Cost Of CMS Investigation, Why We Need To Be A Republic, Faith Focus Friday

What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less, with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota. Let's go places. Good morning. Welcome. Welcome to the Vince Coakley Radio program and happy Friday. Thank goodness. It is here as we head into another exciting weekend. Hopefully so. As we continue our conversations here on 1 of 7.9 FM, WBT Charlotte's FM News Talk, a lot to talk about during the course of the broadcast today, just a preview of some of what we will delve into beyond the things in this community. I'm going to talk today a little bit about why we need a republic. I'm going to give an example of something very bad that's going on. And I'm also going to give an example of someone who is trying to restore healthy foundations to the country. It's a story that's probably not going to get very much attention at all. In fact, I can guarantee you it's going to be buried. We will talk about that a little bit later on. As you probably have heard, major activity going on in the war between Ukraine and Russia, I'm sure. Vladimir Putin is looking at the situation with Ukraine and just thinking, can't this country just die already? They keep coming back and doing some extraordinary things. I mean, who would have thought this war would be dragging on? And this would be measured not in weeks, as was predicted, but really in years. And it's still not over. We will talk about that. The latest developments on Iran as well. Unfortunately, it's kind of a broken record. I think I'm sick of it. You're sick of it. Everybody's sick of it. I want to also go back in history. I came across a very interesting social media site. And this social media site, in fact, Where did I see the front of this? Because I was just really encouraged to see, oh, it's called manipulated history. Manipulated history. We're going to give you some insight on why Iran is behaving as it is. We don't go back in history. with someone who got rid of all of his WMD. All of it. How did it work out for him? I can guarantee Iran is watching events now in light of what happened with this particular person.

Those of you who are really sharp are probably going to figure out who I am talking about. That's coming up a little bit later on in the broadcast. As always, your calls welcome 704570-70-1079. I want to begin. The Observer has an interesting story about the money that you and I will pay. Yes, we will pay this money outside attorneys to investigate Superintendent Crystal Hill. The cost, according to the headline, at least $275 an hour. Just as an aside, these are the kinds of things that happen when you create these big systems. And relationship is blown to hell. You know, and I know there are people looking at, you know, Vince, you come on. These, the days that you're talking about are long gone of knowing people and having connection in the community. They don't have to be gone. This is why you keep things as local as possible and as small as possible. This is why you don't create these big, behemoth monstrosities of bureaucracies. Because then you have to hire a bunch of lawyers and consultants to try to diagnose things and then fix them. So CMS is going to pay outside attorneys $275 an hour to investigate Crystal Hill. The records released Thursday in response to a public records request, offer the first detailed look at how the school board's handling the investigation that led it to place Hill unpaid leave last week. Brooks Pierce will conduct what the agreement describes as a confidential privileged investigation related to an employment matter. The contract also authorizes public relations consultants to assist with a matter of rates up to $450 an hour. Wonderful, isn't it? Board Chair Stephanie Stee telling the observer last week she expects the investigation to take at least several weeks. I wonder how many hours this will accumulate over that time. She said the district's paying the firm by the hour did not know what the total cost is going to be. The law firm noted in the contract, it's $275 per hour. Rate is a substantial discount. Isn't that wonderful from its regular rates? And it's being offered to CMS. as a North Carolina Board of Education. The contract also authorizes Brooks Pierce to retain Fitzpatrick Communications to provide public relations counsel in connection with the investigation. Under the agreement, Communications Consultant Joyce Fitzpatrick will bill $450 per hour, while consultant Robert Brown will bill $350 per hour. Got all these numbers down to $275. 450 270 I mean just come on the contract states those communication services are intended to inform the firm's legal advice the agreement does not include an estimate for the total costs the contract effective May 18th a few weeks before the board announced till been placed on paid leave pending an investigation into what is described as matters involving administrative and operational oversight

And while the law firm's letter sheds light in how the investigation will be conducted, it offers little insight into what prompted it. Rather than describing specific allegations, the contract states Brooks Pierce was retained to provide legal advice, counsel, and confidential investigation related to an employment matter. Board Chair Stephanie Steed telling the Charlotte Observer the allegations against Hill were serious enough to warrant an independent investigation by outside counsel, but stressed the board has not reached any conclusions and is not pursuing a predetermined outcome. Meanwhile, Hill has defended her records saying she's saddened by the board's actions but will fully cooperate with the investigation. The agreement also makes clear the board intended the investigation to be conducted under attorney-client privilege. However, Brooks Pierce caution investigations performed by outside counsel are not always protected and said that some materials could ultimately be subject to disclosure under state law or court order. So there you go. As this investigation continues, the numbers will add up by the hour as consultants do their thing to figure out what exactly happened under the leadership of Superintendent Crystal Hill. But you would like to know. As we continue our broadcast, the Vince Coakley radio program, again, another reminder. It's time to break this system up. Just break it up. 704-5-7-011. I did it again. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less, with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Still to come on the Vince Coakley Radio program, you are absolutely going to appreciate Faith Focus Friday. We have a couple of items from, I would say, two female giants in the faith. These are messages. very short messages that may change your life. You do not want to miss them coming up in the next hour to female giants in the faith with some things they've communicated that can change your life radically. It's coming up here on the Vince Coakley radio program.

First, a reminder of what's taking place a week from tomorrow. WBT, celebrating 250 years of freedom and 50 years of WBT Sky Show. Join us Saturday, July 4th, Tourist Field and Uptown Charlotte. And it better not be raining like this. Man, is that ring coming down? Charlotte Symphony will present a musical tribute to America, followed by the biggest and the best fireworks show in the Southeast, the 50th anniversary WBT Sky Show, presented by Rhino Shield. Saturday, July 4th at Truistfield, visit WBT.com for tickets and for event details. Over on that WBT text line, driven by Liberty, Buick GMC, without revealing... What Jeff had to say, I will tell you, Jeff has figured out who I'm going to talk about, the country that Iran is probably observed and figured out we're not going to buckle on this nuclear material issue. It didn't work well for another country. Why should we trust America? Terry writes in on the CMS investigation. Is this hourly rate per investigator? Let's say four are working at one time. That would make the rate $1,100 per hour. I think that would be correct. It's crazy, isn't it? My goodness. Floyd says CMS is completely broken. They hire unqualified people and have to spend money like a drunken sailor. And that's probably an insult to drunken sailors, who probably have more sense, to be honest with you. Vince, why do they need a PR consultant when they have their own marketing department run by one of those $200,000 a year chiefs? Don't worry, it's just money. It's just money. Dean writes, St. Venture, frequent flyer. I just heard a survey on disgusting passenger habits. I have faith that you have none of them. It appears fuselages are a breeding ground for confrontations and unsanitary conditions. Should I just stay home? No, don't stay home, team. These are very rare, and it's a good thing that it's rare. Some of these things are just, I have to tell you one of those things. You talk about disgusting passenger habits. Someone posted a picture the other day. You know how, you know, the tray tables that come down from the back of the seat, someone had a little dog sitting on one of those tray tables. And the person posted a, And some of you eat off of those trays. When I saw that picture, I just thought, oh my gosh. That's not anything I ever would have thought somebody would do is put a little dog on that table. I mean, that's just a heads up. Oh, boy. Debbie writes in.

This is all about pride. School system stopped serving the children first a long time ago in order to serve themselves. Debbie, I'm going to share the rest of your text, but you have summed up. Really, what's wrong with the entire government school system? It's riddled with this. She goes on. It's all about accolades and money. Kids happen to get educated along the way, then it's all good. I'm not talking about individual teachers, although many go to teaching for a state pension, not because they have a calling or they're doing five years to pay off college tuition. It's a mess because of bureaucracy, just like you stated, bureaucracy has no empathy for local individual children. Schools need to truly be neighborhood schools. Many homeschool co-ops achieve this kind of community. that's necessary to really learn. And I can testify to that. I know that very well from our own family, having participated in homeschool co-ops. They are absolutely wonderful. David says, meanwhile, CMS will not even reimburse my wife who's a teacher for basic expenses of doing her job. Well, why would they do that, David? I don't care about it. your wife we do care about the bigwigs you know we've got to make sure we bring a name with all kinds of letters behind their name so we can show how prestigious and how smart and brilliant we are just it's crap the end of the day and you might be able to find school children who could do a better job making choices about personnel You know, you really, you know a great way, I've got it figured out. Do you know a great way to choose some of these leaders for certain positions? How about the canine test? Did you know dogs are great judges of character? Let the dog sniff them. And if the dog doesn't like them, get rid of them.

Yeah. And Chuck is getting a good laugh out of the conversation we've had about animals during the past few minutes. So glad that was entertaining. I want to set the table for... A discussion about why we need a republic. You hear Democrats talk a lot about democracy, democracy, democracy. We could do a montage, and we could probably, for all day, you could listen to Democrats who have talked about the importance of preserving democracy. I'm glad we don't have a democracy, although we are very rapidly. dismantling a republic and turning into a democracy. Why is this distinction so important? Well, we have a constitutional republic, and there are certain things in our Bill of Rights that no amount of consensus from people can change, and this is really important. People are not trustworthy. Can I repeat that again? People are not trustworthy. And especially government is not trustworthy. This is why we have the Bill of Rights. Because there are certain things that need to be engraved in stone. So no matter how many people, what percentage of people come to certain opinions on certain things, they can never bully the rest of the people into doing something that's going to violate someone else's rights. This is where democracy becomes dangerous. What you end up with is a mob. I can give an extreme example and say a perfect example of democracy is the crucifixion of Jesus. Isn't it interesting? One day he's hailed as just this wonderful person. The next day, what are the shouts from the people? Crucify him, crucify him. This is what people do. They turn on a dime. Do process be damned. This is why you need certain pillars, certain foundations that are not movable. Otherwise, who knows where we're going to go? And I'm saying, see, I want this understood about me. I don't trust my own heart. I trust the heart of Jesus. And I trust him living in me. This is why I love the, in fact, I need to find it because I'm not sure I finished reading it. But there's a book that I was reading. I have a bad habit of this. Those for you who listen to this broadcast know this, the ADHD person that I am. But it's a book about the history of this country and how it came about. And it talked about all of the history of this country and how it came about. And it talked about all of the ideologies.

that preceded the United States of America and why what we did was so unique and so special. See, and people don't understand that. And I told you before, foreigners, immigrants understand that. Most of them coming into this country, they get it. There's something different about this country. And these nitwits going around talking about democracy, they will destroy this country. if they get the opportunity. We're going to talk about the latest circus act that they are propping up as we continue the broadcast. But I'll also tell you about a very healthy effort underway, which probably won't get much traction. But I'm going to highlight it anyway, because this man is a real hero. Back on the broadcast, the Vince Coakley Radio program, eight minutes before 11 o'clock. It's got to a call from Scott. Good morning, welcome, Scott. Good morning, sir. How are you doing this fun, Leslie Rainy Day? Doing well, doing well, sir. I got a test that we can use for politicians and everybody else. You probably don't remember, but a couple years ago, I said something about the little...

I'm just a bill and stuff like that. Yes. Talking about Schoolhouse Rock. Yes, sir. Schoolhouse Rock. Plus, Mary Medley's had a thing about the carpenter and the alms. That's how it's supposed to be for as working together. Mm-hmm. And we need more schoolhouse rock and the old school teaching how... to do it by cartoons. Because, Lord of mercy, these kids today ain't got a clue one. Oh, my gosh. And, you know, part of what's missing is the element of home training, and a lot of this relates to character, Scott. This is where we've kind of gotten off, gone off the rails. We've gone the wrong way, and we're going down fast. Yep. You know, we need to bring back those. cartoons and stuff while that stuff do you see do you see any hopeful signs got at all that that there are more people like you that are beginning to raise this question um i got a i got a few friends like this but hope ain't going to have hope hope ain't going to get it done unless we get everybody involved with jesus Boy, you've said a mouthful there, Scott. Hey, very much appreciate your call because that's what's needed more than anything is our hearts being transformed. That's what has to take place here. Over on that text line, reality of all these new socialists is they don't even know what socialism actually is. I have a very definite. definition for over a hundred years all of these johnny come lately socialists think socialism is merely i get free stuff and somebody else pays for it yep and on democracy you are so right it's been said before but worth repeating democracy is merely two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner that's how it works Robert would like to know why CMS has to seek outside firms. Don't they have accountants and legal people to accomplish this? Well, you have to have someone outside to have some objectivity. Vince, one of my greatest frustrations has been learning how carefully and intentionally the founders established our country to avoid specific problems that lead to the collapse of previous systems. How current politicians are both sides and a significant portion of the population are hellbent on removing those wise foundations. You are right. That's, you know, I can't remember if this is a proverb. But.

A lot of people, they want to remove certain monuments. And they don't even understand what those monuments are for. I'm not talking about, I'm just describing this as an example of what happens with people when they do not grasp what the pillars are there for. They're there for. The protection of all of us. Alan says bring back Captain Kangaroo and the banana splits too. I'm not familiar with the banana splits. But I do remember Captain Kangaroo used to watch that growing up on CBS. Wow. I'm... obviously dating myself here still to come to the broadcast we have faith focus friday wisdom from a couple of very wise women i think you are going to appreciate these two very short items that can be a real blessing to you also coming up we'll talk about war with russia with ukraine with iran and The country that Iran has probably observed and decided, no, thank you. We're not going to go down the same road as that particular country. I just read something else that I put in my collection for next week about this country and its demise. I think this country is still a mess after we interfered. You know, I am really at the place where I'm ready to declare certain people war criminals. I'll give you a big hint. H.R.C. Hour number two. Straight ahead.

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to our number two of the Vince Coakley radio program. It's amazing. I'm already starting a collection of things to discuss with you in the coming week. Ah, man. And, wow. I'm just saying, wow, something I was just viewing that has gotten me stirred up this morning. Still to come, we're going to talk about war on two fronts, Ukraine and Russia, also Iran, and the United States will also talk about A lesson that is to be learned from one country that did everything it was supposed to do, and it didn't turn out well. That is coming up. First, Faith Focus Friday. The wisdom of two very wise ladies in the faith. And what I like about these items is they're very brief, but they really pack a punch. Let's start with this one. Corey Tinboom. She said to forgive is to set a prisoner free. Do you want to take a wild guess as to who that prisoner is? Well, here's the rest of the quote. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you. Wow, isn't that powerful? To forgive is to set a prisoner free. Discover the prisoner with you. I talk to people all the time and they have this idea in their heads. Well, I'm not going to let that person off. Well, guess what? You're not letting yourself off because you're the one who's carrying around this weight of bitterness, unforgiveness. And one of the warnings in scripture is about the danger of having a root of bitterness that springs up and defiles many. How does this happen? Well, it spreads. You know, I'm angry, bitter against someone, and then I share that with somebody else. And that, oh, yeah, I know this person's that way. Oh, I hate this person, too. And a lot of times it doesn't have to be that blatant.

The wisdom of two women in the faith, one of them is forgiveness. And I just want to encourage you right now, if you're aware of anything. And I'm sure if you are in that kind of situation, I'm sure someone, or maybe more than one someone, has come to mind. And if you have recognized that there is someone you need to forgive, do it now. Take a moment and do that now in your heart. And sometimes you might have to restate that and readdress it. Do it again. But I'm telling you, do not let this day go by carrying this garbage around another single day. All right. I told you it would be life-changing. And it can be. To another. Giant in the faith, Elizabeth Elliott. I love this one. The devil's three favorite weapons. What are they? Are they sex, drugs, and rock and roll? It's amazing the things that we and the modern Western church have gotten worked up about. These three things are not what you would expect. What are the devil's three favorite weapons? Noise, hurry, and crowds. Noise, hurry, and crowds. Wow. She's so right. Just to develop these thoughts. Just think of... One of the most important things for the life of the Christian believer is to hear from God. You cannot hear from God if your life is filled with noise. This is one of the most important battles in my life every single day. It was kind of interesting. I had an errand to run this morning, and this isn't the first time this has happened. But it was kind of interesting because... Most of the time I listen to music or something in the car or sometimes I'll listen to a radio show or something. But you know what I did this time? This morning was one of those where I didn't want to turn on anything. I just wanted to be still and be open to whatever God may put upon my heart. I spent some of the time praying as well. noise it's one of the most most destructive things in the life and all of our lives hurry boy is this one a problem hurry one of my favorite songs um i can't remember i think someone with the imperials did this song called wait upon the lord they that wait upon the lord will knew their strength that's where that's from that scripture We don't like to wait. So we spend sometimes our lives scurring around from place to place doing this and that. And sometimes we just need to stop. I go back to, remember the Mary and Martha discussion? And remember Jesus said to, Martha, you're troubled about many things. What was Mary doing in the meantime?

sitting at Jesus' feet. It's not to say that there's not work to be done, but too many times we're hurrying and scurring around and we just need to sit still. There's a connection between that and noise, isn't there, very often? And the last one is crowds. I'd have to look up this quote and see the full context, but I can tell you in the religious world. This is a deadly one. I don't want to go into the specifics of this now, but I've been involved in a conversation with a good friend of mine who used to live here. And we were discussing certain ministries. And he was sharing his experience about dealing with a certain person. And all I'm going to say is... The crowds within the Western religious world are very deceptive because they are drawn to the wrong things. What I've learned over the years, especially in the so-called Christian world, I don't want to follow the crowds because most of them are going down a direction. I don't want to be anywhere near. Some of the worst noise is religious noise. Some of the worst crowds are religious crowds. Cultivating solitude, cultivating silence, listening. Those are not popular things. You're not going to write. You're not going to sell a million Christian books on talking about being still before God and listening. Now, if you write a book about feeling good about yourself and making a whole lot of money and all this other garbage, boy, those books will be right up front. Noise, hurry, and crowds, the devil's three favorite weapons. What impact do these things have in your own life? I'm telling you these are an ongoing battle for me to make sure I'm on the right side of these things. Because it's an ongoing battle. It's not the kind of thing you can say, okay, I've got this mastered. A good part of the time, it's about saying no. Not so much saying no to right and wrong. It's saying yes to the best things. And silence, a healthy pace, and intimacy, quiet intimacy are things I value more than anything else now, as opposed to noise, hurry, and crowds. Hope this is helpful on the Vince Coakley Radio program. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on RAV-4, Grand Highlander, Camry, and Corolla, with the features and style you deserve. It means driving for less, with hybrid and plug-in hybrid options across the lineup, delivering great MPGs. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your car will hold its value for years to come.

Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Back for the broadcast of the Vince Coakley radio program on the WVT text line driven by Liberty Buick GMC, Jeff the punster, is at it again. Vince, somebody was talking about banana splits coming back. I think they're already back because our country is going totally bananas, and we're about to split into two or more fragments. As far as Captain Kangaroo goes, if we allow socialism to take over, will he be hopping mad? Captain Kangaroo hopping mad. Oh, my gosh. What are we going to do with you, Jeff? David writes in, what's the saying, Vince, men lose their minds in crowds, only find them one by one, something like that. That's pretty clever. Vince great point annoys. We need regular times of Psalm 4610. However, we choose not to. We want to exalt ourselves and be our own fortress instead of resting in Jesus. Boy, isn't that the truth. The church would benefit from reading the Bible and dare to be different from the world. As always, enjoy your show when I can. Thank you, Michael. Very much appreciate you writing in. Yeah, this is something we've got to continually work at, this whole silence thing, because, you know, things are coming at us all the time. You know, a perfect example of this where you might have had solitude. There are places where you may have had solitude. I'm going to save that. Let me get to Scotty's post before he actually... wrote out what psalm 4610 says be still and know that i am god i know i sure struggle with this in my daily busy life we all do scotty i was explaining to you how we are assaulted by noise everywhere things that you normally places where you would normally have solitude of peace and quiet you don't anymore one one perfect example is the gas station some of the gas stations you go to They have those ads that automatically start as soon as the pump starts. And they're blaring some stupid entertainment news and commercials at you that you don't want to hear. And by the time that pump stops, I'm just like, thank God that garbage is over with. I'm just saying. All right. Let's jump right in and talk about the destructiveness of democracy. Exhibit A out in California. By now you've probably heard. California voters are going to decide in November whether to temporarily, yeah, I always get a kick out of this, temporarily raise taxes for billionaires. After the labor union back in the proposal announced Thursday, it will move forward with a controversial ballot initiative. The proposal noted as the California Billionaire Tax Act would impose a one-time 5% tax on individuals with a net worth higher than $1 billion and who are residents the Golden State as of January 1st, which means retroactive.

This is backed by the SEIU. What a surprise. Service Employees International Union. Healthcare workers West. Supporters of the so-called wealth tax say it would generate $100 billion in revenue, most of which will be used over multiple years to help fund the state's Medicaid program and other services following federal spending cuts. De Brukeithen, who is the union's vice president, said during a news conference, enthusiasm for the billionaire tax is unlike anything we've ever seen before. The billionaire tax will be on the November ballot, and we intend to win. This is pure garbage. I'll repeat something I've said before, and it's kind of funny, you know, you have people who say, you know, they talk about tax cuts for the wealthy. And I stand by this, and I still believe this. Even if I don't get a tax cut, I celebrate any time somebody is able to keep more of their money. I don't care if it's Elon Musk. It's Elon Musk's money. It's not my money. He is not taking my money unless I give it to him. Do you know who has the power to take your money without earning it? There's only one. It's government. But no, they're good at demonizing people to give you the impression that because somebody else has wealth, they must have taken it, they must have stolen it from you. It's ill-begotten gain. That's what they want you to believe. And it's pure nonsense. Now, I'm not holding out much hope of this, but it's quite possible this goes to the courts because this is a, I think it's a very unhealthy targeting of people. Can we just be honest and say that people are being demonized because of their wealth? I really do not care about somebody making more than I do. At the end of the day, it's theirs. I think it was Walter Williams. I can't remember whether it was Walter Williams or someone else who said, isn't it interesting? The left wants you to believe that Elon Musk and people like him are greedy because they want to keep more of their own money. But you're not greedy for wanting. Somebody else's money. In other words, for envy and covetousness, that's not bad. But wanting to keep what you earned, that is bad. Let's talk about the flip side of this. This is the destructiveness of democracy at work. Because all you have to do is find, you know, how many people are billioners out there? I mean, How many advocates for billionaires are there out there? Not many. I'm just going to go on the record and say, I hope these people not only defeat this, but I hope just by the fact that they even attempted this, that these folks who have means will get out and basically flip the bird to California.

On the flip side, rather than talking about democracy, we have a member of Congress who understands our foundations and wants to rebuild them. One of the worst things this country ever did was to pass the 17th Amendment. A lot of people don't know the way this government was eventually was originally set up. The house was the people's house. In other words, people vote to select members of the House. The Senate was designed to be a representation of the states, which is why you have two members from every state. So you have three very important entities in this relationship. You have the individual. You have the federal government and you have the state. That's the way this was designed. The so-called progressive movement very aggressively have been trying to undermine two of those pillars. They really only care about one. And that's the federal government. And that they want control of. They don't care about the individual, and they certainly don't care about states, which is why they successfully passed the 17th Amendment, because they know that people are stupid enough to vote in certain things. This is where democracy for them becomes very successful. Because it's easier to fool people and get them to vote for someone who is not qualified. And it's very easy to, you know, you've all of a sudden, you've undermined 50 states and robbed them of power and identity. Overnight, this is what happened. So, whereas before. You may have out of touch members of the House. Now you have out of touch members of the House and the Senate. You see, you have out of touch members of the House and the Senate. You see, you could, and I say this word very carefully, under the previous system, you could revolt and march on the Capitol. and demand that your senators be recalled for not representing your state appropriately. You can't do that now. There's no recourse for you. You get one of these nitwit jackasses in office for six years and you are stuck with them for six years. That's how it works. Coming up, I'm going to tell you what this congressman would like to do. Back in the broadcast, 39 minutes after 11 o'clock, when I race through several items here as we continue. So who is this hero I'm spotlighting? His name is Keith Self. He's a Republican from Texas. He is actually proposing a repeal of the 17th Amendment.

He wants to repeal the constitutional amendment regarding who gets to choose members of the Senate. Not surprisingly, himself, is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, introducing a joint resolution obtained by the Washington Examiner to repeal the 17th Amendment amid the intensifying rift between the House and the Senate over the GOP's flagship voter ID bill. The 17th Amendment, as it stands, allows voters to pick their state senators directly. But before the amendment was added to the Constitution, state legislatures selected senators. Here's what self-heds say. The current system has given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve. Our founding fathers designed the Senate to protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach. If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them. It doesn't get any more basic than this. Self argues repealing the amendment would restore the constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union. It's not complicated people. In fact, if there were a convention of states, this would be one of the items on my list. Get rid of the 17th Amendment. You've got to do that. I very quickly want to get to talking about war because I want to get to what happened to one country that complied with our alleged will. By now you've probably heard. about Ukraine bombarding Russia, 660 drone attack. These people still have a lot of fights still in them. An armada, overwhelming Vladimir Putin, an emergency declared in Crimea. Is Vladimir Putin plotting a move on NATO? It's a very good question in light of the fact that... Now, here he is the very homeland of Russia under attack. This has got to be very devastating to Vladimir Putin. This was supposed to be over a long time ago. And they can't seem to be able to seal the deal. Can't do it. By now, you've also heard about Iran. Still, providing a menacing presence for activity through the Strait of Hormuz. We understand that some ships are still passing through, though there have been some threats. I don't need to say it again. I've said it before over and over again. We need to crap or get off the pot. I don't want to hear any more talk. I don't want to hear any more threats. Go in and blow these people away or just shut up. But I think they have basically made fools out of us and run rings about it around us over this whole straight of Hormuz issue. Coming up. A very good reason.

for Iran to refuse to give up their nuclear program. We'll tell you what the United States of America did to one country in that region as we continue the broadcast. Final stretch of our Friday broadcast in the Vince Coakley Radio program. I told you about the site that I connected with on Facebook. And it's reminded me of something. that I spent some time focusing on talking about years ago. And I can guarantee you the most radical of radicals in Iran watched very closely to see how we conducted ourselves during this era. I'm referring to events surrounding Libya. Since mentioning this, I've actually come across, you know, since I have connected to this site, they've pushed several additional things that I'm going to go into on Monday. We've talked about some of these things on the program already, but it's worth reminding you. I don't want to get too deep into this. Boy, because I'm at the end of the broadcast, for one. I remember I kind of looked at people funny years ago when they said to me, Vince, you have to need, you need to make a distinction between the country as founded and the country that is essentially a corporation and a, I don't know what you would call it. whatever organization, whatever name you want to call it, to do the bidding of the IMF and whatever international body might be out there. Okay, I just said it. But let me share this post with you. And I want you to listen carefully to what I share and see if this has some impact on how you view the current situation with Iran.

gave up every WMD he had in 2003. Bush praised him. Eight years later, NATO bombed Libya, and he died in a drain pipe. Iran watched every second of this. By the way, this is from a site on social media manipulated history. In December 2003, Muammar Gaddafi did exactly what the international community and Western governments have been publicly demanding of hostile regimes. He voluntarily dismantled Libya's entire weapons of mass destruction program. Chemical weapons stockpiles. Nuclear weapons development infrastructure. Long-range ballistic missiles. He invited international inspectors in. He cooperated fully with the CIA and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He provided complete access to every facility. President George W. Bush appeared before cameras in the Rose Garden and praised Gaddafi's decision. He called it the right decision. And he said would make the world a safer place. British Prime Minister Tony Blair. flew personally to Tripoli, shook Gaddafi's hand, and posed for photographs. Libya, formally removed from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list. Gaddafi attended the G8 outreach summit. European leaders queued up to do business with him. The message to the world was clear. Give up your weapons. You'll be welcomed into the international community. Disarm and you'll be safe. Eight years later, in 2011, NATO launched a military campaign against Libya. The French military fired the first airstrikes. American drones and surveillance aircraft tracked Gaddafi's movements and convoys. British special forces operated on the ground. A UN resolution authorizing a no-fly zone to protect civilians was used to justify what became an operational reality, a regime change military operation. Gaddafi, who had disarmed eight years earlier and therefore had no weapons left adequate to defend himself, was killed in October 2011. Iran's supreme leader cited Libya specifically in subsequent statements about Iran's nuclear program. North Korea cited it. Every government that has since considered disarmament has cited it. The lesson Gaddafi's death taught the world about what happens when you give up your weapons is not a theory. is a documented geopolitical fact that has shaped nuclear proliferation calculations in every country since 2011. So I ask you, in light of this little reminder, do you blame Iran? Don't call and text me and tell me how I'm against the war because of being soft on Iran and yada, yada, yada.

Omar Gaddafi dealt with some treacherous bastards. And I can use another word. Well, I won't use it on this broadcast. In this country, people who I would consider now to be war criminals. And considering this is the way Gaddafi was dealt with, why would anybody trust the United States of America or anybody else on this issue? We can continue the conversation next week. In the meantime, have yourselves an awesome weekend. God bless. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less, with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places.