Latest / Brian Thomas / AFP - One Week To Go! Get out and vote
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: The talk station. 729-55-KRC, the talk station. Just got an
- 0:05Speaker 1: email from Jack Atherton. I did not fall down drunk.
- 0:08Speaker 1: We actually had an internet crash, so that's why Jack
- 0:11Speaker 1: Atherton had to leave us prematurely. Not his fault. We'll
- 0:14Speaker 1: get him back next Wednesday for another hopefully full edition
- 0:16Speaker 1: of The Big Picture. And without further ado, it's that
- 0:18Speaker 1: time of week where we hear from Donald O'Neill from
- 0:20Speaker 1: Americans for Prosperity. We got a topic list today to
- 0:23Speaker 1: go over and Donovan, welcome back to the morning show.
- 0:25Speaker 1: Is AFP still knocking doors as we fast approach Election Day?
- 0:31Speaker 2: Oh, you know it, Brian.
- 0:32Speaker 1: We don't stop. It's only getting started. Well, I ask
- 0:36Speaker 1: that question as a predicate to ask you, are you
- 0:39Speaker 1: hearing anybody talk about this ridiculous non-issue that is the
- 0:43Speaker 1: Amy Acton ad thing?
- 0:46Speaker 2: Actually, it's interesting you bring that up, Ryan, because that was,
- 0:48Speaker 2: you know, while I was consuming that just like you
- 0:51Speaker 2: and probably most of, you know, Capitol Square, Ohio politicos,
- 0:56Speaker 2: one of the things we noticed is folks actually weren't
- 0:59Speaker 2: talking about it at the doors. You know, it took,
- 1:02Speaker 2: but I'll be honest, we've started to hear a little
- 1:04Speaker 2: bit about the governor's race and rumblings. But I wonder, though,
- 1:07Speaker 2: if that's not, you know, one, we're focused on the
- 1:10Speaker 2: Houston race. That's what we're going to people's doors with.
- 1:13Speaker 2: So that's where the conversation usually lives. I think we're
- 1:16Speaker 2: finding those more folks are locking in on who they're
- 1:19Speaker 2: going to be voting for. And so they're more open
- 1:21Speaker 2: and comfortable sharing their plans for voting. I'll be honest, though,
- 1:25Speaker 2: that has not has not come up in a meaningful
- 1:28Speaker 2: way at the doors.
- 1:29Speaker 1: How about that? Maybe that means it's not meaningful in
- 1:32Speaker 1: the sense that people are all crazy and I can't
- 1:34Speaker 1: believe Vivek Ramesh would have the nerve. Good. That actually
- 1:38Speaker 1: reflects maybe people are smarter than the Democrats are making
- 1:41Speaker 1: them out to be. You know, there's things that you're
- 1:43Speaker 1: focusing on Houston. I had this conversation with Strecker before
- 1:46Speaker 1: the program started, and I just chimed in with him
- 1:48Speaker 1: real quick while you were talking to make sure that
- 1:49Speaker 1: I was accurate before I said it out loud. He's
- 1:52Speaker 1: reached out to Houston's campaign quite a few times and
- 1:55Speaker 1: nothing to be on the morning show to spread the word.
- 1:58Speaker 1: So I'm kind of question marking that. Interesting.
- 2:02Speaker 2: Well, yeah, they, I mean, you know, they're burning up
- 2:06Speaker 2: the rubber around the state. We've done a few door
- 2:07Speaker 2: launch events. And one we did in Columbus a little
- 2:11Speaker 2: over a week ago in high spirits and working hard.
- 2:14Speaker 1: So I don't know. We should maybe have Joe push
- 2:16Speaker 1: them a little harder. Well, maybe me saying it out loud.
- 2:19Speaker 1: There's someone out there that's on the campaign that might
- 2:21Speaker 1: get the word over that it would benefit him perhaps.
- 2:23Speaker 1: Maybe he views it as non-beneficial to be in the
- 2:26Speaker 1: morning show. I don't know. I'd love to have him on.
- 2:28Speaker 1: You're a great program. I want to get him elected.
- 2:31Speaker 1: You know, that's my goal.
- 2:32Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 2:33Speaker 1: Anyhow, what are you hearing and door knocking? Is the
- 2:37Speaker 1: data center issue still a huge issue for Ohio voters?
- 2:41Speaker 1: Not honestly, no.
- 2:43Speaker 2: That's also dropped off while it spiked, I would say,
- 2:46Speaker 2: in June and July. I think really what it comes
- 2:48Speaker 2: down to, maybe this is, you know, connected in some
- 2:51Speaker 2: way to that. It's cost of living, right? It's energy bills.
- 2:54Speaker 2: It's it's gasoline. It's it's food at the grocery store.
- 2:58Speaker 1: And what?
- 2:59Speaker 2: You know, the message we're delivering, because we're still focused
- 3:01Speaker 2: on these swing independent voters, and there are a number
- 3:04Speaker 2: of them still trying to make their minds up, believe
- 3:06Speaker 2: it or not. The thing that's pulling at their hearts
- 3:10Speaker 2: is they know Sherrod Brown was part of the problem
- 3:14Speaker 2: and why we're in the situation we're in. They voted
- 3:17Speaker 2: two years ago for change, and they want to see
- 3:19Speaker 2: it happen. The message we're delivering is we didn't get
- 3:23Speaker 2: into that problem overnight. We're not going to get out
- 3:24Speaker 2: of it overnight. And the real choice here is do
- 3:26Speaker 2: you go backwards to the guy who voted for the
- 3:28Speaker 2: Green Energy New Deals that made energy more expensive? Do
- 3:31Speaker 2: you vote for the guy who passed the Unaffordable Care
- 3:33Speaker 2: Act that made your health care more expensive?
- 3:35Speaker 1: Do you vote for the.
- 3:35Speaker 2: Guy who who, by the way, Sherrod Brown, that voted
- 3:38Speaker 2: for the Bidenomics Inflation Reduction Act that made everything cost more?
- 3:44Speaker 2: Or do we vote for John Husted, a common sense
- 3:47Speaker 2: clear path forward, right? Been there 20 months and voted
- 3:49Speaker 2: on legislation like the working family tax cuts that delivered
- 3:53Speaker 2: results for families. And if we send him back. We'll
- 3:56Speaker 2: be voting for the kinds of things we need to
- 3:58Speaker 2: get us out of the problems we're in today. So
- 4:00Speaker 2: that's what we're talking to folks about as they're torn
- 4:02Speaker 2: on that cost of living dynamic that I think has
- 4:04Speaker 2: dominated over half, if not 75 percent of the conversations
- 4:08Speaker 2: I think our folks are having out there these days.
- 4:09Speaker 1: Well, do you get the impression that in spite of
- 4:12Speaker 1: the fact that we're living with some painful times, diesel
- 4:14Speaker 1: and gasoline price wise, and of course, energy price wise,
- 4:17Speaker 1: that they get the point that you just made that
- 4:19Speaker 1: I've been hammering home over and over again? they were
- 4:21Speaker 1: more expensive and gas was more expensive under Biden, brought
- 4:24Speaker 1: to you by legislation, an intentional increase in the cost
- 4:28Speaker 1: of production of gasoline for the purpose of making it
- 4:31Speaker 1: more expensive. Do people get it? I know it's difficult
- 4:35Speaker 1: to say and feel like, I don't want to reward
- 4:37Speaker 1: the party that is forcing me to pay six bucks
- 4:39Speaker 1: a gallon for diesel fuel. But by the same token,
- 4:43Speaker 1: I don't want to reward the party that put policies
- 4:46Speaker 1: in place, not economic realities interfering or impacting the price
- 4:50Speaker 1: of gasoline, but literally policies that will keep the price
- 4:53Speaker 1: at an inflated level versus what the market would actually
- 4:56Speaker 1: be charging if you allowed a little bit of freedom
- 4:58Speaker 1: and a regulatory environment that will recognize the need for
- 5:02Speaker 1: fossil fuels. Do they get it?
- 5:06Speaker 2: Well, nobody's going to admit they're wrong to a stranger
- 5:08Speaker 2: on the front porch, Brian, but I will tell you,
- 5:12Speaker 2: we see folks you know, there's a number of folks
- 5:15Speaker 2: who will make that concession, right? And I think, you know,
- 5:18Speaker 2: part of what we want to do, right, is we
- 5:20Speaker 2: talk to those people in the spring, in the summer,
- 5:23Speaker 2: in the fall. We follow that up with mail and digital. And,
- 5:27Speaker 2: you know, there's the other campaigns that are out there
- 5:28Speaker 2: doing what they're doing to elevate that message. And so
- 5:31Speaker 2: the hope is, right, that conversation where we provide somebody
- 5:34Speaker 2: with a counterpoint to maybe what they're hearing in the
- 5:36Speaker 2: negative ads or their cousin who's a, you know, raging
- 5:39Speaker 2: liberal has told them, you know, at the family picnic
- 5:42Speaker 2: this summer. that we can move them. And so we
- 5:46Speaker 2: see it. We see the gears turning. It's why we
- 5:48Speaker 2: continue to do what we do, because these folks are winnable.
- 5:51Speaker 2: We have to go out there and present them with
- 5:53Speaker 2: those facts to help them make the best decision when
- 5:55Speaker 2: they go into the ballot box next week.
- 5:57Speaker 1: Fair enough. We're going to bring you back. We'll be
- 5:58Speaker 1: talking about regardless of who wins, and I know the
- 6:00Speaker 1: polling suggests this is going to be a big blue wave,
- 6:02Speaker 1: but we can deal with the challenges that presents. And
- 6:05Speaker 1: I know AFP is going to be out there hammering
- 6:07Speaker 1: home the issues that really will make Ohio a better place.
- 6:10Speaker 1: We'll talk about a few of those. The Talk Station.
- 6:12Speaker 1: 740 at 55k or cd talk station brian thomas with
- 6:17Speaker 1: donovan and neil for americans for prosperity helping you get
- 6:19Speaker 1: involved for the benefit of all residents of the state
- 6:22Speaker 1: of ohio and okay we're gonna have to deal with
- 6:25Speaker 1: tuesday hopefully we will come out on top we the
- 6:27Speaker 1: conservative logical reasonable minded people and not the left-wing crazies
- 6:31Speaker 1: that want to uh well rule every component rule every
- 6:33Speaker 1: aspect of our life that's my take agree or not
- 6:36Speaker 1: but If the Democrats do end up with a blue wave,
- 6:39Speaker 1: Donald O'Neill, that's not the end of AFP actions work
- 6:41Speaker 1: here in the state of Ohio. We've got some serious
- 6:43Speaker 1: issues to continue knocking doors on and discuss it by
- 6:45Speaker 1: way of priority. What in your mind are, well, let's
- 6:48Speaker 1: say the top three, Donald?
- 6:50Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean, here in the state, you know,
- 6:52Speaker 2: at AFP, we do the political work we do because
- 6:56Speaker 2: we're working to achieve transformational public policy. And there's still
- 7:00Speaker 2: some open items. We talked about data centers in.
- 7:02Speaker 1: The last segment.
- 7:03Speaker 2: The legislature left that as an open-ended conversation from their
- 7:08Speaker 2: summer session this year. The other areas that we've got
- 7:12Speaker 2: to think about, one of the things Governor DeWine vetoed
- 7:14Speaker 2: was the RAINS Act. That's regulatory reforms that would really
- 7:17Speaker 2: put the executive in check.
- 7:20Speaker 1: Remind my listeners in the context of Ohio what that meant,
- 7:23Speaker 1: because I'm struggling to understand that veto.
- 7:28Speaker 2: Yeah, so RAINS Act is regulations from the executive in
- 7:32Speaker 2: need of scrutiny. And so when the legislature passes laws,
- 7:37Speaker 2: there is an intent they're supposed to put behind them,
- 7:39Speaker 2: and the executive's job is to execute those laws. But
- 7:42Speaker 2: what we found over the years, and you see this
- 7:44Speaker 2: famously at the federal level with taking 1970s environmental rules
- 7:50Speaker 2: and stretching them and contorting them to apply to preferred
- 7:57Speaker 2: policy outcomes right now. What the REINS Act does is
- 8:00Speaker 2: it puts a stop and a check on that. And
- 8:02Speaker 2: it says anything over a certain dollar amount is usually
- 8:04Speaker 2: how these legislations crafted. Anything that would have a certain
- 8:07Speaker 2: dollar amount impact on the economy through the regulations has
- 8:12Speaker 2: to actually be affirmatively approved by the legislature before it
- 8:15Speaker 2: goes into effect. And so it puts a check on
- 8:18Speaker 2: the executive and enables the legislature to from laws that
- 8:22Speaker 2: were passed six months ago to laws that were passed
- 8:25Speaker 2: 60 years ago, to do its job and actually affirm, yes,
- 8:30Speaker 2: when we wrote that legislation, or yes, when that legislation
- 8:33Speaker 2: was drafted 60 years ago and is still in effect,
- 8:38Speaker 2: we agree that is the proper use and intent of
- 8:42Speaker 2: that law. It's power to the people, Brian.
- 8:45Speaker 1: It is.
- 8:45Speaker 2: And of course, you can imagine the bureaucrats and the
- 8:48Speaker 2: executive branch dislike it. And unfortunately, even some in the
- 8:52Speaker 2: legislature dislike it because, believe it or not, it makes
- 8:55Speaker 2: them do a little bit more work and have to
- 8:57Speaker 2: actually take some votes on things they may otherwise want
- 9:01Speaker 2: to cover their eyes and close their ears to. It's good,
- 9:04Speaker 2: but it's good government legislation.
- 9:08Speaker 1: Votes that might make them uncomfortable to certain of their
- 9:11Speaker 1: lobbyist and campaign contributors, perhaps, Donovan.
- 9:15Speaker 2: That's an element.
- 9:16Speaker 1: It's possible, isn't it? Wow, that never happens in politics.
- 9:20Speaker 2: It's easier to just say, well, you know, that dang
- 9:22Speaker 2: governor there in the mansions just making these walls.
- 9:26Speaker 1: Thanks for the cover, Mike. Appreciate that veto. You kept
- 9:29Speaker 1: me out of trouble and you saved me some extra work. So,
- 9:34Speaker 1: so it's good all around.
- 9:35Speaker 2: And, uh, it was included in the state budget, believe
- 9:38Speaker 2: it or not, it's an open veto item. And it's
- 9:40Speaker 2: something again, um, we're, we're kind of triangulating around with
- 9:44Speaker 2: some other coalition partners. Our grassroots were fired up for it.
- 9:47Speaker 2: As you can imagine, uh, it's passed in over a
- 9:51Speaker 2: dozen States, uh, in just the past 12 months. And, uh,
- 9:54Speaker 2: we're gonna, we're gonna make a push to see if
- 9:57Speaker 2: we can't get this thing done during the lame duck.
- 9:59Speaker 1: Um, It's going to be critical legislation for sure. Short
- 10:02Speaker 1: window of time to do it. But finally, something that
- 10:04Speaker 1: we could all use a big dose of is regulatory relief.
- 10:10Speaker 1: How is it possible that it is difficult for entrepreneurs
- 10:14Speaker 1: to test their ideas and Bring useful products and services
- 10:18Speaker 1: to the market here in the state of Ohio. And
- 10:20Speaker 1: why are there impediments that haven't already been removed, Donovan?
- 10:23Speaker 1: This just irks me to no end.
- 10:26Speaker 2: Well, as you can imagine, in a world where there
- 10:28Speaker 2: is emergent technology and emergent innovation every day, it feels
- 10:34Speaker 2: like right now, right?
- 10:34Speaker 1: Certainly.
- 10:35Speaker 2: One of the big question marks for investors, for entrepreneurs,
- 10:38Speaker 2: for folks who want to bring their business or idea
- 10:41Speaker 2: and do it here in the Buckeye State is what
- 10:44Speaker 2: will the regulators do, right? Will someone find it unsavory
- 10:47Speaker 2: and regulate me out of existence? Or worse yet, will
- 10:51Speaker 2: the big tech companies, right, the Googles, the Metas, the
- 10:54Speaker 2: big boys of the world in the industry, when you're
- 10:57Speaker 2: trying to disrupt them, guess what they do? They go
- 11:01Speaker 2: in and they build friendships, just like you're talking about,
- 11:03Speaker 2: with the lawmakers, with the regulators. And they create the
- 11:08Speaker 2: rules in a way that favored them. There's legislation out there, though,
- 11:11Speaker 2: called regulatory sandboxes. And what this legislation does is it
- 11:15Speaker 2: creates sort of the safe space, if you will, for
- 11:18Speaker 2: the innovators to operate. They sort of raise their hand
- 11:21Speaker 2: and say, hey, we have some new technology that's not
- 11:23Speaker 2: really clear what the regulation is. You know, they contact
- 11:27Speaker 2: the office office. of regulatory oversight, I forget what it
- 11:30Speaker 2: would be called in the legislation, but they sort of
- 11:33Speaker 2: raise their hand and say, hey, we're not regulated right now,
- 11:35Speaker 2: but we've got some stuff that we think is going
- 11:37Speaker 2: to be really great and create opportunity for a lot
- 11:39Speaker 2: of people. We're going to innovate and we want to
- 11:41Speaker 2: kind of communicate and work with you folks rather than
- 11:43Speaker 2: the regulators coming in and squashing us or the folks
- 11:48Speaker 2: with insider access, like the existing technologies or industries. regulating
- 11:54Speaker 2: the amount of existence, these folks sort of get to
- 11:56Speaker 2: operate in a safe space and build up their business,
- 11:59Speaker 2: identify where public safety regulations might be of some level
- 12:03Speaker 2: of necessity, but also avoid unnecessary regulations while they are
- 12:08Speaker 2: building and growing and creating that next innovation and opportunity.
- 12:12Speaker 2: right here in the state of Ohio. So regulatory sandboxes
- 12:15Speaker 2: sounds a little wonky. Basic idea is create a safe
- 12:18Speaker 2: space where government can't come in and start squashing these
- 12:21Speaker 2: businesses before they've even taken off.
- 12:24Speaker 1: That's what bothers me so much. They're stopping the progress
- 12:28Speaker 1: in its tracks ahead of time before they're able to
- 12:30Speaker 1: see what the ultimate product turns out to be. I mean,
- 12:34Speaker 1: people will still be liable if they rush to judgment
- 12:36Speaker 1: and put something out on the market free of regulation,
- 12:39Speaker 1: that harms folks. Were they going to be liable for
- 12:41Speaker 1: the harm caused by what they brought to the market?
- 12:43Speaker 1: There's always opportunities for recovery of damages, but to stand
- 12:47Speaker 1: in the way of the full development of something before
- 12:50Speaker 1: the benefits are fully realized or known, that to me, conceptually,
- 12:55Speaker 1: that bothers me. Well, absolutely.
- 12:58Speaker 2: And again, one of the things we've educated lawmakers on
- 13:00Speaker 2: around this who say, you know, they're concerned about environmental
- 13:03Speaker 2: impacts or.
- 13:05Speaker 1: What a particular– if someone will try to find a loophole.
- 13:07Speaker 2: Through this, we already have– A lot of those protections and,
- 13:12Speaker 2: you know, air quotes protections, Brian.
- 13:14Speaker 1: In place.
- 13:14Speaker 2: The reality is the existing regulatory regime creates problems. That's
- 13:18Speaker 2: why the RAINS Act is important, to avoid it from growing.
- 13:21Speaker 2: But the sandboxes are important to allow that next emergent
- 13:24Speaker 2: technology or innovation or opportunity to be developed right here
- 13:28Speaker 2: in Ohio and flourish to serve the world. It's good government. Again,
- 13:33Speaker 2: good government stuff, I think, is going to be the
- 13:34Speaker 2: theme of this lame duck. And it's something our folks
- 13:37Speaker 2: are going to be dialed and focused in on.
- 13:39Speaker 1: Wow. And I hate to go back to France, but
- 13:40Speaker 1: that's one of the problems they face in France is
- 13:43Speaker 1: the impediments to development of a business and industry. It's
- 13:47Speaker 1: sort of the default position is, no, we will not
- 13:50Speaker 1: change things. It's sort of status quo is the only
- 13:53Speaker 1: acceptable norm. And if you try to move forward, it's
- 13:56Speaker 1: just not a business environment at all. It's terrible. That's
- 13:59Speaker 1: one of the reasons they struggle. The intellectual talent leaves
- 14:02Speaker 1: environments like that and goes someplace else. Oh, like the
- 14:04Speaker 1: United States.
- 14:06Speaker 2: Well, and a lot of that also, I understand, protects
- 14:09Speaker 2: entrenched interests, right? Folks 20 years ago were able to
- 14:13Speaker 2: write the laws, create the regulations, create all the value
- 14:17Speaker 2: and wealth off of something. And then they've used government
- 14:19Speaker 2: to build a moat around themselves that somebody up and
- 14:23Speaker 2: coming isn't able to break into. It's horrible.
- 14:25Speaker 1: It's wrong.
- 14:26Speaker 2: And these regulatory sandboxes are a way to sort of
- 14:29Speaker 2: break that stranglehold and create opportunity.
- 14:33Speaker 1: I'm reminded of the cab drivers who were pulling their
- 14:35Speaker 1: hair out when the concept of Lyft and Uber came out.
- 14:37Speaker 1: There were a lot of efforts by the cab drivers
- 14:39Speaker 1: to protect their own interests through regulation and law. So
- 14:43Speaker 1: can't handle the new technology. Going back to that whole
- 14:46Speaker 1: buggy whip analogy in that movie. Yeah, there was a
- 14:49Speaker 1: lot of buggy whip manufacturers out there, and ultimately there's
- 14:51Speaker 1: only one left, and that one went out of business too. Why?
- 14:53Speaker 1: Because the car got to move forward with modern conveniences
- 14:57Speaker 1: and technologies. And look, the world's able to adjust accordingly.
- 15:00Speaker 1: It's happened before. over and over again throughout this country's
- 15:02Speaker 1: history and throughout the history of mankind. Don O'Neill, how
- 15:05Speaker 1: can we help out? There's still work to be done
- 15:07Speaker 1: throughout the year, even after the election. So what do
- 15:09Speaker 1: we need to do?
- 15:11Speaker 2: Well, if you want to help us in the final
- 15:12Speaker 2: stretch at AFP Action Knock Doors, go to afpaction.com. If
- 15:16Speaker 2: you like what you're hearing on some of these policy
- 15:18Speaker 2: things and you want to help us during the lame
- 15:20Speaker 2: duck session, go to buckeyeblueprint.com. And either way you do it, folks,
- 15:24Speaker 2: we need help. You know, you don't get a bolder,
- 15:27Speaker 2: better Buckeye State sitting on the sidelines. We need you.