Trump offers to pay workers to quit (01-29-2025--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 thepetekalinarshow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] Breaking news. I feel like I say that a lot in the last, I've been saying that a lot in the last few days. We have breaking news. The USDA, or as I like to call it, USDA, they have an inspector general. Have you heard of these IGs? These are the guys that come in, and gals, that come in and, you know, review things and, you know, oh, we took a look at this and malfeasance that or whatever, right?

[00:00:59] Inspector general. And you'll recall, maybe, although there's been a lot of news that Donald Trump fired a whole bunch of inspector general or inspectors general. And the breaking news from Reuters is that the USDA inspector general had to be escorted out of her office because she refused to comply with her firing.

[00:01:26] Which? Like, I know you work in the public sector, but I'm not sure you understand what it means to get fired. Trust me, I can tell you. They generally don't allow you to refuse. That's not how that works. Like, you no longer have a job here. You are no longer permitted in the building. We will take your key card, and maybe if you're lucky, we'll give you, like, five minutes to throw a bunch of stuff in a box.

[00:01:56] Or maybe you can come back after hours, and we'll hire some security to stand over you while you fill your box with stuff. Right? Like, that's kind of how that goes. And by the way, the security people do not know what you are putting in the box, whether it's yours or not. Which is always hilarious to me. Like, they're going to be there to make sure I don't, what, steal something or do something?

[00:02:20] Not that I, like, all right. To be fair, I have never had security have to monitor my exodus. Okay? I have been relieved of my broadcasting duties twice in my career. Once here, and that was like 10 years ago, and then once in Asheville. And both times, it was nothing I did. So it's not like I ever got fired for cause. It was always budgetary. It was like, we can't afford to pay you anymore. We're making cuts. And so they let me go.

[00:02:52] And when I got let go here, they let me actually stay on the air for the rest of the term of my contract for another almost month. Which I was very grateful for. I appreciate that. To this day, I still appreciate that. It is such, it is so outside of the norm. You know, usually when you are told that you've been let go by a broadcast company, they don't let you go back on the airwaves.

[00:03:19] Because they don't know what you're going to say, you know? And they would prefer you not say anything bad about them. What being in a heightened emotional state and all. But I never had a security guard. But like, I did have, when I was in Asheville, they had me come back in after hours. And the boss was there. But it's not like he stood over me watching me or anything.

[00:03:45] But because I had a lot of stuff in my little office. And so I had a box and I put a bunch of stuff in there. Stole a couple computers. Just the normal, you know, the normal thing. And maybe some accessories and stuff. Some historical things from the front lobby. But other than that, no, there was... I'm just kidding. I did not do that. But, you know, you bring stuff into the office. And I keep a lot of paper records of things.

[00:04:12] And so, anyway. But this idea that the security people are going to be there. They're going to know what you're doing. And wait, wait, wait. That's not yours. Like, really? The bobblehead? Do you think that's the stations? No, that's mine, you know? Anyway. So this USDA inspector general had to be escorted out of her office. This is just breaking from Reuters News. And apparently... Oh, hang on a second. There's a Wikipedia about this person.

[00:04:41] Her name is Fong. Her last name is Fong. I don't know her first name. Born in Philadelphia. Raised in Honolulu. Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies. And a JD from Vanderbilt University Law School. Began her career as a staff attorney for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Served as assistant general counsel for the Legal Services Corporation.

[00:05:09] Assistant inspector general for management and policy. Nominated to serve as inspector general of the Small Business Administration in 1999. She's been there a long time. Yeah, she was... Yeah, she was initially put in there by Clinton. She doesn't have any experience in agriculture.

[00:05:37] She's the IG for agriculture. So... Yeah, I don't... Like... The IGs shouldn't be a permanent thing, should they? Like, you should put an inspector general in there when there's some whistleblower report of malfeasance or something, right? This shouldn't be a career post, should it? I don't know.

[00:05:57] Now, the Trump administration also announced yesterday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week. And if I recall correctly, this is exactly what Elon Musk did at Twitter. When Elon Musk came in and you had all these Twitter employees that were, you know, predicting the end of Twitter as we know it.

[00:06:25] The whole thing is going to come crashing down, which, by the way, last I checked, you know, it's still... I'm actually looking at it right now. It's still up. It's still working. This gets to the... This was also evident in the reporting on the federal freezing fund. Or, sorry, the federal funding freeze. The freezing fund is different. That's for refrigeration outreach. But the funding freeze...

[00:06:52] All of the stories are framed in this speculative way. Like, this could do that. This may do this other thing. Oh, the impacts are far-reaching. We have no idea. It's like all of these predictions of dire consequences. And it is the laziest form of what I call journalism-ing. That's what it is. It's not journalism. You predicting something could happen. Yeah, well, what about all of the other things that could happen?

[00:07:22] How come that doesn't get any space in your story? Right? When they were making these same predictions about Twitter, and it turns out, actually, you don't need all of that staff to run Twitter. Elon Musk stripped it down, saved a bunch of money, right? Did a bunch of changes and such. And people who want to work there and who are doing the work. We played this clip yesterday from a former federal employee who talked about the 80-20 rule.

[00:07:52] 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. That is not restricted only to public sector agencies or employers. This happens in the private sector, too, which is why, like Elon Musk has talked about this. Like, it is important to go through and clear out. Right? Because once a company or a government agency starts doing something and they get good at it. I'm just kidding. It's a government agency.

[00:08:18] But, like, okay, they get kind of, all right, okay, maybe they've hired a bunch of people and they've got a big budget. The mission creep is a natural thing. It happens everywhere. Right? Right? If you want to say, okay, we're going to set up a little government here and it's going to be meant to, you know, take some taxes, build up an army, you know, or police force, fire department, pave some roads, that kind of thing.

[00:08:44] And as they start doing that and people are okay with the service they're getting for their money, then what happens? More economic activity, more revenue comes in, and then the GovCo people start saying, well, you know, we could also do this other thing over here. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No. Just keep doing the thing that you are doing. And then as efficiencies are introduced, problems get addressed, and so now it's not, like, draining the budget. You get things shored up.

[00:09:12] And in the private sector, like, hey, you say, hey, I made a widget, and the widget's working really well. That's why I call it well widgets or well-working widgets. And now we're on sort of autopilot. And then you start looking to do other things, and you start expanding. And then you lose sight of the core mission. And then every now and again it's important to come out and clear out the deadwood. And refocus on the core service that you're supposed to be providing.

[00:09:44] So Trump comes in, and there are all sorts of laws and stuff about civil service protections and the union and all this other stuff. But he says, you've got to come back to work or come back to the office. And you've got federal employees that don't want to do it. And so this is their offer. Like, okay. And companies have done this over the last year. They've said, if you don't want to come back to the office, that's fine. Here's a severance deal. Right?

[00:10:10] And this deal that they're offering employees is eight months of pay. Eight months of pay. And you don't even have to come back. Just go. Here's a check for almost a year of work that you're not going to do. And truth be told, you're probably not doing anyway. So, like, here's a check. Buy. And this, I'm supposed to believe, is outrageous. It is not outrageous.

[00:10:40] And in the long term, it's going to cost us less money. How many people take advantage of it? I don't know. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina, just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal sponsor. Where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter.

[00:11:10] Nestled within the breathtaking 14,000 acres of the Pisgah National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, it's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions. With hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi-Fi, grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch.

[00:11:35] Choose from 13 cabins, 6 cottages, 2 villas, and a great lodge with 11 king-sized bedrooms. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion. And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Oh, we have Donald Trump speaking now. Oh my gosh. More from the firehose. No, I can't drink anymore.

[00:12:19] Donald Trump is signing the Lakin-Riley Act into law. This is the ceremony you're listening to. So sad. We were together right after that happened. And it's a tremendous tribute to your daughter what's taking place today. That's all I can say. But so sad we have to be doing it at all. Thank you very much for being here.

[00:12:43] To Lakin's family, we will keep Lakin's memory alive in our hearts forever, everyone's hearts. With today's action, her name will also live forever in the laws of our country. And this is a very important law. This is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That's not easy to do. Lakin did it. Lakin did it. America will never, ever forget Lakin Hope Riley.

[00:13:11] The vicious criminal who murdered Precious Lakin was an illegal alien member of the barbaric Venezuelan prison gang known as Trendy Aragua. He trespassed across our southern border in 2022 and was apprehended by Border Patrol. But under the cruel policies of the last administration, instead of being deported, as he should have been,

[00:13:35] he was released into the United States, as were millions of other people, many of them very dangerous people. And you see what we're doing. We're getting the hell out of here.

[00:13:58] New York City on charges of endangering a child, but because of New York City's deadly sanctuary policies, as we have in California and many other places, which we're ending, we're going to end them. He was released again to re-offend. The Biden administration then provided this illegal alien criminal with a free taxpayer-funded flight from New York to Georgia,

[00:14:22] where he was arrested yet again, constantly, this time for stealing from a Walmart along with his gang member brother, who was a bad one. Only after being released a third time by the U.S. law enforcement did this cold-blooded criminal go out in that fateful morning, hunting for women on whom to pray. That's what he did. He hunted. He hunted. It was like a hunter. I'm going to show him who the hunter is.

[00:14:51] This horrific atrocity should never have been allowed to happen. And as president, I'm fighting every single day to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. You don't want this. Under the law I'm signing today, the Department of Homeland Security will be required to detain all illegal aliens

[00:15:17] who have been arrested for theft, burglary, larceny, shoplifting, assaulting a police officer, murder, or any crime that results in death or a serious injury. In addition, for the first time ever, this act gives state governments the ability to sue the federal government for immediate injunctive relief if any future administration ever again refuses to enforce the immigration laws of the United States like happened before.

[00:15:45] And that, my friends, that's the key. That's the key of the Lake and Riley Act. I know the critics are focusing on, oh, it's anti-immigrant and all this. The key here is that states will be able to sue the federal government if the federal government isn't doing its freaking job, which they only, they are empowered to do. Remember, Democrats sued and they argued all the way through the courts

[00:16:13] that you can't force us to follow federal immigration law. When Texas started doing their stuff, right, with the floating barriers and trying to put patrol along the border, and they were like, you can't do that. That's our job. We're supposed to, in Texas, like, well, you're not doing it. They're like, so what? You can't do it either. We don't want it done. That's the position they took. And they were successful. And so now this law, not an executive order, this is now a law.

[00:16:44] Now people or states will have standing to sue the feds if they do that again. All right. I hope you had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around. Maybe y'all are in the living room. You're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing, and then somebody says, hey, dad, remember those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred? And then the room gets all quiet. All eyes are on dad who says, oh, you know, well, I've been meaning to,

[00:17:13] but I just haven't gotten around to it. Look, don't let those priceless memories sit in a box for another year. All right. Create a Video has been helping families in the Charlotte area preserve their history since 1997. Simply bring in your old camcorder tapes and Create A Video will transfer them to a USB flash drive for just $14.95 per tape. You have a big collection? They've got a discount for you. And next year, instead of talking about those memories,

[00:17:40] imagine gathering the family to watch them together. Talk about a memorable gift. So do what I did. Trust the experts at Create A Video, conveniently located in Mint Hill, right off I-485, and online at createavideo.com. All right. So the Trump administration announces that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who wish to leave their job, which is basically all of them, I think, by next week. So they're on a deadline.

[00:18:08] A memo from the OPM, not to be confused with the OMB. Okay. That is a different thing. That was their memo that they sent out that caused all the hullabaloo. This is another government agency, the Office of Personnel Management, which, by the way, did you hear this story, too? I don't have anything printed out on it, but I saw it. I read a little bit about it where, like, there was some employees, some federal workers, and I don't know, they may have gone through their union or something,

[00:18:37] to complain at the suggestion that the administration wants to be able to send messages directly to all workers, rather than having to send them to an agency first and then rely on that agency head or whoever's in charge of the email distribution, which is probably a freaking standalone position, but to send it to them in every agency and then have them distribute.

[00:19:06] And so they're like, why don't we just have one big distribution list and we'll send it to everybody? We want to be able to send it to everybody. And they're like, you can't talk to me directly. Try to pull that at your gig, right? Do you think your boss would put up with that? I don't know about you. Every place I have ever worked, the top person in the company has always been able to directly email everybody all at once. Mass distribution list.

[00:19:36] They've even been able to email me personally if they so choose, but they never know who I am. So, like, they could just send me an email like, Pete, heard your show, you stink. Like, they could have just done that, but nobody ever did. Maybe I don't stink. That could be it. Or they don't know I exist. They don't listen. Either way.

[00:19:56] But the idea that I got to go through as a boss, I would have to go through different layers of protection. I can't take an email directly from the boss. I might feel anxiety if I get a message from the top man because he's orange and he's scary. So, anyway.

[00:20:21] A memo from the OPM, the Office of Personnel Management, which is the government's HR agency, said that it would begin subjecting all federal employees also to, quote, enhanced standards of suitability and conduct. Enhanced standards. Like, wait, wait, wait. Did you say standards? I'm out.

[00:20:48] And then, according to the AP, it ominously warned of future downsizing. Ominously. What did I say the other day? Talking about media bias. Whenever you're reading a story or listening to a story, look for or listen for the adjectives that are used. First, that will tell you what the sentiment of the reporter is. Right?

[00:21:17] When they are ominously warning of future downsizing rather than just warning of future downsizing or telling employees to expect future downsizing. Now, look.

[00:21:59] I mean, except probably in, like, the mortuary services and probably tax preparation. The threat of downsizing is always there. Talk to some of the people that work in manufacturing about whether or not they think that their job could be eliminated at any given moment.

[00:22:23] Talk to all the mill workers and the families of the mill workers over the last, oh, I don't know, 40 years around the Carolinas. Right? Whether their jobs were safe from downsizing. I know, I know, media learned to code, blah, blah, blah. The email was sent out to millions of employees and said those who leave their posts voluntarily will receive about eight months of salary.

[00:22:50] But they have to choose to take the deal by February 6th. Which, I was just saying this to somebody yesterday. I don't like the arbitrary deadlines for these types of big decisions. I don't appreciate that. But I understand these are tools in negotiations. It is like you go into the car dealership and they're like, oh, I can give you this offer, but you got to do it now. Like, no, you don't.

[00:23:20] If you're making me this offer, you can make that offer any given day of the week. It's just that you want this sale right now and you think that by giving me a fake deadline, you will increase the pressure on me to say yes. So usually it does the opposite to me. It makes me want to say no because now I know that I'm the mark. Why didn't you just give me this deal and let me think about it? If it's a great deal, I'm going to come back and say yes.

[00:23:50] But when you say you got to decide before you leave this showroom, then I say, okay, well, then I'm leaving right now. Bye. You just made my decision for me. There's another one. I learned a whole bunch of these things. Like, one of them is called the silent treatment. Where you just sit there and when someone's, like, trying to pitch you or, you know, give you prices on stuff and you just sit there and you don't say anything. Just keep staring at them. Maybe do a little bit of a squint, like a half squint. Hmm.

[00:24:19] And then it becomes uncomfortable for them. So then they counter themselves. And then there's another one. The, you can do better than that. I don't know what it's called, but that's what you say. And you can just change your tone of voice as you say these things. I learned this from a guy who wrote several books. Weekend Millionaire Series. Mike Summey up in Asheville. Millionaire guy. And I would have him on the show and we would talk. He wrote about these things in his books.

[00:24:47] And one of the tactics that he talked about was, and one time he went in to buy a car. And he literally just sat there and he said, oh, you could do better than that. He said it like half a dozen times, back to back to back to back to back to back. And the guy just kept low-balling himself. Which sounds kind of gross. But no, he just kept undercutting his own price. Because he could do better than that.

[00:25:13] And Mike, he said, I would just change the tone of voice. I would say it in different inflection. You know, oh, come on. You can do better than that. Or you could do better than that. You could do better than that. And he just keeps saying it so it sounds like a new sentence. And it's not a new sentence. So there are ways to counter these things. Anyway, so the false deadline, the arbitrary deadlines, I tend to not like. And I react poorly. But I know this about myself. Self-awareness is essential.

[00:25:40] The email was sent to more than 2 million federal employees. The federal government employs more than 3 million people. So 2 out of 3 people got this email, basically. By the way, the average tenure for a federal employee is almost 12 years. That according to a Pew analysis of data from the OPM.

[00:26:04] And then we get to the speculative fear-mongering over at the Associated Press story that the sky is falling. If people take this option, if they take the buyout, what will we ever do? Again, same reaction when Twitter said they were doing this. And they fired a bunch of people, gave them early exit packages and the like. There have been companies that have done this. They're still in business. In fact, they're doing better. They do better. You don't want...

[00:26:32] Some of the people that take these severance deals or these options, they weren't really doing bang-up work to begin with. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place. So you can compare coverage and verify information.

[00:27:02] You can check it out at check.ground.news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news slash Pete.

[00:27:29] Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Okay, sure. Let's take James. Hello, James. Welcome to the program. Hey, Pete. It's good to hear you. I'm delighted to hear you talking about making comparisons in the business world of what Trump's trying to implement with the government

[00:27:59] and I've been a manufacturer for 38 years. I've seen rounds of trimming and job reduction and you're right. Usually it's people that you knew weren't hitting on much. There's exceptions, but they're usually the ones that have to go. And then budgeting is interesting too because there's a lot of discussion about that with the government. But every year if your department had a budget, you could just count on a 5% cut every year. And every third year we would do zero-based budgeting where you start with a clean slate

[00:28:27] and you justify every single bucket that you need to function for that year. And we were a profitable company and that's how it's done. And the government, do you remember a few years ago when they talked about eliminating Saturday delivery for the mail service? Mm-hmm. You talk about a no-brainer. They couldn't even do that. In fact, they could probably cut it out Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and reduce the size of the Postal Service 70%. No one would notice, but they won't do it. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:57] No, the zero-based budgeting would be a massive change to the way government functions versus what is currently used, which is continuation budgeting, where whatever we spent last year carries over to this year, continues over. And then we obviously have to increase by cost of living and inflation and everything else. And so it's just this natural built-in mechanism to keep the agencies growing and growing and growing.

[00:29:26] And there's never any kind of a fresh look at the numbers to say, is this even doing its job? Is this accomplishing the mission? It's just discipline. And, you know, whenever we had the face, you're right, the cost of everything goes up. But also, after you've done things for a year or two, you realize you have to prioritize. And they're like, all right, this bucket went up 5%, but, man, I'm going to take it out of this thing that we don't even do anymore. And then that's how you – it's no different than you run your household.

[00:29:53] You just have discipline, and you spend on what's important, and you don't spend just because. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, okay, think of it like all of the apps, right? People pay for various, you know, video streaming television apps. And at some point, you realize, like, oh, my gosh, this thing is auto-drafting every single month for $9.99. And you add them all together, and before you know it, you know, you're spending $100 on apps that you don't even watch.

[00:30:22] So you go through, and you're like, cancel, cancel, cancel. I don't want these apps anymore. It's the same sort of approach, same idea. And then if the ones you care about go up 5%, you got it covered. Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, James, I appreciate the call, buddy. Thank you. Yeah, man. All right. Take it easy. This is interesting, too. I just saw Elon Musk tweeted out, or X'd out, tweeted out.

[00:30:48] Support for Trump's executive orders and proposed actions. And let's see. The one with the, let me see, delaying the tech. Oh, here it is. Wait. No. Ending federal effort. No. Birthright citizenship. Gulf of Mexico. Not very popular to call it the Gulf of America. Closing all. Yeah.

[00:31:14] So closing all federal government DEI offices and firing all federal employees working in DEI initiatives as a 44% support rate. 51% oppose. And that's like. Yeah, that's the highest. Tied with delaying the ban of TikTok. And then I got an email or a. Yeah, I got a message here. From Ashley. It's a Pete tweet.

[00:31:45] Ashley says, I just wanted to let you know that on Glenn Beck's program this morning, he stated that federal employees percentage at home rate was 96%. Okay. So if I understand that correctly, 96% of federal workers are working at home. That seems very, very high. Not unbelievable. That's very high. It's like at that point.

[00:32:15] Yeah. Who's in the office? Who's the schlub that's actually going into the office at all? Think about that. You haven't. You got an office of 100 workers and four of them are showing up. That's crazy. So even. This is the AP. Even a fraction of the workforce, were they to accept the buyouts? Here it is. Speculative.

[00:32:44] Could send shockwaves through the economy and trigger widespread disruptions throughout society. As a whole. Oh, oh my gosh. Wait a minute. They're getting eight months of pay for not working. Couldn't they? I don't know. Take the money that they're getting for the eight months worth of pay and maybe travel around and wouldn't that boost tourism? What about the economic multipliers?

[00:33:14] We always hear about the multiplier effect. Whenever they want to tax us to build sports arenas and stadia, they're like, oh, but the multiplier effect. These people are coming and spending money and blah, blah, blah. Where's that? These people are now. This is I thought this is what Democrats wanted. That's why we got Obamacare. Remember Nancy Pelosi? She's like, no, they'll be able to go be artists and stuff and stuff. And they don't have to worry about paying for their health insurance. They'll be free to create.

[00:33:43] Well, maybe we get Pelosi to lead this branding effort. Right? Let's free the federal workforce to go and paint. They can join Hunter Biden, who now has to paint a lot more because all his paintings burned up in California. Worth billions of dollars, as I understand it. He submitted an insurance claim. Yeah.

[00:34:08] But they do acknowledge, the AP acknowledges that all of this, these shockwaves throughout society bringing us to our knees in eight months, it could trigger wide ranging and as yet unknowable implications for the delivery, timeliness and effectiveness of federal services across the nation. And I would just submit. OK. Yeah. All right. Let's see what it looks like. That's I'm OK with this. Yes, I will run the experiment.

[00:34:38] Let's run this experiment and see what happens. I'm down. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to the Pete Calendar show dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.