This episode is presented by Create A Video – Caller Barb "thinks outside the box" in defending Kamala Harris' attempt to politicize hurricane preparedness.
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[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_03]: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.
[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to do an update here on the Western North Carolina disaster relief and recovery efforts in a minute. First, let me get over to Barb. Hello, Barb. Welcome to the program.
[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Hi.
[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Hello.
[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a little upset because you're telling us that Kamala Harris does not have any...
[00:00:52] Any...
[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Be able to call DeSantis and do anything, that she has no rights, whatever.
[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_03]: No, no, she...
[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't say she doesn't have any rights. She can make a phone call.
[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. She has no authority to coordinate disaster response or anything like that with Ron DeSantis.
[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever thought that maybe it was that Biden has called her and said, do me a favor, call DeSantis, see if there's anything that they need, what specialties and where and whatever, and then we can...
[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And she can bring it back to him and coordinate it. That's how big business is handled.
[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care if, you know, I mean, if you are the...
[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: A president of the United States or you are president of a big company.
[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Vice presidents maybe don't have the authority to make all the decisions, but they do have the right and the authority to call these people and get their information.
[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And before you start putting her down, I think you better find out and see, maybe, say, well, hey, maybe this is what she did.
[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, she didn't. That's not what happened. Barb, that's not what happened. You know how I know that? It's because Joe Biden called Ron DeSantis. They already talked.
[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: They... Okay, so he probably had to call her, call him because...
[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Why are you twisting, Barb, why are you twisting and contorting yourself to try to justify?
[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going by what you said.
[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Why are you trying to... Barb, why are you trying to twist yourself in knots here to defend what she said and her actions here?
[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_03]: You came up with this idea that you made up the idea, I mean, you made this up, that she was calling on behalf of Joe Biden.
[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_03]: She never said that. Biden didn't say that. Ron DeSantis.
[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe she did.
[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Right, you threw this out there as a potential explanation. So you made up this idea that this could explain it.
[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I'm... And then I just told you that Joe Biden called Ron DeSantis.
[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_03]: They actually did speak one-on-one and they have the cell phone numbers and all that.
[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_03]: So... And DeSantis has praised Joe Biden for his efforts to help Florida prepare and to recover from the last hurricane and this current one.
[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_03]: So... But so I'm just curious as to why you are trying to...
[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: To essentially come up with a cover story for... To explain Kamala Harris's behavior here.
[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I am not putting in a cover story. I am giving an option that might have happened.
[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And because you said that...
[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_03]: She has no constitutional... She has no constitutional role, nor does she have any authority to coordinate with the governor on emergency assistance and disaster relief.
[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I... I... I don't... I... I don't think you have all... I don't have all the... The whole story.
[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And I bet you any money, you don't have all the...
[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_03]: All I have is the story... I've got... Well, I mean, I've got three stories right here in front of me and I've got two different audio clips.
[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And they all tell... They... They all kind of say the same thing.
[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's not what you're saying. Nobody has advanced the story that you're saying, that Kamala Harris was calling on behalf of Joe Biden.
[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_03]: She hasn't said that.
[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I... I didn't say she said that. I said it could be that she did. And we need to take that into effect.
[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Why wouldn't she have said that?
[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not it's true.
[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Why wouldn't she have said...
[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. So why wouldn't she have said that when she was asked?
[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Did you hear the soundbite that I played of her on the tarmac?
[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_03]: She didn't say that she was calling on behalf of Joe Biden.
[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_03]: She said she... She had attempted to call and...
[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_03]: He had called him.
[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. And that he didn't take her call. And so I'm...
[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_03]: So I'm... I'm curious as to why you would...
[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Why you would try to think of that as an option to explain what is apparent.
[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Because there's other...
[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Because... Because you are so far in...
[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a registered Republican.
[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't care. Okay.
[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But... But you are so far into Republican.
[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't see anything in the Democratic side at all that's any good whatsoever.
[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I... I... I normally turn off the phone... The... The radio when you... You're on because
[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you and... Because I can't stand how you are so white... One-sided that you don't think
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: out of the box to think about things...
[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I admit... No, no, Barb. I do admit I don't make up stuff.
[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I absolutely admit that I don't just conjure up entire fables and try to ascribe motive to people.
[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: That's what you do.
[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_03]: That's... No, that's what you did.
[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_03]: You... You came up with... No, Barb.
[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_03]: You came up with an entirely different idea to explain something because you preferred the truth not to be accurate.
[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: No.
[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I am saying you need...
[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Why is it such a problem to admit...
[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And see if there's another way that might have happened.
[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: There isn't.
[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_03]: There isn't, though.
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I've just told you.
[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Joe Biden called.
[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Joe Biden called Ron DeSantis.
[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_03]: They spoke.
[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Ron DeSantis praised Joe Biden.
[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Joe Biden and Ron have talked.
[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And Kamala Harris has never...
[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Has never said...
[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Biden has never said...
[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Nobody has ever...
[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Even the NBC reports, and I've got them right here.
[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_03]: They were the ones that did the story.
[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_03]: They never say that Harris was calling on behalf of Biden.
[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_03]: You came up with that idea.
[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_03]: You came up with that explanation.
[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_03]: And all I asked is, why would you come up with that?
[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm asking a why question.
[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And I understand you're like, oh, I want to think outside the box.
[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_03]: But that doesn't...
[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_03]: That's not answering why you're trying to come up with this other explanation.
[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And then attacking me, because I'm not willing to go along with your made-up explanation.
[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: That does explain why I came up with that.
[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_03]: No, it doesn't.
[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It does.
[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: It says, because I don't believe that you are looking outside of the box.
[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I just told you.
[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Something that might have happened.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_03]: But I just...
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And you didn't tell me.
[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you just told me that.
[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And I had...
[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So now what?
[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so...
[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I would love to know whether or not Kamala Harris called before, or did Joe Biden call
[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: him after or before Kamala could talk to him?
[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Biden called first.
[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Because maybe it was one of those that, you know...
[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And those are things that I go outside of the box and I try to...
[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So that I can get the whole story...
[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_03]: You've got the story.
[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I just told...
[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_03]: But I just told you.
[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So now what does that do about your thinking of this story?
[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Does this alter your view of what Harris is attempting to do in this political move?
[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_03]: No, you don't.
[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't matter.
[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_03]: No.
[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Not really.
[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: No.
[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Why?
[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Because you think it's okay to just make...
[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_03]: You think it's okay to attack a sitting governor who's trying to deal with hurricane recovery
[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_03]: and preparedness?
[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_03]: You think that it's okay to inject that into the political campaign?
[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I do not believe that she should use it for political gain.
[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I don't think that at all.
[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you think she did that?
[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I don't.
[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I think she was just trying to be out there.
[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: What can we do?
[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, help her...
[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Do whatever she can.
[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe she doesn't have the authority, but she maybe thought, okay, I can go and see
[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: what he needs.
[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I can take it back to Joe.
[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, they go from there.
[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So do you think there was any kind of a political calculation involved in her decision?
[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: There might have been a little bit, but maybe not.
[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe?
[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Why do you think...
[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_03]: So why do you think she came to Charlotte the other day and was putting toothpaste into
[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_03]: plastic baggies?
[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, yes.
[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: True.
[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: True.
[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: You're right.
[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's a political campaign.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's a political campaign.
[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_03]: So you...
[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Her...
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, and look, I understand that.
[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not knocking her for coming to show support, but there is a political motive involved in
[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_03]: that as well.
[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Right?
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So the next time Donald Trump tries to go and do something...
[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: ...then we're going to have to say that he's got...
[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to do it because it's political gain.
[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.
[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_03]: So...
[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And Barb, you probably don't know this because you turn off my show every single day,
[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_03]: but I have said the very same thing, right?
[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_03]: When you're running political campaigns, politicians engage in political activities.
[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And to the extent that they interfere with rescue and recovery operations, which again,
[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_03]: you didn't hear all last week because that's all I focused on was, you know, getting people
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_03]: help and there was no politics discussed last week.
[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, because that's the primary focus of all of these officials should be to rescue people,
[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_03]: get the supplies there.
[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And so...
[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.
[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Kamala Harris coming to town and putting a tube of toothpaste in seven plastic baggies
[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_03]: so she can get the photo ops, right?
[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a political motivation for that.
[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, she's coming to show support, but there's also a political motivation to show everybody
[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_03]: that she's coming to support, right?
[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_03]: So why...
[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_03]: So if you believe that that's the case, that there could be some political motivation involved
[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_03]: in that decision, why would you think that there wouldn't be a political motivation to
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_03]: her making a phone call to Ron DeSantis when she has no power, no authority?
[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_03]: She's not been asked by the president to do so.
[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_03]: So she's doing it in order to, what, insert herself into this process where she has no role.
[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_03]: She has no authority.
[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_03]: DeSantis, as a governor in a disaster, needs to speak directly with the president who can
[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_03]: issue the emergency declarations.
[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_03]: So do you think...
[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_03]: But you don't think that there's any kind of political motivation involved in her decision
[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_03]: there?
[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a little bit, okay?
[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But maybe there was also, oh, what can I help?
[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I mean, but we've got to give a little more to both parties, a little more
[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: stuff, you know, to say, okay, yeah, you're doing it, I understand what you're doing,
[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: but hey, but I'm sorry.
[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It's...
[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_03]: No, look, I get it.
[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_03]: When you like somebody, you want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's what you're doing with Harris.
[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I understand that.
[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, sir.
[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Take care, Barb.
[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Man, good thing she was listening when she was, because she never listens.
[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_03]: But she caught that one part, so...
[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_03]: That's good.
[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But no, I appreciate the call.
[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Look, you don't have to apologize, not to me, for preferring Kamala Harris, right?
[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_03]: But don't whiz on my boots and tell me it's raining.
[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I have the story.
[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I've read through the reports.
[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I've listened to the interviews.
[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_03]: It's very clear what occurred.
[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm not willing to just make up a story to try to explain it away, because I like Kamala Harris.
[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Primarily because I don't like her.
[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: But even if I did, no, that's motivated reasoning.
[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_03]: That's what that's called.
[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, stories are powerful.
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[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Let me go over to Mike.
[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Hello, Mike.
[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to the program.
[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, sir.
[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you doing today, Pete?
[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm all right, Mike.
[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: What's up?
[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I've just been listening.
[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: That lady that you just talked to, normally people don't get on my nerves, but she was
[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_01]: really getting on my nerves.
[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Just talking about that Kamala didn't have any authority.
[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But she did have some authority on the border.
[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And she did a piss poor job on that.
[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, my God.
[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: All these people in.
[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just pitiful.
[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what we...
[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: If Trump don't get in, our country is going to be gone because she's going to continue to
[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: let them in.
[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's just...
[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It just makes me sick to think about it.
[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And then she says that she wants the people to pay their fair share of taxes.
[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Kamala Harris does on her ads.
[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.
[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: That...
[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_01]: That...
[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Was everybody to pay...
[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I do pay my fair share of taxes.
[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a businessman.
[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And I sold a piece of property.
[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And I sold it for $20 million.
[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And the darn IRS got $9 million of it.
[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So if that's not saying paying your fair share of taxes, I don't know what is.
[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: It made me sick when I had to give the IRS $9 million of my money that they didn't help
[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: me make that money.
[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And it just makes me sick.
[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Mike, if you would prefer, you can give me $9 million.
[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd rather to have gave it to somebody that needed it because they sure piss it away.
[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: There's no doubt about it.
[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Mike, I appreciate the call, sir.
[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_03]: No, I appreciate the call.
[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_03]: This whole idea of fair share.
[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'll...
[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_03]: At some point...
[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I've gone over the...
[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_03]: This rhetoric before.
[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_03]: This...
[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_03]: These narratives of fair share and who pays what and all that.
[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_03]: It's just...
[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_03]: It's class warfare is all it is.
[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And when you break down the numbers of who pays what taxes, the rich pay more than,
[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_03]: quote, their fair share.
[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, I appreciate the call.
[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I've got some other messages.
[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Like Andy says, yeah, I always turn off the Pete Callender show when I want to think outside
[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_03]: the box.
[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_03]: That's...
[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Because we don't do any of that here.
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Let me see here.
[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I got a bunch more messages.
[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Barb offers great evidence to repeal the 19th Amendment.
[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Jonathan says, that horse has been through rigor and back and she's still beating the snot
[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_03]: out of it.
[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_03]: That's...
[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe she did call on behalf of Joe.
[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Like I'm just...
[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just asking questions.
[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Um...
[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_03]: At Patriot Girl says, Barb doing some serious mental gymnastics on this one.
[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, it's just...
[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_03]: It's...
[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a way to try to create a different story that is easier to live with.
[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Which...
[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_03]: See, here's the thing.
[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_03]: And Barb doesn't know this because she always turns the show off.
[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Um...
[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But, um...
[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't fall in love with politicians.
[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Because they all will break your heart.
[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_03]: They are all liars.
[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And so you will end up defending people who do bad things that you never would defend
[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_03]: in your personal real life.
[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Right?
[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Um...
[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, Barb does not like Donald Trump.
[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_03]: And so...
[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, as long as she has people that are willing to fight against Donald Trump,
[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_03]: she's going to overlook whatever they're going to do.
[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Because you need the bodies in the battle.
[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I get it.
[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I understand.
[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Um...
[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Melissa says,
[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Your caller, Barb, must be exhausted.
[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_03]: She's been tap dancing for a long time.
[00:17:06] Um...
[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And, uh...
[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, and then I...
[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Somebody else said, uh...
[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_03]: That Barb has apparently now, uh...
[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Created a new title for Kamala Harris.
[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh...
[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_03]: She is apparently the hurricane czar.
[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, maybe.
[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_03]: She's hurricane czar.
[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_03]: She's been put in charge by Joe Biden.
[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_03]: But I love the idea that she...
[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_03]: That Biden would have her call, like,
[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey, Veep, call the governor.
[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_03]: As if Biden doesn't have people to do that besides Harris.
[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_03]: There's obviously a political motivation for her calling DeSantis.
[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Obviously.
[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a benefit there.
[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_03]: That's why she made the call.
[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Holiday season approaches, and here's an idea.
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[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Just visit simplyncgoods.com slash Pete and check them out.
[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_03]: That's simplyncgoods.com slash Pete, and thanks for being a part of Simply NC Goods' story.
[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, let's go back to the phone.
[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_03]: It's got a couple people waiting.
[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's start with Sean.
[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Hello, Sean.
[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to the show.
[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm sorry.
[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_03]: It's actually Alex, I think.
[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, Alex, I apologize.
[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Alex, welcome to the show.
[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Sorry.
[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, how are you?
[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_02]: I listen to quite frequently, not always agreeing, of course, but I guess that's the beauty of
[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_02]: living America.
[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Indeed.
[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_02]: I do have a couple.
[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_03]: You are free to be wrong about a whole host of things.
[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_03]: It's totally, you are right.
[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So with regards to your last two callers, actually, so the lady, I'm not quite sure what exactly
[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_02]: she was talking about, but even if she's making up stuff, I mean, we live in Trump world,
[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_02]: so all you got to say is what?
[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, well, I don't know, but people tell me.
[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe true, maybe not.
[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's really kind of what she should have said to you.
[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, that's really just...
[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_03]: No, I mean, she was very upfront.
[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_03]: She said maybe this is an explanation for it, and barring...
[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Right, and if there was no other information, then that would be just as easily, you know,
[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_03]: an advanceable idea, but the problem is there is other information that doesn't show that,
[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_03]: and so that her story can't be true.
[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_02]: That doesn't stop Trump from doing exactly that.
[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_02]: So this is...
[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, but that's beside the point.
[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_03]: It is beside the point, but your whataboutism is noted.
[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, well, I mean, hey, why...
[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, same thing.
[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Again, Trump does that too, so why not?
[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_02]: And with regards to the caller after that, that unfortunately had to pay so much to IRS,
[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_02]: he really should talk to Trump, because he hasn't paid tax in like 10 years, right?
[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Another whataboutism.
[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_02]: So...
[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_02]: That's fine.
[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, I'm just saying...
[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_03]: So, okay, let's...
[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on, Alex.
[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's get to the...
[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_03]: So you've done this now in two different tactics, so I'm kind of curious.
[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you think that doing the whataboutism approach...
[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And look, I'm not an opponent.
[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on, Alex.
[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on.
[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not...
[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I am not an opponent.
[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't object to whataboutism when you're using it in order to show a double standard,
[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_03]: right?
[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Like that...
[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Whataboutism is a legitimate thing to do, I believe.
[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't discount it automatically if you're using it in order to advance a consistent application
[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_03]: of a standard, right?
[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_03]: So what is the consistent application of the standard that you would like to see, which
[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_03]: is why you raised the point about Donald Trump in both of those instances?
[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_03]: What is the standard?
[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to piggyback on my...
[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Actually, I had a reason for the call, and it's really me not understanding why Republican
[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Party in general believed that Trump is somehow God of economy.
[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, if you...
[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_02]: From my perspective, again, you may have a different approach to it.
[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, the guy, of course, knows how to play a system in terms of the taxes and things
[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_02]: like that.
[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I believe there was a...
[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_02]: When he was doing a debate with Hillary, she said...
[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, he said that, you know, all your friends are doing the same thing when she brought up
[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_02]: taxes.
[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Of course, he never really bothered to change the tax law when he was in office.
[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_02]: But again, that's maybe another whataboutism.
[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_03]: No, that's not a whataboutism.
[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_03]: He's not a...
[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_03]: He doesn't have...
[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_03]: As president, you don't have the authority or ability to change tax law.
[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Did he try, though?
[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Did he try, though?
[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_03]: No, probably not.
[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, he did...
[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, they did the tax...
[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_03]: No, hang on.
[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_03]: They did do the big tax bill, remember?
[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's actually leading me to that.
[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_02]: That was kind of one of the reasons I was calling about.
[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_02]: So with regards to tax, again, I mean, I was reading the article yesterday from the Hill
[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_02]: the day before.
[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_02]: It was a big article in New York Times, and they did calculate.
[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, his initial tax cut really didn't benefit anybody, but large corporations who
[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_02]: sort of, you know, pretty much did the buyback of their stock, brought the stock market up.
[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_02]: I remember Trump was telling everybody, hey, check your 401k and things like that.
[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Of course, some of us don't have 401k, so I'm not really sure how that benefited anybody.
[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Me working in a corporate American at the time, I remember getting that $1,000 bonus because
[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_02]: the tax cuts, I remember that.
[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So you did benefit?
[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I did, to $600, not really anything else, because his whole sale was...
[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_03]: So what would you have preferred, that somehow or another, what we take a bunch of money
[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_03]: from people and just give you more?
[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_02]: What I'd prefer him to do, if he's going to bring the cuts, if he's going to initiate
[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_02]: some sort of tax cut with intent to bring more money to the people that actually, to a working
[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_02]: class, to middle class...
[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_03]: But they don't pay.
[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_03]: That's that they don't pay enough.
[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_03]: They're not paying.
[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So you understand how it works, right?
[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Like 90%, I shouldn't say 90%, but more than half of the federal income that the federal
[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_03]: government takes in is coming from the richest portion of the population.
[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Like the top 10% pay like more than half of all the taxes.
[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So...
[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Except for Trump, of course, right?
[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, no, but they pay...
[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_03]: You're talking about a specific kind of tax, right?
[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_03]: So you're...
[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on, Alex, Alex, Alex, hang on a second.
[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on.
[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Are you...
[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I understand you don't like Trump, okay?
[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't vote for Donald Trump.
[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_03]: I've railed against Donald Trump.
[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_03]: But you're talking now about tax policy.
[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And so what it sounds like you are advocating is for money to be extracted from people that
[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_03]: make more and spread out to people who make...
[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Who don't make more.
[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Is that what you are advocating?
[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_03]: No, that's not.
[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_03]: That's not what I was going with.
[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_03]: So then any time that you give any kind of a tax cut, it is by definition going to affect
[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_03]: the people that pay more taxes more.
[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_03]: They're going to get more of the tax break because they pay more of the taxes.
[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_03]: You understand?
[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_02]: His whole premise of bringing the tax cut down as his signature bill was, hey, I'm going
[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_02]: to cut the taxes for the businesses.
[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_02]: The businesses are going to increase the salaries.
[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_03]: For everybody.
[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_03]: That didn't happen.
[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_03]: No, he said that he was going to cut taxes for everybody.
[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But he didn't.
[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_02]: But he did.
[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_02]: But it only affected the most people who pay.
[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Not the corporations.
[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_02]: What the corporations did with the money.
[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_03]: First, okay, hang on, Alex.
[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on.
[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_03]: First off, corporations don't pay taxes.
[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_03]: They don't pay taxes.
[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_03]: You know who pays taxes?
[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_03]: People.
[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Right?
[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_03]: The people pay taxes.
[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_03]: So if a business is going to get a tax break of some kind, right, then that means the people
[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_03]: that work in the business are going to keep more of the money.
[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_03]: But if they get a tax increase, hang on, Alex.
[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02]: The business doesn't have any.
[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_02]: They have no obligations to people that work for it.
[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Alex.
[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_03]: That doesn't matter.
[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Alex, that doesn't matter.
[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to put you on hold.
[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_03]: You need to listen to something.
[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It's fundamental to understanding how the free market works, okay, and how private enterprise
[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_03]: works.
[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And it is that businesses don't pay taxes.
[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Customers do.
[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_03]: So I understand the businesses don't have any obligation to their workers unless, of course,
[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_03]: they don't want anybody to ever work for them.
[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_03]: And businesses make bad decisions because the people that run them, right, they make bad
[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_03]: decisions and businesses go out of business.
[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_03]: That's the free market.
[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_03]: You are attempting to assert control over vast swaths of industries and businesses because
[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_03]: you want them to do something differently.
[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I'll bring you back after the break.
[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Hang on.
[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_03]: So when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's.
[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And before he died, my mom and my dad and all of us really helped take care of him as
[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_03]: he got progressively worse.
[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_03]: 40 years ago, there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers and family.
[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Things are different today because of the work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's
[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Association of Western North Carolina.
[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a great organization with awesome people.
[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_03]: They've got huge hearts.
[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_03]: I've been a supporter for like 25 years.
[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_03]: This cause means a lot to me.
[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I participate in the annual walk to end Alzheimer's and I am leading a Charlotte team this year.
[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_03]: It's called Pete's Pack.
[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_03]: You can sign up and join the team and walk with me.
[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_03]: It's on October 19th at Truist Field in Uptown.
[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Sign up at ALZ.org slash walk and then just look for my team, Pete's Pack.
[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's also a link in the podcast description here.
[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Also, I'm going to be emceeing the Gastonia Walk on October 5th.
[00:27:16] [SPEAKER_03]: So make a team and join us or make a donation to help me hit my goal.
[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I would really appreciate it.
[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_03]: There are a bunch of other walks around the Carolinas and you can go to ALZ.org for all of
[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_03]: the dates and locations.
[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_03]: We are closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's.
[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you can help us get there, we would really appreciate it.
[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Will you come walk with me for a different future, for families, for more time, for treatments?
[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_03]: This is why I walk.
[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Let me bring back Alex if he's still there.
[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Hello, Alex.
[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Are you still with us?
[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I'm still here.
[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So during the break, I went and pulled some numbers for us.
[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_03]: So this way, at least we're operating from a shared definition, shared data set.
[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So IRS tax data, do we accept this as a reliable source?
[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not JD Vance.
[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I do.
[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm okay with professionals.
[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So IRS tax data is an acceptable source for you?
[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that's fine.
[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_03]: So according to the IRS, the tax code, when it was revised, it showed that filers who had
[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_03]: an adjusted gross income between $15,000 to $50,000, they got an average tax cut of between
[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_03]: 16% to 26%.
[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_03]: So $15,000 to $50,000 got anywhere from 16% to 26% in the first year of the tax cut.
[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Filers who earned between $50,000 and $100,000, they got between 15% and 17% tax cut.
[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Those who made between $100,000 and $500,000 in adjusted gross income, they saw theirs cut
[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_03]: 11% to 13% and no income group that was above $500,000 AGI, adjusted gross income, got anything
[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_03]: more than 9%.
[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you were above a million, you got less than 6% of a cut.
[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_03]: That's what the IRS says.
[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_03]: So, all right.
[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So now hang on.
[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So when you, so your assertion that nobody except the rich benefited from the tax cuts,
[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_03]: that to me does not square with the data from the IRS.
[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_02]: That's not what I was going with that.
[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not, that's kind of, again, not, was my point.
[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, no, no, hang on.
[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know what your point was at this point, but you did say that.
[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I want to, I want to ask for clarification.
[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_03]: What evidence do you have to support your claim that only the rich benefited from the tax cuts
[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_03]: when the IRS...
[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't say the rich.
[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_02]: I did say the businesses.
[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_03]: So let me go to the business.
[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So I'll go to the businesses.
[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_03]: So, so we agree then that all Americans benefited in all of these different income groups,
[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_03]: that they all benefited and that the lower income groups actually got bigger percentages back
[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_03]: than the upper income.
[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_03]: No, that's fine.
[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_03]: So let me go to the business side of this.
[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Every income bracket with a top level, lower than 25,000 experienced a reduction in the
[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_03]: number of filers.
[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_03]: So you had more people making more money.
[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So you have fewer filers in the lower brackets, more people moving up to file in the higher
[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_03]: brackets.
[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_03]: That shows economic mobility.
[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that would seem to indicate that the tax reform law that you say only benefited the
[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_03]: companies, that it actually lifted more people up because now they're moving into higher
[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_03]: tax brackets.
[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I mean, that could be a reduction of number of businesses.
[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, there's a lot of other things that could be explained at the reduction of filing.
[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So what do you just, so to what do you attribute the economic mobility of so many people moving
[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_03]: into higher tax brackets?
[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_02]: The business, I don't know.
[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_02]: He inherited good, you know.
[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_03]: No, but you were blaming the tax cuts for...
[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's economic mobility.
[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And so how else are people moving up in those brackets?
[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, do you think it's the tax?
[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Taxes is the only thing that did that?
[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I think it's a pretty simplistic approach to that.
[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_02]: There are other things in life that go on.
[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_02]: No, it's not at all.
[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_03]: The only way, no, the only way for people to move up in the income brackets is for them
[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_03]: to make more income.
[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_03]: That's how you move up.
[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_03]: You have more income.
[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's what that indicates is that when people get taxes back and businesses get
[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_03]: taxes back, they do reinvestment of those, not taxes back, they have less taken from
[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_03]: them in the first place.
[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Reinvested in themselves.
[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_02]: All they did, they ended up buying more stock and that drove the stock market up.
[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Why do you...
[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Because if you...
[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_02]: That's not income.
[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_03]: That's not income.
[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm talking about the income mobility of American citizens.
[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_03]: People moved up in the brackets.
[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_03]: How do people move up in income brackets if they're not obviously getting more pay?
[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_02]: The economy is better.
[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_02]: That doesn't automatically mean the tax cuts is what made the economy better.
[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, if there's an economy that facilitates growth and businesses...
[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_02]: How do you grow?
[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_03]: So how does growth happen?
[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Investments of technology.
[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Something else.
[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_03]: So like investments in businesses and people keeping their money.
[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm glad we agree on that.
[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_03]: I got to run, Alex.
[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I do appreciate the conversation.
[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_03]: That'll do it for this episode.
[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much for listening.
[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise
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[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.