Latest / Brian Thomas / Dave Williams from the Taxpayer Protection Alliance

Transcript

Dave Williams from the Taxpayer Protection Alliance · Brian Thomas

0:08
Speaker 1: It's seven six here at fifty five Kirter CD talk
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Speaker 1: Station Tuesday, and a very happy one to you. Always
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Speaker 1: enjoy my Tuesdays, especially when I see Dave Williams on
0:18
Speaker 1: the rundown from the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, which you can
0:20
Speaker 1: find online. I recommend you do protecting Taxpayers dot org,
0:24
Speaker 1: always looking out for where our idiot elected officials are
0:26
Speaker 1: spending money, wasting money, and packing a defense bill with
0:30
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with defense.
0:33
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Dave Williams and an early Merry Christmas to
0:36
Speaker 1: you and yours, my friend. Good to have you back
0:38
Speaker 1: on the show.
0:39
Speaker 2: Good morning, and early Merry Christmas to you too. And
0:42
Speaker 2: I was talking to Joe right before I came on
0:44
Speaker 2: and talking about the new mayor potentially an expansion of
0:49
Speaker 2: the street car in Cincinnati. Wow. Wow, you guys have
0:53
Speaker 2: a lot of issues, that is.
0:57
Speaker 1: The delicate way of putting it. Yes, dysfunctional we are,
1:00
Speaker 1: but you know we've been talking about a lot of
1:02
Speaker 1: elections have consequences. When only one in four eligible voters
1:05
Speaker 1: in the city of Cincinnatis turn out to vote, you
1:08
Speaker 1: know it's the the hardcore left base that is so
1:11
Speaker 1: well organized they are definitely going to show up. And then,
1:14
Speaker 1: of course the Independence Republicans are more sane. People within
1:17
Speaker 1: the Democrat Party don't bother because they think it's a
1:19
Speaker 1: lost cause in a very blue city. And this is
1:23
Speaker 1: what you get leg number two or whatever of the
1:25
Speaker 1: streetcar most likely, although I haven't seen any formal proposals
1:28
Speaker 1: for that, a lot of rumors going around in the
1:30
Speaker 1: background that that's in fact coming.
1:32
Speaker 2: And why that would even be in the background discussion
1:36
Speaker 2: just is beyond me, and I'm sure beyond you. I mean,
1:39
Speaker 2: because if you look at you know, Cincinnati, but just
1:41
Speaker 2: across the country, these things just lose money. They're shutting
1:44
Speaker 2: down the DC streetcar next year. I mean, at least
1:48
Speaker 2: you know, a modicum of common sense in DC. Right,
1:50
Speaker 2: It's like this, and this thing has lost a ton
1:53
Speaker 2: of money, so we're just shutting it down. I mean,
1:55
Speaker 2: the cost two hundred million dollars to build. They shouldn't
1:58
Speaker 2: have built it in the first place. But you know,
2:00
Speaker 2: maybe Cincinnati should look to DC and think, hmm, maybe
2:03
Speaker 2: we go the other way and shut this thing down.
2:05
Speaker 1: Well, that'd be a great idea. But come on, Dave,
2:07
Speaker 1: it's free. You can ride your car for free. It
2:11
Speaker 1: doesn't cost anything but the five million plus dollars annually
2:14
Speaker 1: for debt service and maintenance. But no, it's free. By
2:18
Speaker 1: the way, the City of Cincinnati struggling to fill a
2:20
Speaker 1: massive budget hole on top of it. So, yeah, can
2:22
Speaker 1: you try to make any sense out of that? Don't bother. No,
2:25
Speaker 1: you can't pivoting over the National Defense Authorization Act are
2:29
Speaker 1: military funding bill. It's one of the twelve appropriations bills
2:32
Speaker 1: are supposed to have done by now, which they never do.
2:34
Speaker 1: We end up with an omnimus bill. But like all
2:36
Speaker 1: of these big bills, you got to have bipartisan support,
2:39
Speaker 1: and the uses an opportunity to pack well, in this case,
2:42
Speaker 1: the Defense Authorization Bill filled with stuff and things that
2:45
Speaker 1: are not connected with the military and also are a
2:50
Speaker 1: colossal waste of money. Hmm, how about that good figure?
2:55
Speaker 2: And yeah, this happens right so often is that they
2:58
Speaker 2: wait till the last minute. Then they had, you know, stuff,
3:00
Speaker 2: these bills full of things that have nothing to do
3:03
Speaker 2: with the actual bill itself, and you know, they really
3:06
Speaker 2: count on the last minute, and people aren't paying attention.
3:09
Speaker 2: They're you know, Christmas shopping doing whatever, and well Christmas
3:14
Speaker 2: shopping is what Congress is doing to these in these.
3:17
Speaker 1: Bills, no doubt. Well, I am so pleased me individually,
3:21
Speaker 1: I am so pleased that the Defense bill includes money
3:24
Speaker 1: money to stop the spread of the greater banded hornet
3:28
Speaker 1: in Guam Gwam, which parenthetically is going to tip over
3:31
Speaker 1: at least a coord to one of our elected officials.
3:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, a defense priority, absolutely. I mean, you can see
3:38
Speaker 2: the huge defense implications of this, of this particular you know,
3:42
Speaker 2: obviously it has no defense implications, and it's just a
3:45
Speaker 2: convenient way to spend money and shove it in a
3:47
Speaker 2: bill that you know, hopefully no one pays attention to.
3:50
Speaker 2: But we do. You do, I do, and you know
3:53
Speaker 2: some other people do, but not enough people.
3:54
Speaker 1: Actually, no doubt. And Dave, you're always paying attention to
3:57
Speaker 1: what I saw you're writing about this over protecting taxpayers
4:00
Speaker 1: dot org, removing limits on funding for the world's fairs.
4:05
Speaker 1: I'm not even going to begin to question how that
4:07
Speaker 1: relates to our national defense. Greenlighting the Young Balkan Leaders initiative,
4:12
Speaker 1: I have no idea what that is, but it doesn't
4:14
Speaker 1: involve anything here in the United States. And on top
4:18
Speaker 1: of that, adding insult to injury, as you point out,
4:20
Speaker 1: it doesn't even give a total dollar amount going to
4:23
Speaker 1: those programs, and probably a lot more. So does that
4:26
Speaker 1: mean unlimited funding or we just can't track it.
4:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the crazy part is when they don't even
4:32
Speaker 2: put a dollar amount, because then it's open to the
4:34
Speaker 2: discretion of the Department of Defense, I'm sorry, the Department
4:38
Speaker 2: of War, or a member of Congress who will say, Okay,
4:41
Speaker 2: this is what I decide, and this is how much
4:43
Speaker 2: money should go to this initiative or this program. And
4:45
Speaker 2: obviously that's no way to run a government.
4:48
Speaker 1: No way to run a government. You and I agree
4:50
Speaker 1: all day on that one particular item that distressed you.
4:53
Speaker 1: The government run health services for the Native Americans, apparently
4:58
Speaker 1: a failed program. But this defense build builds upon the
5:03
Speaker 1: healthcare system for Native Americans and the tribes and the
5:07
Speaker 1: tribal lands they live upon. Again, how does that have
5:09
Speaker 1: anything to do with defense?
5:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is the Indian Health Service and this thing
5:14
Speaker 2: has been an absolute failure for Native Americans and really
5:18
Speaker 2: concerned that. And listen, this is kind of the theme
5:20
Speaker 2: of the past few months. Is healthcare right, whether it's
5:23
Speaker 2: Obamacare now the Indian Health Services. We keep doubling down
5:28
Speaker 2: on failed programs, and we're just kind of chipping at
5:31
Speaker 2: the edges here, whether it's Obamacare and here we're just
5:34
Speaker 2: adding more money to the Indian Health Service and not
5:37
Speaker 2: looking at, Okay, what's working, what isn't working. What is
5:41
Speaker 2: the best way to have people, you know, provide healthcare
5:45
Speaker 2: for themselves? Right, Because I'm not going to say have
5:46
Speaker 2: government provide healthcare for people. We have to switch the discussion.
5:51
Speaker 2: We have to switch the model here as to how
5:53
Speaker 2: can we put health care back in the decision of
5:56
Speaker 2: the families of people. And you don't do that banning subsidies.
6:01
Speaker 2: You don't do that by expanding the Indian Health Service.
6:03
Speaker 2: You do it through free market reforms, health savings accounts,
6:07
Speaker 2: ways that people can really invest in their healthcare. In Congress,
6:12
Speaker 2: and you know, Speaker Mike Johnson, you know he held
6:15
Speaker 2: the line when it came to expanding Obamacare subsidies. Some
6:19
Speaker 2: in his party were saying, extend the subsidies. He held
6:22
Speaker 2: the line on this. And I've been very critical Speaker
6:25
Speaker 2: Johnson for a number of things that have happened this year,
6:28
Speaker 2: but he really has done a good job with the
6:30
Speaker 2: Obamacare subsidies. But Brian, we have to put these decisions
6:35
Speaker 2: back in the hands of people, and right now, healthcare
6:38
Speaker 2: decisions really aren't in our hands.
6:40
Speaker 1: Well. And as you point out a lot of facts
6:42
Speaker 1: that go along with your conclusions with regard to the
6:45
Speaker 1: Indian Health Services, that you just get very poor health care,
6:50
Speaker 1: and the IHS directly pays for the hospitals and the physicians. Now,
6:54
Speaker 1: I've heard many, many times and many many stories over
6:58
Speaker 1: the years about the quality of physicians that work for
7:00
Speaker 1: the Native Americans, that they are not exactly the top
7:04
Speaker 1: tier medical doctors. Quite often the worst of the worst
7:07
Speaker 1: doctors end up as a government employee working in one
7:10
Speaker 1: of these reservations and providing lower quality healthcare for them.
7:14
Speaker 1: It's just it's kind of like doctors of last resort.
7:16
Speaker 1: Is that part of the problem here, Dave.
7:19
Speaker 2: It absolutely is. And look at Department Veteran Affairs, you know,
7:23
Speaker 2: we've had the same problem that our veterans are getting
7:26
Speaker 2: just really awful healthcare service, and it's because it's a
7:30
Speaker 2: government run you have bureaucrats running this, and you know,
7:34
Speaker 2: it's really again, these common threats right across the government,
7:38
Speaker 2: whether it's the Indian Health Service, the VA, Obamacare, we
7:42
Speaker 2: see the same things happening, and that's why we have
7:45
Speaker 2: to just fundamentally change the way that we think about
7:49
Speaker 2: healthcare in this country. And for them to add this
7:52
Speaker 2: into a defense bill, and let's go back to the
7:54
Speaker 2: beginning of this. This is part of a defense build.
7:57
Speaker 2: This is not a standalone build. This is not part
7:59
Speaker 2: of a healthcare This is part of a defense bill.
8:01
Speaker 2: It should not be in here. And the reason is,
8:04
Speaker 2: you have hundreds of billions of dollars in this authorization bill.
8:07
Speaker 2: You stick a couple of billion here and there. Seemingly
8:10
Speaker 2: people won't notice. Obviously some people do. But the problem
8:14
Speaker 2: is that Congress is just going to gloss over that
8:16
Speaker 2: and say, well, for the defense of the country, we
8:18
Speaker 2: have to pass all these things, the thing and Blom,
8:20
Speaker 2: the Indian Health Service and all these things get signed
8:23
Speaker 2: into law.
8:24
Speaker 1: All right. Well, since I do have the Cincinnativa folks
8:28
Speaker 1: on regularly, I think they've done a good job at
8:30
Speaker 1: least here locally, providing at least a high level of
8:33
Speaker 1: quality for our local veterans. That does not say that
8:35
Speaker 1: all VA programs and hospitals do that, but I've talked
8:39
Speaker 1: with them and interacted with them enough, and they have
8:41
Speaker 1: such a high approval rating that I'm at least comfortable
8:44
Speaker 1: with our local VA, although I will acknowledge that there's
8:47
Speaker 1: probably a better way like the IHS to deal with
8:50
Speaker 1: healthcare issues. Generally, it's a much broader solution that's out there.
8:55
Speaker 1: And again, your free market points are very very well taken.
8:59
Speaker 1: Dave Williams taxpaper Excellence. Pause. We'll bring it right back
9:01
Speaker 1: and talk about prescription drug price fixing, higher education reform
9:05
Speaker 1: and what is this the most act Don't go away seven,
9:10
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five KRCD Talk Station Protecting Taxpayers dot org
9:14
Speaker 1: the website for the taxpayer protection lines. We get to
9:17
Speaker 1: hear from Dave Williams from time to time, and I
9:19
Speaker 1: thoroughly enjoy the work that he does all year long
9:21
Speaker 1: and the time he spends with you and me. And
9:24
Speaker 1: here he is on the phone moving over to something
9:26
Speaker 1: I've never quite understood, Dave delivering most favored nation prescription
9:31
Speaker 1: drug pricing to American patients. That's the headline or the
9:34
Speaker 1: name of the executive ooder Donald Trumps signed earlier this year.
9:37
Speaker 1: So if they sell it cheaper someplace else, then we
9:40
Speaker 1: get the cheaper price for pharmaceuticals. I know where you're
9:43
Speaker 1: going on this, and I don't disagree. How is it
9:47
Speaker 1: that we became we're the full retail country for pharmaceuticals.
9:53
Speaker 1: We pay full retail and the other parts of the world, Canada,
9:56
Speaker 1: most notably our northern neighbor gets a massive discount for
10:00
Speaker 1: what we're paying, so much so that a lot of
10:02
Speaker 1: people go to pharmaceutical of pharmacies in Canada to get
10:05
Speaker 1: their medications because they save a lot of money over
10:07
Speaker 1: what they would pay down to the Walgreens on the corner.
10:09
Speaker 1: So how did that situation arise? And I know we
10:14
Speaker 1: need research. Somebody's got to pay a lot for the
10:16
Speaker 1: drugs because that's what funds of pharmaceutical companies, But how
10:18
Speaker 1: did the rest of the world get to benefit from
10:20
Speaker 1: us supplementing them. That doesn't seem fair as a practical
10:24
Speaker 1: point at the outset.
10:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really interesting issue because we have pharmaceutical
10:29
Speaker 2: companies that it takes them about twelve years and two
10:33
Speaker 2: billion dollars to get a drug approved through the FDA,
10:36
Speaker 2: and the rules are so stringent and we're not talking
10:39
Speaker 2: about you know, safety has to obviously be you know,
10:43
Speaker 2: concern number one, but it's the efficiency of these drugs.
10:47
Speaker 2: If a drug is ninety five percent efficient, then it
10:51
Speaker 2: will go to the market. But if it's ninety four
10:53
Speaker 2: point nine or ninety four point five, they have to
10:56
Speaker 2: go back to the drawing board, go back to clinical trials.
10:59
Speaker 2: And we're getting to a point where it's really tough
11:01
Speaker 2: to bring new medication, a new drug to market. And
11:05
Speaker 2: this costs a lot of money. And now, listen, everybody
11:08
Speaker 2: wants to low prices on drugs. Listen, I want to
11:11
Speaker 2: low price on a car, but you don't institute price
11:14
Speaker 2: controls because you make that product less available in that country.
11:18
Speaker 2: Because if you said to you know a car dealer
11:21
Speaker 2: or a car manufacturer, you know a very expensive car,
11:24
Speaker 2: you know a car that's worth seventy five thousand dollars,
11:27
Speaker 2: you can only sell it for forty thousand dollars. They
11:30
Speaker 2: aren't going to sell that car and you're going to
11:32
Speaker 2: have And it's the same thing with prescriptions and with drugs. Well,
11:36
Speaker 2: that's why you can't randate to the private sector.
11:38
Speaker 1: That's why Ford just pulled the plug. No pun intended
11:40
Speaker 1: on the evs. The tax credit is expiring. The only
11:43
Speaker 1: reason anybody bought one of the first place, because the
11:45
Speaker 1: seventy five hundred doll attachment. That is artificial manipulation. Well
11:49
Speaker 1: kind of along the lines of what we're talking about here,
11:51
Speaker 1: is it not?
11:52
Speaker 2: It absolutely is. And you know there's the Pharmacy Benefit Managers,
11:57
Speaker 2: a three forty B program that have distorted this market
12:00
Speaker 2: and have made hospitals rich. And something we've talked about obviously.
12:04
Speaker 2: You know how the hospitals have benefited off the three
12:06
Speaker 2: point forty B program and also the PBMs, the pharmacy benefit.
12:12
Speaker 1: How is that the PBM thing still a thing? Everyone
12:16
Speaker 1: and his brothers, seems of all political stripes, will point
12:18
Speaker 1: their fingers at that being an outrageous influencer over the
12:21
Speaker 1: massive price increase we're paying the pharmacy. They're not even
12:24
Speaker 1: a necessary component, are they.
12:27
Speaker 2: They absolutely are not. And what I find this crazy
12:31
Speaker 2: is every doctor in Congress, every member of Congress who
12:35
Speaker 2: has a medical background, has been trying to get rid
12:38
Speaker 2: of PBMs, has offered legislation, and for some reason, it
12:41
Speaker 2: never gets a vote on the floor of the House
12:44
Speaker 2: or the Senate. And we've partnered with some of these
12:47
Speaker 2: folks in Congress, these members, you know, we've co authored
12:50
Speaker 2: op eds and we've done everything we can, and it's
12:52
Speaker 2: just there's not enough interest beyond the related medical Caucus
12:56
Speaker 2: to get this done.
12:57
Speaker 1: We need Thomas Massey to issue a discharge petition.
13:01
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love discharge petitions. I love the
13:04
Speaker 2: pressure that it puts on the speaker, and it just
13:08
Speaker 2: it's a wonderful tool, isn't it.
13:10
Speaker 1: It is now, Dave Williams coming, you know, I just
13:12
Speaker 1: want to know, since you've been dealing with this for
13:13
Speaker 1: a long time, obviously the will isn't there in Congress
13:16
Speaker 1: to advance something that sounds like is the best possible
13:18
Speaker 1: way of providing some measure of almost immediate relief getting
13:21
Speaker 1: rid of the PBMs. What articulated reason in defense of
13:28
Speaker 1: PBMs has been given to you? Since you've been doing
13:30
Speaker 1: this for a while, what do they say, No, no,
13:32
Speaker 1: we can't do that because.
13:34
Speaker 2: Well, there hasn't been an articulated reasons. It's just that
13:37
Speaker 2: they won't bring this to the floor. And listen, there's
13:40
Speaker 2: very powerful interest behind this. There's insurance companies and there's
13:43
Speaker 2: hospitals on both issues. And that's why, cause hospitals are
13:47
Speaker 2: making a killing And listen, seriously, no pun intended on that,
13:50
Speaker 2: but they are making a lot of money on the
13:53
Speaker 2: three point forty B program because they get drugs at
13:56
Speaker 2: dirt cheap prices and then they charge exorbitant prices either
14:00
Speaker 2: for Medicare, Medicaid or just for private insurance insurance. So
14:05
Speaker 2: that's why this is happening. It's private and you know,
14:07
Speaker 2: the insurance companies and hospitals, they're the ones that are
14:10
Speaker 2: lobbying behind the scenes.
14:12
Speaker 1: The hospital lobby, insurance companies.
14:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.
14:15
Speaker 1: Well, I think we've identified a big problem in the room,
14:18
Speaker 1: and that's been a predominant problem for a lot of
14:20
Speaker 1: issues when it comes to healthcare. It's the money. I mean,
14:23
Speaker 1: that's just.
14:26
Speaker 2: It's always followed the money. And you know what's happening
14:28
Speaker 2: behind the scenes is a lot of lobbying money is
14:31
Speaker 2: being spent, and again consumers and taxpayers, they're the ones
14:35
Speaker 2: that are suffering.
14:36
Speaker 1: Clearly, all right, going back, will the rest of the
14:39
Speaker 1: world then start paying more for pharmaceuticals? I mean that
14:42
Speaker 1: is that a product of the pharmaceutical companies negotiating with
14:45
Speaker 1: foreign lands and giving them a much a substantially reduced
14:49
Speaker 1: price for these drugs because we're paying the full freight.
14:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, the other countries will always pay the lowest price.
14:56
Speaker 2: And listen, you know, Canada's healthcare system is obviously completely
15:00
Speaker 2: I mean even more so than ours. You know, we
15:02
Speaker 2: have people coming to our country for brain surgery because
15:05
Speaker 2: in Canada they're saying, wait, it's a way to year.
15:07
Speaker 2: Well that's not exactly something you it should be, you know,
15:09
Speaker 2: way to hear for. But listen, I know someone I've
15:12
Speaker 2: actually you know, a friend of mine had to come
15:14
Speaker 2: to this country for for for surgery. So again their
15:18
Speaker 2: system is more messed us in ours than they mandate.
15:21
Speaker 2: You know, they have even more socialist price controls in
15:23
Speaker 2: places like Canada and Australia.
15:25
Speaker 1: Well, something perhaps even more mismanaged and screwed up the
15:29
Speaker 1: higher education situation in our country. We're going to address
15:32
Speaker 1: that with Dave Volames from the Taxpayer Protection Alliance Higher
15:36
Speaker 1: Education Reform. I think we definitely need it. What Approaches
15:39
Speaker 1: Day fifty five KRC The Talk Station seven thirty fifty
15:44
Speaker 1: five KRCD Talk Station, Happy Tuesday. Dave Williams, the Taxpayer
15:48
Speaker 1: Protection Alliance, moving through the issues Higher Education Reform Act.
15:55
Speaker 1: I think more and more people come to the realization
15:57
Speaker 1: that the paying eighty one hundred thousand dollars or whatever
15:59
Speaker 1: to any tuition is at a higher institution is not
16:02
Speaker 1: worth the money. You come out with a worthless degree
16:04
Speaker 1: in many cases, and massive debt. But even if you
16:07
Speaker 1: come out with a good degree, it's a lot of
16:09
Speaker 1: massive debt and you are engaged in a four year
16:11
Speaker 1: propaganda exercise. Dave Williams, how do you fix this problem?
16:15
Speaker 2: Wow, we're hitting all the biggies today, aren't we. Education.
16:19
Speaker 2: I mean, this really is. And you know, the evidence
16:22
Speaker 2: is clear over the past number of years. The more
16:25
Speaker 2: subsidies and more loans that go out for a higher education, uh,
16:28
Speaker 2: the more expensive it becomes. I mean, this is just
16:31
Speaker 2: common sense. But the studies, you know show that And
16:34
Speaker 2: what the bind administration tried to do is say, really
16:38
Speaker 2: create a divide between for profit and nonprofit education. Now,
16:42
Speaker 2: for profit could be trade schools, right. The nonprofit are
16:45
Speaker 2: the traditional Harvard Uh, you know, the university systems, that's
16:50
Speaker 2: the traditional nonprofit. But he said, Okay, if you are
16:53
Speaker 2: a for profit, you have to show that there's going
16:56
Speaker 2: to be gainful employment after your education. And it's really
17:03
Speaker 2: tough to determine what gainful employment really is. And I say,
17:06
Speaker 2: and we're going to cut off these subsidies. If there's
17:08
Speaker 2: not gainful employment, why not do that for nonprofits?
17:11
Speaker 1: Amen? I mean I was waiting for that shot to drop.
17:13
Speaker 1: But what you mean it has to be opportunity for
17:17
Speaker 1: gainful employment, not guaranteed you're going to get a job,
17:19
Speaker 1: because if you go into a trade school and you
17:22
Speaker 1: fail miserably and you can't perform the task are being taught,
17:25
Speaker 1: you're not going to get a job, even though there
17:27
Speaker 1: might be you know, thousands of hvac jobs out there
17:29
Speaker 1: or plumbing jobs or whatever. So I get the point.
17:32
Speaker 1: You can't make that argument or not for profit school
17:34
Speaker 1: because no one wants anyone with a sociology degree or
17:38
Speaker 1: a degree in some humanities program because philosophy, philosophy. How
17:42
Speaker 1: about my degree political science? Again, if I hadn't gone
17:46
Speaker 1: a day, if I didn't go to law school, I
17:47
Speaker 1: have no idea what to be doing today. If I
17:48
Speaker 1: had with my political science degree, it was my hobby,
17:52
Speaker 1: it was a it was it was a stepping stone
17:54
Speaker 1: to do what I knew I was going to do next,
17:56
Speaker 1: which was to go to law school. Otherwise I probably
17:57
Speaker 1: would have gotten a degree in something that's well some
18:00
Speaker 1: that I could have been employed with well and.
18:03
Speaker 2: Let's look at for profit and nonprofit. You have a
18:06
Speaker 2: school like Harvard that has tens of billions of dollars
18:10
Speaker 2: in endowment that is a profit. I mean, are you
18:14
Speaker 2: kidding me? You look at these for profit trade schools,
18:17
Speaker 2: they don't have that. I mean, it's just it's crazy
18:21
Speaker 2: how things are turned on its head. But again, this
18:23
Speaker 2: is the Biden administration applying rules for one set and
18:26
Speaker 2: rules and you know, not rules for the other. And
18:29
Speaker 2: this should be across the board. And I got to
18:32
Speaker 2: tell you, I think people coming out of a for
18:34
Speaker 2: profit trade school have more of an opportunity at gain
18:38
Speaker 2: full employment and people coming out of like you said,
18:41
Speaker 2: it's philosophy degree, a political science degree. Yeah, it's it
18:45
Speaker 2: doesn't make sense apply the same rules across the board.
18:48
Speaker 1: I could agree with you more. And you know, it
18:50
Speaker 1: seems to me it's almost like a fiduciary obligation or
18:54
Speaker 1: an ethical obligation to sit down with an entering freshman
18:58
Speaker 1: who has picked a made and go over with a
19:01
Speaker 1: with a counselor or something about the career prospects for
19:05
Speaker 1: that person. I'm not going to tell you not to
19:07
Speaker 1: get an art degree, young man or young woman, but
19:09
Speaker 1: here's the prospects an for a degree or for your
19:12
Speaker 1: degree getting you into the field that you want to
19:14
Speaker 1: study art. There are only three jobs available at Southabe's
19:18
Speaker 1: and all of them are filled. You know, you know
19:20
Speaker 1: what docents make, They nothing. They work for free at museums. Right,
19:25
Speaker 1: you got elderly, wealthy women who are more than happy
19:28
Speaker 1: to go around and talk about abstract art and not
19:30
Speaker 1: charge a dime for it. So there's no career opportunity
19:32
Speaker 1: in that. That's a candid conversation that everyone should be
19:36
Speaker 1: forced to sit through, so they contemplate the prospects of
19:39
Speaker 1: their careers in the future and how much in debt
19:41
Speaker 1: they're going to be when they get out of college.
19:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's actually no linkage between college and what they
19:48
Speaker 2: do afterwards and their employment and h and jobs. Because
19:52
Speaker 2: you have art history majors and listen, if you want
19:55
Speaker 2: to study that, fantastic, But understand what's going to happen
19:59
Speaker 2: when you come home to college is that there aren't
20:01
Speaker 2: a lot of opportunities for that. And listen, we also
20:04
Speaker 2: live in a gig economy, Brian. People are doing things
20:06
Speaker 2: outside of the education sphere, true, right, they are, you know,
20:11
Speaker 2: foregoing any sort of formal you know, post secondary or
20:14
Speaker 2: higher education, and they're doing great. You know, some of
20:17
Speaker 2: our best entrepreneurs right now are not going to college
20:20
Speaker 2: or going to you know, for profit or nonprofit. And
20:22
Speaker 2: I think we are shoving so much money into these
20:26
Speaker 2: institutions and we're not getting anything out of it.
20:29
Speaker 1: Not getting anything out of a bunch of angry people
20:31
Speaker 1: who are in debt with a degree that isn't worth
20:33
Speaker 1: the paper it's written on. If I may be so bold,
20:36
Speaker 1: and you know, you talk about degrees like art, and
20:38
Speaker 1: I've said a bunch of times because my son's an
20:40
Speaker 1: illustration of this. He quit college. He went to Ohio
20:43
Speaker 1: State University. He was in computer science, I mean, a
20:45
Speaker 1: legitimate degree. There's a lot of jobs out there for
20:48
Speaker 1: computer engineers. He quit. Why I can teach this self.
20:51
Speaker 1: My I can teach myself. Dad, This is a colossal
20:54
Speaker 1: waste of my time and your money. And he went
20:56
Speaker 1: on and he taught himself coding because he knew some
20:58
Speaker 1: of it anyway, got some certificate against for security. I mean,
21:01
Speaker 1: he's still in the computer business, but he didn't have
21:02
Speaker 1: a degree. Now, teach yourself. If you want to study
21:05
Speaker 1: Italian art, and you want a degree in Italian art history,
21:08
Speaker 1: then you know you can do that on your own, right, Dave.
21:11
Speaker 1: I mean the books are all out there. You don't
21:13
Speaker 1: need a teacher to prepare a curriculum. Compare your own right.
21:17
Speaker 2: And understand the consequences of that. Absolutely.
21:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right? Can you stick around for one more
21:22
Speaker 1: to tell us about Sumosa? Are you about wonderful? One more?
21:25
Speaker 1: We're going to find out what in the hell is
21:26
Speaker 1: this Somosa Acting. I'm KARC the talk station seven. If
21:31
Speaker 1: you about KARCD talk station. Happy Tuesday, Ryan Thomas. One
21:34
Speaker 1: more segment here with Dave Williams from the Taxpayer Protection
21:38
Speaker 1: Alliance again online at Protecting Taxpayers dot org. Real quick,
21:40
Speaker 1: before we get to Simosa acting. What that is? Dave,
21:42
Speaker 1: I've been on a real tear of late for obvious reasons,
21:44
Speaker 1: with all the stories in the news about fraud, waste
21:46
Speaker 1: and abuse, people builking the system. Whether you go up
21:48
Speaker 1: to Minnesota and see what's going on there, we find
21:51
Speaker 1: out more and more people took advantage of this parole program.
21:53
Speaker 1: You got child molesters getting involved, and no one did
21:57
Speaker 1: any oversight, No one was looking out for fraud, wasting
21:59
Speaker 1: to be no one bothered cross referencing or checking people's
22:02
Speaker 1: identities social security numbers use thousands of times dead people's
22:06
Speaker 1: social security numbers. This is an easy fix with AI
22:09
Speaker 1: these days, Dave, letting departments share information when, Dear God,
22:13
Speaker 1: when will our elected officials put first and foremost avoiding
22:18
Speaker 1: and preventing? As item number one, the ability to engage
22:21
Speaker 1: in fraud wasted use in any government program, because oh,
22:24
Speaker 1: come on, they're all there to serve someone who desperately
22:27
Speaker 1: needs a government program. Aren't we harming those people the
22:30
Speaker 1: most by allowing this to go on? Dave.
22:33
Speaker 2: We have the technological tools to do this, the government
22:37
Speaker 2: chooses not to use them. And it's frustrating because if
22:40
Speaker 2: you look at you know, child safety, any of these issues,
22:43
Speaker 2: every dollar that is wasted is a dollar that is
22:46
Speaker 2: not helping somebody, and it's it's frustrating as heck. And
22:50
Speaker 2: it's just there's no excuses for this, and absolutely no excuses.
22:54
Speaker 2: We have phones, you know, the phone that I'm using
22:56
Speaker 2: right now has amazing technical capabilities, yet the government is
23:00
Speaker 2: still stuck in almost the nineteenth century at this point.
23:04
Speaker 2: So I look at the irs. The IRS has software
23:07
Speaker 2: that is fifty or sixty years old? How does that happen?
23:11
Speaker 2: How does the government allow that to happen? Fifty or
23:13
Speaker 2: sixty year old software at one of the most important agencies,
23:16
Speaker 2: the irs.
23:17
Speaker 1: And they want to take over doing our tax returns
23:20
Speaker 1: for us? Dave, Yeah, we'll get right on that, all right.
23:24
Speaker 1: Thank you for letting me get that out of my system.
23:25
Speaker 1: I have been on a bit of a tear lately
23:27
Speaker 1: on that. So strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software
23:32
Speaker 1: assets SOMOSA Act. What's this?
23:35
Speaker 2: You know, Brian, We've talked a lot about difficult issues healthcare, education,
23:40
Speaker 2: This is not This is about looking at the software
23:43
Speaker 2: that the government owns and just making it more efficient
23:46
Speaker 2: and saying, listen, we spend ten to fifteen billion dollars
23:49
Speaker 2: on software software licenses. What is and just doing an
23:54
Speaker 2: inventory talking about five hundred seven hundred and fifty million
24:01
Speaker 2: dollars a year could be saved on licenses, on software licenses.
24:06
Speaker 2: This is easy, man, This is super easy.
24:09
Speaker 1: It really is, all right. So it always points when
24:13
Speaker 1: you have something that seems so crystal clear and seems
24:16
Speaker 1: so objectively bipartisan to be a good idea, what kind
24:20
Speaker 1: of trouble you're running into? Getting some traction on this
24:22
Speaker 1: one or is it a bipartisan supported piece of legislation.
24:26
Speaker 2: It is bipartisan. And and what I think what happens
24:29
Speaker 2: is that they run out of time. I look at
24:31
Speaker 2: this year, right what there's a month and a half
24:33
Speaker 2: of a government shutdown and nothing happened. This would have
24:35
Speaker 2: been a great time for the Speaker to have hearings,
24:38
Speaker 2: to hold hearings on the Simosa Act, and to be
24:41
Speaker 2: ready for this to be introduced right after the government shutdown,
24:44
Speaker 2: you know, finished. So there's been opportunities to do this,
24:47
Speaker 2: and again it's just to malaise the slowness. You know,
24:50
Speaker 2: the Congress moves like the continents. It's just so slow.
24:54
Speaker 2: But you know, hopefully and you know it was its
24:56
Speaker 2: being introduced this week again and hopefully we'll get a
24:59
Speaker 2: vote by the end of the year.
25:01
Speaker 1: Well, and you know, to people's point about the Imperial presidency,
25:04
Speaker 1: it's that slow pace and that inability to get anything
25:07
Speaker 1: logical and reasonable done. Ignore the politically charged issues out
25:10
Speaker 1: there in the world where you have massive division. If
25:13
Speaker 1: you've got something so simple, easy and important and beneficial
25:17
Speaker 1: to everyone, like this, the most act, you'd expect them
25:19
Speaker 1: to act on it right away. But since they don't,
25:21
Speaker 1: this invites well executive action. I mean, I know people
25:25
Speaker 1: say Trump exceeds his authority and his boundaries, and even
25:27
Speaker 1: I say that from time to time as well. But
25:30
Speaker 1: that's what people want political expedients, and you're that's going
25:33
Speaker 1: to not necessarily near to our collective benefit down the
25:36
Speaker 1: road if it has to continue.
25:38
Speaker 2: And they want leadership. They want leadership out of the House,
25:41
Speaker 2: the Senate, and the White House. And again, a lot
25:44
Speaker 2: of things we don't like the President's dealing with tariffs,
25:47
Speaker 2: but you know, Mike Johnson and John Thune, we need
25:50
Speaker 2: leadership from those bodies to really put these things through.
25:54
Speaker 2: And again, this is not a discussion we should be
25:57
Speaker 2: having because Democrats support this, Republicans support this. This should
26:01
Speaker 2: have been done a long time ago. And you know,
26:04
Speaker 2: hopefully listen, I don't want to be too much on
26:07
Speaker 2: Pollyanna here, but it's the end of the year. They
26:09
Speaker 2: are bringing this back for a vote on the floor,
26:13
Speaker 2: so maybe maybe we'll see some movement.
26:16
Speaker 1: Well, I was getting ready to point a finger at
26:17
Speaker 1: Speaker Johnson because he has the power and authority to
26:20
Speaker 1: either bring something for a vote or not. That's why
26:22
Speaker 1: we talked about the discharge petition before because it takes
26:24
Speaker 1: that authority out of his hands. But at least he
26:27
Speaker 1: is bringing this for a vote, is what I'm understanding.
26:31
Speaker 2: Yep, absolutely all right, and listen, I've been critical of
26:33
Speaker 2: Speaker Johnson too, but hopefully, you know, this is one
26:36
Speaker 2: thing he can get right.
26:37
Speaker 1: I would hope so we could use some bipartisanship, especially
26:41
Speaker 1: along these lines. How's this looking in the Senate? Comparable
26:44
Speaker 1: perspective in the Senate that it's bipartisan support?
26:47
Speaker 2: It is? It is. We do have bipartisan support it
26:49
Speaker 2: in the Senate also, and I think really now it's
26:52
Speaker 2: a matter of timing because times, you know, the clock
26:54
Speaker 2: is ticking on the end of the year. So fingers
26:56
Speaker 2: crossed on this one.
26:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like that's not a strategy. Dave, keep up the
27:03
Speaker 1: great work. I certainly appreciate what you're doing at the
27:05
Speaker 1: Taxpayer protect Alliance, and again I'll encourage my listeners to
27:08
Speaker 1: bookmark your web page Protecting Taxpayers dot org. Until we
27:11
Speaker 1: talk again, I doubt it's before the end of the
27:12
Speaker 1: year because I'm off after the twenty third, but looking
27:15
Speaker 1: forward to another series of discussions in the next county
27:19
Speaker 1: your Dave.
27:20
Speaker 2: Have a wonderful Christmas, you and your family.
27:22
Speaker 1: Right back at you, my friend. Merry Christmas to you
27:24
Speaker 1: and everybody at the organization seven forty six, right now
27:26
Speaker 1: at thirty five KRC