Michael, there are three things that are going on at the same time and they’re all related. One is CNN Plus is imploding even though owes a great and mighty Chris Wallace left Fox News and went to CNN. Because CNN believed that Chris Wallace was popular. And he never has been popular.
He’s always been kind of a daddy’s boy. And he’s made a lot of money because he was Mike Wallace’s son. But CNN is now imploding. And what’s interesting is when he left, he was there 18 years, paid millions of dollars for at least each of the last 10 years.
And when he left, he was very ungracious. He did an interview in The Western Journal and he sneered at the network, at Fox network and his viewers saying about his long tenure at Fox, ‘But I can certainly understand where somebody would say, gee, Chris, you’re a slow learner.’
He was really talking about how he is now free to think and to act. But CNN Plus, which is why he left, is imploding. And by the way, that’s because people who watch CNN don’t pay for news.
They won’t pay for it. They just like to be propagandized. Which ties into Mark Zuckerberg. After Molly Hemingway’s book Rigged came out and the documentary was aired within 24 hours, Mark Zuckerberg said he’s not going to participate in the midterm elections in the way that he did in the last election.
So what he is seeing from that documentary is that they have the goods on him. So the question is going to be whether or not he is treated appropriately under the law.
If the next administration is a Republican administration because there are laws about campaign spending and the book Rigged makes a very good case that he broke those laws.
Now let’s move to what Elon Musk is doing in his attempted takeover of Twitter. Twitter stock has fallen from 80 to 30 over the last 18 months. It’s very clear that the board of directors and the executives at Twitter do not believe that their shareholders are that important to them.
Well, now they have a very stark choice. They can either see their stock go back to approximately 30 and maybe even lower, or they can take Musk’s offer of $54.20 a share and do what is right by the shareholders.
So the question is whether or not the board of directors are going to do what’s right by the Democrat Party and the left, or whether or not it’s going to do what’s right by the shareholders. But what’s also fascinating is that there are reports that the DOJ and the SEC are now attacking Tesla.
And let me just say that the DOJ and the SEC are people. They’re not just institutions. So the institution of the DOJ and the institution of the SEC does not attack Tesla. It will be the individuals inside those institutions.
And then the question is if they are using their positions of power for political purposes and the next President is not of their thinking, it’s a question of whether or not those people because what they are doing is seditious what they’re doing is using the power of government to try to silence the potential opposition of other people.
It should be obvious to any thinking person that the left believes that it is now in control of the government and that it must maintain its control of the government or for them, there is a great risk, and for all of those associated with the left.
So the next 30 days are going to be absolutely critical and then the midterms of course. But with Zuckerberg not agreeing to help the Democrat Party with what you and I think is cheating in the last election, with him saying he’s not going to do that again, I’m not sure that they can replace him at this late date with somebody who is willing to take the risk of going to prison for 20 years.
Which if they do that again could very well happen. So we will see. But these three things all happening at the same time are both ominous on one hand and very hopeful on another.
Listen to the interview:
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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.
Photo “Elon Musk” by Steve Jurvetson. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “U.S. Department of Justice” by Sebmol. CC BY-SA 3.0.
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. – host Leahy welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to the newsmaker line to discuss China’s illicit global behavior, SEC regulations, the Biden family, and reconciliation.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line by our friend, the United States junior senator from Tennessee, Bill Hagerty. Good morning, Senator Hagerty.
Hagerty: Good morning. Great to be back with you.
Leahy: Senator Hagerty, China is on my mind this morning, and I’m thinking it’s on your mind as well. What’s going on with China? You’ve been making some news in that area of late.
Hagerty: China persists in its malign behavior all around the world. And if you think about what we’re dealing with now in any aspect of the news, whether it’s the coronavirus pandemic that they unquestionably unleashed on the planet, their reluctance to do anything, to cooperate, to help us deal with that.
Their actions in the Taiwan Strait, which threaten yet another free nation and one of our allies, where we are spending a great deal of time and effort right now. Certainly in my office contemplating our approach and our push back on that.
To what they’re doing in the realm of military diplomacy and every other aspect of global life to try to undercut and project themselves and very often at the expense of America.
Leahy: You were quoted in a story yesterday at CNBC. This is an area of great interest to me, and I learned something about your position in the Senate, where you are influential. You are a member of the Banking Committee, which is a very influential committee.
Here’s the headline of the story. SEC Officials Says US Listed Chinese Companies Must Disclose Government Interference Risk. And your quote on that topic was, I think on point. You said, “U.S. regulators must ensure that American investors and workers are protected from the sort of non-market behavior that is leaving American investors.” That’s what you said.
Hagerty: Yes.
Leahy: You said it on the Senate banking committee. How are the Chinese companies that are listed on American stock exchanges engaging in nonmarket behavior?
Hagerty: Several days ago, I made those remarks because I witnessed what happened with the listing of the major ride-hailing company. It’s a copycat of Uber here in America. It’s called DiDi. And they came and use the New York Stock Exchange to list their company.
I’ve spent a lot of time and a big portion of my life in the financial markets – a servant on the board of directors of New York Stock Exchange-listed companies. I know the rules. DiDi lists here in America raise billions of dollars.
And just a couple of days later, the Chinese Communist Party basically pulled down their data, pulls their app offline, and destroys the business model. This is after they’ve collected again billions of dollars of American investors’ hard-earned money.
Leahy: Where did that money go?
Hagerty: It’s in the hands of a Chinese company and perhaps in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
Leahy: How do we let that happen?
Hagerty: We allowed them to list. And again, I put a lot of pressure on the SEC. You cannot allow these Chinese companies to list and not follow precisely the same set of rules. The companies that I’ve worked with, that I’ve sat on the boards on, and that I’ve invested in – that you invest in, American companies have followed the rules.
If we had an American company that didn’t list a major risk like this, they would be delisted.
Instead, we had this happen with the Chinese company and we’ve got to step up. No more looking the other way. The Biden administration seems too often willing to appease and not step up and stand up for the rights of Americans.
Leahy: What sort of concrete, specific actions can be undertaken by the United States government to make sure that these kinds of market irregularities, this disruption, this perversion of our American financial markets by the Chinese, to their benefit, don’t occur again?
Hagerty: We need to make certain that they fully comply with all of the accounting standards that American companies have to comply with.
I think it’s a shock to many American investors to learn that Chinese companies have been given waivers on the American stock exchanges when they don’t comply with the same sort of accounting requirements, the same accounting standards that we do. That’s got to come to an end.
Leahy: But didn’t the Biden administration just double down on granting those waivers? Or do I have that wrong?
Hagerty: They have got to come back and look at the law and enforce it as written. And they’re not doing this time and time again. They’re looking the other way. They’re not enforcing the laws that are on the books against companies that don’t and countries –
And certainly, the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t have our best interests at heart. Yet they’re willing to double down on American companies all day long. We are the enemy. The economy here in America is under attack on a daily basis by the Biden administration.
Yet, if you look at their appeasement around the world and it’s not just China, they’re trying to appease Iran. They killed the Keystone XL pipeline. What a gift to China and Iran. They are collapsing our southern border. That’s a gift to the cartels down in Mexico.
And Vladimir Putin is laughing all the way to the bank now that they granted him a license to go ahead and complete Nord Stream too. Again, great for the old business over there in Russia while they’re trying to kill the old gas business here in America.
Leahy: There’s a principle of philosophy called Ockham’s razor and that is basically the most likely explanation for an occurrence – is probably the correct one. So I look at this, Senator Hagerty and I look at the Biden Justice Department refusing to prosecute a couple of Chinese spies and military members who lied about their resumes to get influential jobs with American universities.
They’ve decided they’re not going to prosecute them. To me that says this is an example of how compromised Joe Biden and the Biden administration are on the issue of China. What have I got wrong there?
Hagerty: I think you’ve got it right. And if you think about the close financial ties that the Biden family has with China. We don’t have to go back very far to remember who the big guy is and Hunter’s activities in China bringing – what was it?
A billion and a half dollars back from a trip that Hunter took when his father was the vice president. There is obviously something going on here, and we’ve got to continue to press to get to the bottom of it.
Leahy: What are the odds that an anonymous Chinese Communist Party member is going to spend half a million dollars to buy the supposed artwork of Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden? (Chuckles)
Hagerty: This is yet another example of the Biden regime and the Biden family operation cashing in on the father’s position. And this is wholly un-American and something I think the world should be very concerned about.
I should say America should be very concerned about it. The world is looking at this and perhaps a low-cost entry point to influence here in America. And it’s un-American as it can be.
Leahy: You’ve got a very busy schedule yourself, and we really appreciate you coming to the program to tell us what you’re up to. What are your priorities for the next week? What are some of the most important things you’ll be doing?
Hagerty: We are trying to make it clear to the public the inflationary implications of what Biden and the Democrats are talking about with this massive spending spree that they have in the tank. They’re saying it’s a $3.5 trillion package to go alongside this “bipartisan” infrastructure deal.
All the projections that I’ve seen say that the $3.5 trillion partisan package, and again, they’re planning to pass this on a 50 vote margin in the Senate. We have a 50/50 Senate and the only way they can break the ties is by bringing the vice president to do it.
That’s their plan. The $3.5 trillion actually maps out to be more than $5 trillion. This is at a time when inflation has taken off. If you look at the numbers between May and June of this year and you annualize the inflation just between those last two months, it annualizes to a 12 percent annual inflation rate. The target for the Fed is two percent.
They’ve talked about maybe slightly overshooting that. This isn’t a slight overshoot. This is a massive overshoot. And we’ve got to step back and say, do we want to introduce this type of inflation throughout the economy?
Those of us that are old enough to remember the Jimmy Carter years know where this will lead. And we are pushing back as hard as we possibly can on this.
Leahy: Here’s a question for you. The Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for advice from the parliamentarian on the capability of using reconciliation to jam through all sorts of bills – illegal immigration, et cetera – under the guise of reconciliation.
The parliamentarian said, well, maybe once you can do it, maybe twice. Do you think the parliamentarian is going to rule on these attempts that will constrain the use of reconciliation? Or will it be a free for all?
Hagerty: We’ll see what they put in. But my guess is that even though Chuck Schumer may know things will not pass the test to be included in this reconciliation bill. And again, I want to clarify the word reconciliation.
What you would think and what I would think is reconciliation is some sort of coming together, some meeting of minds to address or fix something. This is not reconciliation. This is a 100-percent partisan, reckless spending spree that they’re on. Will they use this process to message, will they put things in that won’t fit and rely on the parliamentarian to take them out? I wouldn’t put it past them at all.
They’ll probably use anything that the parliamentarian takes out yet again as their argument to do away with the filibuster and turn this Senate process that over the years has been historically a bipartisan organization into something that is completely partisan again. And if they destroy the filibuster they’ll be able to fulfill the rest of their socialist wishlist.
Leahy: Senator Bill Hagerty, thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to our listeners here. I really appreciate it. I hope you have a great week. Thanks for joining us.
Hagerty: Thank you. Good to be with you.
Listen to the 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.
Leahy: Dr. K., you called it. After this name, image, and likeness policy was announced, now we have Nick Saban. This is a story at Fox Business, not sports. Fox Business.
Nick Saban says Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is already earning nearly $1 million in endorsement deals. Saban cautioned the new policy to pay college athletes could create unequal opportunities. What do you have to say about that, Dr. K?
Dr. K.: Well, I love Nick Saban. And, of course, Alabama’s program is clearly in as a focal point of what’s going on here. And when asked, he said, I don’t want to talk to anyone about it.
Well, that’s always interesting because that’s not going to happen. (Leahy chuckles) And he then went on to say that there was no precedent for it.
And then when they questioned him about Bryce Young, which you just alluded to, went on and said he is very concerned. And I’m quoting Nick Saban.
I’m very concerned about the disparity of compensation among teammates creating an uneven playing field. He went on to say that everything that we’ve done in college athletics in the past has always been equal. I don’t know where he got that.
Leahy: I’m not sure that’s exactly the case, but go ahead.
Dr.K.: He says, equal scholarship, an equal opportunity, now that’s probably not going to be the case forward. Some players will have more opportunities than others.
Saban also said that he believed that educating his players about the unequal marketing opportunities will lead to an opportunity for our team success that people are not looking over their shoulders at what somebody else is doing or isn’t doing.
It’s clearly documented that a good many Crimson Tide players have already signed endorsement deals. Bryce Young signed on with CAA, one of the more prominent agencies that represent NFL players.
He supposedly also has inked a deal with Cash App. He was a five-star player coming in. He’s projected to be the starting quarterback for Alabama.
And then Saban said, yeah, he’s drawn near to a million dollars and he hasn’t taken a snap in an SEC game. I think it’s the real deal.
And I think as we said last week, I think it’s going to be an absolute bombshell with all these kids. We could talk for hours about it. It’s exciting, but it is marketing.
Leahy: And I think also, these guys are going to come out at the age of 18, and they’re basically professional athletes, and they’re going to have to play at the college level and then to have to manage that.
I mean, they’re going to have people. They’re going to have agents and accountants. And that’s a lot for an 18-year-old kid to have to deal with.
Dr. K.: Everybody has entitlements, there’s little doubt. I think it changes the dynamics of college athletics tremendously. The day of the college athlete, good ones going to school for education could very well change dramatically.
If you’re being paid as a professional athlete, and then how long do you stay? It’s going to change the NFL. It’s a far-reaching decision, but it’s an entitlement.
We all have entitlement. You’re on the radio, you’re a big-name guy in the city, and you’re being paid handsomely for what you do and what you know.
And that’s your economic entitlement. And if an athlete is in the same capacity as an athlete, he has that same entitlement. So it’s just free economics. It’s a good thing to have?
Leahy: Let me put our two storylines together here, and kind of get your reaction to this. We have one storyline, Texas and Oklahoma are interested in joining the SEC. I think that’s going to happen. That’s my guess.
Dr. K.: I do too.
Leahy: All these things happened quickly these days, Dr. K., you know?
Dr. K.: I agree.
Leahy: The other storyline is name, image, and likeness. Eight freshmen in college can get in these big deals. Okay, so here’s what I think.
The superstar in waiting if all goes well, and things don’t happen along the way is the grandson of Archie Manning, the son of Cooper Manning, the nephew of Eli Manning, the nephew of Peyton Manning.
His name is Arch Manning. He’s 6’4. He’s like 208 pounds already. He’s a rising Jr. at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans. He’s breaking all sorts of records.
It looks like he’s the real deal. As of today, he’s supposed to be the number one college quarterback coming out in the college of 2023. How much does he make?
And does it increase the chances that he’s going to Texas if they’re going to be in the SEC? We got 30 seconds on that big one, Dr. K.
Dr. K.: One, I think he will make a fortune. Just the name alone – being a Manning. Two, I’ll tell you, he’ll be a wealthy dude when he gets finished with his deal signing before he goes to college and where he goes, who knows.
I would imagine he would have stayed in the SEC. It’s going to be fun to watch. I promise you.
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.
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. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss how the Biden agenda is not dead as it continues to push forward through the administrative state conveniently allowing the mainstream media to blame Republicans.
Leahy: We joined in studio by our good friend, the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael. Crom, good morning.
Carmichael: Michael. Good morning, Sir.
Leahy: Lots of things happening yesterday in Washington. In fact, we’re going to have today a couple of reports from Washington. Neil McCabe joins us at 7:15. The best Washington correspondent in the country. He works for The Tennessee Starand Star News Network. Senator Bill Hagerty will be here with us at 7:30.
Carmichael: Oh, okay.
Leahy: So I’m going to ask him a tough question to begin with. And then we’ll go on to talk about the border. And S1. S1, you want to talk about that. S1 is the bill last night, that the Democrats call For the People Act. Republicans call it the Corrupt Politician Act.
Carmichael: I want to put a couple of things into context. First of all, S1, all 50 Democrats voted for it.
Leahy: All 50.
Carmichael: And all 50 Republicans vote against it. And it’s very important that we understand that s one was really nothing but a head fake. That’s all it was. And then the question about the filibuster is nothing but a head fake.
Please understand that people say the Biden agenda is dead. The Biden agenda is dead. It’s not dead. They’re just not going to pass it through the legislature. And the legislature does not care.
Leahy: That’s a very important point.
Carmichael: The Biden agenda is being done through the administration. I was with a fellow yesterday, and he was telling me that in his large company that every month between four and 500 people are required to be on a two hour Zoom call for a two-hour call. And Black employees are allowed and encouraged to rail against white employees. And the white employees are required to be on the call.
Leahy: This is all part of the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Carmichael: Well, it’s called ESG.
Leahy: Environmental social governance. That’s the standard. We were talking yesterday here with Dan Grant of 2nd Vote Advisers. It’s basically a money market fund and exchange traded funds that are pushing against that.
ESG is the product of the big money manager BlackRock headed up by a very bad guy by the name of Larry Fink. He goes around to all these publicly traded companies and says, here are the ESG standards you must follow. And they include doing those kinds of trainings.
Carmichael: But the ESG standards are being promulgated by the federal government. He’s just the messenger.
Leahy: He may be the cause of those regulations.
Carmichael: No, he’s not Michael. He’s not. And I’m not trying to defend the guy.
Leahy: Let’s talk about those regulations.
Carmichael: The ESG, first it is environmental. The second is social. And the third is governance. Right now, the governance has to do with the makeup of your board and of your executive officers.
Leahy: Of a publicly-traded company.
Carmichael: Of a publicly-traded company. That’s the governance part. You have to have the right number of women and minorities and all these other groups represented on your board and in your officer group.
And I’m talking about now the executive people, not the military. Military is an entirely different issue which is ESG on an accelerated pace. But then going backward. That was the governance part.
The S part is the social part, and that gets into what I’m talking about now. The corporations across the country that are regulated by the SEC, which is all publicly traded companies, they’re doing exactly what I just described.
They’re having these enormous calls where Black employees are being encouraged to essentially humiliate the white employees. And what I’m interested in thinking about here is, does that do any good?
Leahy: It doesn’t.
Carmichael: I agree. But these companies are being forced. They’re being forced. And this is why I say this is not Fink because think can’t make people do anything Michael. That’s what I’m saying.
He may like the idea and he may be for the idea, but he doesn’t have…when we say institutional racism, there’s nothing he can do institutionally because he’s just a guy that controls a huge amount of money.
But when the federal government and the SEC calls the CEO of a company and says you are not following federal regulations, we are coming after you. How do you think that CEO will react?
Leahy: But let me step back for a moment because you’re adding something new to the picture here. And I wonder if you could elaborate on this. You’re saying that the SEC has current regulations.
Carmichael: No, I’m not saying they have current regulations. I’m just telling you what they’re doing. You don’t have to have a regulation to be a thug. You don’t you don’t have to make it lawful. You just have to do it. (Chuckles)
Leahy: Let’s step back and see if I understand the argument here. So you’re saying that SEC executives are calling up CEOs of Fortune 500 companies?
Carmichael: No, I’m not saying that. They don’t have to. They don’t have to. Large companies are getting the message, however they’re getting it. But if they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, they’ll get the call.
Leahy: Yeah, but here’s what I’m asking you, though. When you say they’re supposed to do. There’s some kind of communication that they’re receiving.
Carmichael: Yeah.
Leahy: We’re trying to understand what’s going on out there. What I’m telling you is my understanding is they’re getting that communication through ‘stewardship teams’ that Larry Fink’s BlackRock has set up, that go out and talk to the CEOs.
Carmichael: Okay, well, that’s fine.
Leahy: But you’re saying that they’re getting it through the SEC?
Carmichael: No. What I’m saying is that if Fink is doing what you’re saying he’s doing, and I’m not saying he’s not, when he does it, he says if you don’t do what I’m telling you to do the SEC will. Just like in the military. You saw where the military where Austin has now unilaterally done away with the Military Code of Justice. He’s gone away with it.
Leahy: The Secretary of Defense.
Carmichael: Yes. I don’t know if you saw that.
Leahy: When did that happen?
Carmichael: Yesterday. It might have been the day before, and it was reported yesterday.
Leahy: This is 250 years of military code.
Carmichael: I’m just telling you that the Biden agenda is being carried out in the administrative state. The Congress doesn’t matter anymore. And this is all a head fake. This is a head fake so that the media minions can simply ban the Republicans for the Biden agenda not moving forward when, in fact, it is moving forward.
Leahy: I have a couple of things to say about that. Where is Columbia Law School Professor Philip Hamburger when we need him? He’s the expert on the abuses of administrative law, judges, and the regulatory process. And number two, and this is very interesting. Have you read something about this?
Carmichael: I’m logically putting the pieces together.
Leahy: You’re putting it logically together.
Carmichael: But I also know for a fact certain things are happening. So I’m taking the certain things that actually I know are happening and I’m piecing them together. I know, for example, that Senate Bill 1 failed yesterday because they didn’t reach 60, but they did get all 50 Democrats.
Leahy: All of them. Stepped in line.
Carmichael: Everyone one of them. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema stepped in line to claim that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote. That claim is false. But that’s the claim. By the way, 46 out of 47 European countries require voter ID. Republicans want people to prove who they are to vote. Democrats do not want that. Period.
Leahy: They want illegal aliens to be able to vote. They want dead people to vote.
Carmichael: No, dead people. So how do dead people vote, Michael?
Leahy: Somebody forges and somebody pretends to be.
Carmichael: Or just stuff the ballot box and make up names and stuff the ballot box. There are two books. One book I can remember and the other one I can almost remember. The Secrets of the Hopewell Box.
Leahy: Oh yes!
Carmichael: It’s about all the corruption that went on in Nashville where they just literally stuffed the ballot box with the correct number of ballots. It didn’t matter if there was a voter name attached to it. I’m getting ready to read that book, and I’ll report some details. The other one is Fried Chicken Fiddlesticks or whatever it is. And that’s more about Tennessee politics historically and how similar things were done.
Leahy: By James Squires. Wasn’t he a big editor at USA Today?
Carmichael: Yes. Yes. But this is back a long time ago.
Leahy: It’s about the 40s or 50s.
Carmichael: So I’ve got that book and I’m going to read it.
Leahy: I can’t wait to hear what you say about that.
Carmichael: But it’s all about pure voter cheating. Stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots and then counting them because you can.
Leahy: History repeating itself.
Carmichael: Yes.
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.
