Verdict with Ted Cruz - What’s Three Trillion Between Friends？

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.600 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.420 The senators remain in D.C.

00:00:06.920 A coronavirus relief bill is back on the table.

00:00:10.260 Some people want to spend $1 trillion.

00:00:12.160 Some people want to spend $3 trillion.

00:00:13.940 I'm sure by the time this is all over, we'll be up $10, $11, however many trillion.

00:00:18.360 Well, everybody is here trying to spend money.

00:00:20.920 Nobody's pocketbook is safe.

00:00:22.820 We will get into the specifics of each bill being proposed.

00:00:26.560 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:00:30.000 Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:00:35.220 I'm Michael Knowles.

00:00:36.620 And I got to tell you, Senator, we're going to be talking about a lot of big numbers today.

00:00:40.760 But beyond legislation, there's a really big number on this show.

00:00:44.080 We're now north of 14 million downloads.

00:00:47.440 And beyond that, we have 4.7 out of five star reviews.

00:00:51.840 That's our average rating.

00:00:53.700 And I got to tell you, usually for political shows, the lefties come in and they spam you

00:00:57.220 with one star reviews.

00:00:58.200 So that is pretty good.

00:00:59.300 So do you think the folks watching this one could up that to 4.8?

00:01:03.840 You know, it would help.

00:01:05.320 If you could just go leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, wherever

00:01:11.260 you're at, that would be terrific.

00:01:13.140 You can also obviously find us on YouTube, all over the place.

00:01:15.760 We'll send you an audio cassette on a carrier pigeon if you like.

00:01:18.600 Thank you so much to everybody who's brought the number.

00:01:20.040 We don't have audio cassettes.

00:01:21.280 We don't have 8-track?

00:01:22.600 There are no audio cassettes.

00:01:24.500 I'm so conservative.

00:01:25.520 I'm really looking back in time.

00:01:27.020 Well, we are writing it with a quill pen, though.

00:01:30.200 Every episode.

00:01:31.800 Do you know, by the way, that every time you argue a Supreme Court case, the U.S. Supreme

00:01:37.020 Court, you get not one but two quill pens?

00:01:39.240 What?

00:01:39.780 They give the advocates two quill pens.

00:01:41.820 That seems like wasteful government speaking, but it's very cool.

00:01:44.660 On my desk in the Senate office is a cup holder filled with quill pens from arguments I've

00:01:50.680 done.

00:01:50.700 Yeah, you've argued a number of these.

00:01:52.100 I've got to go and see these quills at some point.

00:01:54.680 And by the way, you know what you can do with a quill pen?

00:01:56.660 What can you do?

00:01:57.380 You can hit subscribe on YouTube.

00:02:00.260 It may not work.

00:02:01.620 I don't know if that, yeah.

00:02:03.080 It'd be worth trying.

00:02:04.180 You could like poke at it.

00:02:05.160 We don't want any liability here for damage to your computer screen, but we do want you

00:02:09.460 to subscribe.

00:02:09.980 So go on and ring that bell and hopefully we'll bring that number north of 15 million or 16

00:02:14.720 million or maybe north of three trillion as we talk about this coronavirus spending.

00:02:18.420 I would like to pivot a moment to something that I know is on everybody else's mind as

00:02:22.860 well, the fact that you are still in D.C. is, I think, not something that senators are

00:02:30.040 very happy about because the senators are supposed to be home on vacation right now, but you're

00:02:33.540 all still in town.

00:02:35.040 Well, actually, not quite yet.

00:02:36.440 So we were supposed to be here anyway.

00:02:37.860 So this week was scheduled to be the last week of session.

00:02:41.820 And then you go into vacation.

00:02:43.400 So actually, vacation's not the right phrase for it.

00:02:46.320 So to be fair, look, nobody accuses politicians of working too much, but I will say that the

00:02:52.180 usual schedule of the Senate, like in any given week, any given month is typically you

00:02:57.160 have three weeks in session and one week that it's called like the state work period where

00:03:03.900 you're back in the state.

00:03:05.080 But if you're doing your job, you're on the road, you're traveling.

00:03:08.460 A state like Texas, you're traveling all over the place.

00:03:10.600 So when you're not in session, you're still working.

00:03:14.680 It's not exactly relaxing to be going all over the state.

00:03:17.660 So for the month of August, typically there are five weeks where you're not in session and

00:03:21.500 you plan all sorts of different, you plan trips, you plan events, you plan all sorts

00:03:26.720 of things.

00:03:27.060 Now in COVID, it's a little weird because scheduling anything is difficult.

00:03:30.840 One of the strange things about the Senate, so we don't know if there's going to be a

00:03:34.240 deal between the House and Senate.

00:03:35.660 We don't know what's going to happen.

00:03:36.940 This is specifically on a COVID stimulus relief package.

00:03:40.620 And so at this point, I think probably what will happen is most senators will go back

00:03:47.540 to their states next week.

00:03:49.020 Okay.

00:03:49.700 And what leadership has said is, well, if there's a deal cut, we'll give you 24 hours

00:03:53.620 notice and you come back.

00:03:54.500 You got to come back.

00:03:55.360 And it's.

00:03:56.740 So where does that stand?

00:03:58.260 Because I know there have been a lot of deals on the table.

00:04:01.360 Nancy Pelosi had one.

00:04:02.640 Then Mitch McConnell had one.

00:04:04.260 Then some Senate Republicans have disagreed with the Republican plan.

00:04:08.020 So who would do that?

00:04:08.920 I can't imagine.

00:04:09.880 What kind of rabble rousers? 1.00

00:04:11.420 Some guy from Texas.

00:04:12.620 There you go.

00:04:13.760 I would.

00:04:13.980 I would never.

00:04:15.560 What is, I mean, even before we get into the merits of it, just what is in those different

00:04:19.560 plans?

00:04:20.560 All right.

00:04:20.800 So Nancy Pelosi's is the biggest, and it's a bill that the House passed a couple of months

00:04:26.100 ago, and it's over $3 trillion, about $3.4 trillion.

00:04:30.540 What's $3 trillion between friends?

00:04:32.160 Look, even in federal government terms, that is a crap ton of money.

00:04:35.800 Yeah.

00:04:38.100 That was a bill, frankly, that she didn't negotiate with senators.

00:04:41.260 She didn't talk to Republicans.

00:04:43.620 She just passed it on a party line vote, and it's basically every gift she can give to

00:04:50.780 her party supporters.

00:04:53.740 It's intended to be a campaign document.

00:04:55.440 I mean, I saw one story that she had a handout to the marijuana industry to help cure COVID. 0.96

00:05:02.700 So the word marijuana appears more frequently in the Nancy Pelosi bill than does the word 0.93

00:05:08.180 jobs.

00:05:08.700 And I guess if you're high enough, you don't notice that you're unemployed and broke.

00:05:14.780 Who cares?

00:05:15.420 I mean, there is a certain kind of Nancy Pelosi sense to it.

00:05:21.720 Yeah, that's right.

00:05:23.720 You know, it is.

00:05:24.820 So that's one bill is the House version.

00:05:26.980 Doesn't sound great.

00:05:28.240 The Senate version that was drafted by Senate Republican leadership is only a trillion.

00:05:33.320 So it's really a bargain.

00:05:34.900 It's a steal.

00:05:35.240 I mean, it and unfortunately, it has many of the same elements.

00:05:41.020 It doesn't have all of the I mean, look, they threw into the Nancy Pelosi bill voting by mail.

00:05:46.700 They threw all these priorities have nothing to do with coronavirus.

00:05:49.060 But they figured, all right, let's make all our special interests happy.

00:05:53.380 The Senate version spends a trillion dollars.

00:05:57.380 So it sends everyone a twelve hundred dollar check again.

00:05:59.880 Does that does that again.

00:06:01.900 It re-ups the PPP, the Paycheck Protection Program.

00:06:05.220 So it spends more on that.

00:06:06.680 This is basically for businesses to keep people employed.

00:06:09.480 It sends about a hundred billion dollars to schools.

00:06:14.980 Now, mind you, many of the schools that are saying they're not going to open.

00:06:18.700 So it's not clear what they need.

00:06:19.620 A hundred billion dollars to not teach our kids.

00:06:22.360 Well, but the teachers unions still need money. 1.00

00:06:24.020 I it's and so there's all these different pockets of money.

00:06:27.940 And right now.

00:06:30.520 There are a couple of areas of disagreement.

00:06:32.140 One is just price tag.

00:06:33.060 The difference between one trillion and three point four trillion.

00:06:36.540 I've joked they're going to compromise and spend five.

00:06:39.320 Yeah, like like like that.

00:06:41.680 So is there an alternative to these these?

00:06:44.080 Well, as it so happens, I I rolled one out today and and and at the Senate lunch today,

00:06:50.060 I addressed my Republican colleagues and I said, look, my principal criticism with both

00:06:54.600 the Pelosi bill and the McConnell bill is not just the price tag.

00:06:58.340 I think the price takes too much, but but but it's a more fundamental concern, which is

00:07:03.620 neither of these bills are focused on jobs.

00:07:06.080 Yeah.

00:07:07.460 We've seen 51 million Americans lose their jobs in the last four months.

00:07:11.840 I mean, I mean, you and I in our lifetimes, that's never happened.

00:07:14.780 Last time we've had numbers like that with the Great Depression.

00:07:17.580 Yeah.

00:07:18.120 That that number is so huge.

00:07:20.180 And you've you know, every week it's ticked up from 20 to 30 to 51 million American workers.

00:07:27.120 It's staggering.

00:07:28.080 And so the most problematic aspect of the CARES Act and I look, I voted for the CARES Act.

00:07:36.540 It was 96 to nothing in the Senate.

00:07:38.260 So every Republican, every Democrat supported it.

00:07:41.420 I supported it.

00:07:42.140 Bernie Sanders supported it.

00:07:43.500 CARES Act is the first relief bill.

00:07:44.840 It's the first big one.

00:07:45.880 There were a couple of smaller ones, but the CARES Act was a big bill.

00:07:48.860 It had lots of elements, some that some that were pretty good, some that were not.

00:07:52.040 But the worst element was concerning unemployment compensation.

00:07:56.880 There is a federal plus up of six hundred dollars a week.

00:08:00.960 Now, what does that mean?

00:08:02.320 So we've had an unemployment compensation system for a long time where if you lose your job,

00:08:06.400 you can file for unemployment and you get a percentage of your wages typically.

00:08:10.680 And it's administered at the state level.

00:08:12.460 So you don't get 100 percent of your wages.

00:08:14.060 You typically get a much smaller percentage.

00:08:16.580 So it's designed to help you like make ends meet, but not be comfortable.

00:08:21.440 But, you know, it's not designed to be a permanent situation.

00:08:26.600 Well.

00:08:28.240 In the CARES Act, federal government plus that up six hundred bucks a week here in the state

00:08:32.960 of Texas, let me give you some specifics.

00:08:35.300 Used to be the maximum under unemployment was five hundred and twenty one dollars a week.

00:08:39.420 Yeah.

00:08:40.800 Add six hundred new federal dollars that takes it from five twenty one to eleven twenty one a

00:08:45.740 week.

00:08:46.580 Now, eleven twenty one a week that works out to about fifty eight thousand dollars a year.

00:08:51.740 That's about twenty eight dollars an hour.

00:08:54.400 Now, look, if you're if you're a doctor, if you're making a hundred bucks an hour, twenty

00:08:59.240 eight dollars an hour is not deeply attractive.

00:09:02.340 But if you're working in an hourly job, if you're working at a movie theater, if you work

00:09:07.380 at a bowling alley, if you're a waiter or a waitress and you're making nine, ten, eleven

00:09:11.320 bucks an hour, suddenly the government is paying you more.

00:09:16.280 And in a lot of instances, a lot more not to work than to work.

00:09:22.620 So why do they put that in the it seems to me they put that in the bill.

00:09:25.420 So I don't think it's a coincidence that it's an election year.

00:09:29.220 So look, shoveling money out of Washington is something the Democrats are good at.

00:09:34.100 Right.

00:09:34.880 And in this instance, I think it's the most cynical portion.

00:09:38.080 So in the in the Nancy Pelosi version, it just continues that six hundred dollar plus

00:09:41.840 up.

00:09:42.300 OK.

00:09:42.520 Just just keeps going and going and going.

00:09:44.380 And there's a reason for that.

00:09:46.180 I think Pelosi and Schumer have decided that the way they win in November is if 51 million

00:09:51.620 people are still unemployed, that their objective is shut the entire country down, shut every

00:09:56.760 business down, shut every school down and have everyone sitting at home alone and broke

00:10:03.500 and unemployed and pissed off and depressed and pessimistic about the future. 0.52

00:10:09.020 And I think they think, bingo, Joe Biden wins if that happens.

00:10:13.200 And so every bit of the of the Democratic bill is designed to make sure nobody goes back

00:10:18.160 to work.

00:10:18.680 They don't want anyone to go back to work.

00:10:20.580 Yeah. 0.99

00:10:21.240 Now, the stupid thing about the Republican bill is it has the same ideas. 1.00

00:10:26.360 It just spends less money. 0.99

00:10:27.520 I mean, we basically take Pelosi's agenda and say, well, we're going to be cheaper.

00:10:32.460 We'll do the same things.

00:10:34.520 Right.

00:10:34.800 We just won't fund it as well.

00:10:35.980 But and I urged Republican senators today, I said, look, in a battle to be Santa Claus, the

00:10:42.220 Dems will always outbid us.

00:10:43.580 There's there's no limit to how much money they will borrow.

00:10:46.220 So then and try to give away.

00:10:50.040 So here's what we ought to do instead.

00:10:51.320 Yeah.

00:10:52.580 Is we ought to bring jobs back, which means we ought to be cutting taxes, cutting regulations

00:10:58.780 from small businesses.

00:11:01.700 Millions of small businesses shut down during this crisis.

00:11:04.660 A lot of them are just starting to open, but they don't know if they're going to survive.

00:11:08.020 They're scared.

00:11:08.720 We ought to be cutting taxes, cutting regulations so that those small businesses can open and 0.54

00:11:14.120 they can rehire their employees and they can survive.

00:11:16.300 Yeah.

00:11:17.740 So I introduced a bill called the Recovery Act, and it is focused instead of just spending

00:11:24.340 cash.

00:11:25.620 It's focused on reducing taxes and reducing regulations to get people back at work.

00:11:29.600 So what are some of the elements of the Recovery Act?

00:11:33.660 Eliminating the payroll tax for the rest of the year.

00:11:35.620 That has an immediate effect of giving every worker in America a raise right now in your

00:11:41.900 next paycheck, you get a raise.

00:11:43.500 And it makes it doesn't it's not that it only gives the workers a raise.

00:11:47.280 It also incentivizes the employers who pay part of that to rehire their workers.

00:11:51.600 So half the payroll tax is paid by the employer, half is paid by the employer.

00:11:54.780 So it makes it less expensive for employers to have employees.

00:11:59.300 Yeah.

00:11:59.880 And the employees get a raise.

00:12:01.340 And that is an incentive then for people to go work.

00:12:05.860 It's an incentive for small businesses to hire employees.

00:12:09.420 But not only that, the Recovery Act also says for the next $10,000 you earn this year,

00:12:13.920 it's totally tax free.

00:12:15.940 No federal income tax.

00:12:17.840 Again, that's that's it's about a marginal incentive.

00:12:20.980 If you look at economics, you look at basic principles of economics.

00:12:23.960 What matters are the marginal incentives, the incentives on if you do X, what is your reward

00:12:31.100 or your detriment?

00:12:32.360 OK, it's funny because that that's a it's a technical point you're making.

00:12:36.920 So I want to make sure we're getting it right because it seems so simple, you know, in the

00:12:40.380 Democrat bill or I guess even in the Republican leadership bill, it's just about tossing money

00:12:45.040 out.

00:12:45.380 Whereas here it's very simple just on the margins.

00:12:47.960 If you want to see an action, you need to incentivize that action.

00:12:53.520 If you want more work, you want more jobs, you want to incentivize more work and more

00:12:58.220 jobs, make it more profitable for employees and for employers to have more work and more

00:13:02.240 jobs.

00:13:03.080 And look, I've said a bunch of times, you know, the little book, Everything We Need

00:13:07.260 to Know in Life, We Learned in Kindergarten.

00:13:08.840 Yeah.

00:13:08.980 We know that we know that our homeowner with our family, if you want if you want your kids

00:13:16.700 to to do the dishes, you say, I'll give you five bucks to do the dishes like that. 0.83

00:13:22.300 We understand that candy or whatever, I mean, it's whether it's carrot or stick.

00:13:26.880 Right.

00:13:27.820 What the Democrats are doing is incentivizing not working to give you.

00:13:32.360 I mean, the stats are amazing right now.

00:13:34.200 68 percent of the people receiving these unemployment benefits are making more from unemployment

00:13:40.200 than they were making their jobs.

00:13:42.140 20 percent are making twice as much.

00:13:46.620 And, you know, when we when we passed the CARES Act, we actually had a Republican amendment

00:13:49.800 at the time, very reasonable, common sense amendment that said simply capped unemployment

00:13:54.640 benefits at whatever you're whatever you're making.

00:13:56.780 Yeah.

00:13:57.040 Just said you shouldn't make more on unemployment.

00:13:59.660 It shouldn't be more profitable than working.

00:14:01.640 Right.

00:14:01.900 Even that has significant disincentives to work.

00:14:04.680 But we said, OK, look, at a basic minimum, let's not pay people more not to sit at home.

00:14:09.220 Yeah.

00:14:10.280 We had a big debate on the Senate floor.

00:14:12.140 So Dick Durbin, who's really one of the smartest and most capable Democrats.

00:14:16.080 OK.

00:14:16.980 He he is a worthy adversary and he and I have debated many issues many times.

00:14:23.580 He's on Senate Judiciary with me and we go around and around a lot.

00:14:26.180 You know, it's interesting because I pay attention to the Republican senators much more than to the

00:14:31.460 Democrats.

00:14:32.020 There there are some who seem not particularly impressive.

00:14:35.580 You're saying Dick Durbin is is one of the more Durbin's a smart guy.

00:14:39.900 And one of the things that's that he's good at is he sounds quite reasonable.

00:14:44.140 He doesn't sound as shrill as some of his colleagues.

00:14:46.780 He is, but he doesn't sound it.

00:14:49.360 And that makes him more effective.

00:14:50.920 So he was down there and I was making this argument on the Senate floor and he came back

00:14:55.440 and he said, you know, that just shows the problem with Cruz. 0.99

00:14:59.460 Cruz thinks that the people who've lost their jobs are lazy jerks that just want to sit on 1.00

00:15:05.080 the sofa and don't want to work. 0.99

00:15:06.960 And he's insulting every person who's lost their job in this crisis.

00:15:10.060 Is that what you said?

00:15:10.780 I must have missed that.

00:15:12.040 Well, and it actually was a great illustration of the argument back and forth of a lot of

00:15:16.760 the differences between Democrats and Republicans, because Durbin was doing what demagogues do

00:15:21.840 often, which is which is turning it into a morality play where you're saying that these

00:15:27.320 people are bad and evil and shiftless.

00:15:31.040 And I actually got up and responded.

00:15:32.900 I said, no, I'm actually saying exactly the opposite, which is people are rational.

00:15:36.900 Yeah.

00:15:37.160 And they respond to incentives.

00:15:38.680 And we need to think about what those incentives are.

00:15:40.880 And I said, you know what?

00:15:41.540 If you're a single mom and you, let's say you're waiting tables and suddenly the government

00:15:48.260 pays you twice as much money to stay home, you love your kids.

00:15:52.380 So you're going to respond to that incentive.

00:15:53.940 Of course you are.

00:15:54.620 And it's not that you're, it's not that you're lazy.

00:15:56.520 It's like, if you tell anyone I'm going to pay you twice as much to do X than Y, most

00:16:01.500 people will say, all right, I'll do X.

00:16:02.740 Yeah.

00:16:03.220 But that's not helping those individuals.

00:16:07.240 It's not helping the small businesses.

00:16:08.640 It's not helping the economy.

00:16:09.900 But I think Pelosi and Schumer are fine with that because they don't want anyone to work

00:16:14.440 right now.

00:16:14.920 They want everything shut down.

00:16:17.040 Right.

00:16:17.300 I want to mention a couple of other elements in the Recovery Act that are important.

00:16:21.960 Health savings accounts.

00:16:23.560 Oh, great.

00:16:24.040 So really important part of health care reform, tax advantaged account that you could save

00:16:28.720 to pay health care costs.

00:16:30.740 Here's the problem.

00:16:31.480 Federal law makes it illegal for anyone to have a health savings account unless they have

00:16:36.460 a high deductible insurance policy.

00:16:38.680 And most people don't.

00:16:40.340 So the overwhelming majority of Americans are not allowed to have health savings accounts.

00:16:43.920 So one of the things I have in the Recovery Act, every American can have a health savings

00:16:47.140 account.

00:16:48.580 And that lets you, look, it's a time of pandemic.

00:16:52.220 People are worried about health care for their family.

00:16:54.000 It lets them have, save for health care in a way that is tax advantaged to meet their needs.

00:17:00.700 I have a health savings account.

00:17:02.000 I love it.

00:17:02.500 It's great.

00:17:03.180 Most Americans are not allowed to.

00:17:04.600 And we can change that.

00:17:05.640 Yeah.

00:17:05.740 Um, school choice.

00:17:07.400 As you know, I'm passionate about it.

00:17:09.420 I have legislation that, that, that provides that, that you get a federal tax credit for

00:17:15.540 contributions to scholarship granting organizations in K through 12 education.

00:17:20.760 Yeah.

00:17:20.960 That massively expands choice for parents, particularly for parents.

00:17:24.700 Like if you're sitting there and your school is not teaching, you ought to be, have the choices

00:17:28.760 to find something else to teach your kids.

00:17:30.460 Right.

00:17:31.220 Um, these are policies that are pro growth, pro jobs that, that are consistent with conservative

00:17:37.140 principles.

00:17:37.520 And actually to be fair, the school choice proposal that I have is right now in Mitch McConnell's

00:17:42.000 bill.

00:17:42.320 So that's an element.

00:17:43.440 He took my legislation and included it.

00:17:46.440 Now I'll confess, I'm quite worried.

00:17:48.620 The teachers unions hate my bill.

00:17:50.740 So I'm quite worried that the Democrats, if there is a deal, we'll say hell no.

00:17:55.320 And that leadership will negotiate it away that it's basically trade bait.

00:17:58.540 So they're including it, but they aren't going to fight it, fight for it.

00:18:02.440 Right.

00:18:03.180 So, but that would be a very important reform.

00:18:06.180 Right.

00:18:06.280 Even the fact that that exists, right.

00:18:08.900 There are provisions of these bills that are just there to use as leverage when you're

00:18:13.600 negotiating with the other side.

00:18:15.220 Sometimes, certainly.

00:18:16.280 Yeah.

00:18:16.560 So you'll, you'll be, you'll either go home or you'll stick around here, but eventually

00:18:21.840 the Senate will have to come in and vote on this and we'll see what's in the final package.

00:18:25.420 Well, maybe there may not be a deal.

00:18:27.040 Really?

00:18:27.500 Um, I don't know.

00:18:28.900 I'm not convinced Nancy Pelosi wants a deal. 0.53

00:18:31.180 Hmm.

00:18:31.820 Um, it's, I think they've made the decision.

00:18:36.260 They may have made the decision, do no deal insists on give us everything.

00:18:43.760 Even as bad as Republicans are like surrendering a hundred percent is too big an ask.

00:18:50.380 And I think the Democrats may have made the political judgment.

00:18:54.060 We'll blame it all on them.

00:18:55.200 We'll make it really tough until the election for the country.

00:18:58.120 And then they think they're going to win if that's the case.

00:19:01.500 If everyone is at home and broke.

00:19:03.820 Yeah.

00:19:04.020 Um, that's how you have a terrible election.

00:19:06.680 And, and what I'm urging the president when I'm urging Republicans is look, I get when

00:19:11.980 Nancy Pelosi wants that. 1.00

00:19:13.360 Yeah.

00:19:13.460 I understand the political self-interest.

00:19:15.200 It's cynical.

00:19:15.900 It's, it's, it hurts millions of Americans, but I understand why she's doing it.

00:19:20.100 Why would Republicans be complicit in that though?

00:19:22.220 Like, like, are we, are we lemmings?

00:19:24.780 Are we all rushing off the same cliff going?

00:19:26.840 Yes, please let's crash on the rocks below.

00:19:29.460 What, what, what's up with that?

00:19:30.580 Well, unfortunately, I think certainly for some people that that's exactly what they're

00:19:34.520 doing.

00:19:34.980 But by the way, did you ever read, uh, Douglas Adams, uh, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

00:19:40.400 I actually never have, albeit a classic.

00:19:43.340 All right.

00:19:43.580 Just for the record, that makes me far geekier than you.

00:19:46.280 I wasn't going to say it.

00:19:47.840 But okay.

00:19:48.440 So it's three series.

00:19:50.360 The second one is Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

00:19:52.980 Yeah.

00:19:53.440 And, uh, there is a scene when, when, if I'm remembering right, although I haven't read

00:19:56.960 this in 30 years, but if I'm remembering right, there's a scene where,

00:20:00.560 they're sitting at the restaurant and, and up to the table walks a creature that identifies

00:20:05.560 this creature has been bred, uh, with a, something that talks and a cow and a lemming.

00:20:13.760 So it's able to speak and it's suicidal.

00:20:15.860 And it walks up and says, so I'm for dinner tonight.

00:20:18.540 And let me tell you, my, so my hindquarters are very, very tender and I've been, and like

00:20:22.660 your dinner discusses with you, which portion of the, of the dinner to be served.

00:20:26.740 And so it just with the lemming example, it, uh, that's an image of the Republican party, 0.95

00:20:30.940 perhaps sometimes a little bit, we're walking up going, uh, okay, so which, you know, here's

00:20:36.140 where you should go after us.

00:20:37.380 Here's a, yeah, that's sad, but unfortunately I think it's true.

00:20:40.440 And by the way, comedy is incredibly potent.

00:20:43.980 Yeah.

00:20:44.820 Especially because the left has destroyed comedy.

00:20:47.820 Yeah.

00:20:48.080 Right.

00:20:48.620 Right.

00:20:48.780 Like, like you and I were talking last night.

00:20:50.900 I love Saturday Night Live.

00:20:52.200 I grew up watching Saturday Night Live.

00:20:53.840 Oh yeah.

00:20:54.500 There are, there are some great eras of that show.

00:20:56.660 It, it, it is.

00:20:58.060 Have you watched young Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live when he's like 19 years old and

00:21:02.820 just such a talent?

00:21:04.540 Yeah.

00:21:04.980 And, and by the way, SNL on comedy has been spectacular, but it's not funny anymore.

00:21:11.080 Yeah.

00:21:11.380 Because their only script is we hate Donald Trump.

00:21:15.180 It's just a, it's a screed and it's like, okay, fine.

00:21:18.500 Look, are there jokes to tell about Donald Trump?

00:21:20.420 Sure.

00:21:20.860 One or two.

00:21:21.560 Yeah.

00:21:22.200 But when it all just becomes.

00:21:24.680 Right.

00:21:25.740 Rage.

00:21:26.320 Yeah.

00:21:27.160 Or, you know, after, after Hillary lost, they had that nauseating sketch where they, they're

00:21:32.560 playing Hallelujah on the piano and just crying and it was, oh, it was.

00:21:37.540 Where's the humor coming in?

00:21:38.700 I don't.

00:21:39.340 You look at the late night hosts.

00:21:41.680 I mean, I love listening to, you know, Johnny Carson and Leno and, and, and actually I like

00:21:48.800 jokes at my expense.

00:21:50.520 I laugh at them.

00:21:51.380 I mean, the late night hosts are not, the one exception I would say is, is Jimmy Fallon.

00:21:56.240 Jimmy Fallon tries to be more even handed.

00:21:58.780 He's a little, little more old school about the job.

00:22:00.660 But, you know, Colbert is just a, a.

00:22:04.040 Unwatchable.

00:22:04.780 It is liberal id.

00:22:07.200 Yeah.

00:22:07.360 Raging and how about just be funny again.

00:22:11.100 Yeah.

00:22:11.320 And so what that means though, is there's a huge space for humor.

00:22:15.340 Yeah.

00:22:15.540 That's not Marxist.

00:22:19.120 Like that's just not woke.

00:22:20.720 Yeah.

00:22:21.340 You know, on the topic of humor, we got a compliment from R.D. who says, first of all, both of

00:22:26.280 your timely humor has gotten me through the insanity of 2020.

00:22:29.780 Thank you, R.D.

00:22:30.460 Appreciate it.

00:22:31.380 Seriously, it's the best.

00:22:32.140 You need to work on your timeliness there.

00:22:33.560 I know.

00:22:33.960 That was not timely.

00:22:34.840 That was not at all timely.

00:22:36.140 When Trump wins.

00:22:38.240 I like the confidence there.

00:22:39.200 When Trump wins.

00:22:40.440 Do you see absolute chaos in the big cities occurring again?

00:22:44.300 Is anyone preparing?

00:22:46.520 I have guns.

00:22:47.400 Don't worry about me.

00:22:48.540 Just don't like seeing America burn.

00:22:51.820 You know, there's, there's a Freudian concept of projection that, that what you're doing,

00:22:58.740 you accuse others of doing.

00:23:00.380 Have you noticed all the Dems and all the media saying, what if Trump doesn't accept the

00:23:05.120 results of the election?

00:23:06.980 I have noticed that.

00:23:09.020 They still haven't admitted who won 2016.

00:23:11.840 They haven't admitted who won 2000 for that matter.

00:23:14.020 Well, there is that. 0.90

00:23:15.120 And, and, and by the way, Stacey Abrams is a damn fine governor of Georgia. 1.00

00:23:18.520 She's doing a great job. 0.59

00:23:19.120 Like they're literally in just this alternative reality where, where, where it, did you see,

00:23:24.400 what was it?

00:23:24.880 There was a, so I only read the headlines, so I may get the details wrong, but yeah, it's

00:23:29.440 close enough for government war.

00:23:31.040 Yeah.

00:23:32.580 I guess they were doing political war games where they had John Podesta, who was the chairman

00:23:39.080 of Hillary's campaign.

00:23:40.880 This was in the New York Times.

00:23:41.880 Who was playing Joe Biden and in the war game refused to accept the outcome of the election.

00:23:47.860 And, and they had them like, what was it?

00:23:50.480 California, Oregon, and Washington seceding from the union.

00:23:53.660 Yeah.

00:23:54.200 Because Biden lost.

00:23:55.580 Well, you know, the, when they introduced this scenario, which, you know, who am I to

00:24:00.260 doubt the mainstream media?

00:24:01.200 They said, John Podesta, they expected in this war game for him to concede on election

00:24:06.380 night, just as he did in 2016 on behalf of Hillary, but he didn't.

00:24:11.160 People forget this.

00:24:12.100 He didn't concede on election night on behalf of Hillary.

00:24:14.180 He came out and he said, we'll wait to see what the results are.

00:24:19.180 And by the way, why didn't Hillary speak that night? 1.00

00:24:21.120 She, I think she was probably a little upset in whatever hotel room she was waiting in. 1.00

00:24:26.680 Do you know of any other campaign where the, the candidate doesn't speak?

00:24:30.500 Where you send out, I mean, that's weird.

00:24:32.280 Let me just like, for the record.

00:24:34.560 John Podesta's exact words were, you know, Hillary, you know, Hillary's here.

00:24:38.980 She thanks you so much for being here for her because she's always here for you.

00:24:42.780 And my thought at the time, I said, except right now, when it's most important for her

00:24:47.060 to show up on stage, she refused to do it.

00:24:49.040 Where was she?

00:24:50.180 Listen, I, I have been in campaigns where I won.

00:24:53.560 I've been campaigns where I lost, by the way, winning is much better.

00:24:56.060 I've heard that.

00:24:56.560 Not even close.

00:24:58.100 But, you know, in every instance, an election night, you come out and talk to the people

00:25:01.420 like, like, that's a pretty basic, like social compact.

00:25:04.640 But, so if Trump wins re-election, which I hope he will, I think he will, but I think

00:25:13.380 it's very volatile.

00:25:14.120 I'm worried about this election.

00:25:15.920 I agree.

00:25:16.640 If Trump wins re-election, I think the left will go in paroxysms of part of how they've

00:25:24.780 rationalized the last three and a half years is they view it as a crazy fluke.

00:25:28.640 Yeah.

00:25:29.460 And their resolve never to let it again.

00:25:31.420 But, but their rage, I, I think they lose their minds if he wins.

00:25:38.940 And I, look, I, do you see more violence from them?

00:25:41.840 Probably we're seeing violence now.

00:25:43.480 I, it, I see, I see it as an implicit threat when, when you have very prominent democratic

00:25:49.040 politicians, including Joe Biden, who've said, we can't take four more years of this.

00:25:52.960 They're referring to the left-wing violence in the streets.

00:25:56.240 That sounds a little bit like a threat to me.

00:25:58.960 There's reason to be worried.

00:26:00.040 There's reason to be worried.

00:26:01.780 I was hoping you'd make us feel so much better about, but, but, you know, the reality of

00:26:05.300 it is there's reason to be worried.

00:26:06.860 And here's the reason to feel better.

00:26:08.960 Yeah.

00:26:09.120 Truth prevails over time.

00:26:10.620 Hmm.

00:26:11.200 Right.

00:26:11.560 Look, I am an optimist through and through, and I believe that, you know, you and I, a

00:26:16.640 couple of weeks ago, we were out in LA and we did a bunch of pods and radio shows.

00:26:19.620 Yeah.

00:26:20.180 One of the most interesting is you and I together did Dennis Prager's show.

00:26:23.800 Yeah.

00:26:23.960 Now, Dennis is so brilliant.

00:26:26.340 Oh, yeah.

00:26:26.580 He's so encyclopedic.

00:26:27.920 Um, I got to say, by the way, as an interesting observation, doing the podcast has spoiled

00:26:35.200 me.

00:26:35.740 Yes, I know.

00:26:36.780 Because the radio format, you had just these little snippets of four or five minutes and

00:26:40.920 then you broke for a commercial.

00:26:42.120 And I was like, what, what do you mean?

00:26:43.140 For five or six minutes of commercial.

00:26:44.580 And then it goes, yes, I know.

00:26:45.140 But it was just, I.

00:26:46.600 You can't, you can't get into it as much.

00:26:48.160 I've done a ton of radio before and I had never really noticed it until we've done podcasts

00:26:53.200 where if you don't talk about an issue, you talk about an issue.

00:26:55.220 Yeah.

00:26:55.680 But Dennis and I, and I think the world of Dennis, but we had actually a substantive disagreement

00:27:01.560 where I made a reference.

00:27:03.800 I said, um, I agree with, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

00:27:09.620 That, that, that the, the arc of history bends towards justice.

00:27:12.840 Yeah.

00:27:13.860 And Dennis said, well, I don't think that at all.

00:27:15.940 Actually, hold on, Michael does a great Dennis Prager impression.

00:27:18.500 So he says, so give me Dennis.

00:27:19.740 Now, Senator, I, I hear you, but I disagree.

00:27:24.420 I do not believe the arc of history bends toward justice.

00:27:29.960 That's strong.

00:27:30.840 I need a little more size, a little more height.

00:27:33.220 So he said, and he came back and he said, well, where was the arc of history in 1939, Germany?

00:27:41.220 Yeah.

00:27:41.680 And he said, where was the arc of history in, in the Soviet gulags?

00:27:45.640 Yeah.

00:27:46.420 And I actually came back, he had said earlier in the interview, he said, well, well, you

00:27:49.820 know, Ted, disagree with me if, if, if you want to.

00:27:51.900 And I said, well, actually, Dennis, I'm going to come disagree with you on that.

00:27:54.400 Yeah.

00:27:55.180 Um, you asked, where was the arc of history in 1939, Germany?

00:27:59.940 It was on those stark cliffs.

00:28:04.120 Yeah.

00:28:04.400 When our boys scaled the impossible heights and led the world in defeating the Nazi menace

00:28:11.920 and freeing the globe.

00:28:14.220 Right.

00:28:14.460 From that evil.

00:28:15.520 Where was the arc of history in, in Solzhenitsyn's gulag in the hell hole that was there?

00:28:21.800 It was standing before the Brandenburg gate when Ronald Reagan said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear

00:28:26.280 down this wall.

00:28:27.140 Yeah.

00:28:27.240 And, and, and I believe, look, truth doesn't win every skirmish.

00:28:32.920 It doesn't win any, every battle.

00:28:34.460 It doesn't guarantee the result in this election.

00:28:39.340 Yeah.

00:28:39.520 And if Biden and Schumer and Pelosi win this election, we will go through a dark couple

00:28:45.920 of years of some terrible policies.

00:28:48.120 Yeah.

00:28:49.340 But I believe over time, truth prevails.

00:28:52.880 Yeah.

00:28:53.080 And so that's a reason to be optimistic.

00:28:55.200 And there is just in a very basic Christian sense, you know, there is a happy ending to

00:28:59.640 this story.

00:29:00.660 Trouble is things can get very dark before you arrive at that happy ending, but I suppose

00:29:05.080 we'll just have to wait and see in the meantime, Senator, that's all the time we have.

00:29:08.760 I'm Michael Knowles.

00:29:09.560 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:29:18.680 This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom, and Security

00:29:24.060 PAC, a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations,

00:29:29.520 and candidates across the country.

00:29:31.540 In 2022, Jobs, Freedom, and Security PAC plans to donate to conservative candidates running for

00:29:37.160 Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.

00:29:41.120 This is an iHeart Podcast.

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - August 15, 2020

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