Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Kelly Loeffler | SBA Administrator Previews Queens Press Conference in Solidarity with NYC Bodega Owners
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: We welcome into our, squeeze into our studio, the former
- 0:04Speaker 1: senator from Georgia, who's now head of the Small Business Administration,
- 0:07Speaker 1: Kelly Laufer. Good morning, Kelly.
- 0:09Speaker 2: Well, good morning. It's always an honor to be with y'all,
- 0:12Speaker 2: although I missaid.
- 0:13Speaker 3: Yeah, of course.
- 0:14Speaker 1: I imagine you were disappointed when you heard he.
- 0:15Speaker 2: Wasn't going to be here.
- 0:16Speaker 3: Well, not disappointed. It's okay.
- 0:17Speaker 2: You can say you're disappointed.
- 0:18Speaker 1: That's fine.
- 0:19Speaker 2: You know, we love to talk sports together.
- 0:20Speaker 3: Right. Yeah, yeah.
- 0:22Speaker 1: Georgia football.
- 0:23Speaker 2: A little bit of football, a little bit of basketball,
- 0:25Speaker 2: some WNBA stuff.
- 0:26Speaker 1: What does the team look like? How's Georgia going to
- 0:28Speaker 1: do this year?
- 0:28Speaker 2: Well, first of all, go Dawgs. Things haven't gotten started yet,
- 0:31Speaker 2: but they're heating up. And the Bulldogs are looking great
- 0:34Speaker 2: as always. As I said to some of my friends
- 0:37Speaker 2: over at University of Texas, welcome to the big leagues.
- 0:40Speaker 2: We'll see you in the championship.
- 0:42Speaker 1: And does that translate when you're a Georgia fan that
- 0:44Speaker 1: you're also an Atlanta Falcons fan or is it not
- 0:47Speaker 1: the same thing?
- 0:48Speaker 2: It can be the same, but SEC land is Georgia.
- 0:53Speaker 4: No, you're not going to replace it. You can play
- 0:56Speaker 4: this sort of game all you want. You're not going
- 0:58Speaker 4: to replace it.
- 1:00Speaker 2: College football is big, but let me say go Falcons
- 1:05Speaker 2: because they've made some great changes there, and I'm very excited.
- 1:08Speaker 2: They brought in Matt Ryan as the president of football.
- 1:10Speaker 2: I think that's someone who knows football, and so we're
- 1:12Speaker 2: going to be able to really see some wins as
- 1:15Speaker 2: a result of that.
- 1:16Speaker 1: How exciting that both seasons are getting underway. Okay, you're
- 1:19Speaker 1: going to be in Queens in a short period of
- 1:21Speaker 1: time from now when you leave us here and you
- 1:23Speaker 1: have a big announcement to make.
- 1:24Speaker 5: What is that?
- 1:25Speaker 2: Well, we're going to be up in Queens doing a
- 1:28Speaker 2: press conference, standing alongside of the bodega owners, local leaders
- 1:32Speaker 2: like Councilwoman Palladino, the Chambers of Commerce, standing strong as
- 1:39Speaker 2: part of the Trump administration with the small businesses, with
- 1:42Speaker 2: the bodegas. that Mondami and his communist comrades are coming after.
- 1:47Speaker 2: So you think about 10,000 bodega small grocers across this
- 1:51Speaker 2: great city. They're taking them on with a $ 70 million
- 1:55Speaker 2: boondoggle to create government-run grocery stores just to show that
- 2:00Speaker 2: they really mean business when they say they want to
- 2:01Speaker 2: control the means of production and destroy the American dream
- 2:04Speaker 2: for working families.
- 2:05Speaker 1: And so what does that mean? Because we're right there
- 2:08Speaker 1: with you. I mean, this is a disaster for small
- 2:10Speaker 1: businesses everywhere. that are the lifeline for so many of
- 2:14Speaker 1: these communities. And the first one, I think, is going
- 2:16Speaker 1: to go up in Hunts Point in the Bronx. At
- 2:18Speaker 1: least that's a thought from Mayor Mamdani. How is this
- 2:21Speaker 1: going to stop this, or can it stop it?
- 2:23Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 2:23Speaker 2: Well, so they've named two boroughs where they've stood up.
- 2:27Speaker 2: One example, I think it's in Harlem. They've named the location.
- 2:30Speaker 2: There's 15 bodegas in a five block radius around where
- 2:33Speaker 2: they've picked out. That's going to cost millions every year
- 2:37Speaker 2: to run. And guess who's funding it? The hardworking small
- 2:39Speaker 2: business owners that he's trying to put out of business.
- 2:42Speaker 2: And you think about we're here in the capital of capitalism,
- 2:45Speaker 2: but I would argue it's also the capital of They're
- 2:48Speaker 2: going to destroy the culture of our local communities and
- 2:51Speaker 2: really the family businesses, generational businesses. And this is the contrast.
- 2:55Speaker 2: You look at President Trump standing with working families, passing
- 2:58Speaker 2: tax cuts, deregulation. And then you've got a socialist mayor
- 3:04Speaker 2: who wants to bring higher taxes, government run everything, government
- 3:08Speaker 2: control of your life. And then probably going to put
- 3:10Speaker 2: a lot of regulations and tracking on these grocery stores.
- 3:13Speaker 2: It's pretty scary. I mean, this is Soviet era stuff.
- 3:15Speaker 2: It is.
- 3:15Speaker 1: But in the meantime, if these stores get up and running,
- 3:18Speaker 1: he's really going to undercut because we're seeing how much
- 3:21Speaker 1: he's saying 30% off this, 40% off that.
- 3:22Speaker 4: It is doomed to fail. It's going to fail for
- 3:26Speaker 4: multiple reasons. Number one, anytime the city gets involved in
- 3:29Speaker 4: a project, it's not like John running a store where
- 3:32Speaker 4: there's profit. They don't care. They don't watch the costs.
- 3:36Speaker 4: They will mess this up, but more so, the areas
- 3:39Speaker 4: that they are bringing, the areas that they're bringing these
- 3:44Speaker 4: supermarkets to are all impoverished areas. Okay, what ends up happening? Well,
- 3:50Speaker 4: when you're going to get something for less or for free...
- 3:53Speaker 4: People are going to start standing in line. They're going
- 3:54Speaker 4: to bring their friends in. The thugs are going to
- 3:57Speaker 4: come in. As you're walking with your groceries, there's going
- 3:59Speaker 4: to be all sorts of violence. Now you're going to
- 4:01Speaker 4: have to bring the police in in order to control
- 4:04Speaker 4: the violence. I've seen it when I was many years ago.
- 4:06Speaker 4: I watched my son do this with sneakers where we
- 4:09Speaker 4: would go for a drop. And next thing you know,
- 4:12Speaker 4: you're walking down the street. People were getting beaten up
- 4:14Speaker 4: for sneakers. Imagine what's going to happen now. For tomatoes, carrots,
- 4:19Speaker 4: and bread, and milk. Anything for free, someone's going to
- 4:22Speaker 4: want to take it from you.
- 4:23Speaker 2: Well, and you bring up a good point. They act
- 4:26Speaker 2: like it's for free, but it comes at great cost.
- 4:29Speaker 2: It's going to cost these small businesses their livelihoods. They're
- 4:33Speaker 2: not going to be able to rebuild once they're put
- 4:34Speaker 2: out of business. And when that government grocery store fails,
- 4:38Speaker 2: and it will, they've failed everywhere. Chicago did the same thing,
- 4:41Speaker 2: shut them down within a year. When it fails, these
- 4:44Speaker 2: neighborhoods will be left without small bodegas and grocery stores
- 4:48Speaker 2: to serve their needs.
- 4:49Speaker 1: So what's your message to bodega owners? A lot of
- 4:52Speaker 1: them listen to us. What should they do? How should
- 4:55Speaker 1: they respond to all this?
- 4:56Speaker 2: Well, first of all, the Trump administration stands with them
- 4:58Speaker 2: for free enterprise, for free enterprise capitalism that has made
- 5:04Speaker 2: this country, this city great. That's why they're here is
- 5:08Speaker 2: because they want to live their American dream. So we
- 5:09Speaker 2: stand with them. That's why we're cutting taxes and regulation.
- 5:13Speaker 2: But we stand against everything that represents stealing that from them.
- 5:18Speaker 2: But that's what The DSA's first line in their statement
- 5:22Speaker 2: on their website says they stand against capitalism and they
- 5:27Speaker 2: stand against what these bodega owners do every day. They
- 5:29Speaker 2: work so hard. Think about putting in 12-hour days to
- 5:33Speaker 2: take home one cent on the dollar. That's what that
- 5:35Speaker 2: business is. And so we stand with them in free enterprise.
- 5:38Speaker 4: What would be your message to Mayor Moran Mandani? regarding
- 5:42Speaker 4: this idea? Because I'm with you. I think it's the worst.
- 5:46Speaker 4: I think everything so far that he has done, whether
- 5:48Speaker 4: it's the rent stabilization problems that he's creating, whether it's
- 5:53Speaker 4: these groceries, I think everything he's done so far is
- 5:56Speaker 4: designed to destroy New York.
- 5:58Speaker 3: There is panic in the real estate industry. And my
- 6:02Speaker 3: friend Suzanne Miller says that New Foreign buyers are not
- 6:06Speaker 3: buying condos in New York until they find out what
- 6:09Speaker 3: the heck is going on.
- 6:10Speaker 2: Well, John, you're right. Look at the peer-to-peer tax. It's
- 6:13Speaker 2: already gotten a lawsuit. So you look at every step
- 6:16Speaker 2: he's taking, it's under fire by lawsuits by citizens of
- 6:19Speaker 2: this city. So they're already trying to stop him in court.
- 6:23Speaker 2: He's only been in office a short time and has
- 6:25Speaker 2: created a great amount of issue, whether it's homeownership, small businesses.
- 6:30Speaker 2: The president is very concerned. It's very concerning. And the
- 6:33Speaker 2: fact that it's happening here in such a large city,
- 6:36Speaker 2: the scale of the disaster could be very significant.
- 6:39Speaker 4: Because if you could do it in New York, you
- 6:41Speaker 4: could do it anywhere. That's Mamdani and DSA's ideology. If
- 6:45Speaker 4: they can cripple New York, they can cripple Idaho.
- 6:49Speaker 2: Socialism coming to a city or town near you. And
- 6:53Speaker 2: you see that happening. I mean, these DSA candidates that
- 6:56Speaker 2: are running on free everything, defund the police, defund the military.
- 7:01Speaker 2: it's not a joke. It's happening in New York.
- 7:04Speaker 3: Well, I spoke to the president a few days ago,
- 7:06Speaker 3: and Washington is finally realizing, are the powers that be,
- 7:12Speaker 3: that some of these American citizens that are funneling money
- 7:15Speaker 3: into these political campaigns and the socialist campaigns, guess what?
- 7:21Speaker 3: They're only conduits of foreign powers.
- 7:26Speaker 2: Well, there's certainly that element of, you know, our adversaries
- 7:31Speaker 2: want to see us fail. But our founders even said,
- 7:35Speaker 2: if we fail, it will be because we fail within.
- 7:37Speaker 2: And that's why elections matter. It's why we have to
- 7:40Speaker 2: get away from this concept of punishing success, of punishing
- 7:44Speaker 2: hard work. And that's what the Trump administration is about.
- 7:47Speaker 2: It's rewarding and creating incentives for hard work that builds
- 7:50Speaker 2: up this country for the next 250 years so that
- 7:54Speaker 2: we're stronger against our adversaries. It's why You see this
- 7:57Speaker 2: cabinet all working together. I'm working with the Department of War,
- 8:00Speaker 2: Department of Agriculture, to make sure that we build a
- 8:03Speaker 2: foundation for the next 250 years so that we can
- 8:06Speaker 2: stand against our adversaries, even if they are funneling money
- 8:09Speaker 2: into our elections. We'll be stronger. against them.
- 8:11Speaker 1: I love that you're having this press conference with Vicky Paladino.
- 8:14Speaker 1: Have you met her before?
- 8:15Speaker 2: We haven't met in person, but I'm a big fan
- 8:17Speaker 2: of her.
- 8:17Speaker 4: She's a trip.
- 8:18Speaker 1: She's amazing. She will have a lot to say. Hey,
- 8:21Speaker 1: you might not be able to get a word in edgewise.
- 8:24Speaker 2: Hey, this is her platform. And this is why the
- 8:26Speaker 2: Trump administration is here, to stand with hardworking New Yorkers,
- 8:29Speaker 2: to let them know we have their backs, that we
- 8:31Speaker 2: want to create the conditions for their success, not their
- 8:34Speaker 2: demise in the way that the Mondami comrades are doing. And,
- 8:39Speaker 2: you know, we'll continue to be their voice.
- 8:41Speaker 1: All right, Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration.
- 8:44Speaker 1: I know you've got to get to this press conference.
- 8:46Speaker 1: We're excited to let you get there. So you're there
- 8:48Speaker 1: on time. And tell Vicki Paladino we say hello.
- 8:51Speaker 2: I will do it.
- 8:51Speaker 1: And thanks for coming in this morning.
- 8:52Speaker 4: And keep doing what you're doing.
- 8:53Speaker 2: Thank you, Michael.
- 8:53Speaker 4: Keep doing what you're doing.
- 8:54Speaker 3: And thank you for coming on.
- 8:56Speaker 2: John, what an honor to be with you.
- 8:57Speaker 1: All right, we've got more to come. We still have
- 9:01Speaker 1: time left on the show. We've still got another 25
- 9:04Speaker 1: minutes to go.
- 9:04Speaker 4: Because we still have a lot to talk about.
- 9:06Speaker 3: I took video, and you know what I did? I
- 9:08Speaker 3: sent it to my wife, Margo. I said, I love
- 9:10Speaker 3: that jacket she's wearing.
- 9:11Speaker 1: Oh, and maybe she'll get one just like it.
- 9:13Speaker 3: That is terrific.
- 9:15Speaker 2: Well, that's so kind. Thank you. It does look good.
- 9:18Speaker 2: Wore it for you. I told you, John.
- 9:19Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 9:21Speaker 5: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
- 9:25Speaker 5: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
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- 9:46Speaker 5: and X. See you next time for a new episode
- 9:48Speaker 5: so you never have to wonder.
- 9:50Speaker 3: What the heck is going on here?