Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Congressmen Don Bacon LONG interview

Transcript

Congressmen Don Bacon LONG interview · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jean Stothert. Peyton Highlock, my producer, is
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Speaker 1: also here today. Good morning, Peyton. Good morning, Jean.
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Speaker 2: How are you?
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Speaker 1: I am just dandy today. It's another nice day in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Speaker 1: And thank you all for being with us today. We
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Speaker 1: want to hear from you. We want to get your feedback.
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Speaker 1: We want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaints. Anything goes.
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Speaker 1: Peyton and I will not back away from anything. City, state,
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Speaker 1: national are the world. We always have great guests. We
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Speaker 1: have a great guest today, but you will, of course,
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Speaker 1: hear plenty of opinions from me, too. But it is
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Speaker 1: your chance to speak up and sound off, so please
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Speaker 1: send your emails to comment at kfab.com. You can call
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Speaker 1: us at 402-558-1110, or you can leave us a recorded
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Speaker 1: message on the talkback mic, and we'll play it on
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Speaker 1: the air. We are happy that you're with us, and
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Speaker 1: I'm very happy that Congressman Don Bacon is in the
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Speaker 1: studio with us today. Good morning, Congressman Bacon. Good morning.
0:53
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor, and I love that song, that Girl's
0:55
Speaker 2: on Fire.
0:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, how do you like that? Some of our listeners
0:58
Speaker 1: don't like that song at all. And I did say
1:00
Speaker 1: one time, okay, then provide me a better one, but
1:03
Speaker 1: I'm still hanging on to that one. There's a little
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Speaker 1: story about that one, but it was my first election
1:08
Speaker 1: night in 2013. We were at the German American Society,
1:12
Speaker 1: ran against Suttel. And when I knew I won and
1:15
Speaker 1: I came out on stage, they surprised me and they
1:17
Speaker 1: played that. So that's a good one. Yeah, there's a
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Speaker 1: little history there. But, boy, you know what? November 3rd
1:24
Speaker 1: and you will not be in Congress anymore. Let's talk
1:27
Speaker 1: about you a little bit from the get-go here because
1:31
Speaker 1: just last week I was one of your roasters at
1:33
Speaker 1: the press club.
1:34
Speaker 2: And you did a great job.
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Speaker 1: Oh, why, thank you. Yeah, we talked about all sorts
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Speaker 1: of bacon. You can't help it when you are talking
1:40
Speaker 1: about Don Bacon. But you know what? You have got
1:42
Speaker 1: such a history. And I will say this face on
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Speaker 1: the barroom floor at the press club, it's a real
1:48
Speaker 1: tradition with the press. You are the 188th face on
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Speaker 1: the barroom floor. They did talk quite a bit about
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Speaker 1: your career. What a military career you had. You were
1:59
Speaker 1: in the military for— 30 years? Just shy of 30 years,
2:02
Speaker 1: a couple months. 30 years, that is just amazing to me.
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Speaker 1: You retired, United States Air Force, retired as a brigadier general.
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Speaker 1: You were a specialist in electronic warfare and intelligence. That
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Speaker 1: sounds pretty impressive. You were the wing commander in Ramstein
2:18
Speaker 1: Air Base in Germany?
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Speaker 3: Yes.
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Speaker 1: And also at Office Air Force Base right here in Bellevue, Nebraska.
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Speaker 1: You served some time in Arizona, too, and you flew
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Speaker 1: multiple combat missions over Iraq.
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Speaker 2: You got it.
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Speaker 1: Wow. I mean, that's really some career. And then in 2016,
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Speaker 1: you took on your most dangerous job you have and
2:37
Speaker 1: you ran for Congress, right?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was intending to do that when I retired. But,
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Speaker 2: you know, I thought who could run? And the folks
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Speaker 2: I thought could win did not want to run. And
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Speaker 2: those who I didn't think had a good chance to
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Speaker 2: beat Brad, who became a friend of mine subsequently.
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Speaker 3: Yes.
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Speaker 2: I didn't think they could win. So finally I just thought, well,
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Speaker 2: we'll give it a try. It wasn't my intent when
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Speaker 2: I retired though.
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Speaker 1: And you entered the political arena. 2016, you did defeat
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Speaker 1: Brad Astrid, who was the incumbent.
3:01
Speaker 2: He was very tough, by the way. A moderate Democrat
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Speaker 2: is a very tough candidate here in– The second district.
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Speaker 1: Yes. You know, I always remember, and it was about
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Speaker 1: Brad Ashford and his son, Jono, which was at your roast.
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Speaker 1: I remembered he spoke at Brad's funeral after he died.
3:17
Speaker 1: And one of the funniest things he said about his
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Speaker 1: dad at his funeral, he said, my dad is just
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Speaker 1: like the Northwest Radial Highway. Sometimes he goes to the right,
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Speaker 1: sometimes he goes to the left, and sometimes he goes
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Speaker 1: right down the middle. And I thought that was so
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Speaker 1: funny and so descriptive. of Brad Ashford, but you both
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Speaker 1: became really, really good friends too. And I think you
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Speaker 1: are recognized and you have been recognized. You are a Republican,
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Speaker 1: but recognized for your bipartisan efforts. And I know you've
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Speaker 1: been interviewed by national news media numerous times, CNN, 60 Minutes.
3:48
Speaker 1: I know on those, you were a bit critical of
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Speaker 1: President Donald Trump too. And we're going to talk about
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Speaker 1: that a little bit today. But right now, boy, do
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Speaker 1: we have a crazy town election going on. 13 days.
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Speaker 1: Congressman Bacon, you've got to tell, I mean, I know
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Speaker 1: what it's like to get closer and closer to an election.
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Speaker 1: I know what you, as a candidate, what you feel like,
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Speaker 1: even if you are the incumbent. But let's talk about
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Speaker 1: who your replacement is going to be in this CD2 race.
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Speaker 1: Let's get your opinion on this. You know, I've watched everything.
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Speaker 1: I've had Brinker Harding in this studio many times. I've
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Speaker 1: offered Denise Powell many, many times, and she won't even respond.
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Speaker 1: She won't even say, no, thank you, like she did
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Speaker 1: in the debate. But I talk about this race a
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Speaker 1: lot because it infuriates me, some of these commercials that
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Speaker 1: she has, what she is accusing Brinker Harding. Give us
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Speaker 1: your take on this CD2 race.
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Speaker 2: Well, first of all, every race I had, I think,
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Speaker 2: except for one, I was favored to lose, or was
4:47
Speaker 2: not favored to win, we'll put it that way. But
4:49
Speaker 2: we've always won between one point up to about five points.
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Speaker 2: And this last election, 24, every poll had us down
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Speaker 2: about four to six. But my own guy said I
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Speaker 2: was up two, and we ended up winning by two.
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Speaker 2: So I had a really good data guy. And by
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Speaker 2: the way, Brinker has the same data expertise on his team.
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Speaker 1: And this internal polling you were doing was right, like now,
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Speaker 1: right before the elections, just a few weeks out.
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Speaker 2: A month out, I thought we were down two, two
5:14
Speaker 2: years ago. And then the week before, we thought we
5:17
Speaker 2: were up two. I think we did pretty well during
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Speaker 2: the debates. And our TV ads were hitting. And it
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Speaker 2: helped having Democrats endorsing me on TV because people are
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Speaker 2: looking for permission. They didn't like Trump in 24, but
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Speaker 2: they didn't want Tony. So you had to have people
5:33
Speaker 2: like Ann Ashford, Johnny Rogers would come out and say,
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Speaker 2: I'm going to support Don. And that's okay. We can
5:38
Speaker 2: split our ticket. So it's sort of what we had
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Speaker 2: to do there to say, okay, we can do that. Now,
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Speaker 2: in this race, the Democrats are going to do everything
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Speaker 2: they can to try to tie Brinker and other Republicans
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Speaker 2: to President Trump.
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Speaker 1: To President Trump.
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Speaker 2: And he is down about 25 points here in this district.
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Speaker 2: So that's, I think, a pretty smart tactic. So what
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Speaker 2: does Brinker got to do? He's got to say, well,
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Speaker 2: here's the areas I support President Trump on. Here's the
6:00
Speaker 2: areas I disagree. And I think he's done a great
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Speaker 2: job of that. He's come out to the $ 5, 000 a person.
6:05
Speaker 2: It's not smart. It's inflationary. It's a huge deficit builder.
6:10
Speaker 2: We shouldn't be buying stocks and companies. I think, you know, lifting,
6:14
Speaker 2: bringing in Argentinian beef to undercut our own ranchers, that's
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Speaker 2: not right. So he's done a good job saying, I
6:18
Speaker 2: will be, I'm going to do what's right for this district.
6:21
Speaker 2: And then the second thing he's got to do is
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Speaker 2: he has to be clear that his opponent is a
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Speaker 2: very far-left Democrat. And now she doesn't run that way,
6:28
Speaker 2: but how can you tell? Look who does she donate to?
6:32
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think you can really tell by
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Speaker 2: who donates. AOC, right. Sometimes you get a wider range
6:37
Speaker 2: of people that donate to your campaign. And that doesn't
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Speaker 2: really say a whole lot, but who you give to,
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Speaker 2: I think really communicates what you believe in. And if
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Speaker 2: you donate to AOC, who is on the DSA side,
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Speaker 2: the Democrat Socialist of America side of the political spectrum,
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Speaker 2: that sort of tells you where her heart is at.
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Speaker 2: And so that's what Brinker's doing. He's got to say, hey,
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Speaker 2: I'm my own guy. I'm going to represent this district.
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Speaker 2: My opponent's a far left liberal Democrat, which is not
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Speaker 2: what the second district likes. I think the toughest opponent
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Speaker 2: to have for me, would be a moderate Democrat who
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Speaker 2: has some pro-life, maybe not fully pro-life, but some pro-life views.
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Speaker 2: Tony and Cara, they were both abortion on demand until
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Speaker 2: birth kind of people. And that's not where this district's at.
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Speaker 2: So some kind of moderation of Democrat is good, but
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Speaker 2: This district– in this election, my view of it is
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Speaker 2: Denise is a hardcore left, but she's just going to
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Speaker 2: run on anti-Trump.
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Speaker 1: Yes, she is.
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Speaker 2: If she can make it all anti-Trump, that's her goal.
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Speaker 2: That's her strategy.
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Speaker 1: And that's what she's doing. I mean her commercials, even
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Speaker 1: her commercials with– he's a MAGA supporter of Trump. Anything
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Speaker 1: Trump wants, he's for. He's for the war. He's for
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Speaker 1: higher taxes. He is for– he's kissing the ring, she
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Speaker 1: always says, of Donald Trump. That just is not Brinker Harding.
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Speaker 1: And I brought this up so many times on this show.
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Speaker 1: I worked with Brinker Harding literally every day for eight years, literally.
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Speaker 1: He didn't always agree with me. But he would sit
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Speaker 1: down with me respectfully and say, I don't agree with
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Speaker 1: this because– and as the elected official, I think you
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Speaker 1: know this. Sometimes you need people to sit down. You
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Speaker 1: think you're going in the right direction, and somebody with
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Speaker 1: a different point of view is always helpful. That's what
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Speaker 1: Brinker Harding is like.
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Speaker 2: He's a pragmatic guy. He's smart.
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Speaker 1: He's no yes man at all.
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Speaker 2: He's a smart guy, pragmatic. He's a business guy.
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Speaker 1: Yes, he is.
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Speaker 2: He's got a lot of experience, and you can see it.
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Speaker 2: And so I think he'll make a great representative of
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Speaker 2: this district. But, you know, there's one of the things
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Speaker 2: he's got to overcome, and it's not his fault. This
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Speaker 2: isn't his bad. A lot of swing voters right now,
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Speaker 2: they're very angry at the president. Yes. And so he's
8:38
Speaker 2: got to break through that and say, I am my
8:40
Speaker 2: own guy. He's working that hard. I think he's doing
8:43
Speaker 2: it well. But that's what you got to overcome. There's
8:46
Speaker 2: an anger out there. They don't like tariffs. They don't
8:48
Speaker 2: like the chaos. But most people know Ukraine's in the right.
8:52
Speaker 2: Russia's in the bad. And so he's– but he– I
8:57
Speaker 2: think he is dialed in on that and he's going
8:59
Speaker 2: right at where he has to be. He's got 13
9:01
Speaker 2: more days to make that case. And that's where I
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Speaker 2: won the election every time. It was the last two
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Speaker 2: or three weeks. I always surge three or four points.
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Speaker 1: And that's what you got to do. You got to
9:11
Speaker 1: keep on fighting for it. You got to keep on
9:13
Speaker 1: saying what you are going to do if you are elected.
9:17
Speaker 1: But you got to swing back. I mean, you have–
9:21
Speaker 1: and I was always taught, which I thought the best
9:23
Speaker 1: advice I had was just don't sit there picking around
9:26
Speaker 1: the edge. If you're going to fight back, let it
9:28
Speaker 1: be a knockout. Let it be a sucker punch. And
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Speaker 1: I think– He's got to make it very, very clear
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Speaker 1: how liberal Denise Powell is. And like you said, by
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Speaker 1: who she donates to, the positions that she's taken, all
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Speaker 1: she's doing is attacking Brinker over and over and over
9:43
Speaker 1: and over. But I think it's very telling that she
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Speaker 1: won't even respond to be on radio.
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Speaker 2: Her strategy is just to focus on President Trump and
9:52
Speaker 2: doesn't want to have to deal with any other.
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Speaker 1: That's right.
9:55
Speaker 2: And Brinker's goal is to have to make her defend
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Speaker 2: who she's donating to and that she is a far Democrat.
10:01
Speaker 2: She actually– And she's out of the mainstream in this
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Speaker 2: district for sure.
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Speaker 1: She really is. And yet it annoys me because if
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Speaker 1: you hear her commercials, she has been the leader in
10:11
Speaker 1: this area for decades. I never heard of the woman.
10:15
Speaker 1: She says that she has supported Republican women. She can
10:18
Speaker 1: work with both parties. She didn't support me. She didn't
10:21
Speaker 1: support Deb Fischer. She didn't support Amy Melton. I mean,
10:24
Speaker 1: I can name every Republican elected woman that I know of,
10:28
Speaker 1: maybe not a few school board members, but I don't
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Speaker 1: have any idea who she has supported except the far,
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Speaker 1: far left.
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Speaker 2: She's been a big fundraiser, a big PAC person for
10:38
Speaker 2: left-wing causes.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely.
10:39
Speaker 2: She comes from a family that's well-connected in the corporate
10:42
Speaker 2: world that support left-wing women. causes and, uh, you know,
10:46
Speaker 2: her family herself, you know, as part of the, uh,
10:49
Speaker 2: LinkedIn executive side of things. So, so she'd been able
10:52
Speaker 2: to connect big donors, the left-wing causes, and you could
10:56
Speaker 2: see it in the primary. I think there was a,
10:58
Speaker 2: there was a great article. Uh, it was from one
11:01
Speaker 2: of the East. I can't remember if it was wall
11:02
Speaker 2: street journal, maybe it was New York post. I don't
11:04
Speaker 2: remember which article a newspaper was, but essentially this primary,
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Speaker 2: the Democrat primary, it was bought by mega donors that
11:12
Speaker 2: were anonymous $ 5 million. And these big donors, Anonymous, came in,
11:17
Speaker 2: gave her $ 5 million, and ran all those TV ads.
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Speaker 2: So essentially some East Coast, West Coast, Anonymous donors bought
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Speaker 2: the primary on the Democrat side. That's what happened.
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Speaker 1: And this is why they're calling her Dark Money Did East, too.
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Speaker 1: So tell our listeners how important this race is. And
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Speaker 1: for the country, for Congress, because right now the House–
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Speaker 1: the Republicans have a small lead. I believe there's 220 Republicans,
11:41
Speaker 1: 212 Democrats. Is that correct?
11:44
Speaker 2: And we have a three-seat majority in the end.
11:46
Speaker 1: And then you have a couple vacancies.
11:48
Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 1: Okay. So– We have the lead. Republicans have the lead
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Speaker 1: in the House by just a little bit. And the
11:54
Speaker 1: same with the Senate. We have 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats.
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Speaker 1: This could be a big change with this election. And
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Speaker 1: what really bothers me and concerns me is we are
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Speaker 1: seeing it all over the country. It's not just Democrats
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Speaker 1: are winning primaries or have won primaries. It's the DSA.
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Speaker 3: Right.
12:11
Speaker 1: It's a Democrat Socialist of America. It's some communists that
12:15
Speaker 1: are defeating really some good Democrat incumbents. This is a
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Speaker 1: real worry. Do you think people like El-Sayed and this
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Speaker 1: Chevalier in New York that wipes her hands on the
12:27
Speaker 1: American flag, do you think there's a chance that these
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Speaker 1: DSA far, far, far left leading communists are going to
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Speaker 1: get into the House?
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Speaker 2: I think the Chevalier is going to win. She's in
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Speaker 2: a district that— Oh, my goodness.— that— favors Democrats. So
12:42
Speaker 2: it'd be a surprise. I do believe that Rogers can
12:45
Speaker 2: win Michigan. It's a sort of a toss up right now.
12:47
Speaker 2: And I think in the end, his Democrat opponent is
12:50
Speaker 2: so extreme. But again, they're trying to do the anti-Trump.
12:54
Speaker 2: The whole thing. The whole thing is anti-Trump. So if
12:56
Speaker 2: they can drive that message, maybe he's got it. The
12:59
Speaker 2: Democrat has a chance. Rogers has got to just paint.
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Speaker 2: This guy's an extreme Democrat and very, I think, anti-American.
13:07
Speaker 2: He doesn't, all the principles this country is based on I,
13:12
Speaker 2: you know, I don't think he supports that. So that's what,
13:15
Speaker 2: that's what Rogers has got to do there. And I
13:17
Speaker 2: hope Rogers wins. It's a bit of a toss up Michigan, right?
13:20
Speaker 2: The environment favors the Democrat, but the, the Democrats in
13:23
Speaker 2: this case pick such a terrible candidate. They're giving us
13:27
Speaker 2: a chance to still win despite the environment right now.
13:31
Speaker 2: What about in Texas? In Texas, you know, Holy cow.
13:34
Speaker 2: Tallarico has said some of the craziest things. God's not binary. Um,
13:39
Speaker 2: Fathers can have menstrual cycles. This is coming from the
13:41
Speaker 2: Democrat side. The problem is- He's extreme. The Republicans picked
13:46
Speaker 2: a guy that is a serial philanderer, and he was
13:50
Speaker 2: impeached by Republicans for bribery. So he's got a lot
13:53
Speaker 2: of baggage, and candidates matter. And this is a race
13:56
Speaker 2: we could have won easily with John Cornyn, and now
13:59
Speaker 2: it's a toss-up, even favoring the Democrat right now. A
14:01
Speaker 2: lot of Republicans are like me. They're evangelicals. Character matters.
14:06
Speaker 2: And And I think I went for much of my life.
14:09
Speaker 2: I'd say I'll vote for the least bad guy. Sometimes
14:11
Speaker 2: I'd rather vote for someone I like. But now I'm
14:14
Speaker 2: at that point. I'm not going to vote for a
14:15
Speaker 2: bad guy. I'm going to leave a blank if it's
14:17
Speaker 2: a bad guy. So that's what's going on in Texas.
14:19
Speaker 2: Republicans are having to. Make that determination. The Republicans should
14:23
Speaker 2: win easily in Texas.
14:24
Speaker 1: You would think, yeah.
14:25
Speaker 2: But character matters.
14:26
Speaker 1: Congressman Don Bacon is with us today. Are the Dems–
14:30
Speaker 1: it seems like the Dems are just, in my opinion,
14:33
Speaker 1: too extreme to be given control of Congress. And it
14:36
Speaker 1: seems like, Congressman Bacon, that anyone for God and country
14:40
Speaker 1: right now, the Dems are going to go after. There's
14:44
Speaker 1: a true hatred out there for America with our races
14:48
Speaker 1: in the United States. And I worry that the outcome
14:52
Speaker 1: of the Democrat agenda is just their goal is to
14:55
Speaker 1: cripple Trump. They have no intention of working with the president.
15:00
Speaker 1: And is it just about power and revenge? And are
15:02
Speaker 1: they setting things up for 2028 for the presidential election?
15:06
Speaker 2: I think it is. There's zero desire to work with
15:08
Speaker 2: the president on the left side. It would help, though,
15:10
Speaker 2: if the president reached his hand out to Democrats. And
15:13
Speaker 2: I've seen zero effort on that in Capitol Hill. What
15:15
Speaker 2: we've seen is, if you go back through four election cycles,
15:18
Speaker 2: it's my view, people hated Hillary Clinton. They went with
15:23
Speaker 2: President Trump, and then they got to the point where
15:24
Speaker 2: they hated President Trump, so they went with Joe Biden.
15:27
Speaker 2: Joe Biden did such a terrible job that said, okay,
15:29
Speaker 2: we'll give President Trump a chance. Now it's going to
15:32
Speaker 2: the other extreme. I feel like we keep going from
15:35
Speaker 2: anger and opposition, whoever's the incumbent, to the other extreme,
15:40
Speaker 2: and we're going back and forth. And it I just
15:44
Speaker 2: wish we could– the primaries are so important. We've got
15:46
Speaker 2: to put people forward that are– in our case, that
15:50
Speaker 2: are conservatives, free market, peace through strength, alliances, law and
15:57
Speaker 2: order in our streets.
15:59
Speaker 1: Personal responsibility, less government, more self-reliance.
16:02
Speaker 2: And so we attract people. Right now, it's hate. We
16:06
Speaker 2: hate the other side. Who do you hate least? Yes.
16:09
Speaker 2: And I just wish we could get to a point
16:11
Speaker 2: where we had a more positive– Hey, this is what
16:13
Speaker 2: we stand for, people, and draw people in. But I
16:16
Speaker 2: just think we're going from– we get angry at one election,
16:19
Speaker 2: and then we go to the other extreme. We get angry,
16:21
Speaker 2: and we're going back and forth.
16:23
Speaker 1: That's right.
16:23
Speaker 2: And by the way, the top four issues facing our country,
16:27
Speaker 2: we're not solving them because all we care about is
16:29
Speaker 2: beating the other side. So we're not solving the debt crisis.
16:31
Speaker 2: We're not solving– we have a 1.6 birth rate right now.
16:35
Speaker 2: We have a declining workforce, declining population, and we don't
16:39
Speaker 2: have an immigration system that works for that. We have
16:42
Speaker 2: cost of health care off the chart and our national
16:45
Speaker 2: security strategy. And you can't solve any of those four
16:47
Speaker 2: issues by Republican alone or Democrat alone. Where is the
16:50
Speaker 2: leadership that's reaching out saying to form a consensus in
16:54
Speaker 2: our country to move us forward so we can still
16:56
Speaker 2: be the superpower? the economic engine of the world for
16:58
Speaker 2: the next decade or two. I don't see it.
17:01
Speaker 1: And the war in Iran, I mean, that is number
17:03
Speaker 1: one on all of these candidates' lips right now. And,
17:06
Speaker 1: of course, they're blaming the price of gas on the
17:09
Speaker 1: war in Iran. Talk a little bit about your thoughts
17:12
Speaker 1: about that, where we are now. I know your expertise
17:15
Speaker 1: is in foreign affairs. You've been over in the Mideast many,
17:21
Speaker 1: many times. But the candidates, especially the Democrats, will say
17:25
Speaker 1: this war that we didn't need, this war that we
17:27
Speaker 1: didn't need. But I got to make an analogy here.
17:30
Speaker 1: Look what is going on in France right now.
17:32
Speaker 2: Oh, it's terrible.
17:33
Speaker 1: I mean, it's terrible. They are rioting over there. It
17:36
Speaker 1: started out with what they said it was about, bad
17:40
Speaker 1: conditions with education system in the schools. Well, now, I
17:44
Speaker 1: heard the president, Marcon, the other day, he's blaming the
17:47
Speaker 1: United States. He's blaming the war in Iran. On the
17:49
Speaker 1: Iran war, yeah. Well, everybody is mad in France because
17:53
Speaker 1: of the war in Iran, and he made it clear
17:55
Speaker 1: this is a war that we don't support. So it's
17:58
Speaker 1: the United States' fault. Now, but look at this. I
18:01
Speaker 1: mean he's known as a socialist. I mean, in France,
18:04
Speaker 1: I think they're a combination of socialist and capitalist in France.
18:08
Speaker 1: But still, think about what they got over there. They
18:11
Speaker 1: got universal health care for all. They got free education.
18:14
Speaker 1: They've got all these things in France that these candidates
18:19
Speaker 1: in the United States are saying we have to have.
18:21
Speaker 1: And look what's happening. They're going broke.
18:23
Speaker 2: So I think France is an example why you need
18:25
Speaker 2: a secure border. And I applaud the president.
18:27
Speaker 1: And they have an open border, yes.
18:28
Speaker 2: And President Trump has secured the border. And what we
18:31
Speaker 2: did under Joe Biden— With 10,000 to 12,000 people a
18:34
Speaker 2: day crossing and criminals from all over. We had people
18:37
Speaker 2: coming in from Iran, Pakistan through the southern border, right?
18:41
Speaker 2: We had to control the border because otherwise we would
18:43
Speaker 2: end up in that similar type situation. And I am
18:45
Speaker 2: for secure borders. But we have the ability because we're
18:48
Speaker 2: the one country in the world people like to move to.
18:51
Speaker 2: I mean, we're the biggest attraction in the world for
18:53
Speaker 2: we want to be an American country. We can be selective.
18:55
Speaker 2: We can bring in good people.
18:57
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
18:57
Speaker 2: And we need to do that.
18:59
Speaker 1: Right. It's all about national security, too. And it's not
19:02
Speaker 1: just our southern borders, as you said. We have terrorists
19:04
Speaker 1: coming into this country.
19:06
Speaker 2: The ones for 9-11 came in with a visa and
19:09
Speaker 2: overstayed their visas. And they were here to learn how
19:12
Speaker 2: to fly airplanes into buildings.
19:14
Speaker 1: I brought this up before. You know this. My husband, Kevin,
19:17
Speaker 1: is a pilot. And he has an airplane. He used
19:19
Speaker 1: to live in Maryland. And that's where he moved. He
19:24
Speaker 1: was in Maryland for, gosh, the last 50 years before
19:27
Speaker 1: he moved here. Not St.
19:28
Speaker 2: Louis, Maryland.
19:29
Speaker 1: But anyway, he has an airplane. It's still in Maryland.
19:32
Speaker 1: But he has it in a little small airport in Maryland.
19:35
Speaker 1: Do you know those pilots that flew the plane in
19:38
Speaker 1: 9-11 went to the little tiny airport where he keeps
19:40
Speaker 1: his plane? And they wanted flying lessons. At the airport
19:44
Speaker 1: where he keeps his plane. And they refused him. They didn't.
19:48
Speaker 1: They said, no, no, no, because they didn't have. I think,
19:50
Speaker 1: the proper documentation and thing. But can you believe that,
19:53
Speaker 1: that these guys were going to little airports saying, teach
19:57
Speaker 1: me how to fly, when the intent was, I'm going
19:59
Speaker 1: to fly this big aircraft into the World Trade Center?
20:02
Speaker 2: Americans have forgot some of the lessons there. We had
20:04
Speaker 2: the information on these guys, but wasn't consolidated in one spot.
20:08
Speaker 2: The FBI had some, CIA had some, some law enforcement.
20:12
Speaker 2: And if you put it all together, it was pretty clear,
20:13
Speaker 2: but we were, after 9-11, we learned we have to
20:16
Speaker 2: find ways to put that information together. You can't keep
20:19
Speaker 2: it separate and walled off. And I think some people
20:21
Speaker 2: have forgotten that are trying to restore some of these
20:24
Speaker 2: things that we learned doesn't work. But to the Iran question,
20:29
Speaker 2: I felt like it should have been dealt with a
20:31
Speaker 2: long time ago. Iran's killed a thousand Americans. 609 alone
20:35
Speaker 2: in Iraq with those specialized roadside bombs that they brought
20:39
Speaker 2: into Iraq and it could go through an M1 tank.
20:42
Speaker 2: And so these guys, they've murdered some of my friends
20:44
Speaker 2: at Khobar Towers. 1996, a friend of mine, Tim Hahn.
20:46
Speaker 1: They hate Americans. Yeah.
20:48
Speaker 2: So these guys were killing us. And if they had
20:49
Speaker 2: a nuclear bomb, if you listen to the Ayatollahs and
20:52
Speaker 2: the Mullah leadership there, they want to speed up the apocalypse.
20:55
Speaker 2: It's part of their religion. Mm-hmm. Nuclear war does not
20:58
Speaker 2: scare them. They want to bring back the 12th Imam.
21:01
Speaker 2: So you can read up on it. So these guys
21:03
Speaker 2: were dangerous and it needed to be dealt with. So I,
21:06
Speaker 2: on principle, supported the president. But here's where I think
21:09
Speaker 2: he made a mistake. He thought he could beat these
21:11
Speaker 2: guys in two months. So then he said, I don't
21:13
Speaker 2: need Democrat support. So he never made an effort to
21:15
Speaker 2: go across the aisle, try to make this more bipartisan thing.
21:18
Speaker 2: We're going to win this war in two months and
21:20
Speaker 2: we're going to be done with it. That was his thought.
21:22
Speaker 2: Didn't work. And after two months, now you've got the
21:25
Speaker 2: war powers resolutions. You've got to get funding, supplementals. The
21:28
Speaker 2: Democrats are in no mood to support that. So now
21:30
Speaker 2: he's got himself against a wall where he's got zero support.
21:34
Speaker 2: He can't get enough support to pass supplemental bills. So
21:37
Speaker 2: now he's resorted to the blockade because he can do
21:39
Speaker 2: that at a more cost. And it's working. The blockade
21:42
Speaker 2: is working. The Iranian government is tottering. Its economy is tottering.
21:48
Speaker 2: And they have triple-digit inflation right now. So they are
21:52
Speaker 2: really He's got them on the ropes. But the strategy,
21:55
Speaker 2: I mean, you can support in principle something and say, well,
21:57
Speaker 2: there were some errors made in judgment how this war
21:59
Speaker 2: was fought. And that's where I stand.
22:02
Speaker 1: And, you know, I agree with you there. And I
22:05
Speaker 1: want to go back to France just real quick, though,
22:07
Speaker 1: because I know everybody's seen it on the news and
22:10
Speaker 1: there's rioting there. But, folks, keep in mind what a
22:12
Speaker 1: lot of these socialist candidates in the United States are
22:16
Speaker 1: asking for. This is what they have in France. You know,
22:21
Speaker 1: they have open borders. They have lots and lots of
22:25
Speaker 1: government extensive social programs, and they have some of the
22:30
Speaker 1: highest tax rates in the entire world to pay for
22:35
Speaker 1: all of these socialist programs, which is what a lot
22:38
Speaker 1: of the DSA and the Democrats are saying we want
22:41
Speaker 1: in America. And to pay for these programs— Like the
22:45
Speaker 1: mayor of New York City is saying, I want free housing.
22:48
Speaker 1: I want free groceries. I want free health care. Didn't
22:50
Speaker 1: they just come out with a figure recently saying that
22:52
Speaker 1: would cost the United States about $ 350 trillion?
22:56
Speaker 2: Right. And they want to tax– Imagine what your taxes
23:00
Speaker 2: will be. They want to tax your savings accounts.
23:01
Speaker 3: Yes.
23:01
Speaker 2: They want to go and take money out of your
23:02
Speaker 2: savings account.
23:03
Speaker 1: It's just unbelievable what some of these– with these focuses
23:10
Speaker 1: that a lot of these candidates have and says what
23:12
Speaker 1: they will do if elected– May sound good for a while,
23:15
Speaker 1: free health care, free groceries, free whatever. But your taxes
23:19
Speaker 1: will go sky high to pay for these programs. And
23:23
Speaker 1: France is a good example of this. Congressman Don Bacon
23:26
Speaker 1: is with us today. If you have questions for congressmen,
23:29
Speaker 1: please call them in or email them in. I think
23:31
Speaker 1: you'll be staying with us after the commercial, won't you?
23:34
Speaker 1: Stay a few more minutes.
23:35
Speaker 2: Just my morning.
23:36
Speaker 1: I have to bring up Ilhan Omar to you before
23:39
Speaker 1: we leave. Boy, I tell you, that's something, too.
23:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
23:42
Speaker 1: All right, Peyton, I think we have a commercial, and
23:45
Speaker 1: we'll take a little break, and we will be back
23:47
Speaker 1: with Congressman Don Bacon. And we are back with Congressman
23:52
Speaker 1: Don Bacon, who will be our congressman for Congressional District
23:57
Speaker 1: 2 until November the 3rd. Are you cleaning out your office?
24:00
Speaker 2: Actually, January 2nd. They got me– because January 3rd, the
24:03
Speaker 2: new guys come in. Oh, they get sworn in on
24:05
Speaker 2: the 3rd. I am cleaning up my offices right now.
24:07
Speaker 3: Okay.
24:07
Speaker 2: Because you've got to be totally cleaned out so the
24:09
Speaker 2: new guys can move in. Yeah. On the day– January 3rd,
24:12
Speaker 2: it's got to be painted. Everything's got to be fixed up.
24:16
Speaker 1: Well, I hope Denise Powell isn't in there with her
24:17
Speaker 1: tape measure.
24:18
Speaker 2: I haven't seen her yet. Good.
24:20
Speaker 1: Good. Peyton, do we have any emails or any calls.
24:23
Speaker 3: For Congressman Bacon? I do have a talk back here.
24:25
Speaker 3: This is the iHeartRadio app on your telephone.
24:28
Speaker 1: Hit that. Microphone in the top corner, and you can
24:31
Speaker 1: send in a message. Here we go. Hey, Mayor Gene.
24:36
Speaker 1: I just wonder why no one's talking about health care.
24:39
Speaker 2: Without the government subsidies, my health care went from $ 800
24:42
Speaker 2: to $ 1, 600 a month, which I can't afford.
24:46
Speaker 1: Now I have no health care. I'm glad this was
24:51
Speaker 1: a talkback, Mike. Okay, let's talk about it. Let's talk
24:54
Speaker 1: about health care, Don, and let's talk about your position
24:58
Speaker 1: on this. What can we be doing? Because I'm telling you,
25:01
Speaker 1: people think Obamacare was the answer to everything. And I
25:04
Speaker 1: think premiums went up at least three times, if not more.
25:07
Speaker 2: It helps some people and hurts some people. Yes, it
25:09
Speaker 2: absolutely did. So if you, you know, like I mentioned,
25:12
Speaker 2: the four things our country's got to do if you
25:14
Speaker 2: want to remain the superpower in the world and the
25:16
Speaker 2: economic engine.
25:16
Speaker 1: And you mentioned healthcare.
25:17
Speaker 2: And healthcare costs got to be fixed. I don't believe
25:19
Speaker 2: in socialized medicine. You know, I see Canadians here all
25:23
Speaker 2: the time trying to get away from their healthcare system,
25:25
Speaker 2: coming here to get better care. So we got to
25:27
Speaker 2: be able to preserve what's good in this country in healthcare.
25:30
Speaker 2: But we have to be honest, the costs are way
25:33
Speaker 2: too high. And I think we got to sit down
25:36
Speaker 2: with Republicans and Democrats alike and figure out what are some,
25:40
Speaker 2: I mean, I'll take an inch here and an inch there.
25:42
Speaker 2: I don't want to wholesale change our healthcare because in
25:45
Speaker 2: some ways we have the best customer service. We have
25:47
Speaker 2: the best research in the world. We have, I mean,
25:50
Speaker 2: if I, there'd be no, there's no better place in
25:52
Speaker 2: the world to go for cancer than right here at
25:54
Speaker 2: UNMC at the Buffett center, right? So we got to
25:57
Speaker 2: preserve what's good here, but we have to be candid.
26:00
Speaker 2: The costs are too high. So Obamacare, if you were,
26:04
Speaker 2: if you have preexisting conditions, if you were earning low income,
26:09
Speaker 2: then it's, it's been helpful. But if let's say you're
26:11
Speaker 2: earning 80 to a hundred thousand dollars and you're a
26:15
Speaker 2: realtor or a farmer, your costs went through the roof.
26:19
Speaker 2: And so my take on it helps some people, it
26:21
Speaker 2: hurts some people. And, but I, what we have right
26:25
Speaker 2: now is not acceptable. And to his point on the
26:28
Speaker 2: tax credits, I think he was talking about with– what
26:31
Speaker 2: happened during COVID, we expanded tax credits for.
26:36
Speaker 1: Insurance.
26:37
Speaker 2: Yes. And we were trying to get it back to
26:39
Speaker 2: the pre-COVID levels. I opposed it. I thought– because all
26:44
Speaker 2: of a sudden now somebody's going to hit with another
26:45
Speaker 2: couple thousand dollars premiums. But the problem is people– we
26:50
Speaker 2: added a lot of additional coverage during COVID, and we
26:53
Speaker 2: thought we'd try to get it back to pre-COVID levels.
26:56
Speaker 2: But– Just all of a sudden adding everybody's healthcare by
26:59
Speaker 2: a couple thousand dollars a year, I didn't think that
27:01
Speaker 2: was a smart way to go either. Bottom line is,
27:03
Speaker 2: I think we've got to get healthcare experts in a room.
27:08
Speaker 2: I'm not a healthcare expert. And we've got to find... Five, six,
27:11
Speaker 2: ten different ways to reduce the costs. I think the
27:14
Speaker 2: PBMs are an issue for pharmaceuticals. I mean, there's a
27:18
Speaker 2: whole array of issues we've got to tackle here.
27:19
Speaker 1: It's complicated.
27:20
Speaker 2: It is complicated.
27:21
Speaker 1: And the caller is absolutely right.
27:23
Speaker 2: I don't deny it. He's got a legitimate concern.
27:25
Speaker 1: But who really gets hurt badly? I know someone. There's
27:29
Speaker 1: a woman that cuts my hair. Her and her husband
27:31
Speaker 1: are both self-employed.
27:33
Speaker 2: Yep, self-employed.
27:34
Speaker 1: Boy, self-employed. The amount they pay for it. And they
27:37
Speaker 1: have little kids in school.
27:38
Speaker 2: Self-employed, farmers, realtors. are getting killed on Obamacare right now.
27:43
Speaker 1: It's terrible. And you know, those that have good healthcare,
27:46
Speaker 1: and I got to put a pitch in for the
27:47
Speaker 1: city of Omaha, because the fire, the police, our employees
27:51
Speaker 1: with the city of Omaha, they just don't realize how
27:54
Speaker 1: good they have it. The coverage they had, the coverage
27:58
Speaker 1: I had when I was still mayor, holy cow, it
28:00
Speaker 1: was great coverage. But the city of Omaha taxpayers that
28:04
Speaker 1: with your taxpayer dollars, For the 2026 budget that we
28:08
Speaker 1: are in now, we budgeted $ 90 million for the healthcare
28:13
Speaker 1: for our employee. I mean, it is expensive.
28:15
Speaker 2: We got to be able to shop for our healthcare better.
28:17
Speaker 2: Right now, people go to the hospital and they don't
28:20
Speaker 2: even look at the bill and they're charging huge rates
28:22
Speaker 2: and insurance paying for it. If we were buying a car,
28:26
Speaker 2: we wouldn't do it that way. You shop, you compare,
28:28
Speaker 2: and we got to have a little more of that
28:30
Speaker 2: mindset that we control our healthcare costs. But if someone's
28:34
Speaker 2: paying for third party's paying for it, there's a lack
28:36
Speaker 2: of incentive, and healthcare providers are providing a lot, and
28:39
Speaker 2: the insurance guys are paying a lot. So the system
28:43
Speaker 2: is just built in a way that I think encourages
28:46
Speaker 2: high costs and it's not acceptable.
28:48
Speaker 1: And it is becoming unaffordable for elective procedures. That's what
28:51
Speaker 1: really concerns me. You know, I had a total knee
28:53
Speaker 1: replacement here at the med center 17 years ago. It
28:58
Speaker 1: was a long time ago. And I remember when I
29:00
Speaker 1: looked at my total bill and that include everything, including
29:04
Speaker 1: the physical therapy and the rehab afterwards, over a hundred thousand.
29:07
Speaker 3: Yeah.
29:08
Speaker 1: And that's an elective procedure. I could see a lot
29:10
Speaker 1: of people who are self-pay or don't have insurance and
29:14
Speaker 1: their knees might be killing them, but they can't afford $ 100, 000.
29:18
Speaker 1: That was 17 years ago.
29:19
Speaker 2: You know, look at what they charge you per aspirin.
29:21
Speaker 1: Yes.
29:22
Speaker 2: They give you a toothbrush in the room and it's
29:24
Speaker 2: like 50 bucks or something. It's outrageous.
29:27
Speaker 1: If you have surgery and you look at the breakdown
29:30
Speaker 1: of a surgical procedure, I mean, they break it down
29:32
Speaker 1: into needles and syringes and tubing and gauze, and it
29:37
Speaker 1: is outrageous. And why do they do that? Because they can.
29:41
Speaker 1: We got to get a hold of that.
29:42
Speaker 2: Many people think we need some tort reform as well
29:44
Speaker 2: because people are, so you got a lot of doctors
29:47
Speaker 2: who do, they play extraordinarily defensive medicine to prevent lawsuits,
29:53
Speaker 2: and then that runs up the cost too. So there's
29:54
Speaker 2: a whole myriad of things that we can look at
29:57
Speaker 2: to do better. I do not think we should have
29:59
Speaker 2: a government-run system. I mean, I think it works fairly
30:03
Speaker 2: well in Germany, but you get outside of that. Like
30:06
Speaker 2: I say, in Canada, you've got to wait years.
30:08
Speaker 1: Years.
30:09
Speaker 2: Years for elective, anything elective.
30:11
Speaker 1: Or procedures that you really need, like I said, like
30:14
Speaker 1: an e-replacement.
30:14
Speaker 2: So then you have, they come down here to Omaha
30:16
Speaker 2: where they get better health care than they get in Canada.
30:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
30:19
Speaker 2: I see it all the time.
30:20
Speaker 1: And, you know, it is, like I said, it is
30:23
Speaker 1: great health care that we have here, but it is
30:26
Speaker 1: extremely expensive. And there's got to be some solution. I
30:29
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know what it is. I mean.
30:32
Speaker 1: If you could come up with a solution, I think
30:35
Speaker 1: it would have been done a long time ago.
30:37
Speaker 2: Let's remember what we do well. America leads the world
30:40
Speaker 2: in research. We have the best research in the world.
30:42
Speaker 2: We have the best medicines. We invent the best medicines.
30:47
Speaker 2: Right here at UNMC, we lead the world in Alzheimer's research,
30:52
Speaker 2: Parkinson's research, cancer research.
30:55
Speaker 1: Solid organ transplant? People come from all over the world
30:58
Speaker 1: for transplants here. So we don't want to throw the
31:00
Speaker 1: baby out with the bathwater. No, that's true.
31:02
Speaker 2: We've got to preserve what we do well.
31:04
Speaker 1: And meds, what about Trump Rx? Can you address that?
31:08
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not as smart on it, but it's
31:10
Speaker 2: about what goes on here is we do all this
31:13
Speaker 2: great research and then, say, England negotiates with the pharmaceuticals
31:17
Speaker 2: because it's a nationalized health care. They get a lower
31:19
Speaker 2: rate than we get. And so President Trump is saying,
31:23
Speaker 2: the way I understand it, Americans should be charged more
31:27
Speaker 2: when we're inventing the medicine than what other countries are
31:29
Speaker 2: buying our medicine. So that means other countries got to
31:32
Speaker 2: pay more so we can pay less. I think that's the...
31:36
Speaker 2: than just what President Trump's doing.
31:37
Speaker 1: And then the GLP-1s too, you mentioned being more preventative.
31:41
Speaker 1: I mean, there are so many problems that come with
31:44
Speaker 1: obesity and for people being overweight from diabetes to high
31:47
Speaker 1: blood pressure, all sorts of issues. And those GLP-1s are
31:51
Speaker 1: really helping us becoming more in control of what our
31:55
Speaker 1: weight is and to be more preventative. But holy cow,
31:59
Speaker 1: a lot of people can't afford those either. A thousand
32:01
Speaker 1: dollars or more a month. And so those, somebody's got
32:04
Speaker 1: to be addressing those. We probably have a few more minutes.
32:09
Speaker 1: I want to, I have to bring up Ilhan Omar.
32:12
Speaker 1: Holy cow. What is the deal with U.S. Representative Omar
32:18
Speaker 1: from Minnesota since 2019? What is going on? She's disappeared.
32:24
Speaker 2: Well, I just saw there they found her.
32:25
Speaker 1: Oh, they found her.
32:26
Speaker 2: I just saw it on the headline up here while
32:28
Speaker 2: we're on the break. Good.
32:29
Speaker 1: They found her. She went AWOL. Holy cow.
32:32
Speaker 2: So first of all, I worry. There's a lot of
32:34
Speaker 2: concerns out there that, you know, you go back to
32:36
Speaker 2: President Obama. He used the IRS to go after conservatives. Then,
32:40
Speaker 2: you know, President Trump, the thoughts that he was going
32:43
Speaker 2: after Hillary and team, and then President Biden going after
32:46
Speaker 2: Trump and his team. It's called lawfare. And right now,
32:49
Speaker 2: they go back three or four administrations. There is a
32:52
Speaker 2: concern that we don't want to use the Justice Department,
32:54
Speaker 2: the IRS, to go after our opponents. But can we
32:57
Speaker 2: say that's happening here? I don't think you can say
32:58
Speaker 2: that yet. Let's look at what's going on. She's being
33:01
Speaker 2: accused of marrying her brother to help get through the
33:05
Speaker 2: immigration laws, which is fraud. Is it true or not?
33:08
Speaker 2: I don't know, boss. I think we should wait until
33:09
Speaker 2: we get the evidence. And if it's trumped up, then
33:12
Speaker 2: we should complain. We don't want lawfare. But it could
33:15
Speaker 2: be very legit, these charges and the investigation. So I
33:19
Speaker 2: think it's a little too early to criticize the government.
33:22
Speaker 2: We'll see what the facts are here.
33:23
Speaker 1: So let the investigation play out and then see. Well,
33:25
Speaker 1: Congressman Bacon, I'm so glad that you've been with us today.
33:29
Speaker 1: I think– here's one thing that I think we both
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Speaker 1: agree on is the tenets of the Republican Party, the
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Speaker 1: original tenets, limited government, smaller government, free market, strong national defense,
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Speaker 1: traditional values, pro-life, family values. And personal responsibility, meaning less
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Speaker 1: government and more self-reliance. I think both you and I
33:50
Speaker 1: agree with those.
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Speaker 2: That's the Ronald Reagan that I grew up with.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I still embrace all of that. Absolutely. And
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Speaker 1: I think so many have hatred for the Republican Party,
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Speaker 1: blaming us for issues that really are not accurate.
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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, we have a fight for the soul of our
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Speaker 2: party right now. We have folks who call themselves Republicans.
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Speaker 2: Some of them call themselves national conservatives, which is a
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Speaker 2: contrast to a Reagan conservative, which is– it sounds like
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Speaker 2: an oxymoron, but a liberal conservatism, but liberal used in
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Speaker 2: a different way. The old school Milton Friedman type John Locke,
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Speaker 2: Adam Smith, liberal in that sense. And I don't think
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Speaker 2: we should leave our roots in the foundations we built
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Speaker 2: this party on. But there's a debate nationally. Should the
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Speaker 2: government be buying stocks in people's companies? Some Republicans think so.
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Speaker 2: I do not, right? Others think we were no longer
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Speaker 2: the leader of the free world. We should do spheres
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Speaker 2: of influence. Well, that was 1800s thinking, right? I still
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Speaker 2: believe in strong alliances and outstanding by freedom and the
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Speaker 2: rule of law. But there's some debates in our party
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Speaker 2: on this, and I look forward to being part of
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Speaker 2: the debate and hearing. Keep it as Reagan conservatives, because
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Speaker 2: I think that's what works.
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Speaker 1: And your next plans, Congressman Bacon?
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Speaker 2: Well, I hope to be on the private sector and
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Speaker 2: make a little money, but I want to be vocal.
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Speaker 2: I have a good speech coming up right after the
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Speaker 2: election at the National Press Club, and I'm going to
35:15
Speaker 2: talk about the four things this country has to work on,
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Speaker 2: and that you can't do it Republican alone or Democrat alone.
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Speaker 2: Who's going to stand up and be a leader for
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Speaker 2: the whole country?
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Speaker 1: Yes.
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Speaker 2: And let's ensure that we're the superpower and the economic
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Speaker 2: engine of this globe for the next 10 or 20 years.
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Speaker 1: And be proud of our country.
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Speaker 2: But you can't do it if all you're doing is
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Speaker 2: beating up the other side, and then you don't solve
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Speaker 2: these four issues. That's what we're doing right now.
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Speaker 1: And if there's one message I think that both of
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Speaker 1: us would, I should let you speak for yourself, but deliver,
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Speaker 1: is please get out and vote.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely.
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Speaker 1: Let your voice be heard. The primary in Douglas County,
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Speaker 1: the voter turnout was 26%. All of these issues. I mean,
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Speaker 1: we could talk, we could spend hours talking about the
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Speaker 1: government race, the governor, the legislative races, so much more
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Speaker 1: to talk about. But the important thing is folks get
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Speaker 1: out and vote.
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Speaker 2: Now when you have 26% vote in a primary, you
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Speaker 2: get some fringe candidates. Yes, you do. They make it
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Speaker 2: through and that's what we're seeing. We see that in
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Speaker 2: the county board for Douglas County right now.
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Speaker 1: And typically in the midterm election, the voter turnout is less.
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Speaker 1: So your vote counts more than ever. So please, all
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Speaker 1: of you, get out and vote. Congressman Don Bacon, thank
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Speaker 1: you so much for your service, service to our country,
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Speaker 1: service in Congress, and also enjoy your retirement. It's the
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Speaker 1: best job I've ever had.
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Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited.
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Speaker 1: I know you will. Thanks so much. Congressman Don Bacon
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Speaker 1: with us today in the studio.
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Speaker 3: With Gene Stothert and the KFAB comment line, a quick
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Speaker 3: message from the talkback that you heard right before the break.
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Speaker 1: As a veteran from Nebraska, Don Bacon should be recognized
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Speaker 1: for how good the VA treats the veterans. Thanks for that.
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Speaker 1: And I agree. You know, our VA hospital is one
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Speaker 1: of the highest rated VAs in the entire country here.
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Speaker 1: And with the help of Don Bacon, Brad Ashford, and
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Speaker 1: Congressman Lee Terry, with all three of them, they did
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Speaker 1: so much work. on creating the VA Ambulatory Care Center
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Speaker 1: that we have here in Omaha. And that was one
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Speaker 1: of the first in the country that was a public-private partnership. Remember,
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Speaker 1: Walter Scott was very involved in that before he passed away,
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Speaker 1: and to create this ambulatory clinic that we have right
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Speaker 1: here in Omaha. So many thanks to what Don Bacon
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Speaker 1: has done. But also, I have to mention Brad Ashford
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Speaker 1: and Lee Terry, too, because they were committed to to
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Speaker 1: getting this ambulatory care center here in Omaha, Nebraska, and
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Speaker 1: they were successful with it. I really want to thank
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Speaker 1: Don Bacon again for being on. He's got such great experience.
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Speaker 1: He's very energetic. I mean, his service to the country
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Speaker 1: as well as when he has been in the political
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Speaker 1: arena has been just amazing. Keep in mind that this race,
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Speaker 1: Don Bacon won this race five times over 10 years.
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Speaker 1: It was always very, very tight at the end between
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Speaker 1: one and two points. Our message still is lots that
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Speaker 1: has to be done in Congress and with the House
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Speaker 1: and with the Senate. Not everybody has all the answers,
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Speaker 1: but we got to get the right people in there
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Speaker 1: because I think that, like I said, that what we
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Speaker 1: are hearing a lot is a lot of hatred for
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Speaker 1: America and a lot of attempts to cripple Trump and
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Speaker 1: no intention on working with him and setting us up
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Speaker 1: for 2028 also. So everybody just get out there and vote.
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Speaker 1: I want to really thank you for spending this hour
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Speaker 1: with us today. We'd love for you to join us
38:45
Speaker 1: again tomorrow. We have a couple candidates coming up Thursday
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Speaker 1: and Friday. Jessica Oldini and Taylor Royal will be on
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Speaker 1: Friday for District 18. But I'm Jean Stothert and this
38:57
Speaker 1: is 1110 KFAB.