Man... That Was Low Rent

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Man... That Was Low Rent"
Date: November 13, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty | Producer/Contributor: Michael Hanson

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a variety of hot-button topics—from the end of the U.S. penny to sharp political shifts in Seattle and generational divides, to international headlines, economic anxieties, and a quirky foray into soap selection. Armstrong and Getty use their trademark blend of sarcasm, curiosity, and cultural critique to unpack political, financial, and social developments in the U.S. and abroad, offering both sharp analysis and dry humor.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Death of the Penny (00:28)

• Background: The U.S. mint in Philadelphia presses the final penny, ending more than 230 years of the coin’s circulation.
• Hosts’ Take:
  • Jack ridicules the longevity of the penny:

    “All these years was moronic. Especially after inflation. It was already dumb before inflation, but an extra dumb then.” — Jack Armstrong (01:07)

  • The penny’s decline in real-world value and the absurdity of production costs are highlighted:

    “A penny is now worth something like a tenth of a penny compared to what it was in 1940 ... Combine that with the fact it costs 4 cents to make one, right? Insane.” — Michael Hanson (01:13, 01:29)

• Sentiment: Mild nostalgia for Lincoln, but relief at the penny’s overdue demise.

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2. Political Shifts: Seattle’s Democratic Socialist Mayor (01:29)

• News Recap: Seattle elects its first Democratic Socialist mayor, Katie Wilson.
• Critique of Hypocrisy:
  • The hosts lampoon Wilson's privileged background and her reliance on parental support at 43:

    “God, you’re in your 40s and you’re still on your parents’ paycheck.” — Jack Armstrong (04:20)

  • Skepticism about Wilson’s ability to address affordability, given her personal finances:

    “Of course, of course you’d turn to that person for the answers to economic problems. Somebody that has not figured out how to support themselves at all.” — Jack Armstrong (04:36)

  • Broader jab at millennial/Gen Z “elite activism” driven by wealthy (but self-identified as struggling) urbanites.

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3. Generational Trends: Isolation, Addiction, and Political Extremes (04:44)

• Profiled by Michael:

  • Discusses Derek Thompson's "Monks in the Casino" and the emergence of isolated young men:

    “Dating less, socializing less, leaving their homes less. ... They seem to prefer the financial discomfort of losing a bet to the social anxiety of being rejected on a date.” — Michael Hanson (05:41)

  • New terms like “pornosexual”—people addicted to porn, avoiding real intimacy.
  • Parallels between radical activism on both the young left and right:

    “Societies have-nots raging against societies haves with the same poison coursing through the veins of both radical wings of our modern politics.” — Michael Hanson, citing Jeff Blair (08:55)

  • Explains the “overproduction of elites”—too many graduates for too few elite jobs leading to frustration, radicalism, and mass political discontent (09:39).

• Insightful Quote:

  “Nihilism is contagious and it spreads quickly.” — Michael Hanson (07:43)

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4. Reflecting on Modern Loneliness: Kelsea Ballerini’s “I Sit in Parks” (11:17)

• Theme: The emptiness of chasing career status over family life, as expressed in the lyrics.
• Hosts’ Reaction:
  • Armstrong notes, “Somebody’s actually admitted that, ‘I’ve been chasing things the world told me to chase. And all I really want to do is have a family.’” (12:44)
  • Both recognize a common, often unspoken regret among high-achievers.

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5. Economic & Social Trends: The Mouse Utopia Analogy (14:08)

• Universe 25 Experiment:
  • "Utopia" for mice led to social and reproductive collapse despite all needs being met.
  • Parallels drawn to modern, affluent societies:

    “We stopped having babies ... Our basic needs are being met and we’re stopping getting together. We’re starting to act weird.” — Jack Armstrong (16:26)

  • Lack of struggle linked to societal malaise; need for challenge to thrive.

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6. European News: The "Euro Bureau" Segment (19:04)

France: Rising Art Crime and Declining Security

• France experiences a spike in museum robberies—nine major heists in a year due to underfunded museum security.
• Satirical merchandise plug:

  “Ruin the entire country. Newsom 2028.” — Michael Hanson (19:31)

UK: Approaching a Fiscal Cliff

• Britain facing a debt crisis and major tax hikes; economic stagnation linked to costly “net zero” climate policies.

  “The UK has long been torn between two mutually exclusive desires. Voters want European levels of welfare with American levels of taxation.” — Michael Hanson (21:02)

• Comparison to increased tax burden in Germany and the pitfalls of overspending (22:59).

Big Picture:

• Hosts predict the U.S. is on a parallel course, headed for a fiscal reckoning:

  “It’s the francification of the United States.” — Michael Hanson (19:06)
  “The only thing that will stop us wolfing down bacon ... is a fiscal heart attack. The problem being you don’t always survive them.” — Michael Hanson (25:51)

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7. U.S. Military Buildup Near Venezuela (28:07)

• News Recap: U.S. naval presence off Venezuela grows; tensions rise, Maduro signals readiness for war.
• Hosts’ Take:
  • Jack jokes about the 2024 election being a mandate for war:

    “You went to the polls ... and voted for Donald Trump because you wanted to go to war with Venezuela.” — Jack Armstrong (28:27)

  • News reports detail U.S. strikes on boats, regional unease, and legal shields for U.S. troops (29:05).
  • Discussion about the real endgame—armed presence as support for a possible coup, but doubts about Venezuela’s military loyalty (31:52).

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8. Trump’s Approval Ratings and Political Ramifications (32:30)

• Polls: Trump’s approval has sunk to 33%, with Republican support down and independents at 25%.
• Hosts’ Analysis:
  • Trump’s disconnect on economic messaging—especially regarding everyday affordability:

    “He’s got to stop saying that stuff like yesterday.” — Michael Hanson (34:41)

  • Questioning the staying power of political brands with deep internal skepticism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the end of the penny:
  "All these years was moronic. Especially after inflation. It was already dumb before inflation, but an extra dumb then." — Jack Armstrong (01:07)

• On privileged politicians:
  "God, you’re in your 40s and you’re still on your parents’ paycheck." — Jack Armstrong (04:20)

• On alienated young men:
  "They seem to prefer the financial discomfort of losing a bet to the social anxiety of being rejected on a date." — Michael Hanson (05:49)

• On modern economic malaise:
  "The UK has long been torn between two mutually exclusive desires. Voters want European levels of welfare with American levels of taxation." — Michael Hanson (21:02)

• On societal drift:
  "It's the francification of the United States." — Michael Hanson (19:06)
  "Nihilism is contagious and it spreads quickly." — Michael Hanson (07:43)

• On economic catastrophe:
  "The only thing that will stop us wolfing down bacon, drinking a quart of bourbon a night, and smoking four packs a day is a fiscal heart attack. The problem being you don’t always survive them." — Michael Hanson (25:51)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• End of the Penny: 00:28–01:29
• Seattle Elects Democratic Socialist Mayor: 01:29–04:28
• Younger Generations’ Social & Political Trends: 04:44–10:11
• Kelsea Ballerini’s “I Sit in Parks”: 11:17–13:06
• Mouse Utopia/Universe 25 & Loneliness Analogy: 14:08–17:08
• Euro Bureau – France, UK, Germany: 19:04–25:15
• US Military Moves Near Venezuela: 28:07–32:08
• Trump’s Approval/Political Analysis: 32:30–35:00

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Tone and Style

The episode maintains the Armstrong & Getty hallmark of sharp, sardonic banter while serious discussions are peppered with asides, deadpan humor, and vivid analogies. The hosts freely question prevailing orthodoxies—left and right—while expressing real concern over social isolation, political extremism, and fiscal instability.

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Final Thoughts

Whether lamenting social atomization, mocking policy hypocrisy, or sounding the alarm about creeping economic disaster, Armstrong & Getty bring a mix of skepticism and exasperation to the day’s headlines. They blend humor with hard truths, leaving listeners with equal parts enlightenment and unease.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live.

[News Reporter]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.

[Joe Getty]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael Hanson]

And now, here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

After more than 230 years in circulation, the US mix in Philadelphia pressing the last ever American penny. US Treasurer Brandon beach on hand for the historic moment as production of the $0.01 coins officially comes to an end. The final two pennies going up for auction.

[Jack Armstrong]

For better or worse, Trump is not in love with the status quo. He just does things that other people do well. But this will cause a problem. But what if that. But what if this? And what if the penny's dumb? Get rid of it. Jerusalem is a capital Israel. We all know it, right? Lots of things like that.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, most of it good, some of it not good. But you know, the penny being around.

[Jack Armstrong]

All these years was moronic. Especially after inflation. It was already dumb before inflation, but an extra dumb then.

[Michael Hanson]

Oh yeah. As we've outlined in the past, a penny is now worth something like a tenth of a penny compared to what it was in 1940. Whatever the year was, I can't remember. So can you imagine having a tenth of a century coin? That's what we've got.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll combine that with the fact that it cost 4 cents to make one right?

[Michael Hanson]

Insane. Anyway, goodbye Penny. Old Link is on there, which makes me feel bad, but he's still on the five dollar bill. And you know, you can keep some pennies if you like. Just take them out, look at them and think about old a once in a while, if that comforts you. Anyway, so this is not breaking news exactly, but you might not have heard it. Seattle has joined New York City in electing a Democratic socialist mayor by an incredibly slim margin over a way left, you know, guy who was in office before, as the Daily mail puts it. Ms. Katie Wilson, age 43, the first Democratic Socialist mayor of Seattle, ran a very similar campaign to old Mamdani the commie. Uh, she's run a campaign characterized by promises to increase affordability in the expensive city by doing policies that will accomplish exactly the opposite, as they do every single damn time. Another core of her platform is addressing Seattle's homelessness crisis by throwing money at it, which, please, California could tell you, will just get you more bums and junkies. Seattle, one of the worst in the country. Critics have called Wilson privileged and out of touch as the 43 year old candidate regularly receives checks from her professor parents to pay for childcare. W which I'm sure she would say is just evidence of how capitalism has failed. It's funny how that excuse comes up over and over again. These critics also highlight Wilson dropping out of Oxford University just six weeks before graduation for some reason debt free thanks to her parents. The other person's reelection website highlighted a quote from a former Seattle King County NAACP president of all people, who said it's hard to trust a candidate running on their challenges with affordability when her family's wealth shields her from actual consequences and financial stress.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would like to know if voting was similar to with mum Donnie. Where wasn't the working class that got the mayor of Seattle over the top? It was other highly educated elite people.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah. Yeah. So currently her husband does not have a paying job either.

[Jack Armstrong]

Neither one of them have a job. Well, she's a mayor now.

[Michael Hanson]

Well, yeah, currently. That means the couple's household income is below what would be considered enough money to support themselves and their child in Seattle. So she gets checks from home at age 43.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael Hanson]

She's not ashamed. It just speaks to how expensive and unaffordable it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Does it? How about. How about like the other 99%? It's pretty high. Of people your age who have figured out how to support themselves. What are they just dumb?

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That is just unbelievable. Good luck with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, you're in your 40s and you're still on your parents paycheck.

[Michael Hanson]

Unless you have special needs, of course.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of course. That's a different.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, that's just. That's just sad. That is just sad. Yeah. Okay, well, that's enough of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And of course, of course you'd turn to that person for the answers to economic problems. Somebody that has not figured out how to support themselves at all.

[Michael Hanson]

Well, because she reinforces the excuses you're making for yourself in your own life. I get it. There's nothing more comfortable than a great excuse. So, you know, speaking of political trends among the young, you know, I've been reading a lot about this and there's too much to cram in here, but read a piece by a guy named Derek Thompson, the monks in the Casino. Um, and it's. And he highlights a couple of people who've appeared in big time journalism profiles lately. The one guy is a. He considered himself a pornosexual. Which is exactly what it sounds like. It's just. It's sick. Beyond sick and bizarre. He's no good with talking about women. He thinks about sex between two people and it's. He's troubled by it. He's Frightened by it because of the impossibility of ever knowing what's really going on in your partner's head. I just feel like it's exhausting for both parties. Then there's this other guy with a gambling addiction, both of them living in their parents house.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's a pornosexual? I mean you said is it all.

[Michael Hanson]

Porn all the time?

[Jack Armstrong]

You prefer porn to the real thing.

[Michael Hanson]

Not that he's ever dabbled in the real thing. Been recently thinking about these guys, Derek writes, who are dating less, socializing, less leaving their homes, less filling their media with more porn and betting parlays. They seem to prefer the financial discomfort of losing a bet to the social anxiety being rejected on a date. The they find intimacy scary and gambling exciting, et cetera, et cetera. Monks in casinos. The title of his piece, Wait till AI hits. Yeah. Oh my God. And then on that topic, Jeff Blair for the National Review. He's talking about the. The woke. Right, if you will. The Tucker, Nick Fuentes gripers crown. And how about 30 to 40% of the young people who are like activists climbers in Washington D.C. on the right are probably in that crowd. They think it's just under a third to 40% who hold the views that are, I will quote, characterizable beyond antisemitism as a general belief that the system as it exists is corrupt and must be leveled along with whoever is perceived as having been its beneficiaries, blah blah, blah. And he says that's the part of.

[Jack Armstrong]

The whole movement that worries me and I think is paying attention to, I don't know that you know, we're Germany in 1933, that anti Semitism is going to become the leading but just the boy.

[Michael Hanson]

They're close in Canada. More on that another time.

[Jack Armstrong]

But just the system stacked against me combined with scared to talk to other human beings. Just that all that anger from that you're just unhappy with life and how would you not be unhappy? You got no friends, you're not having any sex, you have never been in a relationship and you don't have a job. That makes for a really angry group of people that can be a pretty powerful voting bloc.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, yeah. And then he points out the antisemitism on the young right comes, despite all the various guises and poses from a much deeper and darker impulse. The reflexive rejection of pieties or you know, the, the sacred thoughts of the past for people scolded their entire lives to think that X or Y was racist or sexist, that boys are girls and vice Versa. And white males are the engine of civilizational evil. It is profoundly unsurprising to see a pendulum swinging backlash in an equally ignorant opposite direction. Nihilism is contagious and it spreads quickly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I did bring that up when I was watching the Nick Fuentes on Tucker Carlson. The thing that I thought, okay, I could see this as an entry. People who agree with you, especially if you're a white male. As we're the only crowd that are not allowed to believe more of us.

[Michael Hanson]

Is good and we're being attacked from.

[Jack Armstrong]

All sides, every single other crowd gets to say there'd be. This board would be better with more. This school, this whatever. This company would be better with more of me. But not if you're a white male.

[Michael Hanson]

Right, Exactly. And then he makes an excellent point. Ba ba ba ba ba. It's not just the young disillusioned right that's looking for scapegoats to blame either. As the groiper debate has raged during the past few weeks, a thought has lurked in the back of my mind. This explains Zoran Mumdani too. The connective thread between them isn't anti Semitism, although the overlap is obvious. I believe that antisemitism is symptomatic of a greater disease, a shared generational ferment. Societies have nots raging against societies haves with the same poison coursing through the veins of both radical wings of our modern politics. And he gets into, you know, the young people in Seattle and New York can't pay their bills, cannot save. See all of their expected career paths being swiftly foreclosed on, little optimism about the future. And let's see, where is the part that he gets into and this is something I've read about in the past and kind of forgotten about, but the overproduction of elites. You have way more people with degrees and advanced degrees being churned out of the universities than could possibly occupy the elite seats of power he's writing about in Washington D.C. but that exist in Washington D.C. for instance. There's just like five to one which.

[Jack Armstrong]

Kind of means the term elite would need a different word. Right. If you don't need very many of them. Elite, I'm not sure is the right word elite kind of.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, denotes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know, elite athletes. I don't know. Seems like it would have to be a commodity that it's good to have a lot of.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. I was going to use a metaphor, but I'm not sure it's a good one. Anyway, so I found that that's super interesting. And then I'll end with this. And it's a really interesting take from the folks at the Federalist, who about half of the time, I think have lost their minds. But I don't know. Kelsey Ballerini, I guess she's a big deal musician, singer. She was a judge on the Voice, has had a bunch of big hits. Her new big hit, which is accompanied by a video, is called I Sit in Parks.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I've heard about this. Yeah.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, I actually think I listened to.

[Jack Armstrong]

That a couple of weeks ago when I came across this.

[Michael Hanson]

She's. She's seen through a nostalgic warm filter. Swinging on a playground is quick clips of children playing with bubbles or children being embraced by their parents cut in and out. I sit in parks. It breaks my heart, she says in the opening line. She then talks about, you know, her, what she's achieved a little bit in the verse, but by the end of the day quote, all she can see is just how far I am from the things that I want. Dad brought the picnic mom brought the sunscreen the kids are laughing and crying on red swings we look about the same age but we don't have the same Saturdays and she wonders if she missed the mark adding it's her fault for chasing things a body clock doesn't wait for. Yet she seems hesitant to let go of the lifestyle that put her in the position in the first place. The albums, the tours, the awards, blah, blah, blah are what I wanted, what I got she says in the course to cope she'll keep well, I'll just read the. The. The chorus. So I sit in park sunglasses dark and I hit the vape Hallucinate a nursery with Noah's ark They lay on a blanket and G.D. he loves her. I wonder if she wants my freedom like I want to be a mother Like Rolling Stone says I'm on the right road so I refill my Lexa Pro thinking.

[Jack Armstrong]

What'S your. What's the main takeaway from this screed?

[Michael Hanson]

Somebody's actually admitted that I've been chasing things the world told me to chase. And all I really want to do is have a family.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've heard that a lot from people.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, me too. Why would you let corporate America tell you what life to live?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, all your friends are doing it.

[Michael Hanson]

The beauty of being an iconoclast.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, when we go to war with Venezuela, we won't have time to think about this sort of stuff. Are we going to war with Venezuela? We got the latest on that. We got a quarter of the US Navy there now. More on that coming up. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael Hanson]

There's some big news in Washington today. The House officially voted to end the government shutdown.

[News Reporter]

Right now.

[Michael Hanson]

People who were hoping to skip flying home for Thanksgiving were like, well, I guess I'll back to drawing an extra line of my COVID test. There we go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Never liked those jokes about how the holiday season is trying to stay away from your family because you hate them so much. Was that actually your life? I know it's not for Jimmy Fallon, because I know something about his life.

[Michael Hanson]

Be common enough that he thinks that's a good joke. I guess I don't get it. Or, and, or maybe those of us with happy families who were happy to see think, oh, that's. That's too bad. But, yeah, that's cynical and funny. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have we ever Talked about Universe25 before? I feel like we probably have, but we've been doing this radio show for 30 years, so could have been a long time ago.

[Michael Hanson]

Project 2025, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

From Heritage Universe 25. It's a famous mouse experiment from back in the day.

[Michael Hanson]

Oh, right. Yeah, go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Between 1968 and 1972, he studied these mice. He created a mouse utopia experiment to see what would happen. I think you'll see parallels to today with these mice. The basic setup is the utopia. Utopia included a enclosure with unlimited food, water, nesting materials, and no predators. For these mice, he started with four breeding pairs and then let the population develop naturally again. Food, weather, food, water, protection, all your basic needs met. And no predators. The population initially.

[Michael Hanson]

Wi Fi.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wi fi.

[Michael Hanson]

Fast streaming.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Michael Hanson]

Cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

Amazon Prime. Yes, the population initially grew exponentially. But at around day 560, the growth began to slow dramatically. They stopped having little mice babies. At a certain point, despite having physical space and resources, the mice developed behavioral pathologies. Dominant males became extremely aggressive. Subordinate males withdrew completely. Some mice, mostly males, completely disengaged from social life, only eating, drinking, and grooming themselves. Obsessively, female mice abandoned their young, and infant mortality skyrocketed.

[Michael Hanson]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Young mice never learned social and mating behaviors from their parents, if you will. And by day 600, no new mice were being born, and the population eventually went extinct. Now, as it says here in the summary, people are not mice and mice are not people.

[Michael Hanson]

Fair point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on now.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah. I have known a handful of people who were completely taken care of. Trust fund kids, that sort of person. In the vast majority of those stories, do not have joyful endings or descriptions.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, but this is what I've been saying about we stopped having babies. This is what I've been thinking of first world countries. We don't have any threats. We're not going to be invaded by another country and we have our basic needs met. Even if you got people marching in the street, we. Because their house is not as big as their neighbor's house or whatever it is. Our basic needs are being met and we're stopping getting together. We're starting to act weird.

[Michael Hanson]

True. Yeah, well, and it's absolutely known scientifically that struggle raises your testosterone and victory raises it even more. We're meant to strive and fight, whether literal battles or metaphorical battles. And we're not meant to lay around and be comfortable as beings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting.

[Michael Hanson]

Okay, I've got a jivey yet informative new feature coming up. You won't want to miss it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty in the bathroom here on the floor. We are occupying here at the radio station, the stall where people do their, you know, your main business. There's been no soap in there for like a month.

[Michael Hanson]

Oh, it's longer than that to wash.

[Jack Armstrong]

Your hands and that ain't cool. So Hanson and I were just discussing it. Maybe we should bring bars of soap and set them on the counter kind of as a hint like we've started bringing our own bar from home. For some reason he suggested Lava. Do you remember Lava? So it was gray and it had the grit in it to like.

[Michael Hanson]

Oh yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do they still make that? I think bars of Lava soap would be perfect.

[Michael Hanson]

I. One of my friends dad was an actual auto mechanic and he did a lot of work in his own garage. I think that's where I ran into Lava.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it was good for that sort of thing. I don't know if. So good for like a 10 year old to scrub their body in the shower.

[Michael Hanson]

Well, a lot of bleeding from the hands. Yeah. Exfoliating.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exfoliating, exactly.

[Michael Hanson]

So a lot of great stuff to squeeze in this hour. But first, from the information mind of Joe Getty that brought you. I do occasionally refer to myself in the third person. That brought you a look in the china cabinet. And what was one of the other ones, Michael? I can't remember.

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't remember if there was another one.

[Michael Hanson]

There have been other ones. Well, it's time for the Euro bureau. Ah, there you go. Yeah, we're still working on the introduction for the Euro bureau and that was low rent. Are you kidding? That was free. Sign on the side of the road. I was limited on supplies.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Michael Hanson]

Yes. And time. So a couple of really interesting stories from Europe. And I tell you what, and a lot of you agree with this. I feel like watching my beloved republic and our various challenges and increasing socialism and debt and the rest of it. It's a slow motion car crash. I mean, the end of this is so incredibly predictable. We become France. It's the francification of the United States. Oh. Oh, damn it.

[Jack Armstrong]

That reminds me.

[Michael Hanson]

I'm so pleased with this, I can't stand it. The new T shirt at the Armstrong and Getty superstore is simply on a lovely dark blue background. Although you can probably get it in all sorts of colors. Ruin the entire country. Newsom 2028.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like it.

[Michael Hanson]

Looks great. Cal Unicornians and those who sympathize with Cal Unicornians. The accordions ruin the entire country. Newsom 2028. Anyway, so we all heard about the breaking at the Louvre, right? We're gonna start in France in the Euro bureau. We all heard about that, right? In the crown jewels and all sorts of stuff. Much less reported here on the other side of the Atlantic is the fact that that was one of nine major robberies of museums over the past year in France.

[Jack Armstrong]

Didn't know that?

[Michael Hanson]

9. Six French museums have been hit since the beginning of September alone. One of them twice. And they name a bunch of museums I've never heard of, but are important, I guess, including the stately Museum of Natural History. Few of the stolen works, including precious porcelain and gold crosses and statues, have been recovered. As the robberies pile up, French officials are waking up to an unsettling reality. France is awash in cultural treasures, but has minimal resources to protect them from thieves.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I was gonna say after the fourth or fifth museums hit, I would have thought somebody said, hey, is the Louvre protected? I mean, that's like our most famous museum.

[Michael Hanson]

Successive governments have collapsed over efforts to rein in the country's budget deficit, leaving the state too cash strapped to invest in meaningful security upgrades for the more than 1200 sites classified by the government as museums. And McCrone's administration is scrambling to take a census of the country's most valuable artwork to nowhere to put their few pennies. But you've got a rising criminal class and absolutely no budget, no will to protect the country. It's just sad. Then you have this from the Wall Street Journal. Britain is preparing tens of billions of dollars. Well, pounds, but in new taxes. Again, the labor government is ready to. Is readying its second major tax increase in two years as it Tries to avoid spooking markets, specifically bond markets, because it's taking on so much debt and it's killing the economy. And this is a good description. The UK has long been torn between two mutually exclusive desires. Voters want European levels of welfare with American levels of taxation. Of course, we're overspending our taxation too. But by accident design. The debate is slowly being resolved in the direction of higher taxes. As Britain's labor government, which can't leave office soon enough, prepares its second major tax increase in as many years. The UK is confronting an issue facing growing numbers of rich nations. How to pay for rising government spending without taking on ever more debt and spooking financial markets. So they've got this giant tax increase coming to narrow the budget deficit, which is at about 6% of their GDP. GDP? Biggest rounds of tax increases since the mid-70s. The increases will likely further constrain Britain's anemic economic growth.

[Jack Armstrong]

A lot of that had to do with their net zero policies around climate change, which were crazy.

[Michael Hanson]

Absolutely true. Yeah. Those two things are just crushing the economy. So the latest increase will raise the UK's tax rate to about 38% of annual economic output, highest level ever, compares with about 30% in the 90s and low 30s and 2000s. That puts the UK comfortably ahead of the US, which is in the mid-20s, although spending ourselves into oblivion. But still short of Germany and France. The pitfalls of such an approach are evident in Germany, which taxes wages more than any other rich country except Belgium, taking almost 50% of employees gross wages on average. While that approach has helped Germany balance budgets in the past, it has eaten into Germans purchasing power, depressing consumption. And Germany, that at the end of the Cold War slashed spending on defense and poured the difference into the welfare state, now needs desperately to spend more on the military and shore up crumbling infrastructure from potholed roads to a decrepit rail system. But taxes are already very high and the growth is too weak to fund the new taxes. Slow motion car wreck.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I took in a podcast about Britain's financial situation several weeks ago, and it was striking. The whole time I was listening to it, I kept thinking, why isn't this a bigger story? Why don't more people know this in the United States, that Britain has just ruined their economy and. And then there's no easy way out. And they are like our future. We can look at them and we're going to be able to see what it's going to be like for us.

[Michael Hanson]

I know the world's most Predictable disaster. It's so frustrating. And I, I. You didn't tune in to be frustrated. But I mean it. It's just somebody comes up here on the street and says, I really like fentanyl. I'm taking more fentanyl every day. And you're thinking, well, you're gonna OD and die. In fact, 100 of people who you said that to would think you're gonna OD and die, but they just keep doing it. I feel like that's the situation we're in now, because the average voter has no grasp. And this is true in France, it's true in Britain, it's true in the US has no grasp of the concept of fiscal restraint. They, you know, it's too easy to sell them on. You deserve handouts. I just, you know, I don't know how legitimate this quote is. I've seen it a million times old. The Scottish guy that when a people realizes it can vote itself money themselves, money from the treasury, a republic is doomed. I'm not sure there's any turning it around short of a cataclysm, but you don't bounce back from every cataclysm. It was like, you're only half serious. God send me a warning so I get really serious about getting healthy. Like a minor heart attack, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

I asked God to give me a minor heart attack so I would start eating better.

[Michael Hanson]

Well, your genius, Jack, your unappreciated genius is that's a perfect metaphor for the United States. The only thing that will stop us wolfing down bacon, drinking a quart of bourbon a night, and smoking four packs a day is a fiscal heart attack. The problem being you don't always survive them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, the pandemic was quite the cataclysm, and it didn't make things better anywhere.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, you know, that's funny. And when we were talking a couple segments ago, whenever it was about young people and young men and their anger and anti Semitism and that whole stew, the writer that I was quoting mentioned how bitterly painful the, the COVID shutdowns were for young men in so many ways. And it drove them away from girlfriends and real friends and jobs and striving and pride and being a man, blah, blah, blah. The COVID shutdowns, which were specifically opposite of what all the health organizations around the world had said they would do when there was a pandemic. They abandoned all their plans and panicked and shut them down and kept the kids out of schools. The rest of it, I don't think we've reckoned with a third of the damage that did.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, definitely.

[Michael Hanson]

Incredible evil that perpetrated. I'll be saying that until I'm lowered into my grave.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe the cataclysm that gets our attention is war with Venezuela. We've got a quarter of the navy there now. We're ready to take on the Venezuelans. They've called. What purpose now they've called. I haven't gotten around to that.

[Michael Hanson]

Probably stop the drug flow, allegedly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Michael Hanson]

Colombia's like, cool. We'll take the business.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some of the details on that, among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Michael Hanson]

The Euro bureau, straight from our European news.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whose desk? Okay.

[Michael Hanson]

That was Joe Getty's Euroburo. It was so horrible. It was great.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, man.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. America has blown up 19 small boats off Venezuela's coast. And now the navy's largest aircraft carrier is arriving. These Venezuelan military exercises broadcast on state TV suggest the threat felt by its leader, Nicholas Maduro.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's the CBS News version of what's going on with Venezuela. As you all know. Well, as you voted for. It was a year and three days ago, you went to the polls and voted for Donald Trump because you wanted to go to war with Venezuela and you couldn't wait another minute.

[Michael Hanson]

I don't recall that specifically, but go on anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway. Oh, and two. Yeah, exactly.

[Michael Hanson]

Thanks, Ben.

[Jack Armstrong]

Kind of seems like maybe we're headed that way. Here's Jennifer Griffin and her report on this from Fox.

[News Reporter]

As the US Military buildup in the Caribbean continues, Venezuela's defense minister ordered the country's 200,000 soldiers to prepare for war.

[Jack Armstrong]

If they come to touch Venezuela. There you will see a people determined to defend this homeland to the death.

[News Reporter]

Colombia has halted the intelligence it will share with the U.S. this comes a day after Fox News confirmed reports that the UK began limiting some of the intelligence it shares with the US in the Caribbean. Both countries have concerns. US military strikes against 19 boats killing 75 people contravene international law and amount to extrajudicial killings of civilians.

[Government Official]

We have very strong partnerships with the UK and other countries. Again, nothing has changed or happened that has impeded in any way our ability to do what we're doing. Nor are we asking anyone to help us with what we're doing in any realm, and that includes military.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, I didn't quite understand that. But then it's about blasting those people in the boats. The UK and Colombia don't want to be any part of that. By the way, a court ruled, whatever court ruled yesterday that none of These military personnel would be on the hook for these strikes on the people in the boats. If it's decided that we shouldn't be doing this, they're not legally on the hook.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad. I understand the concept of you're not obligated to execute an illegal order, but, I mean, if. If it's such a gray area that, like, the entire country is arguing about how justified it is. Yeah, you can't.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no.

[Michael Hanson]

The military can't hold people responsible for following orders.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, the military would completely break down if you were on the hook for. You couldn't do anything before you ran it by a lawyer.

[Michael Hanson]

Oh, yeah. If there were, for instance, controversial rules of engagement, hello, Afghanistan guys would be thinking, I don't want to get sued.

[Jack Armstrong]

So just how much firepower do we have in the region?

[News Reporter]

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest warship, is now in Latin American waters after being ordered by the Pentagon to leave its deployment to the Middle east ahead of schedule. The aircraft carrier strike group, with nearly 4,000 sailors on board and dozens of warplanes is being escorted by three guided missile destroyers. 24% of all U.S. navy vessels are now deployed to U.S. southern Command.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's quite the armada.

[Michael Hanson]

Well, we've got to respond to the threat of Jamaica and the Bahamas with their foreign ways.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't have a strong opinion on this story. Sure would hate to see any Marines die landing on the beach in Venezuela. Hope that's not what's going to happen.

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, I've got to admit, I usually have a pretty good guess as to the end game of this sort of thing. I don't in this case. Well, we're pressuring majority and putting, you know, the squeeze on his regime because we want him out. It's time for regime change. But we're not going to invade or decapitate.

[Jack Armstrong]

The only thing that makes sense is what you said the other day. If we're putting so much firepower in the region that if there is an opposition group that's ever thought of, you know, pulling a revolution or a coup of some sort, they would feel like the United States is there to back us up immediately if we do this right.

[Michael Hanson]

Given the problem with regime change in Venezuela is that the military seems very cohesive and very loyal to Maduro. There have not been signs of the sort of cracks that you'd hope for, and. Yeah, I guess I'd forgotten I'd said that, but it was a good point, Joe, that if any of the generals are thinking now's our chance to get rid of this fat bum. The US Is saying, we'll have your back.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, different topic, but maybe this is tied in a little bit. Maybe you've heard some of the polling on Donald Trump where it's not really that good right now, shows that only 33% of U.S. adults approve of the job he is doing. That's from the latest Associated Press NORC poll. Now, every president goes through rough spots. I remember when Barack Obama was In the low 30s shortly after Obamacare, and he bounced back. So they go up, they go down. But 33% approval for Donald Trump right now, he was riding pretty high there the first several months. He's only been president for what, nine months?

[Michael Hanson]

Wow. I can't take four years, nine months.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of a whole time.

[Michael Hanson]

Strong enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

The numbers going down, driven in large part by a decline in approval among Republicans and independents. He had been rock solid among Republicans all through his first term and through the first couple of months of this term. According to the survey, only about two thirds of Republicans now approve of Trump's government management, down from 81% in March. And like 90% at the beginning, down to two thirds of Republican support. And independents have gone from 38 to 25. 25.

[Michael Hanson]

Oof. Oh, that's low. How many bonus points does Trump get among Republicans? Because the left is so wacky and the attacks are so constant. Even if I don't like what Trump's doing, I'm going to say I do, despite the left in the media.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I don't know if that has anything to do with approval ratings. As we've seen, he's gotten elected president twice and almost three times with very low ratings. Because when it comes down to the binary choice alternative. You think I'd still prefer this over that?

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah, I just, I guess the bottom line of what I'm wondering is what's the actual approval rating among Republicans?

[Jack Armstrong]

You think it's lower?

[Michael Hanson]

They're not talking to some pollster? Yeah, I can almost guarantee it's lower. I just don't know how much lower it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know it's the word of the week, but I think this affordability thing is a huge problem. And I don't know how you're going to make people feel like things are more affordable.

[Michael Hanson]

The great man of the common touch, billionaire Donald Trump, practically miraculous how he connects with middle class working people, has been saying, no, you're, you're, you shouldn't be worried every time you go grocery shopping. The economy's great. I'm not getting enough credit. Oh man, he's got to stop saying that stuff like yesterday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no kidding. So we do lots of hours of this here radio rodeo. 20 hours a week. If you miss a segment or an hour, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand. If you subscribe, it will just get fed to you automatically.

[Michael Hanson]

Give us a nice review too, would you?

[Jack Armstrong]

A review?

[Michael Hanson]

Yeah. Five star review, please.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.