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Think Tank President Discusses Tariffs and More · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: All right, five minutes five minutes after the hour, It's
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  Speaker 1: the Morning Show with Preston Scott. Good to be with you, friends,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and welcome to Wednesday. Hump dy, and we are joined
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  Speaker 1: by doctor Bob McClure of the James Madison Institute. Hello,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: my friend.
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  Speaker 2: How you doing, Preston, How you doing, my friend?
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I'm doing well. I want to step back for a
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  Speaker 1: second and get We have been talking at nauseum, as
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  Speaker 1: has everybody about the tariffs. From your chair, and I
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  Speaker 1: know that James Madison stays largely focused on Florida centric issues,
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  Speaker 1: but you do take a broad look at a lot
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  Speaker 1: of those issues, and from your seat, give me some
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  Speaker 1: perspective on tariffs and what you think is happening here.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we do because we are a think tank in Florida,
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  Speaker 3: have tremendous opportunity to do a lot of work nationally.
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  Speaker 3: If we were you know, no disrespect anybody from camp
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  Speaker 3: who may be listening, but if I was running a
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  Speaker 3: thing taking Kansas, we would not quite have the national
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  Speaker 3: footprint that we do.
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  Speaker 2: So we do weigh in on a lot of national
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  Speaker 2: issues with Congress and with this White House. Having said that, Preston,
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  Speaker 2: this is a negotiating ploy by President Trump. You know,
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  Speaker 2: he he This is classic Trump, if you if you've
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  Speaker 2: watched him in the past, if you've read the Art
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  Speaker 2: of the Deal, he goes way beyond and then he
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  Speaker 2: tacks back inward. Uh. And you're already seeing Uh. I
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  Speaker 2: think it's up to maybe ninety countries that are coming
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  Speaker 2: to the table to rework these teriffs. Now, in the
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  Speaker 2: short term, you have a lot of instability in the market,
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  Speaker 2: which I totally understand. You know, I'm not at the
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  Speaker 2: age where I have to really, you know, worry about
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  Speaker 2: that on a day by day basis. I'm not at
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  Speaker 2: the retirement age. I get all of the volatility and
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  Speaker 2: how that makes people nervous. Certainly Republicans in Congress are nervous.
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  Speaker 2: They are a bunch of nervous nellies anyway. They're always
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  Speaker 2: ready to cut and run. And so hopefully we have
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  Speaker 2: some leadership that may may hold them steady. But this
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  Speaker 2: is classic Trump, and I think what you're going to
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  Speaker 2: see over the next sixty days is major movement in
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  Speaker 2: a reduction in tariffs. Because Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, India, China,
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  Speaker 2: these countries need access American to the American markets, and
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  Speaker 2: China is really in no position from an economic standpoint
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  Speaker 2: of it. We have debt, we run deficits, but China's
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  Speaker 2: economy is incredibly brittle because it's being propped up by
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  Speaker 2: government money. And I think what you're going to see
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  Speaker 2: over the next sixty days, Preston, is these people are
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  Speaker 2: gonna come to the table. They're gonna drop their tariffs.
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  Speaker 2: America's going to lower theirs and limit and or eliminate them,
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  Speaker 2: and we're going to restore this incredible global economy without
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  Speaker 2: it becoming globalization in the classic sense of the word.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's a win win for everyone.
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  Speaker 1: I have mentioned over the years that you know, the
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  Speaker 1: research has shown me that China is not capable of
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  Speaker 1: being a consumer economy. They can't consume what they produce.
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  Speaker 1: They don't have enough people making money in any type
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  Speaker 1: of of at any type of level to allow for
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  Speaker 1: discretionary spending. Whereas the United States is capable of of
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  Speaker 1: consuming eighty percent of what it produces. We are a
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  Speaker 1: consumer nation as well as a producing nation. Doesn't that
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  Speaker 1: place the cards clearly in the hands of the president.
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  Speaker 2: It absolutely does. And so if you think about it,
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  Speaker 2: if we get this tax bill pass which is critical.
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  Speaker 2: Not getting it passed is a no go. You're going
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  Speaker 2: to see corpor rates continued lower. You're gonna see individual
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  Speaker 2: tax rates continue to go down. Corporations are You're already
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  Speaker 2: seeing manufacturing in corporations willing to invest in America. China
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  Speaker 2: is propped up by the Chinese government. If you remember
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  Speaker 2: years ago, they tried to implement market reforms, and those
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  Speaker 2: reforms kind of worked and you had some establishment of
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  Speaker 2: small middle class in China. But the reality is Yujping
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  Speaker 2: has clamped down on that kind of market reform in China,
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  Speaker 2: and they do not have the consumers. You're right, they
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  Speaker 2: do not have the ability to consume what they produce,
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  Speaker 2: much less consume what other countries around the world produced.
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  Speaker 2: China Is economy is incredibly brittle, and they're at a
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  Speaker 2: very very They're in a very very difficult position right now.
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  Speaker 2: It's just gonna take some time.
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  Speaker 1: Back with doctor Bob mcluy of the James Madison Institute.
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  Speaker 1: Let's turn into some Florida politics and policy and one
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  Speaker 1: of the big, big areas of debate which impacts so
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  Speaker 1: many people, well, it impacts every Floridian in one form
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  Speaker 1: or another. And it's the discussion going on right now
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  Speaker 1: between the proposals on tax here in the state. Bob,
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  Speaker 1: let me first, I want to work this backwards. Senate
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  Speaker 1: President Ben Albritton said, you know, before we jump on
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  Speaker 1: either a sales tax change or a property tax elimination,
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  Speaker 1: maybe we need just a little bit more time to
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  Speaker 1: study both of these plans and make sure that we
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  Speaker 1: fully understand their impact, cause and effect, how this trickles
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  Speaker 1: down to local cities and counties before we do anything.
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  Speaker 1: I am of that approach. What do you think about
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  Speaker 1: that approach first before we get into the specifics of
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  Speaker 1: the proposals.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think I mean, first of all, integrate to
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  Speaker 2: live in a state that has two coequal branches of
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  Speaker 2: government competing to lower our taxes even more like the
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  Speaker 2: debate is over tax cuts, not overspending. It's just I mean,
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  Speaker 2: where do you see this New York State has double
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  Speaker 2: the state budget we do with fewer people, and they're
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  Speaker 2: constantly looking for ways to pick your pocket. There's a
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  Speaker 2: reason why a thousand people are moving to Florida a day.
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  Speaker 2: So isn't it refreshing that the Speaker and the Center
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  Speaker 2: President and governor are competing over how best to cut
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  Speaker 2: our taxes. Having sent that President, there are things that
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  Speaker 2: must be worked out if we eliminate the property tax,
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  Speaker 2: and I get the governor's philosophical point of view, He's right,
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  Speaker 2: do you ever really own your house? What replaces that?
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  Speaker 2: Is it a higher sales tax? Is it raising the
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  Speaker 2: homestead exemption by one hundred thousand dollars? I don't know
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  Speaker 2: the answer to that. Conversely, you have the Senate or
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  Speaker 2: the Speaker of the House talking about raising, you know,
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  Speaker 2: cutting the sales tax, and so I think we need
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  Speaker 2: to we need to have serious conversations, and we need
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  Speaker 2: to have some serious data on this to understand it.
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  Speaker 2: But the momentum is the only thing, you know. You know,
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  Speaker 2: politicians are notorious for you know, blue ribbon panels and
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  Speaker 2: appointing committee this committee that, and we lose the momentum
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  Speaker 2: to actually do something significant. That would be my only concern.
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  Speaker 2: But I think you're right, we have to understand the
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  Speaker 2: ramifications because there are very real ramifications. One more thing
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  Speaker 2: on that present is that it's the local government and
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  Speaker 2: local municipalities that are the primary problem. So if we
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  Speaker 2: cut property taxes or we do something else, we have
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  Speaker 2: to make sure those local municipalities don't try to claw
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  Speaker 2: back by raising a tax somewhere else in these local communities.
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  Speaker 1: And at the same time, you have to find a
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  Speaker 1: mechanism for the local communities to fund their operations obviously
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  Speaker 1: focused on, you know, protecting citizenry and infrastructure. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I would I would argue that there are communities in
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  Speaker 1: Florida that waste a lot of taxpayer money, but they
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  Speaker 1: tend to be blue counties and blue cities that do that.
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  Speaker 1: And so I guess my thought here is do we
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  Speaker 1: need to just hit the tap the brakes a little
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  Speaker 1: bit on this and take another year to look at them,
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  Speaker 1: or is the momentum factor, as you mentioned, more important.
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  Speaker 2: I you know, I'm always hesitant to tap the brakes,
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  Speaker 2: but I don't know if we can get all of
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  Speaker 2: the data in and understand fully the ramifications, because what
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  Speaker 2: you don't want is the law of unintended consequences. Right.
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  Speaker 2: The other area that that will be heard that has
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  Speaker 2: to sort this out or the rural communities. And Senator
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  Speaker 2: all britain Is has made the centerpiece of one of
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  Speaker 2: his legislation is protecting and promoting rural communities. I mean gosh,
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  Speaker 2: in North Florida, all you have to drive is ten
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  Speaker 2: minutes in any direction, and you're in a rural county,
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  Speaker 2: and so we have to be very careful about how
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  Speaker 2: we do this. Can it be done before the end
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  Speaker 2: of session? That is very ambitious. I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: they want to give it a shot, give it the
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  Speaker 2: Old College. Try sure, But we have to have the
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  Speaker 2: data before we just start doing these things, because there
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  Speaker 2: would be tremendous, potentially unintended consequences in a lot of
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  Speaker 2: these areas.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty two minutes past where with doctor Bob McClure, always
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  Speaker 1: a great conversation, the head of the James Madison Institute,
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  Speaker 1: And it is a great point that you make, Bob, that, boy,
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  Speaker 1: what a problem to have that we're talking about different
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  Speaker 1: ways to reduce taxes for the people that live in
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  Speaker 1: this state. Understanding the property owners that rent their proper
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  Speaker 1: parties out their renters hopefully would benefit. Uh, there's no
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  Speaker 1: guarantee of that, but it certainly relieves some pressure on
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  Speaker 1: housing in the state if property owners are no longer
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  Speaker 1: paying property taxes. But without the data, just on the
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  Speaker 1: surface level, which of these two proposals do you lean towards.
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  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, Preston, I think both have pretty good merit.
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  Speaker 2: I like the elimination of property taxes in some way
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  Speaker 2: because people can see it how much. I mean, if
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  Speaker 2: I were to say to you, how much sales tax
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  Speaker 2: do you pay a year, you probably don't know. I don't,
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  Speaker 2: I don't, I don't know what I pay. And I
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  Speaker 2: think you know, there is a philosophical component to the
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  Speaker 2: point that do you really own your home if the
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  Speaker 2: government can flap a lean on you for not paying
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  Speaker 2: your property taxes? So I like that it's simple. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it's not simple. It's it's it's simple, but not easy.
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  Speaker 2: Let me say that it's people can see it significant
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  Speaker 2: because really not so much. You know, in North Florida.
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  Speaker 2: We're not talking about Gason County or or you know,
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  Speaker 2: Madison County, but in some of those areas in Caller
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  Speaker 2: and and Browered and you know, some of those places
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  Speaker 2: that are fast growing, I mean, they property taxes are
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  Speaker 2: just just unsustainable. And when you talk about affordable housing
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  Speaker 2: and you talk about property insurance, you know, all of
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  Speaker 2: this combined makes it really hard for people to buy homes,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, particularly younger people. And so I like
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  Speaker 2: that we just the devils into details, as they say,
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  Speaker 2: you know.
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  Speaker 1: For me, I mean, I have been advocating. It's so funny.
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  Speaker 1: I've been advocating this issue on property tax since I
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  Speaker 1: started the show in two thousand and two. I've been
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  Speaker 1: a champion of this idea. And I'm of the mindset
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  Speaker 1: that the governor put out, and that is that you know,
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  Speaker 1: we do so well with tourism, and we had a
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  Speaker 1: record tourism year last year alone. We have the largest
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  Speaker 1: share of tourism visitors of any state in the nation.
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  Speaker 1: We get fifteen percent of all the tourists that come
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  Speaker 1: to America come to Florida, yep, and so, and then
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  Speaker 1: when you count the people that are just visiting from
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  Speaker 1: other states and the migration factor. I like the idea
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  Speaker 1: of leaving the sales tax where it is and letting
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  Speaker 1: all of those visitors help pay for our infrastructure, help
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  Speaker 1: pay for our governance, and maybe, if anything, maybe carve
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  Speaker 1: out a portion of that sales tax to then go
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  Speaker 1: back to cities and counties to replace the property tax
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  Speaker 1: revenue that they would lose.
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  Speaker 2: Sure, I mean, there are so many different ways to
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  Speaker 2: skin that cat. I think that you know, we're having
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  Speaker 2: this discussion with our policy team yesterday. You know, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm not advocating for this, but the old bed tax
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  Speaker 2: and the you know, the all these different different ways
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  Speaker 2: that we could skin this cat to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: local communities are protect in some way. There's no doubt.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, we have roughly the equivalent of
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  Speaker 2: the entire country of Germany coming to Florida, just Florida
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  Speaker 2: every year and then going back. Germany's the largest bipopulation
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  Speaker 2: country in Europe. It's just amazing how many people come here.
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  Speaker 2: Let them pay for it. Not to mention super Bowls
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  Speaker 2: and Final Fours and concerts and Taylor Swift and all
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  Speaker 2: of the things that happened in Florida all the time.
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  Speaker 2: I think that makes sound. That sound logic.
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  Speaker 1: Preston, what do you think We've got about a minute left.
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  Speaker 1: What beneath this issue is bubbling on your particular burner
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  Speaker 1: right now?
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  Speaker 2: I'm my there too. One. The trial lawyers are trying
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  Speaker 2: to roll back the reforms that were put in place
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  Speaker 2: two years ago that are driving down the cost of
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  Speaker 2: property insurance in a good way. And the trial lawyers
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  Speaker 2: have lost their edge and they are they are trying
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  Speaker 2: to roll those reforms back, and everybody's blaming insurance companies. Look,
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  Speaker 2: nobody loves their insurance company. They're not warm and fuzzy.
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  Speaker 2: They never help themselves. I understand that. But those reforms,
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  Speaker 2: those tort reforms, are driving down the cost of property
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  Speaker 2: insurance and will continue to do so over the next
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  Speaker 2: year or two. Secondly, affordable housing affordable housing. I've said
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  Speaker 2: this one hundred times. There's a difference between building affordable
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  Speaker 2: housing and building housing that is affordable. And we have
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  Speaker 2: to build good housing that is affordable by reducing permitting
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  Speaker 2: and wait times and the cost of doing business for builders.
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  Speaker 2: Those are the other two issues. But we really have
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  Speaker 2: to push back on the trial bar. All those billboards
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  Speaker 2: and all those buses that we see. They are attacks
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  Speaker 2: on Floridians on an annual basis.
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  Speaker 1: Bob, thanks as always for your time this morning. I
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  Speaker 1: appreciate it, and we'll talk again next month and we'll
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  Speaker 1: know little bit more about what happened in the session
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  Speaker 1: by then.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, my friend.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir, Doctor Bob McClure with me from the
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  Speaker 1: James Madison Institute. Twenty seven passed the hour