The Deep State Just Ruined Trump... | DSH #1885

Summary

Digital Social Hour Episode #1885: The Deep State Just Ruined Trump...

Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Dave Smith
Release Date: March 24, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dives into the intersection of politics, comedy, and the controversial underbelly of American power structures—specifically the "deep state" and its impact on Donald Trump. Sean Kelly and comedian/political commentator Dave Smith unpack how unelected government actors, media manipulation, and public narratives shape reality, especially concerning Trump’s presidency, the Epstein saga, and the shifting landscape of American political discourse. They also reflect on their personal careers, media consumption, and the economic consequences of policy decisions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Deep State and Trump

• Dave Smith asserts that Trump’s presidency was sabotaged by what he calls a “deep state” orchestrating the Russia investigation and controlling narratives.
• Epstein Case as a Signal:
  Smith claims that the lack of meaningful prosecution in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is a clear sign “Trump is here and he’s playing ball with whatever those power structures are. He’s not looking to clean them up. He’s a part of this now.” (29:15)
• Smith criticizes former Trump allies (like Dan Bongino) for “running cover” and not holding the administration accountable on issues like Epstein.

“The deep state did Donald Trump dirty in his first run… they ruined his presidency by concocting the Russia hoax.”
— Dave Smith (29:14)

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2. Comedy, Podcasting & Political Commentary

• Dave Smith’s Background:
  Smith details his journey from gritty New York comedy clubs to political podcasting, emphasizing the importance of tough, rowdy crowds for developing comedic skill (04:00–06:24).
• Blending Comedy and Politics:
  Smith talks about the balance between crass humor and sharp political observation, noting that as his audience grew more politically focused, he pivoted to incorporate more tight, news-driven jokes while maintaining his signature irreverent style (07:30–08:09).

“Now I would say my act’s like 50/50 political jokes and other shenanigans.”
— Dave Smith (07:59)

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3. Media & Information Consumption in the Age of AI

• Obsessive News Routine:
  Smith describes spending hours daily reading the New York Post, Allsides, The Hill, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Zero Hedge, and others, plus using AI tools to summarize podcasts and articles (08:35–10:24).
• Both Smith and Kelly highlight how AI streamlines research, enabling rapid assimilation of vast information—crucial for staying “competitive” in the podcast world (10:24–11:01).

“Let me tell you, it used to be four hours a day. Now it’s more like two.”
— Dave Smith (10:24)

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4. Debate Culture & Authenticity

• The hosts criticize contemporary figures who avoid open debate, notably Dan Bongino and Ben Shapiro, linking their avoidance to a loss of audience trust (31:22–32:04).
• Challenge to Bongino:
  Smith issues a public debate challenge, even humorously offering to shine Bongino’s shoes if he wins a vote, but doubts it will happen (31:24–32:01).

“If you’re running from the facts, you don’t want to actually have conversations about these things.”
— Dave Smith (32:01)

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5. Economic Policy: Tariffs, “Free Money,” and Government Meddling

• Tariffs:
  Smith is staunchly anti-tariff, arguing they kill small businesses, disrupt planning, and breed favoritism through government carve-outs—ultimately hurting entrepreneurs and consumers (38:00–39:51).
• Devil’s Bargain of Cash Handouts:
  He warns that government financial handouts (stimulus checks, subsidized insurance, etc.) artificially inflate prices for everyone, referencing education, housing, and health care as primary examples (40:17–41:42).

“All that you do when you hand people free money to go buy a specific item is drive up the price of that item so that you’re more in debt to consume what you otherwise would have been able to consume.”
— Dave Smith (41:07)

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6. Health Care System’s Failures & Alternatives

• Smith deconstructs why U.S. health care is so expensive: licensing laws limit competition, government-subsidized insurance creates demand without cost discipline, and catastrophic-only coverage is no longer widely available for healthy people (46:40–51:04).
• He argues that the real scam is artificially inflated billing to make insurance appear more valuable, and recounts how uninsured patients can negotiate massive discounts (49:07–49:34).
• Alternative Models:
  Praises crowdfunding health insurance models like CrowdHealth for healthier, younger people. Notes, “You can have Andy (CrowdHealth CEO) on—he’s great.” (51:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Donald Trump has that thing where he says nothing. Don’t worry, it will work… The problem is no one else can pull that off.”—Dave Smith (27:39)
• “It’s a signal to everyone, cuz everyone knows the Epstein story doesn’t add up.”—Dave Smith (03:25, 29:15)
• “[On stimulus money] It’s literally a devil’s deal where you feel like… the government’s handing me free money, but it hands it to everybody else to go purchase that exact good. Now the good is just more expensive.”—Dave Smith (41:07)
• “If you have a copay of 30%. And I don’t have insurance at all, and they cut my bill by 70%. What did I pay? The copay. So I’m convinced all the insurance stuff is… artificially billing things high to pretend like your insurance is covering more than it actually is.”—Dave Smith (49:07–49:34)
• “[On debate culture] People don’t like that. The running… It signals, oh, you don’t really want to be challenged on any of what you’re saying.”—(32:03–32:04)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Deep State & Trump/Epstein: 03:00–03:38, 29:12–30:19
• Smith’s Comedy Origin Story: 04:00–06:24
• Politics in Stand-up: 07:30–08:09
• Media Diet & Using AI in Research: 08:35–10:33
• On Audiobook Speed and Retention: 11:05–12:04
• Debate Culture & Calling Out Bongino/Shapiro: 31:22–32:04, 35:43–35:56
• Economic Policy (Tariffs, Handouts): 38:00–41:42
• Health Care System Breakdown: 46:40–51:04

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Tone & Style

The conversation is fast-paced, irreverent, and blends sharp skepticism with humor. Dave Smith brings a cynical, almost conspiratorial energy to topics like government, policy, and media, while also offering personal anecdotes from both his stand-up and podcast careers. The atmosphere is brash, unfiltered, and at times self-deprecating, designed to provoke thought and challenge mainstream perspectives.

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Summary Takeaway

DSH #1885 is a no-holds-barred critique of American political theatre, policy rackets, and media gatekeeping, filtered through the raw humor and relentless skepticism of Dave Smith. Listeners are treated to both an insider’s perspective on comedy/political podcasting and a scathing analysis of how narratives are manufactured and perpetuated in modern America. The episode is as much a call-out of public figures “playing ball” and avoiding accountability as it is a practical guide on becoming an informed (and wary) citizen in the AI era.

Transcript

[Commercial Narrator]

Kelly.

[Kelly Norris]

I'm Kelly Norris. People know my husband, Brian, as a veteran, a leader and a man of strong values. But to me, he's a loving husband, a devoted father to our three beautiful daughters, and a faithful Christian who lives out his beliefs every day. For 21 years, Brian served our country in the Army. He understands sacrifice, duty, and what it means to put others before himself. As Secretary of State, Brian will work to secure our elections, protect our constitutional rights, and serve Arkansas families with integrity. On March 31, I'd be honored to ask for your vote for Brian Norris in the Republican runoff for Secretary of State.

[Interviewer]

Arkansans choose Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris.

[Commercial Narrator]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Commercial Narrator]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Interviewer]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Interviewer]

On March 31st, put Brian Norris for Secretary of State. 84 by Norris for Arkansas.

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[Dave Smith]

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[Dave Smith]

The deep state did Donald Trump dirty in his first run? They basically ruined his presidency by concocting the Russia hoax. And so people are like, we want an outsider who's going to come in and they're going to clean up this mess of that. There's an entire unelected branch of government that's actually working against my interests. And the Epstein storyline just lets everyone see the signal. Donald Trump is here and he's playing ball with whatever those power structures are. He's not looking to clean them a part of this.

[Interviewer]

Now.

[Dave Smith]

It's a signal to everyone, cuz everyone knows that the Epstein story doesn't add up. And if you're out on the news going, we have 5 million files on a hoax, everybody.

[Interviewer]

Okay, guys, got Robbie Bernstein here out here in Atlantic City for word war debate. And you're from Philly though, right?

[Dave Smith]

Stanford, Connecticut.

[Interviewer]

Oh, Stanford, Connecticut.

[Dave Smith]

But I like Philly. Philly's a fun town.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, you got a show there tonight,

[Dave Smith]

so, yeah, open it up for. This isn't live though, right?

[Interviewer]

No, no.

[Dave Smith]

Well, go to comic Dave Smith dot com. You can check out all the down the line.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, yeah. What's the crowd like in Philly? Pretty rowdy.

[Dave Smith]

There was a little bit of rowdiness, but I like. What I don't like is the polite 700pm crowds. Like, when I walk into a room, everyone's over the age of 50. They just ordered dinner and I could tell, like, they're just nice people. I'm like, this going to be a problem. You want the rowdy, you give me rowdy drunks. I'm, I'm fine with that all day. I like the construction workers. I like people that drank too much. I could do filthier material. So I don't, I don't enjoy being heckled. I don't encourage people to heckle, but I don't mind, like, an energetic, rowdier crowd.

[Interviewer]

I feel so podcast by day and comedy by night.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, that's the general grind. And that Philly club's a good room. It's like old school basement, low ceiling, real compact. So there's some rooms that are funner to play than others. Like, you just, you can walk into a room, be like, oh, this is an authentic looking comedy club. And that room's got that.

[Interviewer]

I feel that's a cool lifestyle, man. Because you're talking about serious topics during the day and then now you get to let loose and de stress.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. It's also just so funny because there's people that have been listening to our podcast for 10 years aren't even stand up. Fans never seen us do stand up and then they come out and it's just we're talking some of the similar topics, but it's all jokes. But they don't actually expect us to be good at it because they don't know us as stand up comics. And so it's kind of interesting to bring people into the world of standups. Awesome. Because there's so many people that are not like, I'm a die hard comedy fan, but a lot of people just aren't.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So you were doing comedy before the pod?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I knew Dave from doing this. The worst comedy club that ever existed in Times Square. It was this place. I'm not even going to say the name. It doesn't business. Nope. It is long gone and it was a train wreck. There were these guys out on the street just telling you Chris Rock was going to be there, Tina Fey was going to be there. They tell you Richard Pryor was going to be there. They were just, you know, barking on the street, lying through their teeth and then people were coming in there for overpriced drinks and then we were up on stage having to battle them tooth and nail. But what was great about that spot was I would do four or five shows in a night. You weren't being promoted, but you also weren't being fired. So you could really just work on stuff.

[Interviewer]

Experiment.

[Dave Smith]

I missed that because it was just a constant battle. So you were shows sharp. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You had to be on your toes, right?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I like to this day now, you know, I. I headline my own tour. I do this thing called Porch Door. I play people's backyards all summer, which is a blast.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Dave Smith]

And that's great because you know, do like an hour in a show and I'm open up for Dave. I do a half hour on a show. But there's something to when you're doing like six spots a night every night in front of crowds that don't like you. Yeah, man. Does that make you good?

[Interviewer]

Damn, that's insane. Shows a night, Our shows.

[Dave Smith]

No, no. I was only doing like 10, 15 minutes. But I would literally go. They call it the check spot, which is kind of for the Rookies. And they send you up there when people are getting their bills and then they're mad. And you would really have to battle a room of angry people as they're finding out they got ripped off and Chris Rock's not showing up and that their beer was $25. Yeah. I once had a beer bottle thrown

[Interviewer]

at me in stage 25 for a beer. I mean.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, it was the worst New York City ripoffs, tourist attraction thing of all

[Interviewer]

time, but made you get thick skin now wherever you go, it's probably like a cakewalk.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. And then every once in a while, I walk into. Because I used to listen, you want to do actual jokes. And I had, like, a bit of a B plan when things weren't really going well. And one of the things I used to do is people, sometimes they get their bill and then they'd have enough and want to leave. And that would happen during my spot, and people would, like, slowly leave. And then I would take it to like, a level 15 and start yelling at them, like, if you're leaving, you're leaving now. Get up. Now's your chance. And then, like, I would yell at someone the whole way to the door. And then when, right when they got to the door, I was like, we're not in the hallway. If you could just tell me you didn't like the comic before me.

[Interviewer]

That's funny.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

When did you start talking about politics?

[Dave Smith]

You know, I did not do as much political stuff. No, that's not true. I always kind of had political stuff in my act, but I started doing more of it because it's funny. I was like a real, just filthy, late night, like, sex joke, drug comic. Like, and then I started going on the road with Dave, and I was a little bit too much for our audience because they're not. They're not filthy comedy fans. So I started telling more tight political jokes to start it, to kind of bring them into my insanity.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

And now I would say my act's like 50, 50 political jokes and other shenanigans.

[Interviewer]

Okay. Yeah. I feel like that's what your. Your podcast is known for, mainly, though, the politics.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. And then also just because I'm following the news every day, like, really rigorously, I'm pretty in tuned with, like, what's going on in the world. And then sometimes I can find good joke angles on stuff just because, like, I'm so ingrained in the material. It's like every day I'm spending four hours reading the news. I'm spending an hour doing the podcast. So there's just. I feel like if I spent that much time watching the nature channel, I'd probably have more jokes about orangutans.

[Interviewer]

You know, where are you consuming objective news sources from?

[Dave Smith]

Oh, my routine is, I mean, I can tell you my routine, but it's basically. I mean I read everything every day and then I try and dig in and research and come to my own conclusions on like core topics.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

But my starting point, I like the New York Post because it gets me into the news.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Dave Smith]

It's like a little bit funner and easier. So I tend to. That's like my warm up around is New York Post elementary school. Yeah. Then I like to go sand.comallsides.com in the Hill and New York Times Daily Briefing. And I'm basically scanning every headline of like what's the big topics in the news that day? Same thing. I'll go to Grok, be like, give me the top 15 news stories of the day.

[Interviewer]

Smart.

[Dave Smith]

Then every day, like if there's articles there that interest me, I'm reading those. Reading the Wall Street Journal every day. Nearly every article on Zero Hedge every day. There's an economics blog, Mish Talk I like a lot. There's this guy David Stockman I like a lot. I'll read him. And now Grox just kind of become my calculator that I also read everything in like Google News that catches my interest. Wow. And then as anything interests me and I have questions, I kind of fact check or look into things on Twitter Grok and like we'll dig in more from there as things capture my interest.

[Interviewer]

Geez. I didn't realize how hard you were gone.

[Dave Smith]

I mean it's, it's the job. I'm competitive and we got a podcast to do. I do one every day and I want to make sure we got a good show. So I also YouTube news. I'm going through that algorithm, seeing what like clips are out there.

[Interviewer]

I didn't even know that was a thing. YouTube news.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. On the sidebar you can click news. And then as you're watching more, it will refine itself better for kind of what you're looking for. But it's almost the same thing of scanning headlines that I'm just able to see every network kind of what they're covering. If there was a particular politician that was commenting on something, I want to click on that. So but that, I mean it's basically. It's gotten easier with the AI.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

Let me tell you, it used to be four hours a day. Now it's more like two.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. When I do prep on guess, AIs helped me a lot.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. It's a calculator.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I mean, it could summarize everything.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know, sometimes I don't have time to read the guest book, so I can use AI.

[Dave Smith]

I'll tell you what I use it a lot for is things that I would watch a whole podcast now. I just dump transcript scripts in and go. Give me the summary.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, there's a chat. There's a chat. GPT, like Chrome Extension that I have for that.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, you don't even have to copy and paste it. You're more sophisticated than me, man. That's pretty good.

[Interviewer]

So I could listen to eight podcast episodes in, like, 10 minutes.

[Dave Smith]

Streamlined.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

Wait, you'll. And then you'll have it read it to you.

[Interviewer]

Or you can, but I read faster than it reads out loud, so I'd rather read it.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I find that, too, with transcripts.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Because I'm listening to audiobooks at, like, 2.5.

[Dave Smith]

You're at 2.5?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

That's pretty good.

[Interviewer]

Sometimes 35 if you. If it's a slow reader.

[Dave Smith]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

Anywhere. If it's Ben Shapiro, I'll do 1 5.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

It talks fast, but anywhere from 15

[Dave Smith]

to 3 5, I think I've been like, 1.5. But what I find is funny is that I space out when I listen to things.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

And then, like, three days later, I will have concocted a total. Am I allowed to be filthier? That's okay.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

I read. I'm trying to remember what the audiobook was, and it was a great book about, like, evolution, basically. Evolution. And I picked up two facts that are in my brain, and I'm sure they're not in the book. Like, I'm sure of it. One is that Christianity was a scam to sell tents. I'm pretty sure that's not a real thing, but I don't know why I picked that up from the audiobook. And then the other one was that evolution happened because, like, the bigger dick tribe was picking on the little dick tribe. And I'm like, did I come up with that in a dream? Like, there's no way that was in this academic book that I was reading. Do you actually find you pick up up most of what you're listening to when you're reading?

[Interviewer]

If I'm, like, driving, yes. But if I'm, like, doing something while I'm listening to, then no. Like, I got to be locked in

[Kelly Norris]

right I'm Kelly Norris. People know my husband, Brian, as a veteran, a leader and a man of strong values. But to me, he's a loving husband, a devoted father to our three beautiful daughters, and a faithful Christian who lives out his beliefs every day. For 21 years, Brian served our country in the Army. He understands sacrifice and duty and what it means to put others before himself. As Secretary of State, Brian will work to secure our elections, protect our constitutional rights and serve Arkansas families with integrity. On March 31, I'd be honored to ask for your vote for Brian Norris in the Republican runoff for secretary of State.

[Interviewer]

Arkansans choose Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian Norris Brian

[Interviewer]

Norris Brian Norris On March 31, vote Brian Norris for Secretary of State.

[Dave Smith]

P4 by Norris for Reckless I used

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[Dave Smith]

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[Interviewer]

Driving is so mindless that I'm actually like paying attention.

[Dave Smith]

Okay, you know 2.5, that's fast.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I'm. You build your tolerance up so you start at 1.25. Once you feel like you've mastered that, you go up to like 1 3, 14 and you slowly.

[Dave Smith]

Dude, I'm competing for what?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, 4x.

[Dave Smith]

Is that like on the side thing? Is that 1.4 or that's.

[Interviewer]

No, 4.0.

[Dave Smith]

Sounds like a record being just. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Interviewer]

But it gives you an edge, man. If you can actually retain at like a 2 or 3, 3x4 is extreme. I think. I think most people ever get there. But realistically, if you can retain at 2x, you're learning twice as fast as someone.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, well, I've learned from listening to the audiobooks that part of why I was such a bad student is that people talk slow. You know what I mean? Like I, I just have add. If you just delivered it quicker and I could walk around while absorbing the information, I can take this stuff in. But if I'm gonna sit in a class and some subpar speaker is going to talk slowly at me. Yeah, I'm doodling and leaving for the bathroom.

[Interviewer]

100%. I struggled in school.

[Dave Smith]

I was, I never showed up. I was a bad student.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, you didn't show up and they didn't care.

[Dave Smith]

I went to this high school and. How old are you?

[Interviewer]

28.

[Dave Smith]

You're younger than me, okay. I got a whole decade on you. You ever see the movie Camp Nowhere?

[Interviewer]

No.

[Dave Smith]

It was this movie about basically it was like a classic Disney movie. It's with the guy who was the old man in Back to the Future. Okay. He's a good character actor and basically Got all these kids and their parents want them to go to like these specific summer camps. Like you got the dad who's like super military, supposed to go to military school bait, like all this stuff. And so they find this guy, they make a freight brochure for each of their camps that doesn't exist, and they basically go there, take all their parents money, and just enjoy their parents money.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Dave Smith]

My high school was like that, that it was this private school that we dormed at and I swear my parents spent 20 grand for me to go into the city and drink. Like, they just didn't quite take attendance and I just did not show up.

[Interviewer]

Wow, you think a private school that speaks costing that much would.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, it was, it was a freak show. It was a freak show because like a very orthodox Jewish school, I grew up very different than the way I shave my head. And they have like this super regular rigorous Talmud program from like 8 in the morning to like 2 in the afternoon. And we were all idiot kids. That just wasn't for us. And they didn't really care about the secular education in the afternoon. So it was just like total dysfunction.

[Interviewer]

Wow, what's that dynamic like of being Jewish and then being Dave's co host and best friend?

[Dave Smith]

It's all good every once in a while. You know what? Listen, I. I do enough radio. If someone wants to argue with me on something, I'm happy to do it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, and so you disagree with his take on.

[Dave Smith]

No, no, no. I'm saying if some relative wants to or someone else wants to give me for something that Davis said.

[Interviewer]

Oh, God.

[Dave Smith]

I don't pick fights with people. But if someone wants to argue with me on something, I'm more than happy to do so. And I always find it funny if it happens at like a family meal or something else and they just don't realize the door they opened with me.

[Interviewer]

I don't talk politics at family meals.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I'm more than happy not to. When was funniest was during COVID because my parents didn't even know I was doing the podcast and they just know me as kind of an idiot. And my mom like started getting into. So why aren't you getting this vaccine? Thinking she was convinced going to convince me and she just was not ready for the amount of information I was going to download at her.

[Interviewer]

The black pill.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, exactly.

[Interviewer]

I mean, that stuff's so obvious now though. Has she changed at all or.

[Dave Smith]

I think they got opened up to how many topics I was right about that. They thought I was a Batshit conspiracy theorist.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

So now they're less dismissive when I say things that they otherwise would have thought was crazy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Truth always comes out eventually, right?

[Dave Smith]

Well, hopefully.

[Interviewer]

I think most of the time. I think time. What did they say? Heals all or cures all?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Well, I think the reason for that is that you get to a point

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

where they don't need to hold on

[Dave Smith]

to the lie anymore, and so they're willing to give you the truth to almost protect that. The systems allow for truth to come out. So, like, there's. It's almost like if I were to tell you a stock's going up because I want you to buy into the stock and I want to pump up the stock price, and once the thing crashes, then I can turn around and go, oh, yeah, that stock was valueless.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

That information was really valuable while I was pumping the stock. Once the event took place, nobody cares. So it's like 20 years after the Iraq war, you'll see a movie about how the CIA was torturing people. They don't care about us having that information now. It's not important for them to protect that. Yeah, it was really important while this stuff was going on.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

The same with COVID Once they're trying to sell you on an entire racket of getting a vaccine and not living your life and staying home in full control, it's super important to them. Once we move on from it, they're willing to be more honest about it.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Good point.

[Interviewer]

And now it feels like no one talks about, like, the three years. Like, it's just a blur.

[Dave Smith]

I hate it. I still want. I still. I. I was selling Prosecute Fauci T shirts for a while, and I still think that that would be important and cleansing to our society is to actually have accountability for criminal behavior.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. He got the pre pardon the first time I've seen that.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, well, you know, the auto pen was more aggressive than. Yeah, your typical president.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Whatever you were putting in front of it is like, no problem. Who else needs a pardon? I'll take a pardon. My son can have a pardon. Who else needs one?

[Interviewer]

Trump's barring a lot of people, too,

[Dave Smith]

to be honest, and not even waiting for the end of his run, which is interesting. Yeah. He's like, hey, you're going to partner with me on crypto. Here you go. Get back out there. Let's go.

[Interviewer]

I feel like since it's his second term, he's just kind of doing whatever the fuck he wants.

[Dave Smith]

He's being aggressively Donald Trump Yeah. And you know, there almost isn't enough articles about whatever he's doing in the crypto markets and his double dealing on hotels and everything else. You don't frequently see presidents who are selling sneakers and their own meme coins.

[Interviewer]

You're big on crypto, right?

[Dave Smith]

I like my bitcoin. I'm not selling my bitcoin. I'm also not buying more bitcoin. I'm a big believer in that. Listen, our, our government's going to inflate to the wazoo. So I fully understand a, the, I fully understand that bitcoin's like a beautiful product and that there's a finite amount. It's fix to that. You have to be able to generate electricity. Like, I have a full understanding of it. I love it. It would be amazing if the whole world went to bitcoin and we could basically peacefully take away the power of government because we're no longer just allowing them to control currency and steal our wealth through inflation. With all that said, bitcoin went to 200 tomorrow. I couldn't tell you why. If it went back down to five, I couldn't tell you why. As to whether or not the CIA is behind the entire thing to try and bring on, you know, digital currencies or wants to crash out the competitor, I think other people want to go that, that's totally not a risk factor. So I'm holding my Bitcoin to the end and I hope that that becomes the next real currency.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

But, you know, Kim Hammer is bad for Arkansas. Kim Hammer punished counties that wanted to move to paper ballots and away from vulnerable Chinese made voting equipment, going directly against President Trump's election security agenda. He supports letting Chinese lobbyists influence Arkansas legislators about our farmland. He wrote legislation that put foreign truckers over Arkansas. When citizens fought to protect their right to self govern, Tim Hammer took those rights away. Tim Hammer stands with foreign interests, insiders and the political class not with us. Brian Norris stands with Arkansas. Brian Norris is a Christian husband, father and veteran who's fighting to restore our rights and protect our elections. He supports President Trump's agenda to remove vulnerable quoting computers from Arkansas elections. Brian Norris believes in secure elections, Arkansas values and putting our citizens first. The choice is clear. Kim Hammer puts foreigners first. Brian Norris puts Arkansans first. Vote Brian Norris for Secretary of State March 31, paid for by Norris for Arkansas.

[Commercial Narrator]

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could provide a boost when added to an antidepressant. Rexulti was proven to significantly reduce depression symptoms more than an antidepressant alone. Elderly people with dementia related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and actions and worsen depression in children and young adults. Call your healthcare provider right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts or feelings or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, report fever, stiff muscles and confusion which can be life threatening or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing falls, seizures, trouble swallowing or sleepiness may occur. Learn about these and other side [e-mail] tap ad for PI here's to the little things. Could a boost help you build on your progress? Ask your doctor about adding Rexulti back

[Commercial Announcer]

to back Reader's choice is good and the Three Peat Award in 2026 is even better. MSI earned top rank in Reliability, Satisfaction and recommendations for premium gaming desktops and updated graphics. And that's not a surprise. You can start out with Codecs, advance with Aegis, Max out with Infinite and or Showboat with Vision. All are player approved hardware that deliver on performance and value. These award winning PCs await you today at MSI USA.

[Dave Smith]

Hi, I'm Chef Franklin Becker.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

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[Dave Smith]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Dave Smith]

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[Dave Smith]

I'm not as much of an even jealousist as some of the other bitcoiners

[Interviewer]

Ride or die on it. Yeah, I've seen the CIA theory with it. I wonder if they really plan that far ahead, though. Like, China does.

[Dave Smith]

What our CIA. Yeah, I bet there's some people that do. It wouldn't shock me if someone was smart enough to concoct that scheme, but,

[Interviewer]

yeah, it wouldn't shock me. I mean, when you look at all the wars that they've orchestrated, allegedly. Right.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. I don't think everyone there is intelligent, but the idea that one guy had that idea wouldn't completely shock me.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, now you got like former CIA guys going on pods and infiltrating our space. It's. It's interesting to see.

[Dave Smith]

I don't personally trust anyone with former intelligence credentials.

[Interviewer]

Dude, I get, I'm sure you get these emails like once a week. It's either like, former FBI, former CIA, wants to come on your show, like

[Dave Smith]

all the time, I guess. Probably Dave Fields more of those requests. Yeah, listen, sometimes they got valuable information, so I'm not like entirely dismissive. But I do wonder the same way when Brennan went to cnn, I'm like, all right, you just still have your job at the CIA. You're still working at the CIA. You're just now on the television and media division of IT with some of these guys. If they were real military intelligence. I, I don't. I. You know, how do you know if someone still has ties or they're pushing something or they're trying to drag you into such crazy conspiracy theories that you end up being dismissed? You know, it's just, it's hard to tell with those guys.

[Interviewer]

I mean, there's a theory now with Bongino that he stepped down to kind

[Dave Smith]

of get back into podcasting, and it is not working. Oh, this is the crash out of the century and I am here for it.

[Interviewer]

Defending your boy.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Well, here's what I think really fails these people is Donald Trump is one of a kind. Do you ever work sales at all?

[Interviewer]

I've worked sales, yeah.

[Dave Smith]

What? Sales jobs?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, just like high ticket sales, like closing.

[Dave Smith]

Cool. So I worked in a sales job once in the city and it was the sharkiest sales room of like 300 sales guys. And there were some people who are really good at saying nothing. Someone would ask them a question about the product. Don't worry, it works, and just move on. And that would work for those people. Donald Trump has that thing where he says nothing. Don't worry, it will work. I'm Donald Trump. I've got this figured out. And it doesn't matter how Many times it doesn't work. How many times? He literally just changes his mind about what he was doing. He can just get in front of the camera, give zero. Hey, we didn't fight a war with Venezuela, but we run the country now. What does that mean? Don't worry about it. What do you mean? We're running the country? We're running the country. Okay. The problem is no one else can pull that off. And so they're trying to, like, explain what Donald Trump's doing, and it doesn't work. It just works for Donald Trump because he's not telling you what he's doing. And he's got, like, that sales order to him that suckers a lot of people. I think Bongino made the mistake of thinking he can go back to podcasts and that the audience will still be there for him explaining the rationale of what the Trump administration's doing, and that he could explain to you that everyone that's criticizing is just a black pill. And it's everything that we're hearing from the Trump loyalists you gotta follow. You know, if you just have enough faith in Donald trump. He's playing 4D chess, so quit criticizing. Even what looks crazy, it's not gonna work.

[Interviewer]

Right. And he had. Before he took the government role, he had a huge show.

[Dave Smith]

He had a huge show, but also, like, from what I. The clips I've seen, he was talking a lot of Epstein trash and then got into office and was part of. Nothing to see here.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Same with Cash.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. And I think the real American first conservative crowd is not happy about. Because Epstein's such a signal of whether or not there is a real interest in taking on the deep state. The deep state did Donald Trump dirty in his first run. And they basically ruined his presidency by concocting the Russia hoax.

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

And so people are like, we want an outsider who's going to come in and they're going to clean up this mess of that there's an entire unelected branch of government that's actually working against my interests. And the Epstein storyline just lets everyone see the signal. Donald Trump is here and he's playing ball with whatever those power structures are. He's not looking to clean them up. He's a part of this now. And so I think that entire. It's. It's a signal to everyone because everyone knows that the Epstein story doesn't add up. And if you're out on the news going, there's things. We have 5 million files on a hoax, everybody. So I think everyone Realized, nah, these people are not credible. And if you want to go back to the podcast space, which is just purely, you know, you're being honest with your audience. After going after talking trash about Epstein, then getting into office and being part of the COVID up, what honesty card do you have left?

[Interviewer]

He's lost a lot of support. I mean, he's getting ratioed on Twitter like disgustingly like 10 to 1 by Dave, by other people. It's, it's bad.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, well, we, you know, it's fun that I guess our show is big enough that we can talk trash about these people and it actually gets to them and then there's almost like a critical mass that we're the show that a actual politician who is a part of this administration is responding to that. That's so fun for one. And for two, it's like somebody needs to do this job. There, there has to be a show that's taking on Dan Bongino right now and going, you are not credible. Unless you want to, you know, give us the tale of why the Donald Trump administration buried the Epstein case.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

If you want to do that, you want to leave government and put it on the line and tell us why you decided to play ball, how they threatened you or whatever else they did to influence you, you can have the biggest show in the world. But if you're just going to continue basically running cover for these people, no one's going to listen and you need people to call it out. So lucky for us, we, we picked up, we picked up that mantle and he's actually responding to us.

[Interviewer]

Let's go.

[Dave Smith]

And losing his shit. Which is fun to watch.

[Interviewer]

What are the odds he actually debates.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, it will never happen. Oh, no. But we, we put out the call in the last episode. Dave, Dave, I forgot what I was calling it. The, the Cure Cure the Black pill event or something. And Dave said if the audience vote goes more than 80% for Bongino will shine his shoes. So. And, and we also said we'll line it up on a big platform so he's got, he's got an open invite and if he wants to man up and, and go for it, he should. But I think what we've learned from Ben Shapiro and these other people is that if you're running from the facts, you don't want to actually have conversations about these things.

[Interviewer]

People don't like that.

[Dave Smith]

The running.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, the running.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, because it signals of, oh, you don't really want to be challenged on any of what you're saying. Yeah. You need a. You need. And that's why they're calling for sex.

[Kelly Norris]

I'm Kelly Norris. People know my husband, Brian, as a veteran, a leader and a man of strong values. But to me, he's a loving husband, a devoted father to our three beautiful daughters, and a faithful Christian who lives out his beliefs every day. For 21 years, Brian served our country in the Army. He understands sacrifice, duty and what it means to put others before himself. As Secretary of State, Brian will work to secure our election, protect our constitutional rights, and serve Arkansas families with integrity. On March 31, I'd be honored to ask for your vote for Brian Norris in the Republican runoff for Secretary of State.

[Interviewer]

Arkansans choose Brian Norris.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris.

[Commercial Narrator]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris.

[Commercial Narrator]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Commercial Narrator]

Brian Norris.

[Dave Smith]

Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris. Brian Norris.

[Interviewer]

On March 31, vote Brian Norris for Secretary of State. 84 by Norris for Arkansas I used

[Commercial Narrator]

to love the little things. My son's laughter, the smell of rain. But then depression happened and while my antidepressant helped, I still didn't feel like I used to. So my doctor recommended adding Rexulti.

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Rexpiprazole Rexulti could provide a boost when added to an antidepressant. Rexulti was proven to significant significantly reduce depression symptoms more than an antidepressant alone. Elderly people with dementia related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and actions and worsen depression in children and young adults. Call your healthcare provider right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts or feelings or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions. Report fever, stiff muscles and confusion which can be life threatening or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing or sleepiness may occur. Learn about these and other side [e-mail] tap ad for PI.

[Commercial Narrator]

Here's to the little things.

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Could a boost help you build on your progress? Ask your doctor about adding Rexelti back

[Commercial Announcer]

to back Reader's choice is good and the Three Peat Award in 2026 is even better. MSI earned top rank in reliability, satisfaction and recommendation for premium gaming desktops and updated graphics. And that's not a surprise. You can start out with Codecs, advance with Aegis, Max out with Infinite and or Showboat with Vision. All are player approved hardware that deliver on performance and value. These award winning PCs await you today at MSI USA.

[Dave Smith]

O o Ozempic.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

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[Home Depot Announcer]

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[Dave Smith]

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[Commercial Narrator]

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[Dave Smith]

See homedepot.com licensenumbership they don't want the other ideas out there.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, Ben's losing followers every day. Subscribers.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I heard some crazy stat about how much he's losing on his YouTube show.

[Interviewer]

A lot. Yeah, it's. It's bad. That's why I respect Dave. And I don't know if you do debates too, but Dave will debate anyone.

[Dave Smith]

I would have on the COVID topic. On the COVID topic I was like so up and in on that. On most of these other topics I'd have to really sit down and do my homework and I don't want to.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it's a lot of work.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I mean the guest I just had on before you, he said he did

[Dave Smith]

40 hours of research for tonight debates. Yeah. Yeah, I did a couple on the COVID topic, but it's not Dave's. Me and Dave are different characters. I try and I want to be. The amount of free time I have, I need to focus it more on stand up and not doing more political stuff.

[Interviewer]

I mean with your routine already researching two hours a day.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I'm working on the podcast but I mean Dave's, he's also, he's a different degree of brilliance and he can really sit down and he's got focus on like I do with his ability to really delve in and read books and stuff. So that's impressive. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. The COVID topic. Who would even debate you these days on that?

[Dave Smith]

I mean, it's over. I don't even remember what I. I had in my brain then. But I would have. I would have loved to have debated Fauci at the heart of COVID That would have been the greatest moment of my entire life. Has taken on this liar and I. You guys can find this. It's still online, but I did an event in. In New York City. It was another comic and it was still kind of like at the end of COVID lockdown type stuff. Like, Covid was still fresh on people's mind. And I was just getting into the COVID topic, and there was someone in the audience who had a master's degree in like or was getting a master's degree in biology, and they came up to, like, argue with me. And I just took this lady's soul.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, watch that. Yeah, it was a great moment. It was really fun. And the entire audience hated me because it was all these liberal Brooklyn people. So it was literally me up against an entire room. It was a fun moment.

[Interviewer]

That's why I like debates, because a lot of people tie their identity to the topic they're debating, and then when you can clearly destroy it. Yeah, it's like a life altering moment for these people.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. I guess there's some other topics. When I was doing more homework on the terrorists, that could have been an interesting one.

[Interviewer]

But are you pro or against tariffs?

[Dave Smith]

I'm personally against tariffs.

[Interviewer]

I'm hearing more people against these days.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. What was. What was your interest in the tariffs?

[Interviewer]

Well, I. I'm like an entrepreneur. I used to do like, drop shipping and E commerce. So for me, tariffs, like, really hurt that industry. So that was sort of where I was looking at it. Like, it really hurts the margin of the business.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Yeah. What I find with the tariff conversations a little bit like, I would like no government money in health care and people will hear that and go, oh, so you want poor and sick people to die? It's like, no, I actually think we could have much better and cheaper health care without government funds and regulations in the market. And so people are like, very married. If you say that you're anti tariff, they just jump on it. So you're against American jobs and it's. No, that's not at all what I'm saying. I don't think the problem. And I think for every cheaper good in this country, it's an opportunity for someone else, which is what you were describing. Cheaper lumber is more opportunity for builders. It's everything is. And so I think the problem with the tariffs is one I don't know. We still haven't seen the full impact. And Donald Trump's rolled some of it back. But one is it just disrupts business planning. And I think who it's really going to kill is small businesses of people who do have American employees and they do have a business, but they import a product in order to sell their product within America. And the other concern that I had with it was just the favoritism that if you're large enough, then you can lobby the government for, for basically a carve out for yourself. And we have seen that he lowered, or at one point he was talking about lowering the, it wasn't quite lowering the tariff, but it was a carve out for the auto manufacturers because the steel prices were going up on them. I think he just got rid of the tariffs on like furniture or something. But I've seen it in a bunch of industries, which is just the same racket that kills small businesses is that the very large players can actually get in front of Donald Trump and go, and hey, you're destroying my business. And so then they'll get a carve out and everyone else that can't lobby them doesn't.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, hey, well, at least you're getting that $2,000 tariff check in a few months.

[Dave Smith]

Is that happening? I don't know. Oh, great, so we'll have another round of COVID inflation.

[Interviewer]

Who knows?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, we all saw what a paycheck coming to your house will do. Yeah. And the only reason they did it on that one was because they needed to bail out the financial industry again. And they knew that they couldn't bail out the financial industry because everyone would be pissed. So they're like, hey, why don't we just send everyone a thousand dollar check and then they'll be okay with bailouts.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, Yeah. I learned giving money out doesn't work.

[Dave Smith]

No, I'm telling you, it's a deal with the devil. And here's what people really don't understand is that if government makes more money available, so what you do is everyone's taking that money and they're going to spend that money on what the, what that money can purchase for them. So, like, if Donald Trump, for example, is sending you money to go purchase health insurance, you've boosted the demand for health insurance. Health insurance is just more expensive. If you want to know why college is outpriced with inflation, it's because government made funding available just for you to go purchase a college education. So the colleges go, oh, look, there's more money available for us to charge. They charge more money. All that you do when you hand people free money to go buy a specific item is drive up the price that item so that you're more in debt to consume what you otherwise would have been able to consume.

[Interviewer]

Wow. I never looked at it that way, but that makes sense.

[Dave Smith]

It's literally a devil's deal where you feel like, oh my God, the government's handing me free money, but it hands it to everybody else to go purchase. Purchased that exact good. Now the good is just more expensive. And what he's doing. I just had this guy, David Column on my podcast run your mouth. And I haven't dug in yet with what Trump's doing with the housing market, but he was saying that it's basically another bailout for the boomers, that they're going to keep the housing prices up while these guys are trying to sell their houses. And then my generation is going to buy these things because you lower the interest rates or whatever else to make it affordable. And at some point the housing market's coming down, you're just going come to crush my generation of kids again.

[Interviewer]

Wow. So another.08.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, well, because what's happening is if they're, if all these boomers are dying off and they got to sell their homes and nobody can get a mortgage because the interest rates going up, what happens? You got to sell your home for less.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

But if all of a sudden you figure out some trickery so that kids that can't afford homes have the money to go and purchase the home, so you're just going to keep boosting the price up.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Kim Hammer is bad for Arkansas. Kim Hammer punished counties that wanted to move to paper ballots and away from vulnerable Chinese made voting equipment going directly against President Trump's election security agenda. He supports letting Chinese lobbyists influence Arkansas legislators about our farmland. He wrote legislation that put foreign truckers over Arkansans. When citizens fought to protect their right to self govern, Jim Hammer took those rights away. Kim Hammer stands with foreign interests, insiders and the political class not with us. Brian Norris stands with Arkansas. Brian Norris is a Christian husband, husband, father and veteran who's fighting to restore our rights and protect our elections. He supports President Trump's agenda to remove vulnerable voting computers from Arkansas elections. Brian Norris believes in secure elections, Arkansas values and putting our citizens first. The choice is clear. Kim Hammer puts foreigners first. Brian Norris puts Arkansans first. Vote Brian Norris for Secretary of State March 31, paid for by Norris for Arkansas.

[Commercial Narrator]

I used to love the little things my son's laughter, the smell of rain. But then depression happened and while my antidepressant helped, I still didn't feel like I used to. So my doctor recommended adding Rexulti Rexpiprazole

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Rexulti could provide a boost when added to an antidepressant. Rexulti was proven to significantly reduce depression symptoms more than an antidepressant alone. Elderly people with dementia related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and actions and worsen depression in children and young adults. Call your healthcare provider right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts or feelings. Or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, report fever, stiff muscles and confusion which can be life threatening or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing falls, seizures, trouble swallowing or sleepiness may occur. Learn about these and other side effects [e-mail] Tap Add for PI here's to the little things. Could a boost help you build on your progress? Ask your doctor about adding Rexulti back

[Commercial Announcer]

to back Reader's choice is good and the Three Peat Award in 2026 is even better. MSI earned top rank in reliability, satisfaction and recommendations for premium gaming desktops and updated graphics. And that's not a surprise. You can start out with Codecs advance with Aegis, Max out with Infinite and or Showboat with Vision. All are player approved hardware that deliver on performance and value. These award winning PCs await you today at MSI USA.

[Political Ad Voice / Michael from The War and Treaty]

Hi, I'm Michael from the Warren Treaty. You know the jingle now discover the facts about Ozempic.

[Home Depot Announcer]

A GLP1.

[Dave Smith]

Only Novo Nordisk makes FDA approved Ozempic. Learn about the real thing.

[Commercial Narrator]

Talk to your healthcare professional today. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit ozempic.com to view the Medication guide and to learn more about ozempic. Semaglutide injection 0.5 milligram, 1 milligram and 2 milligrams.

[Home Depot Announcer]

Now at the Home Depot receive 12 months special financing and free basic installation on carpet projects with LifeProof LifeProof with PET Proof technology, Home Decorators collection and traffic Master carpets bring a new look to your floors or give them a durable surface that stands up to life's tough messes. Get 12 months special financing on installed carpet projects right now at the Home Depot offer valid March 12 through March 29, 2026. Exclusions and additional charges may apply for licenses. See homedepot.com licensenumbers Damn, that is nuts.

[Interviewer]

And you could do that in any industry.

[Dave Smith]

It's literally any. It's just. I mean, if you're interested, like. And then the problem is it also creates bubbles, which they call credit asset bubbles, which is when you make too much money available for one particular asset, then you drive up the price that asset. And then eventually, if you cut off the increased funding for it, it's the same as like any Ponzi scheming, the price came down, which is basically what happened in the subprime mortgage crisis. But yeah, free money is a devil's deal. You're like, this is amazing. I get free money. But then the backside of that magic trick is you're driving up the price that good and now you're just more in debt.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, look what happened with all the PPP loans and the ERC or whatever, all the free money they gave out.

[Dave Smith]

Well, 50% of that luckily went abroad, so I guess didn't drive up inflation. Well, I think 50% of that went to fraud.

[Interviewer]

Really?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Well, probably. But my point is, like, everything just went up. Like watches went up. Like gold went, like everything.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Thing was crazy during COVID because people were just home getting a check and I guess shopping online or whatever.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it was nuts. You mentioned health care earlier. I think that's a scam too. I just had to buy mine. It's like a thousand a month.

[Dave Smith]

That's in your 28.

[Interviewer]

I'm 28.

[Dave Smith]

What do you get? Like the go. You must have gotten the better plan. You got the silver plan to get gold. Dude, I. I've had the lowest health care that you can purchase, like 675amonth. It's one of my biggest expenses and it's virtually unusable. So I never have $12,000 in health care expenses here. All right, here's the scam of health care. And there's great articles if you're interested in this by George. George Reisman. But it's just. It's licensing laws. That's what it is. If you got rid of licensing laws, you'd have more competent. Like, look at every other industry. As technology gets better, things are supposed to get cheaper. That's every industry. Think about this television, what this thing would have cost 30 years ago. And then you look at health care prices and as technology gets better, this thing just keeps going up and up. And it's basically because there's a bunch of different elements, but it's basically because government incentivize insurance and they also fund a lot of people's insurance. And once you have insurance, nobody's, like, settling for anything but the best possible care. The. The example reason gets, which is brilliant, is that if, let's say 30 of us all sat down at a restaurant, at a fancy restaurant, I don't have a lot of money, so I'd be like, you know what? I better just get bread. Yeah, right. But now if everyone else is going to get the steak and I got to pay for their steaks, I want my steak too.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

And that's the problem with, like, you're just pulling everybody and then the licensing laws keeps all the competitors out, so you can't really come up with, like, cheaper options. But the one where you and I got crushed, because I'm not asking about you, I'm just gonna assume that you're young and healthy. You don't have any healthy and you don't have any pre. Existing conditions.

[Interviewer]

I don't take any medication. No pre.

[Dave Smith]

There you go. So what you and I would want is a catastrophic care plan, which is essentially I. I used to have one before. Before Obama. It was a hundred bucks a quarter. And essentially, if you had cancer, it paid out a million dollars.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Dave Smith]

So if you ended up in, like, a situation, you know, the freak occurrence, you had health care that was going to fund all that. But if you wanted to go see a doctor tomorrow, you're nothing. You're out of pocket. Right. But, oh, there's two more scams on healthcare. You got me going on this, but they're both interesting. So first is, you know, ideally, I think what you want is like a concierge doctor. He's paying like three grand a year for access to that guy. And you got a catastrophic care plan. So if you need any crazy thing because you got cancer, you're covered. Right. But the other thing is, I remember there was a small time when I did not have insurance. And I remember I got a bill, whatever the hell it was, and I call them up and I go, hey, I don't have insurance without negotiating with me. They said, cool, we'll knock 70% off the bill.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Dave Smith]

Okay, now what's paying 30% of a bill? The co. Pay. Think about that. If you have a copay of 30%. Yeah, okay. And I don't have insurance at all. And they cut down my bill by 70%. What did I pay?

[Interviewer]

The Copa.

[Dave Smith]

The copay. And so I'm convinced all the insurance stuff is like, it's artificially billing things high to pretend like your Insurance is covering more than it actually is.

[Interviewer]

That makes sense though, because their cost is not anywhere near what they're charging.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. And I'm sure, you know, all I'm saying is my experience was if you didn't have insurance, they were cutting the bill by 70%. So I'm in the same place.

[Interviewer]

That's nuts. Because I know someone that had an anxiety attack, went to the er. It was ten grand.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

We didn't even use an ambulance. Ten grand for that. And their cost was probably like maybe 500.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Well, that's why the other big fix. And Trump was actually talking about this in his first term. But you need to display pricing so that consumers actually have some awareness of what they're purchasing and being able to shop around for options. And I think a big part of that is the licensing thing. So, like he just had a straight up anxiety attack.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. What was heart rate was so that. I think they got a scan or nothing. Crazy.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. So I would venture to guess someone could be opening up the anxiety attack clinic. That's probably a better place to show up to than the ER and is not giving you a bill for 10 grand.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy these days, man. I actually almost signed up for crowd health. Have you heard of that?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, they're. They're great.

[Interviewer]

Crowdfunding healthcare.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. So what works really well for that model is. And I'm kind of talking out of my ass on this, but essentially part of what drives up insurance so much is that they were forced to cover for pre existing conditions. Now once you're forced to cover for pre existing insurance conditions, that's no longer insurance. Yeah, right. Because like if I, for example, have cancer and then I want to go purchase insurance, that's not insurance.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

I already had like insurance is we're going to pull our risk. We don't know who's going to have cancer. Of the million of us, we're all going to contribute $1 and then if one guy of us gets cancer, he has a million dollars to pay for it. That's called pooling risk. That's insurance. If I've already had the car crash or how do I get life insurance after I'm already dead? That's not insurance. I was supposed to insure against the risk of an event taking place. So what they allow you to do. I, from what I understand, you can have Andy on. He's. He's the CEO, actually. Oh, yeah, he's great. But what they allowed, I think are allowed to do because it's not an actual insurance product is that they can screen for preexisting conditions, which then means if you're a healthy individual, you don't have to pay these rates where we're being fleeced to basically cover everybody else.

[Interviewer]

That was why I almost did it. But then I was thinking about it like, what if everyone get. Not everyone, but a lot of people get a disease at the same time. Is this going to be able to cover it? So.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Well, I think the actuary math on insurance should be pretty good because like I said, with large enough numbers, you're just pulling risk. And so, you know, especially with like AI now, I think they probably have pretty good table. Unless something I'm not. I don't even want to say that. Let's say that there was a new event where something changed in our environment that drastically changed. Like cancer rates.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

Then you might end up in a situation where like all the math was wrong. But outside of some crazy event like that, I bet those actuary tables are pretty.

[Kelly Norris]

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