Dismantling the federal bureaucracy (11-13-2024--Hour2)

[00:00:04] 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 thepetekalinershow.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] So some breaking news. Semaphore reports that John Thune will succeed Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader after prevailing in a Wednesday morning election, secret ballot election by the senators, that will put the South Dakotan, South Dakotan? South Dakotawin. South Dakotite.

[00:00:58] South Dakotian. That sounds better. Dakotian. Anyway, John Thune is going to be in a leading role steering Donald Trump's agenda through Congress. The Senate GOP voted to promote Thune, who is McConnell's current number two, over Senator John Cornyn, a former number two. So we had two twos. And then there was Senator Rick Scott, who became the first president of the Senate.

[00:01:28] The Senate. He was a favorite of a lot of Trump allies and influencers. Let me see here. I can read to you. There's a big MAGA account called Cat Turd.

[00:01:42] I'm not kidding. That's, that's his name that he goes by. It's trademarked and everything. And let's see here. He says, establishment hack, Rick Scott, protecting worthless rhino, Lena Murkowski. Oh wait, no, hang on. Here's the, here it is. Like 99% of the GOP, Rick Scott is a coward. Oh wait. No. Here it is.

[00:02:04] Rick Scott for Senate majority leader. We don't need another McConnell. So, uh, everybody should know where Cat Turd stands on, uh, on Rick Scott. See, this is why I said yesterday, guys, like I, I, I, I'm not going to be a part of some sort of retconning, um, Rick Scott into this, you know, MAGA icon. He hasn't been.

[00:02:30] The dude did red flag laws, right? And so in his state, like, I don't, I don't think he was this, this, this thing that everybody seemed on the, you know, in the right wing of sphere, uh, on social media that a lot of these people like Cat Turd were promoting Rick Scott as some sort of, you know, MAGA standard bear. And I just, I didn't buy it then. I don't buy it now.

[00:02:56] And the other guys that were in the running for it. Nah, it's not Mitch McConnell. I'll see what they do. You know, I'll see what they do. Um, the Senate GOP voted to promote Thune, um, to, to, to, to Trump did not weigh in on the race.

[00:03:15] Even as many in his network cast Thune as an unwelcome continuation of the McConnell era. But I mean, to be fair, Cornyn would also, right? And so maybe Rick Scott was better by comparison. So who knows?

[00:03:31] But Thune capitalized on his close relationships with most Republican members. And he pitched himself as a break from McConnell, who's stepping down as GOP leader at the end of the year. McConnell said,

[00:03:43] Thune is not McConnell and he has a different type of leadership style than that, said Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma, a top Thune banker, uh, backer.

[00:03:54] Plus also, I think people are forgetting you can rhyme a lot of things with Thune. I think, I don't actually know. I'm just, I feel like I could probably come up with it.

[00:04:05] Moon.

[00:04:08] Boon.

[00:04:11] Dune.

[00:04:12] Right. If they come out with another one of those movies, like there's a whole bunch of opportunities here. I'm just thinking.

[00:04:18] Well, Rick Scott would have, he would have, there's a lot of stuff that would rhyme with Scott and you could do the whole great Scott. You could do stuff like that too.

[00:04:27] Um, there is a podcaster named Constantin Kissin and, um, he, along with his co-host, uh, they are the hosts of, uh, Triggernometry is the name of their podcast.

[00:04:43] Triggernometry.

[00:04:44] Triggernometry. Like, Triggernometry. And, uh, they're very good. I enjoy their podcasts and, um, I gotta thank listener Monica for turning me on to these guys a couple of years ago.

[00:04:56] And he had a write-up because he is from Europe. I want to say his family comes from Russia.

[00:05:05] Russia. And I think that's right. And, but he may be British. I think they, they're both British. Um, but he went through 10 reasons.

[00:05:17] And this was written for the European audience that he has. Um, 10 reasons why they did not see the Trump victory coming.

[00:05:28] And so this guy, he, he is British. And so he's not like, you know, invested in the outcome of the election, but he's an observer.

[00:05:39] I think a pretty astute one. And I think a, a pretty fair and impartial, uh, observer.

[00:05:46] When you watch his podcasts, he engages in discussions and he relies on, you know, evidence and argument and rhetoric.

[00:05:57] So here are the 10 reasons why Europeans didn't see Trump coming. Number one, Americans love their country and want it to be the best in the world.

[00:06:07] Which is amazing that he has to even say that. But it's true. It is true. And frankly, I think there are a lot of people in America that are sick and tired of having to deny that this is what they want.

[00:06:24] I love America. I mean, I fear my government, but I love America. I love the concept of the country. I love the people here. I love the, uh, the geography. It's very big. I like that too.

[00:06:36] America is a nation of people who conquered a continent. They love strength. They love winning. Any leader who appeals to that has an automatic advantage.

[00:06:44] Number two, unlike Europeans, Americans have not accepted managed decline. They don't have net zero here. They believe in producing their own energy and making it as cheap as possible because they know that their prosperity depends on it.

[00:07:04] Number three, prices for most basic goods in the U.S. have increased rapidly and are sky high. What the official statistics say about inflation and the reality of people's lives are not the same.

[00:07:17] Number four, unlike you, now remember he's talking to British and European people. He says, unlike you, Americans do not believe in socialism.

[00:07:29] They believe in meritocracy. They don't care about the super rich being super rich because they know that they live in a country where being super rich is available to anyone with the talent and the drive to make it.

[00:07:41] They don't resent success. They celebrate it.

[00:07:46] Number five, Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world.

[00:07:54] Read that again. Seriously, read it again, he says.

[00:07:59] So I will. Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world.

[00:08:02] Americans love an immigrant success story.

[00:08:04] They want more talented immigrants to come to America, but they refuse to accept people coming illegally.

[00:08:10] They believe in having a border.

[00:08:14] Number six, Americans are sensitive about racial issues and their country's imperfect history.

[00:08:21] They believe that those who are disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth should be given the opportunity to succeed.

[00:08:28] What they reject, however, is the idea that in order to address the errors of the past, new errors must be made.

[00:08:36] DEI is racist.

[00:08:38] They know it and they reject it precisely because they are not racists.

[00:08:44] Number seven, Americans are the most philo-semitic nation on earth.

[00:08:54] Means they like Jews.

[00:08:57] They like Jewish people.

[00:08:59] They like Israel.

[00:08:59] They're like Jew file.

[00:09:04] That sounds like a good name for a show.

[00:09:08] Anyway, philo-semitic.

[00:09:10] October 7th and the pro-Hamas left-wing reaction shocked them to their very core because, among other things,

[00:09:17] they remember what 9-11 was like and they know jihad when they see it.

[00:09:22] I pronounced it jihad because he's British and that's how they pronounce it.

[00:09:26] Number eight, Americans are extremely practical people.

[00:09:30] They care about what works, not just what sounds good.

[00:09:33] In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals.

[00:09:37] In America, they produce and attract great engineers, businessmen, and investors.

[00:09:43] And because of this, they care less about Trump's rhetoric than you do and more about his policies than you do.

[00:09:51] Number nine, Americans are deeply optimistic people.

[00:09:54] They hate negativity.

[00:09:57] The woke view of American history as a series of evils for which they must eternally apologize is utterly abhorrent to them.

[00:10:05] They believe in moving forward together, not endlessly obsessing about the past.

[00:10:10] And finally, number 10, America is a country whose founding story is one of resistance to government overreach.

[00:10:21] That is in our country's DNA.

[00:10:25] They loathe unnecessary restrictions, regulations, and control.

[00:10:29] They understand that freedom comes with the price of self-reliance.

[00:10:34] And they pay it gladly.

[00:10:36] I think part of this is because all of the people that like these characteristics and attributes and want to see this reflected in their government, they all fled Europe and came to America.

[00:10:47] And so it's like, it's just kind of like bred out of the European DNA.

[00:10:52] It's just a work in theory at this point.

[00:10:54] You know, stories are powerful.

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[00:11:57] Let's talk about the picks.

[00:12:00] We're going to run a pick six play.

[00:12:03] No, I'm kidding.

[00:12:03] We're talking about the people that Donald Trump is picking so far to staff up his government.

[00:12:10] He does not, I repeat, does not appear to be making a lot of the same mistakes that he made when he first got elected.

[00:12:19] I've said this for years.

[00:12:21] When Trump got into office, I said it about Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson as well.

[00:12:25] I said it about Jimmy Carter.

[00:12:27] One of the problems when you are, quote, an outsider is that you don't know how Washington works and you don't know, or Raleigh, you don't know how the political culture operates.

[00:12:37] You don't know who all of the major players are.

[00:12:40] And you don't have any chips to call in.

[00:12:45] You don't have any IOUs that people have to, you know, help you out with when you call them up and say, hey, remember that time I did this thing for you?

[00:12:56] Now I need you to do a thing for me.

[00:12:57] Like, you don't have any of that.

[00:12:59] And you can say that that's good.

[00:13:01] You want the outsider to come in and do all of this stuff.

[00:13:03] But you have to have some understanding of how the stuff works.

[00:13:07] I think Trump has that now.

[00:13:10] And I think that's why you're seeing some of the moves that he's making and why they are not really in line with the moves he made before.

[00:13:19] He made a lot of bad picks.

[00:13:24] So let me start with this piece David Strom wrote over at HotAir.com.

[00:13:29] He says Americans didn't vote for Donald Trump because they wanted to preserve norms, whatever that could possibly mean coming from the mouths of people who broke every political rule in the book to destroy him.

[00:13:39] Presented with as clear a choice as possible between the establishment and a crew determined to crush it.

[00:13:46] Americans were very clear.

[00:13:49] Tear it down.

[00:13:52] Trump did not run to be a modest correction to the status quo.

[00:13:55] He did not win because of any particular policy proposal.

[00:13:59] He won because a majority of Americans are disgusted by our establishment and how it has abused us.

[00:14:08] Trump has a mandate.

[00:14:09] He must use it to remake the power structure in our society.

[00:14:15] Bureaucrats must be fired.

[00:14:18] The military leadership must be changed.

[00:14:21] The Department of Education should be axed.

[00:14:24] The FBI should be moved out of Washington, D.C.

[00:14:27] Entire agencies should be ejected from Washington and dispersed to the states.

[00:14:34] Anthony Fauci should be investigated.

[00:14:37] And when it's proven that he committed perjury before Congress, he should be jailed.

[00:14:42] It is time to clean up a very huge mess.

[00:14:48] He says later, we don't want or need revenge.

[00:14:51] We need to crush the elite who have been destroying our country.

[00:14:58] I think this sums up.

[00:15:00] I think this is a pretty good articulation for a lot of people's motivation to vote for Donald Trump this time around.

[00:15:11] I've said this for years.

[00:15:12] If we were to build government from scratch right now, today, it would look a lot different than what we have right now.

[00:15:21] And I'm talking just like brick and mortar type stuff at the state level and at the federal level.

[00:15:28] Right.

[00:15:29] I've also said this for years.

[00:15:32] That when you consolidate power in one town like we have in America with Washington, D.C.,

[00:15:40] it is much easier for special interests, lobbyists and such and the corporations.

[00:15:46] It's much easier for them to go to one city and affect policy that is beneficial to them for the entire nation than it is for them to go to 50 different state capitals and have to, you know, work the politicians all the time.

[00:16:05] Politicians that come and go, you know, that that get elected and tossed out much harder to do it state by state than it is to do it at the national level.

[00:16:14] So when you consolidate the power, you increase the potential for corruption.

[00:16:19] So if you are anti-corruption, if you don't want politics to be involved in all aspects of your life, you want it to take a backseat.

[00:16:27] You don't want it to consume you every two and four years with elections at the national level.

[00:16:33] Then reduce the size of government.

[00:16:36] And right now, I'm I'm hoping I am hoping I'm not saying I'm optimistic, but I'm hoping that the Trump presidency can succeed at reducing the size and scope of the federal government in some way.

[00:16:49] One way, just one victory.

[00:16:52] That is all.

[00:16:52] I will be happy with a single victory.

[00:16:54] So let's start here.

[00:16:57] Billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency tasked to dismantle government bureaucracy slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies.

[00:17:17] End quote.

[00:17:17] That was in an announcement by President-elect Donald Trump yesterday.

[00:17:24] On the campaign trail, according to Bloomberg dot com, Trump said that the government efficiency effort would develop a plan to eliminate fraud and improper payments, conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the federal government.

[00:17:39] Yesterday, Trump said that the government efficiency effort would partner with the White House's Office of Management and Budget or the OMB and said their work will conclude no later than July 4th, 2026.

[00:17:53] Which is the nation's 250th.

[00:17:57] They call it anniversary.

[00:17:59] But isn't it birthday?

[00:18:01] I call it.

[00:18:02] I think it's America's birthday.

[00:18:04] Right.

[00:18:05] Which I got to tell you.

[00:18:08] It's going to be pretty OK having Donald Trump as the president during that celebration.

[00:18:13] I mean, the guy has got some dance moves.

[00:18:16] Have you seen them?

[00:18:18] Like he has a playlist.

[00:18:20] He's got the moves.

[00:18:21] So it just seems like it's going to be a pretty fun party.

[00:18:25] I hope.

[00:18:26] Yes.

[00:18:27] The structure may allow Musk to avoid resigning from his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, which dominates the worldwide market rocket launch market and federal conflict of interest rules that could have mandated divestiture.

[00:18:40] So by doing it the way they're doing it, they're going to set it up so he doesn't have to leave those companies and sell off all of his stuff or whatever.

[00:18:49] Now, I the first thing I did think was, wait a minute.

[00:18:53] Well, here, I'll read.

[00:18:55] This is Senator Elizabeth Warren's tweet.

[00:19:01] The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership.

[00:19:07] Two people to do the work of one person.

[00:19:09] Yeah, this seems really efficient.

[00:19:18] So I thought first, wait, we're creating a new department in order to reduce government.

[00:19:26] That was what I thought.

[00:19:27] I don't care about the two of them.

[00:19:29] I don't know if they're going to get paid.

[00:19:30] I don't even think they need to be paid.

[00:19:32] I don't think they need the money.

[00:19:34] So I was more concerned that you're creating an infrastructure that is going to now outlive this presidency.

[00:19:46] That's my concern.

[00:19:48] I did see it from Tom Giovanetti, who is with the Texas Policy Institute.

[00:19:57] And I can't find it now, but it was something along the lines of that cutting government spending and programs and such.

[00:20:09] Oh, here it is.

[00:20:11] It's actually Russ Roberts, who is the he's a research fellow at the Hoover Institute.

[00:20:19] He says the real challenge with actually reducing the size of government is not about waste, fraud and abuse.

[00:20:25] It's about cutting spending, which means making people unhappy.

[00:20:30] That art requires will more than skill.

[00:20:36] We'll see.

[00:20:37] I agree with that.

[00:20:40] You're going to have to get people to accept a smaller mobile in their crib.

[00:20:46] What does that mean?

[00:20:49] I read about a study probably 20 years ago.

[00:20:53] And they put babies in cribs and they would give them, you know, those little spinning mobiles up above their faces.

[00:21:01] And we're talking infants.

[00:21:03] When they would swap out the mobile.

[00:21:09] With one that had fewer.

[00:21:13] I don't know what you call them.

[00:21:14] I don't know what you call them, but, you know, things hanging off of the mobile.

[00:21:17] You know, like you can get one that's got two things on it, like a sun and a moon.

[00:21:21] Or maybe it's got three, you know, throw in a star or two or whatever.

[00:21:27] Or planets, right?

[00:21:28] You could have any number of things, you know, circling around their head.

[00:21:33] And what they found was that when they would put a mobile above a kid's head that had, say, four items on it.

[00:21:39] And then they would swap it out with a mobile that had fewer items on it.

[00:21:45] The babies would cry.

[00:21:49] It is instinct for human beings to know when they're having stuff taken from them.

[00:21:58] Even the infant in the crib knows that they got fewer things hanging off their mobile all of a sudden.

[00:22:04] Now, they don't know what any of that means.

[00:22:06] They just know I had this and now I got this.

[00:22:09] And that's not like that other thing I had.

[00:22:12] And that seemed better because there was more.

[00:22:15] Humans recognize this almost immediately after birth.

[00:22:19] And that's going to be the problem.

[00:22:22] And so you're going to have to take all of the shots.

[00:22:25] You're going to have to take all of the criticism, all the attacks.

[00:22:29] And be willing to be ousted.

[00:22:33] To come in there, burn stuff to the ground, have everybody get mad at you, and then get fired.

[00:22:41] That's what is required.

[00:22:43] I don't know if there are enough people that are willing to do it.

[00:22:46] We're going to find out.

[00:22:50] All of the actions of the Department of Government Deficiency or the DOGE or DOGE.

[00:22:58] That is a reference, by the way, to one of Elon Musk's favorite internet memes.

[00:23:05] That dog.

[00:23:07] You know?

[00:23:08] The DOGE coin with the dog.

[00:23:11] Who died, by the way?

[00:23:12] That dog.

[00:23:13] He passed away.

[00:23:14] Like, within the last couple of months.

[00:23:15] Yeah.

[00:23:16] Well, I mean, he lived a good life.

[00:23:18] He got famous.

[00:23:19] Not that he knew.

[00:23:19] But, yeah, because there's a DOGE coin cryptocurrency that Elon likes.

[00:23:25] Anyway, so this is what makes Elon laugh.

[00:23:29] Like, these types of things, this is his sense of humor.

[00:23:32] I'm okay with it.

[00:23:32] I don't care.

[00:23:33] People are too serious on this stuff.

[00:23:35] So, all of the actions, though, that the DOGE will be doing will be posted online for maximum transparency.

[00:23:44] Oh, also, he says that they're going to offer merch.

[00:23:48] So, how bad can it be?

[00:23:50] You're going to get that dog.

[00:23:52] Like, that dog is going to be the symbol for, like, burning down the bureaucratic behemoth.

[00:24:01] I am here for it.

[00:24:03] I don't know if it's going to work.

[00:24:05] I am not optimistic.

[00:24:07] But I'm hopeful.

[00:24:09] Some of the other picks that he has made so far.

[00:24:12] Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff.

[00:24:14] Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations.

[00:24:18] Michael Waltz.

[00:24:19] Dancer.

[00:24:20] No, I'm kidding.

[00:24:21] National Security Advisor.

[00:24:23] The Borders are Tom Homan.

[00:24:27] Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

[00:24:30] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lee Zeldin.

[00:24:34] Middle East Envoy, Stephen Whitcoff.

[00:24:37] He's a real estate investor, landlord, founder of the Whitcoff Group.

[00:24:43] He was tapped as Trump's Middle East Envoy.

[00:24:48] White House Counsel William McGinley,

[00:24:50] who served in Trump's first presidential term as a cabinet secretary.

[00:24:55] CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

[00:24:57] That's one that I'm pretty happy with.

[00:25:01] I like John Ratcliffe in this position.

[00:25:07] Elon Musk, Vivek, I did that.

[00:25:09] Oh, and then there is the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem.

[00:25:15] She's going to go after the coyotes.

[00:25:16] What with her experience going after dogs.

[00:25:21] And the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.

[00:25:24] This is the one that's got everybody all upset.

[00:25:28] Yes, President-elect Donald Trump,

[00:25:31] Tuesday night,

[00:25:34] made a surprise pick of a conservative commentator.

[00:25:38] This is according to Politico.

[00:25:40] That's how they bill.

[00:25:40] That's how they describe how they label Pete Hegseth.

[00:25:45] He's a conservative commentator and television host.

[00:25:49] To be the Pentagon chief,

[00:25:52] it shocked Washington,

[00:25:53] which had expected the nominee to be a seasoned lawmaker

[00:25:57] or someone with defense policy experience.

[00:26:00] National security officials and defense analysts

[00:26:03] had braced for surprises from Trump

[00:26:05] after experiencing his first four years in office.

[00:26:09] So very, very upset that they're not going to be able

[00:26:12] to undermine him at every turn.

[00:26:14] Dang it.

[00:26:16] But even grading on that curve,

[00:26:18] they say the announcement of Fox News host

[00:26:20] and decorated Army veteran,

[00:26:23] Pete Hegseth,

[00:26:24] caught them totally off guard.

[00:26:27] Eric Edelman,

[00:26:28] who served as the Pentagon's top policy official

[00:26:31] during the Bush administration,

[00:26:32] so I'm going to go out on a limb there

[00:26:34] and say probably a neocon,

[00:26:36] says Trump puts the highest value on loyalty.

[00:26:40] It appears that one of the main criteria

[00:26:43] that's being used is

[00:26:44] how well do people defend Donald Trump on television?

[00:26:50] I'm sorry, is that a new standard?

[00:26:52] Are we just coming around to that realization?

[00:26:54] Because I thought that was pretty well known

[00:26:56] that Donald Trump liked to have people

[00:26:58] go on TV and defend him and do it well.

[00:27:02] And he places a very high priority

[00:27:04] on loyalty to him.

[00:27:08] It doesn't necessarily go the other way,

[00:27:10] but he does require it to him,

[00:27:14] which makes sense, right?

[00:27:17] After like two attempts on his life,

[00:27:19] I can see why he would have that as a high priority.

[00:27:22] One assessment, though,

[00:27:24] this is the one that's making the rounds.

[00:27:26] Who the bleep is this guy?

[00:27:30] So said a defense industry lobbyist

[00:27:35] who was granted anonymity to offer candid views.

[00:27:39] Right?

[00:27:40] So as long as it doesn't jeopardize his paycheck,

[00:27:43] then he'll be more than happy to trash this guy

[00:27:46] that he doesn't even know who Pete Hegseth is.

[00:27:49] I don't know.

[00:27:50] Who is this guy?

[00:27:51] The lobbyist said that they had hoped for, quote,

[00:27:54] someone who actually has an extensive background in defense.

[00:27:58] That would be a good start.

[00:28:01] Okay.

[00:28:02] Well, if you don't know who Pete Hegseth is,

[00:28:05] then how do you know he doesn't have a background in defense?

[00:28:09] Because he does.

[00:28:11] He was like,

[00:28:12] he's like a two-time Bronze Star winner,

[00:28:16] Princeton and Harvard grad.

[00:28:18] In fact,

[00:28:20] what was it?

[00:28:21] He wrote a book.

[00:28:23] Yeah.

[00:28:24] He wrote a best-selling book

[00:28:25] detailing problems within the defense department.

[00:28:29] So,

[00:28:30] I don't know.

[00:28:31] I think just reducing him down to a Fox commentator,

[00:28:36] I don't know.

[00:28:37] I think it says more about you than it does about him.

[00:28:41] And he does.

[00:28:42] He does look good on camera.

[00:28:43] Let's be,

[00:28:44] I mean,

[00:28:44] let's be honest.

[00:28:45] He does a good job on camera.

[00:28:48] And that's helpful in today's media age,

[00:28:51] no?

[00:28:54] Hegseth has said that the military needs to focus on lethality and meritocracy.

[00:29:01] No.

[00:29:02] Wait a minute.

[00:29:04] The force that we have,

[00:29:06] that we employ to go out and kill people and break things,

[00:29:09] as Rush used to say,

[00:29:11] we want them to be good at that?

[00:29:13] Man.

[00:29:14] This is a brain buster.

[00:29:16] All right.

[00:29:16] That'll do it for this episode.

[00:29:18] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:29:19] I could not do the show without your support

[00:29:21] and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:29:24] So if you'd like,

[00:29:26] please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

[00:29:28] You can also become a patron at my Patreon page

[00:29:30] or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:29:33] Again,

[00:29:33] thank you so much for listening

[00:29:35] and don't break anything while I'm gone.