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Mike Fratelloni
Everybody talked about it since I first moved to Oregon. The big one. The earthquake that trashed the whole West Coast. Total destruction.
Chris Reivers
Officially calling it the largest natural disaster in American history.
Mike Fratelloni
I just didn't know what would help me next. So I took it all. Even the gun. It was time. Cielo.
Chris Reivers
American Afterlife, presented by Pair of Thieves. The number one fiction and drama podcast in America.
Mike Fratelloni
Listen wherever you get.
Chris Reivers
Your favorite podcasts available now.
Mike Fratelloni
Mishke here joining the GL world to pitch my new podcast, which now comes out twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays. The show features an extraordinary array of exotic circus performers, forgotten Hollywood starlets, reclusive Fortune 500 CEOs, professional taxidermists. Wait a minute. That's a different promo. Where's the promo for G Ellers? Here it is. Let's try this again. Mishke here pitching my new podcast. We're out of time. Could I do it again?
Mark Ellis
Garagelogic isn't just another podcast. It's a trusted voice with a loyal audience. Every day, listeners tune in and pay attention to the businesses we feature. When you advertise with garagelogic, you're putting your brand in front of people who listen and act. We're number one in Anguilla, and we'll make your business number one with G Ellers. Here's what one of our clients had to say.
Chris Reivers
Hey, it's Pete Arnold from Hire it Pro. And I've used garagelogic to promote my business for years, and I've seen great results and new clients for my services from the Glers audience. I recommend it to any business looking for new customers. G l ers are pretty awesome. You just gotta ask for an introduction.
Mark Ellis
You just heard how garagelogic delivers results for our advertising partners. Now it's your turn. Reach our engaged audience of G allers and grow your business by contacting account executive mark ellis@mark.ellisbi.com that's mark.ellisbi.com Put your message where it belongs, right in the ears of listeners who trust Garage Logic.
Mike Fratelloni
This is the weekly scramble, a place where we chat about life over a cold one or two. It's time to belly up to the pod with Mike Fratelloni and your host, Chris Reivers.
Chris Reivers
That's right. It's time for the weekly scramble podcast. My name is Chris Reavers with me as always. His name is Mike Fratelloni. Hello, Michael.
Mike Fratelloni
How you doing, Reivers?
Chris Reivers
Happy Cinco de Mayo. I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
Mike Fratelloni
I should have said hola, Riveros.
Chris Reivers
And it's on a taco Tuesday.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, that's, you know, all the things collide, right?
Chris Reivers
I'm such a nerd. Cause you know, everyone's. I'm a sucker for the really cool displays.
Mike Fratelloni
Oh, yeah.
Chris Reivers
So what am I doing tonight? We gotta do tacos.
Mike Fratelloni
You're making tacos.
Chris Reivers
We gotta do tacos. And so, yeah, Coburn's had the big display today when I went to. Cause that's my spot. I'm like, well, duh, we're doing tacos tonight.
Mike Fratelloni
I specifically avoided the Mexican restaurant that someone wanted to go to. Cause I said, it's Cinco de Mayo. I don't want to do that.
Chris Reivers
There's gonna be 9 million people.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, let's go to some other restaurant. Let's go to the Indian place. It's not Cinco de Indian.
Chris Reivers
Right?
Mike Fratelloni
Right. It's Cinco de Mayo. I don't even know what Cinco de Indian means. But you know what I'm talking about, right?
Chris Reivers
As long as I have a Corona that I'm fine.
Mike Fratelloni
Yes, they'll have them.
Chris Reivers
So I wanted to start with this. And again, it's from one of my favorite publications out there. The one I go to every single day for my news gathering information. The Babylon.
Mike Fratelloni
Oh yeah.
Chris Reivers
And I get it. I know it's satire. But the reason I found it hilarious but also deeply troubling at the same time is sometimes some of their stuff just hits a little bit too close to home.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, they're too real.
Chris Reivers
Even to the point where, you know, we'll joke on the air with on GL or this show. Like, is this a piece from the Onion? Is this a piece from the Babylon Bee? Or is this a real news story?
Mike Fratelloni
How sad that we can't tell anymore.
Chris Reivers
And it's brilliant. I got to give them credit. This is absolutely brilliant. So it's a minute long video. I'll kill my mic so you can hear it. It's a minute long video and the subject line just basically says, we asked AI because you know, AI is taking
Mike Fratelloni
over the world 100%.
Chris Reivers
One day at a time. It's just going to become everything. We asked AI to show America what it would be like without Republicans. Are you ready? Here we go.
Mark Ellis
It ends up when you do communism, right? It works perfectly and everyone loves it.
Mike Fratelloni
And it only took 200 million starving to get here.
Mark Ellis
That's less than half as many as we thought.
Chris Reivers
There has been another terrorist attack with 33 dead. The American government has decided not to do anything about it since we probably deserved it.
Mark Ellis
It sure is great that Abortion is now free and available for everyone everywhere.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, but it's too bad that there
Chris Reivers
aren't any babies to abort.
Mike Fratelloni
So since we outlawed being a heterosexual,
Mark Ellis
murdering those families was wrong. But you're an immigrant and you probably just didn't know any better. Plus, we shut down all prisons. You're free to go.
Chris Reivers
This is wrong. You need to lock him up.
Mark Ellis
How dare you question our compassion? Execute that man immediately. I found more letters we need to add to the acronym.
Mike Fratelloni
It's already so large, it's throwing off the rotation of the earth.
Chris Reivers
If we add any more letters, we'll die.
Mark Ellis
Then we die. Everyone just stay in line and walk through the scanner. It's going to check how dark your skin is to see how many benefits you get.
Mike Fratelloni
If I were you, I wouldn't bother.
Mark Ellis
The US has run out of money.
Mike Fratelloni
Can't we just murder more billionaires and confiscate their wealth?
Mark Ellis
There are no more left. I'm afraid someone in our country is actually going to have to get a job and work.
Chris Reivers
It's funny because so much of it is true.
Mike Fratelloni
It is weird. Every time I see them say, eat the rich or they're screaming about billionaires. Right? When I say they say, half regressive
Chris Reivers
friends from the left.
Mike Fratelloni
Yes, but then you have so many billionaires that are far left Democrats. I think the far right and the far left are kind of touching each other now because far righties. Yeah, it's like a big horseshoe. And far righties are saying, you know, maybe we don't need this many billionaires. And far lefty billionaires are bitching about billionaires. I'm like, what if someone believes you, billionaire, and they believe that you really should pay your fair share of taxes and they take 99% of your wealth? How would you like that? It's a really weird world. That was done by the Babylon Bee. Thank God for AI because they can just make it quick, right? That probably took them one hour to make. And it is a little too realistic when they said there's no more babies to abort because no one's even attempting to have children anymore because they're outlawed heterosexual. Yeah, they're outlawed heterosexuality.
Chris Reivers
I guess the part you touched on something there about how the far left, the far right are kind of almost hugging at the opposite end. And he said, so many billionaires that are in favor of the progressive left ideology. Here's what I would say about that. Yes, I know. The outspoken ones, the Zuckerbergs. The people like that have said that. I Think deep down, they truly don't believe that. I think deep down, they might publicly align themselves with that just because they don't want to offend half of the audience of whatever product they're attempting to push. And they might, deep down, have either a different viewpoint or they just want to keep their real thoughts to themselves. Because I remember watching an interview one time, this probably goes back five or 10 years. And I don't, forgive me, but I don't remember the actor's name. He wasn't a very well known actor, but it was a really fascinating conversation, just basically talking about the mindset of those that are in Hollywood. And he said something that struck me. He said, the thing is, a lot of these actors, when you see the awards shows, whether it's the Golden Globes, the Grammys, whatever, and they'll speak publicly about a given topic and yeah, there might be some truth to that. Deep down, they have a completely different belief system. They're acting, but they do not want to come forward with that because they realize I'm the product being sold. I'm the one that's starring in a movie. And if I come out, like, let's just say as a pro Trumper, well, half of the people that would maybe normally buy a ticket to my movie, they're not going to.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, maybe half of my left friends won't watch anything from the right. But the right kind of watches everything. Right. They'll watch a movie from everybody. So J.B. pritzker, the 43rd governor of Illinois. Right. He's worth. He's a billionaire worth $3.9 billion. Wow. He's the heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune. He's the heir. He didn't start Hyatt's hotels. He's the Mike Fratelloni of billionaires. Right. His dad did something great. And to have this guy bitch about billionaires and to complain about billionaires, it's like, give it up.
Chris Reivers
Then who are you kidding?
Mike Fratelloni
Give the money to the government. Give it all away. If you think billionaires are the trouble, then why do you accept yourself being one? And by the way, you didn't earn it potentially. You were the heir to the fortune. Right. Which I find even a little bit more repugnant that he bitches about it. It's like, well, take that huge benefit you have of your $3.9 billion and just put it into the general fund. I'll write you a strongly worded thank you note.
Chris Reivers
And that's why, you know, when we was it last week or the week before, maybe it was where we played the clip of Moron Zamdani in New York. Yes. I know that that's not how you pronounce it, but that's how Mike and I pronounce his name on this show. I get an email about that. I go, no, actually, that's how we pronounce it.
Mike Fratelloni
We know it.
Chris Reivers
Anyway, but when he had that video about, oh, it was. It was tax day. That's what it was about. And he said he started calling out people that own multimillion dollar penthouses in New York City, saying, what are you doing?
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah. And that guy's pissed. I'm forgetting the name, his name. But he is mad that he called out his $230 million penthouse. He's like, I'm gonna go ahead and try to figure out how to pull my 17,000 employees out of this town. It's like, oh, do it.
Chris Reivers
I missed that.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah. Oh, yeah. He was pissed.
Chris Reivers
I would blame him to be pissed. Yeah. And I just don't think that many people. And I know we're gonna get to stuff on that locally here as well. With Amy Klobuchar basically talking about how she's just gonna clean up all the fraud in this state. And I hope she does. I hope she does.
Mike Fratelloni
We've been bitching about it for months and years.
Chris Reivers
Lord knows she's probably gonna be the next governor of the state of Minnesota. I mean, honestly, I hope the voters are smart enough to find a differing voice from a different political side of the aisle. Because if you're not fed up with what's happened by this point, you're just simply never gonna be fed up with this, or you're never gonna believe that there was one trifecta in the state government that led to all of this happening. You're just never gonna believe it.
Mike Fratelloni
You're never gonna believe it. Who we were talking about in New York was Ken Griffin.
Chris Reivers
Thank you.
Mike Fratelloni
CEO of Citadel. In 2022, he moved his personal residence and his corporate headquarters from New York City to Miami. But he still has a ton of people living in the town. And he's like, I think I'm gonna pull. And reasons for leaving the city was rising crime, challenging business environment, and a desire for a better quality of life for his employees and his family. Makes a lot of sense. Right.
Chris Reivers
And again, I just. I don't understand how there's so much evidence about this type of thinking not working. It doesn't work. You can't just promise the moon and the stars and everything's going to be free. I saw a post the other day, it was so spot on because it was a woman who was complaining about the. And again, gas prices right now are driving up costs. There is absolutely no question about that whatsoever. But because of that, there was a woman complaining about grocery prices. She was at. I don't even remember what grocery store she was at. And then the comeback kind of was, well, when half of the country, not half, but when a growing number of people are reliant upon free groceries, someone's paying for that. And it's you and me.
Mike Fratelloni
The only problem with socialism is eventually you run out of somebody's money, right? Everybody's money. So this Ken Griffin, the guy from Citadel, he has a 300. Excuse me, a let me restate that $6 billion New York project that he's supposed to be starting. He says, you know what? We're really gonna rethink this out. And it says, we are about to commence the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating six highly paid construction jobs and the creation of over 15,000 permanent jobs in midtown New York. And he's like, we're not sure we're gonna spend the $6 billion there. Holy cow, wouldn't that be. That would be something to say. Your mayor did that to me. Your mayor, by insulting me, made me say, we're gonna take this $6 billion someplace else.
Chris Reivers
And then what would the messaging be from the mayor's office? See? Another evil billionaire.
Mike Fratelloni
Evil billionaires. We need to tax him.
Chris Reivers
That doesn't wanna take advantage of our wonderful programs here. Hey, I mentioned gas price. Let's talk about we are nuts. And wearenutsmn.com going on right now throughout the entire month of May, they are partnering up with Quick Trip locations. Check this out, all of you Quick Rewards members, which I happen to be one, by the way. I love Kwik Trip. I rotate between the New Prague locations and the Elko Newmarket store. But you Quick Rewards members are gonna save 5 cents per gallon of gas on a future fuel purchase when you buy any we are Nuts product at participating Quick Trip locations. I don't gotta tell you, you know, gas prices are high right now and they're not going down anytime soon. So when you pull into the pump, get some We R Nuts and you're gonna save, save, save 5 cents per gallon of gas at all participating Quick Trip locations. And you know the we are Nuts family owned and operated company here in Minnesota doing quality small batch fresh roasted nuts right here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And you can also get them at all of your fratelloni's, hardware and garden stores, locations, Lunds and Barley's, Kowalski' Max Hardware, Colburn's is carrying. We are nuts. And like I mentioned, 700 different quick trip locations. And it's a wonderful product. It's handfuls shared everywhere. I almost tried that.
Mike Fratelloni
That was not easy to say. Handfuls shared everywhere. That's kind of a fun promotion because gas prices are getting a little out of control.
Chris Reivers
I want to get to that in just a second. So we are nuts and. Wearenutsmn.com the weekly scramble. We will be right back. I got a firsthand report. A buddy of mine, okay, he owns his own trucking company.
Mike Fratelloni
Oh, nice.
Chris Reivers
Smaller company. So not a big fleet, but a smaller company.
Mike Fratelloni
Minivans and.
Chris Reivers
No, they're semis.
Mike Fratelloni
Okay, just checking.
Chris Reivers
But he sent me a picture. I believe he was in the southwest part of the state when he fueled up.
Mike Fratelloni
Marshall.
Chris Reivers
Okay, I don't want to name anywhere. Who cares anyway? Who cares? Because I'm not calling Granite City. It's everywhere, right? He filled up his rig. Hector Diesel. $708 to fill up his semi.
Mike Fratelloni
That's a lot of gas.
Chris Reivers
Think about that. It was close to six bucks a gallon, this particular place where he filled up. And, you know, I get it. Like, that's the cost of why we're in this mess. Although there's talks of a ceasefire today, I didn't even look into it because
Mike Fratelloni
it's way above a lot of ceasefires being named.
Chris Reivers
And I just. I'm not smart enough to pay attention to it. And I'm one of those, okay, I'll believe it if I see it or when I see it, kind of. But it's just like.
Mike Fratelloni
What I don't get is macroeconomically, the stock market is just running forward. It just keeps climbing. And every business out there, every man, woman and child that buys anything, uses anything, eats anything, does anything in the United States is getting clobbered by high gas prices. How will the stock market respond with profitable companies when they're. I mean, the airlines, what is it? For every penny, fuel prices go up, it costs Delta, like $4 million or something, right? It's some crazy stat.
Chris Reivers
Oh, I did not.
Mike Fratelloni
So when it goes up, you know, 230 pennies, it costs a billion dollars more for Delta. It's crazy, really. I just don't get how the market. Here. Here's what I think. You ready about the market? You ready?
Chris Reivers
Yep.
Mike Fratelloni
Because this. I'm going to make a prediction. I'm going to say The Dow hits 200,000 in the next handful of years because the baby boomers are getting older. They're not spending the money that they have invested and they're living longer. Right. So if you had $100,000 in the bank and you were 65 years old and you died at 66, well, your heirs took that money. But if you have $100,000 in the bank, you're 65, but you're going to live to 75. That's 10 more years of growth. Well, that growth has to happen in the market, Right? That's where you're invested. The money just stays there. There's nobody selling and just more people buying. So I have this weird thing that maybe we're in this because this is the longest Gen Z is scheduled to inherit more wealth than in any other time in history as a percentage of. Yeah, it's crazy because our parents are living way older and their money that they have is just growing exponentially in the market. Right. Because they have another 10 years time value of money. Right. You know, if money doubles every seven years at 10%, 7.2 years. Well, if they live 14 years longer, the money that they had there doubled twice more. Right. So it becomes this great amount of money. So I'm predicting that there's going to be so few people selling over the next 10, 15, 20 years because the old baby boomers are just starting to die. They're not all dying yet. And then Gen Z is going to get this great amount of money. So I think everybody whoever sells Porsche should just say let's just wait because Gen Z's are going to get a bunch of Porsches here pretty soon. They're going to take their parents hard earned money.
Chris Reivers
Yes.
Mike Fratelloni
And they're going to waste it right away.
Chris Reivers
That's like the infamous YouTube video where they were doing a Powerball segment at the local convenience store. I think it was out in New Jersey. Oh, so what are you gonna do with your money if you went bunch of hookers and hookers and blowing.
Mike Fratelloni
Well, that was the most honest answer. I thought that guy should run for
Chris Reivers
president cuz he's at least telling us the truth.
Mike Fratelloni
He's telling the. And she's like, okay, okay.
Chris Reivers
So speaking of people not having any, is it ancillary income? Ancillary dollars? Fun money, basically. I don't know if you saw this story, but I have never once had the wherewithal, had the want to be on a cruise ship. I've never once wanted to do it. Never one Time. Have you heard about this? A Dutch cruise ship. We're gonna head to Cape Town, South Africa. That's the date. Last time. Beautiful AP story A Dutch cruise ship with nearly 150 people aboard, including 17Americans was waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus which killed three passengers and left at least three others seriously ill. The World Health Organization and the ship's operator said the MV Hondias, which was on a weeks long polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and then several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities on Sunday after making its way to the island of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. But no one has yet been allowed to disembark. The company operating the cruise stated there are 88 passengers, including one who has died and 61 crew members, two of whom are sick on board. The operator said Monday. The passengers include 17Americans, 19 from the UK, 13 from Spain, among other nationalities. The three passengers to die were from Netherlands and Germany. The German remains on board. British man is in intensive care in South Africa.
Mike Fratelloni
Scary.
Chris Reivers
But it's like the main reason I have never want. It's not that I have a fear of being on the water. I mean I did watch the movie Titanic.
Mike Fratelloni
Sure you're familiar with the story.
Chris Reivers
I'm gonna have that in the back of my head. But I know thousands upon thousands of people are on a coast every day and people love them. I'm not one of them.
Mike Fratelloni
No.
Chris Reivers
And it's because I don't like the feeling that I can't leave this area if something were to happen. That's the problem that I have with it the most that.
Mike Fratelloni
Remember who famously died of hantavirus recently? No. Remember Gene Hackman? He and his wife. Actually I think he died of something else, but she died of hantavirus. It's from mouse droppings, the dander that they have, the urine that they have and you know it can get into your system and it can be spread now very difficultly from person to person.
Chris Reivers
Right.
Mike Fratelloni
And when I heard this story come up I thought this reminded me a lot of the coronavirus. Right when it started. Remember you heard like we were making fun, oh Corona beer is going to be way down because that's when we were still on the beer show or whatever. And I know this, I'm hoping that this isn't a bigger story than what it is, but people die from this disease fairly frequently. But the way you gotta get it is Disgusting, right? It's from mice. Mice carry it. That doesn't kill mice.
Chris Reivers
What it means is that the dropping symo up in food.
Mike Fratelloni
In food or vaporized or you had their skin dander in your clothing. It's like, ugh, that's gotta be gross. That's okay. Let me take this to a whole nother level. You ready?
Chris Reivers
All right.
Mike Fratelloni
This is why we can't have people standing on the side of the road in Minneapolis and St. Paul selling smoothies or fresh cut fruit out on the side of the road. Have you seen that yet?
Chris Reivers
I saw one the other day, but I gotta tell you, it's very rare that I don't. Well, now with construction, I have to drive through the U of M right now, but it's get to this station, get back on the freeway and get my ass out of this city.
Mike Fratelloni
You'll see young gals with like glasses or cups of freshly cut fruit that they're selling walking through the cars.
Chris Reivers
Oh, my God.
Mike Fratelloni
And I think, who would buy? First of all, why would that person not get arrested instantaneously? We have laws in the state of Minnesota. You have to have a kitchen. The kitchen has to be inspected. You have to have a food handler's license industry.
Chris Reivers
And I was there firsthand to watch these inspectors.
Mike Fratelloni
Thank God they're doing it. Thank God they're going into the subway and making sure, hey, your meat's not at 30 degrees, it's 61. Everyone's gonna die from eating this meat. Thank God they're doing it. But somehow we allow people to walk on the side of the road selling big cups of freshly cut fruit that they cut in the back of their pickup or ever the hell they cut it. And people somehow must be buying it because they wouldn't do it unless people were buying it. I was sitting in a bar the other day, and a woman, the bartender says, hey, it's the tamale burrito guys. And this young woman and this young man come in with a cooler, a little blue and white cooler, and they were selling burritos and tamales. They might have been excellent. They might have been the best tamales and burritos I've ever had. So what? I don't know where they made them. You don't know what food preparation. You don't know if you have mice sending the hantavirus through it. You have no idea who buys that stuff.
Chris Reivers
Well, it's almost as if even if I watched it, even if you went to quick trip, bought six cases of them.
Mike Fratelloni
Yes.
Chris Reivers
And they still are in the wrapper. I probably wouldn't buy it from you.
Mike Fratelloni
I still wouldn't want it. I still would be like, where'd you get that? Has it been cooled the whole time or is it at the right temperature? I don't know how. I have a big problem. So I have kids, right? And I don't love when people stand on the corners, right? And I get compassionately. My mind says, oh, that person needs help. Right? That person needs help. But at the same time, I think, oh, if I help them. I do believe that many of them have drug issues, drug and alcohol issues. I feel like, oh, I'm slowly killing them by giving them some more money. But these entrepreneurs that are outselling potentially hantavirus laden fruit bowls down in uptown, like, the hell is going on? How can we not stop that? What politicians gonna come up and say, no more of this. No more standing in the middle of the highway doing a little dance with your shirt off on larpenter and snelling? What's going on? The hell are these people doing? That's just not right.
Chris Reivers
I agree with you.
Mike Fratelloni
That's just not. I don't. How do we stop? I call the police.
Chris Reivers
Well, the only comeback to your point is that I'm coming. Although I'm completely cool with if I'm driving. And all of a sudden I'm on a rural highway and I see a pickup truck with a big giant cardboard sign that says sweet corn. I'm slamming on the brakes.
Mike Fratelloni
Okay, let me ask you this.
Chris Reivers
And I'm getting that sweet corn.
Mike Fratelloni
Do when they have the ice truck and it says fresh shrimp from the Gulf, do you buy that?
Chris Reivers
No.
Mike Fratelloni
People do.
Chris Reivers
No.
Mike Fratelloni
People go and stop at this truck and say, we believe your shrimp is high enough quality to put into my mouth.
Chris Reivers
Where were we? We were on the east coast. Oh, it was spring break a couple of years ago. We did South Carolina. Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Really cool town. We had such a blast. And I remember we were in. We were in the vehicle because of course I drove out there, because why not? I remember we were in the vehicle and it was kind of one of those days where we did the mini golf and the boys are tired and everyone's cranky and dad just needs a beer, right? So it's like, okay, let's get back to. We were renting a house. Let's get back to the house and kind of unwind because it was a hot day too. I remember it was in the 90s anyway, and we were driving by some little like a Putt, putt, whatever, thing. And it was right on the water. And I started to slow down and she says, what are you doing? And there was a guy with a pickup truck with fresh shrimp, fresh seafood. Oh, no.
Mike Fratelloni
Okay.
Chris Reivers
I said, well, I was gonna get dinner for everybody.
Mike Fratelloni
Oh, God. Oh, God.
Chris Reivers
And she thought I was serious. But of course, I just hammered the gas and kept going.
Mike Fratelloni
Even when I'm driving down the road in beautiful St. Paul and I see a little lemonade stand, I will only buy lemonade from that lemonade stand. If the mom's pretty. If the mom's not pretty, I'm not doing it.
Chris Reivers
I mean, you got standards.
Mike Fratelloni
Like, I'm looking in the house, I'm looking through it. I'm like, ah, there's not 40 pairs of shoes at their front door. Right, right. There's not newspapers just laying up front. They have some standards.
Chris Reivers
Oh, my God. That's funny.
Mike Fratelloni
Well, don't die of hantavirus.
Chris Reivers
Yes, please don't do that. But you know what? Let's talk about Quick links golf and quicklinksgolf.com youm know what a golf simulator just doesn't do? Get used in the winter. You can use it year round.
Mike Fratelloni
You can use it every day.
Chris Reivers
Save time by practicing at home instead of heading to the driving range or between kids sports. You can practice with realistic feedback, instant video recording, or just play courses that the pros play. Quick Links Golf works with contractors to add spaces to home floor plans or to even create fun spaces for your employees at your office. And you know, if you go to their website, which is quicklinksgolf.com, you can see all sorts of very cool past products, products, past projects that they have been working on and have worked on. It's really cool. Based out of Chaska, Minnesota. Go on that website. You can also book your appointment, your free consultation on that website as well. It's a really cool website, a really neat company, and based right here in Chaska, Minnesota. It's Quick LinksGolf and QuicklinksGolf.com the weekly scramble. We will be right back. Yeah, I forgot about the fresh fish and the. The truck. That was really funny.
Mike Fratelloni
Just don't get it.
Chris Reivers
Well, I know. And it's something that you just don't want to have to worry about. But it's like, yeah, some. But you're right. Someone's buying it.
Mike Fratelloni
You know why I can't do it? Because if I filled my truck with shrimp down at the Gulf and I drove it up here and I was in St. Louis, right. And my car died and it all melted. But it didn't quite melt all the way in the back. My big truck, I'd say, well, it didn't all melt. And I just kick it back on and drive it up and think, I'm sure it's gonna be okay.
Chris Reivers
Ah, it'll be fine.
Mike Fratelloni
It'll be fine. Everyone's trying to lose weight in Minnesota anyways. Let's give them some of the problems you get digestively from bad meat.
Chris Reivers
All right. I didn't. I really wanted to avoid fraud and everything else going on here, but we can't avoid it right now. It's endless. We actually had a candidate for governor, Peggy Barnett. She is in the legislature right now out of the Albert Lee area. And it did come up. But KSTP broke this story earlier today and it's just another indication of just how maddening all of this is.
Mike Fratelloni
Don't read the story. Let me just guess what it is. There's more. Fraud in Minnesota. Congratulations. For a break. We never would have found another story of fraud in Minnesota. Congratulations. Is this another fraud story?
Chris Reivers
But this is one that's truly maddening. Minnesota the state of Minnesota paid more than $67 million in public childcare subsidies over the past three years. I love this story.
Mike Fratelloni
I love it.
Chris Reivers
To nine daycare providers raided by federal authorities last week as part of a sweeping fraud investigation, according to state data obtained by 5 Investigates. The payments flowed through the state's child care assistance program, known as ccap, which helps low income families cover the cost of childcare. The feds have not filed charges, and investigators have not said how much, if any, of the money paid to those providers may have been fraudulently obtained. Still, the records show dramatic financial growth at the nine centers, while the number of kids they served stayed relatively flat over the last two years alone. State payments to the nine providers.
Mike Fratelloni
Nine.
Chris Reivers
Nine providers more than doubled, rising from 8 million in 2023 to more than 16 million in 2025, according to the data. During the same period, the total number of children enrolled at those centers hovered near 1,000 each year, fluctuating only modestly. Five investigators watched as federal agents executed search warrants at the nine daycares across the Twin Cities last week, carrying boxes of records and electronic devices out of the buildings. Investigators have not disclosed details of what they are examining. Former state lawmaker and longtime taxpayer advocate Phil Krinke said the sharp increase in payments should have raised red flags much sooner. Whoa. Voters are frustrated with the entire situation. As a small business owner and member of The Taxpayer League of Minnesota. I don't think it's a Republican or a Democrat. They're just frustrated. I couldn't agree more. And the problem that you have is whenever people are trying to get. Whether it's. I know Kristen Robbins has been at the forefront of a lot of this, and she basically stepped out of the race for governor because she said, this is way too big of a deal for me not to focus my attention on that. And she's absolutely right. So I commend her for. For continuing to do this work.
Mike Fratelloni
If I'm not mistaken, one of the guys that they're looking at was already in the food fraud program with, like, serving 1.9 million children or something. Like what?
Chris Reivers
And I have been basically on record saying this from the very beginning, and I will again, I'm willing, you know what? If you want to sue me, go ahead. So we'll have to battle this out. But what I can't for the life of me believe for one second is that there are not people on the inside who have helped guide this fraud scheme from the very beginning, because we
Mike Fratelloni
know it's not Ilhan Omar.
Chris Reivers
Sure. Okay.
Mike Fratelloni
It can't be. Her net worth is less than $100,000.
Chris Reivers
That's true. She's basically poor.
Mike Fratelloni
She's basically poor. She might actually be. Who knows?
Chris Reivers
And she was. I don't know if subpoena is the right word to turn over phone records. And she had. I believe today is the deadline for that, and she has refused to do so. And I will always just say this. If you got nothing to hide.
Mike Fratelloni
Nope. Don't say that.
Chris Reivers
Why?
Mike Fratelloni
Because it's none of their business. If they don't have the. If they're just asking for it. If they're just asking for it.
Chris Reivers
Okay, but if you're subpoenaed, that's different.
Mike Fratelloni
Maybe it depend. Who's. Depends who's subpoening. Subpoening you. Subpoenaing you.
Chris Reivers
I know what you mean.
Mike Fratelloni
It depends, right? We don't know. You can just go ahead and say, no, I'm not doing it. Let me give you a great example. You get pulled over and the cop says to you, where are you going? Don't answer questions. Oh, have you had anything to drink today? Sorry, I don't answer questions. Why were you speeding? I'm sorry, I don't answer questions. Right. If you did that, you're not admitting guilt. You're just not under the. You know, you're just not going to answer questions. Right. I don't suggest People do that, by the way. But you can do that. Well, she doesn't have to send something in. I mean, if she does, eventually she'll be in contempt of court. Right. If they said this is a subpoena that qualifies for whatever you have to do it, you're gonna be in contempt of court. But I wouldn't give my stuff if someone just asked me for it. The first thing you do is say, thanks, but no thanks. I'm not doing it.
Chris Reivers
Yeah, right.
Mike Fratelloni
Well, like, why would you go voluntarily answer questions in front of Congress unless they demand it?
Chris Reivers
Well, but that's. I guess at some point there has to be some accountability here. That's why this is so freaking maddening. And it seems to be happening all of the time. And that's.
Mike Fratelloni
Why do you think. I mean, okay, so you had this gal on running for governor. Yeah, governor. And she's former legislator.
Chris Reivers
No, current.
Mike Fratelloni
Current legislator. He's not gonna win. I'm just gonna say that.
Chris Reivers
Whatever.
Mike Fratelloni
She's running as a Republican.
Chris Reivers
It does seem the only question. Again, a lot of her ideology. I thought she was really interesting. She stands for a lot of the things that GL ers stand for and weekly scramble listeners stand for. And I just. I think it's so far late in the game now that to enter the race now on in. In May. But maybe she has been campaigning for a while though, and I just was unaware. Or we were unaware of it, whatever. Sure.
Mike Fratelloni
Will Amy Klobuchar step up? I see today she has. She's unveiling a new anti fraud plan.
Chris Reivers
Yeah. There's video of it. I'm not even wasting people's time.
Mike Fratelloni
Right.
Chris Reivers
But you can find it yourself.
Mike Fratelloni
I'm a believer that Amy doesn't want fraud in Minnesota. Right. Do you think she's getting money from the food fraud?
Chris Reivers
No. But what I would say is, okay, Amy, that's great. I want to believe you. But then why is it, Amy, that you were pretty silent about it up until recently?
Mike Fratelloni
Doesn't do her any good.
Chris Reivers
Why not?
Mike Fratelloni
It doesn't do her any good to blast the governor of Minnesota or someone
Chris Reivers
that's from here when you are someone that's going to run on Minnesota values and you're watching the very people that you're supposed to be representing getting robbed blind daily mostly by people who are not from here. People that were not born in Minnesota. They were not raised on Minnesota values like the rest of us were.
Mike Fratelloni
You don't have to be born in Minnesota.
Chris Reivers
I'm just saying then if that's the case. If you really did feel that way, why are you waiting till just now? And we all know the answer as to why. Because now it's serving her. Her candidacy.
Mike Fratelloni
It's a little bit. It's more self serving. I get it. It's a state issue and obviously she's a senator from the state. Right. But the governor was supposed to be handling it.
Chris Reivers
Oh, I agree. This is all on walls.
Mike Fratelloni
But I don't see anybody jumping over Amy Klobuchar to win this unless something fantastic happens. Newsworthy. Not something fantastic weird happens, just newsworthy. Some story comes out about Amy, which I don't think is gon.
Chris Reivers
I want to conclude the show with a personal story. But first I want to talk about masters maples and mastersmaples.com I got to tell you, I did do some bake. I did pancakes. I did chocolate chip pancakes over the weekend. Kids thought those were fantastic. I even did the thick cut bacon with the Masters maples drizzled over the top of it. I got to tell you. And by the way, bake it. Don't fry it. When you do the Masters maples syrup drizzled over the top, you got to bake it because I like it extra crispy. Little guy likes it just a little bit rubbery. But the oldest boy and I, we like it extra crispy and it's a wonderful product. It's Minnesota made. Ben, it's our buddy. He's a loyal frat packer and weekly scramble listener and giller too, by the way. And it's his baby Masters maples in Cohasset, Minnesota, 13 years ago is when he started. And you can get all line of their products at Fratelloni's hardware and garden stores. But you can also order your stuff online@mastersmaples.com Get mom the Gift of pure maples. That's a good idea actually for Mother's Day and get some.
Mike Fratelloni
Make me some pancakes, Mom. Every Mother's Day. Mom, get going, get going.
Chris Reivers
Let's go here.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, let's go. Yeah. Mother's day is only 24 hours long.
Chris Reivers
Oh my God. That's funny.
Mike Fratelloni
My mother.
Chris Reivers
You can get sweet and savory seasonings and rubs too, by the way, at Fratelloni's and also@mastersmaples.com and you too can taste the difference. The weekly scramble.
Mark Ellis
We will be right back with Verbal's last minute deals. You can save over $50 on your spring getaway. So whether it's a mountain escape with friends, a family week at the beach or sightseeing in a new city, there's still time to get great discounts. Book your next day now. Average savings $72. Select homes only.
Mike Fratelloni
Okay, the story you're going to tell is heartwarming. Should I tell my joke now or should I wait till the very end?
Chris Reivers
Actually, no, wait til then. It'll give us some live.
Mike Fratelloni
Because I didn't know if this is gonna be a real sad one where I do a stupid, stupid joke at the end.
Chris Reivers
Well, it is, but it isn't. But it floored me that this amount of time has passed. I think I've mentioned this to you on our show before, but I saw, you know, Facebook, the memories of Facebook. So for those of you that are unaware, my father is a retired Rice county deputy Sheriff, served for 32. God, he's gonna be mad at me. 32 or 33 years, I can't remember. But he basically, all the way through, he was there. He started as a jailer, patrolled, and then went on to work at the courthouse. So 30 years ago yesterday, I was a high school senior and I was at baseball practice. And this is pre cell phone, pre social media, pre all that stuff and just goofing around with your buddies and all that. And I hear someone say, oh, my God, there's been an accident. Did you hear? A Rice county deputy sheriff was killed? And of course I just said, and I knew my dad. I never knew his full schedule. So what had happened was a teenager at that time had stolen a vehicle, I believe in the Burnsville area, and headed south on 35. And with the assist of, I believe it was state patrol, one of those situations where all hands in with different counties. Absolutely. So John Liebenstein was a fellow deputy with my dad, and he lived in the Dundas area, which is also Rice county, which is north of Faribault. And he was actually at home. Cause I asked my dad about this story yesterday, and he was at home having lunch, and he was called and said, hey, yep, all of these deputies had their squad cars at home just in case they were needed. And John jumped in his vehicle and was gonna assist on the off ramp of County Road 1 off of Interstate 35. Like I said, it's called. Everyone just calls it the Dundas Exit. And he had stopped at the top of the off ramp. And the kid accelerated getting off the ramp because he was being chased OJ style. And he had accelerated and T boned John and killed Jon. And the reason it astounded me is the feeling as an 18 year old kid when you hear that. And my coach, who I still have now, Coach Felitz, he looked at me and said, you need to go home. Meaning, oh my God. Are they not telling me? What are they not telling me because they know it's bad.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah.
Chris Reivers
So I run home and I saw my mom and she said don't. And she knew everything. She's like, it's okay, it's not dad, but sadly it's John. And I'm like. And I didn't know his family well, but my cousin Julie, I found out because I posted about this on Facebook. My cousin Julie used to babysit his kids, his three kids. And it's just you realize in just a moment like that how quickly lives can change. And I think anyone that's ever listened to one second of me talking the rear knows the admiration I have for law enforcement, just given the home I was raised in. But that's why I absolutely detest the anti cop rhetoric, the defund the police movement. Because you gutless weenies that campaign on that crap. You have no idea idea what it's like to go into work every day and put your life on the line in certain cases. And yes, I've admitted I know that there are bad cops out there. But I will also say this. No one on the planet hates a bad cop more than a good cop, I can promise you that. Because I've known hundreds of great cops out there. Some I'm related to. Right. And so that's why when I saw that, I could not believe that was 30 years ago. I mean, I mean, Mike, I remember that like that happened yesterday. Just that empty feeling of the drive from the high school baseball field to my parents house is about 10 minutes, but it felt like it was taking me an hour and a half to get there.
Mike Fratelloni
Yeah, I can feel that. I can feel you telling that story.
Chris Reivers
And it was. But again, it's just all those kind of, those emotions kind of come back to you because it makes you realize just how fleeting life, time and everything
Mike Fratelloni
can be in the blink of an eye.
Chris Reivers
Just like that. And again, that's why I guess I wanted to mention because for all of you out there, I know we've got a ton of cops that listen to our show. Just. Thank you. You know, I mean, I can't imagine what it's like every day. I mean, I mean know that there was a kid that was worried about his dad every single day that he was at work. You know, my dad was involved in some, some situations where his life could have been threatened, too. So. And there's not a lot of.
Mike Fratelloni
Every day.
Chris Reivers
Every day.
Mike Fratelloni
I mean, at some point in time, you pull over a car and you're walking up to that car and you're thinking, huh, is this the time that guy kills me?
Chris Reivers
Yeah. I mean, who knows? So rest in peace, Officer Liebenstein. He was a good man. He was a really good man. And it's sad because, you know, now three kids had to grow up without their dad, and it's just the ramifications of all that. So I just wanted to take a quick moment to honor his life and his legacy. And once again, thank just, you know, my dad and everybody else out there that sign up to protect and to serve.
Mike Fratelloni
And all the people that are saying defund the police don't actually mean it, because the moment something happens, they call the police. Yes. And they say they're gonna call the police. So they have your back. Still, they just have to pontificate about this stupidity.
Chris Reivers
You mean like the same politicians that wanted to fund the police then hire their own private security?
Mike Fratelloni
Exactly. Exactly. Okay, that was a heavy thing.
Chris Reivers
They wanted to be a joke, but,
Mike Fratelloni
I mean, can I. Do I have permission to jump 100%?
Chris Reivers
100%. And you know what? I think anybody that I just mentioned would appreciate that as well.
Mike Fratelloni
Okay. Okay, this is a good one. Reverse. What actress do you become during a colonoscopy? Let me say that again. What actress do you become during a colonoscopy? Female actress.
Chris Reivers
Names with that word in it? I. I don't know.
Mike Fratelloni
Cameron Diaz. Cameron. Cameron Diaz.
Chris Reivers
Oh, Jesus.
Mike Fratelloni
You gotta say hello. Cinco de Mayo. You gotta say it kind of Spanishy. Cameron Diaz.
Chris Reivers
That is one of the best jokes. Wow.
Mike Fratelloni
Not a good one, but one of the best jokes. Reavers, you are the best.
Chris Reivers
Thank you. Michael, please do us a favor. Rate and review the show wherever you happen to be listening to the week. Yes. Scramble podcast. Yeah, he's all ours, folks. And we ain't trading him. That's Mike Fredalotti. My name is Chris Reivers. Thank you so very much for listening to the weekly Scramble podcast. We'll talk to you next time. Time. And until then, cheers.
Podcast: Garage Logic
Host: Gamut Podcast Network
Date: May 5, 2026
This episode of Garage Logic's "Weekly Scramble" is hosted by Chris Reivers and Mike Fratelloni, and focuses on a developing scandal in Minnesota: over $67 million in public childcare subsidies were paid to nine daycare centers later raided by federal agents amid fraud investigations. Against their signature backdrop of satire, skepticism, Minnesota cultural touchstones, and barstool banter, Chris and Mike break down what the scandal means for state politics, public trust, and broader issues of government accountability and "common sense" in Gumption County.
In addition to the main story, the hosts touch on political hypocrisy around billionaires, economic anxieties (gas prices, inflation), weird food safety stories, hot takes on “defund the police,” and close with a heartfelt story about law enforcement sacrifice.
[29:21] Chris introduces the KSTP/5 Investigates story:
Summary prepared for those who want a thorough understanding of Garage Logic’s Weekly Scramble, May 5, 2026.