Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Tom Becka in-studio for an interesting debate

Transcript

Tom Becka in-studio for an interesting debate · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jean Stothert. And Peyton Heilack, my producer,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: is also here. Good morning, Peyton.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Jean. How are you doing?
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I have a question for you. Peyton, we all know,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: produces the Chris Baker Show for four hours in the afternoon.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Which you both call... The big show. The big show.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Do you call me the little show? No, no, no.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to get that out on the table
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: right now.
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  Speaker 4: All right.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: But thank you all for being with us today. We
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: want to hear from you. We want to get your feedback.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: We want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaints, really
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: anything goes. City, state, national and the world. We'll take
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: any questions that you have, and we will have plenty
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: of good guests. And, of course, you're going to have
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: plenty of opinions from me too, but it is your
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: chance to speak up and sound off. If you have
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: something to say, we want to hear it. So send
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  Speaker 1: your emails to comment at kfab.com. You can call us
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: at 402-558-1110, or you can leave us a recorded message
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: on the talkback mic, and we will play it on
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the air. We are happy that you are with us,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: and I first have to say one thing personal. It
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: is my daughter's 41st birthday today. So happy birthday, Elizabeth Letty.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I think every mother should celebrate more than the child
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  Speaker 1: because I'm the one that gave birth to her, and
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  Speaker 1: she was 9 1⁄2 pounds, so she was a big one.
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  Speaker 1: But she was born down in Texas, 2.18 a.m. I
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  Speaker 1: remember it was like it was yesterday. So happy birthday, Elizabeth.
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  Speaker 1: And I am very happy to have our guest with
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  Speaker 1: us today, the one and only Tom Becker. Welcome back
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: to the studio.
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: The place looks a lot better than it did when
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: I was here.
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  Speaker 2: I clean it.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, well, not only clean it, but the paint and everything.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I wipe this table off every day. It had cooties
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  Speaker 2: on it. I know it did.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: But, you know, many, many times I was in this
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: studio with you sitting in this chair and me sitting
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: where you are.
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  Speaker 2: Had many interviews.
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  Speaker 1: Tom and I, before the show started, I think we've
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: known each other for, I would say, 15 to 20 years.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: So we've known each other a lot, and we've had
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: a lot of great conversations, a lot of disagreements, a
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: lot of good conversations, and a lot of fun. But
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I really wanted to bring Tom on today because I
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: think we have a lot to talk about with this
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  Speaker 1: election coming up right now. And you know, I was thinking,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: is this going to be like a point-counterpoint, Tom?
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  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: It's going to be like Jane Curtin.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: First of all, I want.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: To start off by saying something very presidential.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, this is going to be for the records.
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  Speaker 5: Gene, you got a nice ass.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: What?
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
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  Speaker 1: Peyton just fell out of his chair.
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  Speaker 3: I didn't expect that one. Peyton's dying over here. Good Lord,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Tom Decker.
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: All right.
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  Speaker 5: All right.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing surprises me.
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: Okay. Seriously, okay.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Got that over with.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: I can give you another reason.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Here we are. Point, counterpoint.
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: Before we went on.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: The air, you called me a liberal. And I'm the
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: same person I've always been. It's just that the definition
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: of conservative has changed so much. I don't think the
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: argument anymore is Democrats and Republicans.
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  Speaker 5: I think the argument now is moderates versus the extremes.
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  Speaker 5: So I'm pretty much.
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  Speaker 4: The same guy I've always been. Look, I've always been
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: ticked off about our deficit spending. I've never been a
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  Speaker 4: big fan of war. I've never thought that– as a
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: matter of fact, I just did a– it's not up yet,
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: but I just did a podcast over the weekend with
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  Speaker 4: a pardoned January sitzer. And I mean what that happened
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: and it was fascinating. I want to feel actually kind
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: of sorry about that.
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  Speaker 1: And I know January 6th is one thing that is
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  Speaker 1: still on your mind and a reason why you dislike
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: the president, Trump, as.
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  Speaker 2: Much as you do. You know, let me let me.
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  Speaker 5: OK, well, let me ask you. OK, here we go.
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  Speaker 5: I will tell you three things that Trump has done
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  Speaker 5: that I like.
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  Speaker 4: OK, you tell me three of his policies that you don't.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's get to it, Tom, because number one, let's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: go through what the issues are today, and we'll go
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: back and forth on that.
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  Speaker 5: Can I get that as a no?
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  Speaker 1: No, but let's straighten this out from the beginning. I
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  Speaker 1: agree with you 100%. I always said that there are
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: usually 10% on the far right, 10% on the far left,
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  Speaker 1: and everybody else is somewhere in the middle.
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  Speaker 2: Which I would include myself.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, when I was mayor, that far right,
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  Speaker 1: which I'm a Republican, you know that they didn't like me.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: The far left didn't like me either. But what I
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  Speaker 1: see happening now is I see people that really felt
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: like they were believed in, say, the Republican tenants of
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the party, that they are drifting away. And it seems
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  Speaker 1: like I'm seeing that more and more. Now you, Tom Becker,
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  Speaker 1: what I used to see you as is quite moderate.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: That's how I used to see you. And that's what
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: we were saying in the beginning.
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  Speaker 1: I will say that just listening to you and listening
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: to what you think about Republican candidates, that's why I
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: said and asked Tom, I said– Do you feel like
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: you are much more liberal right now or would you
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: consider yourself a liberal?
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  Speaker 2: So that's how that conversation went.
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  Speaker 5: No, this is why I want to have this conversation
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  Speaker 5: with you.
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  Speaker 4: I would say that the Republican Party is not showing
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  Speaker 4: me any reason to vote for them.
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  Speaker 5: So let me ask you this. Why– OK. Governor Pilden,
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  Speaker 5: Governor Pilden, the $ 2.
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  Speaker 4: 5 million no-bid contract, what he did with the young–
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  Speaker 4: Worker on his farms that died, how he ignored the
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  Speaker 4: nitrates in the water by his farms. I mean the
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  Speaker 4: deficit that he's put the state under. I give you
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  Speaker 4: all these reasons why I'm not going to vote for Pillen.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: Why should I vote for Pillen?
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  Speaker 1: OK, because– and I would just turn it around right
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  Speaker 1: now and say … Name me one issue on the
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  Speaker 1: Democrat agenda that is good for America.
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  Speaker 5: I'm looking for positive reasons to vote for Pillen.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's go through the issues then because what you
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: are bringing up now, you are bringing up three or
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  Speaker 1: four or five things that are being used against Governor
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  Speaker 1: Pillen in the election. I could turn right around and
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: bring up four or five things that are being used
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  Speaker 1: against Lynn Waltz with this election.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Um, for one thing, her commercials are not truthful. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: she is not at all a lesson to this. She
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  Speaker 1: has said on the commercial, um, And I challenged her
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  Speaker 1: with this when she was on here. On her commercial,
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  Speaker 1: she said, Governor Pillen did not lower your property taxes,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: but he jacked up the sales tax 36%.
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  Speaker 2: Go buy something today.
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  Speaker 1: The Nebraska sales tax has not been jacked up 36%.
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  Speaker 2: It's still 5.5%.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not up to just the governor to lower
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  Speaker 1: property taxes. He's got 49 legislators, of which Lynn Waltz
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  Speaker 1: was one of them, that has to vote to agree
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  Speaker 1: with him. He held a special session, if you remember,
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  Speaker 1: two summers ago to try to get some resolution or
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  Speaker 1: some reform of how our property taxes are calculated in
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  Speaker 1: the state of Nebraska. He couldn't get anything done because
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: he couldn't get the legislature to agree with him. I
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: would say the legislature was also because it's like the
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  Speaker 1: mayor and the city council.
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  Speaker 2: The mayor is the executive. The governor is the executive.
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  Speaker 1: But the mayor has seven city council members that has
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  Speaker 1: to agree or nothing gets done. The governor has 49
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  Speaker 1: legislators or nothing gets done. And everybody, Tom, is so
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  Speaker 1: afraid to do any kind of reform with taxes in
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  Speaker 1: the state because they are so afraid that.
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  Speaker 2: Somebody is going to say– you raise taxes.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, some of the ideas that were
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: floating around there were, wonder if we did raise the
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  Speaker 1: sales tax a half a cent or a penny. Wonder if,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we did some, take some of those sales
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  Speaker 1: tax exemptions and either lowered them or got rid of them.
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  Speaker 1: Wonder if, I mean, all sorts of things were thrown
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  Speaker 1: out on the table, but nobody wanted to say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I don't want you to point a finger and say,
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  Speaker 1: I wanted then to I wanted to take more property
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  Speaker 1: taxes away.
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  Speaker 4: Isn't the job of the governor or any executive official,
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  Speaker 4: Republican or Democrat, isn't their job to work with the–
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  Speaker 4: in this case, to try to garner support even before
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  Speaker 4: you call the special session, before you charge– cost the
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  Speaker 4: state– I don't know how much money, a million dollars
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  Speaker 4: or whatever it was to– to have the special session.
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  Speaker 4: Isn't that what an effective leader does?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: I think you've got to form coalitions. You've got to
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  Speaker 1: form because I'll go back to just being the mayor.
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  Speaker 1: There are seven city councilmen. There were four Democrats, three Republicans.
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  Speaker 1: I worked with them all. I mean, if I would
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  Speaker 1: not get the votes of the Democrats on the city
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  Speaker 1: council and if the governor would not get the votes
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  Speaker 1: of the Democrats and the unicameral, you're not going to
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: get anything done. You have to reach across the aisle
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  Speaker 1: and you have to form coalitions. And a lot of
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  Speaker 1: those coalitions form before the actual time of the vote.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And I think that's very, very important. But I want
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  Speaker 1: to bring up some of the other issues of today
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  Speaker 1: and let's just– if we could talk about it because
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  Speaker 1: when I look at what's going on nationally, statewide, even locally,
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  Speaker 1: the Democrat agenda, Tom, has gotten so far to the left.
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  Speaker 2: It worries me.
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: Because the biggest issue facing America today is, my god,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: a transsexual playing volleyball.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Oh, my goodness. Oh, clutching my pearls. I mean, come on.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: I mean, look.
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: I can argue the fact that, you know, yeah.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Do you support it?
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: I don't support transsexuals in sports. No, I support transsexuals.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think that they have a right to
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: live as much as anybody else.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Do you support boys and girls sports?
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: No, I just said no. I just said no, I don't.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: I think that is a valid argument.
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  Speaker 4: But I also think when you take a look at
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: everything else that this state and this country is facing
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: right now, the idea that somebody might be cutting off their,
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: you know what, to play volleyball.
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: Is just ludicrous.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Well, look at the look at the agenda, though, of
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: the DSA. Excuse me.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: And Gavin Newsom in California was recently revealed to say
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: that the DSA is taking over the party. He said
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: they are the future and the Democrats are not the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: answer anymore. I don't think I think they're really running
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: and leaning to the left. And they are embracing socialism. Okay,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: so let's look at what the DSA agenda is, Tom.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Is promising people $ 5, 000 if the Republican win.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: The election, is that socialism? I wouldn't agree with that. No, no,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: but is it socialism? I don't think you could call
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: it socialism. What would you call it, communism?
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: I would not call it communism either. A bribe? Maybe.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: I don't want to call it a bribe, but it's
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: more of a bribe than anything. It's more of if.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: I give you— Give me an ethical— A description of
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: offering to pay somebody $ 5, 000 if the Republicans win.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Give me an ethical description. I'm totally against that. I
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: think it's more of a– it's more to me of
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: a campaign ploy. OK, you vote with me and I'm
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: going to give you $ 5, 000. And I think even– Even
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: staunch Republicans are saying, wait a minute, scratch my head.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: How much is that going to cost and can't that $ 5, 000
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: be used in another way? But what about the DSA agenda?
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: I mean defunding, disassembling police, closing prisons, boys and girls sports.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: We mentioned that. Lower taxes versus higher taxes. Balanced budget.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: You know, you can rant about.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Trump's budget, and you can rant about we're $ 40 trillion
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: in debt right now.
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: I think that's a valid rant, yeah.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: But at least the Republican candidates that I am listening
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: to are talking about it, and they don't want to
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: add more welfare programs.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: The only time Republicans care about the deficit is when
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: the Democrats are in charge, okay? You had Pete Ricketts
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: on the other day, and I listened to that.
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: OK.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Did he say silent when they tore down the East Wing?
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: Did he say silent when Trump.
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: Is spending all this money, the silent on the war
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: and putting us even deeper and deeper in debt, the tariffs?
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: Did he say silent on all this stuff?
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: Republican– OK. You say I'm a liberal now, right?
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: Maybe.
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: OK.
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: I'm a free market person, right?
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: Yes. OK.
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: OK.
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: Tariffs are not free market tariffs, especially when you put
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: tariffs on everything. When you when you go and alienate Canada,
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: that's not free market. Does that make me a liberal?
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: And does that make me what a traditional Republican used
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: to be?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: And for let's look at the CD2 race. Brinker Harding
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: says he is against tariffs. But you come out with
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Denise Powell and Denise Powell is saying she wants free
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: health care.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: What's going to cost more? What's going to cost the
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: citizens of the United States more? I will say at
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: least the Republicans are talking about it. Both Brinker and
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Flood have said no budget, no pay. What are we
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: hearing from the Democrats? Nothing at all except they want
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: more welfare programs. How is that going to help the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: citizens of the United States? And, Tom, I brought up
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: the other day.
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: Let me ask you this. Would you rather we spend
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: the money.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: On– Tom Beckett is on with me today. Can't you tell?
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: No. Would you rather spend the money– would you rather
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: the government spend money on helping people that are sick,
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: poor people that are sick and can't afford insurance? Would
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: you rather have the government spend money on that or
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: spend money on bombs in Iran?
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I would throw that question right back with you. Would
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: you rather Iran have a nuclear weapon?
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Iran didn't have– Iran was not on the verge of
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: a nuclear weapon.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Yes, they were.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: Then Trump lied to us when he said that he
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: obliterated it a year ago.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: No, they said– So the president is a liar. Tom,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: you know that. They said that they obliterated what their
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: stock was in, but they still had the capacity to
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: mine uranium.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: And then they could still make bombs and nuclear bombs.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And that's why we had to go back. And you
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: know that if you read what's going on. But, okay,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: say with the war, there's a big disagreement with the war.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I say, yes, we needed to make sure Iran didn't
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: have a nuclear weapon. I think where the president was
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: wrong in saying this will be over in two weeks
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: because it's not over in two weeks.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, the price of gas is up. Yes, the prices
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: are up.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: But if you go along with some of this with
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the agenda, with the Democrat agenda, you know, let's talk
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: about inflation, for example. You know, inflation right now, the
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: inflation rate is three point seven percent. What was it
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: during the Biden administration?
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Nine percent.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: You mean right after COVID, right after COVID.
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: 9.1.
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, right after COVID and after he flooded the market,
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: which I was not a big fan of him flooding
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: the market.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: With all that money.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: All that money.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: So, you know, you want me to defend Biden and
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to. I told you I will tell
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: you three policies of Trump that I like and you
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: can't tell me one that you don't.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Okay, go ahead. No, I'm saying you're– excuse me.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: You're– I would rather if we could talk about the
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: issues and let us just go.
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: Through those issues.
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: OK.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: I will tell you. I like that Trump has sealed
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: up the border. OK? I like Trump has sealed up
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: the border.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: I like that Trump has deregulated marijuana and I like
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: that Trump has got NATO to pay more for the bills. OK?
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: So those are three things I like. Tossing the fact
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: that these outlawed paper straws, let's make it four. Okay,
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: so I've done my part. Tell me three policies of
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: his that you disagree with.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: That I disagree with?
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, I mean, like I said, the whole
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: issue of saying that Iran– The war in Iran is
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: going to be over in two weeks.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: I disagreed with that.
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: That wasn't really a policy. That was– OK. So maybe
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: you're saying.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: If we go back to January 6th, what happened? I
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: agree with what happened on January 6th. But I think– Wait, wait, wait.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: I want to make sure I understand you. You agree
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: with what Trump did on January 6th?
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: No.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: OK, well, you made it sound like you agree.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: No, no, no.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: But, you know, if I as another policy like what
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: we did, what he did with prescription drugs, for example,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: with I mean, I think his his favored policy had
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: led to some of the lowest prices and drug prices
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: in decades.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: And I think that is a good thing. I think
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: you mentioned.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: But I'm asking you are things that you disagree with
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: him on. OK, you know, you OK, you like that
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: he lowered drug prices.
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: OK, fine. All right. I would suggest that he's got
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: his hand in the cookie jar on that. But OK.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: But I'll give you that one.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: OK.
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: He lowered drug prices. So that's five things I've said.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: I think with Trump, with me, with Trump, is I
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: will say that I think he is one of the
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: first presidents that is actually carrying out the things that
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: he promised. He's doing what he thinks needs to be
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: done right. For the betterment of the United States of America.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: What I don't like about Donald Trump is some of
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: the things he says. I mean, he says some things
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: sometimes to some people, like making fun of people, that
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't do as mayor of little old Omaha, Nebraska.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: And that concerns me. I think that people talk about
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: what he's doing to the White House, for example. And
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: when I heard Obama talking about that the other day,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: I thought Obama was ridiculous making fun of what he
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: was doing with the new ballroom and saying it looked
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: like Saddam Hussein was making a cheesecake factory.
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: You're dealing with personalities here and I want to deal
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: with issues.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: And I want to deal with issues too. We've talked
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: about the border. I like– I mean that was good.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about what Donald Trump has done has been good.
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: I didn't want to turn this into a Donald Trump thing.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: I want to find out why he should be voting
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: for Nebraska Republicans, OK? OK.
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: Maybe we can agree on this, OK?
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: Scott Peterson should not be secretary of state.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: I would not have chosen Scott Peterson to be secretary
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: of state.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: Should Scott Peterson be secretary of state?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I would not have chosen him.
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: But you're going to vote for him.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: I did vote for him. Correct.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: Because I think that– But you know– matter of fact,
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: he sent me an email today where he said he
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: is proud to be a member of the tinfoil hat club.
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: OK?
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: I did not see that.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: He sent me that today. All right.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: When I asked him point blank, did Donald Trump lose
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: the 2020 election, he gave the mega answer of Joe
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: Biden was president. Yeah, I know Joe Biden was president.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: Did Donald Trump lose? And he won't say that. He
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: is an election denier that's going to be.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: In charge of our elections. And you voted for that.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: Why? Help me understand what I'm not understanding.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Because, well, I voted for his opponent, obviously.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: But I think that what the policies that he is
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: saying that he wants to uphold for the state of
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Nebraska agree more with what my vision is and what
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: my philosophy is.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Than the Democrats.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: And I will bring back the Democrats again because I've
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: got to say this again, Tom.
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: Are you a Republican or an American?
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: Am I?
• 18:41
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I'm an American Republican. And you know what? I consider
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: myself a patriot too. And what do you think a
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: patriot is? Because I said a patriot is somebody that
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: loves the country, would fight for the country, and would
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: die for the country. I said that one day on
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the air and some guy called and just reamed me
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: out and said, you're a slap in the face to
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: all of us men who were on the front line
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: during the war. Well, hell, there were women flying bombers
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: over the Atlantic Ocean during the war, too. Don't tell
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: me that because you weren't in a front line that
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: you're not American. And I love this country. And what
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: do you hear mostly from the Democrats now and from
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: the DSA? They hate the country. They want to change
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the presidency. They want to change Congress. They want to
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: rewrite the Constitution. They want to have open borders. They
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: want to defund the police, close down all the prisons,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: let anybody in the country that anybody wants.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: This is their agenda now. That's what scares me, Tom.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: I would rather vote for a Republican understanding what their
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: policies and agenda are rather than go, even Gavin Newsom said,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the party is going to the left.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I don't want that.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: You want to take a look at what Ted Cruz
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: said about Donald Trump, what Marco Rubio said about Donald Trump,
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: what all these Republicans said about Donald Trump before they
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: became victims of the Stockholm syndrome and are just going
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: along with him.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Well, let's not make it just about Trump then though.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: No, no.
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: I want to deal with Nebraska, OK? We've got an
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: attorney general.
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: We've got an attorney general that is trying to negate
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: the will of the people with medical marijuana.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: Why should I vote for him?
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Let's turn it around and say Dan Osborne is– Dan Osborne.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: Is not running for attorney general.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: No, but I'm bringing up another. I mean we're going
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: all over the place with these.
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: Different elections now.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: I'm focusing.
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: You're going all over the place. Well– I mean I
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: don't mean to be rude or anything here.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: I mean you and I have known each other a
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: long time and I like and respect you. But it's
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: frustrating because I'm called a libtard. I'm called a libtard
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: because I don't drink the Kool-Aid. And I've got Republicans
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: that– we talked earlier today.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: You got a nasty email yesterday, right?
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: You got a nasty email yesterday, which by the way
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: was tame compared to some of the ones that I've
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: gotten over the years.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, I've gotten some dandies too, Tom.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: But the other day, Pete Ricketts wanted to blame the
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: media for this.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: Well, you've got a governor calling people that– half the
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: state libtards.
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: You've got a president that is making fun of handicapped people.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: So don't tell me that it's the media that is
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: creating this divide. The politicians are doing it.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: I mean– And we have Dan Osborne saying Nebraskans' life suck, too.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, my question is, Tom, is if you say, OK,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: I'm not happy about the way things are right now.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: So let's blame all the Republicans because the Republicans are
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: in power.
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying blame all the Republicans.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: I'm saying let's blame the ones that are in office
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: that are doing a bad job. OK, I have a
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: lot of friends that are Republicans. OK, I have a
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: lot of friends, Republicans, and they will tell you off
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: the record. They pretty much agree with a lot of
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: what I'm saying, but they can't say it officially because
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: they don't want to be ostracized from the group.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: But how are the Democrats with the Democrat agenda and
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the far left Democrat agenda going to make the United States,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: going to make Omaha, going to make the state of
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Nebraska different? I mean how are they going to do that?
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: How is Denise Powell going to do it? How is
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Dan Osborne going to do it? How is Lynn Walz
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: going to do it? I will say that I am hearing, Tom,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: is they hate America.
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: No, they don't hate America.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: They're not proud Americans.
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: They don't hate America. Denise Powell does not hate America.
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: Lynn Walz– I'm sure you met Lynn Walls. You know
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Lynn Walls.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, she was in here.
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: One of the nicest people you're ever going to meet.
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: But the ads they run make her seem like she's
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: Saddam Hussein.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: I mean, come on.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: Lynn Walls is a nice person. Now, you can disagree
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: with some of her policies. That's all fair game. But
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: to go and try to make it out like she's
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: some sort of left-wing radical, she got reelected twice. She
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: got elected twice out of Fremont, Nebraska. Out of Fremont, Nebraska,
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: she got elected twice to be a state senator. Fremont
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: is not some bastion of far-left liberalism. Okay? I mean,
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: Lynn Walz, Lynn Walz, you say, you know, what about
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: the Democrats doing this?
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: Well, let me ask you this. What benefit do we
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: have by keep going down the same road we're going
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: down now?
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Well, you bring up Lynn Walz. Look at Deb Fischer.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I met Deb Fischer when we were both
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: on the school board. And then she was elected for
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: two terms in the Nebraska legislature and she became a U.S.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: Senator.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's it's she did the same
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: thing Lynn Walz is doing, although Lynn Walz is running
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: for governor. So there was a lot of people that
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: got elected to the legislature. I mean, you can't just
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: say Lynn Walz got elected.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: No, no, no.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: Wait.
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: I don't know where Deb Fischer comes into this, but Deb.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: Fischer was conservative and she stayed conservative, right? You're trying
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: to make Lynn Walz seem like she's some left-wing liberal,
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: and she's not.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: She said that she is– basically, she said she was
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: a liberal, but she said she would consider herself a
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: lot more moderate on certain issues. And so, you know,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the thing of it is, Tom, is this is and
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: I think it bothers you and it bothers me, too.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: We are getting little bits of information right now and
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: we are just being bombarded. Me, you, everybody that's listening
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: with these commercials that are out there now just throwing
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: mud right and left from both sides that are totally
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: meant to confuse you. And at this point in time.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: People don't know which way to go. They are unhappy
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: with the cost of things now. A lot of people
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: are unhappy with the war. Look at why I lost
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the mayor's race primarily because of the streetcar. But some people,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: they want to know how their lives are going to
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: be better if they vote for this person or that person.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: And that's what these candidates should be doing.
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: I would say this is anecdotal. So give that caveat
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: to begin with.
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: But I have Republican friends that live in southwest Omaha
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: that didn't vote for you because you know why? When
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: they came out– it wasn't your campaign per se but
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: it was people that are supporting you– came out with
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: the whole thing about transgenders, kids in school and all
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: that stuff.
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: They just said, I'm tired of this crap. I'm tired
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: of the culture wars, OK?
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: And so they couldn't vote for you because of the
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: culture wars that the Republicans throw out there.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: But they couldn't vote for– I hate to turn this
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: into me, but they totally ignored 12 years of being
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: mayor and getting a lot of good stuff done. Totally
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: ignored it because they didn't like what I said about transgenders. No, no, no.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: This is the problem we are having today.
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: They didn't totally ignore it. And I think if you
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: talk to them today, they would say, no, Gene was
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: a good mayor. But I also think after 12 years.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: It's time to move on.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Well, and in hindsight, I would agree with that.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: In fact, I told everybody, I said I could have
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: easily done a fourth term because I knew what I
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: was doing. But once I wasn't and I lost that race,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: I had to say, good Lord, woman, what were you thinking?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: You know, 16 years as mayor is an awful long time. So,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, I agree with that. I remember Tony Conner
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: with the Omaha Police Officers Association used to say, you
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: have a shelf life.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: And I said, well, I guess I'm expired.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: But then, Tom, then you turn around and you look
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: at people in Congress and they're 110 years old and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: they still get reelected all the time.
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: Good lord. I'm not a fan of that either. Republican
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: or Democrat, I think, yeah.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Do we have any calls for Tom? I'm sure that
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: people are– because I'd love for you to stay on.
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: I'm getting texts from people. OK.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: Well, let's take a break. Will you come back for
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: the next 10 minutes?
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: OK.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Take your blood pressure medicine, everybody. We'll be back.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: And we are back with Tom Becker in the studio
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: having so much fun trying to analyze this campaign.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Democrats, Republicans, here he is, Tom.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: The phone lines are lighting up. Let's take some calls.
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: I'm ready.
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: Let's do it.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: All right, Peyton. What do we got? I'm having a
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: blast over here seeing some of these.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Peyton's over there reading the emails like laughing.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: And so I think we need to start getting some
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: of the comments.
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: Randy sends an email and says, what illicit drug is
• 26:40
  Speaker 6: legalized enough for Becca to take this in the morning?
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: I love listening to Tom Becker, but not after a
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: gallon of coffee he's had and I haven't had any
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: yet this morning.
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: I do not drink coffee. I am pretty much caffeine free.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: I do iced tea.
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: Amazing. Good.
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: I do iced tea, but I don't drink coffee.
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: I do too.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: I've never drank coffee. Have you smoked cigarettes?
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: Well, like in college I tried like a pack or two,
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: but I just– I've never smoked sickly.
• 27:05
  Speaker 6: I didn't care for them, yeah. I got this one
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: from Todd. Great to have Tom on. Gene is definitely
• 27:11
  Speaker 6: sounding like a true politician today, answering questions with questions.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: I like that. Yeah, why not?
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: Sure.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I think that's a– it's a good thing to have
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: a debate like this, and I'm not trying to answer
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: questions with another question, but I think it goes back
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: and forth. When you say, why should I vote– why
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: shouldn't I vote straight Democrat?
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: My question would be, why should you?
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, so it just gets the conversation started.
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: I'm asking for positive things about– OK, positive things about Pillen.
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: Pillen ignored Omaha when you were mayor, right?
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: No, he did not ignore Omaha when I was mayor.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, I could talk to Pillen any time I
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: wanted to. He didn't always agree with me, and I
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: think that's okay. When he was having the special session
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: and wanting to do the hard caps, the revenue caps,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: I didn't agree with a zero percent and tried to
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: explain to him what that meant for Omaha. We didn't
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: always agree, but we still respectfully disagreed. So I think
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: that was fine. But he did listen to me. Okay,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: what else?
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: We've got some more. Let's get– That's a lot of–
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: that's the general theme right there. Any questions for Tom Becker?
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Not particularly.
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: No, I mean– What?
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: When the KFAB put on their Facebook page when Chris
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: Baker was coming back, I think Scott put up there, hey,
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: be listening Monday.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: We're going to announce who the new afternoon guy is.
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: And every time– most people are saying bring back Chris,
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: bring back Chris.
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: But every– now and then somebody will say, no, bring
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: back Becker. And boy, they're crazy. Crap that people would
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: say about me on that thing. Oh, just– the names
• 28:42
  Speaker 5: I was called.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Tom, we've both been there.
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: It comes with the territory.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: I know. I know. I don't think that I can
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: go and I can't criticize these politicians, these leaders. I
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: can't criticize them if I'm not going to be willing
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: to take it myself. So it doesn't hurt me. I
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: don't take the praise too much. I don't– the negative parts,
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: I don't focus on too much.
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: It took me a while to get to that point.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: OK.
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: When digital– When social media started and everything started coming
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: at you so fast and furious, it took me a
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: while to adapt to that, but it doesn't bother me anymore.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: So let's wrap up here, Tom, and let me just
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: give you the floor. And I want you to be
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: able to say– you asked in the very beginning, why
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: should I not vote straight back?
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Democrat.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: You have the floor. Let us know what you're thinking
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: right now.
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: I think that what is happening now here in the state,
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: and we're basically voting for state things. I mean, you know, look,
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: I can't support Pete Ricketts. He voted for Pete Hegseth.
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: He voted for RFK Jr. knowing that these people were unqualified.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: He voted for unqualified people knowing they were unqualified. If
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: he did and if he didn't know, then shame on
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: him for not doing any research. As far as Denise
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: Powell goes, look, I wish I could vote for Brinker.
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: I like Brinker. I respect Brinker. But you know what?
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: I can't have a rubber stamp as Speaker of the House.
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: So I'm going to vote for Denise Powell and then
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: see what happens two years from now because Denise Powell
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: won't be able to do any damage. She will be
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: a freshman congressperson in DC. She will have like really
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: no power and so we will see what she does.
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: See how– one thing about Don Bacon. Don Bacon was great.
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: with constituent services, okay? We'll have to wait and see
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: if Denise will be great with constituent services.
• 30:21
  Speaker 5: But when it boils down, that's when it boils down.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Don Bacon has a reputation of being on his Facebook,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: answering people directly all the time. And I guess my
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: last parting words would be, if we're talking about CD2,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: you know, I think Brinker Harding made it very, very
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: clear that he would not be a rubber stamper, which
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: is what Denise Powell.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Is accusing him.
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: He accepted Trump's endorsement.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, he did. And that's the president of the United States.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: And, you know, when Eric Foreman did the last debate,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: who is the libertarian, did the WWT debate with both
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Denise Powell and Brinker Harding, he said, let's stop talking
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: about Brinker accepted an endorsement from the president of the
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: United States. He said, it's the president of the United States.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: You know, it's a big deal. I mean, he said,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: move on from that. He's not running right now. But
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Brinker never– he didn't– he's not a rubber stamper. He
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: did not agree with me a lot of the times.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: And Brinker already made it very clear. He opposes global tariffs.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: He opposes government buying company stocks. He opposed the $ 5, 000 check.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: He made it very, very clear. That he is going
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: to try to represent– now, here's what I want to
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: ask you.
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: You know how politics work. You know how politics work.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: Can he do– if he got into Congress, could he
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: vote no on that stuff without having any repercussions?
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: I would suggest that he can't.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I think he can. And you know why?
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Because I have– we've got eight years of experience on
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the Omaha City Council. that he worked with a board
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: that the majority were Democrats and voted hundreds, if not
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: thousands of times across the aisle, working with the Democrats
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: on the city council, not always agreeing and saying what
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: he didn't always agree with me. What how is Denise
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Powell going to do that when she won't even respond
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: to She won't respond to me. She won't respond to
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Chris Baker. She won't come on. She won't talk. But
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: she's going to reach across the aisle and work with
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Republicans when all she does in all of her ads
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: is slam Republicans. How is she going to be better
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: for District 2?
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: You talk about the ads and everything. I love the
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: ad that Brinker is running against Denise Ortega. where they're
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: talking about how Denise wants to teach sex ed in school.
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: And they've got her holding up this poster board. And
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: they've got it pixelated out so you can't see what's
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: on the poster board, giving the impression that she's showing
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: these kindergartners, Mommy and Daddy, doing the horizontal bop.
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: I mean it's just– it's like so ludicrous. These ads
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: are so ludicrous.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: I don't– Both ways.
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: No doubt. No doubt. No, I agree with you wholeheartedly
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: on that.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: They're meant to confuse you and people even wrote in
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: this show and said, can't we do some sort of
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: campaign reform that they can't allow that? And the answer
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: really is no. No, that whole First Amendment thing gets
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: in the way. It's a First Amendment thing and I
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: think now with AI, it's only getting worse because– I
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: saw an ad on TV for one of the candidates
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: over in Iowa, and it is totally AI. They have
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: him doing things like winking at the camera and stuff
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: that he wasn't doing. I mean AI is going to
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: change the way elections are in the future too.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: It's only going to get worse, folks.
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: When ChatGPT first came out, and I'm learning about ChatGPT.
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: What the hell is this all about? I was doing
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: commentary on Fox 42, the Becky's Beat. I had them–
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: I wanted them to write– I think it was like
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: 350 words is what I needed. 350 words on whether
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: or not artificial intelligence will be good or bad for democracy.
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: And I'll be honest with you.
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: I expected the AI to say, don't worry, Tom.
• 33:53
  Speaker 5: It's all going to be OK.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like somebody is listening.
• 33:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but it didn't.
• 33:56
  Speaker 4: The AI came out with, this is going to be
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: bad for democracy because people.
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: Won't know what to believe anymore.
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 34:02
  Speaker 5: They won't know what to believe. And look.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: It's fake.
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: And so we've got– We've got politicians that are refusing
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: to debate. We've got politicians that are not coming out
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: and meeting people. So the average voter just goes off
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: what these ads are or if they're– or just they're
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: an R or a D. I mean people always used
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: to ask me when I was on the show here.
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: Are you a Republican or a Democrat? I said I'm
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: an American. I mean there are Republicans that I like
• 34:25
  Speaker 5: and vote for. There are Democrats that I like and
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: vote for. I voted for you a couple of times.
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: I mean so to say that you got to be
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: an R or a D.
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: You know Scott Peterson is not qualified for the job
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: and yet you voted for him just because he has
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: an R after his name. Bob Crist is on that ballot.
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: You could have voted for Bob Crist just to say,
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: you know what? Because Bob Crist is– Bob Crist– if
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: Bob Crist had a chance in hell– I would vote
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: for him, but he doesn't. So I've got to vote
• 34:53
  Speaker 4: for Sarah Slattery because of the way the game is played.
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: But I just can't have an election denier in charge
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: of our elections.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: But that's how Congress works too. It's Democrats and Republicans.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: Excuse me. It's two parties.
• 35:08
  Speaker 4: That's why I say the arguments got to change from
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: Republicans and Democrats to moderates against the extremes on the
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: left and.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: On the right.
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: Tom Becker, thank you so much.
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: For being with us today.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: Thank you for having me on. Tom Becker, like I said,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: my friend, I'm glad that you're on. I love to
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: argue with you. I looked at this as being more
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: like point-counterpoint here today. I don't know if we achieved anything.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: You can all call in or email in and let
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: us know. But I really appreciate you being on because, boy,
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: I tell you, next Wednesday is when we're really going
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: to be talking about what happened when the results are
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: all in.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: Hopefully, they'll all be on.
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: I'll come back next Wednesday.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: Let's have you back after the election. We'll analyze it.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: We'll do it. All right, Tom Becker, thanks for being
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: with us today. And we are back.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Another thanks to Tom Becker. Boy, that was lively this morning.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: That woke me up. But, you know, I've known Tom
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: for many, many years, and I love having those kind
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: of discussions with him. I don't know if we answered
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: many questions for anybody out there, but the bottom line is, yeah,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Somebody said I was trying to be
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: a politician because I answered a question with a question.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: But when he said, you know, give me one reason
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: why I shouldn't vote all Democrat, I guess my question
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: had to be back to him.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Give me one reason why you should.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Because, you know, the Democrat agenda, once again, is getting very,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: very to the left.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: And is that going to be good for our country?
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: And so this is what we have to keep in
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: mind when we go to the ballot box or the
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: voting box on next Tuesday on November 3rd.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: If you haven't voted yet, please do.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: But right now at this point in time, these commercials
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: and things, you just cannot, you cannot believe what you're hearing.
• 36:48
  Speaker 6: Go to kfab.com, enter keyword bills, B-I-L-L-S for your chance
• 36:53
  Speaker 6: to win $ 1, 000 bills for just a few more minutes.
• 36:55
  Speaker 6: You'll get another one in about 10 minutes. Gene, I
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: got an email here. Concerns about Omaha's bond ballot wording.
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: This comes from Steve.
• 37:04
  Speaker 6: I voted against both, against both Omaha bond issues because
• 37:09
  Speaker 6: I wanted clear disclosure and accountability. I support a new
• 37:14
  Speaker 6: joint police and fire headquarters, but the ballot listed 155
• 37:17
  Speaker 6: million without explaining the estimated 181 million.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: There's a difference. That omission felt misleading. Yeah, I understand that.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: Really quick here, too, about the Parks Bond for Tranquility Park.
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 37:30
  Speaker 6: The Parks Bond is promoted as funding for Tranquility Park,
• 37:33
  Speaker 6: yet the ballot broadly authorized park and recreation improvements without
• 37:37
  Speaker 6: naming it.
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: Slightly deceiving. You have two minutes, Jean. Oh, thank you.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: This is another point-counterpoint here.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: No, you know that the public safety headquarter was an
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: idea that I had started back in 2022, I would say,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: when we started planning it.
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: But what I.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: had in mind is to, we have an old police
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: station downtown that is a headquarter building. We have on Jackson,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: the old fire station that the administration is in there,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: but they also dispatch out of there. It's one of
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: the busiest fire stations in town. My idea was to
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: combine and have a public safety headquarter with both fire
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: and police, but be able to dispatch out of there too.
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: I put Tom Warren in charge.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: They were looking at a few sites downtown, and I
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: know they're trying to sell this bond issue by saying, well,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: it's cheaper at Crossroads than it would have been downtown. Well,
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: we gave up those sites downtown because they were too
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: small for what.
• 38:35
  Speaker 5: We were looking for.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: So how's it being funded?
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: So I don't know why they chose Crossroads, but there
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: is already some money in the capital improvement program in
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: the budget of public facility bonds, but not enough. That's
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: where the difference is. Now, would I have done this
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: this way? I would have tried to get more private
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: money that would go into this first before I would
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: put it on a ballot bill. and ask people to
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: put approved general obligation bonds. The same thing for Tranquility,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: is that this is not the total cost, but there
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: is also already money in the budget, in the capital
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: improvement plan for this, so this is additional money.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: Would I have done it this way?
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: I can't answer that question, because I would always try
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: to get private money before I would ask for taxpayer
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: money on this. And keep in mind, I got to
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: finish up here, keep in mind that even if this
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: new headquarter building was built at Crossroads, that there still
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: needs to be a new fire station downtown to dispatch
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: rescue units and fire trucks And there will need to
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: be a sixth police precinct downtown built, too, because of
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: all the development downtown.
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: We can talk more about this tomorrow, too.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Keep those in mind. So that is all for us today.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: We are so happy that you spent this hour with us.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: We'd love for you to join us again tomorrow. Tomorrow,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: let's see, is Thursday. That means Brinker Harding has asked
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: to be back in the studio tomorrow. So Brinker Harding
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: will be back, and we will talk about CD2 Race again.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: I'm Jean Stothert, and this is 1110 KFAB.