The Rod and Greg Show: John Curtis Denies Gubernatorial Interest; Canada's Identity is 'not American'

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No purchase necessary. 18 plus void where prohibited. Full terms apply. See what everyone's talking about. Play today at lucky hands. Your luck is in your hands. I don't know if you know Dave Owen, but he is someone that I've known for quite a long time. We're going to have a little bit of fun at the beginning of the show. But Dave, welcome to the Rod and Greg show. I am the wingman to the wingman. That is it. You are the wingman to the wingman. And I, we stay in touch. And I know that you listen to the show and you're so funny. And so. My texts. Yes, they're just great. And we have a lot of listeners that will, you know, participate. But you always, you have this great, great eye. You understand. And we've been in the trenches together. We have fought some pretty big issues. Yes, we have. Folks, if you, you wouldn't know. But Dave Owen, he's worked for, he fought Obamacare expansion back when I was the speaker. And we had, we had sadly a Republican governor and a Republican Senate that were all in. And we fought the good fight. We actually prevailed there. For like five years. Yeah. And then they went to the ballot measure like they did with better boundaries and they rolled us. But you've been on the side of angels. You've fought the good fights. Maybe share with our audience just kind of your history. Because you also have media. I mean, you've done radio as well. Oh, man. I used to do a show right from this facility on Sunday afternoons. I called it Radio for Dumb Guys. well that's not true but but uh have a little cult following it was a lot of fun what else Man, I started in politics back in like 1989. And a lot of people don't know this, but I got really angry about the PR campaign and the just the happy talk going on about public funding for the Olympics. Right. Way back then. Way back then. And there was going to be an initiative. And as a friend of mine who passed a couple of years ago, did that stuff with him for years and years. As he said, if we'd have been saying it for 20 years, we would have been twice as right. Because the reality is that cost Utah taxpayers a ton of money. I didn't have anything against the Olympics. What I didn't like, I have a real problem with taking people's money. By force, because ultimately that's what it is. If you don't pay your taxes, you can wind up in jail, and then spending it on things that are basically bread and circuses for the world elite. I have a problem with it. Well, you know, you're going to do really well on the show today. I think you just spoke to the heart and soul. In 1992, I knew this guy named Mike Levitt. Yeah. And I knew him from the neighborhood. Yeah. And I heard he's running for governor. And I won't go into too many personal details, but, you know, we understood that we weren't necessarily completely...

synced up on politics. But I said, but Mike, I'm not running for governor. You are. I want to see it. And that was kind of the beginning of my actual career. And it took me a few years to figure out how to do it full time. But I've been on my own now for over 20 years. So let me share with our audience my introduction to the Dave Owen. I was a young gun. This is 94. 95. 95. So I had been a. A young campaigner, I'd been going, I came out to Utah in 89, went to UVU, UVSC, then BYU. But I was working for Ina Green. She'd run for Congress. She had won a race for Congress. A lot of political intrigue, palace intrigues. Well, she lost the first one. She lost the first one. And I was there. And the second one, she prevailed. There was a lot of, there was some news breaking about her, her situation with her husband. She had to resign from, or she wasn't. He had a bezzled a bunch of money. He had. And she was going to finish out that term, but not run again. And there was a lot of discussion. And I was invited back in the day, Take 2 was a television show on Sunday. Take 2 on Channel 2 with Rod Decker. Yeah, Rod Decker had a big show. And so I was asked to participate. And again, I'm young. And you are asked to come on that show as well. And the other panelists that was on that show was a stuffy, know-it-all professor, a liberal one. And he thought he was just by his bow tie, folks, and I'm not kidding. He was pronouncing to everyone in that television station, he was the smartest guy in the room and maybe anywhere. And he'd been really loud about Enid and really... insulting to her and derogatory and he'd been this major voice in the press because they'd always run to him for a quote and so rod's putting together a panel and you're on there and what i remember more we talked about this before the show but what i remember most i don't even remember me being on it but i was to give my because i was right there at the epicenter what was going i was giving my honest take but you well you can tell it but i'm just going to tell the ending first You were able to call this this stuffy know-it-all professor to task so well. He ripped the earpiece out of his ear and stormed off. And I looked at you and I thought, that guy, that's the guy. He knows what he's doing. I like that guy. And you can add to that color commentary, but that's how I got to know the Dave Owen. That afternoon I'm in my car and I hear a teaser on whatever radio station for take two. Yep. That evening at 530 or whenever it was. And they were going to talk about Joe and Edith Walthals and the big scandal. And we've got Professor So-and-So, we've agreed we're going to leave that name. There's nobody, Greg Hughes, no one's ever heard of, but he's been working with these two. So we're going to bring him on. And so I called, I had Rod's number at his desk, and I called him. And I said, hey, how would you like to have the only person in the world who's talked to both Joe and Enid in the... last 24 hours. This is when it was all fresh. Everything was breaking. National news. Yeah. CNN had a marathon press conference. Can you get out here? So I run home. I still remember I put this. This is when denim shirts were in fashion. Yeah. And I went and changed clothes and grabbed the tie and went out there. And you may not remember, but he brought me on for the second segment. And I had already decided that what I'm going to do is I'm going to sit down and I'm going to take a two by four to that guy's forehead. And by that guy, we mean this stuff he know it all professionally.

this liberal professor. So Rod tosses to me and I said, well, first of all, so and so here puts himself up as the ultimate arbiter of political morality and the impartial arbiter and the final word on all this kind of stuff. And the reality is he's a Democrat operative and just tore him apart. And I'm laughing because I don't think he had heard this before. He truly did not know what to do. He did not. All he knew to do in that moment, he was not, he'd not been spoken to that way or called out accurately. And this is exactly what he was. This man from before then and since that moment was left of center and a Democrat operative. He just was so offended. He ripped that ear piece out, pointed at you, said something I didn't hear, and then just stormed off of that set. And the rest is history. And the rest is history. That's where I went and I made a mental note. Okay, Dave Owen, I'm sticking near that guy. And we've had fun since then. We sure have. We've had actually, we've been through a lot of good battles. Again, on the side of angels fighting for good. Imagine this. We were against Obamacare expansion, socializing health care to a greater degree, Medicaid expansion. And I think we actually carried the day there for a while. We did for five years. Yes. We've killed it in Wyoming now for 13 years in a row. Yeah. And so, again, you've just, and what you are talented at, and that's why I'm excited for the show today, is that you can frame these very complicated issues and you have a way of communicating. And I know that there's a lot of candidates that come to you when they're running to say, help me give a speech that's from, you get to know them. But they want to give something that's from their heart, but they want to be memorable. You can really help them get the substance right. and really let them speak to who they are. Anyway, you've just done a great job. And so I expect great things from today's program. Yeah, but I can only really do that when I'm at a stoplight with my cell phone when I text you those. So you're staying on the spot here at Kenner. She might not be able to that. I don't believe that. I think it will. Folks, you're going to want to stay on and listen to this show today because we've got some great interviews coming up. In the next break, we're going to talk to Joel Kotkin. He's a presidential fellow in the Urban Futures Chapman University. We're going to talk about his column, Goodbye to the Information Age. What is the economy look like for our young people? Where is all that going? Is it going to stay in the tech age or is it more industrial? Is it more blue collar? What is it going to look like? We're going to talk to him about that, some of the trends that we're seeing for emerging workforce of our young people. This one is, I recorded this earlier today, but this is going to be, I think, a very important discussion. We spoke at length. about Senator John Curtis. And there was an article that came out on in Monday's Politico from Samuel Guy Benson talking about John Curtis and his circle of friends and influence, talking about his potential run for governor, being a senator, being there 16 months, but looking at the potential run in a year and a half from now or in 2028 for governor. It was a lengthy article. It came with a lot of sources. There was a lot of detail to it. That was Monday. And if you remember folks. We did not have a shortage of calls. I didn't get the talk back live screen up and running, so I think I got a solution. I think we might revisit some of these great comments that were made on Monday on Friday when we have an open line Friday. We might go back to those. But.

What we saw yesterday was this tour from Senator John Curtis where he went to the media to almost rebut the political column where he said, you know, I've never given a day of thought of being anything but a United States senator. I've never thought of anything but. I've never done it when I was mayor. I didn't do it when I was a member of Congress. And it sounds like from what's being reported yesterday, he was walking back a lot of what was in the Politico article. So to kind of get our bearing straight, because we had one version of John Curtis on Monday. Yesterday, there was a very different version, or just a different description of John Curtis from himself on Tuesday. We've invited the author of the political article, Samuel Guy Benson, on the program to maybe discuss. Does he stand by what he wrote? Because what was said yesterday, sounds like what he wrote might have been an overstatement, or maybe he took some editorial liberties with that column. We'll ask him and find out. It'll be a good discussion. That's in this same hour. Okay, folks, when we come back, Joel Kotkin will be our guest. We're going to talk about what's to come with our emerging workforce. You're listening to Talk Radio 1059, KNRS. You're listening to Utah's Talk Radio 1059, KNRS. Next, our guest right now, a very interesting column about... Say goodbye to the information age. What does the future look like for our emerging workforce? This generation Z, joining us on the program, Joel Kotkin. He is Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University. Joel, thank you for joining us on the program. Oh, it's my pleasure. Okay, so this is a broad topic, but I think it's one that I, look, I'm an adult, I got young kids in their 20s ready to start life. Maybe you can share with our listeners. What does the future look like for this emerging workforce or generation right now? Well, I think it's a mixed picture. I mean, I think that people who maybe are learning skills, let's say, like coding, that. you know almost guaranteed some sort of decent job you know 10 years ago I think that's sort of that door is sort of closing at the very very very high level there'll be great jobs but a lot of the medium level will not be so good on the other hand I think if the country continues to re-industrialize and begins to build the infrastructure that we need, begins to produce more industrial goods, begins to, and continues to be more energy self-sufficient. I think that there'll be lots of jobs in those fields. And I think, unfortunately, our education system, and I think our value system has sort of denigrated those industries and those jobs, and that's something that the young people are going to have to get over. You know, let me ask you this. It always rubbed me wrong, especially during the Obama administration where I heard, you know, we're a service economy, the days of manufacturing and industry. You know, these are jobs that Americans just aren't willing to do. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and my family, a hard day's work was a right of passage. It was a badge of honor. I always felt that it had a tone of elitism to it.

I take what you're saying about the kind of jobs that are going to be available that are going to be longstanding, whether they're in construction, manufacturing, whatever they may be. That's a bright future. And I do think there's a willing workforce ready to get involved in that. Is it true that there are jobs that Americans aren't willing to do? Or do we just have to, or are these opportunities really available for our young people? Well, first of all, I mean, a lot of it obviously depends on how much you pay. But I think that there are jobs, you know, let's say picking, you know, strawberries in the fields. You're probably going to have a hard time getting Americans to do that work. You may find some, but probably not a lot. There are certain... professions that are done generally by immigrants. Your second, third generation American, whatever their color, probably doesn't want to do those jobs. But the reality is that there are many jobs that I think Americans would do. I mean, you know, when you talk to some young person who's, you know, I did interview people in Ohio being trained to be machinists. and you know they're coming out of of trade school and getting a hundred thousand dollar a year job it looks pretty good to them you know there's nothing particularly exciting about going into a cubicle and staring at a screen all day you know i i don't think that that's the height of human endeavor and the other thing i'm working on a lot now um is also the whole idea of the artisan economy. And I think that is something where there's a lot of interest in, you know, goods that are made by hand or goods that are done, that are unique goods. There's obviously interest in certain kinds of organic food. There are opportunities out there that could be very promising. And I also think that we're going to go into a phase, let's say, in construction, you know, our housing stock is the oldest it's ever been, which means there's a lot of work, not just for new houses, but also for repairing old ones. And, you know, it's going to be a long time till we have a robot who can be a plumber, all right? It's just not... It's not going to happen too quickly. I think you're going to have a better chance of a robot screenwriter than a robot person going in and checking out what's leaking in your toilet. Hey everybody, Lady Luck here, and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on SpinQuest.com, which is an American-owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to SpinQuest.com. Get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10.00.

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are among the largest economies in the world is because they actually make stuff. And there's no particular contradiction between technology and making stuff. I mean, actually, there's just, there's an awful lot of inputs that are technologically given. You know, I can, you know, to show you in places like El Salvador, California, for instance, or outside of Austin, where a whole new industry i think will be the industry of the future space is demands enormous numbers of people of all different um backgrounds you know as one guy said to me of running a company here in southern california he said you don't build rocket ships with robots yeah um and so i think that there is a a tremendous um opportunity for the country and it's very easy for academics and people in the media you know who you know basically you know don't have to do any of this kind of work and are not interested in to say oh we don't need those jobs well what kind of society that we're going to have if 80% of the population is basically living on government assistance I don't think it's going to be a very pleasant country. I don't. I agree with you completely, Joel. I want to thank you for the study you've done, the analysis, the article you wrote. Keep up the good work. And thanks for joining us on the program. And my pleasure. That's Joel Kotkin. He is Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, the article Goodbye Information Age. When we come back, folks, we're going to talk to the author, Samuel Guy Benson. He wrote the article in Politico about Senator John Curtis and his potential run or considered run for governor in 2028. We're going to talk to him about some of the discussion that's happened since then. You're going to hang on through the break. You're listening right now at Utah's Talk Radio 105-9, K&RS. So earlier today, I had an opportunity to have a discussion with Samuel Guy Benson. He is, he's the one that wrote the Politico article that we dove into on Monday. If you remember Monday's show, we not only did we talk about this article about, you know, Senator John Curtis considering a run for governor, but I went to you, the listeners, to say, what do you think? And there was no shortage of commentary or calls about how you feel. I was listening. I heard. You heard that. So the next day, Tuesday, you saw a major pivot from Senator John Curtis, where he's saying, I'm not. I'm just, you know, I've always loved being here. I've never even thought of it. It seemed like a pivot to me. That's why we wanted to have Sam Guy Benson on to ask him. The truth. So on the show today, Samuel Guy Benson, let me ask you something. Sam, first, thanks for joining us on the show. Very different narratives coming from the Curtis camp Monday, from your story to Tuesday, where he was reaching out to reporters. Did you take any liberties in your reporting about his potential run for governor? Or were you getting information from reliable sources?

First off, Greg, it's really great to be with you. Thanks for having me. I mean, I stand, I stand by my reporting and, you know, I trust the people I was speaking to. And I think everything that we wrote was was accurate and fair. If you look at the senator's statement yesterday, he said that he hasn't spent a minute on plans to leave this office, being the Senate for another. And I think that's true. And you could say that while you're still potentially considering a run for Senate because he wouldn't have to run for governor because he wouldn't have to leave, right? You could run for governor without leaving the Senate. He would only have to leave if you win, right? He also, the other things in the story that he, you know. Oh, I have had no luck lately. Wait, lady luck? Brett Ski, I got you. I've had so much luck on SpinQuest.com. They have all of my favorite games, slot games, live blackjack craps, and bubble craps. You can even get a $30 coin pack for just $10 bucks. $10 for 30. I'm headed over to SpinQuest.com right now. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details. When it comes to your business, great promotions should do more than just get your name out there. They should drive action. And that's exactly what your business will get from a partnership with IHeart Media. Imagine your business connecting with music fans and future customers through sweepstakes, ticket giveaways, listener contesting, and local media. Attach your business to high energy music moments built to help grow awareness, engagement, and leads. Get started today. Call 844-844-Iheart. That's 844-844-Iheart. Hey, there are people winning real cash while they're sitting in traffic right now. LuckyHands.com. No trip to a casino, just gains, daily rewards, popular fish tables, and a chance to redeem real cash prizes. Get a 300% welcome offer bonus when you use code Clover.

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Those are kind of the points that he pushed back on. I think it's important to note kind of the bigger picture here and the crux of this story, which is... that Senator Curtis is receiving immense pressure from people in his inner circle to consider running for governor. And he's listening to those folks, and he's thinking about it. I reported that there's this group of Curtis allies that's going to people around the state and asking donors, asking potential supporters if they'll just hold off on backing another candidate until Curtis makes up his mind, whatever his timeline might be. The reason they're doing that, as I noticed in the story, is because other people are already talking about this. We're two and a half years out, right, from the 2028 governor for election in Utah. But there are these folks, including former Congressman Jason Chafetz, that are trying to go out and lock up support from donors and elected officials and others around the state. And so that forces somebody like John Curtis, who could, with a C, who could potentially run for governor, forcing those folks to go out and kind of make the same ask. so that it doesn't become inevitable that we have one candidate who's locked up all support two years out from the election. You know, Sam, my first question wasn't a gotcha question. I suspected and actually expected the answer you just provided. But I have a broader point I want to make or a question I have, but I want to get specific. There was a comment in your column where a response, and I don't know, I guess this was shared with you secondhand, where the senator's answer was, I didn't say hell no this time. implying that that he had softened on the prospect of potentially running for governor. But he says, and this is, I'm just reading from one of the local news outlets that he, you know, that he made it a point to walk some of the what was in the political article back. He said he has never spent a minute. thinking about or planning his next move. That seems that I hadn't said hell no, like I used to, but I don't say that now. It doesn't seem like those two sentiments can live in the same universe. Am I reading too much into that or are those contradicting? Yeah, so I mean, what I reported in my story is that there was someone close to him, in that specific example, someone close to him that's asked him multiple times if he had run for governor. And this person said the first time he asked Curtis that and the second and third and fourth and fifth time the answer he got was exactly that hell no. And then in recent weeks, this person said there's been a shift. where the senator has begun to take it more seriously and start to consider this. I think the difficulty that Senator Curtis finds himself in is the timeline. I mean, we're two and a half years.

out from the election. He's only 16 months into his term in the Senate. And so he can't make it seem like he's thinking about this or he's considering it or that he's planning an exit, right? But these conversations are happening and people in his inner circle are pushing him to take it seriously. You know, in defense of your reporting, I thought that your reporting was actually a segue from what his chief of staff, Corey Norman, was willing to say on the record in a... and a local political show interview format where he said, yeah, he's looking. I thought from his chief of staff's comments that this topic and the consideration of whether he's running for potentially going to run for governor was real just from his chief of staff's comments. But here's what I wanted to ask you, because we had so many calls from listeners this week as we talked about your article. And there is a narrative of Senator Curtis that if you are in the room with him, his ability to connect with his audience and be able to compel, be at a conservative audience of delegates with a 92% score with Heritage Foundation or if it's climate issues with people that might be left of center or moderate, he can really own the room and he can really leave people who've heard from him, walk away thinking he's authentic and he's spot on. And he does enjoy support. I think the challenge for him is, as senator, those rooms in which he's been able to speak in in the past have been kind of siloed. As a senator, those rooms are all kind of mixed. We're hearing different messages at the different times. And that was kind of highlighted by some listeners that there's a different John Curtis, Senator Curtis, depending on audience or depending on topic. And it makes people feel a little uneasy. I feel like that played out in your article in Politico versus his comments the next day where that same... narrative about who he is and when he's that person was kind of, is kind of consistent. Do you see him maybe saying things differently to one group versus another? I mean, maybe that's too harsh of a question, but I just think that your reporting and his response to it kind of makes the point of a lot of our listeners and their observations. Yeah, I mean, I won't opine on what Utah voters think about John Curtis because I haven't spoken enough Utah voters this week. The folks that I talked to this story are people that are in Senator Curtis's circle or allies of him or are aware of these conversations. But I do think it's worth noting that back in 2023, Senator Curtis said that he wasn't going to run for the Senate when Mitt Romney decided he was retiring. A couple months later after receiving encouragement and pressure from some people in his circle to reconsider it, he decided to run. And I think he's trying to probably avoid that mistake this time around. I'm like, why shut a door if there's the possibility that you'll want to reopen it? And so I do think the senator is doing all that he can and people in his circle are doing all that they can to keep the door open without shutting it unnecessarily. We're so early in the cycle, he's going to do all that he can to have the possibility of running for governor. He has to start making some moves quietly or maybe better said those in his circle need to start making moves quietly to ensure that that door stays open. And I think everything that he's saying now is reflecting this deep desire to show that he's content in the Senate. He enjoys his work, but also he's doing all that he can, right, to keep that door open.

Because you don't want to shut it prematurely like he did back in 2023, then have the awkward experience of coming back against, you know, Trent Staggs and Brad Wilson and trying to throw together a last minute campaign, which to his credit, he was able to do and win, you know, a majority of voters in a crowded primary field. But that's a lot more difficult if you have a, you know, a two and a half year runway and someone else getting an advantage in that time. Samuel Guy Benson, national reporter for Politico. We went over the story Monday. We're going to go to a quick break right now. We come back. I'm going to revisit this issue. Dave and I are going to toss around a little bit. You're going to want to hang on. You're listening to Utah's Talk Radio 105.9 can arrest. What's going on, everyone? It's Bluff here, and you know what's more American than America's 250th birthday? Supporting American-owned companies like SpinQuest, America's number one social casino with over 1,000 games like Live Dealer Blackjack and Craps. They're offering new users a $30 coin package for just $10. Go to SpinQuest.com and sign up today. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details. If you run a business, you've probably heard plenty of AI promises. But here's one thing we know for sure. When consumers hear an ad for your business, 90% want to know it's a real person talking. And that's what you'll get when you advertise with iHeart. We're guaranteed human. That means real voices, real connection, and trusted audio that helps businesses drive results. Learn how easy it is to tell your story through our voices. Call 844-844-I-heart today. That's 844-844-I-heart. Hey. There are people winning real cash while they're sitting in traffic right now. Lucky Hands.com. No trip to a casino, just gains, daily rewards, popular fish tables, and a chance to redeem real cash prizes. Get a 300% welcome offer bonus when you use code Clover. Lucky hands. Sweet coins all through the lands. Calling out come join the fam. Lucky hands. No purchase necessary. 18 plus void. We're prohibited. Full terms apply. See what everyone's talking about. Play today at lucky hands. Your luck is in your hands. Hello, it is Ryan, and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumbacasino.com. I looked over the person sitting next to me, and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving, having fun with it. Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino-style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere. So sign up now at Chumba Casino.com to claim your free welcome bonus. That's Chumba Casino and Live the Chumba Life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary.

How would you describe yourself to our listeners? Like, what are, like, I don't know, operative almost sounds, you're not, you're more than a political operative because you have a, you have a rudder in the water, deep in the water. You described the beginning of the show, what got you into this, the what you saw as misuse of public funds. So what would you call yourself? Well, I've been called the break glass guy. And emergencies break this, break glass, yeah, that, that, that fits. I do a certain amount of that. I'm much more behind the scenes than I used to be. True. I've always got various irons in the fire. I was active on the hill. I had, as I've told you, some health issues that made it so I couldn't really be up there, but it had a couple people working with me. And we had some success. Well, you know, Foundation for Government Accountability that I've represented here in Utah for many, many years. And so we had some success there. And then I get called in on various things and get some business out of D.C., working on some regulatory reform right now, encouraging Mike Lee to take action, which he's... completely on board with. Right. There's no problem there. It's just, you know, sometimes it's good to hear from inside the state and people saying, we've got to get this done. I think one of your, one of the things, and this is what's going to be fun about this next topic we're going to jump into, is that I think that when people have a hard time communicating broadly critical issues because they get complicated, you're very bottom line. You can get to this stuff very easily. So I wanted to get your take. We just heard in the last hour from Samuel Guy Benson, who was. He used to actually, he's from Utah. He used to work for the Deserate News. He's now with Politico, which is a national political publication. He did a very lengthy article about Senator John Curtis after 16 months in the Senate. I've seen by many nationally as maybe one of the four moderate. Republican members of the Senate, squishes will be, is a term I've heard people use. You don't find that in that article. But anyway, it went into great length about his consideration of running for governor, how he would want to do it sooner than later, unlike his run for Senate, talked about amounts of money he'd want to raise by way of a war chest, talked about hiking in the mountains, praying, deliberating about it, his friend saying that he's not ruling it out. So there's a lot there. But then that was on Monday, and then we had this great... show that we talked about. Would we want to see him leave the Senate and I'm the wrong guy to try to tell? that that story just happened on its own. Yes, and that's where I want to get to because on Tuesday, this is what. That was a plant. I don't know from new. I'm not even saying it was John Curtis, but it's somebody close to him. That was a trial. Well, I have a specific question about that, but I want our listeners to know that on Tuesday, that was Monday. And then yesterday, this is the statement that John Curtis put out to media. He said, it's a special privilege to represent Utahans in the United States Senate. I love my work here and I'm extremely grateful for it.

Despite recent speculation, I am happy where I am and have not spent a minute on plans to leave this office for another, whether as mayor, a member of the House, or now in the Senate. The problem with that, Dave, is that that statement I just read... I don't think that statement lives in the same universe as the column. Everything else. The Politico report is Samuel Guy Benson. So tell me what's, how do you get the Monday version of Senator John Curtis to the Tuesdays version? He's saying, I don't care. Don't tell me about that smoke. There's no fire. That's why. And how do you get to a story like that? The story on Monday, there's a lot of sources. So it looks like a pretty, a lot of work was put into that story. That's not organic? That doesn't, he did. Samuel Guy Benson didn't just see the tea leaves. Again, I don't know whether John did it. I have no idea. Maybe he thought it was premature. But the idea that there's nothing there is ridiculous. Way too much detail. Does the fact that just a couple days earlier over the weekend, so that was a Monday story, but over the weekend, his chief of staff also, when asked about the future of Senator John Curtis opened. the possibility and entertain the prospect that he could run for governor. Is that just a natural off-the-cuff answer to a question, do you think? I sure don't. No. I don't believe that. I mean, I don't know Corey very well, but I've met him before. Seems like a good guy. But I'll tell you what. Chiefs of staff don't just, they don't do a lot of freelancing, not if they want to stay employed. And he's been with Senator Curtis for a lot of years. I think you're being diplomatic when you say, I don't know if it's him or not. I think you take the, Corey, the chief of staff comment. Well, I can imagine scenarios in which it's not. Okay, that's why I say that. But the idea that there's been no discussion and there's been no thought is. ridiculous. So one of the things I want to do, and folks, I love your take on this because I think that what's playing out between Monday and the Politico National Publication and getting national attention about Senator John Curtis and maybe considering a run for governor in Utah. And Tuesday version of Senator John Curtis, who says, I've never given it any thought and don't think of those things when I'm in one office. They don't, they don't. They don't comport. They're not the same. That to me sounds very similar to the observations made by our listeners on Monday that we get different versions of this gentleman depending on the topic or depending on the audience. Is it a case study or is it a microcosm? The Monday Politico story of John Curtis and the Tuesday trying to walk back what was said in that story. Is that the microcosm of who John Curtis is? You know people in politics. What's your take on John Curtis? He's pretty good at making you see what you want to see. Yeah. And I think your point about having it kind of compartmentalized and, you know, talking to this group and convincing him of one thing and then being with another group. Frankly, I don't understand it because John...

Actually, I like Jon Ossoff a person. I don't know him super well either, but I've met him several times. And I think he's a better human than a lot of people in politics, Mitt Romney. And I got frustrated during the years that Mitt was senator. And hearing Republicans say, I can't believe that guy. Because Greg, he was exactly who he was the whole time. That guy didn't change. John Curtis has not changed. Now, he might be one who says he didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left him. But there's still a part of it in him because he's very moderate at a time where that's very difficult. This whole argument over the... filibuster and all that. It's from a bygone age. Yes. And he still defends it. He came on the program. The thing about, and I've admitted this to our audience, Senator John Curtis is very disarming. I worked with him when he was mayor of the city of Provo. And he doesn't like it. He's told me personally that he's reached out when he was in Congress that. He doesn't like me talking about him. He wants to talk to me. And if I have an issue, here's his phone number. He wants to talk. He does not like the commentary around him. He wants to have those direct conversations. And I respect that. So we've done that on this program where we said, Save America Act, you're a co-sponsor with Senator Lee's Bill. You want to pass it. Why are you against the filibuster? And do you really honestly think you can pass it if you don't have at least a talking filibuster? And we've asked him those direct type of questions. His answers, and I won't put words in his mouth, but as I recall, his answer was, well, you don't cheat on your spouse before they cheat on you. If the Democrats are going to get rid of it, that's on them, we really shouldn't. I think we're all getting cheated on by the Democrats right now in real time. I didn't find his answer to be compelling. I don't know that, but at least he's willing to have that conversation. There's a lot of people that represent themselves as Republicans and conservatives when they're not that would never. take those direct questions on our program. So I do think there's something about John Curtis that you don't want to underestimate him because he does want to talk it out. He does want to have those robust debates with you. Well, get him on you. Yeah, if you know, I thought it was, I heard your interview with Mike Lee. last night in preparation for being wingman to the wingman. And it was interesting to me that he's backed off the filibuster. And the reason is there's no overlap anymore. I understand the purpose for it. It was even a good purpose. I don't even disagree with it. The problem is now, and it's interesting to me, and I don't know if we're going to get to that thing with Harry Anton, you know, talking about the generic ballot right now in terms of the midterms. But I think that the Democrats' messaging that the public hasn't caught up with it yet. Yeah. Because if they're really listening.

You know, there's really no room for a choice between the two parties. I mean, finally I heard somebody say, you know, we're suffering through right now $4.50 gas, which nobody likes. No. Donald Trump doesn't like it. But it's a consequence of something he feels strongly we have to do. Under Biden, it was a policy decision. Yeah, he said tough. Yeah. One of your interviews yesterday finally say that. Because I've been yelling, you know me, I sit and yell at my TV. Yeah. You know, why aren't you saying this? Why don't you see that? This is a consequence of some things we're doing. Trump doesn't like it any better than we do. With Biden, it was a policy decision. He said, we're going to wipe out fossil fuels. He went to work doing it. And how is it that the public doesn't, it's almost like they don't believe the Democrats are as crazy as they are. But because they are now, that's why the filibuster, it used to be that you had these four or five in the middle between the two parties. Now you have exactly one. Okay, folks. You've heard from us, 888-570-801010 is the number to call. We got the talk back live on the app, press the microphone on the red button. It gives you a countdown, then a 30-second take opportunity. I want to hear from you. We've heard, we now heard about the, you know, we had John Curtis Monday, as reported by Politico. Then we heard that we had the John Curtis Tuesday. What is the difference? And, and. What do you think now? Do you think he's going to run or is he walking back from it? And are people really understanding who John Curtis is? Would love your comments, your analysis. When we come back from the break, you're listening to Utah's Talk Radio 105-9, Canter-S. So, Dave, thanks for joining us on the show. We have a political veteran. He's been in many, many, he's been in the arena for as long as I've known him. I was a youngling starting out in early 90s and was watching Dave Owen do his... his good work. If you missed the beginning of the show, one of the ways I'd like to introduce Dave Owen is I was on KUTV's Rod Decker, and I was just a witness to a big event that was going on. And so I'm just kind of giving it my take. And there's this no-it-all professor that's as liberal and his leftist as they are today. And he had a lot of critical things to say about a Republican. And Dave Owen just took him to task to the point where he ripped his ear. the mic out of his ear or his microphone off and just stormed off of the set. And I thought that guy. Touchy, touchy, touchy. He was. Rod, that is the day I said, Dave Owen's a dude, I need to keep watching. He knows what he's doing. That was a beautiful moment. So, before the break, we were talking about the difference between Monday, Senator John Curtis and the Politico article, National Publication, about his consideration to run for governor. in Utah and 28 versus Tuesdays, Senator John Curtis, who was walking back, such speculation as he was calling it, that this isn't something he's looking at or considering at all. It's kind of hard to reconcile the comments, the story that was published with what he was saying on Tuesday.

But that's why we want to go to you, the listeners. I want to hear from you. Do you hear anything there that sounds like a common thread? Maybe I'm hyper sensitive. I don't know. Holding on the line, let's go to one of our listeners, Jerry from Oakley. Jerry, thank you for holding. Welcome to the Rod and Greg Show. What's your take about Monday, Senator John Curtis versus Tuesday, Senator John Curtis? He's an actor. He's playing hard to get. He did a great job of imitating Mitt Romney for two years. Now he wants to play the role of Spencer Cox. squishy globalist rhino pow yeah bang if we if we had if this is the batman show thank you jerry if this is a batman show you'd see on the you'd see the graphic of the pow right there we also have a talk back live a comment let me get this queued up so um this is This is, let me see right here. Let me get this right. I know you guys. Everybody be patient. I remember we were doing this. Hey guys. John Curtis, he didn't say he wasn't thinking about it. He said he hadn't made any plans to run for governor, which is totally different. Very shrewd, maybe very cunning. But that was the words he used. And so we need to remember how he is. He's a politician. Well said. So let me ask you. So for me, I'm a bit of a knuckle dragger. I mean, I drag my knuckles on the ground. I read these statements and I don't see them being consistent. But. There may be a day, Dave, when Senator John Curtis does decide he wants to run for governor, and he's going to parse these words very closely and say he didn't contradict himself. I'd want to see it again. I'd want to see it in writing, but to me, he didn't do anything he couldn't undo. Right. That's a good way to say. And the other thing I would say is this is a play story. This didn't just happen. I mean, again, I said to you earlier, who are you talking to here? I mean, how many of I plays? Yes. I know how these things happen. So you're saying that you actually in this organic, wow, there's a story on a local news channel by the chief of staff. Wow, it just came out in Politico. That's amazing. What a coincidence. You might have been an author of such organic news breaking at any time. I may have nudged things along from time to time. On different topics. So you're saying that nothing here is just accidental or unplanned. These are things that are thoughts. It is interesting, though, exactly what was the strategy behind it? Did somebody do it who's in his close circle, or did he have something to do with it? There is too much smoke there for there not to be some fire. Trial balloon, you know, kind of setting the stage, at least opening a door, I don't know. Hey guys, Lady Luck here. Are you going on any road trips this summer? I know I'm going to be going on a bunch of road trips. And being that I'm going to be passenger princess, I love playing on SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest has all of my favorite slot games, live blackjack, live craps. Head on over to SpinQuest right now and get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Boydware prohibited, visit SpinQuest.com for more details.

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No purchase necessary. 18 plus void where prohibited. Full terms apply. See what everyone's talking about. Play today at lucky hands.com. Your luck is in your hands. How to have fun. Anytime, anywhere. Step one. Go to chumbacasino.com. Got it. Step two. Collect your welcome bonus. Come to Papa, welcome bonus. Step three. Play hundreds of casino style games for free. That's a lot of games. All for free? Step four. Unleash your excitement. Woo-hoo! Chamba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the Chumba Life. Visit chambacasino.com. Well, folks, we want to hear from you. The number to call 888-570-801010. The commentary was just too good from you, the listeners, on Monday, that we're not, if we're going to talk about this, we need to have a revisit because we saw a very different version or words coming from the Senator on Tuesday. I would love to hear what you have to say about that. 888-570-801010. Also on the app, the Talk Back Live button. You hit that red microphone button. You get a 30-second take. Please take advantage of that as well. We'll play both the talkbacks and your calls when we come back after the break. You're listening to Utah's Talk Radio 105.9, K&RS. I'm flying the plane. I'm citizen Greg Hughes. Because he has an assistant wingman Dave Owen. See, how exciting is his. I have a wingman. And. Talk about a veteran. This guy's been in many dog fights. He's been... And the emergency backup wingman. I'm telling you, he said that he's the break glass. In case of emergency break glass, you can call him the fireman, you can call him the wingman, whatever it is. In politics, he's really been there. And he's not a gun for hire where he just takes on any issue. This guy's rudders deep in the water. He's a conservative, so I've always respected Dave. Your work, thank you for being on the show with us. And we're having a great discussion about Senator John Curtis. And... There was a version of him that was about publication Politico. It's a national political publication. Samuel Guy Benson, who used to work for Desert News now covers national stories, did an at-length story about Senator John Curtis and his universe of friends, supporters, who are looking at a potential run for governor in Utah in 2028. Tuesday, Senator John Curtis had a very different story, or I would argue it's different, where he was saying, I'm not looking at any of that. I'm really happy where I'm at. And so I think that that contradiction is one that our listeners have picked up on with Senator John Curtis just generally. So going to the phones, going to you, our listeners, we're asking you to opine. What do you think about the original story from Politico versus the, I would argue, the walkback or clarification from John Curtis on Tuesday? Are they completely contradicting or are they consistent? Let's go to Rick in Centerville, who's been on hold, Rick. Welcome to the Rod and Greg show. Yeah. Good afternoon. Can anybody say Oran Hat's 3.0? Rodney was 2.0, and now he got this dude, and I don't know where he comes from. Did he even live in Utah? And my question is, did he grow up here? Did he move in from out of state just so he could run for a vacated seat?

Oh, John's been around for a while. I'm not sure where he grew up. Do you? No, I don't know. I don't. It's a good question. He was mayor of Provo for a minute. Yeah, and he was the chair of the Utah Democrat Party. Or Utah County Democrat Party. He was a chair before he saw the wife. Years and years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Rick, thank you for the comment. Let's keep going. Let's go to Chet, who's been waiting in Provo. Chet, thank you for holding welcome to the Rod and Greg Show. What do you think about Senator John Curtis? don't want to know. It is a family value show, sir, yes. Thank you for noticing. Well, I've had a home in Provo for over 50 years, and they run that electric bus service. When they got to the Orm Hill, I don't know how many million dollars it was above budget. But that electric bus service, they were supposed to start in Provo. in front of his business in Springville. Oh. And they cut the parking lot in half at the top of the arm hail, in and out burger. So I'm very much against him. I'm against Cox. He was four men in women's sports. If the guy's over him, they got men out of women's sports. Well, Chad, thank you. I've got a lot of negative comment. Well, you know, thank you so much for your comment. Look, this is a guy that's been, you know, you talk about he was a mayor, so he's closest to the people, right? Oh, yeah. So, Chet was feeling it pretty close when he was the mayor of a provo. So that's a perspective, maybe to weigh in this whole thing. Dave, what do you think, do you think that what you're hearing by way of our listeners, they're saying, look, this guy, either they. saw him as mayor or they think he reminds him of Mitt Romney or Orrin Hatch. Are these perfect comparisons or do you see a difference with this with John Curtis? Well, like I said before, to me, John Curtis is a better human being and I, you know, I actually quite like him. But. He's not, I mean, he would not be my senator. You know, that's not somebody I would support. I think he's pretty wishy-washy at a time where we really can't afford it. And there is a wing of the party of the Republican Party, Greg, that are waiting for Trump to be gone. And they think that the good old days, you know, the Chamber of Commerce. GOP is going to return and it really isn't that that part's over I think that's pretty sure I think it's pretty interesting right now to watch a little bit of jockeying between um between Vice President JD Vance and Marco Rubio. But I think that old version of the Republican Party has gone. And I think John Curtis would have been more comfortable in that. And a lot of them are still, I think some of those old dogs in the U.S. Senator kind of biding their time, the John Cornyn and so forth, that it'll come back around. And I just think that time's over.

I agree with you. And there is a clip, and I haven't got into it this week, but there was a clip. I find it incredibly condescending by former Vice President Mike Pence saying that, you know, this populism, this version of the Republican Party that Donald Trump leads, we got to have a, we have to have a serious conversation of this, where, if this is where we really want to go. And he talks about these conservative values and principles. There's been a lot of commentary to that saying, really, NAFTA, you know, all the, the offshoring of all of our jobs. All the things that happened to the United States during this time that former Vice President Mike Pence looks back at in longs for, I think he's part of that establishment that he would like, what you're just saying. He'd love to see that come back. Well, I mentioned that I got involved in politics because I was offended at the fact that they were going to use taxpayer money to subsidize the Olympics, which is basically a... You know, the jets at the Davos crowd in the sporting arena. And so. I'm one of the few people that waited around for probably 30 years plus for a Donald Trump. Yes. I didn't know it was going to be Donald Trump. Right. And that was a surprise. But in terms of the things that he represents, like renewing the manufacturing base, returning jobs of the country, having secure borders on down the list, those are things that I waited a long time to see. And you're not alone, obviously. And that's been well. received i think it is a great party it's a party of everyday people okay folks 888 570 8010 is the number to call what is your take we're revisiting this issue because senator curtis he wants to walk back what was reported on monday as his consideration to run for governor of the state of utah i want to get your impression of that we have some great talk back calls or recordings we want to share with you when we come back so you want to hang on you're listening to utah's talk radio 1059 can arrest Dave Owen, joining me on the program today. So I have a wingman, folks. I'm so excited. It's been a great conversation. This is a first for you. It is. I'm telling you, this is exciting time for me. I love it. But, you know, Rod's, I like being where you're sitting, frankly. I like being the color commentary and letting Rod run the NASA-like board, and he does such a great job. He's such a veteran. But when he's away, the show must go on. And, you know, just. You're doing okay. I'm trying. No major messups, right? Are you right? Is that all right? Don't ask him. He's, you know, he'll absolutely cyber bully me if he gets a chance. Don't ask him. Okay, we've got some great talkback comments that I want to get to. Let me get to that. You dumb person. You are not a smart person. That was not a talk back. That was President Trump and E. Ray just bullied me with it. He tried to use it against me so you know, folks. All right. Let's have a real talkback call. Let's have a listen. Both John Curtis and Blake Moore, complete opposites what he thought they were, and they both need to be voted out. I think that's a long-haul trucker listener of ours. Either that or that was like a wooden boat with a wind blowing. Let's have another listen to another comment.

This is Glennon Provo. If the rhino, John Curtis, stays in the Senate, he'll hurt the country. If he comes to Utah to be governor, he'll hurt Utah. We're between a rock and a hard place. Oh, I've had no luck lately. Wait, lady luck? Brett Ski, I got you. I've had so much luck on SpinQuest.com. They have all of my favorite games, slot games, live blackjack craps, and bubble craps. You can even get a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks. 10 bucks for 30? I'm headed over to SpinQuest.com right now. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. The general election is coming fast, and if you're working on a campaign, you need every smart way to reach voters. IHeart delivers trusted audio at scale through AMFM radio, podcasts, and streaming, helping campaigns connect with voters at home, in the car, at work, and on the go. Whether you are building awareness, reinforcing your message, or extending your TV by, IHeart can help you reach the voters that matter. Put audio to work for your campaign today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. That's 844-844. eye heart hey there are people winning real cash while they're sitting in traffic right now lucky hands lucky hands dot com no trip to a casino just gains daily rewards popular fish tables and a chance to redeem real cash prizes get a 300% welcome offer bonus when you use code clover

No purchase necessary. 18 plus void were prohibited. Full terms apply. See what everyone's talking about. Play today at lucky hands. Your luck is in your hands. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to chumpacino.com. Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VTW Group. Void were prohibited by law. CTNCs, 21+, sponsored by Chumba Casino. What do you say about that? Well, I'd say the country's a lot more screwed up. anyway, so he can't do as much damage there as he could hear in Utah. And I will say this. And, you know, this is the final segment. We're going to get into some other issues in the final hour. But I will say this. It has been, and this is kind of a constant theme, John Curtis works very well when he's in a room. And he knows his audience. And when he does that, I think that he's very successful in whatever message he's trying to communicate. I think as a senator, that's been harder for him to compartmentalize the different messages for the different audiences. Because as a senator, every word you say is news. It is. And it's seen. And so his different rooms and different audiences are all hearing the same thing at the same time. And that is a different state of play for him than when he was in Congress or maybe even Mayor of Provo. If he gets to become governor, he gets those rooms back. He has a cooperating media. He has the messages to delegates or to conservatives on one day and he can talk to a different group on another day. And he doesn't see that cross-pollination like you do as a U.S. Senator. So I think that that's another reason why I think his brand of politics where it might seem inconsistent to us, might be inconsistent, it's most successful when he can keep it compartmentalized. And as a governor, I think of a state. like Utah, he would be more successful doing that as he was in the past. Yeah, it's easier. You're not on. Like I say, not every word that you say. The governor does a lot of things that are simply with groups and they don't get nearly the airplay that a U.S. senator does. We had a caller that was waiting and I was disappointed that he dropped off because he was talking about mail-in voting. Yeah. And that Curtis is for mail-in voting. Where are you on that? I'm against it. I think that the chain of custody and the transparency is completely lacking. for there to be mail-on-voting. Minimally, if you want to have mail-in voting, you can mail out a ballot, maybe give people more time to look at it. But when you turn it in, you should be with your ID in hand and a voting election official there to scan your ID and know that the person returning the ballot is who is rightfully and legally allowed to vote. And I think I've heard you say it on the program that there's a perception. There's a perception. Number one, mail-in-balloting by all accounts, all objective research, is more prone to fraud than in-person voting. Sure. It just is. But there's something, and I've heard you say that before. And...

What I've said is that the perception of a problem can be every bit as destructive to the process as an actual problem. You're right. And Dave, consider this, and we're coming up. We've got less than a minute before the break. But let me just say this. Our postal service, when you want the postal service to now be part of our elections election day apparatus, which that's what you're doing. Everything from Beaver County South, all those counties, if you want to mail something within Beaver County, that is going to Nevada, Las Vegas, ship down there, and then coming back to its own county to do it. So we have ballots that will be leaving the state processed by unions that make a, you know, they have a position on who they want to be present, which is not the Republican, who are handling the mail, and then delivering it back up into Utah. And on perception alone. That seems to be a faulty chain of custody to have that many hands on ballots. We had votes in a congressional race that had too many stamps on it. They were throwing out people's votes. Can't happen. Okay, folks, when we come back, we're going to talk to James Moroni about Trump's visit of China and rare minerals. You won't want to miss it. We'll be right back. Great friend, longtime friend. I've learned a lot from you over the years when I was just a youngling getting into the arena. That's frightening. You know what? It just means you've done a lot because I'm a bit of an old head myself. At least that's what my kids call me. But it's fun having you in studio. Your analysis, I've already gotten feedback. People are liking it. They're liking hearing from, you know, hearing what you're saying and kind of how you're shaping issues. So it's been fun to have you join us. So thank you. Yeah. Folks, right now we're going to talk to James Moroni. This is a great column. This is one about America's dependence on China in minerals, whether it's the mining of minerals or the processing of minerals. This comes, this fact is not being noticed as you see Trump making this major trip, diplomatic trip to China. So joining us on the program, James Moroni. James, I'm reading your column. I'm looking at these issues about our dependency on China for rare minerals. Do you think that with that dependency, do you think that this is an issue that comes up with Trump and his delegation in this diplomatic visit that they're having right now? I'd like to think it's going to come up, maybe not between Trump and the leader of Trinidad directly, but maybe at the lower levels with some of the staff to staff, maybe in that way. But it's hard to know in these kind of trips, especially when I'm very, very far outside of the inner loop, inner circles there. But I would like to think it would come up. But just because of its inherent nature and the trade deals, it might be a partial part of it, but it's hard to say. So my thing is I think that the United States has reserves. We have minerals. We're in the state of Utah. We know we have rare minerals in Grand County and other counties here in Utah. I know they've found a large reserve in Wyoming. We have the ability. I know we have these regulatory hurdles that I think were created to shut down these industries in the United States.

I don't know how well that would be received by China if they're the king of the hill in this topic. But is it worth arguing for in China that we are going to start to have a bigger footprint and our ability to mine rare minerals and process them? I think it's something to highlight to them, and I think that process is already in motion. You've seen a few mining projects getting the Fast Track 41 approval under this current administration and the original Trump administration. And a much more openness to these mining and producing because of the earlier export bans that China levied in, I think, the previous little trade spat that we had with them earlier in 2025. So I think the signals are clear. There needs to be more of a domestic capability for both extraction and processing. That's why the whole Greenland... conversation comes up because there's a deposit of minerals there as well. And it's really the United States as a whole, or at least this administration is looking to expand the supply train. So there isn't a dependence on a very obvious geopolitical rival. You know, when we talk about regulatory reform, and by that, we mean, you know, there's so many boxes you have to check, so many studies that have to be performed to get a federal permit to be able to do, to be able to mine rare minerals and all of that. When you talk about regulatory reform, I honestly think that watching paint dry is hyper speed compared to trying to reform Washington's bureaucracy and regulation. Can you get anything measurably done in the years left of the Trump administration or do we need another Republican to even continue that forward to see a finish line where we're actually able to mine and process our own rare minerals? Fortunately, that's a big part of Americans for Prosperities push for permanent reform. And a big part of that is that we're finally seeing that lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum are finally realizing, oh, we can't build anything we want. Rather, it's green energy, traditional fossil fuel energy, mines, housing. anything. It all gets bogged down into the federal permitting process and nothing gets done and we continue to have the same problems over and over. So the awareness is there, the realization is there, and there is progress. The House passed by two bipartisan bills at the end of 2025, the Speed and Permit Act. And there's ongoing negotiations. I'll be a bit more informal than my preference happening in the Senate, as well as senators are introducing bipartisan permitting reform, NEPA reform, all sorts of legislation to address this. At the same time, the Trump administration is really streamlined as much as it can across the board permitting processes to make sure that.

Projects currently in the queue can at least have a better chance and more predictability, which lowers their cost and allows them to get, whether it's onto the grid, open their mining operations, what have you, and just get things built and operational. So there's progress. There's definitely momentum there, albeit it's stalled right now because of... global affairs, but the momentum in realization is still there for sure. So during Trump's first term, I'm now recovering public servant, but I was in our state house. And one of the big asks that we had as a state of Utah, and this was coming from our state, our UDOT, our Department of Transportation is, and this was in the space of roads. We've got an environmental impact study that's going to take us 18 months to two years to do. Then we have an Army Corps of Engineers study that's going to take 18 months, a year to 18 months to do. And when the second one's finally done, the first one's expired. And you've got to start it again. And one of the things that I went to Washington and with the first Trump administration was to specifically ask, can we do these at the same time? Can we have some of these studies being overlapping and done at the same time to expedite this at all? So in the question of mining and with rare minerals, my question is, Are there things that states could uniquely do if they have the rare minerals and they have these deposits? I'm thinking Western states. Are there things that the states could do to assist or to help the Trump administration further the goal of rare mineral independence? There's always options. So every state has its own permitting authority and citing authorities. And some options that we've seen come out of them are, at least at the state level, getting state reviews done. So all that's left is the federal to cut down on that red tape. So or in some instances. Some states, at least some proposals I've seen, have had states in their authorities just defer to whatever the federal government is saying. So there's only one review process. And once that's finished, everything's done. So there's nothing on the state level. So there's definitely options. But unfortunately, when it comes to a lot of these major mining projects or even transmission lines or anything crossing across state lines or near or on federal land, the federal government is unfortunately. the de facto guarantor and the approval process must go through them. Yeah. There is, there's hope there. I think the understanding is there, but there's still options that states can do to clean up their own processes and ensure at least. when things move at the federal level, they're ready to act as soon as they get the green light. Final question. Looking back, looking at this China trip again, it looks to me that President Trump and this administration's, I think, growing footprint in the oil and gas industry. You now have Venezuela as an ally. You have, I think, a stronger supply chain where maybe where the Strait of Hormuz has stopped some of the people from, some of the countries, from being able to acquire the oil or gas.

We're seeing new customers. We're seeing new opportunities for trade. I think President Trump goes to this trip to China in a position of strength. Would the independence and the ability to process our own to mine and process our own rare minerals instead of threaten China, maybe in the short term, does this give us a position of strength generally with China and really make trips like this to China? Not a negative that we're able to do this and not just depend on China, but really give us a better table to negotiate from. I think it helps our hand. I would caution saying that the current Iranian process is overly strengthening hand since the reality is we can't keep the Navy there forever. That's just a feasible issue. But. I think that our ability to fully close the straight in the waterways is definitely something that impacts them. And we've seen that China has cut down on their crude intake while we've seen natural grass and United States exports boosted, partially boosted by what I believe is some strategic releases of the national strategic oil reserves. But that production is through the roof. And that's why you've seen so many. freighters being, uh, arriving in the Gulf of America right now. So we're, there's definitely leverage in our favor to an extent, but I wouldn't say we're playing this great hand like we have a straight flush off the flop kind of thing. If you're up Texas hold the man like myself. I get the, I get the analogy, yes. So we'll see how it shakes out. I think the U.S. has a bit more leveraged than some are willing to admit, but it's not a perfect winning hand by any means either. But I think both China and the U.S. understand there's a lot at stake here, especially when it comes to that conflict in Iran and how things will look moving forward. James Moroni, thank you for your work. Thanks for your commentary. He's an energy analyst for Americans for Prosperity talking about America's dependency on China for our minerals, the mining of those minerals and the processing of it. Dave, we're going to jump into this on the next break. We're going to go a break. When we come back, there's... I have a thing or two to say. Yeah, you do. You've got a little inside baseball on this. We'll get to that when we come back after the break. You're listening folks to Talk Radio 105-9, Canter Us. Hey everybody, Lady Luck here, and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on SpinQuest.com, which is an American-owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to SpinQuest.com. Get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10.00. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. If you run a business, you've probably heard plenty of AI promises. But here's one thing we know for sure. When consumers hear an ad for your business, 90% want to know it's a real person talking. And that's what you'll get when you advertise with IHeart. We're guaranteed human.

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That kind of thing. It was so that good decisions could be made. Well, it's turned into a nightmare. Exactly the stuff you were talking about. Yeah. You do this study, but now you've got to start over because this one expired. And it's been weaponized by the environmentalists and their attorneys. And it is positive that the House did pass the Speed Act because the two co-sponsors were a Republican committee, subcommittee chair from Arkansas, forget his name. And then... I don't want to say the guy's name wrong, but a Democrat who's an extreme left kind of guy, and they were co-sponsors on the bill. Why? And it does. Why is it? Because John Curtis, we've talked about him today. He's still kind of hanging on to the fairy tale about the wind and the solar and all that kind of stuff that you can actually power an industrial economy, which you can't. No. But. But even those projects get caught up in this. So even things that the Democrats want get caught up into the federal machinery and can't move. And so right now. Senator Lee, there are a couple of committees in the Senate that are working on it. It's the one's a sister committee to his subcommittee that he runs, or committee, I should say. And they are negotiating. I know he doesn't even want to say who he's working with on the other side of the aisle because they'll get. Right. Massacre. But there is hope the fact that the House, which is as divided as the Senate, actually passed a bill that was decent. It's not, no bill's perfect. We all know that. But it would really make some progress. And both sides are seeing that it's gone too far. And it's not like you're going to wipe out the regulation. But here's the thing. The Trump administration's done a lot of good stuff to lighten up on regulation. It really has. But we all just saw four years of Joe Biden. How long did the deregulation that Trump did in the first term? Very few things survived. So if Congress doesn't get its act together and the time is short because now we're going to go into the election cycle. And I don't think it's the foregone conclusion that everybody thinks, but it's going to eat up, it's going to suck up a lot of oxygen. Sure. it's really important that these guys get something done hopefully in the next couple of months. It almost seems impossible, but it's really closer than I think it appears. And so we've been, I mean, Mike Lee's totally on board. It's not a question of that.

I mean, his heart's in the right place. You just got to get it to fall into place in the Senate and actually get passed. And that is, I think that makes me, if we have any chance, that congressional act, because it is so hard to get anything through Congress. If it gets through there, that is how you firewall against executive orders flying from one party's president to the other parties where we just undo it. Bears ears was. First, created by Obama, reduced significantly and appropriately by Trump, then expanded bigger than what Obama made by Biden. And that's just a ping pong. It keeps going back and forth. Yeah, it's terrible policy. It's terrible. So getting something done. And we have all this stuff that we're mining in Africa and we're mining and that China's doing. They're controlling the rare earth. We've got this here. We've got to stop locking it up. And it can be reasonable. It doesn't have to destroy the environment. It can, you know, we have technology and we have techniques and we have knowledge now that we didn't have 30, 40, 50 years ago. You know, the information point you just shared that gives me a little bit of. hope is that even the Democrats see that there's the things that they even want are getting jammed up by this ridiculous. Yeah, there are very few things. Leviathan of regulation. I mean, what's been passed out of the House that's been bipartisan? Yeah. Very, very little. All right. Well, that's good. We want to keep our eye on that and we want to give you to help us. And cheer for the Senator. Yeah. Go Mike. That's right. Go Senator Lee. Okay, folks, we're going to go a break. When we come back, we're going to have another great discussion about Canada. Canada is a whole. Image. Is it just anti-American or not American? We're going to find out from one of the leading conservative voices coming out of Canada. When we come back, William Barkley, after the break, you're listening to Utah's Talk Radio 105-9, Canteress. By the way, I think I'm getting great feedback. Listeners, love your take. It's been good. Great show. Thanks, Mom. It's more than your mom. Yeah, yeah, thanks, Chris. Thanks, Queen Bee. Anyway, we're going to, we have another great guest, Dave. You're going to love this, okay? I know it's Canada, and I know that you wouldn't expect such a voice coming from, you know, the land up north or the Great White North, but it turns out that William Barkley, he is a political theorist, he's a policy advisor, contributor for Western Standard. He has a great column saying that making the case that not American. has become Canada's identity. William, welcome to the program. Is that really the case? Has Canada's identity really devolved so much that just being Canadian means that you're just not an American? Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on SpinQuest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash prizes. That's at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details.

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Yeah, I think that, not intentional, I think there's a lot of us who don't actually believe that, but I think this is very much kind of the ideology and the identity that's been imposed upon all of Canada by the liberal government. I think that, like you've seen yourself, Prime Minister Carney is very publicly attacked and imploded every aspect of Canada's historic relationship with America, and it's not merely kind of the latest outpouring with his own personal vanity or some bizarre effort to shock the severely lapsed relationship between Canada and the U.S. into some semblance of life. Rather, it's clear that Carney's anti-American posture and politics are very much themselves a culmination of the sad reality that throughout the liberal era, Canada's national identity has absolutely been immolated and not American has now become the sum total of what it means to be Canadian. Has that allowed, William, is that allowed some of the policies, liberal, leftist, even policies of... We hear in the United States these, I don't know if they're euthanasia kits or something, but if you want to do your duty for a nationalized health care system that's maybe struggling in terms of resources and you feel like you're at end of life, it might be even patriotic or might be a being good Canadian to maybe take your life sooner than later. Is that, A, is that story real? And if it is, is that a leftist of philosophy about euthanasia and the value of life or the devaluing of life? Is that really taking hold under this banner of not being American? Absolutely. I think that we're seeing the explosion of kind of made in the image of a liberal government, right? And I don't think that this is necessarily an anti-American thing, but I think that we definitely have seen the liberal government very much push made and kind of this assisted suicide, let's say, over the past 10 years, and very much expand it well beyond its original parameters. I mean, it was originally trotted out as a program that would be very stringently monitored and only accessible to kind of those in severe need. But the program has very much been expanded to vulnerable audiences, and even they intend to target things that they're calling mature minors, which is really just a fancy way of saying children. And so, yeah, Maid has very much exploded out of control in Canada under the advent, or under its liberal government. You know, preparing for our discussion, I looked and had seen that there could be a pending vote in the province of Alberta. to separate, to secede from Canada. It looks like a judge has just ruled today that has quashed the Alberta separation petition in favor of the Native First Nations or the native population, saying that they had not gone through a process to consult with the natives of Canada. My question to you is, tell me what's different about Alberta versus the rest of Canada. And what is that say, whether a judge quashed the petition or not? What does that point to in terms of different philosophies or different attitudes that exist in the country of Canada? Well, I think the stark difference between Alberta and very much the rest of Canada, at least Ontario, is that Alberta is still very strongly conservative. It is very much one of the last bastions of conservatism in Canada. And so they have very much been discriminated against and persecuted by the liberal government over the past 10 years. I think that what we've seen is that the modern advent and onset of the Alberta independence movement is very much a direct response.

to the open persecution of conservative politics and right-wing ideology in Canada throughout the liberal era. I mean, since the advent of the Trudeau era in 2015 and the onset of Donald Trump's first presidency nearly a decade ago, left-wing pundits and political actors from Canada have mimicked their American brethren and consistently deployed populism and populist as catch all terms for all right-wing ideology and every conservative. Unfortunately, the left has also labored tirelessly to transform populism into a euphemism for neo-nostic and tyrants, as well as all species of bigot. in a vain attempt to silo all conservative ideology under this false veneer of fascism and discredit the surge and popularity that all right-wing ideology values and leaders have enjoyed in Canada and throughout the international political system post-trunk. I think that's very much what you're seeing here. You're seeing a judge striking down the motion or attempting to impede it simply because it is, I believe, conservative in nature. Well, just on that point, do you think that will be addressed, that the consultation will occur, and that will be a successful vote in Alberta at some point, even if the judge acted today to try and quash it? Well, I think what we'd all like to see is that regardless of the outcome of the vote, that democracy is kind of adhered to and observed here in Canada, and that's something that simply hasn't happened for a very long time. And so, again, I'd say that regardless of the outcome of the vote, I and many other Canadians simply don't have very much faith in the democratic process up here in Canada under the liberal government. So it used to be the case that, you know, I only felt the real tension between America and Canada when we were playing hockey. Okay. This seemed to be where, you know, we would have this, I would even argue a healthy rivalry. To your point about everything that is being painted as un-American or anti-American. Have we got, can we put the toothpaste back in the tube, William? Are we going to be able to, because we have been long allies. We need the strength of each other's countries. There's national security issues that that touches on. Is there a way to bring them back? Can we bring the band back together or do you see a trajectory here that really we can't see reversed? Well, I think first and foremost, Canada does very much have to dispatch its liberal government. I think that the important fact is that over the past decade, Canada's national identity did not really collapse into nothingness in void. And instead, throughout the liberal era, Canada's historic national identity has been replaced by the liberal government with a frenzied species of anti-American isms and hate. I mean, even Carney himself has explicitly claimed that a sea of misogyny, anti-Semitism, hatred, and conspiracy theories wash over Canada's border from the United States, and even recently actually declared that Canada's previous relationship with the U.S. is a weakness that must be corrected. And so I think that if we are going to reestablish this relationship, which I do think the overwhelming majority of Canadians do want to see, the very first step is, again, dispatching the liberal government.

So my co-host, Rod Arquette, is not here. He is actually cheering. He's from Upper State, New York. He's cheering for the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Should we be telling him he's on the wrong path or is he okay? Well, so I have a sweet bottom of my heart for the Canadian. I think that Rocket Richard is one of the greatest players of all time, you know? So I can't really step in there. You know, hockey is almost, it's a holy thing over there, you know? I'm going to stay out of that. What do you think, Dave? Thank you. William Barkley, again, thank you for your voice. Thanks for being a good conservative in the land of Canucks. You know, what do you think, Dave? Can you cheer for in these Stanley Cup finals, can you cheer for a Canadian team? No. Okay, I can't either. I don't understand it with Rod. He's... giddy that they were actually i think they tied up the series with the buffalo sabers but he's been suspect for a long time yeah you know that rod yes i'm telling you that he's got sympathies to these canad it's a little you know it's a little concerning okay we gotta go to a break when we come back we'll have our final segment here on wigman wednesday on utah's talk radio 1059 canter us we just have a couple minutes here a few minutes before we end the show um i've got another talk we have another talk back uh comment really uh inspired by what you had mentioned, Dave, about the voting, you know, and voter integrity. Let's have it listen. I just, our biggest problems have come from mail-in voting and this signature to get through the primaries. If we're going to have a caucus system, we need to stick with people getting it from the caucus, not with the...

Not with the darn. So he was having a hard time. making it radio appropriate what he wanted to call it. Okay. So he was struggling with what he wanted to call the alternative to the caucus. Always concerned about your family rating. Yes, I actually subscribe. I get why he was concerned. I appreciate the care he took. Here's a, we talked earlier in the show about the midterms. And look, it's always precedent that the party out of power of the White House usually does well in the midterms. And polling has shown on a generic ballot that Democrats have a little bit of advantage. But Harry Anton and CNN, he has some warnings out there. He sees some cracks in the machine. Let me let's have a list real quick. Well, maybe.

Oh, no, the first technical glitch. First technical glitch. The Harry Enton won, Erie. I think, but I think this poll serves as a big time reality check for Democrats. And that is, it ain't over yet, especially with the redistricting. When we look ahead to the 2026 race for Congress, you would have thought that the Democrats lead would expand on the generic congressional ballot. It didn't happen. Look, in March, Democrats were up by six points. Look at this now. Democrats are up by three points, and I want you to note the yellow lettering. No clear leader. It is within the margin of error. So despite all of the talk about Donald Trump's unpopularity, the fact is Republicans very much remain in the game when it comes to the congressional midterms, which are occurring in what, six or seven months at this point? Dave, you've done polling. You're an operative. You've seen all this up close. A generic ballot means just that is the easiest ballot because you don't have the personality. That's just are you, if the election was today, would you be inclined to vote for a Democrat? If the election were today, would you be inclined to vote for a Republican? It's an easier question than putting a name and a face to it. And there are a bunch of structural reasons that the real pollster guys could tell you, but the Democrats kind of have a built-in, a built-in advantage in that contest. So for the Republicans to only be down. three points at this stage. He's right. You know, I don't, the Democrats have had no, they've shown no inclination to tailor their message to actually relate to actual voters. But the problem here is their people are going to show up because they just do. They pay them. They do, they do all kinds of things. Our problem is that. Like nobody voted Republican. I mean, no significant numbers, are going to go vote Democrat. Our problem is we don't show up. And it used to be the other way around. So let me ask you, and I know we're coming up on the final stop here, but. Can you get voter excitement for Republicans if you have a majority of your students saying, we don't have the votes for to end the filibuster or voice filibuster. Is there anything Congress does, it's going to want us to have more of them? You know, in D.C., there's long been an old adage that, let's say you're a staffer in the Senate. You say the Democrats are the opposition. The House is the enemy. Well, that's been altered. And the Democrats are the opposition. And certain Republicans in the U.S. Senate are the enemy. Do we change that in the primaries? Do you think the primaries coming up change some of those Republicans? I'd have to be looking at the list right now. But we know who they are. And it's, you know, we can't afford to have soft senators. I wanted to say one thing about John Curtis real quick. He was gauging the reaction, but there's the reaction that's obvious. And then there's a secondary reaction. The other thing he could be gauging is the reaction of his donors.

Interesting, yeah, because it did say in that Politico story, he wants a $10 million war chest if he's going to go for it. So that could be what that's about, and he can back off of it and still test the waters with the donors. So you're saying mission accomplished, even if we're looking at it thinking that it looks a little awkward to have different messages. But there could be, there could be. Crazy like a fox. And I think one of the Talk Pack people talked about Blake Moore, and since I don't work here, I'm just going to say I would be proud as punch to have Carrie Ann, Liz and Bee be the Congresswoman. She just got an endorsement from Rob Bishop. Did you see that? He said she'd be an effective and good member of Congress. And I think given what we know about the history, I would hope that President Trump would widen his endorsement to include. Both of them. He's unlikely to walk it back on what's his name, but he could also endorse Carrie Ann. I'll tell you what. You know people in high places. I'm working. I'll make that happen. We'll have you back on. All right, folks, that's the show for today. Listen, hands up, chin down, ice forward, answer the bell, and we will see you back here tomorrow. Same place, same time here on Utah's Talk Radio 105.9, KNRS. Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas-style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at SpinQuest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for 10 at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. If you run a business, you've probably heard plenty of AI promises. But here's one thing we know for sure. When consumers hear an ad for your business, 90% want to know it's a real person talking. And that's what you'll get when you advertise with iHeart. We're guaranteed human. That means real voices, real connection, and trusted audio that helps businesses drive results. Learn how easy it is to tell your story through our voices. Call 844-844-I-heart today. That's 844-844-I-heart. Shop the Sherwin-Williams sale and get 30% off Duration, Superdeck, and Woodscapes products August 14th through the 24th. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life. And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever. Shop online to have it delivered or visit your neighborhood Sherwin-Williams store. Click the banner to learn more. Retail sales only, some exclusions apply. See Store for Details. Delivery available on qualifying orders.