Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – guest host Cunningham welcomed Grassroots Engagement Director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry in studio to discuss the proficiency of the Tennessee legislature, getting involved, and grassroots training offered by AMF.
(Andrew Cuomo clip plays)
Cunningham: That was the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, trying to save his political career and life. Whether or not he will be able to is questionable at this point after the AG report came out yesterday. They didn’t charge him with anything. She’s leaving that up to the DAs.
I think there is one DA in Albany that is investigating, but the charges of sexual harassment or any criminal activity have not been brought yet. That was just a report which was pretty damning. And it’ll be really interesting to see how that plays out. He is trying to hold on.
I don’t know whether he will be able to at this point. There was some talk yesterday about impeachment proceedings. So real interesting, interesting political drama playing out there in New York and all among Democrats. (Chuckles) This is a Democrat state, and they will be hashing that out in the coming days.
It’ll be fascinating just as political bystanders to see what happens there. I think yesterday even the president said, yes, he ought to resign. So we’ll see what happens with that. We’ve got a little political drama playing out in Nashville.
Cameron Sexton, the speaker of the House, was on yesterday with us talking about the news conference that he and the governor and Jack Johnson and the commissioner of education had basically said to school systems, you guys got to get your act together and get kids back in school. There is a report that I guess it’s Speaker McNally.
Henry: That’s right.
Cunningham: In the Senate, it’s basically saying, hold on here. Let’s not rush into this. And that’s been fairly typical of the dynamic down at the legislature. Speaker McNally tends to be a little bit more of a slow walk on these kinds of issues and doesn’t join in sometimes.
But I think the governor is the one who calls a special session. So if he wants to call a special session, if these schools persist in masking up and staying remote. And the Democrats are really pushing back hard yesterday in Davidson County and Shelby County in saying we’re not going to go along with this, especially with the Delta variant.
So they were pushing back. It’s going to be really interesting to see how all that plays out at the legislature. The legislature is an interesting place. (Henry laughs) You’re down there a lot more than I am.
I used to be down there a lot, but I’m not. But you’ve got 132 people that you’ve got to kind of get going in one direction if you want to get something done. And, boy, it’s difficult to do sometimes.
Henry: Yeah, it absolutely is. And I will say out of the 132 people, I would say the overwhelming majority, if not every single one of them, that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with wants nothing but the best for the state of Tennessee. And I say that sincerely Ben, honestly.
I’ve lived and done politics in several other states. Kentucky and Virginia. I’ve been around a little bit doing the political thing and I will say wholeheartedly those folks that have a true servant mentality in Tennessee are unlike any others. They really want the best for their constituents, for their state, and they want to lead the nation in liberty principles.
I truly do believe that. It is somewhat perplexing that these two men are not necessarily on the same page when it comes to how to approach this particular problem. But what do I know? I’m some random guy in radio and these guys are actually up there doing the job.
So I don’t know. We read the headlines and we see what they are. But like you said, I think ultimately it’s up to the governor as to whether or not to call a special session if need be. And we’ll see how that happens.
Cunningham: And they do react to the citizens and to the pressure of citizens. And you can call their office anytime. They’re not in session now. But if you feel strongly about this, you can call or go to the legislative website.
We do have a really good legislative website, and it’s fairly easy to find legislation to research. And you can go to the Tennessee legislature. Just go to Google and type in Tennessee legislature, and you’ll go right to it.
But they’ve got a good search where you can do searches on past legislation, on the code, on just about anything you want to. I think Tennessee legislative website has won several awards and they deserve it. It’s just a good, fairly easy-to-use website.
And their cold hard reality is not very many people ever interact with elected officials. That’s the cold hard reality. And if you do choose to interact with them, you’ll have an influence because you’ll be one of a very few people that ever do that.
Henry: Statistically speaking, that’s accurate as well. I said it yesterday, and it bears repeating today. The adage goes, we don’t have a democracy. We have a democracy of those that participate. Now, I get it. We have a constitutional republic. But you understand what I’m saying?
Cunningham: Absolutely.
Henry: Unfortunately, Tennessee has the second-lowest voter turnout of any state in the nation behind, I believe, Louisiana. Thank goodness for Louisiana. But it goes to your point statistically.
If you are involved, if you call your legislators, if you send them an email, if you go up there and meet with them personally, if you set meetings with them out of session, your voice is thereby amplified that much more than it would be in any other state because so few people are involved in the political process in this state.
Cunningham: And it is even more so at the local level. You go to most county commission meetings and you’ll see. Unless there’s some hot button issue like a dump area. Or a tax issue or something like that. Or zoning. Typically, there are very, very few people sitting there in the audience.
And, boy, I mean, it just makes a huge difference. If you go to these meetings, and you go up to the county commissioners afterward, you talk to them. You can have an extraordinary amount of influence.
And if you want to run for office, the county commission area, or the school board for $3,000 or $4,000, you can win some of these local races if you’re very strategic about choosing races.
Because people peel off of these bodies fairly regularly at the local level. I don’t know the statistics. I would guess, though, the turnover at these local bodies is more than it is at the state and the federal level.
Cunningham: And if you want to run for county commission, three or four grand and some shoe leather will get you elected – and going door to door.
Henry: (Chuckles) Shoe leather. Which is no small thing. I met with a guy, had done some politics out in California, and he was telling me in the county that they came from just a city council race alone, you’re talking six figures at a minimum.
A minimum of six figures to run for the city council race out there. So a couple of grand here, plus hitting the pavement, knocking some doors, I mean, hey, you can be a major influence in your area.
Cunningham: And speaking of grassroots, the young man is sitting across from me, Mr. Grant Henry with Americans for Prosperity is the grassroots director of Americans for Prosperity. It’s a statewide group that advocates and lobbies for free-market principles and have done some really great things in this state.
And you guys are always at the legislature every year. We want to talk more in this segment and the next segment about what you’re doing. But just kind of tell us, what are you working on and how you are looking forward to the legislative session that will be coming up in January of next year?
Henry: So we have two main things, I think, prior to getting to the legislative year next year. Two main things we’re focusing on right now, one of which we covered extensively yesterday, the – stop infrastructure spending, both the $1.2 trillion and oncoming $3.5 trillion infrastructure package.
We really want to do as much as we can to stop that. And again, big thanks to Senator Blackburn and Senator Hagerty for standing strong here. If you want to thank them personally: 202-410-2685. That number is a switchboard that takes you directly to them.
And just say, hey, look, I appreciate you guys for standing strong, and stand strong even more in this upcoming reconciliation bill. We’re really trying to get the word out. Tag those folks on social media too.
Let them know that you’re there and that you’re supporting them. They like to see that. And they do check that stuff. I promise you. And another thing that we’re setting up over the upcoming months here, Ben, is some grassroots training. And it’s exactly like it sounds.
We can tailor this training to what your specific group needs or we have a baseline, what we call Grassroots Leadership Academy training. There’s a couple of different things I’m trying to set up across Middle Tennessee, some of the southern parts, Middle Tennessee, maybe even up in Davidson County, if we can get enough people there.
But it kind of trains you to do what I do for a living. Figure out how to break down governmental barriers, figure out how to create a cause, figure out how to find organic social change entrepreneurs, and move that up to the legislature.
If you want to figure out how to do that in your area, here’s my personal cell phone number: 615-330-4569. Give me a call or just shoot me an email. It’s Ghenry@afphq.org. Trying to set up those grassroots training seminars.
Cunningham: It’s a great way to get people kind of over the hump.
Henry: It’s free of charge, too. No charge to ya’ll.
Cunningham: A little bit of nudging to get people to that comfort level. And that’s what AFP does such a great job on. They can do anything they want to once you train them. You’re not trying to corral them into something.
Henry: We just want them to take part in the process.
Cunningham: Yeah, absolutely.
Listen to the full first hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – guest host Ben Cunningham welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles and Grant Henry of Americans for Prosperity in the studio to discuss the increasing indoctrination of young children, the desperation of generations to have a purpose, and the waking of the silent majority.
Cunnigham: It’s great to rant and rave in front of the big Michael Patrick Leahy microphone for a day. And I appreciate Michael letting me come in and sit in for him. He’s out expanding his huge media empire, going to state after state. I’m telling you, the guy is just unstoppable.
And thank goodness, because the media has been taken over by the liberals, just like most of our other institutes. And we’ve got to fight back. Andy Ogles, Maury County mayor, is with us in-studio this morning, and Grant Henry with Americans of Prosperity, also sitting in.
A triumvirate of hosts this morning to fill in the big shoes of Michael Patrick Leahy. All right, guys, I got a culture update for you this morning. It turns out that in the Baby Muppets TV series, and frankly, I don’t even know where the Baby Muppets are shown. But this last episode, apparently, Baby Gonzo decides he wants to go to a ball, a dance, a royal ball as a Princess and as a female.
And so the transgendered agenda is being pushed even to our children. This show is aimed at kids four to seven years old. And this is from a Fox News article. It says a fairy rat father grants Gonzo his wish to become a princess. And later in the show, the piggy character tells Gonzo we met the most amazing princess.
And this gushing kind of affirmation of transgender to our kids. If there’s any tendency of some poor kid out there to be confused, who has gone through some kind of emotional wounds, this will give them an avenue to go into the transgender role just as easily.
And we see this so much with young kids these days. You guys have probably seen this Libs of TikTok. There’s a Twitter account called Libs of TikTok, and the guy goes on TikTok and takes the most outrageous videos on TikTok.
And it is just amazing how far into this delusional world the young kids have gotten. And the left is pushing this transgender and basically saying to anybody who comes out against it and who doubts it that you are a bigot. You’re a hater. And that really is where we’re going.
Ogles: Well, I’ll come out against it. It’s a bunch of crap. I’ve got a six-year-old son.
Cunningham: I like that.
Ogles: And I’m offended by this. This transgender, which is a mental disorder. We’re pandering to less than one percent of the population. When you have a six-year-old boy or six-year-old girl, but they don’t understand the world, they don’t understand their boundaries.
And so they’re gonna ask questions like, you might have a boy say, hey Dad, can I have my nails painted? And the answer is no, because that’s what girls do, right? Or a girl may want to do something that is overtly masculine. And there’s nothing wrong with boys being boys and girls being girls.
And we’ve got to stop pandering to these lunatics on the left. There was a time and day that a kid could turn on Saturday morning cartoons and the parents didn’t have to be worried about what’s going to be forced down your children’s throat.
And now you’ve got a screen, everything, even the content for your four or four, five, six-year-old child. And I’m offended by that. And it’s time that we take this country back, which is why we’re doing this freedom tour. We are a conservative state and it’s time we start acting like it.
Henry: So speaking purely as myself here, not on behalf of AFP or any other organization, just Grant Henry. You said it before, Ben. This is a program that’s targeted primarily towards the ages of three to eight. Pregnant pause for effect.
I think that’s kind of the answer. Can kids just not be kids today? Is there not an availability anywhere in the nation anymore to just allow the innocence of a child to remain? And part of it speaks to me in this, Ben. I’m reading through Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning right now.
Cunningham: Great book.
Henry: Here’s a quote: Man searches for meaning is the primary motivation of his life and not a secondary rationalization of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific, and that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone. Only then does it achieve a significance, which will satisfy his own will to meaning.
That to me, screams that humanity itself is yearning for purpose. Meaning. There is motivation behind that like there is nothing else in our lives. A little bit of what this is right now is this desperate search to find meaning in something.
And I’m telling you, all right, now it is incumbent upon conservatives and primarily Christians, to start presenting a better alternative to some of the stuff that we’re seeing out there.
Cunningham: Absolutely. And we’ve seen this in other totalitarian states. The children are the first thing they go after. And it happened in the Soviet Union. It certainly happened in China. It happened in Cambodia, with Pol Pot.
In Cuba. The first thing they will do is to change the education system and the culture so that these kids are targeted with big government and authoritarian orthodoxy.
And that’s exactly what this is part of. And they’re basically saying to us, if you disagree with this, you’re a bigot and you not only will be silenced, you should be silenced. That’s the scary part. This is a quote from Victor Davis Hanson, who I love, and his analysis. He was writing an article about this process, and he says now, with the money and institutions in its hip pocket and cool popular culture on its side, the left would not just damn American institutions but infect them.
Alter their DNA and reengineer them into revolutionary agencies. And that is precisely what has happened. They’ve infected them with their far-left DNA and they’ve re-engineered them. Another guy that I love, Leonidas Johnson, who is one of the great black conservatives on Twitter.
He says, we’re now faced with a situation where cowardice is called courage. Failure is called success. Men are called women, abortion is called health care. Racism is called antiracism. Fascism is called antifascism. Opinions are called facts. Facts are called hate, and regressive is called progressive. And we have these poor kids that you see on TikTok that are just so deep into this delusion.
I don’t know if in our lifetime, certainly not in my lifetime, whether or not they’re salvageable and whether the culture is salvageable. We just got to take our own little Baileywick, our own little sphere of influence, and try to do what we can.
Henry: I do find hope, though, in some of these statistics that I look at with Generation Z, which I believe is the most recent generation, is the most conservative portions of it. Portions of Generation Z are the most conservative generation to have existed in American history. At least in the last 800 to 150 years. Now someone’s going to have to fact-check me in that. But the point I’m making here, Ben, is that I think that pendulum swings in both directions.
As widely as it swings left, it’s swinging that far to the right as well. There will be a point where it settles back down. We’re in this time of over 10 windows shift this time where what settles back down to a state of normalcy and what we accept as commonly accepted principles. That’s the real fight. That’s what’s so fun about being alive right now. Now is the time to actually have principles, stand on principles, and make your virtue known.
They matter now more than ever in American life. And I’m telling you one more time, free-market being what it is, let’s start responding with choice here. Let’s start responding with, hey, if you don’t like this show, turn to a different show, man.
Ogles: That’s right. If you don’t like it, move along as people get upset about some of my posts on social media. And it’s like, then why are you reading it? But to your point, Grant, it’s like again, anecdotally – Kingsport 400 people. Tellico Village, which is just outside of Knoxville, 400 people showed up.
Tonight I’m expecting, say, 500 people. And it’s this undercurrent of frustration. And people want their voices heard. This ‘silent majority.’ And I looked at this story on Breitbart we’re just talking about. The Internet Celebrates the Collapse of a Left Woke Olympic Icon. So you have people who love America. I love the Olympics.
Henry: Me too.
Ogles: You anticipate watching these. We’ve got three children, and you’re going to watch these things with your kids, and you’re going to pass along these traditions. And there’s more leftism and transgender in it. The dude weightlifter pretending to be a woman who competes in the weight lifting, and then he totally chokes. But I’m glad. Because that’s not what the Olympics is about.
Cunningham: Absolutely. There is one thing we’ve learned and that’s culture is just as important as politics. And exerting a cultural agenda. Like you say, Grant, is that is: a counter to this leftist orthodoxy is just as important as asserting an alternate political agenda.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Grassroots Engagement Director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry, who weighs in on infrastructure spending and budget reconciliation in a partisan Democratic Congress.
(Mitch McConnell clip plays)
Leahy: That’s Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. I have two thoughts on his statement. First, it’s very obvious that inflation is a problem. Second, we need to have him here in the studio, and I need to give him a cup of the TriStar Trio coffee because he sounds like he’s asleep. (Laughter)
Ogles: Unlike the rant we just heard a moment ago.
Leahy: Unlike the three of us who are duly caffeinated and ready to rock and roll. Grant Henry, grassroots director for Americans for Prosperity of Tennessee. This infrastructure bill.
I can’t see any other direction – the consequence of this infrastructure bill – other than to dramatically continue the increase of inflation. What’s your thought on that?
Henry: Milton Friedman told us that inflation is essentially taxation without legislation and typically hits the lower-income individuals. Von Hayek told us that he said this: “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation. Usually, inflation is engineered by governments for the gain of governments.”
Leahy: Okay, now let me pause. People know who Milton Friedman is. You say it like he’s your best buddy, von Hayek, (Laughter) and he probably is your best buddy.
Friedrich von Hayek, a great, great economist. His famous work, The Road to Surfdom. That’s the guy you’re talking about there, right?
Henry: That is correct.
Leahy: And he is your best buddy.
Henry: (Laughs) Sure. Let’s say that. Let’s go with that.
Leahy: Andy Ogles, I look at what they’re trying to do, and there are a couple of elements here that really strike me. Number one, I don’t see how this is at all consistent with the American tradition of the legislative process. What’s your reaction to that, Andy?
Ogles: I mean, anytime you’re using budget reconciliation to legislate, it’s a slippery slope.
Leahy: Let’s talk about that. Explain to the audience what we mean by budget reconciliation. The Senate has a procedure by which they can essentially allocate monies and appropriated dollars for things that otherwise did not go through the normal legislative process. That’s a simplified version.
Leahy: And they’re supposed to be able to do it once, maybe twice a year, right?
Ogles: Yes. Look at legislative intent. This is something that should be done only as of the option, of last resort, and where there’s something that has to be done at the last minute. Otherwise, that could not flow through the normal process.
But what’s happened is that Congress is so partisan that it now is just the normal course of business, which is now stripping we the people of our normal representation. Because whoever is a majority controls the purse strings.
Leahy: Right. And it’s not a give-and-take legislative process. It’s my way or the highway with no give-and-take whatsoever from the Democrats. That’s what it seems like to me.
Ogles: The Senate has a lot of very formal rules that they can use, like the filibuster and things like that. And so it’s now become an issue of which side is better manipulating the rules to control what happens in the Senate.
Leahy: Grant Henry, you’re a graduate of law school, and my question to you is, the parliamentarian plays a role in the Senate.
Are you familiar with what their job is and how they can determine whether or not something should be included in this budget reconciliation process?
Henry: I’m not as familiar as I should be. And frankly speaking, I think there are very few people out there that are qualified to comment on that. There are a few.
Leahy: I may not be qualified, but I’ll comment on it. (Laughter)
Henry: But here’s what I’m saying. I think Mayor Ogles is correct that in the early 1970s we had this process of a reconciliation that was introduced primarily because we said, look, if we’re entering the day and age of partisan politics, we still have to pass a budget. We still have to spend money and make the government operate effectively or at least at all.
Leahy: This is a very interesting point because before the 70s and before the 80s, Congress ran through what they called regular order. That is, all bills would start at a subcommittee, and then they’d be vetted and then they’d to move up to a committee, and then they’d be vetted, and then they’d be going to the rules committee to see if they could go to a vote.
At each step back and forth continued, and then there would be a vote on the floor. Regular order has been disbanded by the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi in particular. And so they’re just in the land of the jam-through is what it seems like to me.
Henry: Yes. And I think that jam-through, which you really see a lot of times, is coming through this thing called the Byrd Rule, which is where this sort of parliamentarian is supposed to play a major role.
Leahy: Now the Byrd Rule, we’re talking about the former Ku Klux Klansmen, Robert Byrd, right?
Henry: I believe so.
Leahy: From West Virginia. He’s a Democrat by the way and his big ally in the Senate, Joe Biden.
Henry: So the primary thing about the reconciliation process that people need to understand and why your voice matters so much now is that the reconciliation process does not require 60 votes in the Senate. You can get it through with just 50 votes. And a Kamala Harris flip, right.
That’s the point of the reconciliation process that you don’t need bipartisan support to push something through. This Byrd Rule is a process by which Republicans should – in big air quotes in the studio here – should be able to say these certain things that are included in your $3.5 trillion package have nothing to do with what said that we’re spending money on.
That being if you’re gonna spend $3.5 trillion or rather, $500 billion on healthcare spending and call it an infrastructure spending, we’re gonna cut that out of your spending package through this Byrd Rule.
Now, much of that, I think, is left up to this sort of parliamentary procedure or that one individual to say what is and is not considered a part of the spending within that overall proposal or package.
That’s again, why I personally believe your voice matters so much now, to contact those senators, contact your legislators. Let them know if it’s this razor-thin, listen to me now more than ever.
Leahy: Andy Ogles, so there is a parliamentarian, and that recently appointed parliamentarian has ruled, that you can do it once and maybe twice, but only with certain circumstances.
What do you think Chuck Schumer is going to say if the parliamentarian says, you know what you want to do in that reconciliation package on the infrastructure bill? You can’t do it. What do you think Chuck Schumer is going to do?
Ogles: Well, just my opinion, but I don’t think they’ll care. The question is, can he move forward without an official ruling? I’m not a huge Mitch McConnell fan, I won’t go into the details. But all that to say, he has been a master of the Senate rules, which is why he’s been such an effective leader over the years.
This is where the Republicans are going to have to use the rules to their favor to try to block this, because, again, they’re not trying to pass a basic budget.
They’re not trying emergency spending for troops that are overseas or something that really necessitates this emergency action. And I think that’s really how you should look at budget reconciliation.
This is, again, the option of last resort. It should only be used where, again, you’ve hit gridlock to the point where basic functions of government are no longer working.
Leahy: The problem with that is that the Democrats have abandoned the concept of bipartisan cooperation. It’s my way or the highway.
Ogles: And they’ve abandoned the Constitution altogether. Look at what they’ve done during COVID.
Leahy: Minor point. Minor point. Actually a very good point.
Listen to the full third hour here:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Grassroots Engagement Director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in studio to discuss the irresponsible and cyclical spending of Democrats in Washington.
(Joe Biden clip plays)
Leahy: We hear that from Sleepy Joe, the legal but not legitimate current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are here with Grant Henry of the Americans from Prosperity-Tennessee and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles.
Andy, I saw the eyebrows raised just a bit (Ogles chuckles) on that claim by the somnambulant Joe Biden that, oh yeah, this was expected and temporary. Really?
Ogles: As an economist, I’ll tell you that he’s full of … Do you have a bleep button?
Leahy: He’s full of bleep! Scooter is now saying, oh, no, we can’t do that. (Laughs)
Ogles: You tell me that these home builders that pre-sold lumber packages a year ago who are now building homes at a loss – it was anticipated?
You tell me that these car manufacturers who now have tens of thousands of cars sitting on the lot without chips, that that was expected?
And again, just go through all your commodities, and your base commodities that go into everything else are more expensive today. And to say that it was expected or predictable, it’s almost criminal. I’ll be honest with you.
Leahy: It’s so dishonest. Grant Henry, we were talking a little bit about Fiat economies. Fiat standards. in other words, where there is no actual valuable item for which currency can be converted.
The gold standard, long gone. There were – for many years conservatives were railing about the budget deficit and the increasing debt.
And that’s not been as much on the forefront of late because there have been other battles. But the reality is, if the government just prints money, what is inevitably going to happen is inflation.
Henry: Yes.
Leahy: That’s the bottom line, right?
Henry: I don’t think you need a degree in economics to understand that either. I think even a baseline understanding, I mean, look at what’s happening in world history any time that any country prints money, especially to the extent that we are right now, you see a coupling inflation rate.
Look what our Founding Fathers told us, too. To preserve their independence, we must not let our rules load us with perpetual debt. One of the worst things we can do for future generations is shackle them to the debt of the current generations.
Leahy: It’s reckless and irresponsible. But that is exactly what Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are doing. And, Andy Ogles, not a lot of Republicans have been what you might call budget responsible in Washington.
Ogles: I think you look back to what set up a situation or an environment where someone like Obama could get elected. That was because you had reckless spending. From the “right,” the Republicans, as they controlled three branches of government.
And so the pendulum shifted. And hopefully, there’s a lesson learned.
We’ve got to get this debt and our spending under control because there is a point of no return.
And we’ve labored and we’ve toiled and we’ve done these things and created all this spending with this assumption that, well, our currency is the supreme currency for the world. But that could change and it could change quickly.
Leahy: China wants to change as soon as possible.
Ogles: That’s right. Absolutely.
Leahy: They’re undermining us at every level. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer has a bill that has no content in it yet. And we’ll come up with all sorts of crazy spending ideas and reckless spending.
That – really that’s all the Democrats can do is spend, spend, spend. There’s no indication that they have any desire to cut the national federal debt. Grant Henry?
Henry: Here’s a headline from Reason, by the way. Magical Thinking of Bounds in New Budget Deal Proposal. Here is the quote from the article:
“Democrats insist that whatever that spending is about, it will be paid for in full.”
That’s dubious at best. The big idea is that the spending itself will generate economic activity which can then be taxed to pay for the already spent or budgeted programs.
Do you understand how circular this logic is? And it’s inherently self-refuting, right?
Leahy: Inherently self-refuting. That’s a great phrase Grant.
Henry: I bring the best here.
Leahy: That’s a very good phrase. We appreciate clever and accurate phrasing. Andy Ogles, so when I’m listening to what Grant says about the fantastic concepts, shall we say, these anti factual ideas of economics from the Democratic political leaders, I think of the exact opposite of this, which is Art Laffer and the Laffer curve and his ideas.
If we were to have him in here how would he respond to these things? Because, you know, you used to work for him.
Ogles: Yeah, I can’t speak for Doctor Laffer. But I think there’s this. If you have a certain rate of growth, you can sustain greater levels of spending or borrowing and spending.
But the flip side of that or how the only way that can be successful is you have policies that are stimulating business growth and stimulating an economy.
Now, I’m not for exuberant spending. But that being said, so you now have Democrats kind of acting under that same premise.
However, they’re anti-business and they’re doing things that restrict business.
Leahy: Here’s my view on that. I think they’re in particular, anti-small business. When you say anti-business, there’s a business that they like and businesses that work with them.
Like, I don’t know, Facebook and Google and that crowd that is the high Fortune 500 companies that have big lobbyists and they have all these compliance of people, and they follow the rules and regulations. They set the rules and regulations.
Ogles: And those large businesses, and because they are so big, because they have so many resources, they can skirt most taxation.
Leahy: Absolutely.
Listen to the third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Grassroots Director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry and Mayor Andy Ogles to the studio to discuss the current undefined infrastructure spending with a blank check.
Leahy: In studio with us right now is Grant Henry, the grassroots director for Americans for Prosperity of Tennessee. And he’s joining the mayor of Maury County, Andy Ogles. Good morning, Andy.
Ogles: Good morning. How are you?
Leahy: I’m great. And, Grant, I’m looking at this story: Treasury Secretary Warns of ‘Rapid’ Inflation This Year, and it reminds me of something. This is what the Treasury Secretary is doing.
But it looks to me like the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is taking a page from Speaker Pelosi, who said in 2010 about the Obamacare bill: You have to pass it before you can learn what’s in it.
Henry: Yes. Isn’t that amazing? Let me explain where we are now. So federal officials have been pressed to speak on rising inflation after data was released earlier this week that showed the all items indexed increased five point four percent over the last 12 months.
The biggest spike since the 2008 financial crisis. That’s from The Tennessee Star Report of the headline of which Michael Patrick Leahy just read. Now, on top of all of that, you would think one of the reasons why we have this increased inflation going right now is the ridiculous amount of just printing pure money.
I get it. We’re in the era of a Fiat currency, but nevertheless, can we have some sense of rational approach?
Leahy: You used the term there – shows that you studied economics.
Henry: Just this much, though. (Chuckles)
Ogles: A little bit is more than most.
Leahy: For those listening, he put his fingers together and just showed about an inch or so. But I think it’s more than that, because of Fiat currency.
Now, Let’s just talk about what Fiat currency means. It’s the opposite of a gold standard, right? Because with a gold standard, money can be converted to a valuable commodity like gold.
But with a Fiat currency, it is by Fiat. In other words, just make it up. Am I right?
Henry: Just make it up. It’s not based on anything more.
Leahy: And what does that lead to?
Henry: Well, obviously, inflation leading to hyperinflation.
Leahy: Can you say Weimar Republic Germany 1920?
Henry: Once you see it.
Leahy: You had to take all your Deutschmarks in a wheelbarrow to buy a loaf of bread back then.
Henry: Once you see other rich people buying land instead of other things, that’s when you know you got a problem. But anyway, here’s the yahoo headline:
$3.5 Trillion Dollar Reconciliation Bill to Include the Proact Undoing State Right to Work Loss. So on top of all this ridiculous inflation we have going on, there’s been a new proposal: $3.5 trillion spending bill.
Leahy: Is it so-called infrastructure.
Henry: In big quotes here.
Leahy: Or is it the kitchen sink.
Henry: So it’s what Grover Norquist says. Infrastructure. It’s a French word for everything that means everything but roads and bridges.
Okay, that’s what infrastructure means. This part of the infrastructure spending, if you call it that, revises components of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
It increases taxes that would worsen our already devastated economy, hurting the working class. It implements elements of the Pro Act, which will remove right-to-work laws like here in Tennessee.
Leahy: Not only that, I particularly despise the Pro Act because they’re trying to do to the country what California did to the gig economy.
Henry: Yes.
Leahy: Which is ridiculous, because, in essence, they’re outlawing a kind of employer-worker relationship called an independent contractor agreement.
That’s what they’re trying to do. Every Lyft driver, for instance, every Uber driver, they’re an independent contractor. And apparently, you can’t do that anymore in California.
They want to take how they ruined California, and they want to ruin the rest of the country. I’m not buying it.
Henry: No, I hear you. And it’s not just that. It’s gonna implement different elements of a Green New Deal. It will give the government more control over our health care, not to mention the trillions of dollars of unrelated, unnecessary, and ineffective government spending programs.
Now, here we are to where Michael Patrick Leahy said a second ago, remember the days of Nancy Pelosi telling us that we need to just pass the bill to see what’s in it?
That’s not any different than what we have anymore now. Now, I am not kidding y’all. When I say just yesterday, Chuck Schumer moved forward and intends to fill cloture to set up a procedural vote tomorrow or Thursday for a so-called bipartisan infrastructure framework bill on a bill that has not even been written yet – That is where we are. They’re going to move forward voting on a bill that has yet to be written.
Leahy: It’s a blank page.
Henry: I don’t know what it is.
Leahy: By the way, Andy, is that how they do it down in Maury County with blank pages?
Ogles: No, but I’ve got a house that I’d like to sell. Would you please just hand me a signed check, and then I’ll fill in the details later.
Henry: That’s exactly right. It looks like senators who argue that they shouldn’t vote on bills they haven’t read should be outraged right now that they’re being forced to vote on a bill that doesn’t even exist.
And look, one of the things we do at Americans for Prosperity is not just complaining about the current state of affairs, but we love to give y’all ways to take action.
So let me tell you now if you go to notaroadsbill.com, Notaroadsbill.com, you can sign a petition. It’s an email that will be sent directly to your legislators at the federal level.
Your House member and both the senators as well. It is the Senate side that we need to support on – Notaroadsbill.com. Sign that petition right now.
Send that ledger to your legislator. I would even say flood the voicemails. Flood these Senator switchboards right now. I have their numbers in front of me. If Michael Patrick Leahy would give me permission to say them.
Leahy: Oh, let me ask him. Yes, he has permission. (Laughs)
Henry: Here it is. 2-0-2-4-1-0-2-6-8-5. That’s 2-0-2-4-1-0-2-6-8-5. That is the Senate switchboard number. Call your senators right now.
Tell them, don’t vote for this ridiculous spending package. Tell your legislators on social media posts. Tag their handles in the post as well. Look, go to notaroadsbill.com and put that on your social media post and tag the legislators.
We need all the support we can get. And there are ways we can bring attention to this, like preserving federal infrastructure dollars for targeted construction projects of a national priority.
We can unleash private investment in infrastructure assets. We can return power and responsibility to the states wherever possible.
We can overhaul the regulatory and permitting system to modernize infrastructure reviews and reduced project costs. We can even eliminate costly and unfair labor restrictions.
But, what is going on right now? This asinine notion of spending $3.5 trillion dollars and pushing forward a bill for something that has yet to be written.
I don’t have the words for it technically. Honestly, I do not have the words for it. Senator Bill Hagerty told us this: ‘They’re throwing around trillions of dollars like it’s simply monopoly money when really what it’s doing is taxing Americans’ hard-earned paychecks.’
Leahy: Here’s one good thing about having Grant Henry in the studio. It doesn’t matter that we have bad coffee or stale coffee. He doesn’t need coffee. He comes in energized.
Ogles: I’ll tell you what. He’s fired up. I’m just like sitting here doing my phone.
Leahy: Feeling the energy. We got power coming from Grant Henry right now!
Ogles: He’s on a roll.
Leahy: He’s on a roll, brother!
Ogles: Amen.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
