Turning Over a New Leaf in the Middle East?

Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature Bank. Signature Bank takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether you're a business looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature Bank is the right bank for you. Call today at 773-467. 5600 to hear how signature bank can help your business grow and thrive member fdic equal housing lender this is chicago's morning answer with dan profft an a m 560 the answer Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. Well, markets rally. Price of oil dropped yesterday as expected in response to the announcement on Sunday that a settlement had been reached between the Iranians and the United States, which is supposed to be inked in Switzerland, in pertinent part on Friday. Trump at the G7 in France. saying that, you know, he called for the blockade to be lifted, and the good news is ships are starting to move through the strait without incident. As you know, they're doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they've already found. But it's essentially ships are starting to go out now on Friday. It'll be completely opened. And while Trump is at the G7, JD Vance is back home selling the deal. And he was, all over the talk shows yesterday. The exchange he had with Becky Quick on CNBC and Squawk Box was particularly interesting to me, including a claim he made that is really difficult to believe. But before we get to that, first he outlined the two-step verification process that is to... incentivize slash ensure that Iran doesn't pursue a nuclear program because it's not in their interest to do so. This is the teeth of the deal, so argues JD Vance. a two-step verification process. We say to the Iranians, you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy. You're welcome to be re-invited into the world economy, but only if you honor the commitments that you make in this agreement. So that's the leverage point, and simultaneously the enforcement mechanism we have over their nuclear program. And if you step back, the last point that I'd make about this is that we have... affirmatively and comprehensively destroyed their nuclear program from what we've done over the last year and a half in the Trump administration. What this agreement does is say to the Iranians that you don't have access to the money to rebuild that nuclear program, but...

If you're willing to give up that program long term, if you're willing to accept the inspections and verification regime that's necessary to give us the confidence, you're never going to have a nuclear weapon, then we want you to be a prosperous country, and we will re-invite you into the community of nations. And that's fundamentally the two-step process, the choice the Iranians have to make. As it sound like teeth to you, 312-642-5600, alphawealthgroup.com, call and text line. inviting them back into the community of nations and incentivizing them with the carrot after they've been dealing with the stick, or at least they did for the first four weeks of this period of hostilities between the two countries. Well, Van said something else in that same conversation with Becky Quick. That... Boy, I really need the backstory on this. I talk about the need for some sort of verification of this claim. That the Iranians have come to a certain recognition over the course of this campaign. And apparently, just over the course of the last 48 to 72 hours, because Sencom was reporting over the weekend, they were knocking down Iranian drones. So right up until this settlement was announced, you know, Iran was doing what it could to be disruptive, to be generous about it. But JD Vance says the Iranians in charge in Tehran. And he mentioned some names, too, that we've been kicking around that actually are included, like Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the House Speaker, former mayor of Tehran. Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, these are the people that are going to ostensibly be present in Switzerland for formalizing this agreement. But that the process, again, has transformed the Iranians. Well, one of the interesting things about what's happened just over the last few months is that our relationship with Iran has fundamentally transformed. You hear the president talk about the fact that we're dealing with a totally different group of people. That's absolutely true. If you go back to the Obama administration, we never had the direct line. Really, over the past 47 years, we've never had this level of direct connection where the people at the highest levels of the United States government are talking to the people at the highest levels of the Iranian government. Expect the negotiating team from the Iranian side is going to be the Speaker of the House, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and also the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, along with a number of security officials and people who represent the different constituencies within their country. But we actually see, this is a very interesting thing about these negotiations, is you see people, both the hardliners, but also the more political people, saying... Our relationship with the United States over the past 47 years has been a mistake. Let's turn over a new leaf. We're, of course, going to verify that they actually mean it. But if they're willing to turn over a new leaf, the President of the United States has said we want them to be a successful country, and that's what we're aiming to negotiate towards. The Iranians said the last 47 years has been a mistake, and we want to turn over a new leaf. What is this, a rocky movie?

If you can change, I can change, we can all change. I mean, are you serious? I understand accentuating the positive and being hopeful. But does anyone believe? Is there any reason to believe? that the people who are firing drones at our military five minutes ago have all of a sudden had this collective epiphany where they want to be regular pals with the United States. I mean, wow. We'll talk about this at the bottom of the next hour with Michael Rubin, but that is, strains of bounds of credulity doesn't begin to describe. how polyanish that statement comes across to me. Turn over a new leaf. Okay. Meanwhile, Axios is reporting that CIA director John Ratcliffe told Trump and other senior officials that intelligence gathered by U.S. intel agencies raised serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal. Rackcliffe isn't the only skeptic in Trump's top team. Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, have both expressed concerns and raised questions about the deal in internal discussions, while JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner advocated for it, according to sources. Teams of rivals here. It's interesting, and it's actually consistent with what we understand was the distribution of opinion. before Trump made the decision to launch on Iran, which is that JD Vance was a skeptic, leading the sort of faction of skeptics, and Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth were proponents of ensuring that the Iranians didn't get a nuclear weapon. Okay. Our new best pals. The Iranians, but we have to verify it. Yeah, that's a, I mean, look, all the language in diplomacy is contingency. I understand that. So this is not anything that's specifically critical of JD Vance. But using the, you know, if then framework, it's fine. But verifying that the Iranians are changed the Iranian, you know, Mullahs, the Islamofascists in charge of that country, are changed people? Come on. Chris on the Dan Ryan. Dan, good morning. I think you need to be less skeptical. I think they found the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I think that they're coming our way. They want to be our friends. That's my comment for today. I have a good one, Dan. Thanks for the call, Chris. Yeah, no, I understand that the carbureatoll is converted to Christianity. I mean, that's about the only thing you did say. Seriously. Good grief. George in Naperville.

Yes, Stan, after living through Obama, it's hard to take the words hope and change serious. Indeed, thanks for the call, George. Now, the Wall Street Journal opining on this, not that specifically, but the framework of a deal that's been leaking out. Most of the press has been hostile from the start, but we, the Wall Street Journal editorial board, supported President. The President's Iran policy because a nuclear run would be an existential threat. And because we want presidents to succeed when they go to war. unlike, say, the opposition party. Trump's willingness to use military force when no one else would set back Iran's nuclear program, military, and industrial base. The result isn't Obama deal 2.0 because unlike 2015, Iran's key nuclear facilities are in rubble and its enrichment of uranium has been halted for the first time in 20 years. The media critics and Democrats who now savage Trump and the president would have stood by while a nuclear bomb became a fait accompli as in North Korea and then insulated Iran from any sort of interdiction, I'll add, which we've talked about before over the last couple months. So it's not that there's not, it's not that there wasn't support and a recognition that this is different than Obama's approach because Trump was willing to use the stick where no one else really has been. However, They go on. There's no denying Trump is retreating from his main goals as political pressure has built at home and finishing the job requires greater military risk. Despite Israel's urging, he never authorized admission to seize Iran's enriched uranium. He never tried to reopen the strait by force. Britt Hume makes that point. I mean, look, the president had created expectations with phrases like unconditional surrender. when the military campaign was at its apex. Well, it's possibly a great triumph if all the things he's saying are in the deal turn out to be in the deal and adhered to. But he's at a bit of a political disadvantage because of the extravagant things he said about what we'd accomplished in the early going. You remember the goal at one time he said was unconditional surrender. Iran has lost a lot. But this is not unconditional surrender. This is what you get when you negotiate. You can't negotiate and not have to give up something. So the administration is clearly given some ground here. You know, the president says, I think correctly, perhaps. that none of the money that's been frozen or the sanctions relief that Iran wants to get will be forthcoming until unless they play ball on the nuclear matter. But they will get their straight reopened to them as well, and that is the source of many millions of dollars a day. So, you know, there's going to be criticism of this, and not just, I think, from Democratic partisans. Yeah, and it's a little bit being too cute by half when JD Vance and others say that no U.S. dollars are being provided the Iranians and no money will come without specific performance. When there's this $300 billion reconstruction fund organized by the Gulf states that they can access if they...

make movements that they are going to abide the terms of this deal and not restart the nuclear program and not continue to provide material support to their terrorist proxies and so forth. As Mark Thiessen over the Washington Post commented, $300 billion to Iran under any circumstances is a disaster. It's like offering the Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany while the Nazis were still in power. Ouch. Business owners, now's the time for your business to make the move to a locally owned business bank. Hi, Mike Gallagher here to let you know that you don't have to look far. Signature Bank was founded in Chicago with a simple mission to help companies like yours grow, succeed, and thrive. Their decisions are made locally by a terrific team that knows your name, cares about your business, and invests in your success. That's why Signature Bank is my bank. I'm a customer. As business owners, they knew that local family-owned businesses we're not getting the help they needed or deserved. So, I invite you to reach out to my friends at Signature Bank today. Write the number down. Remember this phone number, Signature Bank, 773-467-5630. And learn all about this great bank, 773-467-5630, or visit them online at SignatureBank.Bank. That's SignatureBank.com. Signature Bank makes commercial banking personal. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.

If you're looking for the latest news, insight into what it means of the sharpest opinion. There's only one station in Chicago where you can turn. It's this one. We're AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Prop here, and the fallout from Sunday's UFC on the South Lawn continues. continued into yesterday, of course, because all of the neo-Marxist identitarian commentators had to get their views in, speaking of which, the view. Oh. That's that show of those ignorant man-hating shrews, like a little roundtable program. JD Vance is supposed to appear on that show this week. Was it tomorrow? That should be interesting. Anyway, actually probably will be particularly uninteresting. Usually is when people are not starting from the same premises. These conversations are usually terribly banal when it's just sort of a you recite your talking points and I recite mine and never the two she'll meet or have an actual dialogue conversation debate on the merits. Sonny Hosten. She is not happy about the country. Doesn't like it. It's been tough on her. And she's really not happy about this particular exclamation that was offered by Josh Hokit at Sunday's UFC festivities. Lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?

Come out, where's Austin Powers when you need him? Sunny Austin's saying, you know what that sounded like? What does everything sound like to her? the derogatory slur made about the foreign first lady Michelle Obama because I think it's important to address. And we won't dignify what was said by repeating it. Yeah. But you should look it up. And I think the reason that's important is because for a long time, and the roots are in slavery, black women have been... slurred and made to feel that they were unattractive, made to feel that they were masculine, made to feel that they were, they didn't have the femininity that a white woman would have. And so there's this intersectionality between racism and sexism that was on full display at the White House. The crowd laughed at the statement and the president of the United States smirked and never addressed what was said. That is beneath the dignity of the office of the president of the United States and it's beneath the dignity of the American people. Hey, uh, lighten up, Francis. I mean, really. What is he supposed to say? Look, I'm here to announce that Michelle Obama is not in fact a man. I mean, do you think that does that help? Does it help that there's a debate going on whether she is or she isn't? It's just, oh gosh. Um, in the whole, you know, you have to take this, uh, fun at Michelle Obama's expense and extrapolated over to the entirety of black womanhood and then raise the specter of slavery. Of course, this is sort of the paint by numbers of the identitarian. No, there are many, many, many black women who are beautiful. Michelle Obama isn't one of them. And, you know, it's an eye of the beholder, Sonny. My former broadcast partner, Amy Jay, used to say how stunning and gorgeous Michelle Obama was all the time. That is not my perspective. I don't share it. Sorry. I mean, so put upon. But there was this alternative programming. You mentioned sort of in passing yesterday, but I want you to really get the full compliment of it. Because it was something to behold, and it was celebrity studded, of course, because, you know, it's the left. This rise up and sing out. And these 60s refugees that populated the audience, they were singing out not as good as some of the more organized and... well-directed leftist choirs, their protest songs. This was pretty, pretty, pretty screechy. Oh, you fascist bound to lose. You're bound to lose. You're found to lose. You're

Are you fascists? Let me put you straight When you come for the rest of us We'll fight you at the gate And you will lose You fascist out lose It's like Bad Prairie Home Companion parody I mean I said yesterday It felt like like a Christopher guest spoof bit But it wasn't And the quality of the musical stylings devolved from there No one is getting left behind this time. No one is getting left behind. Not this time. No one is getting left behind this time. How do we get there? Together or never get there at all. That was the... The work of about three or four dozen people on stage at this rise up and sing-out event. But if you thought that was cacophonous, you haven't heard what Bobby De Niro had to say. Oh, yeah. No, he was there. Deep thinker, Bobby. And always classy. Always highbrow. Even speech. I don't like, and there's plenty of that around. So when I hear something I don't like, I use my own free speech to respond. Let me give you an example. When I hear Trump say, as he did a few days ago, I don't think about Americans' financial situation. Not even a little bit. I say, shut the fuck up.

Taking a page out of Julianne Stratton. On Wednesday, Trump said, I love the inflation. Now say it with me. Shut the fuck up. Trump said he won the 2020 election. Ready? Shut the fuck up. Try this at home. Your young kids will especially enjoy it. The oxygenarian Bobby De Niro has a young kid at home, doesn't he? Somebody's home. Yeah, the rapier wit of Bobby De Niro. It's an interesting contrast. So I appreciate the alternative programming, the rise-upsing out. Interesting contrast between the vulgarity and the lowbrow and the disgust at the country. on their side as compared to the celebration, the profiling, not just of pugilist, but of Medal of Honor recipients and first responders. And they actually get pretty classy put together program. And, you know, that's not me saying it. That's Stephen Smith and Jay Williams saying it. It was a great, great event that was put forth by the UFC at the White House in concert with the White House or whatever. It did a hell of a job. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was there, 4,000-seat arena. I got to be honest, coming off the NBA Finals, where I was at multiple NBA Finals, better event than NBA Finals. Wow. It was a better event in NBA Finals. But the White House literally being right there, incredible. Incredible. Better event than the NBA finals. Jay Williams better watch out. ESPN could be coming for him. Those kinds of reckless comments better than the NBA finals. Yeah, it was entertaining to watch. You know, with all due apologies to Jalen Brunson, NBA is unwatchable. Not as unwatchable as a World Cup, but I digress. We'll get to that later. Oh, that was an all from Bobby De Niro to my point about hating on the country while you saw a celebration of America. with respect to the other programming this weekend, the programming at the White House. Bobby De Niro can't love this country. You can't love this country right now. And he's got all the reasons why you can't. We all love our country stuck in my throat. Because our country isn't so lovable right now. I hate to say it, but loving our country is starting to sound like an abused spouse saying they love their abuser.

I can't love a country that starts stupid and inhumane wars. Killing thousands of innocence and indirectly causing the deaths and suffering of millions more. I can't love a country that takes health care away from millions of people and uses that money to enrich their pals in the Trump Epstein class. I can't love a country that sends out massed militias to shoot citizens in the streets, torture our neighbors, and separate families. I can't love a country that's led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant. And let me just say it, I can't love the country that's led by Donald Trump. I mean, it's sad. The left sees everything about America through the prism of government and politicians. People like that are particularly one-dimensional. I mean, it's really sort of sad. I mean, that disgust was going to eat you up. It's so funny, too. I mean, juxtapose that not just against the UFC, but just suppose that against all these videos going viral from World Cup fans who've come from across the planet to watch these soccer matches. And, you know, most of them who I guess haven't spent much time in America and are awed by all that America has to offer. The country is not your temporary representatives, even the President of the United States. The country isn't your government. But, of course, Bobby De Niro and those trained seals in the audience, they don't see it that way. Another celebrity was there. At least one more. Julia John Roberts. Oh, man. She is apparently in the... sunset of her career become some sort of faith healer listen to this opening when she came on stage. Hi.

Hi. I don't know about you guys, but my heart is beating really fast. Yeah, yeah. And I would just like to take a moment together. Just put your hand when you're beating heart and just close your eyes. And just take a really deep breath in and breathe in all that hope. All that love and just breathe out all that fear. Just let it all go. And that is the power that we all have together. Okay, sure. Jim and Crown Point, breathe out that fear, Jim. You know, these people remind me of my grandmother quite a bit. She developed Alzheimer's before she died, and every time they open their mouth, they remind me of her. Also, remember the chia pet? Yes, I remember the chia pet, of course. Chia, chia, chia. Well, they did. They did an Obama Chiapet, and they pulled them from all the ball grades. So they're allowed to unload on Trump, but a little Chia Pet, you know, thin skins is all I can say. And... I hate all these entertainers. They killed their careers. Half the country hates them. They don't realize it. They're so delusional. Thanks for the college. Well, I don't hate them. I'm sort of, you know, entertained by them, but not in a positive way. I'm not entertained because they're putting on particularly good performances. I'm entertained because they become caricatures of themselves, particularly De Niro. But even whatever Julia John Roberts, you know, a chuli oil or whatever she's doing these days, I don't want to breathe out the fear and take out your carpet squares. It's snappy time. Jim and LaGrange. And Bobby D. a once great, relevant actor who became irrelevant and started fading and he can't help. but be in the spotlight, and this is his only way to do it. He needs that. He feeds him. So if he's not acting, he's acting here for sure. Thanks, Dan. Have a great day. Thanks for the call, Jim. And by the way, you know, what is the political agenda of this crew and their duly elected representatives? Well, Ro Khanna said it out loud the other day. Project 2028, if I could borrow a phrase and repurpose it. Paraphrase it and repurpose it. Project 2028 for the Dems.

This is what the agenda should be in 2028. We should be for calling it a Dred Scott court and having Supreme Court term limits and expanding the court from 9 to 13. We should be for abolishing ICE and replacing it with an immigration enforcement office that actually follows human rights and that focuses on sex trafficking, child trafficking, drug offenders, not conducting raids in places like Minneapolis going after undocumented immigrants are working. paying taxes. We should be for a billionaire's tax, a tax on billionaires. And one other aspect of that, which I mean, none of that should come as a surprise and there's much more than that to follow. Still on the defunding the ice or back on the defunding the ice. I like it. opening on borders, too, although they won't say that quite. That's not as popular as it used to be. They'll do it. They just won't say it. But the hating on this country and the institutions and the continued bastardization, you know, talk about violating, nor is the bastardization of institutions to bend to their political will.

But consistent with that whole theme of what you heard at the rise up and sing out, this is a remarkable moment to me. Adriano Espaillat is an incumbent leftist congresshuman in New York. And this potential it girl for the neo-Marxist this cycle, backed by Zohran Mamdani the Kami in New York, Daryalisa Chevalier. I mean, she's a stone cold, anti-Semitic terrorist sympathizer. At minimum, I'm underselling. I mean, she looks, you know, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she makes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez look like sort of perfectly grounded and reasonable. But both of them are asked who they are rooting for in the World Cup. Did you catch this? Right there with that rise up and sing out crew. World Cup is here. The first match this weekend at MetLife Stadium taking place in New Jersey, even though some people say it is technically New York. But what do you think will win it all? Who are you rooting for? I like Mexico. Mexico. There you go. I'm looking for Senegal. Senegal. Okay. Okay. Two American politicians running for Congress. One is rooting for Mexico and the other is reading for Senegal. And let me tell you, that's not limited to soccer. Roy and Glen Ellen and our group yesterday at the AM-560 golf outing took home top honors. Roy, well playing, good playing yesterday. Yes, thank you. And thank you too. You and all your staff and AM560 at the great event and the money raised was just very awesome. So glad to be a part of it. Thank you. But, yeah, Michelle Obama hasn't commented on the comments about her. So I guess she's being the bigger man in all of this great. You know. Thanks for the call, Roy. It took real stones for her to not comment on that comment. Really did. By the way, yes, thanks to all our listeners and corporate sponsors because of your generosity. We raised $82,000 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation yesterday's golf outing, which is our personal best year at AM 560. So a great event and great results, more importantly, including my team's victory, of course. There's only one radio show in Chicago talking about today's biggest stories and telling you what they really mean. That show? It's this one. Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The end. Business owners, now's the time for your business to make the move to a locally owned business bank. Hi, Mike Gallagher here to let you know that you don't have to look far. Signature Bank was founded in Chicago with a simple mission to help companies like yours grow, succeed, and thrive. Their decisions are made locally by a terrific team that knows your name, cares about your business, and invests in your success. That's why Signature Bank is my...

Bank. I'm a customer. As business owners, they knew that local family-owned businesses were not getting the help they needed or deserved. So, I invite you to reach out to my friends at Signature Bank today. Write the number down. Remember this phone number. Signature Bank, 773-467.5630. Or visit them online at SignatureBank. Bank. That's signaturebank. Signature Bank makes commercial banking personal. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft, an AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proft, runoff elections today. New York congressional primary that I was mentioning the competition next week between the guy who wants Mexico to win the World Cup versus the chick who wants Senegal. I want to pick up on what Ro Khanna mentioned in terms of the 2028 agenda, Project 2028 for the Neo-Marxist Party.

Another aspect of it is this. Ryan Cooper writing for American prospect, which is a left-wing rag. Trump administration staffers are quite obviously heavily influenced by, if not recruited directly from right-wing X subculture. They act and speak in an ironic, transgressive, extremely online way that is unmistakably a product of that platform. Many Trump administration policies like the mass murder of Venezuelan fishermen. Venezuelan fishermen. Yes. We're indiscriminately killing Venezuelan fishermen. Okay. Many Trump administration policies like the mass murder of Venezuela and the fishermen seem to be primarily done to generate content for X. Vice President JD Vance is following many outright white supremacist accounts on X and echoing their language. I conclude that for the next president, the first most straightforward and arguably most important task is to destroy X. It is not only a clear and present danger to American democracy and national security. It is the organizing hub of the global fascist movement. Shut it down, and a great blow will be struck for human freedom. Yes, exactly. Nothing like silencing people to allow human freedom to flourish. This is what you're dealing with, though, right? The projection class, we are the fascists we claim to be fighting. Right out of the SPLC playbook. He goes on, all that is needed is to enforce the law. For instance, X is almost certainly violating an FTC consent decree about user data privacy, and its AI Chad Pot GROC is violating laws about deep fake generation and publication. Uh-huh. Right. The cheap predicate to silence dissent. The compulsory unification of the compulsory unification, which achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard, if I could borrow from Justice Robert Jackson. And that's exactly where they'll take it. And we see this on display, particularly when it comes to, since Ro Khanna mentioned it, immigration law enforcement. He wants to abolish ICE and stand up a new ICE agency that's full of social workers or something. And they continue to propagate this idea that... Well, a couple ideas. One is that ICE is some sort of terrorist organization, literally what he said, what they say routinely, and that they're not interdicting the people. We, of course, all agree should be removed from this country, the sex traffickers and the human traffickers and the cartel operators and so forth, except that's also a lie. We don't all agree. They don't agree. If they agreed with that, they wouldn't open the borders like they did the last four years and allow for the parade of horribes to march through the country, which is exactly what they did. They say that because it sounds like this is the middle ground. Of course we want this, but we can't have that when they want none of it.

And they're also mischaracterizing what's happening. This is a running debate. I think it's not particularly germane, but all of this arguing about what percentage of the people that ICE has detained. arrested, enforcement and removal options, arrested, detained, moved to deportation, are public safety threats. You know, the D.C. Press score says it's 3%. ICE says it's 70%. You know what? This percentage, that percentage. The Roundup, as of June 7th, for not a... exhaustive list, but just some of the enforcement and removal operations, what they've produced, for two weeks. So from late May through June 7th, Caldwell County, Missouri, illegal alien accused of raping a minor. Allen County, Indiana, two illegal aliens accused of rape, wanted after release. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, three men on detainers arrested for shooting death. Lee County, Florida, man on detainer arrested for extortion and sexual assault. Essex County, Massachusetts, illegal alien accused of wrongway, DUI and injuring trooper. Johnson County, Indiana, illegal alien wanted for gang-related shooting death. Utah County, Utah, man on detainer arrested for rape of a child. Davies County, Kentucky, man on detainer arrested for rape and sexual abuse. Prince William County, Virginia, illegal alien arrested for raping a minor. Stanislaus County, California, illegal alien arrested for triple murder. Cole County, Missouri, illegal alien accused of stealing deputy girlfriend's gun. Okay, let's dig into that case. Essex County, New Jersey, man-un detainer arrested for sexual assault. Chesterfield, Virginia, woman-on-dainer arrested for sexual assault. Hillsborough County, Florida, man-unditain arrested for sex with a minor. Gwinnett County, Georgia, man-on-dainer arrested for DUI crash resulting in death. Lewis County, Washington, illegal alien drug trafficker plotted to kill cop. Canadian County, Oklahoma, illegal alien accused of killing four in DUI crash. Gwinnat County, Georgia, a manned detainer arrested for child molestation. Chesafield County, Virginia, two-one detainers arrested for sex trafficking. Arlington County, Virginia, illegal alien arrested for sexual assault. It goes on and on and on. You want to argue percentages with me? How about arguing the human impact? The preventable crimes. Horrific crimes. It doesn't matter if it's 3% or 10% or 70%? What have we done to ourselves? 312642-5600 alphawealthgroup.com call and text line. And by the way, what have we done to ourselves in the sanctuary jurisdictions that make it increasingly difficult and dangerous to apprehend these people in the country who absolutely pose public safety threats, whatever percentage they represent?

New Jersey ice officer. I know this never happens. And I know we're supposed to celebrate the life and times of Renee Good. That was on display at that rise up and sing out deal. This is Julia John Roberts there talking about Renee Good. She was there to honor Renee Good's life's work. What was that? Is not a symbol. She is an American woman. A queer woman who is doing the very best she could do to be good in an unjust world. Yeah. And I am honored to celebrate her life and her legacy tonight because the life she gave is our responsibility to carry. And what legacy is that? Not obeying commands of law enforcement officers? I mean, I'm sorry that she got killed. But I mean, please, the life and legacy of Renee Good. So this happened in New Jersey, a sanctuary state. And this is Fox News reporting. And listen to New Jersey's reaction to the attempted mowing down of an ice officer. So right now the feds are working to track down the driver who hit an ice agent with his van and took off. We want to show you the scene. It happened around 9.30 this morning, so it was pretty active then in South Jersey. Ice telling Fox, the agents were conducting a targeted traffic stop. So they say they knew exactly who they were looking for had been following this person trying to track down that target during the investigation. But the driver wouldn't stop, wouldn't pull over. And authorities say he just sped off and hit one ice agent with the van. That agent opened fire. And according to local police, at least... least one of those bullets hit the back of the van. Incident occurred at 928 at 14-odair route to

So the ICE agent who was hit by that car is expected to be okay. No major injuries were reported, but we're waiting and get another update. The local police in Stafford Township, New Jersey, say they were not involved in the operation. Their statement, John, almost wanted to make that so clear to people say, we're not working with ICE here. The department following New Jersey's strict anti-ice law. Yeah, right. The newly minted governor, Mikie Sherrill. They make sure you don't work with ICE. That's the lead here. Not the job that ICE officers have in places like New Jersey or Illinois because you can't get cooperation from the political representatives to allow law enforcement agencies to work together. That's what we want to make sure you know that we're not working with ICE because we're not here to serve the rule of law or your public safety interests. We're here to serve our narrow group of... Well, actually in some states like Illinois, the majority of our constituents, unfortunately, it would appear. Actually, that's not even true. It's not the majority because the polling indicates quite the opposite. But unfortunately, the majority of the constituents don't put this front and center and connect dots between these sorts of policies and the disintegration of public safety in these cities and states, I guess. That's a more accurate way to describe it. And what's the response? What's the response to the attempted beheading in Belfast? This attack on an ICE officer trying to apprehend is somebody on their enforcement and removal list? Well, I'm sure it probably has a past, and this all could have probably handled, been handled safely, much more safely for all parties involved if it's... There was cooperation, and you could do these things in the security of a county jail, but no, no. We have to take it to the streets because that's what Sanctuary City Pauls want, in state. Sanctuary City and state polls. And the response, when this ugliness bubbles to the surface, particularly if there's video evidence of it, well, that's what you got from that op-ed writer for the American prospect. Shut it down. Shut them up. That's what we heard from Irish commentators in Northern Ireland. The problem with the attempt to beheading by that Sudanese assaili was that the video of it was allowed to be posted on social media and distributed, and the government should have stepped in. That's the big takeaway. And you hear that again and again on this side of the pond and that side. Last year, it was a member of parliament named Max Wilkinson. who social media is a problem you know why it's a problem because the truth gets out we've we've got a problem it's and actually it's a lot about yeah it's a lot about um We obviously have social media, which is a massive problem at the moment for engagement. I'm tempted to say, you know, how you make your voice heard as a citizen in 2025 in the UK, set up an ex-account and start writing some sort of nativist content, and it will go around the world really, really quickly. Your voice will be heard as quickly as you want it to be, not in a way that I would be comfortable with, and I would suggest probably not aware that most people on the panel this evening would be comfortable with either. But that is a really easy way to get your voice heard.

get some content about, you know, how you think immigration's too high. Or immigration is the big thing that's tearing the country apart, et cetera. And that goes around the world because social media run by the world's richest man. X is now making sure that you can have your voice heard in a really easy way that you couldn't in the past. The horror of it all. You could take a position that is at odds with the... identitarians in your government, the open borders crowd in your government, and that could get distributed and create discussion, and that makes their job a lot more difficult. So the government shouldn't intercede. Social media is a problem. People communicating freely, that's a big problem for the left. Corey and Woodlawn. A morning, Dad. You know, some of these people in these communities have no idea what's going on. I mean, if it wasn't for your shows like yourself, Sean Thompson, and another handful of conservatives, I mean, we wouldn't know, to be perfectly honest with you. Getting up every day, going to work, trying to take care of your family, you just don't know. But if you sit back in Chicago and look at all of the flags of other nations that are flying on these cars, I mean, they're very proud not to be American. And these individuals are in lock state. lockstep with the statements that they put out. They want to make us comfortable. They want to make us, uh, uh, uh, uh, I'm losing words here, but they just don't want us to have anything to do with the United States of America. And the biggest problem that I have is that they're just not American citizens. They don't care about the country. They don't care about the rule of law. They just want greater access to your money. And this is why they came with, so many people that need so much help so they can have greater amounts of money. The teacher union just wants numbers. That's all they care about. More and more numbers so that they can come after your taxes on your private. That's what they care about. They don't care about America. It's disintegrating in front of our faces, and we feel like there's nothing that we can do. People that keep themselves aware feel like there's nothing that we can do, to be perfectly honest with you. Thanks for the call, Corey. You know, the situation is more forlorn in certain cities and states as compared to others, of course. But, yeah, I understand the feeling of fatalism in places like Chicago and Illinois. I wish I had a turnkey answer for you, but I don't. I'll tell you what, though. This was an interesting. commentary. The ABC affiliate in Minneapolis, which is another one of those forlorn places, if you're a commonsensical person, law-abiding person, somebody plays by the rules like you were talking, like Corey was just talking about, does everything you're supposed to do to be a good citizen and a contributor to a free society. The ABC affiliate up there interviewed this Somali professor who if I'm remembering correctly, emigrated to the United States like in the late 80s. In an interesting perspective, the first part of the piece, you may find a bit distressing, but it's really instructive. But just wait for it. Let it breathe because he comes around to say something important. All of what he said is actually important, but...

say something, which I'm sure there will be general agreement. Take a listen. I think it's a genuine question that some of our viewers have, but maybe some are afraid to ask, because they don't want to be perceived as being racist or biased. Well, I think they should ask. I think they should ask. For Dr. Ahmed Samatar, the numbers are undeniable, from food to housing to autism. Asha, anything you want to say to taxpayers? Five Investigates reviewed federal fraud charges against more than 100 people in Minnesota. 92 of those names, nearly 87% Somali. Why are we seeing all these Somali Americans swept up in this? Well, there is, I think, as an academic, we have studied this society for a long time. And if there is time, I think there is a way to explain that. Zamatar says you have to look more than 8,000 miles away. And more than 30 years ago, after civil war and the collapse of the Somali state. Most Somalis find themselves. of either fleeing the country. or becoming refugees, when the structures that hold the society together begin to melt. You find yourself in a condition where you just have to kind of grab what you can for yourself. A mentality that he says persists among some of the more than 80,000 Somali Americans now living in the Twin Cities. Some of them have successfully transitioned to a world in which they embraced the loss. And the ethics and the values of the state of Minnesota and the United States, as it is best. But there are many who are still floundering. People really retreat to kind of a self-survivable in many ways. Legal things and following procedures and waiting your turn and these things disappear. Transitioning, making the transition from a war-torn developing nation to this one. is more difficult for some than others. I'm sure that's true. But, of course, what was missing in this piece is not just a description of the endemic fraud, benefits fraud going on there. But it would have been nice at the interviewer followed up with the professor to ask. So doesn't that speak to the problem with mass emigration? as opposed to a very individualized assessment of who is prepared to assimilate into American society and play by said rules, who has already transitioned and will be an independent, self-supporting, law-abiding, contributing member of the, in this case, Minneapolis community. I would like to get the professor to answer this, because I think he actually would agree based on...

What else he had to say? This state, I think, deserves apology from Somalis who have been treated so well. For this McAllister College professor, it's personal. The state of Minnesota and its people. Big victims. After working for the BBC in London, Ahmed Samatar moved to the United States in 1974. Was there anything about Minnesota that surprised you when you came here? The cold. When we followed up with him at his home this month, he said he now feels something else. A sense of shame that something like this would be done by Somalis in such large numbers. You feel that? Yes, yes. Oh, very strongly too, because... When you come to a new community like the state of Minnesota, and you are treated so gently and so kindly and so generously, you don't want to abuse that. But the name captures everybody, the identity of being a Somali-American in Minnesota. And we feel ashamed. Many of us feel ashamed of this. Unfortunately, your political representation does not. But, I mean, it highlights there's a individual that you can have a substantive conversation with and forge some sensible policy. Unfortunately, again, the numbers are not with that professor. It wouldn't seem politically in Minneapolis. And not just with the Somalis, with the honkies and everybody else. It's a problem of the left. Problem of the left. It's a problem of poisoned minds. Only the biggest stories. Only the biggest guests. And only the biggest opinions. This is AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proff here. So maritime traffic has begun to move through the straight. Straight of home moves, of course I'm talking about. Trump in France for the G7. Meanwhile, JD Vance back at home, making the rounds on the news programs to sell the settlement that was announced on Sunday. Here he is with Becky Quick, CNBC, and Squawk Box, talking about the two-step verification process that provides teeth to this. pending agreement. A two-step verification process. We say to the Iranians, you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy. You're welcome to be re-invited into the world economy, but only if you honor the commitments that you make in this agreement. So that's the leverage point and simultaneously the enforcement mechanism we have over their nuclear program. And if you step back, the last point that I'd make about this is that we have affirmatively and comprehensively destroyed their nuclear program from what we've done over the last year and a half in the Trump administration. What this agreement does is say to the Iranians that you don't have access to the money to rebuild that nuclear program, but...

If you're willing to give up that program long term, if you're willing to accept the inspections and verification regime that's necessary to give us the confidence, you're never going to have a nuclear weapon, then we want you to be a prosperous country, and we will re-invite you into the community of nations. And that's fundamentally the two-step process, the choice the Iranians have to make. Well, what happens when they faint like they're going to comply to... release the money, and as we talked about yesterday, Lee Smith, writing over a tablet, suggests billions have already been released to the Iranians from the Emirates. So no U.S. dollars, but are we green lighting Gulf states to start making with the cash for the mullahs? Hmm. Through this $300 billion reconstruction fund? What happens when that money starts flowing? You know, money's fungible. And how do you ensure that it's all going to productive ends as they seek to become a normal country and join the community of nations and their nuclear ambitions? Well, this is what... JD Vance said on the topic to Ed O'Keefe over at CBS. There hasn't been a single dollar of sanctions relief or unfrozen assets, either from the United States or any of our allies in the Gulf. I've seen some misreporting about that. I don't know where it comes from. Where I suspect that it comes from, Jake, is what you're going to expect is that certain elements within the Iranian system, certain hardliners in particular, they're going to overemphasize, in an effort to sell it to certain domestic populations, they're going to overemphasize what Iran gets from the bargain without ever articulating the things that Iran has to give up. in order to get those benefits. To be very clear, this agreement contemplates a very significant sanctions relief package for the Iranian people that transforms how they interact with the world and with the region, but they only get that benefit if they meet their obligations under the agreement. So I would caution everybody to be skeptical of what certain propaganda elements within the regime are saying. The truth is, there is a really big opportunity for the Iranians, but they only get the benefit of that opportunity if they do the things they promise they're going to do. If Iran would... Uh-huh. Well, it's not skepticism or the information just coming from state-run media in Iran. As I mentioned, Lee Smith's piece in Tablet, for example. And he's not the only skeptic. In point of fact, there are skeptics within the Trump administration, as Axios reported, John Ratcliffe and Hegsyph. suggesting they, per intel, they have cobbled together, that there are serious concerns that Iran would comply with any strictures that would limit their pursuit of nuclear weapons, whatever they say rhetorically or whatever they commit to on paper. But then, you know, just to sort of create more skepticism.

about how compelling we should find this settlement. JD Vance said something that is just very, very difficult to believe. It sounds like you're overselling when you say something like this, sans any evidence to support the claim. Well, one of the interesting things about what's happened just over the last few months is that our relationship with Iran has fundamentally transformed. You hear the president talk about the fact that we're dealing with a totally different group of people. That's absolutely true. If you go back to the Obama administration, we never had the direct line. Really, over the past 47 years, we've never had this level of direct connection where the people at the highest levels of the United States government are talking to the people at the highest levels of the Iranian government. Expect the negotiating team from the Iranian side is going to be the Speaker of the House, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and also the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with a number of security officials and people who represent the different constituencies within their country. But we actually see, this is a very interesting thing about these negotiations, is you see people, both the hardliners, but also the more political people saying... Our relationship with the United States over the past 47 years has been a mistake. Let's turn over a new leaf. We're, of course, going to verify that they actually mean it, but if they're willing to turn over a new leaf, the President of the United States has said, we want them to be a successful country, and that's what we're aiming to negotiate towards. The IRGC and company, the cardboard Ayatollah, he's converting to Christianity, and they're turning over a new leaf, and they just want... to be best pals with the Americans. They realize the folly of their ways low these last five decades. Really? It's just an unbelievable statement. For more on this, please be joined by Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Director of Policy Analysis for the Middle East Forum. Michael, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Hey, thanks for having me. So we had a mass epiphany in Tehran over the weekend, and they're going to chart a completely different course so they can join the community of nations and, you know, have a relationship with us like, say, Austria or Switzerland does. Yeah, I know. And I have a Brooklyn Bridge to sell you. And we seem to be making the same mistake multiple times every single administration when any president believes that the problem we've had with Iran is simply his American predecessors rather than understanding what the Iranian strategy is and that they have agency. Yeah, I mean, when JD Vance, I mean, I don't want to belabor the point because there's some things here that definitely are different from the Obama-Biden approach. But, I mean, when JD Vance makes such a poly, he's a smart guy, when he makes such a ridiculous polyanish statement like that, what do you read into there? I mean, I read into it that we are calibrating our.

strategy to wishful thinking rather than reality. And just a couple notes. This inclusion of Israel and a mandatory ceasefire with Hezbollah, that's a poison pill. Right. What Iran is going to start doing is arming Hezbollah, provoking Hezbollah to fight, and if Israel responds... then Iran is going to use that as an excuse to walk away from the deal, but they already have $24 billion given to them. And when President Trump or JD Vance say that the agreement is being misconstrued in the press, what they're failing to note is that their own administration's background calls. talked about the $300 billion fund. It isn't some random propaganda from opponents. It was actually being briefed by their own administration. Yeah, I mean, that's the $300 billion. I mean, Mark Thiessen over the Washington Post said that would be like the Marshall Plan, providing the Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany while the Nazis were still in power. Is that too strong or is that fair? No, I think that is accurate. Mark is right on on this. What we have consistent problems with in the United States is understanding the ideology of our opponents. President Trump isn't an ideologue. He sees himself as a pragmatist, as a dealmaker. He will try to come to a win-win solution, but he doesn't understand. He projects his own thinking onto opponents who have been raised in an environment where what they seek is the return of the hidden imam and the glories and the expansion of the Islamic Revolution. This is where we're having a major problem.

It is important still to recognize the differences between this and the JCPOA, since that's, you know, one of the criticism coming from the left is all this and all you did was get the same thing that Obama did. That's not quite true. I mean, first, it's not true at all. In fact, I mean, first, the impact of the military campaign and what that means, at least medium term for the Iranians. And secondly, the use of military force, the use of the stick for really the first time in a serious way by the United States president, does change the dynamic, at least of what this president is willing to do and maybe predecessors setting the precedent. So, I mean, is there anything that you can take away from some of what has been accomplished, even though it's nowhere near the unconditional surrender that Trump demanded at the outset of this, some of what you can take away that is positive or is the whole thing in your view of catastrophe? Look, I hate to throw cold water on this, but it's a catastrophe. On January 3rd, 2020, after Donald Trump had ordered the successful elimination of Qasem Soleimani, Iran's master terrorist, he tweeted, Trump tweeted, Iran has never won a war and never lost a negotiation. It seems that's actually the case now. Look, the problem with the 2015 nuclear deal. was that it left Iran with an industrial-scale nuclear program, and it had sunset clauses that would lead to the expiration of the various controls that were put on it. deal that Trump has negotiated does the exact same thing. We also have an issue that we don't know really who we're negotiating with. That's the biggest difference from 2015. We don't know if Kalabov, who is the head of the parliament and a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps man, actually has the control. If we're paying money to Iran, who's receiving that money? We've already seen Hezbollah and Hamas. say that they expect to get a cut of that. And so when you're front-loading money, when you're giving money to your adversary, that's the real problem. You know what I would do, Dan, what I would do is take that Iranian money and give it to the Emirates, give it to the Kuwaitis, give it to the Bahrainis, give it to the Lebanese. People who have been hit by the Iranians, call it reparations, and that would teach the Iranians a lesson at the same time. show our allies that we have their back and we're not going to throw them under the bus for the sake of a signing ceremony, a ribbon cutting for a skyscraper that hasn't even been built yet.

Well, and it's interesting you say that because that's exactly what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been saying. He said more than once on television programs that we're part of Operation Economic Fury when it comes to an agreement to end the hostilities. We're going to use the profits from Iranian oil or the funds that have been frozen that we've interdicted. we're going to repurpose that to the Gulf states have been hit. Iran is going to pay for not only restitution essentially to the Gulf states they struck, but for their own reconstruction. And that doesn't seem like that's actually going to be the case. No, it doesn't. I mean, what I had written an article a while ago after talking to people in Lebanon, that... Look, one of the successes that Donald Trump has had is the Israelis and the Lebanese are engaged in a diplomatic process, which is more advanced and open than any in the last 40 years. And the reason for that is they face a common enemy in Hezbollah. If we took the Iranian frozen assets, which were in a Qatari bank, they had been returned during the Biden administration from South Korea to that bank. We gave it to the Lebanese government. as reparations, what we could have done is actually shown all the Shia in southern Lebanon that they need to turn to the Lebanese government. They're the ones who can do the reconstruction rather than Hezbollah. We seem to be snatching defeat from the dolls of victory. And what worries me even more are these comments coming out of the State Department, especially Tom Barak, the ambassador to Turkey, as well as Donald Trump saying, that, look, the Israelis don't need to worry about Hezbollah. If there's a problem, Syria can take care of it. Since when do we put an American national security in the hands of a former Al-Qaeda leader? It's absolutely bonkers. And as I mentioned at the outset, John Ratcliffe and Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio saying, you know, we're not sure we're going to get specific performance from the Iranians, and we have intel to that effect. This is sort of an ongoing factional war around Trump between sort of JD Vance Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Marco Rubio Pete Hegseth and John Ratcliffe in terms of the competing understandings of Iran and what to do here. Yeah, I think that's absolutely the case. But look, when we look at the past 20, 25 years, The Americans are never going to be able to win a war if we don't fulfill two things. Number one is have Congress on our side. Number two is stop putting, prioritizing the internal politics within an administration. We need cap ourselves. And you got to understand. Every single adversary understands that at this point. Well, and right. And when Trump said, you know, like.

I'm not worried about people's financial interests. Of course, that was bastardized and misrepresented. What he was saying is something that you would expect a statement to say, look, I've got a longer term. play here in the interest of America's national security, which is also in the interest of America's economic security interests, and that is to defang the Iranians and set them back and teach them how they must comport themselves if they're going to exist in this so-called community of nations, which doesn't really exist, but I digress. And so that's what he was saying, but that's not. what he ended up doing here. It seems like he absolutely was looking, as the critics were arguing, looking for any way out he could get in service of domestic political consideration short term. Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. Look, I'll make an extreme statement. I think that this deal makes Neville Chamberlain look like Winston Churchill. It's that bad. Now, I'll go further and say analytically, what we need to worry about is if the Iranians have learned, and they have absolutely, that by interfering with freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, they can win a multi-billion dollar windfall. They're going to do this again and again. They're going to come up with any excuse. And they don't even need to block the shipping. They only need to threaten to, and the Europeans will be frightened. The Americans, the Iranians believe, will wet themselves in fear. And the Iranians are going to, I mean, when you give in to blackmail, when you give in to extortion, the blackmailers don't go home. They simply use the same tactics again. That's the real danger I see looming. Michael Rubin, senior file with the American Enterprise Institute, Director of Policy and Analysis for the Middle East Forum. Michael, thank you, as always. Appreciate it. Hey, thank you. And Michael joined us on the AlphaWealthgroup.com answer line. This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's morning answer. An AM 560, the answer.

That sound means it's time for in-depth history with Frank the history teacher of Arlington Heights. Because there's nothing new in this world, just the history you don't know and Frank does. Frank, take it away. Good morning. Fastball inside. So said Cubs manager, Don Zimmer to Greg Maddox at a mound visit game one of the 1989 NLCS at Wrigley. Apparently a lip reader though, batter Will Clark on the next pitch, belts the most emphatic home run of my lifetime. A grand slam onto Sheffield Avenue taking all the air out of the Cubs balloon as they lose in five for the Giants. In this incident is largely why today we see players and coaches in just about any sport cover their mouths when relaying information. Election results, of course, though, are a form of political information, too. And evidently, California has no interest in ensuring their protection or accuracy. From automatic mailing of ballots to smiley-faced signature verifications to alleged voters self-dating their postmarks, the Kings in Sacramento have deliberately created a faux legal system where any number of vulnerabilities can be hacked, leading to election results that might as well be the null set. English philosopher John Locke, way back in the 1680s, clearly believed in accurate political information. In fact, he believed in it so much that he stipulated that there were two ways for the people to convey their consent of the governed. And those two are elections, the preferred route, and revolution. Yes, Locke argued in his two treaties on government that the people have the right to revolution if their unalienable rights are being violated. France sure was in this century later as it has flailed around, often violently, through five republics, three monarchies, two empires, a commune, a consulate, and a directory since 1789. On the lighter side, another way to think of California today comes from the Mabovi episode of Seinfeld. Kramer, dope that he was, fed his horse, Rusty, beeferino before heading out on the carriage ride. The passenger, Mr. Ross, smelling the GI backdrop, his cause and Rusty had sense enough to say, turn around. We've had enough. Mr. Pratt, losing in L.A. and the way he did, raises serious questions about whether California are still able to convey that same message through voting. Today, it's had enough. The Kings and Sacramento. Well done, Frank, as always. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer.

Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. Illinois, he's going to help tell the story of America at 250 by placing artifacts in America's time capsule, a national record that will be sealed for the next 250 years. What should be Illinois's contributions to America's time capsule? 312-2-2-5600 AlphaWealthgroup.com call and text line. Please don't say it like Johnny's Beef or Lou Melanati's Pizza or some such terrible thing like I would expect to hear from Bob Surat. Please don't say that. America's contribution to, I mean, excuse me, Illinois's contribution to America's time capsule. The capsule will include contributions from all three branches of the federal government, each of the 50 states, D.C. and five U.S. territories. the five U.S. territories. Apparently, what is going to be submitted to represent Illinois is a poem entitled Dear New Blood from Illinois's Poet Laureate. No, it's not Joe from Arlington Heights. That's Morning Answers. Chicago's Morning Answers. The state's Poet Laureate is a gentleman named Mark Turcott.

You want to hear a little poetry reading this morning? Well, you're going to hear one, so. Sinch it up and hunker down. Dear New Blood, what Illinois officials, their artistic sensibilities, are offering the America 250 time capsule. Dear New Blood, Mark Turcott, you don't need me. I know here on this podium with my poem. You hunched in the back of the room, tilted in your hard-earned reservation lean. You ho-hum your gaze out the window towards some other sky. Dear new blood, dear holy, dear fully, mixed up, mixed down, mixed in, and out blood. Go ahead and kick the Shiite, kiss the Shiite from my ears. I swear, I swear, I'll listen. Stutter at stutter at me, you uptown weed, you thorn, you pedal, aim my old flowered face at the sky. I know you don't need me here on this podium with my poem. You press flat to the wall, shoulders cocked, loaded for Makwa, for old growlers like me. You yawn your glance out the window at the tempting sky. Wake me. Bang my dead, drum, drum, clang, clang, my anvil, my bell. Shout me, hush your song, your shiny impossible. Your long, wounded song. Tell me everything you know, you don't. Tell me, do you feel conquered and occupied? Maybe I've forgotten. Sing it plain. Has America ever let you be in your own sky? Sing deep Chaco, deep Minneapolis, deep standing rock, deep Oakland and L.A., sing deep Red Cliff, sing Chicago, deep Akoma, deep Pine Ridge, and Talaquah. Mourn, I think you two. You were born with broken heart. Rise. Smash your un-American throat against the edge of the sky. You don't need me, I know, but don't go. Don't look away. I need you. Mark Turcott, Illinois Poet Laureate. He is the author of four books on poetry, an enrolled member of the Anish Nabi Turtle Mountain Band. And he lives in works in Chicago.

um this is i mean i i i i can divine the point of it i guess but i don't know from from town that uh you know produced the likes of carl sandberg i don't know that uh if we were going to offer a poem that um our current poet laureate would be at the top of my list i yeah I mean, it's a generation. I get the generational thing. It's the old guy talking to the new guy and, you know, let out your angst. Oh, boy. Mike and Deerfield, John, Chicago's morning answer. Yeah, Dan, thanks for taking my call. I think in the time capsule they should put Steve Bartman's Walkman wrapped in his subset. Yes, thanks for the call, Mike. Yeah. 250 years. Illinois was incorporated, what, 1818? 108 years and the definitive symbol for Illinois to contribute to our national heritage. His apartment's headphones wrapped in his combat. You know, it would, actually, I think that is appropriate for this Hicktown. It is such a parochial place. Mark Turcots, you know, appeal to the intergenerational compact, notwithstanding. Don in Bloomingdale. Yeah, and I think they should put a big giant logo sticker of U-Haul in there because of Illinois single-handedly making that company a Fortune 500 company. Thanks for the call, Don. Okay. What should be in the time capsule? You know, but part of this is the stories telling these stories, the America 250 stories. You see a lot of these circulating online now. I mean, they're all very cool. For example, this is one that was offered on Tom Landry. You remember Tom Landry as the coach of the Cowboys. Few remember him sitting in the cockpit of a dying bomber over Europe. Before he became one of America's most famous football coaches, Landry served as a B-17 pilot during World War II. Flying from England, he led missions deep into enemy territory where every fight carried the possibility of never returning home. Then came his 30th mission. High above Europe, German anti-aircraft fire found its target. Explosions ripped through the bomber. One engine failed, then another, then another, then another. Suddenly all four engines were gone. The massive B-17 was no longer flying. It was falling. Inside the aircraft were young airmen who knew exactly what that usually meant. Death. Panic could have spread through the crew. Landry never allowed it. Witnesses later recalled how he calmly fought to keep control of the powerless aircraft as it dropped toward the ground. With no engines and almost no options, he glided the cripple bomber toward a field in France. Then came the impact. Steel scraped across the earth. The aircraft slammed into the ground. Against all odds, the crew survived. The young pilot had brought them home. Years later, America would know Tom Landry as the coach who built the Dallas Cowboys into a dynasty. Fans would admire her his discipline, leadership.

and calm under pressure. Many never realized was that those qualities were forged not on a football field, but inside a shattered bomber falling from the sky during World War II, long before he coached champions, Tom Landry was already saving lives of the Tom Landry story. I mean, that's part of, too, I think, this whole reflection on America. at 250 is interesting to me, is telling the stories. And of course, you're going to get the high-profile stories of people who were celebrities and did incredible things. I'm not just talking about, including Tom Landry. And obviously I'm not talking about just being the coach of the Cowboys. We're talking about the story that's told that many fewer people know. And stories circulating about... You know, the Marquis de Lafayette and so many other great Americans and allies of America, like the Marquis de Lafayette. But one thing I was just thinking about, and I guess this struck me because a friend of the show passed away last week unexpectedly. And... And it's not just because there's a friend of the show and a fan and play golf them a few times and stuff. But it's the people who, and I always go back to this, people who play by the rules in this country that are not celebrities. Some have stories of heroism like Tom Landry. Some do not. But the way they live their lives represents a manifestation of the values upon which this country is founded. And I think sort of those Americans deserve to be included in the story of America because, of course, they are the majority of Americans for the last 250 years. They've been the backbone of this country, and they don't get the recognition that somebody who goes on to fame in... the venues for which we confer fame in this country, they don't get the recognition that athletes and actors and singers and politicians get. And I think they should, or at least they should be included in these stories, these time caps. You know, their story should be included in when we talk about time capsules and we talk about reflecting on 250 years of America. And so I don't know, I'm just throwing it out there. This is not fully formed, but reading these stories like the Tom Landry story, thinking about this time capsule business, and just thinking about the wide distribution of stories to be told that represent the greatest nation the world has ever seen at 250, I want to encourage people to tell stories that they will not get told. about great Americans who played by the rules, who did everything right, who were the illustration of the good citizen, the loyal and faithful servant, and who live lives that should be emulated, even if they're not household names. The person I'm referring to, by the way, who passed away, is a guy named Derek Tegel down in Cole City.

He was a member at Dwight Country Club and Morris Country Club played there with him both. He had died of a sudden heart attack at 55 last week. And I understand from our mutual friend that he was like, you know, close to retirement. He was getting close to retirement. And again, he was a big fan of the show and he was always promoting telling people to listen to the show and stuff like that. But that's not the point. The point is the life that he led. You know, being a family guy, being a serial entrepreneur, being a guy I like to hang out and play golf and have fun with the guys when he wasn't abiding his familial and professional responsibilities. And I just think more stories like Derek T. Jellel should be told. People who do a lot of very good things that provide foundation for the communities in which they spend their lives. That just, yeah, they get recognition from their family and friends at the time of their passing. But in terms of thinking about it, here are stories that you should know from. your community, or just about America in general. It doesn't have to be your community. And there are guys like Derek T. Gel all over the place. And so, I don't know. I mean, I'm happy to share stories like that as we go through this, you know, celebrating America 250. So, I don't know, just stories that you think should be told. of people whose names are not well known. I'd like to hear them. 312-642-4-2-50,600. AlphaWealthgroup.com. Anseline, and if you want to email them to me, just email me at Dan at Danproff.com, and I'll read them. I was thinking about this, too. There's another guy who, a friend of a, he's a friend, but he's more of a closer friend of mine that I went to college with. He passed away from a rare form of cancer, if I remember correctly, a couple of years ago. He was this really interesting guy. Like, he's one of these guys. Like, you see, oh, people that are smart or, you know, in politics, again, in all the areas where we confer fame. And then you meet people whose names are not well known and never will be that. I mean, you don't know what intelligent is. until you meet a person like Russell. He made the software for the cellular base stations, like at the advent of cell phones. This guy, Russell, was a genius level, and he was a... A shy guy, he's eccentric, as a lot of particularly intelligent people can be. He was a Dungeons and Dragons guy, which I appreciate it. He was a big vintage car guy. And this is, I just thought of him, and so I asked my friend to write a piece about him. This is sort of what I'm talking about. So let me give you an example.

This is what my friend Jeff wrote about Russell. Russell was a brilliantly smart man, a compassionate human being, and a truly patriotic American. The child of immigrants, he believed in the promise of freedom and the power of individuals to realize their full potential. Always a bit eccentric. He was a computer genius who worked at the highest level of his profession, mastering some of the world's most advanced technology. But more importantly, he was a great friend, able to give advice, wise counsel, and impart optimism with a personal warmth that made close friends feel like family. Whether with his gamer pals playing D&D, fellow gearheads who love driving fine automobiles, or hamming it up with his shortwave radio crowd, eccentric, as I said. He understood the value of joy, self-actualization, and free exchange of ideas. He was taken from this world entirely too soon, and those who knew him will always remember his genuine friendship. He was a really interesting guy, and it's like one of those guys, libertarian and sort of political philosophy, but you just have great conversations with on any topic that you want to discuss. You know, before there was AI. and the large language models where you could put in a search term and click a button. There were people that had this, had internalized this wide range and deep base of knowledge about all of the things that are important when it comes to living in a free society. So. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if there's an interest level or not, but I just figured I tell a couple stories and throw them out because we have great stories from great Americans and great patriots, and those should be told too. But I think more of these stories, the stories of Russell and the stories of Derek should be told as well. This is Chicago's morning answer. Your show keeps me alive during the week. There's nobody I'd rather listen to between 5 and 9 in the morning than you guys. On AM 560, the answer. Insert Democrat Socialist here. Runs the Democratic House law for 30 plus years running. He's promising this and he's stealing that. Where can you get that kind of money? He's using your house like his own piggyback, gang, gang, gang, gang, gang, you ought to know by now. You can pay off your house here in Illinois. You can never keep up with the taxes. Oh, oh, it's always been the plan to have a taxpayer pay, no doubt. Not a matter of if anymore but when. You're moving out. I said when you're moving out. Top of the morning, Dan Profts here. That theme music means it's time for our weekly conversation with the wirepoints.org folks about all things Illinois policy related and former wirepoints folks. Ted DeBrosky will join us shortly. Talking about people whose stories should be remembered. And then there are people whose stories should be completely forgotten even if they had profile in this life.

a vacuous politician like, oh, I don't know, J.B. Pritzker. The most cynical and jaded and dishonest. I mean, although I use their stories, I suppose, as cautionary tales if you want to live in ignominy. If you want to be regaled as a villain of history, then live your life the way that Illinois's governor lives his. Last week, that Burning Cross found at Grand Park. J.B. Pritzker, let me be clear. Let me be clear. You know, you better get your hip waders on as soon as a politician says, let me be clear. Hate has no home here in Illinois. This symbol has one purpose to stir up intimidation and terror. He pronounced. He bellowed on X. We will not be silent. Those responsible must be held accountable, said the governor. Oh, really?

The young shirtless man running from a burning cross in Grand Park had been an aimless person of interest in a Chicago police arson investigation and subject to a possible FBI hate crime case. If Jellybelly gets his way, NBC5 has since interviewed the man who admits to the cross burning. University of Illinois, Chicago senior Merlin Liu. said he knew the implications of burning a cross and had placed a MAGA hat atop the cross, explaining his motivation was to protest Trump administration injustice. Not something racist. I can't wait for J.J.B. Pritzker to continue his unwillingness to be silent in the face of this intimidation and hate because it has no home in Illinois. NBC Chicago's Chuck Gowdy, formerly of the I-Team. Asked him, how did you land on a Burning Cross? Just came to my head one day. I wanted to find something that I could do by myself, like no organization, no friends. Yeah. Emphasis on the no friends, huh, Merlin? Should you have done it some other way? Chuck Gowdy asked, being the probing investigative reporter that he is. Yeah, probably. Merlin Lou is a 21-year-old Naperville native and USC student. Former tennis player at Niqua Valley High School. He graduated four years ago from Niqua. Got a good education there, apparently. Tony Leafy Naperville. Ah, the western suburbs strikes again. Hey, there's no home here in Illinois. I can't wait for him to be held accountable. Right, governor? Oh, brother. For more on this, Ted Dobrowski, former president of wirepoints, wirepoints. Wirepoints. Former gubernatorial candidate, Republican, of course. Ted, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Good morning, Dan. I'm sure that Merlin is going to be invited now to the governor's mansion to celebrate what he did. I'm just waiting for him to announce his candidacy. That's a credential with the political power structure in this state, right? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Or maybe he'd like do some sort of...

artistic endeavor with Jesse Smolett, maybe, I don't know, get everybody, get all the hoaxers together. But you know what? But the larger point here is about the identity politics and the response, the typical response, just, you know, Kamala Harris-esque response from J.B. Pritzker, you know, her response to Jesse Smolet. Oh, outrage and racism still exists and all the responses in the immediacy of it. And the same thing here. And talk about not holding people accountable. J.B. Pritzker should be pilloried rhetorically. for this while he's walking on the lakefront pretending that's how he lost weight. Well, you know, this is like the whole identity, I did, identitarian thing, like in Belfast, right? The conclusion now you jump quickly to the opposite conclusion than you should. And that's how bad has gotten is that... You know, they're going to assume the worst on all this kind of stuff. And this is a perfect example of that. And what we need to do eventually, they always get rid of all this stuff, right? Get rid of the identitarian politics and get back to good old-fashioned merit and accountability. But we're so far away from that. Get back to that. When was that the order of the day at Illinois? Not my lifetime. Certainly around here. Another exhibit generally on topic. Little Billy Conway. Little billionaire baby Billy. He wants to be somebody. He's just an older human now, but he's got big dreams. He writes about the company that was vying to buy Chicago's parking meters. Fool me once Chicago. Not with this administration. The company vying to buy Chicago's parking meters helped ramp up inhumane ICE deportation flights. We need to investigate and can't have ice infiltrating our meters or accessing related data. Ice infiltrating our parking meters. Okay. Appreciate colleagues raising this after raids on our communities and child care centers. Billionaire baby boy, Billy. Standing against ice for the unwashed masses in Chicago.

This is unbelievable. I had not seen this. Yeah, I mean, which is fascinating. The whole thing about the parking meters to begin with is crazy, right? You sell it at low, let everybody else make all the money and then buy it back at the high. That would be a typical Chicago move. And then sell it. And then sell it at the low again. And then sell it or get fleeced again. Maybe Bill Daly is around to broker it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, absurd. But this Conway thing is just pretty fascinating to link all this together. Wow. And so, I mean, and here again, you know, I saw Nick Shirley was in town for Republican gala for the party and so on and so forth. And it's all like, you know, look, it's like, let's applaud Nick Shirley. How about what we're, how about what we should do here? How about the coordinator response to the cheap racial politics of a J.B. Pritzker or a Billy Conway? I mean, you know, the whole sort of, we're always deferring one opportunity to contest in order to preserve the ability to defer the next opportunity to contest the order of the day here. Yeah, I was at the Nick Shirley event the other day. And it's interesting that he comes here and he gave a speech about what we should be doing. But unfortunately, nobody's doing it. Like you say, we're not doing it here. And I'd like to tell you that I've tried to do some of that, haven't been successful yet in exposing it, but I want to say I will be. But, yeah, we do miss out all these opportunities over and over and over again. And, you know, a lot of it has to do with the J.B. Pritzker power, the J.B. Pritzker money, the J.B. Pritzker Press. but uh you know i want to say one day dan one day we're gonna we're gonna do the we're gonna take them on but uh it's not happening yet yeah i mean you know the whole like blaming J.B. Pritzker and J.B. Pritzker's money is is such weak tea yeah it's old we've had money before we've got money guys if there was something going on where the where where people um you know this is not my my job anymore but I'm happy to contribute on the margins. But, you know, after the Spencer Pratt example, even though he didn't quite make them runoff, where are people looking at this mayor's race that's shaping up for next year? George Cardinus, another career politician, brought to you by H.DO back in the day. I mean, these guys just exist forever, and then they try to rewrite and reintroduce themselves. The hackery just abounds, even with people saying, some sensible things like Mendoza. Where's the effort to, you know it's going to be a crowded field? Where's the effort to recruit, identify, elevate a center-right candidate in what is technically a nonpartisan race for mayor of Chicago, for example? I mean, does anybody ever want to put any marker down? I know I tried. I know you tried, but the effort to put markers down, to give people other human beings and campaigns, initiatives to rally around, that has to be part of.

what is done if you're going to do anything important in this state. Yeah, and the moment's great for it, right? I mean, if you think about it, you know, Pratt showed us the way to how to have fun, how to use AI, how to, and of course there are other groups that helped him, but it just showed us that there's another way to reach people and poke fun at how, what a mess is places. And, you know, it's interesting. Now, I've tried to, I thought about it a lot. You know, L.A. lent itself to a great Pratt. you know, Pratt campaign because the poops are very visible, the fires are visible, the tents are visible, the syringes are visible. So he ran a great visual campaign. You know, it's a little harder in Chicago, but we can't do some of the same things around crime and all the problems we have. And it's just sitting there ripe for a young person. who comes in and just blast them forward because, you know, the data, the failure is all sitting right there on our side, the moral cases on our side, the failures on our side to poke fun at. So it's there, but like you say, I'm not sure if there's anybody. I haven't heard of anybody there yet. We've got the same same people still talking about running. I mean, you've got a lot of high-profile departures in addition to things that are relatively unique to Chicago and Illinois, driven by Chicago, like no cash bail, that is even more lenient than New York's version of it. L.A. doesn't have that. Sanctuary State. I mean, yes, these other places, there's a lot of similarities, too. But, I mean, you know, you lose the Chicago Bears. And you can't make hay with that. Instead, we have a couple of Republican legislators trying to resuscitate legislation to woo the bears back, which, I mean, is fine on its merits, but at the same time that you're trying to be a solutionist, like Marty McLaughlin, who he had on the show last week. Can you also hold the other party to account? You know, that's sort of the fundamental. responsibility of the opposition party is to hold the party in power accountable for what they do and under whose name they do it and that simple task just seems to evade the Republican Party here and um And whatever constitutes the statewide slate and whatever constitutes the leadership of the party. I mean, you know, Bob Grogan, Bob Grogan accepted. He just became State Party chairman five minutes ago, so give him some time. But generally speaking for the people who have been around and who are nominees. Right. I mean, I think the whole thing is, you know, can we prosecute the case? And that's something I wanted to do. Can we prosecute the case against J.B. Pritzker, against Johnson, against the whole, you know, go back to Madigan. And earlier, the case is sitting there to be prosecuted, yet we, for whatever reason and for many reasons, we suck at doing it. And it's sitting there just waiting for us to do it. And we'll see what happens. Well, so, we'll... Hey, Dan, go ahead. Go ahead. No, what? I was going to say, you know...

No, you go ahead. Go ahead. I'm just to say, yeah, we'll see what happens. We need something more concrete than that. So what are you thinking about at present? Well, I tell you one thing that I wanted to say is on this bear stuff. You know, I'm sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of the whole thing. You've got J.B. Pritzker blaming the customer, right? J.B. Pritzker's blaming the bears. You know, the bears are the customer. much like Indiana treated the bears as a customer. But, you know, after all this, I was looking at some of the outmigration numbers. I was looking back to 2000. So back in 2000, we lost a net 60,000 people to other states. And that's the equivalent of one full bear stadium. Every year since then, on average, we lost about 70,000 people a year. In 2017, we lost 130,000 people. That's two full bear stadiums worth of people. And so, you know, if the bears is so important, why don't we treat the fact that we lose a bear's worth of a stadium worth of people each year and treat that more seriously? That should be our obsession. And so what I want to say is what it should be happening right now. I guess if I were in power, this what I would do is I'd call for at least a $3 billion property tax rebate to all Illinoisans. You know, because that's what we should be doing, something like that. And I don't care how hard it is to do a $3 billion rebate. I don't care if it's the state imposing something on local governments to give back $3 billion. We always make the Illinois people figure out how to pay 5% more and 10% more in property taxes and other taxes all the time. We don't give a damn how they have to pay it. We just say, you guys have to pay it. Well, we should do the reverse right now, and let's put it on the local governments. Figure out how to give people $3 billion in rebate. It's about an 8% rebate. Not nothing big, but it's something. And, you know, we've never done something like that. Why don't we do it? Stop talking about the bears and do it for people. Why do we do it, what Florida is doing? The first $250,000 is an assessed valuation as property tax-free. Yeah, I mean, that's another way to do it. That's, I mean, because there's a whole much way to do it. Because $3 billion is just like, that's just a big number. I'm telling me, $250,000 in assessed valuation in your property, that's property tax-free. In Florida, $250,000 covers 60% of... homestead at homes. I'm sure the number is similar in Illinois. You want to talk about a majoritarian movement. But I mean, this is like a, you know, a big idea this, other big ideas, some big idea that you need to rally people around in addition to a personality. I mean, for example, for all the talk about Spencer Pratt and AI and this and that, you know, he was well versed on not what was going on just tapping into that, but when he talked about a solution for... homelessness in L.A., he had a nine-minute presentation. He knew what he was talking about. He understood the institutions. He had a solution. You could quibble with it if you want, but it was something specific, and it was certainly better than what the power structure in L.A. is providing for the homelessness problem there. And so the same here. You don't like my $250,000 assessed valuation property tax exemption. Well, okay, then, you know, you can pick it apart, you can argue it, but at least we're rallying around something that is

substantive and that takes on the ruling class on behalf of the majority of the people who are seeing their homes liquidated, which we talk about a lot, some of us do, not with the verve that's required or the frequency, but you got to give people something to grab onto and share and discuss and distribute to animate their imaginations a bit. Well, and also to create the fight, because in the end, you know, we know this legislature is not going to do anything, but what we have to do is we have to force the conversation and we start talking about cutting property taxes. Then at some point you have to say, well, how do you cut spending? And, you know, how do you cut spending? You get to the... to the power of the public unions, the power of the teachers unions, the bloat to the too many units of government, these massive pensions, these massive salaries, all that stuff has to come out because you can't, you can't cut spending unless you go after the bloat, and that's a starting point. Well, you starve the beast, $250,000 exemption for property taxes. How do we cut spending? I don't know. You figured out school district, municipality, your local unit of government. Well, and let's be clear, and you don't go after Spanish classes and football teams. You cut the bloat, you cut the costs, because I know that they'll try to immediately... punish the parents for cuts by taking away the stuff that people care about. So that's what I said. This has to be a big fight, and we can only do that when we start proposing the ideas and then start pushing the hell out of them. All right. Well, you may be the last man standing, so you better figure it out. I feel like Leslie Nielsen airplane. I just want to let you know we're all counting on you, Ted. Yeah. The last time I'm going to say it. All right. Well, thanks. Ted Dobrowski, he is the former president, Wirepoints, Wirepoints.org, all things Illinois policy-related, former Republican gubernatorial candidate as well. Ted, thank you for joining us, as always. Appreciate it. Thank you. And Ted, joined us in the AlphaWealthgroup.com. Answer. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560, The Answer.

Top of the morning, Dan Propped here. The tiny dancer of the former mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, to those unfamiliar with the nickname I popularist. He writes in the Wall Street Journal about energy, because he is trying to present himself as some sort of practical, moderate-type, new Democrat. The record. reflects otherwise but okay we'll run with it on energy democrats can learn from texas oh that sounds very solutionist but then as per usual you start to dig into what rham and so many who present themselves similarly and there's not many frankly at least those aspiring to be president as he is you dig into it and you hear a lot of the same rap Talking about data centers and the data center wars ongoing across the fruited plains. Rather than maintain Mr. Obama's all of the above approach to energy, Republicans neglected energy innovation and embraced a drill baby drill mentality. How did that go?

Not terrible. We're energy independent because of it, but okay. The Chinese now produced roughly four to five of the planet's solar panels and battery cells while we ask ordinary ratepayers to foot the bill for electricity to be in fuel by tech billionaires and hyperscalers. You know, and you be a political genius to realize these hunger games aren't politically sustainable. There's the sort of balanced policy-oriented rhetoric. Yeah. Okay. Please. feeding the hysteria while pretending to be the, you know, hey, let's call it cooler heads prevail here. Let's have a reasonable discussion about the AI revolution and tech and data centers and community interests and so on and so forth. Instead, it's this, you know, oh, I'm a reasonable guy, but hunger games and hyperscalers and tech billionaires, all the buzzwords. He's such a hack. And it's so tiresome. But I'll tell you what, there is, as our next guest wrote about, there is one example where the progress towards solutions with respect to supplying the necessary energy to power a $30 trillion economy in today's numbers. There's one example where the Neoludites were successful, and that's nuclear. So it can be done, and I wouldn't be dismissive of the political forces afoot, particularly in this populist era, that cross the spectrum when it comes to data centers and tech development. Not when you have Comrade Bernie out there wanting the government to take a 50% stake in all tech companies, AI companies. Mark Mills is the founder and executive director of the National Center for Energy Analytics. He joins us now. Mark, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. Great to be back then. And tell me what you're really thinking, but your former mayor. Well, you know, it's probably more vitriolic than you'll get elsewhere just because we had eight years of him as mayor in addition to his time as a Congress human in addition to his time at the White House. And he's just, you know, this act just gets so tiresome. And yet it persists. But talk to us. Give us your perspective on the data center worse, because you wrote an extensive piece over at City Journal about it. Yeah, and thanks for that, Dan. I thought a lot about the data center resistance, which is growing, and it's another piece coming out shortly in the city, because it's not just growing, but catastrophizing. It's an iconic. you know, pivot around with both Republicans in the Democrats for having political talent. And Mark, Mark, you're fading on us a little bit. Just, yeah. Oh, is that? Yeah, that's better. Sorry about that. That's a little better. So the, let's take, let's just take a statement that, that, that, that, that, that, about how, you know, China has been brilliant about capturing the solar market and how we, you know, made the mistake of doing.

and using Trump's line, you know, drill baby drill, to your point, the fact that the United States is now the world's biggest producer and exporter of natural gas and oil products has helped stabilize the disruption that goes on in markets, whether it's in the Strait of Hormuz or anything else that will happen in the future. So that's a good outcome. But the most important point is the construct that is being peddled. And it's embarrassing as some people on the other side of the political aisle have bought into this construct. The data centers are increasing the cost of electricity for people. The data show, not the data centers, but the actual data show, that's not true. What's increased the cost of electricity is almost entirely the result of state and federal mandates and subsidies to push more solar and wind on the grids. That's what's increased the cost of electricity. The data centers that are being built haven't been built yet. They're not consuming electricity yet. It's like worrying about how much gasoline you're buying for your car while the car is still in the factory and you haven't even taken delivery of it yet. There's a causation problem with this trope that's being peddled. So. It is reasonable to worry about what will happen when these big data centers come online. We have some good idea of what will happen, but insofar as the current so-called affordability crisis for electric rates, it's not coming from data centers. It's coming from bad policies in many states, and it's highly correlated. with pushing too much wind and solar on the grids, which increases costs to operate the grids, requires more transmission, all the things that state regulators and many utilities have encouraged, push, they're mandated. So it's a rich irony, I guess, you have to say. So what they're hoping to do is harvest the money, to use Bernie Sanders' words, of tech oligarchs, to pay for their sins of the past and hide the mistakes they've made in energy markets. And the nuclear example, too. I mean, it's, as you write about, I mean, that's the one, you know, particularly with the climate change of Syria on the Wayne, this is something that these chicken littles can grab onto. But, but, and they don't usually find success, although. They didn't find success at a massive cost over the last 30 years with respect to climate change. And, you know, the apocalyptic predictions, the ecos supremacy that punctuated that movement. So, I mean, it wasn't wholly unsuccessful. They imposed a massive cost for no particular reason. But with nuclear, they were actually able to staunch.

the development of nuclear power? Oh, absolutely. So you've framed it precisely correctly. There have been real costs to American citizens and the Europeans, frankly, for imposing climate-inspired energy policies. The West, you know, Europe and the United States have spent close to $20 trillion on the last two decades to avoid using oil and gas. And what has happened over those two decades is the assumption of oil gas has increased, not decreased. And for those who have anxiety about carbon dioxide emissions, they've gone up. They've leveled out. They haven't gone down or put in simple terms that $20 trillion has bought nothing except the transfer of wealth. A lot of it from American taxpayers and ratepayers to China, which sells, of course, the materials and chemicals for the solar panels and the batteries. The thing that worries me is that while I'm not, well, I feel like the data center resistance movement is disingenuous and highly, highly politicized, I do worry to your point that we should not take it lightly. We should not assume that they won't succeed in impeding. the development and production of new technologies like data centers and AI for productive uses because they succeeded. The left succeeded in essentially killing the domestic U.S. nuclear industry. There was no nuclear, new nuclear plants built for the last two decades except for two at great expense in Georgia, a good on Georgia power for getting it done. But we have essentially seen zero advancement in the domestic U.S. nuclear industry because... almost entirely because of the success of the resistance movement that was launched by the left, and this is, you know, my speculation, but the data and history showed this, the anti-Vietnam War movement was looking for something new to latch its political machinery to, and that was partly environmentalism, but especially anti-muclear activism. And if you chase the history of the movement, they sort of steered the machine over towards. frightening people about nuclear energy. Now people learn and understand that incredibly safe machines, fantastic technology, but we essentially abandoned it. We're having to rebuild it. It's enormously expensive to rebuild an industry, and we're behind. You know, China is building more nuclear power plants than any other country in the world using the technology pioneered in the United States. Well, and to build nuclear in this country as not your old nuclear power plants from a couple of generations ago, you have these modular nuclear power centers that are coming online that are safe, effective, more efficient, don't have the same NIMBY problems that nuclear power plants have. Well, first of all, let's be clear. If you're building a nuclear power plant today, you're going to be building the big guys that would be building and know how to build for years. The new ones, the new small ones, which will become practical and due course are all aspirational at the moment. And also, just to be clear, the framing that the new ones are safer than the old ones.

Okay. I get that. I mean, it's a marketing push that the small reactor guys are pushing. And trust me, I love small reactors. I think you're great. I can't wait to all my own personal reactor in my house. Okay. There you go. That's a supercharged generator, yeah. Well, well, you know, there are several reactor designs that are that size. They're mainly for the space program, but they are, they are sized for your house, the size of a large commercial refrigerator. You could, you probably can't buy one, but they do exist. But seriously, the big reactors are very safe. They've been incredibly safe. The only, the only nuclear power accident has, sadly, has killed people was a disaster design, the Soviet, you know, Chernobyl. Chernobyl, yeah, right. And those kinds of reactors don't exist in the West. No one would ever build something like that except the Soviets. So the idea that the new ones are safer than the old ones is sort of, okay, zero fatalities is zero, right? It's hard to be zero. No, I don't necessarily mean the old ones are unsafe. I just meant, you know, the efficiency in the space and the, and, you know, the NIMBY issues more. Yeah. Yeah, but, you know, I won't, let's just go, let's go with what the anti-nuclear movement is saying and the environmental movement saying. Almost without exception, today's environmentalists oppose nuclear energy. Right. Yeah. So you can bet the first time somebody tries to cite a smaller reactor in a place where there hasn't been one that the anti-nuclear nimbism will pop up again. I just don't believe for a second that they're going to give up. and that they will look for waste to oppose it. But you're absolutely right. You know, a smaller reactor that has a sentient on-off switch that you could put in the ground and doesn't need fueling except every five to ten years. I mean, what a, you know, what a great thing that would be for remote communities, villages, towns, data centers. And of the 100 plus different designs that are being built right now, and believe me, there's over 100 different designs. Every one of them will work, technically. I mean, it's not like we've rediscovered nuclear vision. What we don't know yet is which ones will be economical can be built at scale. And fortunately, both the private sector, which is a lot of industries and venture capitalists and the government, both parties are wildly enthusiastic about nuclear energy again. So this is... This is all very good, but the most important point is when, you know, where we started this, is that we were on that track 40 years ago, right? And we got derailed by a hypertrophied, totally constructed...

fears around nuclear energy by the what have to call the extreme environmental movements of that day. They are the same people, by the way. They haven't gone away. They're still around. And they're still doing the same kinds of things. And I think they've decided. There's some irony in this. The data centers are their new vector to go after. But the true irony is a lot of the data center hyperscalars are the ones funding the nuclear power plant. So they're going to get caught in the double cross there, I'm afraid. Yeah, but I mean, as you say, it's just it's it's the politics of it. As I said, the populist politics of which has appeal. And, you know, even if you lose, you potentially generate huge wealth transfer and perhaps some. gain in political power in the process of these of these you know which of the which burnings that they do um i want to get some reaction to something to uh david sacks you know the tech entrepreneur and cryptos are i guess He had posted this on X last month. Back of the envelope numbers for a one gigawatt data center. All in Capax is about $50 billion. Enterprise revenue generated as $25 to $30 billion a year. Electricity costs is $1 to $2 billion a year. So the data center... return two years you get paid back your 50 billion dollars in capax and his conclusion the boom is real um do you agree with that sort of uh you know thumbnail sketch yeah i think i think he's slightly optimistic about the revenue return uh but i think his thumbnails is correct and the important part of that thumbnail is that it tells you that the reason that the boom going on is because the people doing the building But it's really important to keep in mind. This is not a boom with people building things on the backs of government subsidies and government mandates. Right. This is on the backs of an expectation and the realization that market. are buying and using the tools. You could take to the bank that as it has happened with every new technology, we will eventually overbuild the capacity to supply what people want in the short term. That'll happen. That's what competition does. But we're not anywhere close to that right now. There's a really interesting point in his data, which I've written about as well, is that if you look at a $50 billion data center that... generates $25 billion a year of revenue, the electricity costs are 5% of operating it. So, you know, the billion dollars in change. Well, you know, that would tell you something, right? That would say to be simplistic, the data center hypers are essentially insensitive for the price of electricity.

which would tell you something about why what's happening is this rush to fight every possible means to supply power for these data centers. It's because you can't run them unless you can plug them into something. And if the cost to plug them in is 50% higher than what the market offers, you'll pay it because it doesn't really change the bottom line for you very much. What matters is that you can actually get the power and build the thing. Well, so then what? So then when you have proposals, Trump even telegraphed this in the State of the Union with respect to the data centers, you know, these tech companies have to, they can't connect to the grid. They have to sort of build their own electrical infrastructure. You're suggesting, well, that's not a problem for them. As long as they can find the sites, they can do it. Exactly. Well, in fact, so the way the president framed it. In fact, many, many governors are doing the same thing in both red and blue states. is that you, the deep-pocketed data center, hypers, you need to pay your way, either build your own power or pay for the cost of the public grid providing it. And frankly, they would much rather go on the public grid and just, you know, pay the vague if they could. What's actually happening is that the public grids, by and large, can't meet the demand at this pace that they need it. It's coming too fast and too big. So somewhere between a third and a half of the data centers that are in construction are, what I'm going to private grids. They're not connected to public grids. They're using the same kind of technologies, the same constructors, the same kinds of power plants, mostly gas-fired turbines, but they're also using batteries to moderate solar and wind. But mostly it's gas. It's about 80% of all the new construction for power for data centers, natural gas. And I think we're going to see that trend continues. I think it's the handwritings on the wall, which would be a good thing because they'll get built and they will have no impact on public grid rates because they aren't connected to the public grid. The bad thing will be that... Those politicians are hoping to harvest the money from those hypers to pay for their mistakes on public grids. They won't go on the public grid. Yeah, right. Yeah, there you go. The good news and the bad news is. Yeah, right. It'll be like the Warren Buffett line, and the tide's going to go out and we'll find out who's wearing a swimsuit. Uh-huh. Kevin O'Leary, you know, Mr. Shark Tank, Mr. Wonderful, he's got a, he's in a very public fight in Utah for location of a data center. And, you know, one of the things that he has done is raise the specter that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to foment opposition to data centers in this country, you know, for the purposes of inhibiting technological advancement, inhibiting our development of AI in this country in this arms race, this AI arms race. I know there's some truth to that. But do you think that's the best approach sort of, you know, sensibly? I mean, it seems to me that what O'Leary misses in taking this approach and being very antagonistic to the local population is the populist appeal that this has. And you have to address the quality of life and NIMBY concerns and some of the things you're talking about with the public versus private grid in a way that doesn't just sort of like appeal to, you know, the Chinese Communist Party or the Europeans and you're anti-American if you're not supporting this.

you know, like O'Leary is doing. Yeah, I think it's, I can sympathize with, you can imagine he and his colleagues are putting a private capital to build something that's really quite remarkable and magical, which will bring, you know, wealth to the state and to have this kind of, you know, blowback. And so I, you could sympathize with it, but I agree with you. I think the strategy, the truth is that how you approach this. has to recognize that a lot of people have valid concerns. It could be aesthetic. They don't like it. They don't like the construction. It's in a rural area, and these are big construction projects. They're bigger than building skyscrapers. I mean, in terms of steel and concrete and trucks. So people have real concerns. Even if the concerns have been whipped up and hyped up by bad actors, which is manipulating, nobody wants to be told to be manipulated by a bad actor when they have a valid concern. So I agree. It's a very... Every industry has had this problem, including the nuclear industry, by the way, in the early days. How do they get their so-called social license to operate, to build, to have the local community accept them coming there. I mean, think the analogy is exactly the same. Nuclear power plants, these massive gigawatt nuclear power plants don't provide any electricity for the people who live in the area where the plant exists. Electricity is set on grids far away. So why should they put up with a huge construction project? Data centers, the same thing. You have to really take it seriously. You have to be sensitive. Yeah, and the other issue and the other comparison, too, is the water for cooling. We just got a text from somebody who's in the industry, a hydrogeologist, a huge issue for data centers, water for cooling. I work to find sources and model. groundwater modeling that predicts effects on groundwater source and impacts on flow. So this is certainly part of the discussion at the local level, too, is what the cooling that's required, the water that's needed for the cooling of these plants and what impact, if any, will it have on our water tables and, you know, that's an aspect of the quality of life discussion. Well, you know, so those are the kind of questions that are reasonable ask, but this is where the problem begins, where people are making claims and saying things that are just not only wrong, but in fact, egregiously wrong. So the truth is if you need a lot of water for cooling anything, you have to get permissions in any jurisdiction during the United States to use water. The other truth is that data centers don't have to net use water. They can do what's called closed-loop cooling the way a car works. You'll recirculate. the water and you blow fans across the radiators. But this is the key point. In the kind of locations where data centers are being put, which is farmland and semi-rural rural territory, the amount of water that a data center uses in areas is a fraction of the amount of water that's a corn farm uses. Irrigating the land that Kevin O'Leary is planning to put his data centers on uses 200 times more water for agriculture than the data centers will use.

200 times more for agriculture. So if you really, you know, worry about water use and water tables, and this is, of course, an ongoing issue in the United States, then the things you have to focus on are not data centers. They're agricultural use of water. So the solution is, in fact, what some of these hypersettos are already doing, is they're getting involved in local water issues to not be a net user of water, but a net creator of net new water by cleaning up. you know, unusable groundwater, salty water, and not just a... pool of data center, but provide more water to the local community and agriculture. So I think they've figured this out, but what's going on in the meantime, even though they're doing the right thing based on what I've seen announced what's actually happening, the hype and the misinformation around the idea that data centers are massive water users and polluting groundwater tables. They've sort of taken the playbook out of fracking and applied it to data centers. If ever there were a misapplication of real data, well, this was a prime example. So it is a concern from people, but it's not a real concern in terms of what's actually happening. Mark Mills is the founder and executive director of the National Center for Energy Analytics, his latest piece, Data Center Resistance, deja vu all over again that we were discussing. Mark, thanks as always. I appreciate your insights and industry knowledge. Appreciate it. It was great to be on. Have a great summer. Good to talk to you. Good to talk to you. And Mark joined us on the Alfawealthgroup.com answer line. Only the biggest stories. Only the biggest guests. And only the biggest opinions. This is AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Jamperoft here. We're repeating something we mentioned earlier. He can add the name Merlin Lou. That's L.U. Merlin Lou. He's a UIC student by way of Naperville, Nequa Valley High School. Who's the man responsible? Add his name to the pantheon of race hoaxers like Jesse Smalley. And whoever put the noose, quote unquote, at the Obama land site. Bubba Wallace. On and on and on and on. He's the one who put up the Burning Cross at Grand Park that the credulous Chicago Press Corps reported as a possible hate crime. Chicago police, their spitey senses must have been tingling because they said from the outset and never changed their view. This was an arson investigation. Hmm, something seems off here. The judgment of experience in Chicagoland. 21-year-old senior Merlin Lou telling Jugouty. Now at NBC. Nothing matters. What's the difference? That Merlin Lou told him he did it. And what wasn't reported initially being reported now?

Is that at the top of that burning cross? Magahat. He placed a Magathas atop the cross explaining his motivation was to protest Trump administration injustice. I did know about the historical relevance beforehand, but he didn't know the severity how racially motivated it may seem from what I did. Because my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender. gender we didn't think so because you still don't quite get it apparently but hey great education you got there iniqua valley into uIC you're on top of things he also is impatient i don't want to wait until his term ends i don't want to wait until he may or may not get impeached i want him gone right now And obviously burning across with Amagahatatatop it in Grand Park is the way for him to demand Trump's departure from the White House right now because, you know, he's very mature. Ah, what the suburbs are producing these days. You can see it reflected in their political leadership. For more on this. Oh, and yeah, I know. By the way, hate has no home here in Illinois, and whoever's responsible for this Burning Cross will be held accountable, said the governor, until he found out that it was Merlin Liu, and now everybody's gone silent. More on this, please be joined by Kevin Coyne, Chairman of the DuPage, GOP. Hey, Naperville's in DuPage County. They have a summer kickoff event. America's 250th birthday, that's what they're celebrating. That is Wednesday, June 24th, so that's a week from tomorrow, right? Yeah. Doors open at 6.30, then 7 to 9 p.m. featuring, I just saw him yesterday at our golf outing. It's always good to see. Steve Trout. Steve Trout will be there. Food, fun, hijinks. Maybe you can invite Mr. Lou. from Nequa Valley High School for sort of an opportunity for detente and extension of an olive branch and helping him to understand the silliness of his ways, kids being silly. Kevin Coyne, chairman of the DuPGOP, joins us now. Kevin, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. Hi, Dan. Thank you for having me. So tell us about what's going on in Naperville other than... what Nico Valley is sending down to UIC and more about this event. Oh, sure. Well, thank you. Yeah, we're fighting the battle, Dan. We're not giving up. We know we've had a number of tough cycles here. Obviously, as you're well aware, the political winds have shifted. But there's still a lot of Republicans out here in this area. We're not going to give up. We're going to keep fighting for them. And we've got a great kickoff coming up with some good elected officials. And Mr. Bob Grogan, who I think you know, is our new state party chair will be amongst the speakers. So it should be a good time with Steve Trout, too. Yeah. Yeah, he's, you know.

He's still got the hand-eye coordination. He hits a long ball. I saw it yesterday at our golf hunting. Not as long as me, but, you know, he's a little bit older. Good man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Bob, obviously, Bob Grogan is a DuPage guy, former DuPage County elected official. And we were just talking about this the other hour with Ted Dobrowski. who I know you were supportive of with his gubernatorial run as well, because you get it. But, you know, where is the party right now amid the high-profile bear's departure amid the, you know, the ongoing problems with sanctuary state, the ongoing problems with Safety Act? Where do you, I mean, you say you're putting in the fight, and where are people? where can people look to see manifestations of the fight that is being put in intersection points for them to join the fight as long as they're here? I think that's a rolling frustration. Yeah, I think it's highlighting the point that there's a reason that so many of our DuPage residents can't stay here when they retire because the taxes are so high, why people are fleeing our stay and our businesses, including the bears, are leaving. And the answers are always rooted in failed blue democratic policies, which keep coming and which becoming more and more extreme. You know, the Build Act is a great example, and it's a, you know, worst kept secret. But they're planning to bringing that back after the election. Zero question about that. I mean, just got to keep hold them accountable and not give up until these wins swing back our way. Well, I mean, Mayor Worley made a point to be very publicly opposed to the Build Act, which would have allowed for, like, you know, multifamily units, eight, what, eight units. as many as eight units and in residentially zoned, single family homes owned areas. So you would have this potential, you know, mishmosh of property types that could imperil property values and so forth. This was the concern of a lot of suburbanites. But it seems to me it's like, so they table it. You know, as you say, it's the worst kept secret that they're going to wait until next year after the election, then try to bring it back and ram it through because. Their designs haven't changed. Just their, you know, the political wins they're trying to manage. But it seems to me like those are the types of issues where there needs to be some staying power by Republicans to impress upon people what they attempted to do. It's like what would. J.B. Pritzker tried to graduate the state income tax. Remind people what they attempted to do just sort of just relentlessly because it tells you where their mindset is and what they will do as soon as they have a political opportunity to do so.

Oh, yes, and fully appreciate how outrageous that Build Act is. It's a complete usurping of, you know, what have generally historically been very well governed suburban communities and giving those local zoning questions over to this. you know, extreme progressive capital of ours that has failed in every way. It's corrupt. It's inept. And our mayors are not going to be able to have say over whether or not an apartment building is going to go into your block. We're going to make that allowable by right without even a public hearing. That is something that suburban voters completely rejected to the point that it made even... you know, the safest of Democrat candidate voice concern about moving forward with it. And that's why we all know they're going to push it forward after the election because they got too hot to do it before it. And they're just increasingly emboldened. So what is like the conversations, the types of conversations you have with Republican candidates running locally or for state office and Naperville? I mean, it's, you know, what does it look like? What's the way back for the Republican Party in places like Naperville in DuPage County? Because if you're not winning there, you're never going to win statewide because the votes aren't there. You have got to be, the Republican Party has got to be a party of the suburbs and it's not right now. It's not. And what I keep reminding people is a couple things. One, there's no saving Illinois until we get DuPage fixed. And if I, you know, might offer some criticism to some of my predecessors is I think we've been far too passive and nice. I think there's been a presumption that if you do a good job, you'll get through your election and get reelected. And, you know, clearly suburban voters aren't going to, you know, elect these, you know, far extreme leftist candidates. Well, we've learned that they will. We've learned that we have to run better, stronger, punchier campaigns. We've got to get loud. And we've done that to the extent that we can do it. More resources will help, obviously. But I think we are bringing some punch back. I think we've been far too passive for far too long. And I think it's cost us a lot of very close elections as a result. Yeah, that's well said. All right, the summer kickoff for the DuPage County GOP is Wednesday, June 24, so a week from tomorrow. Doors open at 6.30. Event is 7 to 9 p.m. at the pub, American Tapin eatery. Right? I have that location, right? Correct. That's 701 Westlake in Addison. Pub American Tap and eatery, 7 to 9. Next week from tomorrow, next Wednesday, the 24th. See, Steve Trout. And... Local candidates, the newly minted Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan and others. For tickets, the website is where, what's the website?

DupageGOP.com. And post it all over our social media, too. Yep. Okay. DupageGOP.com to get tickets to the Dupage County second annual summer kickoff. Again, week from tomorrow, 7 to 9 p.m. Pub, the American Tap and Eatery on 701 Westlake Street in Addison. Kevin Coyne, Chairman of the DupageGOP. Thanks for joining us, Kevin. Appreciate it. Great. Thank you so much, Dan. And he joins us on the AlphaWealthgroup.com answerline. Hear about the big stories of the day. Then talk about them right here on Chicago's morning answer. An AM 560, The Answer. AM 560, The Answer. Yeah, a little Eddie money to close it up. Can you imagine this for your obit? We're talking about earlier in the show stories to celebrate America 250. And again, email me, Dan at Danproff.com. Already have a few of everyday Americans who play by the rules who lived a rich life and provided a model for how you contribute as a good citizen to a free society and advance the cause of America. People that don't have the fame attendance to their passing or their lives, the examples they provided. Can you imagine this? The actress who played the mom on the sitcom Alf? The headline for her obit and variety. Alfstar Annie Sheedine dies at 77. Family remembers her, quote, burning hatred for Trump. Can you imagine having that be the headline in your obituary? Your hatred for a politician? What a poor way. I mean, I don't know if that's how she actually lived, but what a poor way to remember somebody. You are that one-dimensional? That flighty? Your whole life is contained within the despising a politician who's been on the stage for a decade of it and you live 77 years? Boy, the ugliness of the left on display yet again. Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature Bank. Signature Bank takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether you're a business looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature Bank is the right bank for you. Call today at 773-467. five, six hundred to hear how signature bank can help your business grow and thrive. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.