A Blonde Chick On Fox

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "A Blonde Chick On Fox"
Date: November 12, 2025
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)

---

Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty break down the recent government shutdown and the political fallout for the Democratic Party, especially Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. They delve into the specifics of Obamacare’s subsidies, the unintended consequences of massive government programs, and public employee retiree benefits. Midway, the episode takes a lighter turn to technology topics, including AI-generated musicians, voice actor job losses, and the perils of holiday rental car bookings. The latter half returns to politics: media coverage of the Epstein files, mortgage proposals floated by Donald Trump, and broader issues in housing and home ownership. The episode closes with a thoughtful reflection on the importance of curiosity in science and a spirited debate about "social credit scores" in private enterprise.

---

Key Discussion Points

1. Government Shutdown & Democratic Party Fallout

Timestamps: 00:58 – 04:00

• The hosts discuss the recent government shutdown, asserting the Democrats caved and received nothing in return.
• Jon Stewart’s angry reaction on The Daily Show is mentioned, with the hosts expressing bewilderment over what Democrats expected to achieve.
• Attention shifts to the criticism of Senator Chuck Schumer, suggesting he’s "out of touch" and it might be time for him to step down.

Notable Quote:

“Democrats drew a line in the sand… after 41 days, they pulled out a shovel and a bucket and they ate all that sand and got nothing for it.” — Jack Armstrong (01:17)

---

2. The Limits of Political Leadership in the Senate

Timestamps: 03:11 – 04:00

• Jack notes it’s fundamentally different running the Senate versus the House, as Senators are “not to be told what to do” and have longer terms, making party cohesion hard.

“Every senator thinks they’re going to be president someday. They got a six-year term. They don’t tell them what to do… you can be the messenger, but you don’t control them.” — Jack Armstrong (03:24)

---

3. Obamacare Subsidies & Phantom Enrollees

Timestamps: 04:00 – 09:10

• Joe explains the fake fight over COVID-era subsidies for Obamacare, referencing exposés about massive fraud and “phantom patients,” where billions were paid to insurers for people who never filed a single claim.
• 12 million enrollees didn’t use their coverage in 2024, translating to at least $35 billion in taxpayer money.

Notable Quote:

“A whopping 40% of enrollees in fully subsidized plans had no claims in 2024… taxpayers sent at least $35 billion to insurers for people who paid no premiums and never used their plan.” — Joe Getty (05:37)

---

4. Public Employee Retirees & Obamacare Gaming

Timestamps: 06:41 – 13:27

• Cities offloading unfunded health care commitments onto Obamacare exchanges, effectively passing municipal liabilities onto federal taxpayers, are criticized.
• The issue is particularly pronounced in blue cities and states with generous public employee retiree benefits.
• Unfunded liabilities in states like New York and New Jersey far outpace those in the rest of the country; total retiree health obligations top nearly $1 trillion.

Notable Quote:

“Chicago’s $2.1 billion unfunded retiree health care liability vanished. Now US taxpayers pick up the tab for Chicago’s retirees in their 50s and early 60s… Ditto Detroit. Stockton, California…” — Joe Getty (08:02)

---

5. Political Hyperbole & Media Framing

Timestamps: 09:08 – 10:47

• Joe and Jack lampoon the framing by some Democrats and media figures, suggesting Republicans are intentionally trying to “starve and sicken children” by fighting over government funding.

Memorable Banter:

“I love it. What I like is a kid that is sick and hungry. Boy, does that help me sleep at night.” — Jack Armstrong (09:27)
“Now, a kid who’s just sick, that’s good. Or a kid who’s just starving, that’s pretty good. But by God, if we conservatives can get both… then we just chuckle. We just love it.” — Joe Getty (09:32)

---

6. AI Disrupting the Music Industry and Voice Acting

Timestamps: 13:49 – 15:31

• The hosts touch on AI-generated singers topping music charts and what this means for traditional voice actors and musicians.
• Both agree that the disruption is inevitable, using the analogy of horse sellers post-automobile.

Notable Quote:

“It really is being a guy who sells horses for transportation in 1910… Some people say fewer people are going to want to buy horses for transportation. Yes, yes, this is true. What can be done about it? Nothing.” — Jack Armstrong (15:12)

---

7. Rental Car Reservation “Scam” During Holidays

Timestamps: 15:33 – 18:42

• Jack recounts his personal frustrations with car rental companies overbooking and failing to provide reserved vehicles during peak seasons.
• The hosts discuss why overbooking persists and what, if anything, can be done.

“You understand my problem, though, right? I have a reservation… And then I get there and you don’t have the vehicle. You don’t see that as a problem?” — Jack Armstrong (16:54)

---

8. The Media, Epstein, and Suddenly Resurfacing Scandals

Timestamps: 18:53 – 24:31

• Media (especially MSNBC) suddenly revives the Epstein story, post-shutdown, with claims of “23,000 new documents.”
• Jack and Joe question the reasoning and timing, suggesting it’s a desperate attempt to divert attention from Democratic failures during the shutdown.

Notable Quote:

“If you had any dirt on Trump about Epstein, you would have used it when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were running against him, wouldn’t you?” — Jack Armstrong (21:47)

---

9. Trump’s “50-Year Mortgage” Proposal & Housing Market

Timestamps: 24:31 – 31:24

• Commentary on Donald Trump’s floated idea (on Fox News with Laura Ingraham) of 50-year mortgages to help younger buyers enter the housing market.
• Joe explains why these ultra-long loans are risky, referencing past financial crises.
• Discussion of present housing affordability, debt ratios, and breadth of government guarantees for distressed borrowers.

“No, this is a bad idea. Don’t do it.” — Joe Getty (27:19)

---

10. Renting vs. Buying: When Renting Might Be Smarter

Timestamps: 29:53 – 31:04

• Armstrong notes that, for the first time, it may make sense for some people to rent rather than buy, challenging common wisdom about homeownership.

“It’s not automatically true, at least currently, that buying a house is better than renting.” — Jack Armstrong (30:29)

---

11. Science and the Value of Childlike Curiosity

Timestamps: 32:57 – 35:41

• Joe shares an inspiring anecdote from Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb about retaining childlike curiosity in scientific work, relating it to healthy skepticism and questioning consensus in science.
• Both hosts lament the loss of open-mindedness and the tendency of some in science to chase status or funding instead.

“Science is the privilege of maintaining your childhood curiosity… We have this gift of being paid to stay curious.” — Avi Loeb (as quoted by Joe Getty, 34:19)

---

12. Social Credit Scores in Private Enterprise

Timestamps: 35:58 – 36:55

• Jack supports the idea of social credit scores for consumers within private companies (e.g., Open Table, Airbnb), differentiating it from government-controlled systems.
• Joe is open to the discussion, noting it aligns with business interests in managing customer behavior.

“As long as the government’s not involved… the social credit score thing seems like a really good idea.” — Jack Armstrong (36:41)

---

Memorable Quotes (With Timestamps)

• “Democrats drew a line in the sand… they ate all that sand and got nothing for it.” — Jack Armstrong (01:17)
• “A whopping 40% of enrollees in fully subsidized plans had no claims in 2024… Taxpayers sent at least $35 billion to insurers…” — Joe Getty (05:37)
• “I love it. What I like is a kid that is sick and hungry. Boy, does that help me sleep at night.” — Jack Armstrong (09:27)
• “You understand my problem, though, right? I have a reservation… and you don’t have the vehicle.” — Jack Armstrong (16:54)
• “No, this is a bad idea. Don’t do it.” — Joe Getty (27:19)
• “Science is the privilege of maintaining your childhood curiosity… We have this gift of being paid to stay curious.” — Avi Loeb (via Joe Getty, 34:19)
• “As long as the government’s not involved… the social credit score thing seems like a really good idea.” — Jack Armstrong (36:41)

---

Closing Thoughts

Jack and Joe display their trademark irreverence toward political spin, expose the oddities and flaws in health and housing policy, and span a range of social and technological issues—always with humor and pointed skepticism. The blend of topical depth, memorable anecdotes, and cultural observations make the episode both informative and entertaining for new and returning listeners alike.

---

Want More?

• For hour four and the “One More Thing” podcast, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (Armstrong & Getty On Demand).
• Listener text line: 415-295-KFTC

---

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Podcast Sponsor/Announcer]

Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24,7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now he Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Democrats. You remember the Democrats, they shut down the government last month. They caved on the shutdown.

[Joe Getty]

One of the Democrats who crumbled like a granola bar in your backpack is New Hampshire senator and the joker's proud aunt Jeanne Shaheen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Democrats drew a line in the sand. They said, we are not going over this. And today, after 41 days, they pulled out a shovel and a bucket and they ate all that sand and got nothing for it. Isn't that great? That is really interesting. I didn't watch a Daily Show. I need to today. I guess Jon Stewart just went on an epic F bomb rant in anger over the Democrats caving on the shutdown, which it's interesting on one hand, their.

[Joe Getty]

Own law that they wrote and passed.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know how they think the Democrats were going to hold out and get something. The re. Yeah, I just don't understand how they think they were going to win that.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know, by starving the poor people and not paying the troops well.

[Jack Armstrong]

That, that wasn't working. I don't, I don't think, for whatever reason, good or bad, you know.

[Joe Getty]

Normal.

[Jack Armstrong]

People, I don't think we're reacting that much to the whole snap benefits thing the media was talking about. But, but the air, the flights. Yes, that got people's attention. That's when the shutdown became a topic for conversation. When all of a sudden the airports were going to be crazy. Maybe until Thanksgiving. That became so as that grew, you think that the pressure was going to be on the Republicans to cave on Obamacare? Maybe. I don't think so.

[Joe Getty]

I'd really like to talk to Jon Stewart about how he became so ill informed or misguided on that because he's a very bright guy. Meanwhile, I'll tell you who's getting the blame on the left is old Chuck Schumer. Here's a montage.

[Jack Armstrong]

How much of this do you put at the feet of Charles Schumer? Most of it. I mean, he's the leader of the Senate, but it's time for him to be replaced. He is not meeting the moment. He's out of touch with where the party's base is.

[Joe Getty]

You know, respect his service. But time to move on. I think Chuck Schumer, his days are over.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hi, can you.

[Guest/Caller]

Yes, Chuck Schumer should go. I'm sorry to say Chuck Schumer should go. I voted for him many times.

[Joe Getty]

The loudest criticism here, that the party couldn't keep it together because the leader.

[Guest/Caller]

Senator Chuck Schumer, is weak.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I was a Democrat, I would want Chuck Schumer to go too. Just because he's old and, you know, just ain't got no vim or vigor. But what was he supposed to do? Getting back to the same conversation we just had, I also heard one pundit, and I think this is probably two, saying you don't tell senators what to do. Well, in one year. It's not like being the leader of the House where you have some power to really force House members to do this or that. And they're up for election every two year. Every senator thinks they're going to be president someday. They got a six year term. They, you don't tell them what to do. You can be the messenger for them. You can get them together and give speeches, but you don't control them.

[Joe Getty]

Right. They're designed by the Constitution to be slow, careful and deliberate and not be bullied. Anyway, so I thought, you know, to dovetail off of that, a couple of really interesting stories I've come across about Obamacare in general. Because this fake fight was about continuing Covid era subsidies that the Democrats themselves had sunsetted, which is something nobody's talking about. But quoting now from the fabulous California Globe. And last week they reported on the hackers, crooks and bots who'd use stolen identities to fleece California's colleges and universities, ripping off taxpayers for billions of dollars. And that report was really, really interesting. It is literally billions and billions of dollars going to like hackers and the Russian mo rest of it, who would use bots to create non existent college students. Anyway, they right now we learn of another Obama era bot scam, this one in Obamacare. And this is actually quoting the Blaze. Joe Biden's pandemic era subsidies turned Obamacare into corporate welfare, sending billions to insurers for patients who never file a single claim. At issue are the generous subsidies the Biden administration created for the Affordable Care act policies, sweeteners that are slated to expire this December. That's what this fight was about, making health care essentially free for millions of Americans. These policies have sent enrollment in Obamacare plans skyrocketing. But a recent study found that they have also sparked a curious phenomenon. An estimated 12 million enrollees, 12 million without a single claim. No doctor visit, no lab test, no prescription, no sprained ankle, nothing. In the entire year of 2024. Obamacare expansion created an explosion of phantom patients, including at least 6.4 million of them found so far in 2025. Among those new now eligible for zero premium plans with low or no deductible. The study found, quote, that number increased nearly sevenfold. A whopping 40% of enrollees in fully subsidized plans. Fully subsidized had no claims in 2024. In 2024 alone, taxpayers sent at least $35 billion to insurers. They got the money for people who paid no premiums and never used their plan.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's amazing.

[Joe Getty]

Have you heard that before? How have we not heard that before?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Joe Getty]

And they point out, Katie Grimes, the fabulous writer at the California Globe editor, points out the entire goal of Obamacare was to create a system that crashes and burns, forcing the US into government controlled socialized medicine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Correct.

[Joe Getty]

And they're getting CL close to succeeding. Obama himself admitted that behind the scenes. We've all heard those tapes, I think. Anyway, one more semi related story that I found super interesting. And again, you know, I'm sorry, I've got to get to the punchline prematurely. It's impossible for a citizen to keep track of everything this massive labyrinthian government does. How can you be a responsible citizen and hold your government to account when you can't comprehend 1/100th of what it. That's why your system was designed to have limited government. And you know, that ship has sailed moons ago. Anyway, this is from Alicia Finley in the Wall Street Journal, who's absolutely brilliant, speaking of terrific women in journalism. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, mayor of Chicago, had a $370 million deficit in 2013. One of the main chunks of that deficit was $195 million subsidizing health insurance for its retirees, many of whom were too young to qualify for Medicare. Because if you work in government, you get to retire unnaturally young. That $195 million was projected to increase to 540 million by two years ago at this point, as pension payments were ballooning. So what did Emmanuel do? He dumped all the city's retirees onto the Obamacare exchanges, where federal subsidies can reduce premium payments. Voila. Chicago's $2.1 billion unfunded retiree health care liability vanished. Now US taxpayers pick up the tab for Chicago's retirees in their 50s and early 60s. Ditto Detroit. Stockton, California. San Bernardino, California. Blue cities learned that they could offer their public employee unions unbelievable retiree health care plans. And then as their deficits exploded, they dumped them onto Obamacare. When Democrats say we need zillions of dollars of COVID era, huh? Subsidies to continue to Obamacare, that's why. That's one of the big reasons why.

[Jack Armstrong]

But if you just are kind of an average voter and you take in the shutdown in Obamacare through the mainstream media, it was evil Republicans wanting to kick people off their health care just out of meanness.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. Because we want people to be sick and hungry, if possible.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love it. What I like is a kid that is sick and hungry. Boy, does that help me sleep at night.

[Joe Getty]

Now, a kid who's just sick, that's good. Or a kid who's just starving, that's pretty good. But by God, if we conservatives can get both, then we just chuckle. We just love it.

[Jack Armstrong]

You show me an 8 year old boy with a sprained ankle and no food. That makes me happy. Oh.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, man, you're bringing a tear to my eye. Real quick, I've got another couple of statistics for you, but after a word from our friends at Simply Safe Home Security.

[Jack Armstrong]

Crazy thing to say. I mean, that's what Biden said the other day. It's what Schumer's been saying. And Gavin Newsom himself said that the hunger is the point. I mean, you. You can say all you want about your opponents and how they're. They might not be as caring as you think they ought to be, or they're misguided or whatever, but to claim that anybody in particular really gets a kick out of making somebody hungry, I mean, it's just nuts.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. At the risk of overusing this word today, and I think I am, it's perverse.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, it's.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what are you talking about? You're trying to portray me as someone who. I enjoy people being hungry.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, we have T shirts that say starve the lazy, which I fully back as a theory. But the idea is get off your ass and work. Not I Want you to starve to death.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. What about sick children? Well, if they're a sick child, they're not within the group of the lazy, obviously, you morons. All right, quick word from our friends at Simplisafe Home Security. Good luck stopping the government from stealing from you. But you probably can stop junkies from breaking into your house and taking your stuff. With Simplisafe Home Security's amazing combination of AI driven cameras and then live human agents who can talk to the scumbag and dissuade them before they break your window.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Other security systems have outdoor cameras too, but they rely on you getting the alert and taking action yourself. Simplisafe does that for you. It's like having a private security guard stationed outside your home. I'm a Simply Safe customer. I love the sensors and the cameras and all the different stuff. And you can try it out too. There's no contract you sign. There's a money back guarantee, so why not try it?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. This is the sort of thing that ought to demand a multi year contract because it's such an investment in you. But they earn your business every single day. And listen to this, would you? You can get SimpleSafe Home Security 60 off any new system. 60% off. Best deal of the year. Simply safe.com Armstrong that's simply safe.com Armstrong there's no safe like Simplisafe. Hurrah. So final note on this topic. Few, you know, public employees in a lot of places can retire in their 50s or early 60s. They get really nice pensions, some of whom they've kicked into those pensions to share the cost but subsidized health insurance until they become eligible for Medicare. But governments, few of them have actually set aside realistic amounts of money for their retirees future health care costs. The Reason foundation does great work, reports that state and local governments face almost a trillion dollars in retiree medical obligations in 2023. That's about $3,000 per American citizen. They've got that giant liability liabilities are largest in blue states. New York is $15,000 per capita in essentially unfunded liabilities. New Jersey, it's almost 11,000. Connecticut it's about 7,000, which lets workers retire early with generous health benefits. And then, and you will see this when those systems collapse or get near bankruptcy or whatever, they are bailed out by the state government or the federal government or whatever, meaning taxpayers. It's outrageous. Sorry to bring you down or piss you off, but I don't know. I personally don't like being Defrauded. Or at least I like to know I'm being defrauded.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we're headed into holiday season and decent chance you're going to be traveling around, maybe rent a vehicle. I learned something about renting vehicles last night. It's a problem I've had in the past, but apparently, at least according to the research I've done, there's not a lot you can do about it. I'm not a fan of rental car companies. I. And a lot of other stuff to talk about. Stay with us.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest/Caller]

Many worry the AI revolution will put voice actors out of work. While some stars are licensing their voices, others are being built from scratch. Poet Talisha Nicky Jones has created an AI R&B singer named Zaniyah Monet, a digital alter ego that lets her turn her poetry into music. Now Zaniyah has a number one single on a Billboard R and B chart and a multi million dollar offer for a recording deal. And on the country char, an AI generated country singer named Breaking Rust just hit number one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we talked about that yesterday. We can't play the song for copyright reasons, but Joe and I both listen to it and then it's, it's, you know, it's plenty good enough to be a hit country song, which it is completely. AI I don't know where this leaves us. The whole voice actors might lose their gigs. Yeah.

[Guest/Caller]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that's over.

[Jack Armstrong]

Please.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I can't. I can't believe it's even still presented as a this might happen. What'll we do? It's going to happen. Not might and nothing. There's nothing you can do. It's.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, pursue another line of work. And I don't mean to sound cruel or unsympathetic, but when reality backs into your driveway, there it is. I mean, you can try to ignore it, wish it away.

[Jack Armstrong]

It really is. Being a, a guy who sells horses for transportation in 1910 or whatever and saying some people say fewer people are going to want to buy horses for transportation. Yes, yes, this is true. What can be done about it? Nothing. Our mode of transportation has changed.

[Joe Getty]

The fix cars.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if that's hard for people to grasp or what. Yeah. Speaking of driving, we're into the holiday season. I often rent a vehicle this time of year, usually because I do a one way trip back to Kansas and then I drive there. We like road trips, me and the boys, and then I fly back. I've had quite the struggle in recent years of I rent a vehicle ahead of time, make sure I've rented good ahead of time. And then I get there to pick it up and they ain't got it. And then I'm in the holiday crunch with all kinds of plans and no vehicles available because it's like two days before Thanksgiving or a week before Christmas or whatever the situation.

[Joe Getty]

Not the wrong vehicle. No vehicle.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they don't have the vehicle I want. They have all kinds of vehicles that I. I'm not going to drive me and two like practically adults halfway across the country in.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you just can't do it. So I was asked, I did some research yesterday because I was trying to avoid that this year. I got so mad last year when I was there, you remember, I told this story on the air. I started very calm, but I couldn't get any reaction out of the person who worked there. And it kind of hurts that they reacted this way. It really hurts my feelings that they were. This is the way they were taking it. But I kept saying, you understand my problem though, right? I have a reservation. I mean, it's the classic Jerry Seinfeld bit. You know how to, you know, reserve the car.

[Joe Getty]

You just take out the reservation.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they just like looked at me blanked, blanked face. Like they couldn't understand why I was unhappy with the fact that I'd had a reservation for a month. And then I get there and you don't have the vehicle. You don't see that as a problem. Anyway, so I spent a lot of time researching this on Grok and Chat BT and Chat GPT. And they went all different websites and they basically said, this is a problem that happens to people all across the country. There's not much you can do about it. Here are the things. You should rent vehicles from two different companies. Hopefully if you have a backup, then one of them will come through or, you know, a variety of other things. But there was no. There's no getting around it. It's just the thing that happens the way our way the businesses are currently set up. They just like airlines, they overbook flights, they oversell cars with the idea of a. We want to have as many of them get paid for during the holiday season as possible. So we overbook knowing that a lot of people are going to cancel and change plans. And then if it turns out that a whole bunch of people don't change their plans, well, we've got more people wanting these vehicles than the vehicles that exist. So, sorry, screw you, you're out of luck. You're not going home for Christmas. The problem is, and I'm sure they.

[Joe Getty]

All glance around at each other, it's not collusion, but they're aware. Okay, they're abusing people in the same way over there and over there and over there. Okay, so we can keep abusing people. Where are you going to go? To the other place there at the airport. That's going to abuse you in the same way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And that's something, though, that, that's the current system where you, it doesn't matter how early you make your reservation, you still might show up there when you need it. If it's a busy weekend and they just ain't going to have a car for you.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, well, you put the rental agent in a headlock. Not sure it would help, but it would make you feel better.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was close, I was really close. My, my son, they were thinking, I, I don't care.

[Joe Getty]

Pretend I'm an hourly employee. I don't care.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not much effort to pretend to care. Okay, we got more on the way. If you know anything about that text line. 415295 KFTC.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest/Caller]

Congressman, when did you get this information?

[Joe Getty]

We actually just received all of these emails with a total of about 23,000 documents actually a few days ago, so last week. And we've been going through our team.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of course, through all of these very.

[Joe Getty]

Carefully over the last few days.

[Jack Armstrong]

We obviously released some today. We'll be releasing additional documents likely later today. Okay, we're talking about Epstein here. Oh, so 48 hours ago, when the whole impasse over the shutdown thing broke, I flip on MSNBC at night, their 11 o' clock show, because on the West coast it's at 8 o' clock and the first thing they talk about is Epstein. I thought what, I mean, that was so off my radar. I, I, I, I don't know if I thought I'd ever hear the word again in my life. I just thought that was completely last year, whatever. And they were, they were actually talking about them. And the three panelists on there, all reporters, Epstein this, Epstein that. This is why the Republicans shut down the government for so long. And now the Epstein votes kind of what Epstein? I turned on Morning Joe this morning on msnbc. I mean, because this, that's a good place to go to for what Democrats are thinking that show, talking about Epstein. And now you got this Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, who was on probably on MSNBC, saying they've received 23,000 documents in the last couple of days and they're Going through there very carefully. He says there is a massive cover up going on. So as Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner. Okay, you've given us a couple of nuggets which weren't much from these documents. Like Trump was angry that Epstein was poaching his people, poaching girls from his spa. That wasn't new news. And even if it. Even if it were, what's the significance of that?

[Joe Getty]

There is one email quote from Epstein. Go ahead, you've got the list.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's something. Well, there's a claim that Epstein knew that there were girls there and whatever Trump did. But it's. But the. Trump knew. But it's vague and it doesn't. Even if it's true. What. What does that. Was Trump supposed to go to the cops or. I don't know what even. The point is of that. And as Byron York writes, Washington Examiner. Okay, that's three things you've mentioned. What are the other 23,000 documents? That's a lot of documents, right? That's a heck of a thing to go on TV and say. We have 23,000 new documents.

[Joe Getty]

About what?

[Jack Armstrong]

From who?

[Joe Getty]

What, what is it all completely irrelevant? Where did they come? 23,000. Look at this stack of documents.

[Jack Armstrong]

Where did they come from? If you had any dirt on Trump about Epstein, you would have used it when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were running against him, wouldn't you?

[Joe Getty]

Well, where'd they get these 23,000 new documents?

[Jack Armstrong]

Doesn't say.

[Joe Getty]

What's that all about?

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't know. But. So if you thought Epstein was over, it ain't.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I tell you what, if they get to the bottom of the Epstein thing, homes will become affordable. You will be fully employed in a career that you find rewarding. Your kids will get quality education in schools, and we won't ever go to war with China. So I certainly hope we can get to the bottom of this stupid, stupid Epstein thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll be releasing additional documents later today, he says. So if my experience with this sort of thing in life is you lead with your best stuff, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well. And if, say, 15, 18 years ago, rich Donald Trump in West Palm beach or whatever it is, became aware that his rich neighbor was a bit of a perv and maybe even had a taste for, like, underage girls, that's what I heard. What was 2012 Donald Trump supposed to do about it?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what I said.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, if there was, like, child rape going on and he had specific information about it, of course you ought to call the cops. Of course. But if he just hears at the country club. Oh yeah, you know Epstein, he likes him young, if you know what I mean. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

What are you supposed to do in that situation? And well, there's always kind of the suggestion that Donald Trump was having sex with underage girls through his connection with Epstein. There's never been anything within 100 miles of that. Yeah. Proven, even kind of.

[Joe Getty]

So I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't believe this is still hanging around as a story. Different Donald Trump story that I am kind of interested in.

[Joe Getty]

Well, if I had just screwed the country, at least to some extent on this phony shutdown to protect Chuck Schumer's left flank, I'd want to change the headlines too. I'd be pretty desperate.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, that's pretty good theory that. That's what it is.

[Joe Getty]

Why now all of a sudden out of nowhere? Please.

[Jack Armstrong]

I never heard the. That said one time during the shutdown, did you, that the Republicans are just doing this to keep the Epstein files from coming out. I never heard that until. It was just until the Democrats caved. I'd never heard anybody say that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I watch a lot of MSNBC to see what they're up to. They weren't making that argument.

[Joe Getty]

We're desperate, we're desperate. What do we do? I don't know. Can we tie a Debstein somehow? How the hell would we do that? Ah, wait, I have an idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Different Trump thing. He did an interview with blonde chick Fox.

[Joe Getty]

There are quite a few of them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that was a vague statement. Wasn't a blonde chick on Fox. Laura Ingram. And we had a bunch of clips we didn't play yesterday. But one of the things he floated out there was a 50 year mortgage loan to try to help get more people into homes. This stat has been flying around for a week now because it hit 40 people like round numbers. And when it hit 40, for the median age for someone to be a first time home buyer, it got a lot of people's attention given the fact that it was 29. If you go back to 1980.

[Joe Getty]

So.

[Jack Armstrong]

In, in your 20s, barely. And now 40 is. Sounds like a bigger difference than 11 years, but it's still. It is, it is quite a change in the structure of home buying. And Trump floated the idea of a 50 year mortgage. So my first reaction to hearing that was that's a horrible idea and God, I hope it doesn't happen. Kind of like around the lines of I know people buying cars with 7, 8, 9 year loans.

[Joe Getty]

Oof.

[Jack Armstrong]

Biggest difference between the two things being that in general, homes go up in value over that amount of time. And cars, nine years from now, you're currently worth nothing and you just paid it off. But I don't know anything about the history of. Where did we come up with the 20 and 30 year mortgage? What was that built around? Why? Is there any reason why 30 is okay, but 50 isn't?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, the, the 2008 housing meltdown spurred the government to limit mortgage terms to 30 years because you just, you get equity so slowly. You pay so much in interest more than a 30 year loan and it lowers your payment by a couple hundred bucks typically, but it's not a ton. And so many folks walked away from their mortgages when home prices collapsed and they've just found through the years the reason they reined it in is the longer the, the loan, the more likely people are to default. It's just a much riskier loan, which means it's a higher rate. So you're paying even a higher percentage of your house payment to interest than you would be when. The solution is. It's, that's not the solution. That is a. It makes the problem worse. Band Aid. The solution is a deregulation, wholesale deregulation of this silly stuff that keeps housing from being built. Who was it estimated? We've got a deficit of like 5 million housing units in the country at this point. And part of it was the artificially low mortgage rates. People are stuck in their homes, blah, blah, blah. We've talked about it many times, but no, this is a bad idea. Don't do it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, the idea, well, the smart idea would be you can get into a home when you're quite young because the payments lower with a 50 year mortgage. And then when you get into your years where you're really earning money, well then you refi it shorter or pay it down or whatever. You don't actually pay the full 50 years of interest over the damn.

[Joe Getty]

Sure, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

But if, if it's much more likely people are going to default who take those long loans and the. Any good?

[Joe Getty]

Listen to this, would you? As long as we're talking about it. Nearly 70% of new FHA borrowers last year had debt to income ratios exceeding 43% which is considered risky. That's nearly 70%.

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't even know you could get that with that number.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's up from 28% 13 years ago. It's now 70%. About 40% of new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers last year had risky debt to income ratios. That's 40% compared to 16% back in 2012. Recent buyers are more leveraged than they were in bubble days stretched by inflation, rising property taxes and insurance costs, many have been struggling to meet mortgage payments. No worries, writes the Journal. The Biden administration paid mortgage servicers to prevent foreclosures. This included letting delinquent borrowers extend their loan terms to 40 years and reduce monthly payments by 25%. Repeatedly miss your mortgage payments. Congratulations, you qualify for mortgage relief. Talk about a moral hazard. The FHA has paid mortgage servicers to provide forbearance or modify some 610,000 FHA mortgages in the last year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I like the fact that more.

[Joe Getty]

Than the number of new purchases loans that FHA insured last year. Yikes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like the fact that if you miss your mortgage payment enough times, you qualify for somebody else's money to pay for your mortgage. With no question as to why are you not making your mortgage. What do you spend? You spend your money on anything else? Or maybe you shouldn't be in that, maybe you can't afford to be in the house you're in or something like that. But no, you automatically, it's just de facto true that if you missed a couple of payments, you can't afford it and you need help.

[Joe Getty]

And keep in mind now, the fha, your tax dollars finances all of this. So writing down mortgages for distressed borrowers is a booming business. For mortgage bankers, they're getting the tax dollars. But keeping people in homes they can't afford means there are fewer available to buy, which makes housing less affordable for everyone else. That's what a 50 year mortgage will do.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was listening to a discussion this morning by people who did not know what they're talking about. I, I won't mention which channel, but they were, they were talking about the, they were presenting as such a good idea the 50 year loan so you can get people out of renting so you don't rent all those years, everything like that. When I'm a renter currently, and what started me even thinking about it was the Wall Street Journal having an article that for the first time ever, it might be a better idea to rent than to own. And it laid out various situations you might be in where that is the case. It's just not automatically true, at least currently, that buying a house is better than renting.

[Joe Getty]

Correct? Yeah. Yeah. And it's far more expensive than people imagine it's going to be. I think virtually everybody listening who's ever owned a home is saying, yeah, no kidding. You know, by the time, you know, taxes and insurance and upkeep and repairs and, you know, just maintenance. I guess upkeep and maintenance are the same thing. Anyway, there are way more costs than you imagine before you become a homeowner.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Wonder if that'll change 50 year alone.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't happen. I mean, if we got to nine year car loans out there, 50 year home loan doesn't seem that nuts if.

[Joe Getty]

It is a bad idea. That sounds good when you first hear it. Yes, it will pass. It will become the law.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right, right. Anything that sounds good at first blush will happen. That's a pretty good one.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll keep our eye on this stupid, stupid freaking Epstein story and maybe not talk about it at all unless something happens. More on the way.

[Guest/Caller]

Stare Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want to talk about the decay of American culture, which has been going on for half a century. Might put that in the One More Thing podcast. Also hour four, I am pro social credit score as long as the government's not involved.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Got a new example of it we can talk about next hour.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting. I'm surprised to hear that. Also coming up next hour, the whole online influencer pandering thing, it's worse than I thought. Understanding how it works helps you understand, well, why it got so bad. So if you can't stay tuned for hour four, or perhaps you don't get hour four, grab it via podcast. Armstrong and gettyondemand. You really ought to follow us. Subscribe and oh, you know, we never ever asked this. Give us a nice 5 star review, would you please? It helps the algorithms kind of push the show. Speaking of algorithms, anyway, I've fallen in love with a man, at least intellectually speaking. I was attracted to this story about Abraham. Avi is his nickname. Avi Loeb, who is was for a decade Harvard's chair of the astronomy department. He was the founding director of the Harvard Black Hole Initiative, and he continues to teach at the school and holds amazing titles in, you know, Theory and computation in astrophysics and stuff like that. And he's his attention has gotten to a space oddity called 3i Atlas. It is only the third object from outside our solar system that humanity has ever detected, and the vast majority of astronomers are convinced that it's simply a large comet that poses no threat to Earth. Loeb, however, is unconvinced by this explanation. He has laid out all the ways ATLAS is not behaving like A comet. It has a very unusual trajectory, which happens to be a perfect tour of our nearby planets. It has very strange coloring, and the way it appears to move, it moves like it has an internal engine of some kind.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're suggesting spaceship from an alien planet. Civilization.

[Joe Getty]

Clear. Mr. Loeb said is not saying this is an extraterrestrial vehicle. He is, however, open to the possibility that it could be. So he's tracking Atlas very closely on his blog and looking at images every day, blah, blah, blah. And so that's fun. Is there an alien craft that's moving in our direction? Harvard astronomy professor says, perhaps that's fine. But then I got to the part.

[Jack Armstrong]

That I really loved.

[Joe Getty]

The guy asks him, can you explain this? Think of me as a precocious middle schooler, because I'm not an expert. And his reply is one of the best things I've ever read. He said, actually, being young in the way you view things is a great advantage because science is the privilege of maintaining your childhood curiosity. Ah. Now, unfortunately, he says, most practitioners abandon it because they have other motivations they want to show off to gain status that helps them get funded or get awards and honors. And that's what, you know, that's what happens to most people in academia, which is very unfortunate because we have this gift of being paid to stay curious. And he goes on about what a wonderful gift that was and how it makes him sad when people insist that science is fixed. This is what science says, and you shouldn't question it. He's totally against that. It was beautifully said.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I love it when you hear super smart people say very basic, childlike things.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like that. It's like the Fermi Paradox or Fermi Principle or whatever it's called from that famer, famous astrophysicist dude from way back in the day who said, well, where is everybody then? If there's life in other planets or life in other parts of the universe, where is everybody? Then how come nobody's ever contacted us?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Yeah. I love that, though. And look, I was not going for outrage this segment, but how different is that from, I represent science and people getting canceled online for questioning, quote, unquote science. Love this guy's attitude.

[Jack Armstrong]

I do want to talk about the social credit score. This. This idea that some people are bothered by this. I think it's awesome. Like, open table, if you've ever used that for making reservations for a restaurant or something like that, is keeping track of people who, like, don't show or show up late or whatever, and then they're putting a score on that and then restaurants see that and then they're either more or less likely to give you a reservation based on that. I have no problem with that whatsoever. It's kind of like the best buy Costco or you're the kind of person that buys something in the returns it like two times a year versus you've never done that before so sure we'll let you return something for your money back.

[Joe Getty]

Airbnb is super big on everybody gets a review and providers as long as.

[Jack Armstrong]

The government's not involved anyway like they're doing in China. I think the social credit score thing seems like a really good idea.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know how you'd stop a private company from doing it anyway it's in their best interest.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah yeah that's a good discussion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we do a lot of hours. If you miss one get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

You should subscribe Armstrong and Getty this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is an I heart podcast.