Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H2 - Welfare and Warfare

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. If you're trying to grow spiritually while juggling a busy life, Intouch.org is a great place to pause and refocus. You can dive into practical teaching from Dr. Charles Stanley, read a quick devotional, or check out free study guides that speak to real life situations. Whether you need direction, comfort, or just a little encouragement, there's something helpful waiting for you. See how it can support your day at intouch.org. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu.edu. These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, ACTA helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents' identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with ACTA, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent, secure any agent. When a major storm hates where the power goes out, cell service completely collapses. Phones won't connect and text messages won't send. Don't get stranded without the ability to communicate with your family. You need the ultimate emergency communication tool from rapid radios. These are instant push-to-talk devices offering nationwide LTE coverage. You get unlimited range from coast to coast without dead zones. They hold the charge up to five days when electricity is out and the signal is protected with 256-bit encryption so no one can listen in. Even better than that, no contracts. Just turn them on and start talking. Right now, they're running a massive bundle event at rapid radios.com slash bundle. When you buy two radios, you get one free, buy four. get too free, you can get up to three free bonus radios plus free shipping and a full year of service included. Don't wait until it's too late. Protect your family today with a 30-day risk-free trial at rapid radios.com slash bundle. That's rapid radios. Communication redefined. You want your master's degree. You know you can earn it, but life gets busy. the pack schedule, the late nights, and then there's the unexpected. American Public University was built for all of it. With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life. Start your master's journey today at APU. APUS.edu. You want it? Come get it at APU. Second hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. We're going to have Senator Rand Paul joining us at the bottom about the government shutdown, which I have to say for my own reasons here in D.C. I'm loving every minute of. It's amazing. I feel like I could hop on an electric scooter and just do a little tour of the town and not have to stop anywhere because there's no one on the streets.

It's fabulous. You know, I just put a little scarf on, you know, in case it gets chilly on the scooter. And I go Capitol building, Georgetown, stop by the White House. High five Steve Miller. See how everybody's doing. That's the kind of day it is over here. It's wonderful, wonderful. They have all the bureaucrats, you know, jostling together and, you know, making the line at Starbucks, 100 people long. None of that stuff. This government shutdowns pretty nice. Pretty nice. So. Let's dive into politics in California for a minute, shall we? Because a lot of you have seen this. It's gone viral. As you know, we had Steve Hilton on to talk about his run for governor in that state. Gavin Newsom. Hey, everybody. How are you doing? He's turned out. He is going to run for president, quite obviously. And he has to give up his governor's mansion. to whoever the next person to win that contest is going to be, and it's looking right now, at least on the Democrat side of things, it's looking like Katie Porter is the likeliest to win. Now, every state has different rules about how this stuff goes. California, as I understand it, and some you live there, so you're going to know this better than I do, has like a top two situation. So you have all these people that are going to be running, and then the top two vote getters are going to be in the general election on the ballot in November of 2026. I think that's right. If it's wrong, my team will tell me in a moment and I'll correct it, but I think that's basically how it goes. But Katie Porter is... is getting a lot of attention she probably did not want right now. In fact, the Newsweek headline here is Katie Porter's chances of winning California governor election suffer blow. And let's get into why that is. She sat down with a journalist. uh she sat down with a journalist and had the exchange team can i do this actually uh producer mike uh let's let's do a little a little play pause here right so i'm going to play it i'm going to say all right let's pause for a second here because this is a long one that's a couple minutes long so i want to get in and out of this soundbite but i want you to hear the whole thing because wow Katie Porter comes across as a really nasty and unlikable person and unprofessional so let's start this off this is a cbs interview with julie watts of cbs news california come on it's cbs and this is communist broadcasting services like this this is not this is home team stuff reporter but if you ask her real questions she apparently doesn't like it this is how it goes play what do you say to the 40 percent of california voters who you'll need in order to win who voted for trump How would I need them in order to win, man? Well, unless you think you're going to get 60% of the vote. You think you'll get 60%? Everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you. That's what you're saying. In a general election, yes. If it is me versus a Republican, I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump. What if it's you versus another Democrat? I don't intend that to be the case.

So how do you not intend that to be the case? Do you, are you going to ask them not to run? No, no, I'm saying I'm going to build the support. I have the support already in terms of name recognition. And so I'm going to do the very best I can to make sure that we get through this primary in a really strong position. But let me be clear with you. I represented Orange County. I represented a purple area. I have stood on my own two feet and one Republican votes before. That's not something every candidate in this race can say. If you're from a deep blue area, if you're from L.A. or you're from Oakland. You don't have an experience. But you just said you don't need those Trump voters. But you asked me if I needed them to win. So you don't think you need. I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question? The question is the same thing. Whoa, let's pause there for a second. Let's pause there for a second. Because it's about to get really good, everybody. I want to keep you on the edge of your seats. Argumentative. I got to tell you as a conservative dealing with the media. Like, that's like a Shiatsu massage. That's not argumentative. Like, are you kidding me? That's, she can't handle that. That's getting her all? Oh, you're just hearing the beginning of Hurricane Katie Porter. unleashed here. Things are going to get worse. Keep lying. It's the same thing I asked everybody. That this is being called the empowering voters to stop Trump's power grab. Every other candidate has answered this question. This is not arguing. And I said, I support it. So, and the question is, what do you say to the 40% of voters who voted for Trump? Oh, I'm happy to say that. It's the do you need them to win part that I don't understand. I'm happy to answer the question as you haven't written and I'll answer it. And we've also asked the other candidates, do you think you need any of those 40% of California voters to win. And you're saying, no, you don't. No, I'm saying I'm going to try to win every vote I can. And what I'm saying to you is that... Well, to those voters. Okay, so you... I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it. Thank you. Whoa, whoa. Hey, hit the pause button. Hit the pause button. She can't handle that. What exactly is it? Look, is there is the reporter maybe or things getting a little lost in translation here about the numbers? Look, she's she's a CBS journalist. She's trying to, you know, she could be doing like sideline reporting for the NFL or something. She happens to be here with this politician. Who cares? Here she is. And she's trying to just, she's just trying to do like a decent job. This is not a gotcha. I know gotcha. Every time I used to go on CNN. It was like an ambush and I had to fight through it. I know what gotcha is like. This is not gotcha. This is trying to just clarify a point, but also you can tell Katie Porter has decided, Congresswoman Katie Porter has decided to really, you know, sink her teeth into this. And I think just comes across as ogreish, if you will. I use that term. People like that one online. Ogish. as in befitting of an ogre. It's not nice, not nice the way she's acting here. Not nice. Keep playing it. You're not going to do the interview with us. Nope, not like this. I'm not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask. Every other candidate has answered. I don't care. I don't care. I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation which you ask me about every issue on this list. And if every question, you're going to make up a follow-up question, then we're never going to get there.

And we're just going to circle around. I have never had to do this before, ever. You've never had to have a conversation with the reporter. Okay, but every other candidate has done this. What part of, I'm me, I'm running for governor because I'm a leader. So I am going to make. So you're not going to answer questions from reporters? Okay, why don't we go through? I will continue to ask follow-up questions because that's my job as a journalist, but I will go through and ask these. And if you don't want to answer, you don't want to answer. So nearly every legislative... I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you. And I don't want this all on camera. I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you either. I would love to continue to ask these questions so that we can show our viewers what every candidate feels about every one of these issues that they care about. Isn't that amazing? Also, notice the manipulation there. I'm not a psychiatrist, so I'm not going to say that has hints of maybe borderline personality disorder or causing a problem and then saying right away that you're not the one who wants to cause the problem that you just cause. I'm not going to diagnose this, but I can tell you this. There are people who could. strikes me as not a good moment for Katie Porter. But let's, if you want, maybe you're saying, you know, maybe she had a bad day. She wants to be the governor of the fifth largest economy in the world. You know, maybe we should just say look to the record and get a sense as to what is the real Katie Porter like? You know, anyone can have a bad day, right? Anyone can have a bad day. Maybe you want to, I mean, I don't particularly want to take that position on this, but. I want to bring you this story from 2023. Representative Katie Porter scalded ex-husband's scalp with boiling potatoes. Documents. I shall read. The former husband of Representative Katie Porter said the California Democrat frequently abused him verbally, this is from the New York Post, and through toys, books, and other objects at him during their marriage. even pouring scalding hot mashed potatoes on his head during a fight according to divorce records. Matthew Hoffman, who filed for divorce from Katie Porter in 2013, said under a request for a restraining order dated April 30th of that year that he was routinely called a bleeping idiot and a bleeping incompetent by his rage-prone spouse who also shattered a glass coffee pot on their kitchen counter in March 2012 when she felt. Their house wasn't clean enough. She's delightful. Delightful. She would not have let me have a cell phone because she said, quote, you're too bleeping dumb to operate it. Wow. When she gets angry, I'm quoting here. When she gets angry, she will claw and scratch her arms and then say to me, look what you made me do. again i am not a psychiatrist but google borderline personality disorder uh google uh some of what's going on here the creation of the problem and then the pretense once you've created it that you don't want drama i'm not the i'm not the one starting the fire here i i don't want anyone starting fires when you've thrown the gasoline all over the fire you started

Now, I know what the Democrats would say here. They'd say, oh, but he retracted that, and she ended up... Oh, you mean that his far more powerful spouse and the very serious money interests aligned behind her were able to get him to retract something that he had already put it in a divorce proceeding because they made him an offer probably he couldn't refuse. Yeah. Okay, but that did happen. So he retracted those things, but he said all those things in court documents and they were reported on, which I think is interesting. Again, I'm just looking at the totality of evidence. Are we going to say that Katie Porter had a bad day? Or were we getting a window into this member of Congress who wants to be the governor of California and from there probably would see herself as running for president? So I think it's a pretty fair game to get into all this. But you may say, Buck, divorce proceedings can get ugly. I mean, who among us hasn't thrown boiling hot potatoes at somebody in a fit of rage at some point? Well, all of you, I'm sure. But, you know. We're trying to be generous here. I'm trying to take the maximum benefit point of view for the ogreish Katie Porter, the bullying Katie Porter here. And so that I would then just say, well, clearly she would have a lot of people who would come forward who have worked with her to speak to. What an impeccable character she has. What a kind and encouraging boss and mentor she is. And for that, I bring you Politico. Katie Porter and the bad boss problem. Oh, hold on a second. This isn't that at all. This is pretty bad. Quote, some former staffers. have said that she is. I'm trying to find the quotes here. um basically deeply abusive and nasty and prone to fits of rage and temper tantrums and uh yeah it's abusive to staff has a massive staff turnover problem 65 percent of her staff turned over during her time there and everyone basically says uh at least that has worked for her says that she's horrible and really mean so are we going to put these data points together i think we should I think we should. I don't think we can do the benefit of the doubt thing anymore. Between the scalding hot potatoes thrown at her ex, the staffers who say that she is a brutish and nasty woman. And now this berating of a reporter for nothing. I mean, it was a nothing burger, and she was not having it. So I just think that everybody in California should know. And my broader lesson on this is,

Somehow the really nasty people in politics, I mean the really nasty people in politics, are always Democrats. I'm not saying there aren't people on the Republican side that can be a little slimy and, you know, not. But if you're talking about somebody who's really an abusive son of a gun situation, you know, Democrats, there's a reason for that. I know they want to say it's a both sides thing, but it's not a both sides thing. And in fact, most of the Republicans that I know on the Hill, and I know many of their staffers, their staffers all say they're fantastic people and they really look up to them. That's very common. Very common. I mean, I don't hear that. I hear stuff about the Democrats. Oh, you're like, Buck. Well, who else? I don't know. Maybe Amy Klobuchar of Senate fame, who is famous for eating her salad with a comb and throwing things at staffers. Yeah, true stories. Those were the allegations, at least. Alligations. Throwing things at staffers, eating salad with a comb. You know, do you have any – I don't know any Republicans who eat salad with a comb and throw things at their staffers. I'm just saying I do not know of that happening. So if you do, please call in and tell me. All right, look, Israel represents the only true democracy in the Middle East. They've been a steady ally of the U.S. since 1948, particularly when we needed friends in that part of the world. Israel is also home to the Jewish people. Same people with a rich history that has benefited Christians. alike for centuries. If you're of the Christian faith, you likely had a Bible lesson or two that tells the story of the Jewish people, and you read or heard the words emphasizing the care and protection of looking after those that are Jewish, God's chosen people. Many Christians in America are standing with Israel this month by participating in a growing movement created by the international fellowship of Christians and Jews. It's called Flags of Fellowship. This countrywide effort, the flags of fellowship, unites churches across America, planning over one million Israeli flags across our land. Show the world that Israel is not alone. To get more information about how you can join the flags of fellowship movement, visit IFCJ.org. That's IFC.org. You don't know what's you don't know, right? But you could on the Sunday Hang with Clay and Buck podcast. If you're trying to grow spiritually while juggling a busy life, Intouch.org is a really helpful place to pause and catch your breath. Sometimes you just need a moment to refocus, and that's exactly what you'll find there. You can dive into practical, down-to-earth teaching from Dr. Charles Stanley. Read a short devotional that fits into your day or explore free study guides that speak to real life situations you might be dealing with. Whether you're looking for direction, comfort, or simply a little encouragement to keep going, there's always something meaningful waiting for you. It's easy to use. It's available anytime, and it meets you right where you are in your walk with God. When you're ready for a bit of clarity or a spiritual reset, take a moment to see how intouch.org can support your day. It might be exactly what you need. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu.edu.

These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, ACTA helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents' identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with ACTA, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Octa Secures AI. Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat, emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan, $15 dollars a month a month. Every plan, $15 dollars a month a month. Even unlimited. That's it. That's it. That's it. See terms. You want your master's degree. You know you can earn it, but life gets busy. The pack schedule, the late nights, and then there's the unexpected. American Public University was built for all of it. With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life. Start your master's journey today at APU.APUS.edu. You want it? Come get it at APU. Welcome back in here to Clay Ann Buck, and we've got some calls coming in. Let's get to them. First up on the list, Mike in Waco, Texas. What's going on, Mike? Yeah, hey, thank you. I just wanted to say that you said earlier that that candidate for Governor California... called out that reporter, got testing with her for no reason. And I'd like to submit to you that there was a reason. And the reason was that the reporter dared to question. her and press her for a logical answer, just like when you say that it's not possible for a man to become a woman or a woman to become a man, people react sometimes as if you're hateful by simply asking the question. Mike, I will accept your editor, your addendum here. I think that's just a matter of speaking. I meant that there's no grounds for her to freak out, but you're correct. The grounds for her freak out are. the questions so so i i think uh i think that's a fair a fair addition so thank you uh i agree um note or comment taken gerard in louisiana what's going on gerard um doing fine how are you buck

I mean, I'm having a great day here in a very wide open government shutdown D.C. It's the loveliest D.C. I can remember, honestly, but go ahead. Sounds great. My question was that Katie Porter kept referring to the fact that if you keep asking follow-up questions, we'll never get through all your questions. It seems to me that she is intimating that she had a copy of all the questions ahead of time. That could be, could be. I mean, I don't, I assume that she just, you know, that's, you could be right. I wouldn't jump there necessarily because she can assume that there's other questions that she's going to ask her. Were they submitted in advance, maybe, but I think that I could tie in, thank you, Gerard for calling in, I can tie in your comment with Mike's comment, which is the problem here is that questions are being asked and followed up on. And Katie Porter expects a CBS affiliate journalist to just sit there and do dictation from the likely Democrat candidate for governor after the primary is over. So there's the outrage comes from, what are you doing? You're not supposed to do this. A little bit like the Dasha Burns lady, who actually was the one who said the thing about... uh the pandora's box remember she wasn't she the one who reported on John Fetterman who actually has been doing great uh for a democrat but i think she said that she talked to John Fetterman and he seemed a little not all there and everyone went completely insane on her And it was clear that he was not all there. But you're not allowed to say that was the point. So the most obvious, it's like the Biden thing, the most obvious observation is not allowed if it goes against what the party dictates. All right, prize picks. Our friend Clay Travis, let's be honest. Let's not tell him this because I don't think Clay's ego needs any help. But he has been in Fuego with his prize pick so far this year. He has been nailing it. He's got a bunch of the things where you get like four or five times your money. He is doing a phenomenal job. And prize picks is so much fun, especially when you can rely on the expertise of somebody like our good buddy, Clay. So millions of members, billions of dollars awarded in winnings. Get started today on prize picks. Download that app. Get $50 instantly in lineups when you play your first $5. When you download the prize picks app, use my name Buck as your promo code. Get $50 instantly when you play $5. That's code buck on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5. Clay's going to be back tomorrow. He's going to be giving you his picks for the football games that are happening this weekend. I believe they occur on Sunday, I am told. Prize picks. The college ones are Saturday. I know things. Prize picks. Download it. Use code buck. Clay will be back tomorrow. Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. We are joined. by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Senator Paul, always appreciate you making time for us today.

No problem. Thanks for having me. Government shutdown. So far, I've got to say, it's pretty nice walking around the streets of D.C. I know that's a very basic view of things, but government seems to be working reasonably well for a so-called shutdown. What is, as you see it, at issue today? Why have we seen no progress in the Chuck Schumer shutdown negotiations? Well, I think the great irony of this situation is that every Democrat in the Senate and every Democrat virtually in the House as well voted for these spending levels in December of last year. So this continuing resolution has spending levels that were actually set under Biden. These are the Biden's spending levels. And every Democrat has previously voted for them. The reason they're not voting for them now, at least according to the Democrats, is, well, we want to renew these temporary Obamacare subsidies. Well, that's moving the goalpost because these people have all voted for the spending bill before, and it doesn't include the Obamacare subsidies never has. And the reason the Obamacare subsidies are expiring is because that's the law that the Democrats wrote. They wrote them to be temporary because they were trying to cram a lot of spending into a reconciliation bill. And the only way they could do it was to make things temporary. So really, this is all on the Democrats. And eventually they will fold and they will vote to reopen the government. Now, why are the, if you could dig into this a bit, Senator Paul, why are these subsidies for Obamacare both so important to Democrats and so necessary? Well, you know, the argument with Obamacare when it started, you know, back around 2010 was that it was going to keep health care insurance prices from going up and make health care more affordable. It turns out if you look at health care insurance prices, they've gone up ever since. There's been no slowdown in the increase in health care prices. In fact, when you subsidize something, you're increasing the demand for it. You actually are, in all likelihood, increasing the price of things. But they haven't been successful. These Obamacare subsidies aren't really going for the poor. They're actually going to relatively rich people now. And like I say, they were brought in by the Democrats during the pandemic. They were said to be, oh, well, people are having a tough time to the... pandemic, we're going to give them extra money. The real problem, though, that nobody discusses around here is there is no money to give these people. I mean, the money literally has to be borrowed from China or printed up by the Federal Reserve. We're $2 trillion short with the current levels of welfare and warfare, frankly, and we're $2.00 short a year. Where's the money come from? It's somebody has to be borrowed. Yeah, well, with gold that I think $4,000 announced now, I mean, I think people are starting to see that the printing press is very much in use, unfortunately. And I wanted to know if you could also look into or explain to us a little bit, Senator Paul.

The argument over whether some of this funding or whatever the portion may be makes it to subsidize care for illegals. You're an MD as well as a senator, so you have a particular insight into this. What is the truth of that? Well, it's confusing in the sense that we do have many laws that say welfare is not supposed to go to illegal aliens, but we also have laws that say illegal aliens aren't supposed to vote either. And we know for a fact that illegal aliens are the most recent prominent case of them voting was a guy that was that superintendent from Des Moines who was here in the country illegally and registered to vote and voting in Maryland and had been for some time. So we know that the states, particularly the Democrat states that have very lax rules, California and others, they just don't really police the situation also. We do know that illegal, people illegally in the country are voting. We also know that they're receiving health care as well. So in legislation then previously passed by Republicans, language was explicitly put in to say it cannot and should not happen. And the Democrats are trying to repeal that language now and try to make it such that states could make the decision to give welfare and, you know, voting privileges to illegal aliens. Senator Paul, this isn't the first – I think this is the 11th shutdown, right? But this isn't your first rodeo with this. And I think in the past – What has been at least a narrative of the media pounds, whether it's really fair or true or not, is, oh, the Republicans are being blamed. This is going to hurt Republicans politically. I'm certainly not seeing that, and I don't think whatever data that can be trusted on this to the degree can be trusted shows that. What is the, as you see it, for the Democrats, I'll speak to specifically if you could speak to maybe on just the Senate side, what is their calculation here? Why have they decided? that this is the hill they want to fight on. I think they're miscalculated. They also, I think the Republicans have not hit them hard enough yet. I mean, the Republicans, I'm about the only one I hear reminding people that the Democrats all voted for these spending levels nine months ago. They're the exact same spending levels. The one reason Republicans don't bring this up is Republicans used to be critical of the Biden's spending levels, but now the Republicans are all voting for the spending levels. That's why I'm really the only Republican voting against not only the Democrat spending levels, but voting against the Republican levels because they incur a deficit this year of about $2 trillion and are projected to incur a deficit next year of about $2.1 trillion. So I think both parties are terrible on the deficit. I'm voting against both the Republican and the Democrat plan because the one thing that is bipartisan up here is spending money we don't have.

We're going to be at $40 trillion then in this debt really soon. And, you know, Elon Musk came in with Doge and there seemed to be this moment in time, Senator, where there was at least the beginnings of a willingness to do something about this. It does not look like that has really come to fruition. Maybe that's putting it too gently that we're even trying to turn the spending curve around. Do you think that there will be? I know the White House has spoken about this. Some substantial trimming of federal employees that will occur during the shutdown. How does that work? You know, Doge did a lot of good things. I was a big supporter of Elon Musk and the thing he brought to government. We did end up voting on two rescission packages, or one, but then they did one as a pocket rescission, and so about $12 billion in foreign aid was reduced. You know, I've been championing reductions in foreign aid for a decade here, and I've introduced over 35 bills to do it. This is the first time we've done it since I'm here. But the problem is the continuing resolution that Republicans have put forward spends at the currently appropriated levels for foreign aid. That doesn't include the $12 billion in cuts. So basically, if they pass the continuing resolution that Republicans want everybody to vote for now, it'll have the foreign aid back in it. And so if you want to get rid of foreign aid again, we'll have to do the same thing again next year. So taking away the $12 billion, that didn't become the new baseline. It's not a lower baseline for foreign aid. They're going back to the original one with this continuing resolution. So it's another reason not to be too excited about what the Republicans have put forward is that we're going to start all over again with the things that Doge put forward in the rescission packages. We're going to do it again next year. Do you think there's any realistic scenario where... there's a willingness on the republican side to make what has to happen for real cuts to be made i mean i feel like we've been talking about this you have i have a lot of a lot of everybody listening now talking about this going back to the origins of the tea party so this is looking like uh what 15 years of when are we going to make cuts the debt is too high the debt is too high we just discussed that it's going to be at 40 trillion dollars When do we decide to do something about this, or is it just a waste of discussion at this point? Because we haven't suffered the economic fallout from our profligate spending, so no one's going to do anything about it. Well, the lay of the land is this. There are no Democrats that will vote to cut one penny of $1 of federal spending. On the Republican side, there's a lot of lip service. But when I presented my penny plan budget, which would balance over five years, I did this two weeks ago, 36 Republicans supported it. Now, that's the high watermark. That's the most I've gotten before. But it also means that I think about 16 Republicans do not support it.

These 16 Republicans often are the leaders of the spending committees, the appropriations committees, and so there isn't a desire among them really to cut spending. And so until we have a Republican majority and a majority of those Republicans are willing to cut, we don't get anywhere. It also doesn't help when people say, well, we're not going to look at Social Security or Medicare and Medicaid. We'll do it sometime in two or three years from now. We'll make the date in the future. All of these things, when you take them off limits and you don't do anything to food stamps, if you take all of these entitlements off the table, you really, there isn't enough waste and fraud to cut to actually balance the budget. Well, what do we have to do? I mean, is this turning into the entitlements discussion again, which nobody wants to touch? It's about elections. You need more hardcore people. I think the people out there that I meet as I travel a country, they are ready to cut spending. They are ready for more significant cuts, and they're ready for somebody who would introduce a balanced budget. So I think if my penny plan budget were... surveyed among the public, among the Republican public, I think you'd get 90% of the vote, you know, but up here I'm getting about 60% of the Republicans for it. So really, the Republicans up here aren't all getting the message. They need to get the message that the debt is a real problem, and it's time to start cutting spending. But a lot of them haven't got that message yet. How long do you think this shutdown's going to last? And is it a big deal to you, whether it goes for another day or another two weeks? Does it really make much difference? How do you see that? The rumor is that the Democrats have a left-wing socialist rally in D.C. this weekend, and they're afraid of their left-wing. They're afraid of the socialist, and so they have to show they're putting up a fight for the free stuff, the Obamacare, free subsidies. So the rumor is they will fight through the weekend and then give in next week. They'll give in because there'll be some sort of public promise that will negotiate on the subsidies. There probably are 15 Republicans that will vote to increase or keep the Obamacare subsidies. They don't care that it has to be borrowed. They don't care that it's more big government. So what will happen is all the Democrats will be for that. 15 or 20 Republicans will vote with them, and big government always wins. But I think the public's getting increasingly frustrated with it. So there's going to be a time at which the public is going to say, let's throw some of the bums out. Why do we need subsidies if Obamacare makes health care cheaper? That seems to be a conundrum, Senator. Yeah. One of the things we could do, and I've proposed this for years now, I propose that we let people, consumers, people who buy health insurance, let them bargain collectively. What I mean by that is if you belong to Costco, there are 44 million members of Costco. If Costco were to buy your insurance for you, my guess is Costco can get a better price than you can individually. If my wife could buy her insurance from Costco, by the way, it would have happened yesterday. She loves Costco, so keep going.

And the rule that's keeping us from doing this is a federal rule that says you can buy insurance with a group. You all have to be in the same employment. You have to be ditch diggers or carpenters or welders. You can buy your insurance together. But you can't be in multiple different employment, which is a really dumb rule. And last... Trump administration, I got him to do an executive order. It was challenged in court, but I have a bill that would do this. It would change what's called the ERISA law, and it would let anybody who wants to join any group buy insurance. And then what you'd have is you'd have the head of Costco's health insurance buying, would sit down with the head of the big insurance companies, and you'd really get a much better price. And so that's the one thing you could do that is a market phenomenon. It's a way of injecting the market. that actually would bring down health care costs. Senator Rand Paul, always appreciate you, sir. Thanks for making the stop today with us. Thanks for having me. It was a time when dinner was more than just a meal. It was the hour every day when family came together. Actually, you know what? I'm going to tell you something right now. There was the Jesuit headmaster of my high school when my parents did the first parent-teacher day. He sat all the parents together in the auditorium, and he said, you know, one of the most important things you can do with your kids is? Have dinner together. True story. This is a guy who've been an educator for like 40 years and very, very smart guy. He's one of the most important things. Now, I know people work, travel busy, but the point is when you can, you should do it. And Good Ranchers certainly believes in that. Good Ranchers is calling Americans back to the table. From now through Thanksgiving, Good Ranchers is encouraging families to sit down and share a meal every Thursday. Doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to be together. And here's the fun part. Every week, one lucky winner will win a free Thanksgiving ham for just sharing a photo of their gathering on their Instagram story and tagging at Good Ranchers and using the hashtag back to the table. That's hashtag back to the table. So visit Good Ranchers.com. Use my name Buck as your code when you subscribe for an additional $40 off your initial order plus free meat for life. You get to pick that free meat gift. It's delicious. Code Buck and $40 off plus free meat for life. It's a great deal. The last meal I made with Kerry last weekend, we had Good Ranchers fillets, and I think it was boned in New York strip, or maybe it was bone in ribby. I get them both from Good Ranchers. It's all delicious. But I was working my magic on my cast iron with Good Ranchers. It was delicious, and I'm going to be doing it again this weekend. Go to Good Ranchers.com. Use my name Buck as your promo code. $40 off, free meat for life. Check it out today. News and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free I-hard Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. If you're trying to grow spiritually while juggling a busy life, Intouch.org is a really helpful place to pause and catch your breath. Sometimes you just need a moment to refocus, and that's exactly what you'll find there. You can dive into practical, down-to-earth teaching from Dr. Charles Stanley. Read a short devotional that fits into your day or explore free study guides that speak to real life situations you might be dealing with. Whether you're looking for direction, comfort, or simply a little encouragement to keep going, there's always something meaningful waiting for you. It's easy to use. It's available anytime, and it meets you right where you are in your walk with God. When you're ready for a bit of clarity or a spiritual reset, take a moment to see how intouch.org can support your day. It might be exactly what you need.

Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu.edu. These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, ACTA helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents' identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with ACTA, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Octa Secures AI. Saturday, July 25th. I know I will be the best walk away in the world. An undefeated phenom. Badman is a rising star. And a frightening force. What a win for Shemiel Musayev. Ascend on the nation's capital to fight for gold. Thad, the silverback gene. Silverback nation makes them noise. Versus Shemil Musayev. Oh, it's over. for the PFL well-to-weight world title. Saturday, July 25th and 10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The future won't wait, and neither should you. That's why American Public University offers master's programs designed for momentum, affordable, high quality, and flexible so you keep moving forward. With career-relevant programs in business, health care, education, IT, and more, you can gain skills you can use right away and the confidence to power your next move. American Public University, made for what's next. Learn more at APU.apus.edu. Welcome back in here to Clay Ann Buck, and we're going to be talking shortly to Senator Ron Johnson about the weaponization of law, the DOJ stuff, the testimony by Attorney General Pam Bondi up on Capitol Hill. Also some very interesting statistics coming out from FBI Director Kash Patel. So we shall dive into that momentarily. So make sure you stick around with us. And let's see. We have D.D. Jim from Rockland County who listens on W.O.R. Radio. What's up? Play it. As far as superheroes go, nobody beats Superman because he's the only one who has truly superhuman powers. The Hulk just gets mad and big. Everybody else needs some kind of gadget to protect them. The only thing that takes Superman down is kryptonite. And I don't think kryptonite is just laying around that you can get on Amazon. Well, maybe Amazon, but that's what makes Superman the best.

Very in-depth analysis to our superhero analogy here, I have to say. We're going way beyond my knowledge here, although I feel like he's not giving Hulk his fair due. He's a rather burly fellow, the Hulk. You know what I mean? Very, very muscular. Let's get a call, Brian in North Carolina. What's up, Brian? Hey, Buck. I was just listening to your call with Rand Paul. And it kind of ticked me off in a way, because I've been thinking about this for years upon years, about insurance. You know, you're discussing about group insurance and so on and how if you go to Costco, you'd be able to get, you know, the cheaper policies because, or not cheaper policies, but to be able to get policies that will provide you with cheaper medical coverage because you're in a, quote, group. That whole argument to me seems. um outdated okay that that made sense 60 years ago 40 years ago before we had computers so the whole idea back then was we sell them in groups you know we'll sell insurance to it to a business because oh they they may have 2,000 people and i can get 2,000 people signed up and then we'll admit it'll make administration of the policies easier well today there's a thing called a computer And you can get online, and if I wanted to, I could go to Anthem or Blue Cross Blue Shield, I could sign up and buy their insurance policy, but I would have to pay the individual prices. Right, well, this is where insurance is inherently, I'm sorry, we're at the end here, Brian, but thank you for calling it. Insurance, just like on your house, there's a cost-sharing component to it. And in health care, that gets very complicated very quickly because how old are you, how healthy are you? You need younger, healthier people to subsidize the older, sicker people, or else you don't have insurance, right? This is the question. This is the problem. This is the crux of the matter. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu.edu. These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, ACTA helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents' identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with ACTA, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. to Secures AI. Saturday, July 25th. I know I will be the best walk away in the world. An undefeated phenom. Batman is a rising star. And a frightening force. What a win for Shemiel Musayev. Ascend on the nation's capital to fight for gold. Thad, the silverback jeans. Silverback nation makes them noise. Versus Shemil Musayev. All it's over!

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