12/30 Pat Garofalo in as Deputy Mayor today with some interesting state wide figures regarding the new paid family leave act

Summary

Garage Logic – December 30, 2025

Episode Title: Pat Garofalo in as Deputy Mayor today with some interesting state wide figures regarding the new paid family leave act
Host/Guest: Pat Garofalo (Guest Host), Chris Reuvers, The Rook, John Heidt, Kenny Olson
Podcast: Garage Logic, Gamut Podcast Network

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Main Theme Overview

This episode of Garage Logic features Pat Garofalo, former Minnesota state representative and current president of the Minnesota Grocers Association, stepping in as guest host. The episode navigates Minnesota's new paid family leave act set to launch January 1, 2026, explores statewide fraud in public funding programs (especially daycare and Medicaid waivers), and meanders through open discussion of current events, legislative culture, and practical "garage logic" takes on everything from seasonal affective disorder to city-run grocery stores.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Minnesota Streets & Everyday Frustrations (02:34–04:40)

• Candid banter about unplowed St. Paul streets and the perennial winter complaint.
• Reference to the viral "It’ll melt" attitude allegedly held by city officials regarding snow removal.

2. Stefon Diggs Legal Trouble & Athlete Reputations (04:40–07:13)

• News of former Viking Stefon Diggs facing assault and strangulation charges (which he denies).
• The crew reflects on his prior reputation and shares a locker-room anecdote:

  "He asked at least between five and ten different players, 'Who's the one teammate you have that you would not want to date your sister?' And they all said Stefon Diggs." (06:17, Chris Reuvers)

3. Seasonal Affective Disorder, Daylight, and Permanent DST (07:20–09:41)

• Lamenting long Minnesota winters and minimal daylight, cracks about Alaskan sunsets.
• Pat Garofalo predicts a shift toward permanent daylight saving time soon:

  "I think in the next two or three years, you're gonna see the United States move to permanent daylight saving time." (08:18, Pat Garofalo)

• Discussed documented negative health impacts tied to changing the clocks (increased heart attacks and workplace accidents).

4. Animals and the Body Clock (09:41–12:32)

• Comedic stories about dogs and how pets react to daylight time changes.
• Pat shares a personal story about his dog biting him for violating the bedtime routine.

  "He comes back about three minutes later and he's just like, man, I'm so sorry." (12:01, Pat Garofalo)

5. Systemic Fraud in MN Public Programs (12:48–16:30, 20:32–26:41)

• Garofalo outlines over a decade of fraud issues in daycare, Medicaid waivers, and other state programs.
• Notably, journalist Bill Glahn and former legislative auditor Jim Nobles have been warning about these problems for years but were criticized or dismissed.
• The depth of the fraud is both “systemic and pervasive”—not unique to a single program or group.

  "This is systemic and pervasive and it’s not going anywhere." (15:23, Pat Garofalo)

• Reference to "legislatively directed appropriations"—lump-sum money given to specified nonprofits without panel review, which are likely to face new scrutiny.

  "You’re going to start seeing people scouring through the legislative directed appropriations..." (22:08, Pat Garofalo)

6. New Minnesota Paid Family Leave Mandate Launching Jan 1 (27:44–34:54)

• Explains, with skepticism, the new program: up to 20 weeks paid leave for Minnesota workers under certain conditions.
• Key concern: people can receive paid leave even when not normally scheduled to work (e.g., teachers on summer break), or even self-employed people can opt-in and “game” the system.

  "You do not have to be working to take paid leave... This is not abuse of the system; this is the way the bill is designed." (29:39, Pat Garofalo)

• Example: A teacher could take part of their leave mid-school-year and take the rest during the summer when not teaching.
• Self-employed workers (e.g., Uber drivers) can opt into the plan, pay minimal premiums for a few months, and collect up to 20 weeks of benefits. Concerns over sustainability and unintended loopholes.

7. How Appropriations Work in the Legislature (23:28–26:41)

• Large “omnibus” bills can contain appropriations directed to specific nonprofits “with little vetting.”

  "There’s a very conformist attitude, especially in that environment where you had unified DFL control..." (23:51, Pat Garofalo)

• Post-COVID and the $18 billion state surplus fueled rapid, sometimes unchecked, spending.

8. Media, Denial, and Siloed Narratives (26:41–27:44, 41:13–51:13)

• Discussion of ongoing denial within some circles, including accusations of racism or partisan motivation when fraud is reported.
• Social/political media bubbles allow confirmation bias to thrive.

  "As people get their information more and more siloed, they believe they get a customized, curated feed confirming what they already believe." (26:41, Pat Garofalo)

• The federal government is now involved as national media and YouTube investigations get more attention.

9. City-Run Grocery Stores and Food Deserts (65:56–70:36)

• Closure of North Market in North Minneapolis due to unsustainable finances, despite being a nonprofit.
• Minneapolis City Council is considering a city-run grocery store as a solution; skepticism abounds from the hosts:

  "When you’re talking about...the 'seize the means of production' crowd...you have to [say] 'moving towards adulthood,' that’s the best way I can describe it." (70:36, Pat Garofalo)

10. Odds and Ends (Sports, News, Culture)

• [37:21–39:44] Sports news: Kevin Williams named Hall of Fame finalist; quirky asides about Hall voting processes.
• [39:44–47:08] News: Senator John Hoffman running for reelection after surviving a shooting; stories on local crime and security risks.
• [57:14–59:59] Light chatter about the demise of Sears, empty malls, and nostalgia for Christmas retail of yore.
• [60:18–65:56] Listener Q&A: Pat discusses his football Survivor betting league, with humility after a loss; detailed inside baseball on football betting pools (good for fans).

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Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On perennial Minnesota gripes:
  "I just want to ask you…why can’t they plow the streets in St. Paul?" (02:34, Pat Garofalo)
• On Stefon Diggs:
  "Who's the one teammate you have that you would not want to date your sister? And they all said Stefon Diggs." (06:17, Chris Reuvers)
• On daylight saving:
  "I do think…in the next two or three years, you're gonna see the United States move to permanent daylight saving time." (08:18, Pat Garofalo)
• On government fraud:
  "We've been talking about this for a dozen years… this is systemic and pervasive and it’s not going anywhere." (15:23, Pat Garofalo) "You have just an exhaustive amount of details, and now people are surprised, like, oh, I had no idea it was this bad." (46:04, Pat Garofalo)
• On the new paid leave plan:
  "You do not have to be working to take paid leave... This is not abuse of the system; this is the way the bill is designed." (29:39, Pat Garofalo) "If you don’t think Minnesotans are gonna figure this crap out, they're going to jump, right?" (34:25, The Rook)
• On Minneapolis city-run grocery:
  "I really, really hope the city of Minneapolis doesn't go down the route of the city run grocery store because in all seriousness, it'll make matters worse..." (69:01, Pat Garofalo)
• On political denial and responsibility:
  "The ball is now in the court of Minnesotans. Right? Like this is Minnesota. You’ve got to decide whether this is important to you or not." (45:05, Pat Garofalo) "For me, this is nothing new. I really do wonder if people, like…thought we were lying." (49:00, Pat Garofalo)
• On city politics:
  "They moved the dial towards pragmatism and adulthood." (70:32, Pat Garofalo)
• On government workers whistleblowing:
  "There are authentic whistleblowers in state government who have been afraid to go to their managers with this stuff because they could get punished." (47:09, Pat Garofalo)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [04:40] – Stefon Diggs charges news & locker room anecdote
• [08:18] – Prediction about permanent daylight saving time
• [12:48] – The start of deep-dive into Minnesota public fraud
• [22:24] – Exposé on legislatively directed appropriations
• [27:44] – Introduction and details of new state paid family leave
• [29:39] – Loophole: receiving leave when not scheduled to work
• [41:13] – Effects of media silos on public understanding
• [45:05; 46:04] – Minnesota's responsibility and surprise over deep fraud
• [65:56] – North Market closure and city-run grocery store proposal analysis
• [70:32] – City council's "pragmatism and adulthood"

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Tone & Style

Humorous, irreverent, and pragmatic. The hosts default to a skeptical, "Midwestern common sense" lens, often lampooning bureaucracy, discussing public policy with a mix of expertise and blue-collar sensibility, and finding dark humor in governmental dysfunction. Pat Garofalo brings both direct experience (legislative and business) and a dry wit.

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Conclusion

This Garage Logic episode is essential listening for those interested in the intersection of Minnesota state policy, public spending, legislative process, and the idiosyncrasies of local politics. Pat Garofalo provides detailed, sometimes sobering analysis of government fraud and exposes vulnerabilities in the new paid family leave act—while keeping things accessible and funny. The episode illustrates the classic Garage Logic approach: blend deep news, biting critique, and relatable, real-life digressions into a Minnesota-centric talk fest.

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Transcript

[A]

Just a heads up to you folks sitting with a notebook and pen Mishke. The new podcast here in Garage Logic land is now coming out twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays. If you're in fact scribbling this down, Wednesday is kind of tough to spell. It's not like it sounds. You want to spell it W, E, N, Z, but that of course would be a mistake. Friday is spelled just like it sounds. You're going to be okay there, but Wednesday's a bugaboo. Let me tell you people.

[B]

Just a pain in the patootie.

[A]

Geez, it's hard.

[C]

Josh Arnold, Investment Cons brings you this Garage Logic podcast episode. We don't have the records for today because Joe is not here and that way there are no rules. You can call Josh arnold today at 952-925-5608 for a free 48 minute consultation. Hail the flashlight King.

[A]

Hail you.

[B]

And now from the mayor's office above.

[A]

The boathouse on the east shore of Spoon Lake, it's Garage Logic with Chris Reivers manning technology Cor, Kenny Olson from.

[B]

The Krabby coffee shop, John Height in.

[A]

The newsroom, and of course the rookie.

[B]

Here is your flashlight king fireworks commissioner and the keeper of common sense, your mayor, Joe Sushere.

[A]

Good afternoon, everyone. I am not Joe Succure. This is surrogate for the day guest host.

[C]

You have much better hair than Joe.

[A]

This is Patrick Groflo.

[D]

Pat, I knew Joe Sucere and I can tell you, you are no Joe Sucere.

[A]

Thank you.

[D]

Was that Lloyd Benson?

[A]

That Lloyd Benson. Dan Quayle.

[D]

Dan Quayle.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Wait, you knew Joe? Does it mean he's no longer with us?

[D]

Yeah, don't start that. Don't follow Michigan.

[A]

Hi, I'm Pat Garofalo, former state representative and current president of the Minnesota Grocer's Association. It's my honor today to be once again guest hosting. Joe is busy. My understanding I read this is that he's busy researching. He wants to start a daycare business.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah, he's starting a.

[E]

Can't beat him.

[F]

Join him.

[A]

Yeah. So what would the garagelogic Joe Sucerey daycare center pretty much has one.

[C]

City Daycare City Daycare City or daycare Corral. He pretty much operates one already currently.

[D]

Pretty much, yeah.

[C]

And he's got a lot of kids running in and out of that. There is a lot of fraud.

[D]

There is a lot of fraud. Those kids don't pay.

[A]

If he's listening right now, he is throwing stuff at whatever device he's listening to. So. Well, first of all, good to see you guys. I want to start off with something that's not very topical. I just want to ask you about, like, we all live in Minnesota. It gets cold every winter, it snows every year. Why can't they plow the streets in St. Paul?

[C]

I was about to ask the same thing.

[A]

Is there. Is there. Is there a moratorium on plowing? Is it.

[C]

Well, you know the hashtag, don't you?

[A]

From.

[C]

Was it two years ago? Rook, help me.

[D]

Two years ago?

[C]

Was Melvin Carter just based. Was it Melvin? Somebody said, well, it'll melt.

[A]

It'll all melt.

[D]

Don't worry, it'll melt.

[C]

So that was the hashtag. Was hashtag. It'll melt.

[A]

No. And again, I was in Minneapolis earlier today. The side streets that I was on were plowed. I come over here and thank goodness my trusty all wheel drive Tesla was able to muscle through the snow. But people are getting stuck on, like, the exit ramps from eight Mill Road going up to Grand Avenue.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

People were getting.

[D]

Or you mean the one on 280 when you're trying to get left on University and your wheels are just going. And three guys had to come out and help you push, you get on University? Is that what you mean? Yeah, I was in the black Volkswagen folk that was holding up the entire. Yes, it was an hour ago or something like that.

[A]

Oh, I had no idea.

[C]

Wait a minute. Is that the same Volkswagen that you got robbed on a couple of years.

[D]

Ripped off by the.

[C]

The. The.

[D]

The mayor of Garage Logic who charged me, I think all of $1,000 for a 2008 that had 100,000 miles on it?

[A]

Oh, poor. You paid way too much time for another American victim.

[C]

Is that on par with. If your car. If you run out of gas, if you get stuck in your 50s, you've lived here your entire life. Yes. Or if your car doesn't start, that's your fault. You're an adult.

[D]

Yeah, you're an adult.

[C]

That has to. That was you.

[A]

I remember going around.

[C]

Who in the.

[D]

You know, it happens. You've got. I noticed you didn't get out to help push.

[C]

No, no, that wasn't gonna happen.

[D]

Thank you.

[A]

In other news. So we have some kind of. I guess it's not breaking news, but I was surprised to hear about this. Former Vikings Stefan Diggs, current wide receiver for the New England Patriots, was. Is allegedly being arraigned today on something related to assault charges. I don't know the specifics of it.

[C]

Assault and strangulation.

[A]

Strangulation?

[D]

No, Double whammy.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So I don't.

[C]

Which he is denying. He and his representation are denying those charges.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Just to clear us of any potential lawsuits.

[A]

But this is independent of whether he chokes or not. I mean he does, as a player genuinely choke. So this would be independent of that. But we'll have to find out what happens there. But that was the thing. The thing that I found most surprising about it is these charges are from like almost a month ago and they're just becoming public now.

[D]

Why is it kept so quiet? Isn't there somebody going through and saying isn't a newspaper somebody have somebody that goes through all the police reports looking for a name that's memorable?

[A]

So anymore it'll be. Be interesting to see how that plays out. I mean he's, you know, he actually has dealt with quite a bit of adversity in his life and as an accomplished athlete. But I just, I don't.

[D]

He's just been brought on by himself though.

[A]

Yeah, I'm just, I'm. Well, no, I'm talking like growing up as a kid and stuff. So I'm just kind of surprised. Like he does not seem to fit the MO of the rage filled athlete.

[C]

If you. He does.

[A]

He does fit the MO of the playa athlete.

[C]

Yes, he does.

[A]

He does not.

[C]

In fact, if you want, I mentioned this to you guys a few minutes ago, but if you want, there's Vikings Entertainment Network video. I think it might have been Brian Robinson, the former defensive lineman. I can't remember who conducted it, but it's one of these walking through the locker room, talking to the guys kind of a thing. And he asked at least between five and 10 different players, who's the one teammate you have that you would not want to date? Your sister. And they all said Stefan Diggs. Every single one of them said Stefan Diggs. Ever?

[A]

Never. Never. Good. So that'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Hopefully it's a misunderstanding and not true. But when he was. But when he was here in Minnesota, I never heard of or read anything even remotely associated with him being legal troubles.

[C]

Yeah, I don't recall any myself, so.

[A]

We'Ll reserve judgment, but I thought that was interesting. More good news today. Do you know that today we have just short of four minutes more of sunlight than we did one week ago?

[D]

I didn't know that, but I was at the airport today going down the escalator saying, It's December 30th. I wonder how many more minutes of sun. Because I do play that game. And I was seriously thinking, how much more sunlight do we get? And you say it's four minutes, the sun is setting.

[A]

Not that I'm counting, But it's about 3 minutes and 40 seconds of more daylight. Thank you.

[C]

And it's always the sunset time, right? Because yeah, we do increase it on both ends, but the sunset, once it starts to get close to five, you think we're gonna make it. We're gonna get there. We're gonna get there.

[A]

And I can hear the social media types mocking me for saying this, but like, you know, it really is for some of us. Not getting access to sunlight just turns me into a cranky old man.

[C]

Cause you've lived here your whole life, so you get it. Yeah.

[D]

4:40 sundown and it starts to get dark and you just, it does weigh.

[A]

It sucks.

[D]

I want a nice, you know, nine o' clock sunset. I better move to Alaska.

[A]

Yeah, it's a, it's gonna be, you know, I do think though, it's not this year, but I think in the next two or three years, you're gonna see the United States move to permanent daylight saving time. I think we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna spring ahead and it's gonna stay there. I think we are reaching critical mass on this, this important issue.

[D]

Who would protest? The farmers don't need it anymore, do they?

[A]

Well, there's actually trade offs with all these policies, right. So, like one of them is during the winter, it's dark when kids are waiting by the school bus or walking to school. Some people say there's more likely to be accidents or the morning commute is gonna be rougher because it's darker. But the big issue is that the switching. I never realized how many problems are caused when you sprint, when you fall back that hour.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Like it drives up. Like heart attacks go up. There's more workplace. It's like, seriously? Yes. Like heart attacks, like emergency remissions and heart attacks go way up from that one hour. So.

[D]

I know, I do know, my wife and I have said this. We've noticed the difference. It's when you're going to bed, your bedtime, you play the game well, it's 10 o'.

[E]

Clock.

[F]

Really?

[D]

But it's only 9 o' clock and that's why you're tired. So you go to bed at 9 o'.

[C]

Clock.

[D]

There is a physical difference in the time. For daylight savings time, I would agree.

[A]

You know who has the best reaction to it? Dogs. Because dogs are like, I don't know what you're do you guys have dogs?

[C]

I do not.

[D]

Yeah, I got a horse Pomeranian.

[A]

John, what kind of dog you got?

[F]

I got a pug.

[C]

Larry.

[B]

Larry.

[A]

Larry the pug.

[F]

Larry the pug.

[A]

Okay, so does your dog have a very specific eating and sleeping time?

[F]

Yes, especially in the morning. So when time changes, that changes for him and me also.

[A]

Yeah, our dogs are very punctual when it comes to eating and sleeping. And for us, dinner time is 6pm and we have two dogs. One, the one that's the blue heeler, she literally will just start giving you the death stare about two minutes early. And it's like clockwork. It's amazing. And she just sits and stares like. Time to pay up.

[D]

The spin around from the Pomeranian. The spin around. It's time to eat. It's time to eat.

[C]

One of my favorite videos is the cat that's sitting by the dish and just banging on it while she's preparing a meal like, Linda, let's go here. What are we doing? It's six o'.

[B]

Clock.

[A]

Well, in other news. So my other dog, he bit me the other day.

[C]

Oh, no.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Rabies. You got to go in for rabies.

[A]

No, no.

[D]

Willing to risk it.

[A]

No, not that. Not that. He. We have a very. So his name's Shadow. He's a great dog. We rescued him a while ago, but he comes from some trauma and there's some issues. But we have a very specific bedtime routine. I'm talking about the dogs and I know nothing beyond that. So. No. My wife's a kindergarten teacher. My lovely wife Julie, she is a kid. She goes to bed at 8 o' clock and that's when the dogs go to bed. They hop up with her and they're there and that's their time. If I come in and try to interrupt that, there's problems. But I come to bed like four hours later, usually midnight. And then I just kinda like, come on Shadow. And he gets up and moves out of my spot. I lay down and for whatever reason, the other day I went to pet him when he was laying down and his nose curled, like when he's angry. And so I kind of pulled my hand back and then I was like. It was kind of dimly lit, you know, I'm like, okay, it's fine. So I went to go pet him. He just took a chunk out of my right hand.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Got my. And the sad part about it, of course I'm pissed, right? I'm like, hey. But you know, he. I kick him out of the bed. He go, has his time out, he comes back about three minutes later and he's just like, man, I'm so sorry.

[C]

I'm sorry, baby.

[A]

No, literally, I was laying there with my eyes closed. He comes over, he starts licking my elbow. He's like, dude, I know I was wrong. I'm sorry.

[D]

Hey, hey. It's too soon. It's too soon, okay?

[A]

It's just. And he's just. He's the best dog. And I don't know what happened to him before we got him, you know, some clowns, you know, but he just freaks out. This happens. And you can just tell. He's like, yeah, that was my bad. I know.

[C]

He's that hungover friend Sunday morning. Like, dude, I really shouldn't have did that at the time.

[A]

Dude, I didn't know that was your girlfriend. Come on. It's like, you know, so anyways. But there are more important things going on. I don't know. You guys don't mean. Do we really need to talk about. Apparently there's a fraud problem in Minnesota.

[C]

Say what?

[A]

Yeah, so.

[C]

Well, thank goodness Walls has assigned this task force team to really get to the bottom of all this.

[A]

Yeah, you know, I just. For me, there's a. There's a little bit of dark humor in this. In that, like, we've been talking about this for a dozen years. It's just like. And I don't know if people thought we were lying or guys like me were making stories up or something, but, you know, it's. Obviously we're all learning now that it's all true.

[C]

Do you remember the very first time and what year and when it was that you and others or whoever it was, raised your hand and said, we've got a problem here.

[A]

I remember the exact moment.

[C]

When was it?

[A]

It was 2010. A constituent from Hastings came in and it was a guy I did not know, just knew he lived in the district, sat down with them, and he's like, I've got to tell you what's going on. Do you know what personal care attendants are? And I'm like, well, yeah, I meant kind of. You know, I loosely forget it. And he walked me through what he was seeing and he was credible. And like, I won't go from where I went from there. But it struck me as like, that must be a one off. Like, it was odd, but that was the first time that I heard was like, it's kind of like, huh, like this. We got some problems here. It's not like, you know, but even at that time, I thought maybe it was a one off or a.

[C]

This is 2010 and this is someone from Hastings, you said.

[A]

Well, Ravenna Township. Yeah, sure, sure. So that was the first time that I in a legislative capacity had gotten tipped off, like, hey, our programs are being abused. And then from there it went into the home daycare stuff. And that was the stuff that this is where people started flipping into denying it. But there's ample committee records and speeches and press releases and even some members of the local media. You guys have had Bill Glahn on before. Bill Glahn, who is the 2025 world champion. See, I told you'd so winner this year. This poor gu. No, I mean, you're right. No, he did like he laid all of this out, the addresses, the people, how it worked. And for that he was accused of. They accused him of lying. They Islamophobia, all the standard playbooks. And boy, that guy is spot on.

[C]

Right?

[A]

I do take humor now in these national news outlets, like, oh, we're breaking this story. It's like we've been breaking. We've been talking about this for a dozen years. But anyways, so there's some new stuff now. I think a lot of people are exhaustively talking about this. If you haven't figured it out yet, folks, I'll just give you this little advice that this is not going anywhere. This is not going away. This is the tip of the iceberg and we are just now beginning to be exposed to what is the widespread, I'll use the word, abuse of state resources. It's not just the 14 programs that the U.S. attorney's office has labeled as high risk and the Medicaid waiver programs. It's not just the home daycare, excuse me, the daycare stuff. This is systemic and pervasive and it's not going anywhere. So you'll be hearing more about that. But there's going to be something.

[C]

There seems to be one demographic that's continually involved in a lot of this fraud.

[A]

Well, that's a matter of opinion. We can talk about that later because I think now is the time to pay some bills. Yes, it is.

[C]

Let's talk about North American Banking Company banking done differently. They won't expose you to fraud. No, no, no, far from it. Because they've been investing in your success since 1998. And way back then they decided to make a better banking experience. You get that feeling anytime that into any one of their six Twin Cities locations, whether it's 50th and France, Roseville, Woodbury, Hastings, Shoreview, and also Maple Grove. They offer all of the same online and updated mobile banking options as those other big national banks. I use them every single day. They're phenomenal. But see it for yourself. Check them out online. It's nabankco.com to learn more. Once again, it's banking done differently. North American Banking company member FDIC is an equal to housing lender.

[B]

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[D]

Here's a man that's going to do an ad when we not Joe Sucere. It's not Joe Sucery, it's the rook here. Welterheating.com has got a brand new website, a really nice crisp and clean look and if you have a heating unit that is on the brink making funny noises, do you really want to mess with that in January, February, whatever the case may be. Absolutely not. You would rather have a four generation family. Four generations of Welters have been heating and cooling Twin Cities metro area homes for over almost 120 years. Did that make sense? For almost 120 years? Yes. It's Ray and Welter that I'm talking about. Rick's holding the reins right now at welter [e-mail] if you wanna go old school you can make an appointment via the telephone [phone]. The reason Welter advertises on the Garagelogic podcast, well they're busy so it's not like they're trying to drum up new. But they do know that all of you garage logicians, you want to keep Welter's name in mind. Put that, put that name on the docket, so to speak, and that phone number. So when you do need that quick fix, they've got 24, seven workers that are certified that will come out and fix that heating unit, prepare that air conditioning unit or that air purification system. I trust them. They've done work in my home. Please trust them yourselves. Welter heating, let them know that the Rook sent you this winter. Warm up your shelter with the fine folks at Ray N. Welcher.

[A]

So we were talking about the situation with fraud, and I don't want to talk a lot about it because, well, enough people are doing it right now. It's developed into what's pretty obviously clear. The bottom is rusting out, and it's going to be a pretty extensive investigation. But I do want to just kind of give people two things to look for. The first thing is there is something in the legislative process. And I know this because I was there for 20 years. There are different ways the legislature appropriates money. Sometimes it's like we're going to give this amount of money to schools, or we give this amount of money to prisons. There are also things that are called legislatively directed appropriations. And what this means is the legislature will specify, rather than putting it into a scoring based system that people will apply for and a panel determines the winners. The legislature will just say, hey, here's $300,000. You're going to give it to nonprofit A OR hey, here's $3 million. You're going to give it to nonprofit B. And I think at some point here, relatively soon, you're going to start seeing people scouring through the legislative directed appropriations, the ones that are specified to specific nonprofits, and they're going to start looking at the reports and they're going to start seeing where that money was spent or not spent. And I think that's going to be something that's going to be of deep concern, particularly when you had, you know, in the post Covid environment where you had maybe some of it well intentioned, you know, during COVID they were just throwing money at everything. But then after Covid, you know, Minnesota had this $18 billion surplus and, and.

[C]

Walls was gonna give $2,000 to every resident in the state of Minnesota upon his reelection.

[A]

Let's just. We'll put that to the side.

[D]

Sorry.

[C]

Remember, it was Walls box with his face on the check and all the things.

[A]

There's plenty of People talking about that stuff. We wanna have a. I think that you are going to see greater focus now on these legislatively directed appropriations where literally state employees were told, you will give this amount of money to this nonprofit and you will do it now. And again, we had an $18 billion surplus. And as someone who served in the legislature during that, I'll tell you, the mindset was, you better do it now because who knows what the next election's gonna turn out. And so they got the money out the door quickly on a whole bunch of things. And not all of it was bad, but some of it was. And so I think you're gonna start seeing a renewed focus around legislative directed appropriations in 2023 and 2024. Who sets that standard?

[C]

Is that voted upon?

[A]

Is that something just gets rolled into a bill. So you've got, let's say you've got a bill that funds economic development, energy policy, other issues it's rolled into. You know, you've heard the term omnibus bill. These things get rolled into a 78 page piece, 100 page piece of legislation.

[C]

And everybody reads every sentence of those 78 pages.

[A]

Some of us do. I mean, some of us are a little bit nerdy and like to know this, but generally there's a very conformist attitude, especially in that environment where you had unified DFL control and one party's in total control. And the thinking is, listen, if you're sitting at the table, then you vote for everything. If you're not at the table, you vote against everything. That's certainly the easy way to do it. But there still are some people who read the bills, like to know what's going on on them. But this is nothing more than in those bills they would say the commissioner shall appropriate the, this many millions of dollars to this nonprofit for this purpose. And they don't have to compete against other nonprofits or even government entities. The vetting is really subject to the author of the bill. And you can highlight these. But I think that you are going to see a renewed focus. And again, this is nothing new. This has been going on for a while, but I think now, in light of what has been happening in Minnesota, people are now, I think the Twin Cities media now feels a little bit more of a responsibility and maybe a little bit more motivation to look into this stuff. And so I think you're gonna wanna keep an eye on that in the months ahead. These legislative appropriations. Without naming any names, there's some people who've been getting rich off the taxpayer.

[D]

But what's the Goal of the legislature right now, what you're talking about going forward, is it finding where this fraud was and being accountable, or is it that's done, we can't do it now in the future. What's the mindset of the players?

[A]

Well, that's going to be a matter of perspective, of who the individual players are. Certainly one of the narratives you're seeing being developed right now is that those from like the government union side are saying, well, this is why we shouldn't be sending this money outside of state government. If you want to help people, let's have state employees do this work. Let's have state employees and you're going to have much more. You're not going to have this corruption because these are unionized state employees who are hiring and vetting and you're going to get this high quality level of service for these nonprofits that you're getting from your Department of Motor Vehicles. That's one of the narratives you're hearing right now. Okay, is that like, well, it's too late. We just got to look forward. We can't look backward. And there still is, believe it or not, there is a healthy level of denial going on right now. There are some people who still insist, like there isn't a problem, that there really isn't.

[C]

Do they believe that or is this just a case of cya?

[A]

No, I mean, I think you look at the way people consume information and news right now, it is so siloed and so isolated, right? If you go out and look at MSNBC or if you go out on like the blue sky social media platform, people will tell you, this is just racism. This is just targeted racism. Why aren't we talking about the healthcare executives who engaged in fraud and got pardoned by Trump? This is just a distraction from. And they truly believe it. And the problem is that as people get their information more and more siloed, they believe they get a customized curated feed confirming what they already believe. But in terms of the legislature, I think, obviously, I mean, this is a problem stating the obvious, but I can't emphasize it enough. It's not new. But you know what is new? What is coming in two days, we have a new state program coming online in Minnesota. Would you like to hear about it?

[C]

Yes, please.

[A]

Yes. So this is the Minnesota paid family leave mandate. This will start January 1st. And it's a complex program, but essentially what it says is that like most Western societies, the state of Minnesota is now going to have a mandate that if you work, you're going to get up to 20 weeks paid leave on a sliding scale, depending upon what you make, to take care of a loved one if they're sick or if they need care, to bond with a new child. And much like feeding hungry kids or providing affordable daycare, it sounds really good. Would you like to know some of the details of the bill? Would you guys like to.

[D]

Yeah, go ahead.

[A]

I thought you guys would. So, and again, it's one of these things that we can have a reasonable debate about whether there should be a paid family leave mandate in America.

[C]

Most companies, by the way, already provide something very similar to this.

[A]

It's hit or miss, right? Certainly bigger companies as part of their benefits. Other places, smaller businesses that are flexible, they may do it on a case by case basis. The employee who's been there 20 years and is super reliable, they may have a different benefit set than the person who's been there less than a year and works on a part time basis. Small businesses may respond to it differently than a Fortune 500 company would. But the important thing is there's a debate about should the state come in and mandate this. But that debate was had. This was passed back in 2023 and it's taken a long time for the state of Minnesota to build an insurance company within the government. That's what they're doing. And it rolls out in two days. Now, there's a lot of things that play into it, but I want to highlight a couple of, let's just say, concerns that I have with the bill.

[D]

Should I get the rim shot ready?

[A]

The concerns with the bill. The first concern I have is that, that you get ready for it. You do not have to be working to take paid leave. No. And this is true. And I know for listeners who are listening to this, you may be like, wait, is this guy spouting some sort of hypothetical talking point? Is it someone abusing the system? This is not abuse of the system. This is not fraud. This is the way the bill is designed.

[C]

So wait a minute. If I'm homeless and I'm on the corner of 5th and Hennepin.

[A]

No, no, no, no. That's different. Okay. What we're saying is if you have worked at some point in the last year. So let me give you the most practical application of this. We have many people who are paid to work nine months out of the year.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

Teachers come up to example, people who work in the construction trade, maybe seasonal workers.

[C]

Yeah. Many people get laid off in the winter and whatnot. Absolutely.

[A]

So when you are not scheduled to Work or go to work, you are still eligible for this new paid family leave benefit. So the paid leave department, they don't write the law, they have to enforce it. They have issued a memo called Paid Leave for Educators. If you're watching on YouTube, I can show it to you. And it says, this document provides answers to common questions about paid leave for educators. First question, can teachers take paid leave when they're not scheduled to work? This is the very first line. The answer is yes. Teachers can take paid leave when they are not scheduled to work if they otherwise meet all eligibility requirements. And so what that means is if you have worked from September through June, and again, it's not just teachers, construction, seasonal workers, it's the same thing. You're going to be able to access these leave benefits when you're not working. And you would think that when you take leave it would mean you're leaving something too, but not with this program, no. And so let me give you a very specific hypothetical. And I'm not picking on teachers. I'm married to a teacher, but it's the easiest one to understand. So let's say.

[D]

Or you were when you left this morning. Yeah.

[A]

So let's say that there's a teacher, he teaches fifth grade and his wife has a kid in January. So he takes two weeks off during the school year, help acclimate, bond with the kid, be home. Right. He then goes back to work. He finishes up the school year January through the end of May, it's now summertime. He's not paid to work, he doesn't have responsibilities for work.

[C]

She might have to go back to work, right, because her maternity leave would be over. Is that what you're trying to suggest?

[A]

No, no, no, I'm talking, I'm saying the, the woman has the kid, this is her husband. Gotcha. Right. Husband uses two weeks of leave during the school year. Now the school year is over, he's going to be home. He's not working during the summer. He can now take another 10 weeks paid leave during the summer. Even though he's going to be home either way, he's not working. This is one of the problems with this. Another problem we have is if you're self employed, you can voluntarily choose to jump into this paid leave pool.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So yeah, you're paid leave, you're paying yourself, you know, you're working and then you again, you have a kid, you adopt someone, maybe you've got a relative in another state who requires some care. Maybe it's the winter and you've got someone who you need to take care of in Arizona, Florida, Naples, Christmas time, you can take up to 12 weeks. You're an Uber driver. You decide to opt into the pool and you pay your premiums for, let's say, two or three months. You can collect 20 weeks of benefits, up to 20 weeks of benefits stacking if you do the family and then the medical and so all of this. So again, you have this program that has been designed this way. When you utilize these benefits, the first week you're drawing from the pool, you don't have to use your sick time, you don't have to use your PTO. You can use it to plus yellow because you don't get 100% wage replacement. But you do get, you start out at 85% wage replacement.

[D]

Isn't it 90 or somewhere between?

[A]

Well, it starts out at 85%. And then the more you make, your percentage slides down. And the reason why is that the benefit is capped at about $2850 every two weeks. Okay.

[D]

And if you don't think Minnesotans are gonna figure this crap out, they're going to jump, right? Oh, you can use the hell out.

[A]

You can say, shit, it's all right.

[C]

Yeah, you're usually good for a couple of those every time you come on.

[A]

Yeah. So it's. So there's a little bit more that people are going to want to know about this. And I think we'll talk about that after the next break. We'll talk about how much is getting paid and what other states have done when they've got this. But again, this is already passed, it's already law, and it's going live in 48 hours.

[C]

Boy, I'm exhausted and I'm thirsty. That's why I have Hoffman Water and Connecticut. And you know why? Anaconda. You want to know why? The best water treatment system known to man. You see, here's the deal. I started out as a customer of Hofferman Water and Connecticut years ago. And they have made an amazing difference in the quality of the water inside of my home. And here's the deal, ladies and gentlemen. Bad water can affect almost every aspect of your home. But you get on that schedule, you have them come up for that free water analysis. And it will do an amazing job to protect your appliances, whether it's cooking, whether it's laundry, showers. Everything is better with Hofferman Water. But get on that schedule today. 612-895-2440 or book your appointment [e-mail], and as long as you're on that website, you can see every single different water treatment system that they have to offer. 612-895-2440 or visit hoffermanwater.com Hofferman Water has been proudly serving the state of Minnesota for over 50 years. Please do me a favor and mention that you heard it, but I'm here to on the Garage Logic podcast, Reavers here once again for my guy. Mr. Money Talk Josh Arnold does thinking about retirement make you uncomfortable? Well, sometimes the anxiety from wondering if you've saved enough can be overwhelming. But what if I told you that you could ease those tensions in just 48 minutes? Well, Mr. MoneyTalk is going to be able to sit down with you and get you on the right track for your financial future. Josh has navigated it all when it comes to uncertain market and economic conditions, and he'll always provide straight talk, never sugarcoated advice on how to reach the finish line with your retirement goals. Don't let your financial worries give you an ulcer or keep you from calling Josh right now. His 48 minute, no obligation consultation could be just what you need to feel better about your future. Call Josh today at 952-925-5608 and set up your free, yes, free 48 minute, no obligation consultation. That's 952-925-5608. Investment services offered by Josh Arnold Investment Consultant, LLC. A security investment advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investments involve risk. All comments and op are Josh Arnold's and do not constitute investment advice.

[B]

Chris Reivers is a paid endorser. Rolling, rolling, rolling.

[A]

The newsman is rolling.

[D]

Here is one and only John Hayes.

[F]

Thanks very much there partner. One One sports note before we get the news, Kevin Williams has been named a finalist for the Pro Football hall of Fame. Again. Former Vikings standout defensive tackle was one of 15 finalists announced today. Those finalists also include Minnesota native Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees, Reggie Wayne, Frank Gore, Adam Venatori, Eli Manning and several others. This will be as I said William 6th year of eligibility, first time being.

[C]

Refresh my memory please.

[D]

Baseball writers vote in hall of Fame members for mlb who votes in the.

[C]

Way Royce explains it is I think it's Mark Craig is the Vikings representative now that's Sid was for the longest time and he presents to the panel why he believes like for instance Kevin Williams should be elected.

[D]

So it's a panel of just randomly select. It's not like the Football writers of.

[C]

America that I don't know how that process works, but it's extensive. There's many people. But it's not baseball where you hit a certain percentage or maybe it is and it's just not as public as it is with baseball. So I don't know. But I do believe Mark Craig is now the representative for any Viking player that's nominated.

[A]

Got it.

[F]

In news over six months after his family survived that shooting, Senator John Hoffman has announced he is running for reelection. In a Facebook post, Hoffman said he's seeking reelection to keep leading with dignity. He said Minnesotans are tired of the vitriol. We've seen firsthand where hate and dehumanization can lead. My family survived it. Leadership matters and decency matters.

[C]

Is that shocking that he's deciding to run?

[A]

Well, I guess I'm friends with John, so I talked with him about it. I don't know if it was public or not, but I mean, I'm really glad to see that Senator Hoffman's running.

[C]

Again because I could see how someone say, I don't want to deal with this anymore.

[A]

No, I don't think anyone would fault him. But I think he just. People respond to this stuff in a different way. And he's a fighter and he's, you know, he's got a. As usual, we have these conversations that you can say privately but not publicly. But he's a fighter, right? So I mean, you can imagine he's got some pretty strong views about the.

[C]

You'Re not gonna defeat me. I got you.

[F]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I mean, but also the asshole who shot him, right? He's very much a feisty scrapper and I'm really glad that he's running again. I think it's a good thing. So I'm glad that he came out publicly and said what he's been saying privately.

[F]

Update to a story we had yesterday. That man now has been charged with murder after assaulting the hospital security guard who later died in Wyoming. Minnesota officers had been called to an M. Health Fairview Lakes Hospital on Christmas. The report of a man leaving the emergency department despite a medical hold. The man, identified as 35 year old Jonathan Winch, had pushed past the large magnet magnetic doors and left the emergency department. According to the complaint, a responding officer found an unconscious security guard lying next to a security security vehicle that had its lights activated. Winch was seen trying to get into the vehicle. According to the documents, the officer actively fought with Winch for several minutes, even tried tasing him before other officers got to the scene and helped with the arrest. During the fight, Winch Said multiple times, I didn't mean to hurt her. According to the documents, the security guard, identified as 43 year old Andrea Merrill, was brought to the hospital with severe head trauma, bad breathing and a very weak pulse. Surveillance video showed two people near the security vehic appearing to engage in a physical struggle. Meryl died of her injuries on Saturday. The Ramsey county medical examiner determined her death to be a homicide, the cause being traumatic head injuries due to physical assaults.

[C]

And do we know. Did these two know each other?

[A]

No, they did not.

[C]

Was this random?

[A]

No. This guy, this guy. This guy was in. He was under a psychiatric hold.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I should not say psychiatric because I don't know that, but he was under a medical hold.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

I mean, this is why when people see like these videos of why is a security guard overreacting or whatever, this is why. Right, right. I mean, someone gets on.

[D]

You don't know what, you don't know what they're thinking.

[A]

Someone gets on top of you and even if they don't have weapons, you know, they can mess you up.

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, you got a hard surface underneath you. And that's unfortunately what happened to this woman. Just awful. And so, you know, cut those law officers and security guards some t, you know, give them some room.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Cut them some slack.

[F]

Story we've been talking about. Top officials in the administration of President Trump are directing more federal law enforcement resources to investigate those allegations of government fraud in Minnesota, a move that comes in the wake of a viral video claiming significant abuse in Somali run daycare programs. The 43 minute video, posted to social media platforms on Friday by 23 year old YouTube creator Nick Shirley, showed what appeared to be empty daycare centers in Minneapolis and claims to expose millions of dollars in fraud in the state's largely federally funded child care program. The video is based on existing allegations about fraud in Minnesota's child care program, which until recently was run by the state's Department of Human Services, now is under the authority of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, a spin off agency. In the video, Shirley visits numerous daycares, including Quality Learning center, which had already been under investigation by state officials for various violations and had collected $7.8 million from the state since 2019. That according to a report from our friends last January down at KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.

[C]

I did not see the video, you guys, but did Nick Shirley get the same beautiful quote that Jay Coles did months ago? Remember the home run quote when she looked in the camera said day here at night, meaning that's why there was no one there during the day? Because she said they were all here at night. Yeah, because that's when you need daycare the most. Is that right?

[D]

100%.

[A]

Well, you can also, you know, if you say you're open from 7am to 10pm you can build more hours. It's more money.

[C]

That's true.

[A]

And you can blame more students. It's a sweet racket. I'm gonna open the Garofalo daycare daycare.

[D]

World open 24 7.

[A]

But keep in mind this daycare stuff, this is all separate from the 14 high risk Medicaid waiver programs that the DOJ has been involved in. And folks, I'm not trying to be unbelievable, I'm not trying to be cynical or negative. No, please. We've been talking about this for over a decade.

[C]

Well, you said 2010.

[A]

Well, so PCA was a separate thing. But you can go back and read the office of the Legislative Auditor reports. This is why Jim no was in the Star Tribune today. The former legislative auditor, nonpartisan, universally trusted, and he's just really taking a hammer to people who are defending the status quo. Like listen, we've been saying there's financial control issues for a long time and no one's listening to us. Or they choose to not ignore it or when legislators would supply this information to people. We did have people who are investigators in the agencies and they would put together a package and they would give it to the counties and the counties wouldn't prosecute.

[C]

Well, that's why I have such an issue with the likes of Walz saying, well now we're gonna get to the bottom of this. You've been in charge this entire time?

[A]

Well, it's.

[C]

And you were presented information and your office refused to do anything about it at the time.

[A]

So ultimately this is just the ball is now in the court of Minnesotans. Right? Like this is Minnesota. You've got to decide whether this is important to you or not. There's a bunch of competing narratives out there, competing political sides pointing fingers and blaming people. You just have to figure out if this is acceptable matters. Does it matter to you or not? Again, I find dark humor in the fact that now this is news, it's 2025 and it's going to be 2026. I find dark humor in it. Cuz I'm like, okay, you saw me give these speeches on the House floor. You saw other people give these speeches. You saw Onesie Twosie reports. You've seen the prosecutions from the Department of Justice. They Tried to bribe a federal juror and got caught. Okay.

[D]

With a bag of money from Monopoly. With a nap.

[A]

O. So you have just an exhaustive amount of details, and now people are surprised, like, oh, I had no idea it was this bad. I mean, again, I don't know how many commercial spaces with grayed out, blacked out windows for daycare do you have to see? It's common sense. This has been going on for a while, listeners, you just have to decide if this is important to you or not or if you're going to get distracted and care about something else.

[C]

We're preaching the choir to our listeners. But let me ask, ask you this then, not to get too personal. Is this one of the main reasons why you decided it wasn't worth it anymore?

[A]

Oh, no, no, that wasn't. I'd done it for 20 years. It was just time to move on.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

I didn't know what role that, that played in your decision.

[A]

No, I mean, again, it's frustrating. But you, you know, it's, it's when one of the things that's tough about these stories is that you, you lose the benefit of nuance. It's, it's like, oh, everybody in government is dumb and stupid and on the take.

[C]

Are you on our Facebook page again?

[A]

No, no, no. You guys, there are authentic whistleblowers in state government who have been afraid to go to their managers with this stuff because they could get punished. And so when they instill in you the trust of like, hey, this is what I found. Like, you take that responsibility seriously. So there are really good actors in government who recognize that the worst part about this fraud is it's stealing money from the people who really need it. Whether it's autism services, transportation services, or likewise, this is money being stolen from people who truly need it. So you take a more nuanced view of it. But anyone who is like, well, I didn't know this was going on, well, you got to pay attention. You got to be an informed citizenry. But again, if you don't care, fine. Go make some more popcorn pop on Netflix. That's. That's. Someone else will figure that out. But there are. John, did you have other news? Because there's, There is other.

[F]

I was going to ask you if you heard. Did you hear any of. We had Arnie Carlson on last.

[A]

Yes.

[F]

And Arnie, I mean, he hit the nose on the head. He said, you know, the fact that nobody in government either, you know, mentioned this or noticed it, whichever, is ridiculous. He said that there's no way that can happen.

[A]

Well, so he, you know, again, we have an office of the Legislative Auditor that has issued many reports that for those of us who were in the legislature, read this stuff. It was all there. And the agency's response was to attack the office of the Legislative Auditor. It wasn't to look at their internal financial controls. And whether you like or dislike Arne Carlson, this is a guy with audit experience. I thought you guys interview with him was great, by the way, Guy sharp as a tack in his 90s. I hope I'm like that one in my 90s.

[C]

Rook and I played a major role in that interview. So you're welcome.

[E]

Right?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Whose birthday was it? I don't know. I can't remember. I can't keep track of it. But no, this is about competence. And he made this reference too about like, you know, maybe you should have people with management experience who are going to run the state, you know, I don't know. But it's no people, just Minnesotans need to decide if this is acceptable or what needs to happen. It's just going to be. It's just that simple. You need to figure it out. For me, this is nothing new. I really do wonder if people, like, for those of us who've been talking about this, I wonder if they thought we were lying. Like, did they think we were making this stuff up?

[C]

Well, initially they might have, but they have no excuse to believe that now. I mean, you've got mountains of evidence.

[F]

That proves you guys part of it's. Yeah, but it's the silo thing you were talking about though, Pat. I think half those people just went, well, I don't care what they say. Well, I don't care what Pat says. He's a Republican.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know. I guess I have this defect of whenever someone tries pitching a story to me or reading something, I immediately try to seek out the contrarian argument to find out if it's true or not.

[C]

Why are you lying to me the whole email?

[A]

Yeah. You know what I mean? But in this case, and one of the hard parts is I lose track about what's public and what's not public. Sure, right. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this Nick Shirley guy, he didn't just fly. Well, actually I can share this because House Majority Leader Harry Niska shared this. The guys in that video, they got their information from state staff. They're like, go look at these daycares. Here's the numbers. It's not like this guy just flew in and randomly picked these daycares and it wasn't there.

[D]

He was provided information from.

[A]

House staff and then the same thing. Like, remember Jake Holes reported on this in January. Right. I mean, we have. So this is, we're just talking about the daycare side of things. But you can, from a forensic perspective, when you start having 1,000% increases in programs, programs without a corresponding population accounting for it, it just, you know, it.

[C]

Doesn'T pass the smell test.

[A]

It does not pass. So. But we have. So it'll be. John, it's gonna be interesting. We'll see what happens. But I will just tell you, this is not going away. It is going to increase. The federal government is involved and at some point we just have to have an honest conversation as Minnesotans, not as Republicans or Democrats, Democrats, but as just Minnesotans who love this state that our delivery of public services is broken. Okay? We are not a well run, we are a poorly run state. Our service delivery is broken and we need to do a better job.

[C]

You know who is going away for.

[E]

Just a brief moment?

[F]

We are.

[C]

Because we are nuts. And we are nuts. Mn.com? i think I told you guys the boy and I did a road trip a little over a week ago. Three jars of cinnamon toffee peanuts. He woofed down on that road trip to Cleveland and back and he wanted more. So we had to stop at Fradoloni's and get some more cinnamon toffee peanuts. But that's the beauty of it. Yes, Fratelloni's Hardware and Garden stores, Lund's and Barley's, Kowalski's markets, Cub Foods, Coburn's. Quick trip. It's everywhere right now. What do we go through the most? Cinnamon toffee peanuts, Hokey pokey popcorn and oh, the cashews and the maple bourbon toffee almonds are the biggest hits in my household. But you can see their entire Lineup [e-mail] handmade in small right here in the great state of Minnesota. And it's a wonderful family owned operation and it's been a great relationship here with the family of wearenuts and wearenutsmn.com if you're not able to make it any one of those locations, like I said, just place your order [e-mail] and please do me a favor and mention that you heard about them here on the garagelogic podcast.

[B]

I have new information from Precision Door. Right now is a special, special $500 off the purchase of a new door and that includes the operator, the motor, the engine that'll raise and lower it. That's $500 off the purchase of a door and operator combination. And don't forget that noisy Door Tune up special for $149. With these new doors, there's models for every budget. Just think what that would do. It'll increase the aesthetics. It would save some energy, provide better security and not break down in the dead of winter. You don't want to go out there and have that baby not work in the dead of February. And if you do like your current door, get that noisy door tune up special. But right now, on a new door, single door, double door, 500 bucks off the purchase of a door and operator combination. That is fantastic. Book online@Precision Doormn. That's one word precision doormn.com or call 612-263-6985 to schedule your free on site new door estimate or book a noisy Door Tune up special with precision Do.

[C]

Here's a guy ready to do his liner read from the previous segment. Johnny Hyde in the newsroom.

[F]

Thanks, Chris. I should mention before we do this second somewhat lighter segment of news that it's brought to you by North American Banking Co. Thanks fellas.

[D]

As always, thanks for saying that again.

[F]

One decade after an investment firm was created to help save Sears from its demise, well, hasn't worked out so well. Five Sears stores are still operating in the United States and they won't be around much longer, according to industry experts. Neither will Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust created in 2015 to cash in on the value of the retailers properties. It abandoned its somewhat audacious plan to turn Sears rich real estate holdings into mixed use properties and 10 today, Seritage is offloading the last of its assets as it pays down a $1.6 billion term loan from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Adam Metz is CEO of Seritage. He said in an interview the goal is to sell the remaining Seritage assets as quickly and profitably as possible, but we are also very open to an alternative transaction that could enhance shareholder value. The stores here in the St. Paul area, they have seen various redevelopments since they were put up for sale by seritage back in 20 after being acquired by the founder of Frogtown's Mungtown Marketplace. The former Sears store at the Maplewood Mall is now an indoor shopping bazaar featuring Southeast Asian vendors and a video game arcade, as well as a Pan Asian center performance space for Collectible sales and traveling shows including the recent Festival of Lights in St. Paul. The Sears department store at 425 Rice St. Closed in January 2019. And long standing plans for a full scale redevelopment with housing, offices and ground level retail never materialized. A Twin Cities partnership backed by an Illinois investor purchased the site mid 2023, then quickly sold it that same year to Twin Cities based Asian Media Access, which announced plans for a charter school, a 3D themed theme park, a hotel and other attractions that have never moved forward. The most active use of that Rice street location has been its parking lot lot which has hosted Pan Asian night markets, amateur wrestling, a tequila festival.

[A]

Yeah.

[F]

And other outdoor events.

[C]

So if I'm hearing you correctly, how we're going to combat a legendary name in a store that's been operating for 100,000 years because of online purchasing and kind of taking its places. We're going to put in an arcade apparently where everyone plays video games online in their home.

[A]

Gonna bring back Aladdin's Castle.

[D]

Oh my God.

[A]

Remember this?

[D]

Yeah, that's way back.

[A]

The mall, video game store places. Oh yeah, Aladdin's Castle.

[C]

Well, I mentioned, I think this was during the break, but I was in Cleveland a week ago. Do you guys remember the scene where they filmed the Christmas story scene with Santa? My son and I walked past that. Higgs, is it in Cleveland? Thank you, Higby's. And we walked through there to get to our parking ramp. This is, is five days before Christmas. It was empty.

[A]

Ho ho.

[C]

It was just. But you could tell in its day it had to have been just festive.

[D]

And just, oh sure, the window treatment, just like Dayton's.

[C]

But it was just, it was sad. It was so sad.

[F]

Hollywood wrapped up a turbulent year with big ticket sales. This past weekend, big ticket sales went to Avatar, Fire and Ash and Timothy Chalamet's new film, Marty Supreme. As expected, James Cameron's latest trip to Pandora dominated ticket sales, collecting 88 million over the four day Christmas to Sunday period and 64 million on the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. In two weeks, Fire and Ash has amassed $217.7 million in North America. Internationally, $542.7 million. Wow. That means it's already made money because it cost about 400,000 dol million to make. Much of the heat in the theaters over Christmas and on the weekend belonged to Marty Supreme. That's A24's biggest budget release ever. It's a 1950s set table tennis drama collecting 27.1 million over the four day weekend, a smash success for indie studios. Great reviews. And that one for Timothy Chalamet that was not expected to finish number two. Number two was supposed to be Anaconda, a big screen comedy starring Jack Black and.

[D]

God, are you serious?

[F]

Big screen comedy starring J. Black and Paul Rudd that collected 23.7 million over the four day Halloween.

[A]

John, did you say table tennis?

[F]

Table tennis, yeah. It looks pretty cool from the previews. Actually.

[A]

This is this Marty supreme. Yeah, it's about ping pong.

[F]

It's. Well, he's a. He's a ping pong champion, I believe.

[A]

I don't know the whole story. And it's number two at the box office.

[F]

Yeah. And Chalamet's getting incredible reviews.

[A]

Is in it as a ping pong player.

[F]

As a ping pong player, that's correct.

[A]

Huh.

[C]

Let's hear him out.

[A]

What's it about?

[C]

Give us the story.

[A]

The public is never wrong. There must be something.

[D]

It just goes back and forth.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

I'll give you one.

[A]

No, I'll.

[C]

I'll give you one. I'll give you. That was pretty good.

[A]

That was well done.

[C]

Are you willing to take questions from the listener?

[A]

Loyal. That depends what the question is.

[C]

Loyal town council member Mark. No, Mark's. Mark's great. Hey, if you guys have time, please ask Pat, since he's filling in today, how he did with his king of the hill wager since he talked about that the last time he was on with Joe. Thanks and have a happy new year.

[A]

Uh. Oh, yeah.

[C]

Oh, no.

[A]

So for those that don't know, loyal listeners know that I.

[C]

Survivor league type of thing.

[A]

Yeah. Last year I made $30,000 in a Survivor league. There's a big contest out in Las Vegas run by the Circuit Casino. It's $1,000 to enter and then basically either you win every single game or if you lose one, you're out. And last year there was a whole bunch of upset wins in the first three weeks. I made it through that survived. And then I just. I sold my entry three weeks into it and was hoping for a repeat this year. That did not happen.

[D]

It's funny how gambling can humble a man, huh?

[A]

Well, what humbles a man is when. I mean, it was the most. For those who are fans of pro football, it was this bizarre game between the Arizona Cardinals.

[C]

That's what got me. I was knocked up in the same one.

[A]

The Tennessee Titans.

[F]

Yes.

[A]

And you guys, I can't get too dialed up about it because we'll never know the reason why. But it is like for whatever Reason God wanted the Arizona Cardinals to lose that game.

[C]

He did.

[A]

I mean, the guy is running into the end zone and just drops the ball before he runs in. They intercept a pass from the Titans, and the guy, he not only does he just, for no reason, fumble the interception. There's a picture where you can see four Cardinals around the ball on the ground, and they converge on it. One of them kicks the ball into the end zone where a Tennessee Titans player happens to run over and land on it. It just. For whatever reason, sometimes God just wants you to lose. And I don't. That's what happened.

[C]

Or.

[D]

Let's find out what those guys were. You know, the baseball thing or what's going on.

[A]

No, they. They couldn't. Listen, you couldn't have scripted this.

[D]

If it was fixed.

[A]

You couldn't have done it this way. It was. Seriously, it was incredible. And just. And the Titans at the time. So anyways. So now that you're out. So I'm out. The contest is now going into the last week. It's an $18.7 million prize pool, and there's six people left. Oh, holy.

[D]

So what?

[F]

Crap.

[A]

18.7 million. Because there's. So everyone puts $1,000 in. There were 18,700 entries, and throughout the year, people lost. But what's unique about this contest is Thanksgiving is its own week. So the four. The three games on Thanksgiving and then the day afterwards, those four games are their own week. And this year, all four underdogs won.

[C]

It's true.

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

So it's down to six people now. And there's things you can do where you can monetize your entry by hedging it and stuff.

[D]

But explain to me this, then. For those six people, it's like the heads and tails game at a fundraiser. You know, when you gotta flip the coin. You got your heads or your tail.

[F]

Tails.

[D]

What if they all are out?

[A]

Then they split it. Then they split it.

[D]

Oh, okay.

[A]

But you have to realize, the farther on you get in this, there are different strategies you can use to monetize your entry. So you can just sell your entry to someone else.

[C]

Oh, I'd be selling that thing right now. It's so unpredictable because you don't know who's going to play, who's going to actually make an effort and who's not.

[A]

Or. And again, coming into this week, you can do things like, okay, my entry has an implied value of $100,000. Well, the casino. The casino will give you a line of credit to bet $15,000 on the other side of it. So if your entry loses, then your $15,000 wager wins and you can cash out that way. So going in. So going into. Going in. I'm sorry, big tangent here. No, no, it's good. So Thanksgiving, Christmas week, going into that, you had three games, right? Dallas, Washington, Minnesota, Detroit, and Kansas City.

[C]

Denver.

[A]

Denver. Okay. So people have used a lot of these teams already. You can only use a team once. So people were really limited in their options. And there were four people who picked the Vikings to win because they were.

[C]

The only team they had.

[A]

It was that or Kansas City. Remember, everyone was on their third string quarterback or.

[F]

Right.

[A]

And those four people. Those four people won. They made it through. And so. But again, it's all about. You just gotta pick one entry each week. You know, of course it's very hard to do that, but it's a really. Thanks for the question. What was his name?

[C]

Mark.

[A]

Mark. Thanks for the question. I always like reliving my losses, but it was. But it's a fun contest and I actually run like my own Survivor League just for fun. People put ten bucks in and up to five in. And last, going into Christmas week, there were only three entries left. One of them was my brother. And my brother had a huge advantage because the two guys left. They had to take Dallas and he was the only one who had Detroit. And then Detroit, of course, just totally shit the bed. So he lost from that. I will say I hope my brother isn't listening right now, but it was enjoyable reading his text messages. But no, it's a fun little contest. And you know, what I do now is I kind of share entries with people. I don't. That $1,000 thing was kind of a fluke, but it's a good time. So I do have one thing before I go here I wanted to just make sure everyone knows about. And this is in the area of food, being the president of the Minnesota Groceries Association. Yeah.

[D]

Mga.

[A]

Mga. I'm a big fan of talking about food and groceries and you guys eat like frozen pizzas and stuff, right?

[D]

Hell yeah.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

Okay. Just. It's not a plug.

[D]

You got a special.

[A]

No, no, no, it's a. Yeah.

[F]

Coupons for us.

[A]

How fun would it be if I did that? If I picked one of the stores? I said, if you go to Storex, tell them Pat sent you. They'll give you a two for one. Go to Vogel's on Randolph and Fairview.

[F]

Watch me.

[A]

Watch me get fired. I'm not going to do that. No, I just. No, Last night I had a Kowalski's pizza. Like they have their own in house pizza. It was really good.

[C]

Yeah, they make a good slice.

[A]

But anyways, unrelated to that, there's the North Market in north Minneapolis. I don't know if you saw this. Pillsbury United Communities. The store, it's a nonprofit, announced last week that they're going to close the store and they cited financial concerns and the small margins. It's difficult to run a grocery store. And of course the policy consideration here is that we don't want to have food deserts where people can't, can't buy groceries. So they've been. The store has been relying on Philanthropy for 30% of its funding and that still wasn't enough to keep them open. So that's going to be closing. They say they have plans to, they're going to pause and then they're going to try to reopen it with a different model at some point in the future. But the good news is that you do not need to fret because a solution is on the way.

[D]

What do we got?

[C]

What do we got?

[A]

Breaking news. Yeah, this is breaking news. This is from kstp. This came out. This was yesterday. Minneapolis city leaders are considering opening a city owned grocery store to address the lack of access to fresh, affordable food in some communities. The recent announcement of North Market's closure. That's the place that closed. Has expanded the food desert north Minneapolis, prompting discussions about a city run grocery store. Last year, the Minneapolis city council allocated 200 grand during its most recent budget cycle for initial investments in the city run grocery store idea. Council member Robin Wansley said the first steps include identifying parts partners and finding a location. The government needs to fill in the gaps, step into the void. The private market is not meeting is what she said. When asked if the city can effectively manage a grocery store, Wansley responded, quote, it's the same as the city caring for our roads, public housing and water.

[D]

Yeah, just what I want to buy a head of lettuce that's been sitting, sitting in a city warehouse for the last three weeks. And well, I'm sure freshest ingredients for my freshest ingredients. I can tell you that right now.

[A]

We'll see how that turns out. I really, really hope the city of Minneapolis doesn't go down the route of the city run grocery store because in all seriousness, it'll make matters worse because.

[C]

Well, it worked out well in Kansas City.

[A]

Yeah, it worked out. Yeah.

[C]

And didn't Seattle try that too?

[A]

Well, there's a lot of again, if you look at the food, it's hard to run a grocery store. It's labor intensive. It's capital intensive. You have constant turnover. You have dollars sitting on your shelves. In terms of inventory in some neighborhoods, you have to compete with unenforced theft. On top of that, you've got, particularly In Minneapolis and St. Paul, you. You have labor mandates that drive up the cost of labor in the cause.

[C]

The minimum wage goes into effect tomorrow as well.

[A]

Or not tomorrow, but it's an increased minimum wage, which I think in Minneapolis now, I think is up to $16.17.

[C]

Statewide it's 11. Correct.

[A]

Yeah. So there's a much higher there. And then the paid family leave mandate that is going into effect just because.

[C]

It didn't work in the private sector. The city is here, here to save us because they'll make it work.

[A]

I have to assume that people are gonna want to avoid this shit show and it's not gonna happen. You know, the Minneapolis City council elections actually went pretty good this year, you know, in terms of they move the dial towards pragmatism and adulthood. And I have to think that.

[C]

Towards adulthood.

[A]

No, I mean, I just.

[C]

But you're right.

[A]

What do you. When you're talking about, like, we're not talking about progressives and DFLers here, we're talking about like the DS. These are the seize the means of production crowd. When you're talking about these people, I don't know, on their way, you have to moving towards adulthood. That's the best way I can describe it. But anyway, so that's on that note. Hopefully we are able to see some more private sector solutions towards expanding food access in the Twin Cities because it is a big deal and everyone has to eat. So we should be able to agree on that. But once again, I want to say thank you guys. Just be back soon. Good luck with the new daycare you're building. I hope it goes well. We'll catch you guys next time. As always, fun seeing you guys. Have a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

[C]

Thank you, Pat. Always appreciate you coming in. And if you have not done so yet, hit the subscribe button. It's right there on the Garage Logic YouTube channel. That's right, Garagelogic has a YouTube channel. And you can watch the show each and every single day starting right around noon. And you can also see full segments, video shorts, behind the scenes footage. It's all there for you. You just search garage logic on YouTube along with all of our social media channels. That includes Facebook, Instagram and X and also sign up for the Daily Logician. That's an email that comes right to your inbox each and every single day. And it includes the most recent episode of the podcast. Find out more and sign up today at garagelogic.

[B]

Hey folks, it's Patrick Ricey and fruitcake is back on the menu. Baby, let me ask you something. Would you be happy if the only dessert you got this holiday season was fruitcake?

[A]

Well, no.

[B]

Neither would I.

[A]

That's what it's like when you've got.

[B]

One insurance agent with just one company, you don't have any options. That's why I work with the Canopy Group. They're an insurance agency that's unique because they offer 16 carefully selected companies for your home and auto insurance. And behind the scenes, they've got 50 licensed elves. Okay, they're agents, but this time of year, let's call them elves, making sure you always have the best coverage at the best price. So this holiday season, don't settle for fruitcake. Get options, visit the Canopy Group and see what they can do for you.

[C]

The canopygroup.com Time once again to check in with our guy, Mr. Money Talk. Josh Arnold is with us once again right here in garagelogic. And now is the time for you to do the same. So do not delay, do exactly what I did and pick up that phone and dial 952-925-5608. That number once again is 952-925-5608. When you call that number, you're going to get Josh and he is there for you for that. Free. Yes, I use the word free. 48 minute financial consultation with absolutely zero obligation. And he will always give you the straight talk. He will never give you the sugar coated advice. And he is on with us once again right here in Garage Logic. And boy, Josh, the Fed minutes show.

[E]

The Fed minutes show a tight split over cutting rates versus leaving rates alone as Fed governors debated whether the economy and whether the economy was growing, whether the economy was shrinking with whether unemployment was growing or whether it was more important to cover still inflation. Well, let's just talk talk about inflation as we have in discussing the Fed all year. Inflation is not in my estimation. The inflation in my estimation is not going to get down to the Fed's 2% target. Almost impossible to do. It could come close to that. But to get to 2% or even below that, the economy would have to go into a stall or into a recession to bring prices down that that much. Just in terms of looking at the consumer price index over A third is devoted to housing or mortgage equivalent rents or rent equivalent mortgages. Well even if mortgages come down a little bit, if interest rates drop, you still have the monthly cost still going up because the next largest chunk of the CPI is insurance costs. So you have property and casualty insurance. I don't know about yours Chris, but my property and casualty insurance continues to go up, not, not down. Have auto insurance that has not gone down either. That kind of creeps, creeps up. And I have my property taxes. Even in a old neighborhood that I live in, property taxes have continued to move up. So that, and now the, the insurance cost. My property tax increase is greater than the level of inflation currently a little over 2.5%. Then I can talk about the cost of education. Well that's at least twice the cost in some cases three times the cost or the increase in the inflation number cost of getting a, we'll say a cup of coffee at Starbucks and I'm not a coffee drinker at Starbucks that has continued to go up way above inflation costs. So getting in, getting to that 2 1/2% inflation adjusted number. So the Fed is going to be very difficult. And that puts the Fed in a box about cutting interest rates. Now if we switch to where the economy is, the economy measured by the recent GDP numbers being above 3%, that's still a pretty significant growth rate. And that in my estimation could, could, could continue particularly on the backs of artificial intelligence and the, we'll say the outward move of spending that's going to go on related to artificial intelligence and how that is going to increase productivity and that definitely is going to, to help out the overall economy. If I look at unemployment numbers, yes they have been going up, but a lot of the unemployment increase is still due to government workers being off during the government shutdown. So that combination of, of variables has made it very difficult for the Fed to continue saying we need, we need to cut interest rates. The next Fed, the next Fed meeting is in January and that's going to come right before I'll say Congress votes on their continuing, the next continuing resolution solution, which is another story altogether. And I think that is that could create some issues for the market late in January or late in January as it's going to come just as earnings start coming out from, from companies. My sense is that the Senate is not going to get the 60 votes necessary to pass a continuing resolution at the end of January and that could result in another government shutdown. So just something to pay attention to and prepare for going, going you know, going forward. What can we do about that right now? Well, what can we do? You still have a couple days left with for 2025 that can help you. We'll say tax wise. If you have any losses that you have not realized right now and still have a lot of gains, taxable gains, it might make sense to sell some of your losing positions before the end of the year and you can use the losers to offset any of your short term winners. You can report up to $3,000 of taxable losses against your income and any losses that are greater than that they get carried forward into 2026. So that is something to do right now. Another thing you can do to reduce your taxable income right now is if you have not fully funded your 401k, make sure that you do that. You still have a few days today and tomorrow to do to do that. If you have not given to a charity and you have a favorite charity and I'm very big on making charitable gifts and recommending that the same make a charitable contribution either today or tomorrow. And that can also help reduce your taxable income income for 2025. Now going into 2026 negatives that I see one is you've got midterm midterm elections. Second, you're going to have a new Fed chief that'll take office in late May and into June. That could be seen one of two ways. And the possibility of interest rate cuts coming before the election, you know, could be a possibility and that could help boost boost the stock market into the summer and into next fall prior to the election. But I would make a presumption now, now that the market I'll say in the late summer and into the fall will be a little bit more volatile until after the November midterms. Then of course as I mentioned, you have the continual resolution that could bring a government shut down the end of January. Offsetting that on the positive side, you're going to have the have better than expected corporate numbers coming forth. But again, caution would be on company guidance for the for the next quarter and year. And you'll have a positive impact from the big beautiful tax bill which should provide both individuals and companies some comfort and extra spending money into 2026 themes to focus on. Well, I'm still going to pound the table on artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence related names and they could be in we'll say more in the software rather than in some of the hardware favorites. You know, Apple and Amazon could be beneficiaries of that as well as we'll say Microsoft, Palantir and even Tesla. But I'm, I still look at Tesla as a car company. At the same time. Some other positives into the market could be an IPO of open AI which currently a private company and they're, they're behind Chat, the Chat GPT product and they recently got some additional funding from software bank and Softbank does trade as an ADR here in the United States and that might be a way to invest, you know, we'll say indirectly into open AI. The next big IPO for the year is going to be Space X which owns Starlink and the Starlink satellites, also a private company but they're not associated with or not part of Tesla. That's a separate company. And there are a few, few currently publicly traded vehicles that own the privately held Space X including Barron's Partners Fund and Arc Innovations Fund to name two. But again those are small parts of these of these two funds. But those could be the two big IPOs coming into next year. Do prepare for more volatility and I do continue to recommend keeping up to 30% in cash cash the balance invested for longer term growth and that should help do well in what could be an interesting 2026.

[C]

Excellent advice as always, Mr. MoneyTalk. You heard him G ers. Now is the time for you to pick up the phone and make the call for that free 48 minute financial consultation with absolutely zero obligation. And you do that just like I did by dialing 959255608 where you always get straight talk and never ever sugar coated advice. Josh, once again thank you so much for the time and the chat. Enjoy the rest of your day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.

[E]

Look forward to it. Thanks Chris.

[C]

Investment services offered by Josh Arnold Investment Consultant llc. A security investment advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investments involve risk. All comments and opinions are Josh Arnold's and do not constitute investment advice.

[B]

Chris Reivers is a paid endorser.