:27.440 The first bill Schumer would pass if he ends the filibuster is S-1.

00:20:32.060 S-1 is the first bill Chuck Schumer introduces in every Senate.

00:20:35.460 S-1 is a federal takeover of all elections in America.

00:20:42.200 S-1 strikes down every election integrity law in the country.

00:20:49.220 It strikes down every photo ID law in the country.

00:20:53.780 It legalizes ballot harvesting in every state in the union.

00:20:59.820 It automatically registers to vote millions of felons, and it automatically registers to

00:21:06.660 vote millions of illegal aliens.

00:21:10.300 S-1 is designed so that Democrats never lose another election.

00:21:16.060 S-1 is designed to massively increase voter fraud on election day.

00:21:22.260 That would be the first bill Schumer would pass.

00:21:24.700 He has 49 votes to do that.

00:21:26.640 One more would give him the vote he needs.

00:21:28.540 The second thing he would do is add two new states to the union.

00:21:34.100 He would add D.C. and he would add Puerto Rico.

00:21:37.200 By the way, it does not take a constitutional amendment to add a state to the union.

00:21:40.740 It only takes a law that passes Congress that is signed by the president.

00:21:44.240 Now, that law can be filibustered.

00:21:47.300 But if Schumer ends the filibuster, he can pass it with just 50 votes.

00:21:50.840 The reason Schumer wants to add D.C. and Puerto Rico is because Schumer and the Democrats believe D.C. and Puerto Rico would elect four new Democrat senators.

00:22:03.720 That means if we started next year with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans in the Senate, we would end next year with 54 Democrats and 50 Republicans in the Senate.

00:22:17.260 Schumer would do that so that the Republicans would never again win a majority in the United States Senate.

00:22:23.220 That would be the second bill he passes.

00:22:25.640 The third bill he would pass would be to grant amnesty and immediate voting rights to every single illegal alien in America.

00:22:35.920 Now, we don't have a firm count of that, but it is upwards of 20 million illegal immigrants.

00:22:41.000 We know 11.5 million have come in under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

00:22:45.000 We are north of 20 million if you add them all together.

00:22:48.240 In Texas, there are 2 to 3 million illegal immigrants living in Texas.

00:22:52.740 Now, Ben, if they do that, the instant they do that, Texas turns blue.

00:23:00.380 If Chuck Schumer...

00:23:01.740 People are going to hear you say that and they're going to say, okay, how?

00:23:03.940 How does it instantly turn blue?

00:23:05.480 So explain that.

00:23:06.560 Because if Chuck Schumer and the Democrats grant immediate voting rights to every illegal alien in Texas, 0.65

00:23:11.900 there are 2 to 3 million illegal aliens.

00:23:14.340 They would vote overwhelmingly Democrat.

00:23:16.700 The Democrats believe this.

00:23:18.120 And the effect of that would be every single statewide elected official in Texas would lose the next election.

00:23:28.500 The governor would lose.

00:23:29.880 The lieutenant governor would lose.

00:23:31.680 The attorney general would lose.

00:23:33.280 We have nine Republican Supreme Court justices.

00:23:36.700 All nine would lose.

00:23:38.980 Texas would immediately become California.

00:23:42.900 It would not be slow.

00:23:44.620 It would not be gradual.

00:23:45.860 It would be instantaneous.

00:23:47.280 With 3 million additional illegal aliens voting in the next election, Texas is California.

00:23:54.380 That's number three.

00:23:55.940 And then number four, they would pack the United States Supreme Court.

00:24:00.420 They would grow the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13 justices.

00:24:06.080 Now, it does not take a constitutional amendment to change the number of justices on the court.

00:24:11.200 That can be done by statute.

00:24:12.720 But that statute can be filibustered.

00:24:15.600 If you get rid of the filibuster, the Schumer only needs 50 votes plus the vice president.

00:24:20.780 They would add four left-wing justices to the court.

00:24:24.880 It would go to 13 justices.

00:24:27.100 And I got to tell you something, Ben.

00:24:28.940 Look, I am.

00:24:29.940 You know me well.

00:24:31.240 I'm an optimist.

00:24:32.260 I believe in America.

00:24:34.180 I believe the future of America is bright.

00:24:36.140 I believe tomorrow is brighter than today.

00:24:38.680 I believe we are moving in a good direction.

00:24:41.860 In that scenario, I have no answer.

00:24:46.140 I view what I've just described as a system-ending event.

00:24:51.720 You look through history.

00:24:53.740 Great nations rise.

00:24:55.260 Great nations fall.

00:24:56.980 Yeah.

00:24:57.100 There is – I view what I just described as the end of the United States of America as we know it.

00:25:05.740 And there's no way to turn that back.

00:25:09.360 And here's the terrifying thing, Ben.

00:25:11.720 I don't believe a word of what I just said is hyperbole.

00:25:14.880 I don't believe I'm exaggerating anything.

00:25:17.220 Chuck Schumer has 49 votes to do everything I just described.

00:25:22.820 And I think most Americans have no idea that we are one Senate seat away from that calamity,

00:25:32.240 from that irreversible situation.

00:25:35.220 I know that most Texans have no awareness that Texas is that close to flipping instantly blue.

00:25:42.460 I think a lot of Texans view, well, even if everything goes crazy in the rest of the country,

00:25:47.640 we'll be fine.

00:25:48.740 We're Texas.

00:25:49.460 We're going to be just fine.

00:25:51.180 This scenario, you want to ask what keeps me up at night?

00:25:56.080 It is the scenario I just described.

00:25:58.840 And we are literally one vote away from that happening.

00:26:02.500 So let's look at the evidence to really back up what you just said.

00:26:06.320 And you look at the Democrats.

00:26:08.680 They have, for the last several years, really been trying to undermine the Supreme Court.

00:26:14.100 They have leaked from the Supreme Court the Roe v. Wade decision, for example.

00:26:19.260 The Democrats have been trying to intimidate Supreme Court justices.

00:26:25.040 And we saw just how hostile they allowed people to get towards the Supreme Court justice in their homes.

00:26:32.120 I mean, the media has been undermining the Supreme Court as well and acting like the Supreme Court is this outdated body that should be changed.

00:26:43.460 So when you say that we're one vote away and this is what would happen,

00:26:48.080 they're the ones that have been doing all the things you would do for this possible opportunity if it actually arises.

00:26:56.900 And you can say, yeah, like we've been saying this for years.

00:26:59.340 We think the Supreme Court should be packed, right?

00:27:02.000 Yeah, look, that's correct.

00:27:04.640 And here's the math.

00:27:06.000 Today, there's a 51-49 Democrat majority in the Senate.

00:27:09.740 However, of those 51, there are two Democrats, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have both voted against ending the filibuster.

00:27:19.180 So Chuck Schumer tried to end the filibuster.

00:27:21.620 They had a vote on it.

00:27:23.540 And 49 Democrats voted to end the filibuster.

00:27:27.580 Had either Manchin or Sinema flipped, they would have had the votes.

00:27:32.340 But the two of them are the only things that stopped it.

00:27:35.420 Now, I'm going to tell you something we know for an absolute certainty in January of next year.

00:27:41.880 Neither Manchin nor Sinema will be there.

00:27:44.500 Very true.

00:27:45.360 Both of them, their terms are done.

00:27:47.420 Neither of them are running for re-election.

00:27:49.100 It's 100%.

00:27:49.900 They will be gone.

00:27:51.280 That means that Schumer is going into this election with 49 votes to end the filibuster.

00:27:59.140 If he picks up one anywhere, he gets to 50, and if Tim Waltz is the vice president, he has everything he needs to end the filibuster.

00:28:11.180 And I want to make a point here also.

00:28:14.300 You notice none of the things I listed were economic.

00:28:18.640 I didn't list in the calamity, in the parade of horribles.

00:28:23.460 I didn't list 70% marginal tax rates.

00:28:27.400 I didn't list massively confiscatory death taxes.

00:28:32.440 I didn't list wealth taxes that tax you on unrealized capital gains.

00:28:40.220 I didn't list banning fracking and shutting down oil and gas exploration in the United States.

00:28:46.740 I didn't list nationalization of mineral rights.

00:28:50.420 Look, to be honest, the economic stuff, the socialism, that follows like night follows day, because the Democrats' top priority, the four things I listed, are all about seizing control and making it permanent, making it impossible that Democrats ever lose.

00:29:09.300 And, you know, there's something deeply Freudian about how Democrats behave, because they talk incessantly about saving democracy, and yet today's Democrats are profoundly anti-democratic.

00:29:22.280 Their number one priority is making it so the voters can never, ever, ever, ever, ever vote them out of power.

00:29:28.620 And once they're in power, look, on the economic stuff, the only constraints are just how crazy are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren willing to go.

00:29:39.520 But it is, look at countries like Venezuela.

00:29:43.100 Once you get one party locked in power with no ability to constrain them, the country goes downhill incredibly quickly.

00:29:53.940 And I think terrible policies, look, policies, I didn't mention gun confiscation, going after the Second Amendment, going after religious liberty, going after the First Amendment.

00:30:06.540 They pack the Supreme Court.

00:30:08.020 You're not going to have the courts backstopping any of the rights in the Bill of Rights.

00:30:12.580 All of that happens as a matter of course.

00:30:14.980 Because Schumer's first focus is power.

00:30:19.500 And if he can lock in power forever, that really is the end of our democracy.

00:30:24.720 And ironically, it's the number one priority of today's Democrats.

00:30:29.080 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:30:31.220 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:30:35.380 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:30:39.100 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:30:40.240 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:30:41.260 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:30:51.020 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:30:54.260 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:30:59.760 Let me go back to a very consequential vote.

00:31:02.900 And I just want to remind people perspective on this filibuster in the 60 plus.

00:31:08.420 When we go back to Obamacare, what was the number on Obamacare?

00:31:13.320 How many votes did that pass with?

00:31:15.820 Do you remember?

00:31:17.180 Well, the way they passed Obamacare was through a special budget procedure called budget reconciliation.

00:31:23.760 And budget reconciliation is the most important exception to the filibuster.

00:31:29.760 Budget reconciliation comes from a law called the Budget Act of 1975.

00:31:33.860 And it's a special procedure for adopting a budget.

00:31:37.540 And under that statute, it is exempt from the filibuster.

00:31:42.640 So you can pass it with a majority.

00:31:44.620 That's how they did Obamacare is they did it using budget reconciliation.

00:31:49.100 By the way, the Trump tax cuts were passed using budget reconciliation.

00:31:56.200 So they were not subject to the filibuster.

00:31:58.400 No Democrat voted for the Trump tax cuts.

00:32:00.380 If you look at things like the Orwellian-named Inflation Reduction Act, that was passed by the Democrats using budget reconciliation.

00:32:09.200 So there are things that can be done that typically involve spending and taxing.

00:32:15.360 That can be done with just 50 votes.

00:32:18.140 But the structural changes to our republic, things like the federal takeover of all elections in this country, or adding two new states to the union, or granting immediate voting rights to every illegal alien in America, that cannot be done through budget reconciliation.

00:32:39.480 Packing the Supreme Court cannot be done through budget reconciliation.

00:32:42.780 The statute lays out specific categories of what can and can't be done through reconciliation.

00:32:49.780 So the sort of simplest way to think about it is spending and taxes you can get around the filibuster.

00:32:57.880 Everything else, as a general matter, you can't.

00:33:00.840 See, and that's why I want to remind people, because we were talking about that during the time, and it came up that, you know, the 60 votes and how important it is.

00:33:07.800 And it's a hard threshold.

00:33:09.400 If you change it, and you think about how consequential, for example, Obamacare was, and during that time when there was almost a supermajority, and yada, yada, yada, and you go, okay, there's a reason why it was set up this way.

00:33:21.380 The entire United States of America's history changes if you get rid of this.

00:33:25.440 Am I wrong?

00:33:27.020 You are absolutely right.

00:33:28.480 Look, if Schumer ends the filibuster, no Republican ever wins again.

00:33:34.580 It is one-party rule.

00:33:38.180 And so ask yourself, how has Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro been for Venezuela?

00:33:43.980 That will be, and listen, some people listening might say, oh, come on, that's too much.

00:33:49.720 You shouldn't compare Kamala Harris to Nicolas Maduro.

00:33:53.640 Well, if their policy is to lock themselves and their party into power forever, and to disempower the voters from ever, ever, ever being able to take them out of power, that is exactly what Chavez and Maduro have done.

00:34:10.200 That's what Castro have done.

00:34:11.520 It is the strategy of dictators, and it is a shocking thing that today's Democrats no longer believe, in order to save democracy, they're willing to destroy democracy.

00:34:24.660 Yeah, and that is really sad.

00:34:27.620 I want to tell all of you about something really cool that I got to do, and that was due training this past week with Burna, with less lethal, and the Burna systems.

00:34:39.620 It was unbelievable.

00:34:41.220 Now, increased crime and violence around our country, we need to remember that personal safety and security for you and your family is the most important thing in life.

00:34:49.760 And I'm a massive advocate for the Second Amendment.

00:34:52.820 If I didn't have a firearm with me one day, I wouldn't be here today.

00:34:56.700 I had to use it to save my life.

00:34:59.120 Thank goodness I had that.

00:35:00.400 But there's many times where you need to be able to defend yourself and de-escalate a situation without having to worry about the irreversible consequences of deadly force.

00:35:10.280 And that is where there is something that you can now have, and that is Burna, less lethal, pistol launcher.

00:35:18.540 A Burna can save two lives.

00:35:21.600 It can save your life and the life of someone else.

00:35:24.140 So don't compromise on your peace of mind.

00:35:27.160 It is a fabulous complement to owning firearms.

00:35:31.140 And if you or your family is in a situation where you feel threatened, you can now start with less lethal.

00:35:38.900 It is also legal in all 50 states, and no permits or background checks are needed.

00:35:45.420 Now, I have these, and I own them.

00:35:47.800 I also got them for my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, my own mother, my sister, and my wife.

00:35:54.460 It is amazing.

00:35:56.160 Now, I own these, and I want you to check them out.

00:35:58.940 You should look at them for your family members, especially if you have a daughter that maybe is living off at college by herself or living at a new location.

00:36:08.040 And she's by herself, and you want to have something there to help protect her.

00:36:12.740 Burna is the answer, and it's designed for easy use by all age groups 18 and over.

00:36:19.320 The Burna launcher has powerful deterrents like tear gas and kinetic rounds with a 60-foot range.

00:36:26.140 One shot can incapacitate attackers for up to 40 minutes.

00:36:29.340 And after doing the training, I can tell you they're not joking.

00:36:32.560 It is also used by government agencies and law enforcement around the country, and more than a half million units have already been sold.

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00:37:04.640 Senator, let me ask two questions to wrap this up.

00:37:08.680 There may be people that say, look, if there is a, let's say they get it, and they get rid of the filibuster, it'll come back in a couple years.

00:37:18.420 Maybe there's like a little bit of an overreaction here.

00:37:21.520 I go back in history, and I'm a student of history.

00:37:24.780 You are, and you love history as well.

00:37:27.060 When consequential things usually happen within our government, a great example is Obamacare.

00:37:32.640 Once it's done, it is extremely hard to undo it.

00:37:35.740 And so, if people think, well, maybe they do it, and we'll get it back.

00:37:38.980 Maybe they throw four more people on the Supreme Court, but we could get it back to nine if we really wanted to.

00:37:43.760 How impossible would it be to undo some of the things you talked about if it actually went into effect because the Democrats win in November?

00:37:53.140 Well, understand that the four things I listed are all structural.

00:37:56.340 So, once they happen, you can't undo them.

00:38:00.580 If you have 20 million illegal immigrants voting, Democrats win. 0.65

00:38:04.720 Texas isn't the only state that turns blue.

00:38:07.700 North Carolina turns blue.

00:38:10.100 Georgia turns blue.

00:38:11.560 Arizona turns blue.

00:38:13.240 I mean, you have suddenly swing states that are not swing states anymore.

00:38:17.600 This is why the Democrats, they're just focused on power.

00:38:20.780 You look at, if it's right, D.C. will elect Democrats for all eternity if it becomes a state.

00:38:27.780 Puerto Rico, I don't think it's 100% correct that Puerto Rico would only elect Democrats.

00:38:33.260 We have seen Republicans elected in Puerto Rico, although partisan politics doesn't line up in Puerto Rico exactly like it does in the mainland.

00:38:40.780 But, if the Democrats are correct that that's four new Democrats in the Senate, it is very difficult to see a map that ever again elects a Republican majority in the Senate.

00:38:53.160 So, there will never be an opportunity to reverse it.

00:38:56.300 And, by the way, you can look to what happened with the Supreme Court.

00:39:01.140 So, if you look at Supreme Court nominations, Harry Reid exercised the nuclear option, the same method for ending the filibuster for legislation, Harry Reid exercised the nuclear option to end the filibuster for judicial nominations.

00:39:20.480 And he did so, when he did so, I remember I was on the Senate floor, and he did exactly what I said.

00:39:26.960 He asked for a ruling from the chair.

00:39:28.460 He appealed the ruling of the chair, and all the Democrats voted with him, and they overturned it.

00:39:33.640 And so, to confirm a judge, you only need now 50 votes plus the vice president.

00:39:41.340 And I remember being on the Senate floor.

00:39:43.520 I turned to Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and all the Democrats were voting like lemmings to end the filibuster.

00:39:50.520 And I told her then, I said, you realize the consequence of this.

00:39:54.640 We are going to get more justices like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

00:40:00.980 And that is unequivocally correct.

00:40:04.420 And, in fact, if you want to know why Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch were confirmed, it is because the Democrats ended the filibuster for judicial nominations.

00:40:16.240 If they hadn't, there is no chance on earth Kavanaugh or Amy Coney Barrett gets confirmed because it would have taken 60 votes.

00:40:23.400 And there weren't going to be 60 votes for any nominee that had a proven record of being conservative.

00:40:28.900 So it changed markedly the kinds of judges that Trump could nominate.

00:40:36.720 Once the change is made procedurally, it never, ever, ever goes back.

00:40:42.560 Final question for you, and that is, you look at what you just said in this show, and it changes my perspective. 0.99

00:40:53.240 And I do this with you three days a week and talk politics every day because the easy issue, right, is the economy stupid. 0.85

00:41:01.380 And that's the number one issue most voters say. 0.99

00:41:05.120 Number two, they say the border.

00:41:06.560 This issue to me now, after we've gone through it, is even bigger than those two issues when it comes to the future of this country.

00:41:14.640 Is that a fair take?

00:41:17.080 In terms of long-term future, yes.

00:41:20.320 It is absolutely a fair take.

00:41:22.220 It is, as I said, the single thing that keeps me up at night, that we are that close to losing our entire country.

00:41:29.600 And I think almost everyone is oblivious to it.

00:41:33.820 Look, you and I are both Texans.

00:41:35.880 How many Texans do you know that realize that we could be three months away from Texas becoming California, becoming a bright blue state?

00:41:46.460 By the way, if that happens, I'll make a crazy prediction that I hope and pray never comes true.

00:41:51.040 If the Democrats end the filibuster, if they grant voting rights to every illegal alien in America and every illegal alien in Texas,

00:41:59.880 Beto O'Rourke would be the next governor of the state of Texas.

00:42:02.980 I don't think that's an exaggeration.

00:42:04.680 I think that is actually quite likely.

00:42:06.940 Yeah, well, it's the reason why Democrats are importing so many illegal immigrants right now. 0.92

00:42:10.780 They think they can give them the right to vote, give them citizenship, and bam, as you described it, it changes everything in one day.

00:42:17.100 I hope all of you listening will really take this show and share it with your friends, put it up on social media so others hear it.

00:42:25.680 This is why I love doing this show with the senator because I feel like I learn things, and I hope you do as well, and we get to talk about these important issues.

00:42:35.580 Don't forget, hit that subscribe or auto-download button so you never miss an episode.

00:42:40.020 We do this Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and a Week in Review recap on Saturdays, and on those in-between days, grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:42:49.500 I'll keep you up to date on the news on those in-between days and breaking news as well, so grab the Ben Ferguson podcast as well,

00:42:56.340 and the senator and I will see you back here on Saturday for the Week in Review.

00:43:01.760 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:43:04.660 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - September 27, 2024

The END of America WITHOUT a Filibuster; What's at Stake in this Election

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