
Episode 4487: Americans Continue To Not Be Able Afford Prescription Drugs ...
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Josh Hawley
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Josh Hawley is warning his own party over its push to make potential cuts to Medicaid. In a guest essay for the New York Times, Hawley wrote In part this Mr. Trump has promised working class tax cuts and protection for working class social insurance such as Medicaid. But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans call it the party's Wall street wing is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old time religion, corporate giveaway ways, preferences for capital, and deep cuts to social insurance. The wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal.
Commentator
We heard Josh Hawley actually saying something that should be very obvious to most Republicans, especially Republicans in deep red states state America, whether you're in Missouri, whether you're in Alabama, whether you're in Nebraska, wherever you are, Idaho, Medicare, Montana. Medicaid is a lifeline for those residents. And here you have Republicans talking about slashing Medicaid to pay for, you know, billionaires tax cuts on the coasts, which.
Is, which is why that big beautiful bill has some big unbeautiful problems.
Steve Bannon
Right?
Commentator
I mean, there's long been this myth in the Republican Party that anything that smacks of the welfare state is only for voters of color in Democratic cities. And as we know from as far back as that seminal book, what's the Matter With Kansas? A lot of these programs, a lot of government assistance goes to rural areas, goes to red states. And that's a big problem in terms of passing this bill. I listened to that clip you just played of President Trump saying he can't imagine any Republican being against it. I guess he can't hear Josh Hawley's voice or read the op ed page of the New York Times. But there is disagreement in the Republican Party, there's disagreement in the MAGA caucus. I write about this in a column that'll go up in a couple of hours, but Laura Loomer has come out against the Medicaid cuts. And there's an interesting larger story here, which is we always talk of maga, or many of us talk too frequently of the MAGA movement as a cult. And it's actually quite fractious. And I think we're seeing that through the lens of this one big beautiful bill.
This is the primal scream of a dying regime.
Pray for our enemies, because we're going medieval on these people. Reasons I got a free shot.
All these networks lying about the people.
The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that.
I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it.
It's going to happen.
Steve Bannon
And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Commentator
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
Stephen K. Bannon
WAR ROOM here's your host, Stephen k. Ban.
Commentator
Thursday the 15th of May in the year of our Lord 2025. So, so much going on today. We're gonna get back to President Trump's triumphant tour of the Middle East. He's in, he's in UAE right now with nbz. We'll get all to that a little later in the show. Also note, we're live streaming the Supreme Court hearing today on the 14th amendment. Absolutely monumental. Grace is going to put that up on the other channels. We've got limited time. We have Senator Josh Hawley here. Senator Hawley, can you make your case? And I think is anybody, are we now are they disagreeing with you, that they understand we got to do this, but it's all about how it's managed, where these cuts are going to come from or they're going to go back to the state. Is there's dumping ground on that. What's these work requirements? Is anybody you think pushing back on you about we understand that maga, that Medicaid, because all the great jobs have been shipped overseas, that the working class, black, Hispanic, white, all depend upon, all depend upon Medicaid. And we can't abandon these people, as I think President Trump doesn't want to abandon them. Sir.
Steve Bannon
Yeah. You just said the most incredible, the most key thing, Steve, which is President Trump. I mean, they're not disagreeing with me. These Republicans who want to cut Medicaid, they're disagreeing with agreeing with the president. He's the one who has said over and over and over, we're not going to cut Medicaid benefits to our people. I still think that, Steve, there's a lot of Republicans out there. It's the old establishment types who want to slash this to the bone. And the problem is these are many of the same people who have stood by while our jobs have gone overseas, while our towns have dried up and withered away. Now we've got people who cannot afford health insurance and so they're forced onto Medicaid. And Republicans, our answer needs to be we're going to stand by you. If you're the working class, we're going to give you a tax cut. We're going to help your families. We're not going to throw you out in the cold. And so I just say to my Republican colleagues, look, you want to cut something, there's a lot to cut. Let's cut the green New Deal garbage. Let's cut all those subsidies that go to China. Let's cut out the giveaways to big pharma. There's lots to cut. Let's not cut the working class.
Commentator
As you see it right now, are those issues you're bringing up, are they being addressed seriously? And anything you're hearing from the House or your colleagues in the Senate?
Steve Bannon
Well, I think it's too early to say, Steve. I mean, listen, I've got concerns with the bill that the House has passed out of committee. They obviously haven't passed the full thing yet. I think there's still a lot of cuts in there to Medicaid that will really hurt people. And to be more specific about it, they will hurt our people. And listen, I mean, in my state, we voted for Trump by 1819 points in the state of Missouri, but 21% of Missourians are on Medicaid, Steve, and that includes hundreds of thousands of children. These are Trump voters. These are working class people. These are people who have gotten screwed by globalism, by free trade, by everything Donald Trump ran against. And I'm not going to be a Republican who goes to them and says, hey, thank you for voting for us and trusting us and now we're going to take away your health care. What could be more stupid than that? That's insane. That's why Trump is out there saying no benefit cuts. Republicans in Congress ought to listen to the president.
Commentator
Okay, Missouri's perfect because that is a mega state and particularly a working class state. I know you stay very close to your constituents. Are you hearing from them directly? Hey, we can't take these cuts. You can't do these cuts.
Steve Bannon
Yes, I am. Absolutely. In fact, I'll give you one example. Yesterday morning, a nurse in a small town in mid Missouri, Appleton City is the name of the town. We're talking just a few thousand people. She texted and she said, thank you for standing up against Medicaid benefit cuts. If they, if the Republicans in Congress, and she's a Trump voter, if Republicans in Congress, she said, do these big Medicaid benefit cuts, our hospital in this little town will shut down. We will not be able to provide health care. I mean, we just can't allow that to happen, Steve. These are our people. I keep saying that. I tell my colleagues that every day. We are the party of the working class. The working class of this country depends on the social insurance programs, not least because the globalists have gutted our working class economy. We got to rebuild that economy, not cut the legs out from underworking people.
Commentator
No, this is the part, this is the central beating heart of the Trump Tariff and Trade bill to reorganize commercial relations to bring those jobs back. What is it specifically in the House bill that you're saying, hey, I can't vote for, I won't vote for, and it has to be changed. That came out of committee. Specifically on Medicaid.
Steve Bannon
Yeah, I think a couple things. Number one, I'm concerned about their messing around with the provider tax system. This will have a huge effect on rural hospitals in my state. We've lost so many rural hospitals in Missouri, Steve. I don't want to see any more lost in my state or any other state. Once again, rural America, these are our folks. We have got to take care of them. Number two, the House imposed what I call a sick tax, which is more penalties on working people when they go to the doctor. Now, before they can see see the doctor, they got to pay more. They got to pay out of pocket a certain amount of money before they can even see the doctor. These are people who are already paying into Medicaid with their tax money. I just don't know why we do that. So listen, my view is this, work requirements. Absolutely. We ought to have tough work requirements of Medicaid, anti fraud provisions. You bet, let's do all of that. But benefit cuts, cuts to rural hospitals. Absolutely not.
Commentator
These work requirements also, correct me if I'm wrong, they don't kick in until President Trump's starting his fourth term. Is this, is it 20, 29 actually what the House is coming up with?
Steve Bannon
Yeah. That's something I don't understand, to be honest with you. The work requirements don't kick in for years and years. I mean, if you want to save money and you want to do right by this program, Absolutely. Impose work requirements. You ought, if you're able bodied, you ought to be working. The problem is in states like mine and some of the other states, we got a whole bunch of people who are able bodied. They are working, Steve, and they cannot afford health insurance and so they're on Medicaid. Listen, people don't like being on Medicaid. You know that, I know that. They don't want their kids to be on it. They're on it because they don't have a choice. So my view is absolutely, let's say to people you need to work. Absolutely. Let's impose tough anti fraud requirements. Let's go in there and cut out the waste and the abuse. There's lots of that. But at the end of the day, if you are a working person and you're on Medicaid because you have to be, we need to give you a hand up. We need to protect you. We ought to be giving you a tax cut and helping to get a better job and better health insurance. We shouldn't be cutting those things out from underneath you.
Commentator
No, there's no. These are our people and nobody in MAGA wants to do this to be on Medicaid. But the jobs that you can have, health insurance are all gone. They shipped them overseas. Are you going to the President thinks very highly of you. I know he's obviously in the Middle east trying to bring world peace. When he returns. Are you going to try to get on his schedule? Because I'm not so sure that he understands the details right now of what's happening in the House and even what they're talking about in the Senate and these corporatists. As you know, he's anti corporatist in this regard. He always wants to defend his people. Are you going to try to get on the schedule and sit down with him one on one and walk through these pieces you've been putting up in the Times and other places to go through the defense of the working class to follow along what he's been saying?
Steve Bannon
Yeah, absolutely. And I regard this as I'm just echoing what he's saying. He and I have talked about this already multiple times, Steve, one on one and he has told me multiple times he is absolutely opposed to Medicaid benefit cuts, that there will be no Medicaid benefit cuts. Nobody understands this better than him. He's gotten elected on it multiple times. So I know he'll be strong on this issue. I just keep saying to my congressional colleagues, come on, follow the President on this. Follow the guy who won the popular vote, okay? Follow the guy who won the elections. He went out there. He is building a working class coalition. We've got to deliver for them. We don't want to go back to the days of Romney, Ryan. How did that work out for the country? How did that work out for Republicans? Terrible for everybody. Those days are over. We're not going back to that. We are a working Class party. We've got to protect working class people.
Commentator
I know you gotta bounce. Senator, where do people go for your social media and your website?
Steve Bannon
Holly, Moe, you can find me on X, you can find me on Instagram, all the social media and always love to hear from folks.
Commentator
Thank you, Senator. Appreciate you.
Steve Bannon
Hey, thank you.
Commentator
The fight over the big beautiful bill is going to be. We got Dave Brat up. Brat. Let me bring you in here for a minute. Your thoughts right there. You're down in rural Virginia and I would say God's country, but you're also a fire breathing member of the House Freedom Caucus. How are we going to balance this? Because Holly's 100% right. The Medicaid thing is out of control in certain areas. There's no doubt.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah.
Commentator
What I'm seeing, even the Medicaid, like the work requirements. You have to have the work requirements. They got to be tough work requirements. But I hear that they're not even going to kick in for four years. So what's going on? What, what do you think that, what would the House Freedom Caucus counter to Senator Hawley be?
Stephen K. Bannon
I have no idea. I heard your interview with Senator Johnson yesterday too. Their response would be we don't have time to do the work. Right. Just like on Obamacare way back when. Somebody's got to roll up their sleeves at some point. You just listed off all the relevant pieces. Even the work requirements that are required are not austere. Right. And they allow substitutes of education time and this time and there, whatever. And those are the signs of a rich country. Right. So the House would say we need to find some cuts and we're going to go here. But they shouldn't, they're not touching. As you just said. And as EJ Just said, all the green New Deal stuff, all the, the itemized deductions, we've added a trillion dollars on that. Then you got the salt piece going to the rich folks who have mismanaged states. And so it's just they're not, they don't have the courage and the political will to cut what they need to cut. And we ought to be back to the, you know, the $5 trillion range.
Commentator
Yeah. You're going to be with me this morning. We're going to go into this. You've got your charts.
Stephen K. Bannon
Great.
Commentator
So Supreme Court, historic day arguing about birthright citizenship. Mike Davis is going to be here to explain. I'm going to try to get Josh Hammer on tonight to go through this. Terry Schilling's head's blown up on the Big beautiful bill. He says all the money in there for the sex change. You can't believe this stuff we've got. Ed Luce is going to be on here in the new book about the national security advisor Zbig Brzezinski. That'll be later in the show. We're gonna go through. President Trump's triumphant tour of the Middle east continues. He's now in the United Arab Emirates with mbz. I think the central player in the Middle East. And what a what a day the president's already had more than ever they were go through a little turbulence. We got a clip when Brad comes back. I think some of some comments that we're going to go into Great Depression because of Trump's trade deals. Right. That we're going to go through some turbulence. There's varying different opinions about how this is all going to work out. The best thing for you to do is understand the process and understand the process. Understand what a hedge is for your financial and real assets. That would be gold. Who's the best people to do that? Birch Gold what have we focused on the last couple of years? The dollar. This is why one of the reasons that gold has been on such a run. Right. I think over the last 25 years Bright has been it's had a high return the S&P 500 which is not what gold's supposed to do. Birchgold.com Bannon the end of the dollar empire. It's all free. It gets you up to speed and what's going on? Short break. Back in a moment.
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Tariff slump continues to rattle markets. We've seen dives and volatility rivaling the last two big crashes over Covid and the housing bubble. Trump now clashing with the Fed chair who gave him low grades for the tariff problems that Trump caused. And now there's a more stark comparison to America's Great Depression itself. The long lines, the run on the banks. That crash upended the economy and our society for years driven by several factors including failed tariffs. Now with that comparison if these visuals tonight seem almost too extreme to compare to the risks posed by the current market chaos if the comparison of the food lines seems almost unfair to this administration that comparison is based on monthly market data. This isn't like politics where words or comparisons are just sort of thrown about okay Denver.
Yeah that's right when I speak is like the voice of right there Ari Melbourne but that's nonstop on msnbc. They're selling the Great Depression. I know it's great that we do the clips we watch it so you don't have to Dave Brat there's others there are economists on there saying it's a Great Depression. And look we don't take the equity markets and all this as the as the end all you guys know but from the supposedly the April mid April when they were screaming this is the worst since the Great Depression markets back at for the dow's back at 42,010 year and a 10 year worry ought to be worried and this is not about the tariffs. This is about the spending is almost 4.5 is 4.48 that's going to get people's attention and goals at 3200 and been bouncing around Brat walk me through you've got your charts. Walk me through your analysis. People should know Brett and I spend a lot of time as I do with all the contributors and other people between shows and afterwards Brat you were a little rattled yesterday by Ron Johnson because Ron Johnson's an entrepreneur. He's not a lawyer. He came in for a reason. He's very focused on the business model of the United States. He's been very focused on debt and deficits. He's very focused on all this talk to me about you getting rattled by Ron Johnson Saying, hey, we're adding $20 trillion on this path. We're going to add $20 trillion. We're going to be at 60 trillion before you know it, and then that's the end of the country, sir.
Stephen K. Bannon
You know, I get rattled when I hear men of character. And he seems to have a religious sensibility to him. He's man. And when you see a serious person of character like that get animated, you could tell he's a truth teller. And he's maintained his sanity in Wisconsin. But he just went through the litany of the hard work we have to do, right? That the Inflation Reduction Act. We can't even get rid of Biden's policies. According to Cato, that thing hits $5 trillion by 2050, and I could go through the whole rest. But he, he is an entrepreneur, he's a business guy. He just says, you just go through the budget line by line by line. And we have another hero, Russ Vogt, who did precisely that. And he came up with over a trillion dollars in cuts by going line by line by line. And I think EJ or someone else said yesterday, these are things that if you cut, you wouldn't even know they're gone. And a lot of them hurt the American economy and hurt the middle class worker. And so hats off. Hawley's great, Sen. Johnson's great. We need more of them. We need more of them. And if the folks don't follow these type of leaders, then turf them out. Turf them out coming up. Replace them with some better fiscally responsible people who follow the Republican creed of all things.
Commentator
So tell me your overall sense right now because I'm getting very worried. Terry Schilling's gonna be in here in a little while about, about like the sex change operation. It turns out they're all on this bill. The more I find out about it, the Republicans are having just a lack of courage of going in like these, like on Medicaid. We are adamant you can't cut Medicaid for these working class people that have had their jobs shipped out. And working class people have a lot of pride. They don't want to be on Medicaid. They have to be. However, Medicaid is rife with fraud. It's rife with incompetence. It's rife with all these bizarre rules. And you hear that even where we're arguing about it, the work requirements would have to be stringent, have to be tough, you know, particularly for the able bodied. And now we're hearing that they're not even going to be implemented until 2029. That kind of stuff is absurd and people get upset when they hear it because they said, hey, I thought we were going to handle this appropriately. There's a great piece up, I think in the Federalist. I've got, I've just put up on my getter about, you know, putting it back to the states actually lets it be managed better. But you got to make sure you're just not going to bury the states and something they can't, can't afford. Why has it seemed so much of this bill has got so much of the crap in there they're not even going to codify? You know, Russ, vote. Let's be blunt. We haven't seen the rescissions. This is $9 billion of rescissions, folks. It's nothing. This is 2 billion for PBS and NPR and I think another 7 billion of some of the stuff Doge found. They won't even put the rescissions. Why wouldn't they put it? They say there's no appetite for the Republicans to pass it. This is insanity. $9 billion is a drop in a bucket. But it's symbolically meaningful. We were promised impoundments or rescissions and they want to go the rescissions route because Graham and these guys in Congress say no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We need the executive branch to play ball with us. Let's do the rescissions where we're part of it. We can do those. A majority vote that won't get hung up with the 60 vote filibuster limit. Don't do the impoundments. Please don't go there. Don't let's test it in the court. And now you know the reason Russ and these guys haven't put it forward. They got the package ready. Haven't put it forward because they can't pass it with a Republican majority in both houses. Dave Brat.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, well, that's exactly right. And it's exactly also why when we talk to politics, the most important thing is missing and that's communicating with the American people and running on a contract that the American people love like Trump did. This bill they put together, they've just been relying. Everybody knows the trick that's up here, right? This big beautiful bill. The reason the House and the Senate want it was because it had the imprimatur of President Trump coming in in the end and saying, look, we gotta vote for this. So they wanted to put so much pressure, just jam all the pork into this one giant big bill run it run the clock out. So you can't explain it. Dave Walsh did a great job yesterday on the politics of it. Six senators on the green pork, Republicans, two of them in North Dakota, etc. And that's. We don't have enough time to call everyone out. They're donors, right? They're getting money. The nomenclature, when I was back in, I made reference to the giant Excel spreadsheet in the sky. And that metaphor fits, right? We were trying to cut $40 billion we paid to dead people. We couldn't cut that. Why is that? Listen to this next sentence, folks, because here's your answer to the spending problem. Because that 40 billion is already up in the swamp. And if you take it out and give it back to, back to the budget process to the American people, it comes away from somebody, right? That's the key. That money goes away from a prospective donor or someone who you've already made promises to. And that's all that's going on right here. Right. And the. From the defense down to the green, you're just seeing just politics, money and power. Comes down to the same, same things every time.
Commentator
Talk to me. Give me. You've got some charts to go through. Let's go through them.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, well, you brought up, you know, this is the other thing we're fighting against the mainstream media. And so, you know, keep the ninth commandment in mind. I know Morning Joe was a good Baptist, went to Sunday School, but Joe, maybe you can tell us the 9th. It's. Do not lie. Don't bear false witness. More on that in a minute. The media has been doing this. Yes, they've been lying. It's just straight up lying. If, if we would just tell the truth, it would go a long way. So let me just get. Here's, here's the lies. If you want to put up the first chart, they're making reference to the stock market S P500 fallen like the great Depression. Here's the Great Depression for you, right? That's what a stock market looks like. Down by 1932. You see, it's starting at the peak in, in 1929, down to less than 1/5 of the 1929 peak and 80% loss. 1/5 down at the bottom of the Great Depression. That's a Great Depression. There's your stock market. Now they're going to compare it to today's stock market. Next chart, Denver to the Trump tariff thing. Here's the. On the far left, there's 1929 with a real plunge. Right? That's What a depression looks like. The blue line going straight down the far left to the far, far right. You'll see the graph going down just a smidgen. That's the Trump tariff thing. And the markets have already made up the ground. And again, as you said, Steve, we're not putting hanging our hat on the market. The market goes up and down and Trump's accomplishing some things with a real economy that might cause a little turbulence in the short run. But the next chart shows it even more clear. This is the same thing. This is P500 on far left. There's your Great Depression. That's what a depression looks like. This is what the mainstream media, Ari Melbourne was there and all, the whole host of them all the leftists, the Bloomberg's, the CNNs were all making this point to the far right. Go to the far, far right. You'll see the COVID red spike going way down. That's the market tanking to the far, far, far right. The effect of the Trump tariffs you can't see because it's so small it doesn't even show up on the chart. So you. Right, see you, you can go out to Market watch and Market Watch, we've.
Commentator
Had some, we've, we've hit some air pockets definitely, you know, we've hit some air pockets in 2008, the pandemic. You've hit some air pockets not equivalent to obviously the 19, the Great Depression, but you've hit some air pockets. That's going to happen. That's, that's what markets are for to correct. But this thing was a, was a blip. Was a blip.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yes.
Commentator
And remember for entire week, Stephanie rule every night.
You know, she's sucking on every day.
The stem of the glasses. She's got all the big thinkers around her and it's worse than the Great Depression. It's 1939. Since 1932. April of 1932. Have you seen this?
Stephen K. Bannon
And they're smart. They're lying. They're smart.
Commentator
Yeah. Dave, Brad, we're going to book you on Stephanie Rule where you're. The first thing you're going to say is the ninth commandment that thou shall not command bear false witness.
Stephen K. Bannon
No handguns corrected. Correct.
Commentator
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Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Commentator
You know we're up. It's always pre dawn when we get ready here in the war room and when President Trump is in these trips, normally we're up all night in the middle of the night and this trip has been amazing. At the top of the hour, we're going to go through all that. Just stunning developments in the Middle east and really implications and impact throughout the entire world. Warpath coffee is what gets us going. And field of Greens, real organic superfood. Fieldofgreens.com you get 20% off. You will feel the jolt of the energy this gives you. This is all organic. It's all the fruits and vegetables you need every day. Just put the powder in. Boom. This is if you look at all the advertising done on cable for their competitor, their competitor is not organic. All the processing's totally different. This is a superfood. That's great for you, great for your health system and for an energy boost. Field of greens dot com. 20% off.
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You get Warpath coffee and then you put field of greens. You get your drink your water in the morning of the field of greens. You're ready to roll. War room ready. I want to talk. I got brat. Brad, I need you to hear this right. So I got, I got Schilling And Schilling's hair's on fire all night going through this bill. And this is the kind of thing.
The games have got to stop here.
Talk to me about the sex change, the sex change operations. This is a foundational element of why Trump won culturally, right? That nobody, particularly working class black men and Hispanic men didn't know this stuff was going on about their kids or they knew it about being dictated. But it could change. And President Trump's changing it by getting the woke and weaponized out. However, there's still this whole thing about sex changes. I thought this was verboten. This was done. I don't even know why we're having this conversation. Schilling, tell me what's in the big beautiful bill, Steve.
Terry Schilling
So we've got a partial win here. We got a partial win, which we need, full win. The partial win here is that Congress has cut federal funding for sex change procedures for minors. Right? So they're limiting it at 18 and younger. They're not going to get a funded sex change procedure. The thing is, it's unpopular to fund any sex change procedure. We need the defund to apply to everyone. No one should be having their sex change procedure paid for by you, me, or my grandma or my mom or anyone. Everyone. If you want to get a sex change, first of all, you shouldn't be able to get one if you're a kid. Every American is against that. That's a 9010 issue. But when it comes to the taxpayer funding of it, no American wants a single penny.
Commentator
Hold it towards these procedures, full stop, Because I can tell the audience's heads are blown up already. Are you telling me, are you telling me that there's even the concept that taxpayer dollars are going to go to continue to fund these sex change operations for folks that, you know, have issues? Are you telling me that right now and voted out putting forward in this bill by Republicans are funding of sex change operations for anything but kids?
Terry Schilling
The prohibition on taxpayer funding for sex changes only applies to those 18 and younger. It needs to apply to everyone for so many reasons.
Steve Bannon
Right?
Terry Schilling
This, Steve, the ad, the they them ad that attacked Kamala for funding sex change procedures for federal inmates. That ad was seen more times by more people and was the most remembered ad in all of the Democrats after action focus groups. This is a powerful issue. Americans are taxed enough. We have $37 trillion in debt. We have to balance this budget. And you can't tell me you're serious about balancing the budget if you won't even stop paying for adults and oftentimes mentally ill adults to sterilize them and mutilate them. This is absolutely. First of all, just from a fiscal sanity standpoint, we shouldn't be paying for this. But from a morality standpoint, we shouldn't be harming people by sterilizing and mutilating them with our tax dollars. It makes us all culpable. This is an absolute mess. But what I said earlier is right. We have a partial win right now, but we need a full win. We have $37 trillion in debt. We have Congress, both houses. Why are we giving the Democrats any, any support, any leeway? No one wants these things funded with our tax dollars. I will tell you, full disclosure, they differentiate on the prohibition of this. They only want to ban these sex change procedures for minors. Americans think, you know, if you're an adult and you want to do this stuff, fine. But when it comes to who's paying for it, we don't want to pay for it. No one does.
Commentator
What, what Republican, though, in these committees, what's the justification for doing something? The Democrats. I mean, because these are all Democrat constituents. What's, what's the, what's the logic? Why are we caving on this?
Terry Schilling
They're not giving any logic. It's all silence. It's all rumors. It's. Who is it? It's Brian Fitzpatrick. The guys that are rumored right now are Brian Fitzpatrick and. Oh, my gosh, I'm blanking. Mike Lawler from New York. Those are the two guys that are giving the most grief in the caucus meetings. We don't know. They're not. Here's the thing, though, Steve, that they're not talking about by limiting it to minors, they're actually opening up the entire prohibition of taxpayer funding to get struck down by the parliamentarian. Parliamentarian can actually say, this is too much policy. So I'm going to get nerdy on you. And it's a good thing Dave Brat's on. So it has to be germane to the fiscal nature of the bill. This is a reconciliation bill. It's a funding bill. So if you only ban it for children, the parliamentarian can actually say, actually, this has to get struck out because you're making a policy decision. You have to strike it out and say that the federal government can't afford this for anyone. Because if you say you can afford it for adults, why can't you afford it for minors? That's a morality. That's a policy decision. We've got to strike it for everyone to save money and to Save people. These people are mentally ill. They need real help. They need to sit down with a counselor and accept their bodies and get rid of this self hatred that they're suffering from. It's. I'm sorry, it's just terrible.
Commentator
No, no, no, it's. This is huge. Where do people go to get you over at American Principles? What you guys are working on your social media. How do they get in? I don't want people go the ramparts yet. I want to get all the information. Then we're going to do a formal. You know, you got to get rid of this. But where do they go to get more information? This. Because I can tell you the audience's heads are already blowing up, sir.
Terry Schilling
Go to. Just follow me on Twitter. I'll be posting updates all day. It's Schilling 1776 across all major platforms. But just go to X because that's where I'm gonna be posting most of the things.
Commentator
But this is more than just going after Lawlor and was it Fitzpatrick? You've really got to get to the committee, right? Eventually to get this out. You got to get to the committee. Am I. Do I take that correctly?
Terry Schilling
Yeah, no, that's right. We got to get. But those are the. There's like 10 members. We, we've been directing our activists to light their phones up. So if you sign up and get engaged, go. Oh, actually, you know What? Go to american principlesproject.org Sign up. We'll get you directed to the right people to call. We have 10 members that we're targeting to get this over the finish line. But yeah, 10 members.
Commentator
If you get this. I tell you what, after you get off, get that to Grace. Also, we'll get the Bill Blaster crew up on top of this to the Warren Posse. So, okay, great, great work. We'll get to state this is the kind of thing Trump doesn't know about. If you told Trump this right now, you go, are you crazy? What are you doing? Right, Steve?
Terry Schilling
It's what he won the last election on. He won the last election on this. This is what put him over the finish line. What are we doing here?
Commentator
It's terrible. It's terrible. Terry Schilling, you're the best.
Terry Schilling
Thanks, Steve.
Commentator
Brat. Your thoughts? How does this happen, brother?
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, it's just an abomination. I mean, try running this by the Muslims or the Hindus or the Confucians, you get laughed out of the room. It's just a straight up attack on the Judeo Christian West. It's just the Slow decay. It's a lack of strength and courage. Just like in the budget process. The decay of the US is mainly from moral weakness. And this is the clearest sign, right. This is a 9010 issue. I think Terry Schilling said that in the past. It's a 9010 issue and we're getting rolled. And so it's just gotta stop. You know, we just need a Senate and a House full of Americans who love this country because this is not compatible. It's like you've been saying, right? A lot of poor people can't get procedures for health care. They got dying kids and we're paying for this. I mean that's the proper moral juxtaposition. There's only one reason we're doing this. It's because the left is trying to tear down our culture. That's what's going on.
Commentator
But in the big be, because big beautiful bill, let's be honest, is an omnibus. What needs to happen is they need to be going through this like a sit through grass to get out all of this woken weaponized to get they. We need to get every single penny. That's absolutely not necessary for the United States of America or American citizens. It's got to come out now. We've got to get, we've got to get on the glide slope from the six and a half percent deficit to GDP to three and a half percent. We're not doing that. The only way that's going to happen right now in this thing is gimmicks.
We got to get rid of gimmicks.
And to know that this is in there. And then when you know this is in there, the bill's going to be 9,000 pages long. You just realize how are we supposed to go through all 9,000 pages? Now we have people doing that. But you sit there and go, hey, we got you guys in here and now we have to police you that you, that you didn't just zero out this funding of something that's so outrageous. Because there's going to be a lot other stuff in there that's less outrageous but has to go anyway. The mindset and this is what Johnson as the entrepreneur and Holly, I can tell you up here, people are shocked about the lack of urgency of this problem.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah.
Commentator
That the people that should be the leadership are just sitting here and thinking, oh, it's in the 10 year bond.
Market town is 4.48.
They're going to have a say. So in this, the global bond market is going to have a say so because right now, remember, your entire life, your car loan, your mortgage, right, your credit cards, everything's predicated, as you've learned here in the worm off the ten year Treasury. And guess what, it's going up. It's not because of Trump's trade and tariff. That is not why it's happening. It's going up because the market sense, there's not discipline of the political class here on Capitol Hill to address these issues. Day, Brett.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, well, if you want me to hit the, the last couple charts real quick, it ties exactly into the bond market. Yeah, yeah, go. Next chart, Denver. While they're pulling it up, I might just add to the lying part. Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament Acts five killed for lying. Elisha crushes Jeremiah, condemns Jesus Christ says hell for those who do continued unrepentant lying. And so when it comes to continued unrepentant lying, here is more of it. This is back from 14, 2014. There was a taper, the Federal Reserve taper, threatening to just slow down the creation and printing of money just a teeny bit. And just on the announcement effect, the stock market goes down as on that, on that graph on the red, the black one, the superdive is the Great Depression. And back in 14, they said the same thing. This is just like the Great Depression, except it wasn't. Next chart. Here's another chart that aligns it accurately. This is the same as the last graph. It's just how statistics can lie. The red line is a Great Depression. The 2014 taper tantrum is below it. It goes down a little bit and then it recovered, just kind of like with the Trump tariff graph. And that's the story, right? The lying just never ever ends it. And this brings us back to the 0708 Federal Reserve story where all they started printing, adding $3 trillion to their balance sheet. And then we got addicted to the low interest rate, zero interest rates for a decade. And then Wall street got addicted and we pumped up and formed another bubble, the stock market bubble again. And that we're trying to break free from that. And the only way to do that is with the improvements in the real economy that Trump's bringing to capital investment, not the stock market, not financial capital, real working capital in the hands of the American worker that lifts their wages. And so the lying in the mainstream media has to stop. We need to get this show is the best news show and everyone needs to spread it. But that it's serious matters that the press just gets away with murder on these stories. It's just like the Great Depression. It is nothing of the sort. And we've got to stop it on the war room.
Commentator
They're not going to stop lying because they've got an agenda. You know, they got an agenda. What we have to do is continue to pound them with the truth. The counter, you know, the counter counterfactual, which is what you come up with, the charts and the analysis we do. The one thing we know is that we need supply side tax cuts and the supply side tax cuts to be made permanent. We need tax cuts for the middle class and the working class and we need those to be made permanent. We also need no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security. I don't see the Social Security. I see a workaround. I just don't see the no tax on it. Short break.
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Commentator
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Stephen K. Bannon
Yes, yes I do. I do my best. I'm flawed as well. But they are brothers over there at the Catholic Wall Street Journal who are in company with the charts I just put up prior are having a problem with the truth to the Catholics are familiar with the sins of commission but also also the sins of omission. As you'll see on the chart right here the only time the Wall Street Journal seems to have any attention paid to, to or analysis on spending is when they're trying to hit President Trump or Elon Musk. So here they have an article called see how government spending is up. Even as Musk touts savings they have not trained their eyes or given any recommendations of the $7 trillion that can be cut in their paper over the past year that I've seen and so but this, this does they have provided the receipts on one thing. The spending is up more this year than it was last year. This is of course incumbent on Congress. Congress is responsible for the budget process. And so, you know, light them up. Light them up. The Congress is not doing their job. The total spending is way up and it's, it's an embarrassment. And as Steve has said, there are going to be grave economic consequences. Not only the bond market but also the real economy. All this $7 trillion is siphoned away from the real economy. Right. That used to be econ 101 macro. Right. Just the trade offs. If more government spending sucks the energy out of, capital investment out of the economy and you get anemic economic growth. And that's why CBO says we're going to have growth at 2% for the next 30 years. So the left can spin and dance and talk about the stock market, the Great Depression all they want. They can't answer. Wall Street Journal, where's your analysis? Why is the economy going to grow at 2% for the next 30 years? Dear Wall Street Journal, you're much smarter than me. So I mean, I'm dying to hear these answers. All right, let's hit immigration for a little bit. Compliments of Rosemary Jenks at Immigration Accountability Project. Please support them. Immigration Accountability Project, go out. And this is the only group in the country that is taking it to the Congress. Right. Instead of listening to their donors, they're trying to put pressure on the Congress to get things right with immigration. What's wrong with immigration? Denver, if you want to put up the next chart, these are H1B visa numbers for FY20, 26. And they're still way too high, way too big. And so what's going wrong here? Congress sets the caps for H1B visas. So this is Congress's fault. So their issuance is essentially on autopilot. U.S. cIS, Customs, Immigration is required to comply with this law. So Congress has to change this law.
Commentator
Okay, we're going to get. Rosemary Jinx is dealing with something else today. We're going to get back to this. In a time where they're having mass layoffs in.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yes.
Commentator
Coupled with AI coming in and going to take off all the entry level jobs. AI is going to eviscerate the entry level of the stem and you know, learn to code. They've approved 135,000 H1BS. Well, guess what? This is not going to happen. We're going to light up every member in this that, that supports. This is outrageous. This is. Here's how Many. Here's how many H1B visas we need this year? Zero. In fact, if you look that chart, everyone that's been issued has to be unissued. Everybody's got to go home. And every one of those billets has to be replaced by an American citizen. They cannot show you one example of a billet that has a, that someone's in that billet has better education or better experience than an American for that bill. The reason they're doing this is they're paying these people 50% less and they're working them 20 hours a day, seven days a week as indentured servants, which essentially they are. This is an outrage.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah.
Commentator
This is how Congress and, and the, and Big Tech is out to screw the American worker in the American, these kids that work forever to get through school, get through college, high school just focused on, you know, computer science, electrical engineering, these type of engineering, and then you can't get, get a job because the industry is going through a downturn and artificial intelligence is kind of thing. Dave Brad, give your, give your. Where do people go to get you, sir?
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah. And at a minimum, anyone that's hiring in the tech field should be barred from. Anyone that's laying off tech workers should not have any access to H1B. Dave Bratt on X. I want to thank also Heather Cross and she's having me out to Indianapolis for the Indy 500 at the First Principles Forum. Firstprinciplesforum.org if you want to come out to Indianapolis and hear me at the Lucas estate. Quite a beautiful place. Come join us.
Commentator
Okay, the engine room is telling me that Dave, Brad should be over at the comms department in the Treasury Department. What do you say? War room posse? Would we give up Brad for that? I think we would. We wouldn't give up him up easy, but I think we would. Liberty. I think he would serve his nation. Dave Brat, we love you, brother. Don't ever change back.
Stephen K. Bannon
Thanks, you guys.
Commentator
Short commercial break. We're going to talk about President Trump's trip and go back to the 1970s and tie it all together. Next in the war room.
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Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room – Episode 4487: Americans Continue To Not Be Able Afford Prescription Drugs
Release Date: May 15, 2025
Host: WarRoom.org
Title: Americans Continue To Not Be Able Afford Prescription Drugs
In Episode 4487 of Bannon’s War Room, host Stephen K. Bannon delves deep into the pressing issue of Americans struggling to afford prescription drugs. The discussion navigates through various interconnected topics, including Medicaid cuts, internal conflicts within the Republican Party, economic challenges, and social policies influencing healthcare accessibility.
The episode opens with a profound commentary on Republican Senator Josh Hawley’s warnings against the party’s push to cut Medicaid. Referencing Hawley’s guest essay in the New York Times, the conversation highlights the senator’s critique of the "corporate giveaway" mentality within the GOP.
Notable Quote:
"The wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal."
— Josh Hawley [00:00]
Hawley emphasizes the moral and political repercussions of targeting Medicaid, which he describes as a lifeline for many working-class Americans across diverse states.
The discussion transitions to the internal divisions within the Republican Party, particularly between the traditional establishment and the MAGA (Make America Great Again) faction. Bannon and his guests explore how certain Republicans prioritize corporate interests over the needs of the working class, leading to significant policy disagreements.
Notable Quote:
"There is disagreement in the Republican Party, there's disagreement in the MAGA caucus. I write about this in a column that'll go up in a couple of hours..."
— Steve Bannon [01:26]
Laura Loomer's opposition to Medicaid cuts is cited as evidence of the fractious nature of the GOP’s internal dynamics.
A substantial portion of the episode scrutinizes the proposed "Big Beautiful Bill," highlighting its multifaceted implications on social insurance programs and fiscal policies. The guests argue that the bill contains numerous provisions that could undermine Medicaid and other essential services without addressing the underlying economic issues.
Notable Quote:
"We are a working Class party. We've got to protect working class people."
— Steve Bannon [05:22]
Senator Hawley calls for targeted cuts, suggesting reductions in areas like the Green New Deal and subsidies to big pharmaceutical companies, rather than slashing Medicaid.
The conversation shifts to economic indicators, with comparisons drawn between current stock market trends and those during the Great Depression. Bannon argues that mainstream media’s portrayal is misleading, emphasizing that recent market fluctuations are minor compared to historical downturns.
Notable Quote:
"This is just like the Great Depression, except it wasn't."
— Steve Bannon [27:40]
The discussion also covers the impact of Trump’s tariffs, asserting that they are creating short-term market turbulence without causing long-term economic harm.
Tax policy emerges as a central theme, with advocates pushing for supply-side tax cuts to stimulate economic growth. The guests debate the necessity of making tax cuts permanent for the middle and working classes, arguing that such measures are essential for economic stability and growth.
Notable Quote:
"We need supply side tax cuts and the supply side tax cuts to be made permanent."
— Stephen K. Bannon [42:58]
Additionally, the episode critiques the lack of budgetary discipline within Congress, pointing out the unsustainable increase in national debt and the failure to implement meaningful fiscal reforms.
Immigration policies, particularly the issuance of H1B visas, are examined critically. The guests argue that the current cap on H1B visas is excessively high, leading to the employment of underqualified workers at lower wages, which undermines American workers.
Notable Quote:
"Here's how many H1B visas we need this year? Zero. In fact, if you look that chart, everyone that's been issued has to be unissued."
— Stephen K. Bannon [50:28]
The discussion underscores the need for Congress to reform immigration laws to prioritize American workers and curb the exploitation within the tech industry.
A contentious topic addressed in the episode is the federal funding of sex change procedures. Terry Schilling articulates opposition to taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries, advocating for their prohibition across all age groups.
Notable Quote:
"From a fiscal sanity standpoint, we shouldn't be paying for this. But from a morality standpoint, we shouldn't be harming people by sterilizing and mutilating them with our tax dollars."
— Terry Schilling [32:22]
The guests argue that restricting federal funding for these procedures is both economically and ethically imperative, rallying listeners to support legislative changes.
As the episode wraps up, Bannon and his guests reiterate the critical need for the Republican Party to prioritize the working class over corporate interests. They call for greater accountability within Congress, urging members to align with President Trump’s vision of protecting and empowering American workers.
Notable Quote:
"We need to get this show is the best news show and everyone needs to spread it."
— Stephen K. Bannon [24:37]
The episode concludes with discussions about upcoming events, including President Trump’s Middle East tour and a Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, setting the stage for future episodes.
Medicaid Cuts: Senator Josh Hawley warns against Republican efforts to reduce Medicaid funding, advocating for protection of social insurance for the working class.
Party Divisions: Tensions within the GOP between traditional conservatives and the MAGA faction threaten unified policy-making, particularly regarding social welfare programs.
Economic Policies: Emphasis on targeted fiscal reforms over broad cuts, highlighting the importance of supply-side tax cuts for economic growth.
Immigration Reform: Critical assessment of H1B visa allocations, advocating for reforms to prioritize American employment.
Social Funding: Strong opposition to taxpayer-funded sex change procedures, calling for comprehensive prohibitions based on ethical and fiscal grounds.
Media Critique: Consistent theme of mainstream media misinformation, with the podcast positioning itself as a truthful counter-narrative.
This episode of Bannon’s War Room serves as a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted challenges facing American healthcare affordability, intertwining economic policies, party dynamics, and social issues. It underscores the necessity for principled leadership within the Republican Party to safeguard the interests of the working class against both internal and external pressures.