JD vs RDS... plus, another Biden grenade for Trump (11-26-2024--Hour3)

[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 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] Some news developing out of Raleigh that the governor of North Carolina, my good friend Ray Cooper, has vetoed SB 382. He called it sham legislation.

[00:00:42] This is the Hurricane Helene disaster funding of like a quarter billion dollars, and it also stripped power from the governor, moved it over to the state auditor to appoint the Board of Elections.

[00:00:56] I covered this last week. I think it was last week. Yeah, last week, well, I went, you know, in depth on the history of, you know, stripping governors of power. Spoiler alert, Democrats have done it like three times in the last 40 years to Republicans when they win.

[00:01:13] But now it's, oh my gosh, and so he calls it a sham, saying it doesn't send money to Western North Carolina, but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh.

[00:01:29] Okay, the General Assembly has allocated over a billion dollars for disaster relief in Western North Carolina.

[00:01:39] You, Governor Cooper, are in charge of the North Carolina Office of Resiliency and Recovery, the NCORR, or Rebuild NC, that just got grilled in a legislative hearing so badly that the director is out of a job now.

[00:01:58] So mismanaged has that program been, that agency been, your entire eight-year tenure that people who have lost homes in Hurricane Matthew and Florence are still not in permanent housing.

[00:02:16] And those hurricanes hit eight years ago. Well, in six. Florence hit six years ago. Matthew hit eight years ago.

[00:02:26] And so no, the lawmakers are not exactly chomping at the bit to give you and your ridiculously run agency more money.

[00:02:36] They have allocated waves of funds which are used to draw down federal grant money.

[00:02:45] So, but he says, oh, it's not, he says it's not enough either. That it's, it's not enough. It's, it's, like, that's not the end of it.

[00:02:54] They're coming back in December, which, by the way, December 2nd, they'll be back in town, and that's when they're probably going to override this veto also.

[00:03:02] And then you're going to have litigation over whether or not they're allowed to move the Board of Elections appointments from one executive branch seat to another.

[00:03:12] So, yeah, we'll, so we'll circle back on that. We'll Pisaki back on that.

[00:03:19] Which I guess that's, that's going to be a dated reference soon.

[00:03:25] People aren't even going to know what it means, unlike Scaramucci, right?

[00:03:29] Right. So, I see people pointing out that Carrie Lake has not secured any kind of appointment from Donald Trump in his administration.

[00:03:44] But, I mean, she may end up still getting an appointment someplace or, you know, getting hired on somewhere.

[00:03:49] So, who knows? But right now a lot of people are pointing out that she was, you know, not just a terrible candidate that couldn't win in Arizona and depressed Republican turnout and all this other stuff.

[00:04:02] But, and it doesn't matter to me if you agree with any of that analysis, it doesn't, because I don't know, I'm not going to do a deep dive on the Carrie Lake elections.

[00:04:10] But she obviously, she can't win in Arizona in statewide races.

[00:04:14] So, she's run for several of them and she hasn't succeeded.

[00:04:19] But her not getting a post is seen as a slap in the face to her.

[00:04:25] But I think now we're at the point where Trump has named, like all, I think he's named all of his picks for cabinet posts, I think at this point.

[00:04:37] And one of the interesting things, and I noticed this as it was starting to happen, was there seemed to be a lot of people from Florida.

[00:04:45] Now, I understand there are a lot of people in Florida.

[00:04:48] There are a lot of Republicans in Florida.

[00:04:50] And so it kind of makes sense that you would draw from Florida because there are so many Republicans there to put into positions.

[00:05:01] But what now becomes of the Florida GOP?

[00:05:07] Because when you move people out of these seats, like if they're elected officials, you know, like members of Congress and that sort of thing,

[00:05:14] you empower the governor to make appointments to fill the unexpired terms.

[00:05:23] And that's a lot of power that you're now giving to Ron DeSantis, who, if I recall correctly, wanted to be president.

[00:05:35] And might still want to be president.

[00:05:38] I'm thinking, I'm thinking he's like, if I have to pick gun to the head, I'm saying yes.

[00:05:42] I'm saying he's probably going to run again.

[00:05:45] But then what of J.D. Vance?

[00:05:48] J.D. Vance is the vice president.

[00:05:51] And they haven't even been sworn in yet.

[00:05:52] So, of course, all of this is very premature.

[00:05:55] But people are already starting to watch how this plays out because it could be an indication of this looming fight between Vance and DeSantis.

[00:06:10] Now, if you, if just me saying that has already put you into a defensive posture against one of the other candidates,

[00:06:22] like if me just saying, like, these two guys are going to run against each other probably in four years,

[00:06:28] and if me just saying that already has you, you know, rising to defend one of them, then you are not a persuadable.

[00:06:39] You're not somebody that's probably going to be looking at the merits of the candidates and how they actually behave and what they do, whatever.

[00:06:46] You're already, you're like, you're, you're already in, you know?

[00:06:50] So, and that's fine.

[00:06:51] I'm not, I'm not, you know, I'm not chastising anybody for that.

[00:06:55] But there are a lot of people like myself who I would prefer to wait and see what happens in four years.

[00:07:01] I'm not going to judge because I like both of them.

[00:07:03] I like both of them.

[00:07:07] So, Scott Pinsker had a piece over at PJ Media, and he predicts here that the first move is coming in this looming MAGA war between J.D. Vance and Ron DeSantis.

[00:07:22] J.D. V versus RDS.

[00:07:24] And he starts it thusly.

[00:07:28] They are the two hardest-hitting heavyweights on the Republican bench.

[00:07:33] You can almost sense them eyeing each other from afar, apprising one another, just in case.

[00:07:39] Because in full-contact politics, just in case, we'll be here sooner than you think.

[00:07:44] In one corner, at the tender age of 40, is J.D. Vance.

[00:07:49] He's a military veteran who was deployed in Iraq, graduated from Yale, has three children, and had a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks of the GOP.

[00:07:59] And in the other corner, at the tender age of 46, is Ron DeSantis.

[00:08:05] He's a military veteran who was deployed in Iraq and graduated from Yale and has three children

[00:08:13] and also had a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks of the GOP.

[00:08:17] It's like they're identical.

[00:08:19] But despite their surface-level similarities, the two are starkly different people.

[00:08:25] Right now, President-elect Trump is the undisputed master of Megatropolis.

[00:08:33] He runs the kingdom.

[00:08:34] The throne is his.

[00:08:35] But four years from now, hmm, who knows?

[00:08:41] The Trump administration is borrowing heavily from Florida.

[00:08:44] An unusually large number of cabinet members will be coming from the Sunshine State.

[00:08:49] I mean, you got the president, right?

[00:08:52] He lives there now.

[00:08:53] Although I always think of him as a New Yorker.

[00:08:55] Just like I think of, you know, half of the state of Florida as New Yorkers.

[00:08:59] I mean, that's just...

[00:09:00] It's migration, people.

[00:09:02] Okay.

[00:09:10] His original nominee for attorney general.

[00:09:13] And then the replacement nominee for attorney general.

[00:09:16] Right?

[00:09:16] They're all from Florida.

[00:09:18] Marco Rubio, the secretary of state nominee, if confirmed.

[00:09:24] Governor DeSantis will have to choose his replacement in the Senate.

[00:09:28] And so what Pinsker is saying is to pay close attention because it is likely to be the first chess move of the 2028 presidential contest for the Republicans.

[00:09:41] Who he chooses and who he snubs will speak volumes in particular.

[00:09:51] Lara Trump.

[00:09:54] Lara, to quote Donald.

[00:09:56] It almost certainly means if he picks her, it almost certainly means he's making a move for the nomination.

[00:10:06] Although DeSantis is still well regarded by MAGA Nation, his disloyalty in running against the man who made his career hasn't been forgotten.

[00:10:16] Naming Lara Trump the next senator would be a hell of a way to make amends.

[00:10:22] Meanwhile, J.D. Vance would seem to have the insider's track to the nomination.

[00:10:28] After all, who better than the Veep?

[00:10:30] To be MAGA's heir apparent.

[00:10:34] But that inside track might not be as inside-y as one would think.

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[00:11:41] All right, so Ron DeSantis is going to be making the appointment to fill Marco Rubio's vacated Senate seat.

[00:11:49] Who he chooses could very well be a signal.

[00:11:54] Whether or not he's going to run for president in 28, I think he will.

[00:11:59] But what do I know?

[00:12:01] Not much.

[00:12:02] So, but if he chooses Lara Trump, then that would be perceived or could be perceived as a way to make amends with, you know, whoever still is, you know, holding a grudge against him because he dared to throw his name in contention for the GOP nomination.

[00:12:25] And then, of course, remember Donald Trump got indicted and all the support went to Trump and the race was basically over.

[00:12:31] So, once again, the left did this to themselves.

[00:12:34] But J.D. Vance, as the vice president, one would think that in four years, because Trump is, you know, term limited, so Vance would be the obvious heir to the MAGA kingdom.

[00:12:50] But maybe not.

[00:12:51] First off, the vice presidency is a powerless position, right?

[00:12:57] And it has this effect of making people who hold the office look weak and even subservient.

[00:13:06] So, you know, maybe he is able to emerge as his own credible leader, something like that.

[00:13:14] Maybe he's able to do that.

[00:13:15] I don't know.

[00:13:16] But there's no guarantee that Vance will exit the vice presidency looking strong and inspirational.

[00:13:22] Few people ever do.

[00:13:24] But he might.

[00:13:25] He might.

[00:13:26] Right.

[00:13:26] He may have what it takes to to do that.

[00:13:31] Again, this is Scott Pinsker at PJ Media who says, secondly, Trump might not even endorse J.D. Vance.

[00:13:39] Traditionally, presidents have refrained from endorsing their veeps during primaries.

[00:13:46] Reagan did not do it for Bush in 1988.

[00:13:50] Obama did not do it for Biden in 2020.

[00:13:55] Now, by the way, I think there are a lot of people that are still a little.

[00:14:01] They probably hold a grudge against Obama because he basically cleared the field for Hillary.

[00:14:08] Remember, he wouldn't endorse Joe Biden.

[00:14:10] Joe sat out.

[00:14:11] His son died.

[00:14:12] And maybe had Obama thrown his support to Biden, that would have cleared the field for him.

[00:14:18] And Biden could have been a two-termer.

[00:14:21] Or or at least have been, you know.

[00:14:24] Retiring now or four years ago, rather than now.

[00:14:28] So it is possible that Trump doesn't even endorse Vance.

[00:14:31] That's possible.

[00:14:32] But Trump has never been beholden to tradition.

[00:14:35] So if the MAGA father wants to put his thumb on the scale, he definitely will do so.

[00:14:40] Right.

[00:14:40] So we're going to have to just wait and see on that.

[00:14:43] As a consequence of Donald Trump stocking his cabinet with so much Florida talent,

[00:14:48] DeSantis has never stood larger, stronger or more dominant in Florida Republican circles.

[00:14:54] With the local ranks depleted, DeSantis only grows larger in stature.

[00:14:59] He is also able to stock the bench with people that are now going to owe him.

[00:15:06] Right.

[00:15:07] If Lara Trump is the choice, he says, invest in mouth guards and heavy bags.

[00:15:14] DeSantis will be back in 28 stampeding towards a heavyweight showdown with the VP elect J.D. Vance.

[00:15:22] And may the best military veteran who was deployed in Iraq, graduated from Yale, has three children

[00:15:27] and had a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks of the GOP win.

[00:15:31] Good luck to you both.

[00:15:33] All right.

[00:15:33] Hey, real quick.

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[00:16:03] Um, all righty.

[00:16:06] So you just heard it there at the bottom of the hour newscast.

[00:16:08] Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight loss drugs like

[00:16:15] Wigovie or Ozempic covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule that the Biden administration

[00:16:23] proposed this morning.

[00:16:26] So let me see here.

[00:16:27] We got the.

[00:16:30] The pushing all of the money out the door, even though stuff isn't ready for it with like the inflation reduction act,

[00:16:36] renew deal, right?

[00:16:37] Get all of that stuff.

[00:16:38] They're trying to do all of that there.

[00:16:40] They changed the immigration app.

[00:16:43] Remember, did that story the other day.

[00:16:45] So now this is another one, another one of these grenades that are going to go off when the next administration comes in.

[00:16:52] Is that does that count as peaceful transfer of power?

[00:16:55] Is that was that different?

[00:16:58] Is it different when Democrats do it?

[00:17:00] Like when you leave these these ticking time bombs, things that are going to explode in the next administration,

[00:17:07] because that's what this is going to do.

[00:17:09] Right.

[00:17:12] Regardless of how you feel about the these drugs.

[00:17:15] The cost of doing this is going to be very high and very quickly.

[00:17:25] And when you start something like this, it becomes very difficult to unwind it.

[00:17:32] And if you know this is something that Joe Biden wanted to do.

[00:17:37] I'm just kidding.

[00:17:39] He's not he's not president.

[00:17:41] If this is something that the people around Joe Biden that are running the administration,

[00:17:46] if this is something they wanted to do, why wouldn't they have done it already?

[00:17:52] Look, I have talked about I lost 90 pounds.

[00:17:56] I used Ph.D. weight loss and nutrition and there weren't any drugs.

[00:18:02] Right.

[00:18:03] I just changed the way I I I think about food.

[00:18:07] I did use their they have audio programs and stuff that help you retrain the brain.

[00:18:13] But there are people that are never satiated.

[00:18:19] They they never feel full.

[00:18:21] And so they keep on eating.

[00:18:24] And it's not like, oh, you know, I'm going to stop drinking.

[00:18:29] Like you can do that.

[00:18:31] You can stop drinking because you don't need to drink to stay alive.

[00:18:35] But you still do need to eat.

[00:18:37] And from what I understand, and I've listened to some some discussions about this, some podcast about it.

[00:18:43] And I've read a little bit about it, how it works.

[00:18:48] And I think it was the scientist.

[00:18:52] Jim Gaffigan, who said that it just basically.

[00:18:57] Just makes you dead inside.

[00:19:02] And this is the thing, like some people just do not understand.

[00:19:08] How, you know, you can see a plate of food and not finish it.

[00:19:14] And.

[00:19:15] I am also of the mind, much like RFK Jr.

[00:19:19] talks about the amount of crap that's in the food, by the way, like there's there's

[00:19:24] something to be said about eating whole foods, not the grocery store, but the whole food.

[00:19:29] Like a whole food is like the example I heard.

[00:19:33] It was in a podcast.

[00:19:34] I heard like, I don't know, six months ago or something.

[00:19:37] And they were talking about.

[00:19:38] Food, whole food and processed and then ultra processed.

[00:19:43] So think of it in terms.

[00:19:45] The example they gave was an apple.

[00:19:46] If you just have the apple, that's a whole food.

[00:19:49] The only ingredient is the thing itself.

[00:19:53] Right.

[00:19:53] And so if you're, you know, you want to pour some honey on the apple, like the honey is

[00:19:58] a whole food.

[00:19:59] The apple's whole food.

[00:20:00] Right.

[00:20:01] Now you start processing it.

[00:20:04] Like if I take the apple and I throw it in a blender.

[00:20:07] Well, that's processed.

[00:20:08] Is it still a whole food?

[00:20:10] It is.

[00:20:11] I haven't added anything to it.

[00:20:13] I haven't put chemicals in it or anything like that.

[00:20:15] So a processed food is not necessarily a bad thing.

[00:20:22] Now what they called this, I forget the guy's name, but he was talking about, you know, ultra

[00:20:26] processed.

[00:20:27] Well, that's when you start adding a bunch of stuff in there so it doesn't go bad on

[00:20:32] the shelf.

[00:20:33] Right.

[00:20:33] It looks different.

[00:20:34] It tastes different.

[00:20:36] Whatever.

[00:20:36] You start adding all these different chemicals into it, into the mix.

[00:20:39] And that is to be avoided.

[00:20:41] And I think there is a needed conversation about the way food companies put various things

[00:20:49] into our food that are essentially addicting people to some of the food.

[00:20:56] One of the things I learned at PhD was that when your body starts packing on visceral fat,

[00:21:02] that stuff secretes hormones, which then create the cravings to keep eating.

[00:21:09] So people who have never had visceral fat in their body do not know what that feels like.

[00:21:17] And I'm not sure of a way to break it.

[00:21:21] And so when this drug comes along, and yes, a pharmaceutical company is going to make a

[00:21:27] lot of money with this drug.

[00:21:29] And this has been something that, you know, companies have been trying to develop my entire

[00:21:34] life.

[00:21:34] I, like I've, I battled weight my entire life.

[00:21:37] And so I remember like, oh, if only they could come up with a pill.

[00:21:42] And then what was the one fen fen or whatever it was called that gave everybody like, you

[00:21:46] know, heart failure or something.

[00:21:48] I'm not aware of like, I am aware of some of the side effects that are pretty nasty with

[00:21:53] the, uh, with these shots, like intestinal paralysis.

[00:21:58] Hmm.

[00:21:58] That sounds bad.

[00:21:59] Um, so there, there are downsides.

[00:22:02] There are negative side effects, but for some people, they're going to die.

[00:22:11] They're going to die because of their weight.

[00:22:15] So I, I don't, I don't begrudge them for trying to get this stuff at all.

[00:22:22] I do have a bit of a problem when someone's like, oh, I really need to fit into this dress

[00:22:26] for the upcoming, uh, party, you know?

[00:22:28] So let me just, I do, I, I don't treat them the same.

[00:22:33] Those are two different categories of people, but the problem here is the cost.

[00:22:38] And so this proposal from the U S department of health and human services immediately sets

[00:22:44] the stage for a showdown between the powerful pharmaceutical industry and RFK jr.

[00:22:50] An outspoken opponent of the weight loss drugs who as president elect Donald Trump's nominee

[00:22:54] to lead the agency could block the measure.

[00:22:57] While the rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped

[00:23:02] people shed pounds so quickly that some have labeled them miracle drugs.

[00:23:05] It would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade.

[00:23:11] That is a gross underestimation though.

[00:23:14] All right.

[00:23:15] I was just going to tell you that is not what it's going to cost.

[00:23:18] It's going to cost more than that.

[00:23:21] And by the way, so I guess is, is body positivity dead?

[00:23:25] That whole thing is that dead?

[00:23:27] Remember it was like, oh no, you're 700 pounds.

[00:23:29] You're beautiful.

[00:23:30] And all like telling people that it's okay to be morbidly obese and you're going to die

[00:23:34] at age 33 from a massive heart attack, like body positivity.

[00:23:38] Is that, are we done with that?

[00:23:39] Because it's not healthy.

[00:23:41] I just want to be clear.

[00:23:42] That's not healthy.

[00:23:43] Look, when I was 90 pounds heavier, I knew I wasn't healthier.

[00:23:46] I would get winded tying my shoes.

[00:23:48] That's not healthy.

[00:23:49] Okay.

[00:23:51] This rule would not be finalized until January, just a couple of days after Trump takes office.

[00:23:58] You cannot tell me that this has not been done in order to jam up the Trump administration

[00:24:05] and RFK Jr.

[00:24:06] That is what this screams to me.

[00:24:09] All right.

[00:24:10] So I mentioned that this $35 billion over 10 year price tag for the Medicare and Medicaid

[00:24:19] coverage of the weight loss drugs, Ozempic, Wagovi, Manjaro, that is an underestimation.

[00:24:28] And this is a piece at the AP and even they acknowledge it later on in the story where they say that the estimate is that three and a half million people on Medicare

[00:24:41] and four million on Medicaid would qualify for coverage for the drug.

[00:24:46] So they would get them, quote, for free, which isn't free.

[00:24:51] Uh, but the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services estimates roughly 28 million people on Medicaid alone are considered to be obese.

[00:25:04] So why would only 4 million qualify if 28 million are considered to be obese?

[00:25:09] And if that's the only reason you need to get the drug, then you're going to be able to qualify.

[00:25:14] This is what's called the woodwork effect.

[00:25:16] We saw it with Obamacare where people, quote, come out of the woodwork.

[00:25:22] So the initial estimates are always low because they're trying to pass legislation.

[00:25:26] They're trying to get it approved first.

[00:25:29] And then once it's approved, then it's like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe so many people came out of the woodwork on this.

[00:25:36] Like, well, I told you about the woodwork effect.

[00:25:38] It's literally called the woodwork.

[00:25:39] But I couldn't have ever estimated that so many people would take advantage of a free thing.

[00:25:44] The rule proposed by the Biden administration would recognize obesity as a disease that can be treated with the help of the drugs.

[00:25:54] A monthly supply of Wagovi rings up at about $1,300 a month.

[00:26:03] And Zep bound.

[00:26:05] Is that a new one?

[00:26:06] I'm not even aware.

[00:26:07] How did they get?

[00:26:08] Did everybody just figure this?

[00:26:09] They all cracked the code at the same time.

[00:26:11] They've all got the same.

[00:26:11] How did that happen?

[00:26:14] They haven't even, the patent hasn't even expired on this, right?

[00:26:17] So you can't even, but now when that happens, you're going to get a whole bunch of really cheap ones.

[00:26:21] But Zep bound is $1,000 a month.

[00:26:24] So I'm thinking probably we can get them for the low, low price, probably for like $6,000, $7,000 a month when the government negotiates.

[00:26:32] I think that's probably how it's going to work out.

[00:26:37] I really do think, though, that COVID was a missed opportunity for getting healthier, right?

[00:26:43] Had they just focused everybody on saying, hey, this thing is out there, could kill us.

[00:26:47] So why don't, you know, why don't we eat right, get in shape?

[00:26:50] Here's how we do it.

[00:26:51] We launched this Get Healthy campaign.

[00:26:54] I feel like there was a really, there was a missed opportunity.

[00:26:56] But what do I know?

[00:26:57] All right, that'll do it for this episode.

[00:26:59] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:27:01] I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:27:06] So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

[00:27:09] You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:27:14] Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.