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U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL 3) Joins Preston For A Terrific Visit · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: And so we began the third and final hour, at
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: least for today of the radio program affectionately known as
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Common Sense Amplified. Good Morning, Ruminators, and welcome to the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Morning Show with Preston Scott. He's Ose, I'm Preston, and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: this is the gold standard of congressional representation in the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: House or the Senate. She's Congresswoman Kat Cammick from Florida's
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  Speaker 1: third District. Cat. How the heck are you?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Good morning, my friend. It's good to hear your voice.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: You as well, I've been going through withdrawal symptoms.
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  Speaker 2: I thought that you would appreciate the reprieve from my no.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: No, no you and I've shared some stuff you with
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  Speaker 1: your staff that I hope got to you. We have
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: callers that call in to open phone segments here on
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  Speaker 1: the program reference saying how encouraging it is to hear
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: you and to know, probably more importantly than that, to
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  Speaker 1: know you're in Congress fighting, even though you don't represent
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  Speaker 1: a lot of this particular district where we are based,
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  Speaker 1: that you're there in Congress fight, in the good fight. Kat.
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  Speaker 1: It just means a lot to people to know that
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  Speaker 1: you're there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that does mean a lot It's a nice change
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: from the death threats that we get and all the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: crazy purple haired people that well, something happened to them
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: along the way, and we'll just say, bless their hearts.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: You know, they really want to get mad, just send
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: them to my show. What right now is because I'm thinking, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: you're running for reelection, but you're in a safe district.
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  Speaker 1: I would have to think your voters in Congressional District
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  Speaker 1: number three love you, So I'm going to say that's safe.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: You don't have to do a lot of that. But
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  Speaker 1: what is right now most important on your desk that
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  Speaker 1: you're dealing with, Well, a couple of things.
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  Speaker 2: While I am extremely lucky this is the first time
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  Speaker 2: we've not had a primary, it's a little odd not to,
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  Speaker 2: you know, see your name on a ballot for a
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  Speaker 2: primary election. But we feel very lucky and blessed that
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: that's the case for us. But that really hasn't changed
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: the tempo for us. In fact, we've kind of taken
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: it as a challenge to do more because the people
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: who sent me to Washington, they trusted us to do
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  Speaker 2: the best job possible. And in politics, there's only two
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  Speaker 2: ways to run, you know, unopposed or afraid, And I
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: never want to be that person. That someone when they're
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: grabbing a cup of coffee in the morning, they're you know,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: they're talking at at the Jiffy store, or they're catching
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: up with some friends and they're like, I haven't seen
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: her in a while, or I haven't heard in a while.
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  Speaker 2: I don't ever want that to be the topic of conversation.
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  Speaker 2: So we have made it a plan to hit every
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  Speaker 2: single one of our counties and we're doing about fourteen
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  Speaker 2: to fifteen hour days. And I am kind of micro
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: right now where I'm working every job. I'll be flipping
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: burgers and working a seafood counter. On Thursday. Yesterday I
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: was working in a gun shop. We're going around meeting
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  Speaker 2: with all of our you know, constituents and just checking
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: in with folks. And I think that's the way that
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  Speaker 2: August should be for members of Congress, getting out in
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  Speaker 2: the community and talking to folks and making sure that
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: everybody is on the same page about what's going on
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  Speaker 2: in Washington, but more importantly, just listening, because that's that's
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: really what this job is. It's listening.
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  Speaker 1: What are you learning when you're stepping into those various
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: vocations Kat.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: As well as a pat on what it is. I
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  Speaker 2: would say broadly, because I ask every person that I
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: have a conversation with what's keeping you up at night?
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  Speaker 2: And there has been such a surge of people saying,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I am, you know, of course frustrated about gas prices.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I'm frustrated about this right. I wish Republicans would do more.
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  Speaker 2: We gave y'all the majority what are you doing? And
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  Speaker 2: of that we have some really good belly a concessions
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  Speaker 2: talking about how crappy the Senate is right now. But
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  Speaker 2: I would say the overwhelming message that I'm getting back
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  Speaker 2: is people are scared of this rise of socialism and
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  Speaker 2: they're seeing all of these crazy people, whether they're in
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  Speaker 2: New York, whether they're in Michigan, whether they're in California, Illinois, Colorado,
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  Speaker 2: they're getting elected on this platform that really is anti American.
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  Speaker 2: And I would say, I would say probably ninety percent
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  Speaker 2: of people that I asked that question to say, Kat,
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  Speaker 2: I am really really scared that we have fought wars
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  Speaker 2: and build blood over communism and socialism and fighting to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that it never reaches our shores. And here
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  Speaker 2: it is. It's here that's what I'm hearing overwhelmingly.
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  Speaker 1: Truthfully, Kat, what is your current disposition about the conflict
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  Speaker 1: with Iran?
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you my patience is wearing thin, and I
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  Speaker 2: have communicated that back to our friends at the Department
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  Speaker 2: of War and the White House. And I know that
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  Speaker 2: you know from my time at the Naval War College
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  Speaker 2: and as a legislator, that you know I get it.
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  Speaker 2: Conflicts are not easy. And the first thing that we
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  Speaker 2: are taught at the Naval War College is how not
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  Speaker 2: to plan a war, but how to get out of one.
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  Speaker 2: And we have seen so many engagements like this where
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  Speaker 2: it's kind of like, all right, how does this end?
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  Speaker 2: And I just don't see where diplomacy And I pray
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  Speaker 2: that I am wrong about this, but I just don't
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  Speaker 2: see where diplomacy will triumph in the end when you're
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  Speaker 2: dealing with a group of people that have zero regard
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  Speaker 2: for life. Keep in mind with the Iranians have no
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  Speaker 2: problem taking out fifty two thousand of their own citizens
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  Speaker 2: just this year. So when you have an entity that
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  Speaker 2: is completely oblivious to the preciousness of life, have no
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  Speaker 2: problem taking it of their own from their own side,
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  Speaker 2: let alone, you know, their enemy because of course they
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  Speaker 2: call us the Great Satan. It makes it hard to
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  Speaker 2: come to a resolution with people that just fundamentally hate
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  Speaker 2: you and want you wiped off the face of the planet.
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  Speaker 2: So I am praying for peace. I am incredibly hopeful
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  Speaker 2: that diplomacy and talks will continue, but I'm also very
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  Speaker 2: skeptical because they are engaged in such an aggressive cognitive
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  Speaker 2: psychological warfare element on the United States, in addition to
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  Speaker 2: the kinetic action that they're taking against our servicemen and
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  Speaker 2: women and our allies in the region. Right they know
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  Speaker 2: that midterms are coming, they know that there's a pressure
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  Speaker 2: that the administration is facing to get this wrapped up,
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  Speaker 2: and they're taking full advantage of that. So I'm just
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  Speaker 2: maybe a bit of a realist. I don't see that
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  Speaker 2: coming to a conclusion before the midterms. So that's something
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  Speaker 2: that the White House and Department of War they're really
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  Speaker 2: going to have to make some tough decisions about, Hey,
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  Speaker 2: it's either time to just finish this once and for all,
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  Speaker 2: or we're going to lean in extremely hard on the negotiations.
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  Speaker 2: We're not going to let them leave the table until
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  Speaker 2: it comes to something. But then you have to, you know, verify,
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  Speaker 2: then verify, and verify again, include snapbacks and whatever deal,
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  Speaker 2: which is exactly where the jcpoway fell short. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's a very frustrating process, and there's a growing number
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  Speaker 2: of members like myself that are saying listen, they're playing,
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  Speaker 2: they're playing the game, and at some point you just
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  Speaker 2: you got to say, listen, this is this is what
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  Speaker 2: it is, and no more, you know, kind of tiptoeing
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  Speaker 2: around it. I was going to use a different phrase,
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  Speaker 2: but remember it. I'm on morning radio. That's pretty much
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  Speaker 2: where I'm at with it right now. It's it's not
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: a black and white issue. It's very much a gray,
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  Speaker 2: a gray one. But I can tell you collectively there's
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  Speaker 2: a lot of patience that's wearing thin.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty one minutes past the hour, US Congressman Kat Camick
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  Speaker 1: with me for one more segment. Kat, we were just
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  Speaker 1: talking about aging and senior adults, and I'm just curious,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we covered a story back a couple of
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  Speaker 1: weeks ago, since you and I last chatted about social
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Security and some of the challenges that it's facing. How
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  Speaker 1: does Congress make social Security solvent? And is there any
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  Speaker 1: thought to a second step of making it optional.
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  Speaker 2: So a couple things on this. I think the first
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  Speaker 2: step in addressing the issue on Social security is the
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  Speaker 2: government needs to stop calling it an entitlement.
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  Speaker 1: Agreed.
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  Speaker 2: I get so efin mad when people I'm sorry this one.
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  Speaker 1: You hit a button she means flipping, flipping, she means flipping.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, uh sure, we'll go with that. No. I
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  Speaker 2: hear some of my colleagues sometimes talk about, oh, we
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  Speaker 2: have to address entitlements. I'm like, I'm sorry, entitlements. Do
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  Speaker 2: you think you're in touch? Like they're not entitled to
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  Speaker 2: their own money? Like no, no, no, that's their money,
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  Speaker 2: Like that is the people's money. And so one, we
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  Speaker 2: have to stop turning that into a piggybank for the
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  Speaker 2: government swamp creatures to raid whenever they see fit. It
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  Speaker 2: is one hundred percent at a crisis moment, and we
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  Speaker 2: have to remember that every time we have these big
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  Speaker 2: budget fights. We're not talking about the mandatory spending which
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  Speaker 2: is on autopilot. So social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans benefits,
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  Speaker 2: that's all on autopilot. That's almost sixty eight sixty nine
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  Speaker 2: percent of our entire federal spending right there. And then
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  Speaker 2: we just argue over the peanuts that were You know,
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  Speaker 2: the rest of government operates off of So One, you
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  Speaker 2: have to make good on a contract because people have
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  Speaker 2: been paying in their whole life. That needs to be
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  Speaker 2: there for people who have been paid in for years
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  Speaker 2: and years and years. The other thing is we have
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: to ensure that it's not being rated. Third, we've got
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: to make sure that all the ways for un abuse
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  Speaker 2: gets taken out. I thought Doge and what Elon was doing,
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  Speaker 2: they were finding people were one hundred and twenty six,
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty six collecting social security and you
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  Speaker 2: know I was called cool for questioning that one hundred
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  Speaker 2: and twenty six year old could be collecting social security
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  Speaker 2: as that. Oh no, I just want the information of
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  Speaker 2: the person because I want their skincare.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, you know, what are you eat drinking?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? I'm like, what is this? Is this a beat
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  Speaker 2: you thing? Like? What I need to know? Right? The
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: ridiculous never ends with government, of course, and so I
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  Speaker 2: think cleaning up that, getting that race waste for un
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  Speaker 2: abuse like that needs to be locked in. That was
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  Speaker 2: a one time thing that Doge did. Now we have
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to codify that. That's really really important, have
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  Speaker 2: to get that done before the end of the year.
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  Speaker 2: And then, as you mentioned, for people who are just
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  Speaker 2: starting out, I think for people who are just starting out,
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  Speaker 2: which when you're you know, young, you know you're obviously
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: not paying attention until you get your first paycheck, you
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: look at how how much you grossed and then how
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: much you netted, and you're like, oh, okay, that's like
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  Speaker 2: the first your first step to becoming a Republican, and
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: you're like, oh, yes, oh so. I I think that
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: if we were to do some financial literacy in schools
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  Speaker 2: and really educate kids and their parents respectfully about what
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: options could be available if they wanted to exempt themselves
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  Speaker 2: from Social Security, that would be a conversation we should have.
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  Speaker 2: But what we did, and I've kind of joked about
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  Speaker 2: this a bit, when we made all those deductions automatic,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: where people didn't have to send in a check for
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: what they owed, I think the entire country would be
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  Speaker 2: overwhelmingly Republican because then they would realize how much the
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: government is taking and how little they're getting back. And
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: then you have to fight for it. I can't tell
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  Speaker 2: you how many times as a member of Congress we're
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: fighting with the Social Security Administration for the money that
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  Speaker 2: people paid in their entire life on behalf of our constituents.
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  Speaker 2: So the system needs complete reform. It needs to be
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  Speaker 2: made solvent. And the government if they're going to spend
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: millions and millions and millions of dollars on these ridiculous
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: brand programs like studying the effects of cocaine on sea bass, right,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: Kat, I see a lot of I see a lot
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  Speaker 1: of sea bass twitching out there.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Get me started on the ridiculous things that the money
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: goes out the door for. But I mean candidly that
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: we can find the money to make people whole, make
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: the program solvent. But we have to be focused, and
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: we've got to have the cojones to do it honestly,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: because no one I cannot tell you how many times
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: I hear, yes, this is a problem, but you know,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: it's it's mid terms, or you know there's an election code,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: it's always midterms.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: It's always mid terms. It's always something you know. And
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: and we need to also pack pack onto that the
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: idea of it's none of the government's business. When I
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: retire and when I pull my four oh one k
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: and when I don't. And what you know that means
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: the government needs to get out of that.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Oh, I agree, I so agree. It is such a racket.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: It really truly is a racket. And I think it
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: was who was it Benjamin Franklin who said it, there's
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: only two things that are certain in death or in life,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: death and taxes. And my god, the government will find
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: any opportunity, by and by any means necessary to tax
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: you on the money that you earn. And I had
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: this argument with the one of the taxation committees here
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: recently one of my bills, the Nest Act, which would
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: allow first time home buyers to say for the down
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: payment on their home tax free. I got the Congressional
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Budget Office and all the Joint Taxation Committee numbers back,
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: and they said, oh, this is not looking good. I said,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: what do you mean. They said, oh, well, you're going
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: to take twenty seven billion dollars away from the government.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I said, no, I'm going to give twenty seven billion
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: dollars a year back to people of money that they earn.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Stop saying that it's your money, it's not your freaking money.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: And they were like they were just so upset with
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: me and I said, you can be mad at me,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: but this is what people are earning. They should be
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: able to keep it. And we all know that buying
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: a home is a key cornerstone of these American dreams
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: and everyone in this country should have a shot at it.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: So we should be getting rid of barriers from getting
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: people into homes. We should be having them keep more
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: of their money instead of taking it and spending it
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: on stupid grant programs that have no benefit to anybody.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Just some of the reasons why she's the gold standard
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: in Congress.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I haven't cussed yet.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Well, you know you were marvelous Kat, as always, and
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: we appreciate your time and we'll talk again in a
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Be well, I appreciate you. Now. I'm all fired up.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Good good tackle the day. Go get them, Appreciate you.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: I'll have a good one.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Kat cam At US Congresswoman Floria's third district my guest
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: on The Morning Show with Preston Scott