Transcript

9.8.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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Speaker 1: September 8th, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
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Speaker 1: reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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Speaker 1: other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Speaker 1: Your reader for today is Cindy Fraser. Today's front page
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Speaker 1: headlines from the Washington Post are Election Results Shake Up
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Speaker 1: Germany Nationalist Big Win Sounds Alarm for Europe's Mainstream Politicians Next,
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Speaker 1: New Mexico's free child care plan has a rocky start.
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Speaker 1: First in the Nation experiment faces demand-cost issues. Next, GOP's
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Speaker 1: no-tax stance tested. Social Security funds running dry. Some Republicans
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Speaker 1: say it's time to raise taxes. The next headline, Democrats'
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Speaker 1: novel ploy to win California House seat. Progressive candidate Villegas
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Speaker 1: is latest hope to finally unseat Valadao. The next headline,
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Speaker 1: making a massive handover of history. Peter Bergen spent years
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Speaker 1: reporting on al-Qaeda. For the 25th anniversary of 9-11, he's
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Speaker 1: donating more than 150,000 pages of documents to Georgetown University.
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Speaker 1: And the final headline from today's front page, Ohio's toxic
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Speaker 1: race for governor? turns violent. Now let's turn to our
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Speaker 1: first item, entitled, Election Results Shake Up Germany! Nationalist Big
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Speaker 1: Win Sounds Alarm for Europe's Mainstream Politicians, by Megan Vasquez
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Speaker 1: and Mary Ilshina, from Berlin. Safely inside the cordon of
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Speaker 1: chain-link fences covered in campaign posters outside the Alternative for
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Speaker 1: Germany's Berlin headquarters, a crowd of supporters had gathered with
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Speaker 1: beer and bratwurst to await and celebrate the results of
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Speaker 1: the biggest election night in the Nationalist Anti-Immigrant Party's history.
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Speaker 1: The angry chants of protesters beyond the fences were drowned
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Speaker 1: out by TV news coverage of projections from the eastern
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Speaker 1: state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the party, known as the AFD,
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Speaker 1: instantly posted a huge, insurmountable lead with more than 40%
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Speaker 1: of the vote. We have achieved exactly what we wanted.
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Speaker 1: We have made history. Ulrich Sigmund, a 35-year-old former salesman
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Speaker 1: turned social media star who led the AFD's campaign, declared
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Speaker 1: in a victory speech at the party's headquarters in Magdeburg,
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Speaker 1: the state capital. The result, he added, would shake all
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Speaker 1: of Germany. And not just Germany. In Berlin, Brussels, and
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Speaker 1: capitals across Europe and the Western world, The meteoric rise
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Speaker 1: and first-place finish of the AFD, a party labeled extremist
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Speaker 1: by German intelligence, sent tremors through establishment political circles, suggesting
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Speaker 1: that politics once derided as far-right had moved decisively into
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Speaker 1: the mainstream of the electorate in a state of more
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Speaker 1: than two million people. The AFD on Sunday fell short
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Speaker 1: of winning the outright majority in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament, which
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Speaker 1: would have brought an extremist party to power in Germany
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Speaker 1: for the first time since World War II. But the
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Speaker 1: political trend AFD represents is evident, not just in the
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Speaker 1: former East Germany, but also France, where Marine Le Pen,
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Speaker 1: a mainstay of nationalist, anti-immigrant politics, is polling at the
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Speaker 1: top of a crowded field in next year's presidential election.
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Speaker 1: As the results in Germany rolled in Sunday night, President
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Speaker 1: Donald Trump, whose MAGA movement has built strong ties to
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Speaker 1: the AFD, made clear that he was watching, posting an
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Speaker 1: image on Truth Social that showed the AFD far ahead
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Speaker 1: of other parties, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union, CDU,
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Speaker 1: which finished a distant second with just 17.1%. The outcome
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Speaker 1: hit hard at the Chancellery in Berlin. This has shaken us,
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Speaker 1: Merz told reporters on Monday afternoon. It has shaken me personally,
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Speaker 1: and I have to admit this is the most difficult
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Speaker 1: electoral defeat for the CDU that the party has suffered
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Speaker 1: in a very, very long time. Merz sought to reassure
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Speaker 1: Germans that the country's institutions were stable, but also said
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Speaker 1: that the CDU cannot simply return to business as usual
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Speaker 1: and urged sweeping national reforms. A lot of credit for
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Speaker 1: the AfD's strong performance is directed at Siegmund. We have
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Speaker 1: a very young main candidate who is very enthusiastic, and
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Speaker 1: the people love him a little bit, like JFK's image,
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Speaker 1: the young JFK, or Charlie Kirk, said Christian Buchholz, an
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Speaker 1: AFD politician who previously served in Berlin's state parliament. He
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Speaker 1: makes for really fantastic publicity for us, and so we
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Speaker 1: expect a boost, support, and good pictures, and of course,
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Speaker 1: a lot of votes. Even without an absolute majority, the AFD,
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Speaker 1: in theory, could still end up controlling the state government
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Speaker 1: should cracks emerge in a pledge by other parties not
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Speaker 1: to join a coalition with the AFD, which for years
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Speaker 1: has been accused of xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. In and
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Speaker 1: of itself, the possibility of the AFD seizing power marks
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Speaker 1: a seismic shift in Germany. Since the last state election
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Speaker 1: in 2021, the AFD more than doubled its support an
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Speaker 1: outcome attributed to Sigmund and other party leaders who largely
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Speaker 1: bypassed traditional media and embraced social media platforms like TikTok
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Speaker 1: to speak directly to voters. Historical grievances and long-standing economic
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Speaker 1: challenges in the former East Germany helped the AFD gain
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Speaker 1: traction among voters who feel alienated by traditional politicians. This
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Speaker 1: included deep fatigue with Merz's CDU, which has led the
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Speaker 1: state government since 2002. Across the Atlantic, some politicians on
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Speaker 1: the right also celebrated the AFD's success. Republicans in Congress,
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Speaker 1: including Senator Mike Lee from Utah and Representative Ana Paulina
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Speaker 1: Luna from Florida, congratulated the AFD for its win. They
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Speaker 1: also discouraged the German government from banning the party or
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Speaker 1: its leaders. Germany's chancellor is treating a major opposition party
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Speaker 1: as something to be walled off from democratic competition, Lee posted.
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Speaker 1: Is he really that blind to the German stereotype he's feeding?
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Speaker 1: Trump's MAGA movement has widely embraced the AFD. AFD members
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Speaker 1: of the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, visited the United States
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Speaker 1: to meet with Republicans last year and also attended a
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Speaker 1: New York gala for young Republicans. State Department officials have
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Speaker 1: also met with party members. One factor that has complicated
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Speaker 1: the growing alliance, however, has been the U.S.-led war against Iran,
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Speaker 1: which is deeply unpopular among Germans. While campaigning in the
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Speaker 1: state election, Sigmund largely refrained from discussing U.S. connections. But
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Speaker 1: some AFD members in Berlin said they believe that the
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Speaker 1: state-level win could lead to stronger U.S. ties. As our
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Speaker 1: party gets stronger, said Ronald Glaser, a Bundestag member and
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Speaker 1: spokesman for AFD for Berlin, every foreign government will turn
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Speaker 1: to AFD since we are an important factor in German politics.
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Speaker 1: Erich Langenbacher, the director of the Society, Culture and Politics
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Speaker 1: program at the American German Institute, said he anticipates Trump's
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Speaker 1: allies will feel vindicated by Sunday's outcome. And though Langenbacher
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Speaker 1: cautioned against reading too much into Sunday's outcome, he said
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Speaker 1: it could serve as a barometer of AFD's national appeal.
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Speaker 1: We shouldn't over-interpret any of these results, but this, unlike
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Speaker 1: many other elections, is something that can be interpreted because
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Speaker 1: it's going to matter if the AFD does really well,
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Speaker 1: Langenbacher said, is going to matter for the momentum of
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Speaker 1: the national party. The AFD's national co-leader, Alice Weidel, on
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Speaker 1: Monday rejoiced in what she called a dream result for
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Speaker 1: the party and urged other parties to reconsider their attempt
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Speaker 1: at maintaining a firewall, which she described as a failed concept.
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Speaker 1: Speaking at a news conference, Vidal said other parties should
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Speaker 1: respect voters' wishes and help the AFD form a government
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Speaker 1: in the state. Vidal, her co-chair Tina Krupula, and Siegmund
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Speaker 1: all lashed out at Merz. No chancellor before him was
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Speaker 1: as unpopular, Weidel said, adding that Germans had lost trust
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Speaker 1: in federal politics. During the campaign, Siegmund quickly boosted the
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Speaker 1: AFD's public image. While the party had long leaned on
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Speaker 1: anger-laden slogans like, enough is enough, Siegmund projected an approachable,
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Speaker 1: social media-friendly persona and ran on a more upbeat campaign slogan,
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Speaker 1: alles ist möglich, everything is possible. He was born in 1990,
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Speaker 1: just a few weeks after German reunification, when the formerly
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Speaker 1: communist East was reunited with the capitalist West and grew
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Speaker 1: up in Tangerwunde, a small, picturesque town in Saxony-Anhalt, against
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Speaker 1: the backdrop of the region's struggles. Many East Germans remain
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Speaker 1: disgruntled over lasting economic gaps compared with the West and
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Speaker 1: a deep-rooted sense that they are second-class citizens. Siegmund became
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Speaker 1: a millennial face for the party. decades younger than the
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Speaker 1: average member of CDU, which was his first political affiliation.
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Speaker 1: He joined the party, then led by Angela Merkel, in
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Speaker 1: the early 2010s, before later switching to the AFD. He
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Speaker 1: rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, using social media
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Speaker 1: to rally against lockdowns and mask mandates, which he called crazy,
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Speaker 1: quickly gathering a loyal supporter base. He then carried that
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Speaker 1: image into his campaign, posting endless TikTok clips of himself
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Speaker 1: riding motorcycles with supporters across the state, footage later edited
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Speaker 1: into sleek cinematic campaign trailers, and turning campaign events into
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Speaker 1: celebrity-like meet-and-greets, handing out hugs, signing autographs, and posing for
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Speaker 1: selfies with supporters who lined up for hours. What happens
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Speaker 1: next in Saxony-Anhalt remains uncertain. Siegmund has said he has
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Speaker 1: ruled out a minority government, but AFD leaders have signaled
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Speaker 1: openness to coalition negotiations and suggested that other parties might
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Speaker 1: accept an AFD minority government. Saxony-Anhalt's incumbent minister-president Sven Schulze
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Speaker 1: conceded defeat on Monday and said his party, the CDU,
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Speaker 1: no longer has a mandate to govern. We are in
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Speaker 1: the opposition, said Schulze, who will remain as Saxony-Anhalt's caretaker
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Speaker 1: premier until a new government is formed. State governments in
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Speaker 1: Germany have broad powers over domestic security, education, and culture.
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Speaker 1: And the AFD has said it wants to drastically overhaul
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Speaker 1: Saxony-Anhalt's policies related to education and immigration. Its platform includes
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Speaker 1: allowing homeschooling, and Sigmund has described a deportation offensive, to
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Speaker 1: remove irregular migrants as one of his top priorities. A
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Speaker 1: frequent antagonist of mainstream news media, Siegmund has also said
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Speaker 1: he wants to withdraw the state from a regional public broadcaster.
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Speaker 1: If other parties ultimately decide to work with the AFD
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Speaker 1: in Saxony-Anhalt, it would represent a break in the so-called
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Speaker 1: firewall that establishment political forces have used to keep extremist
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Speaker 1: parties out of power since the end of World War II.
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Speaker 1: That also could have major implications for Germany, which is
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Speaker 1: scheduled to hold its next federal elections in 2029. A
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Speaker 1: national vote could happen sooner if Merz's coalition collapses. Whenever
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Speaker 1: a vote occurs, AFD leaders say it will present another
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Speaker 1: decisive moment for the party, allowing it to demonstrate rising
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Speaker 1: strength across the entire country. This item is accompanied by
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Speaker 1: a photo captioned, Top candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AFD,
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Speaker 1: Ulrich Sigmund, poses for a selfie with a supporter following
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Speaker 1: a news conference Monday in Berlin. Fabrizio Bench, Reuters. The
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Speaker 1: next item from today's front page is entitled, New Mexico's
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Speaker 1: Free Child Care Plan Has a Rocky Start. First in
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Speaker 1: the Nation Experiment Faces Demand, Cost Issues, by Annie Gowen,
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Speaker 1: from Santa Fe. A year after New Mexico launched free
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Speaker 1: childcare for all families, Dakota Rivera still can't find a
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Speaker 1: place to send her kids. The mom of two was
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Speaker 1: ecstatic when the state's Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, announced
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Speaker 1: last September that New Mexico would expand its daycare assistance
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Speaker 1: program to any family who wanted it. But Rivera lives
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Speaker 1: in a city with an acute shortage of childcare centers.
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Speaker 1: She still spends her days piecing together care with help
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Speaker 1: from family members, canvassing social media, and searching for babysitters.
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Speaker 1: She's on 10 different waiting lists. I think the systems
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Speaker 1: they put in are great, sure, but it's just not
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Speaker 1: there yet, Rivera said, as she tried to answer work
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Speaker 1: emails while holding her eight-month-old daughter, who was cooing and
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Speaker 1: waving a plastic giraffe. In five years, maybe, for parents
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Speaker 1: trying to do it now, it's impossible. When Lujan Grisham
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Speaker 1: first announced the program in a state with a majority
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Speaker 1: female legislature, it was widely praised as a historic step
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Speaker 1: to address an issue that consumes the lives of parents
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Speaker 1: everywhere and their incomes. Costs for caring for an infant
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Speaker 1: can often exceed a year's rent, according to the U.S.
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Speaker 1: Department of Labor. But the groundbreaking program, in part funded
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Speaker 1: by the state's sizable oil and gas revenue, has had
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Speaker 1: a rocky debut. The number of children who have enrolled
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Speaker 1: has skyrocketed, far outpacing the capacity of daycare centers in
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Speaker 1: the state. Lujan Grisham has had to grapple with legal challenges,
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Speaker 1: including a whistleblower case from the program's chief financial officer,
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Speaker 1: who says she was fired after flagging an $ 83 million
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Speaker 1: budget deficit. Critics have raised concern that the annual costs
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Speaker 1: could balloon to more than $ 800 million. nearly $ 400 million
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Speaker 1: more than when the program debuted. State legislative analysts have
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Speaker 1: also found that newly eligible, higher-income families may be squeezing
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Speaker 1: out some of the lowest-income recipients. The state's GOP leaders
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Speaker 1: dubbed the program Nannies for Millionaires. The stakes could not
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Speaker 1: be higher as more Americans say raising children is too expensive,
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Speaker 1: and as political leaders look to New Mexico as they
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Speaker 1: try to address overwhelming child care needs. Vermont and Connecticut
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Speaker 1: already have smaller-scale programs, and New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani,
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Speaker 1: a Democrat, is rolling out free daycare for thousands of
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Speaker 1: the city's two-year-olds, a move that has also had a
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Speaker 1: bumpy start. Sarah Mickelson, an early childhood policy expert and
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Speaker 1: former Deputy Cabinet Secretary for New Mexico's Early Childhood Education
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Speaker 1: and Care Department, ECECD, said the state got two big
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Speaker 1: things right when rolling out its plan, the money and
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Speaker 1: the vision. But a subsidy doesn't help parents if there's
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Speaker 1: no program to take it, she said. Families there are
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Speaker 1: still calling around and finding no openings, she said. Lujan
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Speaker 1: Grisham has acknowledged the challenges, telling MSNBC, we're building a
16:24
Speaker 1: rocket ship as we fly it. The governor said in
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Speaker 1: an interview with the Washington Post, that she sees the
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Speaker 1: plan as a game-changer for her state and a blueprint
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Speaker 1: for the rest of America. She said the program would
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Speaker 1: need more than $ 1 billion from the state's early childhood
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Speaker 1: fund over the next five years, $ 300 million more than
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Speaker 1: the legislature initially allocated. No one said it was an
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Speaker 1: inexpensive enterprise, and likely it shouldn't be, she said. It
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Speaker 1: should be something that invests in child well-being and development,
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Speaker 1: and that's what we're doing. A report Tuesday from ECECD
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Speaker 1: touted its successes, citing dramatic gains in child care enrollment,
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Speaker 1: growth in higher quality care, and wages for workers topping
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Speaker 1: $ 19 an hour, $ 3 more than the national median. We've
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Speaker 1: stabilized and really strengthened the child care sector in New
17:20
Speaker 1: Mexico in ways that are critical. It's critical that families
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Speaker 1: have choices, and these choices reflect the kind of care
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Speaker 1: they need, said Elizabeth Groginski. the ECECD cabinet secretary. But,
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Speaker 1: she said, there's more work to be done. This felt
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Speaker 1: too good to be true. The move to universal child
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Speaker 1: care was a culmination of a decade-long journey for advocates
17:43
Speaker 1: in New Mexico, a poor, majority-minority state of two million,
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Speaker 1: whose fourth graders rank last in both reading and math,
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Speaker 1: according to the Biennial National Assessment of Educational Progress, the
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Speaker 1: nation's report card. In 2020, The state legislature created a
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Speaker 1: trust fund with about $ 300 million in oil and gas
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Speaker 1: revenue to support early childhood education and care, a pot
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Speaker 1: that has since ballooned to about $ 11 billion. New Mexico
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Speaker 1: expanded income limits for the Child Care Assistance Program three times.
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Speaker 1: In 2022, warm middle-class families became eligible in a state
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Speaker 1: that allowed 80% of families in the state to participate.
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Speaker 1: Last September, Lujan Grisham took the final step, announcing that
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Speaker 1: New Mexico would be the first to open its subsidized
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Speaker 1: daycare to any family, a move estimated to save families $ 13, 000
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Speaker 1: a year per child. That was always the vision, she
18:44
Speaker 1: said at the time. It took us this long to
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Speaker 1: realize it, but by golly, we did. The announcement was
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Speaker 1: met with applause and cheers, but behind the scenes, state
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Speaker 1: legislatures who said they had not been informed that the
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Speaker 1: program would become universal, were confounded, along with some members
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Speaker 1: of the department's own staff. We were all shocked, said
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Speaker 1: State Senator George Munoz, a Democrat and chairman of the
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Speaker 1: State Finance Committee. Nobody knew about it until the day
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Speaker 1: it was in the paper. All of a sudden, we
19:15
Speaker 1: were all calling each other, saying, Where did this come from?
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Speaker 1: Did anybody from the governor's office talk to you about it? Nope.
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Speaker 1: We were all in the dark. Word of the expansion
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Speaker 1: moved quickly through the young moms' groups of Santa Fe,
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Speaker 1: a picturesque city that is not always easy on parents
19:33
Speaker 1: with its high cost of living and long waiting lists
19:36
Speaker 1: for daycare that can stretch for years. Megan Montalbano-Gorman, 33,
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Speaker 1: a mother of two and a marketing consultant who runs
19:45
Speaker 1: an Instagram account called Santa Fam, moved with her husband
19:49
Speaker 1: back to Santa Fe in 2022 from Denver to be
19:53
Speaker 1: closer to family. She initially tried to work full-time doing
19:57
Speaker 1: marketing for the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, but managing
20:01
Speaker 1: a full-time job and the health of her older son, Charlie,
20:04
Speaker 1: who has breathing and speech issues, quickly took a toll.
20:08
Speaker 1: She recalled acing a presentation one day, but the elation
20:12
Speaker 1: she felt was sliced with guilt because she had to
20:15
Speaker 1: move Charlie's speech therapy to do it. Even if they
20:18
Speaker 1: had been able to get a spot for daycare, it
20:20
Speaker 1: would have gobbled up most of her $ 35, 000 annual salary.
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Speaker 1: It was untenable, she said. Something had to give, and
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Speaker 1: it was me. I broke through that process. With the
20:34
Speaker 1: support of her husband and engineer, She left her job
20:37
Speaker 1: to start her own marketing company. Creating her own flexible hours,
20:41
Speaker 1: she cared for her son and a second child, Max,
20:44
Speaker 1: now two, with help from family members. She said her
20:48
Speaker 1: life changed for the better when they were able to
20:51
Speaker 1: enroll both kids in universal daycare this summer before Charlie
20:55
Speaker 1: moved into pre-kindergarten. She was able to pay off Charlie's
20:58
Speaker 1: medical bills and triple her income. I was in shock
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Speaker 1: this was happening, she said of the new state program. Happy,
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Speaker 1: of course. Ecstatic. I had been so in the trenches,
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Speaker 1: with the scheduling, the negotiations, wiggling into shapes I didn't
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Speaker 1: fit into to make our life fit. This felt too
21:18
Speaker 1: good to be true. Now, she said, I've reclaimed some
21:23
Speaker 1: of my joy because I'm not stressing out all the time.
21:27
Speaker 1: She later invited program organizers to her Santa Fam parent
21:30
Speaker 1: meetup to help spread the word. Capacity Challenges Enrollment has
21:36
Speaker 1: soared to 47,000 from 32,000 since the launch, but so
21:42
Speaker 1: are the costs. In February, the legislature passed a bill
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Speaker 1: formalizing the program. Only afterward did lawmakers learn from the
21:50
Speaker 1: Lujan Grisham administration that it already faced a $ 60 million
21:55
Speaker 1: budget shortfall, Munoz said. The legislature's finance committee said in
21:59
Speaker 1: a report last year, that the program could soon cost
22:03
Speaker 1: the state almost $ 849 million annually, a roughly $ 400 million
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Speaker 1: increase from the fiscal year 2026 payouts. The governor disputed
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Speaker 1: that finding, saying that the legislature's analysts did not factor
22:19
Speaker 1: in those who would remain in private care. Ismael Torres,
22:23
Speaker 1: the committee's chief economist, warned in a committee hearing last
22:27
Speaker 1: month that such a spike could put the trust fund
22:30
Speaker 1: that helps pay for the program in jeopardy. Jacob Candelaria,
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Speaker 1: a former Democratic state senator, is representing two former New
22:39
Speaker 1: Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department staffers who said
22:43
Speaker 1: they were penalized after raising red flags about finances. He
22:48
Speaker 1: also represented a trio of Republicans who challenged the program
22:51
Speaker 1: in court and lost. He said Lujan Grisham, who is
22:55
Speaker 1: term-limited and will leave office this year, has embraced universal
22:59
Speaker 1: childcare as her legacy issue and a stepping stone to
23:03
Speaker 1: the national stage in 2028. She was eyed as a
23:06
Speaker 1: potential running mate for both former President Joe Biden and
23:10
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris, and this year successfully pushed to have New
23:14
Speaker 1: Mexico become the fourth state to vote in the 2028
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Speaker 1: presidential primary, a prime slot. Whatever the governor has planned
23:23
Speaker 1: for the next steps of her career, this universal childcare
23:26
Speaker 1: narrative is a central piece of it Canellaria said. My
23:30
Speaker 1: clients have had the unfortunate luck of getting in the way.
23:35
Speaker 1: The governor said she expects the whistleblower lawsuits to fail,
23:38
Speaker 1: like the GOP suit did. She also expects the issue
23:42
Speaker 1: of child care to be a topic during the presidential
23:45
Speaker 1: debates in 2028, she said. You're going to have this
23:49
Speaker 1: as a signature issue about where the country goes, the
23:52
Speaker 1: governor said. We need a universal approach supporting families who
23:57
Speaker 1: need care. Asked whether she expected to be on the
24:00
Speaker 1: presidential stage herself, she said, I hope I'm in the
24:04
Speaker 1: ears of people on the stages because I know we
24:07
Speaker 1: need this. The state has worked to address the capacity
24:10
Speaker 1: issues by offering low-interest loans to providers and attempting to
24:14
Speaker 1: speed up approvals. New Mexico was short an estimated 15,000
24:19
Speaker 1: daycare slots when the program was launched and added 6,700
24:23
Speaker 1: cents then, an ECECD spokesman said. Ann Lilly, the director
24:30
Speaker 1: of the First Presbyterian Child Development Center in Santa Fe,
24:33
Speaker 1: said the majority of families at the center now use
24:36
Speaker 1: the universal system instead of paying privately. Most are families
24:40
Speaker 1: with two working parents whose incomes are just above the
24:44
Speaker 1: previous limit of $ 106, 600. It has been huge for them,
24:50
Speaker 1: she said. When both people are working, trying to get by,
24:53
Speaker 1: and you have two children, half your income is going
24:56
Speaker 1: to child care. More than 400 children are on her
25:00
Speaker 1: center's waiting list, so she's looking for a new space
25:04
Speaker 1: that would allow her to add about 85 infants and toddlers,
25:08
Speaker 1: a critical need. She's still trying to find the right building,
25:11
Speaker 1: which is difficult in Santa Fe with its many historical structures,
25:15
Speaker 1: she said. Critics have said allowing families who made more
25:20
Speaker 1: than $ 106, 600 for a family of three last year to
25:21
Speaker 1: use the universal system has squeezed out low-income families who
25:29
Speaker 1: desperately need care. Sometimes they are seasonal workers who leave
25:33
Speaker 1: and then return, only to find a wealthier family has
25:36
Speaker 1: taken their slot, analysts said. The program serves 3,700 families
25:42
Speaker 1: who make above that amount, according to the ECECD report
25:46
Speaker 1: this month. If you're making that kind of money, you
25:49
Speaker 1: really don't need this, said State Representative Mark Duncan, a Republican.
25:54
Speaker 1: Are we keeping kids who really need it out because
25:56
Speaker 1: they didn't get there first? That's my concern. Lujan Grisham
26:01
Speaker 1: said they did away with the income requirements because the
26:04
Speaker 1: state is building for an equitable system. You don't make
26:08
Speaker 1: it for poor people, you don't make it for middle class,
26:11
Speaker 1: and you don't make it for billionaires. You make it
26:13
Speaker 1: for everybody, she said. We're really leaning into the developmental
26:17
Speaker 1: well-being aspect and family stability. When James Krantz, a tech executive,
26:23
Speaker 1: and his wife, Caitlin, who owns a marketing company, had
26:26
Speaker 1: their son a little over a year ago, they too
26:29
Speaker 1: found lengthy daycare waiting lists in Santa Fe. He said
26:33
Speaker 1: the state is now paying for their babysitter after the
26:36
Speaker 1: couple made the argument that universal child care should include
26:40
Speaker 1: private in-home care. Doesn't universal apply to everybody, he asked?
26:46
Speaker 1: Having the full-time sitter has been magical for the couple.
26:49
Speaker 1: who can work with somebody to closely align with how
26:52
Speaker 1: we want to raise our child. Munoz said that going forward,
26:56
Speaker 1: the department needs to focus its efforts on at-risk kids,
27:00
Speaker 1: low-income kids, and special needs children to really deliver on
27:04
Speaker 1: the transformational investment the state is making. When Rivera, 29,
27:09
Speaker 1: a legal assistant, gave birth to her son three years ago,
27:13
Speaker 1: she looked at the cost of daycare and was stunned
27:16
Speaker 1: by the price tag. more than $ 20, 000 a year. She
27:21
Speaker 1: and her husband, a technician, cobble together a complicated schedule.
27:25
Speaker 1: She does her work from home, and other family members
27:28
Speaker 1: are enlisted to help. She makes an online calendar to
27:31
Speaker 1: keep everyone on task. I'm constantly overwhelmed by the process,
27:36
Speaker 1: she said. My kids are seventh-generation New Mexicans. To feel
27:41
Speaker 1: like we're not welcome anywhere when the family has been
27:43
Speaker 1: here so long is frustrating. She and her husband have
27:48
Speaker 1: completely lost hope on finding help for this school year
27:51
Speaker 1: and are looking to 2027 for relief. Maybe she can
27:55
Speaker 1: find a preschool for her son and a daycare for
27:58
Speaker 1: her daughter then. This article is accompanied by photos. The
28:03
Speaker 1: first is captioned, Children attended at the First Presbyterian Child
28:07
Speaker 1: Development Center in Santa Fe last week. Sophie Hecht for
28:11
Speaker 1: The Washington Post. The photo shows a daycare worker seated
28:16
Speaker 1: on a child-sized couch reading to a boy in her
28:19
Speaker 1: lap while another child sits next to her. A third
28:22
Speaker 1: child is playing on the floor. The next photo is captioned.
28:26
Speaker 1: The First Presbyterian Child Development Center has a waiting list
28:29
Speaker 1: of about 400. Sophie Hecht for The Washington Post. The
28:34
Speaker 1: photo shows three infants lying on the floor. The next
28:38
Speaker 1: photo is captioned. Children's backpacks and belongings are stored in
28:42
Speaker 1: cubbies at the Child Development Center. Sophie Hecht for The
28:45
Speaker 1: Washington Post. The next photo is captioned, The center is
28:49
Speaker 1: one of the most highly regarded daycares in the state.
28:53
Speaker 1: Sophie Hecht for The Washington Post. The photo is shot
28:57
Speaker 1: from above and shows a daycare worker reading a book
29:00
Speaker 1: to a group of six children. The next photo is captioned,
29:04
Speaker 1: Colleen Kostovich with her children at home in Santa Fe.
29:08
Speaker 1: Her children attend First Presbyterian Childhood Development Center and are
29:12
Speaker 1: enrolled in the state's free child care program. Sophie Hecht
29:16
Speaker 1: for The Washington Post. The next photo is captioned Megan
29:20
Speaker 1: Montalbano-Gorman with her two children, ages 2 and 4, in
29:24
Speaker 1: Santa Fe. Sophie Hecht for The Washington Post. The next
29:29
Speaker 1: photo is captioned This year, Montalbano-Gorman was unable to enroll
29:33
Speaker 1: both of her children in universal daycare. Sophie Hecht for
29:37
Speaker 1: the Washington Post. The next photo is captioned Children Play
29:42
Speaker 1: at the First Presbyterian Child Development Center. Sophie Hecht for
29:46
Speaker 1: The Washington Post. The next photo is captioned Children's Artwork
29:51
Speaker 1: is Displayed at the Center. Sophie Hecht for The Washington Post.
29:56
Speaker 1: The next photo is captioned Anne Lilly, director of the
29:59
Speaker 1: First Presbyterian Child Development Center, said the majority of families
30:03
Speaker 1: at the center now use the universal system instead of
30:06
Speaker 1: paying privately. Sophie Hecht for The Washington Post. The photo
30:10
Speaker 1: shows Ms. Lilly holding a child in her lap. The
30:14
Speaker 1: next photo is captioned, A caregiver reads to children at
30:18
Speaker 1: the First Presbyterian Child Development Center. Sophie Hecht for The
30:22
Speaker 1: Washington Post. Next from today's front page, is an item entitled,
30:27
Speaker 1: GOP's No Tax Stance Tested, Social Security Funds Running Dry.
30:33
Speaker 1: Some Republicans Say It's Time to Raise Taxes, by Steve Thompson.
30:39
Speaker 1: For decades, Washington has replayed the same fight over taming
30:43
Speaker 1: the soaring national debt. Democrats cite a need for more taxes.
30:48
Speaker 1: Republicans refuse. And anyone who suggests cutting the biggest source
30:52
Speaker 1: of spending, federal retirement benefits, gets attacked. But a coming
30:57
Speaker 1: crisis in Social Security appears to be pushing at least
31:00
Speaker 1: a few Republicans off the GOP's longstanding pledge never to
31:05
Speaker 1: raise taxes. This summer, Senator Bernie Moreno, Republican from Ohio,
31:11
Speaker 1: joined Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, in proposing to
31:16
Speaker 1: raise the payroll tax cap so people with higher incomes
31:20
Speaker 1: pay more into the program. Now the idea is emerging
31:24
Speaker 1: as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers, including Representative
31:29
Speaker 1: Tom Cole, the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
31:34
Speaker 1: We've got too many people who say, well, we'll have
31:37
Speaker 1: to stay within the current income level or stay at
31:40
Speaker 1: the current tax rate. Cole, from Oklahoma, said in an interview,
31:45
Speaker 1: I'm willing to look at the tax rate. I'm willing
31:47
Speaker 1: to raise the amount of income through tax. The rare
31:51
Speaker 1: GOP concessions on taxes come as lawmakers begin to confront
31:56
Speaker 1: a Social Security shortfall so large and so imminent that
32:00
Speaker 1: the party's traditional demand for curtailing benefits is unlikely to suffice.
32:06
Speaker 1: In just six years, millions of Social Security recipients will
32:10
Speaker 1: absorb a 22% cut in benefits unless lawmakers provide an
32:16
Speaker 1: immediate infusion of nearly $ 500 billion. 20 or 30 years ago,
32:22
Speaker 1: when the shortfall was far in the future, you could
32:25
Speaker 1: come up with a straight-faced solution that solved the problem
32:28
Speaker 1: entirely by cutting future benefits, said Charles Blahaus, a senior
32:33
Speaker 1: research strategist at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, who served
32:37
Speaker 1: from 2010 to 2015 as a Republican public trustee for
32:41
Speaker 1: Social Security. Now the problem is so big and urgent,
32:46
Speaker 1: Blahaus said, I don't think you can look at it
32:49
Speaker 1: with a straight face and not do all of the above.
32:53
Speaker 1: Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform and the
32:57
Speaker 1: longtime enforcer of Republican and anti-tax orthodoxy, dismissed the crack
33:02
Speaker 1: in party discipline, arguing that Republicans should stick to demanding
33:06
Speaker 1: spending cuts. Otherwise, he said, they risk infuriating voters already
33:11
Speaker 1: angry about the high cost of living. When Republicans say
33:15
Speaker 1: no to tax increases, they win. When they say yes
33:18
Speaker 1: to tax increases, they lose, Norquist said. They don't get
33:22
Speaker 1: spending cuts at all, and they get smeared in the
33:25
Speaker 1: next election. But Cole, at least, said he thinks the
33:29
Speaker 1: political blowback from Social Security benefit cuts would be far
33:33
Speaker 1: worse than a comprehensive solution that includes raising taxes. I
33:38
Speaker 1: love Grover, but you've got to deal with Social Security,
33:42
Speaker 1: Cole said. And believe me, you'll have a lot bigger
33:45
Speaker 1: problem if it goes bankrupt than you'll have keeping it whole,
33:49
Speaker 1: because people will feel cheated. Created during the Great Depression,
33:53
Speaker 1: Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to more than 70
33:57
Speaker 1: million Americans. It is the single largest program in the $ 7. 4
34:02
Speaker 1: trillion federal budget, paying out $ 1. 7 trillion this year, according
34:08
Speaker 1: to the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Medicare is a close
34:12
Speaker 1: second at $ 1. 3 trillion. The program is funded by a
34:16
Speaker 1: payroll tax on wages up to a cap of $ 184, 500
34:21
Speaker 1: a year, with workers and employers each paying 6.2%. Workers
34:27
Speaker 1: who pay into the system can receive monthly checks as
34:31
Speaker 1: early as age 62, though the full retirement age is 67.
34:36
Speaker 1: For years, annual tax collections exceeded the cost of benefits.
34:40
Speaker 1: allowing the program to amass a surplus known as a
34:43
Speaker 1: Social Security Trust Fund. As the baby boom generation retired, however,
34:48
Speaker 1: the math flipped. Social Security now pays out far more
34:52
Speaker 1: than it collects and is draining the Trust Fund to
34:55
Speaker 1: make up the difference. The Trust Fund is projected to
34:59
Speaker 1: run dry in 2032. At that point, Social Security would
35:03
Speaker 1: have to rely solely on incoming tax collections, meaning monthly
35:08
Speaker 1: checks would shrink significantly. by $ 440 on average unless Congress acts,
35:14
Speaker 1: according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
35:18
Speaker 1: Closing this shortfall would require $ 459 billion in cuts or
35:23
Speaker 1: fresh revenue in 2033 alone, according to BPC, and the
35:29
Speaker 1: sum would grow larger every year. Next in this article
35:33
Speaker 1: is a graph entitled Social Security Crisis Nears. The trust
35:37
Speaker 1: fund that helps pay retirement and survivor benefits is projected
35:41
Speaker 1: to run dry in 2032. The graph begins in the
35:43
Speaker 1: year 2021 when the trust fund was $ 2, 752, 600, 000, 000 and shows
35:45
Speaker 1: a steep curve down to zero in 2032. Chart Steve
35:47
Speaker 1: Thompson Source Social Security Trustees 2026 Annual Report That relentless
36:05
Speaker 1: math persuaded Moreno, an ex-car dealership owner who rode into
36:09
Speaker 1: office with President Donald Trump's endorsement in 2024, to break
36:14
Speaker 1: ranks with his party on tax hikes. In his proposal
36:18
Speaker 1: with Warren, Moreno calls for eliminating the payroll tax cap
36:22
Speaker 1: so highly compensated workers pay the tax on their entire income.
36:27
Speaker 1: Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of
36:30
Speaker 1: her paycheck than a wealthy corporate lawyer? Moreno and Warren
36:34
Speaker 1: wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times, noting
36:37
Speaker 1: that one recent poll found that 62% of Republicans support
36:42
Speaker 1: lifting the cap. This is doubly unfair in an economy
36:45
Speaker 1: in which top earners' wages, over time, have pulled far
36:49
Speaker 1: ahead of those of the average worker. Moreno declined an
36:53
Speaker 1: interview request. His spokesperson, Reagan McCarthy, said in an email,
36:58
Speaker 1: Senator Moreno promised Ohioans he would fight for them in D.C.,
37:02
Speaker 1: and make sure they get the benefits they were promised,
37:05
Speaker 1: and that's exactly why he's leading this effort. Removing the
37:09
Speaker 1: cap without increasing benefits for high-earning workers would close more
37:13
Speaker 1: than half the program's shortfall, according to the Committee for
37:16
Speaker 1: a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group focused on deficit reduction.
37:22
Speaker 1: Blahouse and others have cautioned against that approach, saying it
37:26
Speaker 1: would sever the connection between contributions and benefits that make
37:30
Speaker 1: Social Security different from and more popular than other social
37:35
Speaker 1: welfare programs. Uncapping the payroll tax alone would push the
37:39
Speaker 1: top marginal federal tax rate over 50%, according to the
37:44
Speaker 1: Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. Some Democrats would go further.
37:49
Speaker 1: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat from Rhode Island, argues not only
37:54
Speaker 1: for lifting the payroll cap, but also for taxing the
37:57
Speaker 1: investment income of wealthy households and closing a loophole that
38:02
Speaker 1: lets business owners shrink their personal tax bills. That proposal,
38:06
Speaker 1: which would fall entirely on the backs of the wealthy,
38:09
Speaker 1: would raise enough cash to fully fund Social Security for
38:13
Speaker 1: at least 75 years, according to a 2023 estimate by
38:17
Speaker 1: the program's chief actuary. The historic link between contributions and
38:21
Speaker 1: benefits makes changing Social Security politically perilous. That's why many
38:27
Speaker 1: in Congress want negotiations to be outsourced to a bipartisan
38:31
Speaker 1: commission or advisory board. Cole has introduced one of several
38:35
Speaker 1: proposals to form such a panel. He argues that more
38:38
Speaker 1: tax revenue, including from raising the payroll tax cap, ought
38:43
Speaker 1: to certainly be on the table, alongside adjustments that would
38:46
Speaker 1: reduce future spending, such as raising the retirement age. Next
38:51
Speaker 1: in this article is another graph entitled Social Security's costs
38:55
Speaker 1: will keep outrunning its income. When Social Security's combined retirement, survivor,
39:01
Speaker 1: and disability trust fund runs out, benefits cannot be fully
39:04
Speaker 1: paid unless Congress takes action. The graph begins the year
39:09
Speaker 1: 2000 and shows Social Security's non-interest income, which is projected
39:15
Speaker 1: to be relatively flat. Also, the scheduled and payable benefits,
39:21
Speaker 1: which are shown to be peaking in 2030 and then
39:26
Speaker 1: decreasing to match the income, the graph also shows the
39:31
Speaker 1: scheduled but not fully payable benefits that are projected to
39:34
Speaker 1: increase to the end of the graph in the year 2100.
39:37
Speaker 1: Income and costs are shown as a percentage of the
39:41
Speaker 1: total wages taxed by Social Security. Chart is from figure 2D2.
39:49
Speaker 1: A third GOP lawmaker, Rep. Lloyd K. Smucker of Pennsylvania,
40:01
Speaker 1: has also said he sees more tax revenue as part
40:04
Speaker 1: of a Social Security fix. You'll probably have to do
40:07
Speaker 1: something on the payroll half of the money being paid
40:10
Speaker 1: into the system, Smucker told Roll Call last week. Smunker
40:14
Speaker 1: said lawmakers should also consider means testing so benefits are
40:18
Speaker 1: reduced for the wealthy, while low-income retirees are protected. Smunker's
40:22
Speaker 1: office did not respond to requests for comment. Though raising
40:26
Speaker 1: taxes is unpopular among Republicans, it has long been part
40:31
Speaker 1: of bipartisan plans to solve the Social Security puzzle. In 1983,
40:35
Speaker 1: President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, and House Speaker Tip O'Neill,
40:40
Speaker 1: a Democrat, saved the program from its last bout with insolvency.
40:44
Speaker 1: agreeing to a mix of solutions that included increasing payroll
40:48
Speaker 1: taxes and gradually raising the retirement age. In 2005, the
40:53
Speaker 1: late Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, argued for
40:58
Speaker 1: raising the payroll cap and trimming benefits. Weeks later, President
41:02
Speaker 1: George W. Bush said he was open to a variety
41:05
Speaker 1: of options, though his plan to curtail future benefits for
41:09
Speaker 1: all but low-income retirees and divert some tax dollars to
41:13
Speaker 1: new private retirement accounts was dismissed by Congress. And in 2010,
41:18
Speaker 1: several Republicans on a commission formed by President Barack Obama
41:23
Speaker 1: voted in favor of a debt reduction plan that included
41:26
Speaker 1: raising the payroll cap, raising the retirement age to 69,
41:30
Speaker 1: and trimming benefits for wealthy retirees. The plan offered by
41:34
Speaker 1: the so-called Bowles-Simpson Commission never received a vote in Congress.
41:40
Speaker 1: Senator Mike Crapo, Republican from Idaho, was among the commission's
41:44
Speaker 1: yes votes. Crapo now serves as chairman of the powerful
41:47
Speaker 1: Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over both taxes and
41:52
Speaker 1: Social Security. At a committee hearing last month, Crapo said
41:56
Speaker 1: the Bowles-Simpson plan has informed subsequent Social Security solvency discussions.
42:02
Speaker 1: His office did not respond to questions about his current
42:05
Speaker 1: position on tax hikes. Another hallmark of Social Security reform
42:10
Speaker 1: has been deep involvement by the White House. Cole said
42:13
Speaker 1: he has urged Trump to take on the hard work
42:16
Speaker 1: of fixing the program, calling it a potential crowning achievement.
42:20
Speaker 1: Since Trump is not running for office again, he could
42:23
Speaker 1: do it with no political risk, Cole said, adding, But
42:30
Speaker 1: while Trump has warned Republicans not to cut a single
42:34
Speaker 1: penny from Medicare or Social Security, he has not said
42:37
Speaker 1: how he would raise the vast sums needed to bolster
42:40
Speaker 1: the program's deteriorating finances. White House spokesperson Liz Hudson did
42:46
Speaker 1: not respond to questions about fixing the program, saying via
42:49
Speaker 1: email only that there will be zero reductions to Social
42:53
Speaker 1: Security payments under Trump's leadership. This item is accompanied by photos.
42:59
Speaker 1: The first is captioned, Senator Bernie Moreno, Republican from Ohio,
43:03
Speaker 1: leaves the Capitol on August 7, 2026. Nathan Howard, Reuters.
43:09
Speaker 1: The other photograph is captioned, Representative Tom Cole, Republican from Oklahoma,
43:14
Speaker 1: speaks to the media as he departs a House Republican
43:17
Speaker 1: conference meeting on September 1, 2026. Ben Gomez, Getty Images.
43:24
Speaker 1: Our next item is entitled, Democrats' Novel Ploy to Win
43:27
Speaker 1: California House Seat. Progressive Candidate Villegas is Laid His Hope
43:32
Speaker 1: to Finally Unseat Valadeo by Dan Marica. For years, Democrats
43:39
Speaker 1: have been hell-bent on ousting Representative David G. Valadao, putting
43:44
Speaker 1: up a series of more mainstream candidates to break the
43:47
Speaker 1: Republicans' hold on a district that sweeps across California's verdant
43:51
Speaker 1: San Joaquin Valley. A state assembly member, the son of
43:55
Speaker 1: a union icon, a Senate chief of staff, all lost,
43:59
Speaker 1: and all reflected the belief that the way to defeat
44:01
Speaker 1: the entrenched Republican was to tack to the center and
44:05
Speaker 1: appeal to the district's swing voters. Democrats are, reluctantly, trying
44:11
Speaker 1: something new this year. Randy Villegas, an unabashedly progressive professor,
44:16
Speaker 1: has cast his defeat of an establishment Democrat in the
44:19
Speaker 1: primary as not only a victory for progressives, but also
44:23
Speaker 1: a loss for the conventional wisdom around what it takes
44:26
Speaker 1: to win in a district long controlled by Republicans. House
44:30
Speaker 1: Democrats' main campaign arm endorsed 18 Democrats in primary contests
44:35
Speaker 1: this year. Villegas' primary opponent, Yasmid Baines, was among them,
44:40
Speaker 1: making Villegas one of only three candidates who prevailed, despite
44:44
Speaker 1: the party's efforts to defeat him. There are a lot
44:47
Speaker 1: of assumptions about me, about this race, about our committees
44:51
Speaker 1: that I think have been proven wrong, Villegas told the
44:54
Speaker 1: Washington Post in Bakersfield, California this summer after headlining an
44:58
Speaker 1: event on cuts to the social safety net. This isn't
45:01
Speaker 1: a fight about left versus right. It's really us versus them.
45:06
Speaker 1: Viegas Wind sets up an interesting political test of the
45:09
Speaker 1: viability of progressive politics in a district that President Donald
45:13
Speaker 1: Trump won in 2024. The test comes as the Democratic
45:17
Speaker 1: Party grapples with calls for more anti-establishment, often progressive, candidates
45:23
Speaker 1: to shake up the party's entrenched power and defeat Republicans.
45:27
Speaker 1: But it also represents a risky bet for the party
45:30
Speaker 1: in a district that nonpartisan prognosticators rate as a pure toss-up.
45:35
Speaker 1: One reason Valadeo is seen as vulnerable is his 2025
45:39
Speaker 1: vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut about
45:43
Speaker 1: $ 1 trillion from Medicaid and food assistance for millions of Americans.
45:48
Speaker 1: While the vote has put scores of Republicans on the defensive,
45:51
Speaker 1: it has been particularly potent against Valadeo. 64% of the
45:56
Speaker 1: residents in his district are Medicaid recipients, a higher proportion
46:00
Speaker 1: than for any other district held by a House Republican.
46:03
Speaker 1: 26% received federal food assistance. People say he is too progressive.
46:11
Speaker 1: Rosie Kidwell, a voter in Valadeo's district, attended the Democrats'
46:15
Speaker 1: event outside the Kern County Public Services building in Bakersfield
46:19
Speaker 1: and discussed with Villegas the impact of food stamp cuts
46:22
Speaker 1: on her aging parents. She said she had previously voted
46:27
Speaker 1: for Valadeo. I believed in him, she recalled. but now
46:30
Speaker 1: plans to support Villegas, despite acknowledging concerns that he may
46:34
Speaker 1: be too progressive. We need to educate voters, Kidwell said.
46:39
Speaker 1: People say he is too progressive. They need to learn
46:42
Speaker 1: how he will change things, how he will be good
46:45
Speaker 1: for our community. I believe in what he has to say.
46:49
Speaker 1: I know where he is coming from, Kidwell said, adding
46:52
Speaker 1: that she connected with his working-class upbringing in the district.
46:57
Speaker 1: Flying by the Diablo Range to the west, and the
46:59
Speaker 1: Sierra Nevada to the east, California's 22nd congressional district is
47:04
Speaker 1: a valley of hundreds of farms that produce everything from
47:07
Speaker 1: fruits and tree nuts to dairy and cattle. Nicknamed the
47:11
Speaker 1: food basket of the world, the region gave rise to
47:14
Speaker 1: the American farm workers movement and is home to some
47:17
Speaker 1: of the nation's largest agricultural corporations. That dominance has shaped
47:21
Speaker 1: the district's politics, making issues such as tariffs, water rights,
47:26
Speaker 1: and labor laws particularly potent. On paper, Valadeo's resilience is
47:31
Speaker 1: a political oddity. The district is one of the most
47:34
Speaker 1: Latino in the nation, and Democrats enjoy a double-digit registration advantage.
47:40
Speaker 1: But Republicans have held a foothold in the region for years,
47:44
Speaker 1: powered by a motivated base and Democratic-leaning voters willing to
47:48
Speaker 1: split their ticket. Valadeo, for example, took back the area
47:52
Speaker 1: in 2020 by less than a percentage point, while Joe
47:56
Speaker 1: Biden carried the district by double digits. and Democrats were
48:00
Speaker 1: equally hopeful they could defeat the Republican in 2024 before
48:04
Speaker 1: he won re-election by 7 percentage points. What happened in
48:09
Speaker 1: 2024 was you had one party, the Democrats, who were
48:11
Speaker 1: saying the economy is great, Villegas said. Meanwhile, you had
48:15
Speaker 1: somebody like Trump, as much of a grifter as he is,
48:19
Speaker 1: who was talking about how the system is rigged against people,
48:22
Speaker 1: and who was speaking and tapping into some of the
48:24
Speaker 1: economic anxieties that people experienced. including Latinos in my district,
48:29
Speaker 1: were facing. Establishment Democrats, he argued, own that loss. We
48:34
Speaker 1: can't just offer people not Trump or not Valadeo, he said.
48:39
Speaker 1: We actually have to offer people something to believe in
48:42
Speaker 1: and something to fight for. Villegas, who co-owns his family's
48:47
Speaker 1: auto repair shop, has not shied away from his progressive politics.
48:51
Speaker 1: He supports Medicare for All, universal child care, and has
48:56
Speaker 1: been an outspoken critic of Israel, which he labels a
48:59
Speaker 1: genocidal regime because of his actions in Gaza. Republicans have
49:04
Speaker 1: used these views to call him a socialist, and his
49:07
Speaker 1: Democratic opponent in the primary labeled him Radical Randy. But
49:12
Speaker 1: Villegas argued that voters don't give a shit about these
49:15
Speaker 1: labels around progressivism or populism or moderate or conservative. That
49:20
Speaker 1: stridency has given Republicans confidence. The GOP-backed Congressional Leadership Fund
49:26
Speaker 1: helped elevate Villegas during the primary, reflecting a belief that
49:30
Speaker 1: they would rather run against a progressive. But in a
49:33
Speaker 1: sign that Republicans know this race could be tight, The
49:37
Speaker 1: group also plans to spend close to $ 8 million on
49:40
Speaker 1: ads backing Valadeo. That's because a Republican has lost before,
49:45
Speaker 1: and his district got slightly more Democratic as part of
49:48
Speaker 1: California's redistricting that was enacted by voters in 2025. Although
49:53
Speaker 1: the Republican first went to Congress in 2013, he lost
49:57
Speaker 1: his re-election to Democrat T.J. Cox during the 2018 midterms.
50:02
Speaker 1: a wave year when Democrats swept into control of the
50:05
Speaker 1: House two years after Trump was first elected. Though the
50:09
Speaker 1: Republican would later defeat Cox in 2020, party operatives in
50:13
Speaker 1: California and nationally know that the 2026 midterms, two years
50:18
Speaker 1: after Trump's 2024 win, could resemble the year Valadeo lost.
50:23
Speaker 1: Villegas shrugs off labels as GOP seeks to paint him
50:27
Speaker 1: as a radical. Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National
50:31
Speaker 1: Republican Congressional Committee, said Villegas is lying to Central Valley
50:36
Speaker 1: families because he would rather protect benefits for criminal illegal
50:39
Speaker 1: immigrants than preserve Medicaid for those most in need. That's
50:44
Speaker 1: the difference, Martinez said. Valadeo is protecting the vulnerable, while
50:48
Speaker 1: Villegas is defending the radical. Valadeo, who declined multiple requests
50:53
Speaker 1: for comment on this article, was born and raised in Hanford, California.
50:58
Speaker 1: an agricultural hub in the district. His family owns two
51:01
Speaker 1: dairy farms, according to his congressional biography, and grows almonds, corn,
51:06
Speaker 1: and wheat to feed their dairy cows, a background that
51:09
Speaker 1: has helped him connect with voters in the heavily agricultural district.
51:13
Speaker 1: He attended College of the Sequoias, a community college where
51:16
Speaker 1: Villegas teaches political science, and spent two years in the
51:20
Speaker 1: state assembly before running to represent the Central Valley in
51:23
Speaker 1: Congress in 2012. The Democratic establishment has come around on Villegas.
51:29
Speaker 1: House Democrats' campaign arm added the progressive to the same
51:33
Speaker 1: program they used to try to defeat him days after
51:35
Speaker 1: the primary this summer. And data from Ad Impact, an
51:39
Speaker 1: ad tracking firm, finds that House Majority PAC, the primary
51:43
Speaker 1: Democratic super PAC tasked with taking control of the House,
51:47
Speaker 1: plans to spend more than $ 8 million on ads in
51:49
Speaker 1: the district. The outside group told the Post it will
51:53
Speaker 1: begin its television ad campaign in the district on Tuesday. C.J. Warnke,
51:58
Speaker 1: a spokesperson for the group, said its campaign will focus
52:01
Speaker 1: on how Valadeo voted to raise costs and how Randy
52:05
Speaker 1: Villegas will make their lives more affordable. We're all in
52:09
Speaker 1: to elect Randy Villegas, said Anna Alsasser, a spokesperson for
52:13
Speaker 1: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who hit Valadeo as vulnerable
52:18
Speaker 1: after he voted for the Medicaid cuts. The contrast couldn't
52:21
Speaker 1: be clearer, said Elsasser, and that's why this must-win seat
52:25
Speaker 1: is primed to flip. This article is accompanied by photos.
52:31
Speaker 1: The first is captioned, Randy Villegas, a Democrat running to
52:34
Speaker 1: represent California's 22nd District, campaigns in May in Bakersfield. Myung
52:39
Speaker 1: Jae Chun, Los Angeles Times, Getty Images. The photo shows Mr.
52:44
Speaker 1: Villegas outside the door to a home with a clipboard
52:48
Speaker 1: and a stack of campaign literature. The next photo is captioned,
52:52
Speaker 1: A Dairy Farm Seen in 2016 in Porterville, California in
52:56
Speaker 1: the Agricultural Heavy Central Valley. Robin Beck, AFP, Getty Images.
53:03
Speaker 1: The next photo is captioned, Representative David G. Valadeo at
53:06
Speaker 1: his farm in Hanford, California in 2024, located in the
53:10
Speaker 1: district he represents. Jenna Schoenfeld for The Washington Post. The
53:16
Speaker 1: next article from today's front page is entitled, making a
53:20
Speaker 1: massive handover of history. Peter Bergen spent years reporting on Al-Qaeda.
53:25
Speaker 1: For the 25th anniversary of 9-11, he is donating more
53:29
Speaker 1: than 150,000 pages of documents to Georgetown University by Scott Nover.
53:35
Speaker 1: Peter Bergen has a unique collection, not stamps or coins
53:39
Speaker 1: or baseball cards, but something altogether more lurid, a comprehensive
53:44
Speaker 1: trove detailing the rise of Al-Qaeda. Bergen, 63, a journalist
53:49
Speaker 1: who has covered national security for CNN since the 1990s,
53:53
Speaker 1: produced the network's 1997 interview with Osama bin Laden, bin
53:57
Speaker 1: Laden's first television interview, and has been one of the
54:01
Speaker 1: foremost chroniclers of the U.S. war on terror. In the process,
54:05
Speaker 1: Bergen has amassed stacks of papers, photographs, recordings, and artifacts.
54:11
Speaker 1: For the 25th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001,
54:16
Speaker 1: planned and executed by al-Qaeda, Bergen is donating his archive
54:20
Speaker 1: to Georgetown University's library so it can be a resource
54:24
Speaker 1: for scholars, students, and the public. I believe in history
54:28
Speaker 1: as being useful for people to try to understand, Bergen said.
54:32
Speaker 1: Not that history repeats itself, but it does have a
54:35
Speaker 1: rhyme or two. Georgetown is getting 150,000 pages of printed
54:40
Speaker 1: and digital files, documentation from a lifetime of scouring the
54:44
Speaker 1: Middle East. And then there are some special items. Bergen
54:48
Speaker 1: holds a super-rare paper copy of a fatwa issued by
54:52
Speaker 1: Omar Abdel Rahman, known as a blind sheikh, whom he's
54:57
Speaker 1: called the spiritual guide of the September 11 attacks. Abdel
55:01
Speaker 1: Rahman issued the theological order while incarcerated in the United
55:05
Speaker 1: States and had it relayed by his lawyer. It was
55:09
Speaker 1: then distributed to attendees at what Bergen called the one
55:12
Speaker 1: and only al-Qaeda press conference in Afghanistan in 1998. Kill
55:18
Speaker 1: them in the sea, on land and in the air,
55:20
Speaker 1: it read. Bergen did not attend the press conference, but
55:24
Speaker 1: obtained the card with an Arabic message from an attendee afterward.
55:28
Speaker 1: He said the fatwa gave religious permission to al-Qaeda's members
55:31
Speaker 1: to kill Americans and set the stage for the 2001 attacks.
55:37
Speaker 1: The other crown jewel of the collection is a complete
55:40
Speaker 1: run of Al-Jihad magazine, a publication that started in 1984,
55:45
Speaker 1: before al-Qaeda was even formed. and was sold around the world,
55:49
Speaker 1: even in Brooklyn. Eventually it became what Bergen called the
55:53
Speaker 1: in-flight magazine of Al-Qaeda. When I teach about it, I
55:57
Speaker 1: say that it's like the Vanity Fair of terrorist publications,
56:01
Speaker 1: said Bruce Hoffman, a leading terrorism scholar and professor at
56:04
Speaker 1: Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. It was glossy. It was colorful.
56:09
Speaker 1: It had arresting prose, really dramatic photographs. Hoffman, who helped
56:14
Speaker 1: connect Bergen with librarians at Georgetown, said the collection is
56:18
Speaker 1: one of a kind. And it's especially important, he said,
56:21
Speaker 1: for students who are too young to remember September 11.
56:25
Speaker 1: It makes history come alive, in essence, when you can
56:28
Speaker 1: look at these archival materials and trace its trajectory, this
56:32
Speaker 1: lineage that led to 9-11, Hoffman said. You can understand
56:36
Speaker 1: how earth-shattering it was. Bergen first traveled to the Middle
56:41
Speaker 1: East in 1983 when he was 20 years old. A
56:44
Speaker 1: student at Oxford University, Bergen and two friends journeyed to
56:48
Speaker 1: Pakistan to film a documentary about Afghan refugees. He worked
56:52
Speaker 1: for ABC News before moving to CNN in 1990. After
56:57
Speaker 1: the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Bergen went to his
57:00
Speaker 1: bosses at CNN and said he wanted to investigate what
57:04
Speaker 1: was happening in Afghanistan since the bombers trained there. It
57:08
Speaker 1: was not until 1996 that he even heard the name
57:12
Speaker 1: Osama bin Laden. He was trying to keep a low profile,
57:15
Speaker 1: Bergen said. He was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993
57:19
Speaker 1: Trade Center attacks, which is code for, we don't know
57:23
Speaker 1: what this guy did. He was in the ether. He
57:27
Speaker 1: was a name that came up. That year, a State
57:30
Speaker 1: Department analysis first identified bin Laden as a financier of
57:34
Speaker 1: radical Islamic groups. By 1997, a CNN team that included
57:40
Speaker 1: Bergen and correspondent Peter Arnett secured an interview with bin Laden.
57:45
Speaker 1: They agreed to be taken from their hotel in Jalalabad
57:48
Speaker 1: blindfolded to an unknown location in Afghanistan in one vehicle,
57:52
Speaker 1: then another, and then another, all under the cover of darkness,
57:57
Speaker 1: to meet bin Laden and interview him. Bergen was never scared,
58:00
Speaker 1: he said, because he was focused on the job and
58:03
Speaker 1: not the potential danger. The photos, Interview notes and tapes
58:08
Speaker 1: from that day are part of the archive now in
58:10
Speaker 1: Georgetown's care. Bergen wears many hats these days. He's a
58:15
Speaker 1: CNN national security analyst, author of a new book called
58:19
Speaker 1: All the President's Wars, a vice president at a think tank,
58:23
Speaker 1: New America, and is a professor at Arizona State University.
58:27
Speaker 1: Due to the constraints of time, we'll be unable to
58:30
Speaker 1: complete this item. This concludes the readings of the Washington Post.
58:34
Speaker 1: For today, Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Your reader for today
58:38
Speaker 1: has been Cindy Fraser. If you have any questions, comments,
58:42
Speaker 1: or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
58:45
Speaker 1: us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening, and now please
58:51
Speaker 1: stay tuned for continued programming on Radio Eye.