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Trump says the ceasefire in Iran is still effect, in effect, but the Iranians and the Americans are still shooting at each other. So something's not checking out here, as with most things with Trump. But today, Iran so far has attacked the US forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire started. 10 times. So what kind of ceasefire is it if people are shooting at each other all the time? Oh, I know. It's like a Putin ceasefire.

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Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to episode 513. I'm your host, Paul Rykoff. It is Tuesday, May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, and I'm coming to you from New York City, usa, for a quick blast podcast to get you through this May Tuesday. And the weather here is perfect. Like the most perfect day of the year so far. And I am grateful for that. And I'm grateful for today's artist. Every day I'll give you an artist that I share with my boys that can bring you some perspective or something. And today's artist, since it's a perfect day, is A Perfect Circle, one of my favorite bands of all time. The American Supergroup formed in LA in the late 90s with guitarist Billy Howarday and Tool legend Mainer James Keenan, who is absolutely dynamic and amazing and been outspoken about the firing of his friend, the retired general just put in the crosshairs by Hegset. But Perfect Circle released three of their four albums in the early 2000s, and there's so many classics on there. Judith, the Outsider, three Libras, Weak and Powerless. Highly recommend you check out Perfect Circle. I think smart people listen to Perfect Circle, smart people listen to Tool, and we're going to need more smart people because there's a lot of stupid happening in Washington. I'm going to give you a quick blast of this podcast, but first, the Five Eyes. I bring you in every single show. Independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. On this perfect Tuesday in May, I'm going to try to help you stay vigilant. All right, here's the topic. People in D.C. and Donald Trump are spending a ridiculous amount of money on dumb. And our prices are going up and up and up and up. So today the average price of gas in America is $4.48, $4.48. That's what you're probably paying. In some places you're paying more. In some places you're paying a little less. That is up A$32 since last year. And that's crazy. That's a lot of money in America for gas, especially when they're spending tons of money on shit that you, me and most Americans don't support, including what is a related top topic, of course, and until further notice, Iran. Here's what you need to know today about Iran. Trump says the ceasefire in Iran is still effect, in effect, but the Iranians and the Americans are still shooting at each other. So something's not checking out here, as with most things with Trump. But today, Iran so far has attacked the US forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire started. 10 times. So what kind of ceasefire is it if people are shooting at each other all the time? Oh, I know. It's like a Putin ceasefire when Putin agrees to a ceasefire with Zelensky, then keeps bombing Ukrainian cities. Now, the war in Iran has cost over $25 billion. As a reminder, it's overwhelmingly unpopular across all partisan lines, still hasn't been approved by Congress yet. Trump continues to be all gas, no brakes, and talking about Cuba, as I mentioned yesterday, and will continue to mention until further notice and until he probably starts to do some kind of military operations in Cuba, which will cost more money. But here is what I think is the most outrageous thing you're going to hear about today. Senate Republicans today have added $1 billion to the budget for immigration to fund immigration enforcement. $1 billion for Trump's White House ballroom. $1 billion for a ballroom that most Americans don't think should have been knocked down. I got into the stats on that in yesterday's show, if you didn't check it out. So Trump has demolished the East Wing and wants to replace it with an enormous ballroom that he said would be paid for with private dollars. But now they're jamming a billion dollars into an immigration bill to form this bunker that nobody wants. It's outrageous, it's unacceptable. And it's another example of how it seems like the Democrats can't stop the Republicans on any crazy thing they do. Speaking of crazy things, the Department of Education has now opened a civil rights investigation into Smith College. This is another top story. It's a women's school in Massachusetts, not far from where I went to school, over the enrollment of transgender students, saying it could violate civil rights protections. Now, Smith College is a private college. We'll be interested to see how this goes. And related to the money, the trade deficit is now at $60.3 billion. Remember when Republicans used to talk about the trade deficit? Remember when anybody used to talk about the trade deficit? So that's basically 60 billion. $60 billion, which is 60 days in Iran, which is just a little more than the number of days since he started this thing in Iran. So maybe if he didn't start the thing in Iran and spent the $60 billion on the deficit, we wouldn't have a deficit anymore. What do you think about that, folks? The money is crazy. They're spending it like a drunken sailor. Stay vigilant. All right? It is very far from a perfect circle when it comes to our finances. And just a flashback. Just three days ago, four days ago. Now check me four days ago. Donald Trump notified lawmakers on Friday that the war in Iran was terminated. He said it was over. He said it was terminated, mission accomplished. Now, he laid out rationale in a letter that Politico obtained that the conflict had reached its 60 day legal deadline and the ceasefire stops the clock. So he's saying that the war is over and they've changed the name on a new phase because they think they can play these games. This was three, four, four days ago. He said the war was over. But it's not. Because Trump's forever war rolls on. All gas, no breaks. Eight countries and counting, with more on the way, spanning from Cuba to Greenland to, of course, Mexico. It's crazy. It's not normal. It's still happening. And it's another reason that our enemies are celebrating. Our enemies are celebrating. All right. The threats domestically continue to be pretty significant. You might have missed this, but Secret Service got in a shootout with a gunman yesterday at the Washington Monument. It was right after Vice President J.D. vance passed the scene. It looks like a 15 year old kid got shot in the crossfire. These things used to be top stories for days, but now in a world of gun violence and political violence and domestic violence and foreign violence, people seem desensitized to it. But if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. We can't normalize this kind of thing. And I've continued to call for a national security strategy, a national strategy to protect all elected officials. No matter how you feel about Trump advanced, we cannot have a situation where they are continuously vulnerable. It's a vulnerability for them, for their political opponents, for anybody who's at an event with them. But they're still talking about the Strait of Hormuz and not talking about securing our homeland and securing our Congress and even securing themselves. Stay vigilant, folks. All right, politics. Let's talk about the worst kind of politics today in California. Seven top contenders in a highly crowded and really competitive race will be vying to become California's next governor. There will be a CNN debate Tuesday. That's today. At 6:00pm Pacific Time. The debate will be moderated by Kaitlyn Collins and Alex Michaelson. The first mail in ballots are currently being delivered to voters in the June 2 primary. Here's the problem. Nobody likes any of these people. They're all pretty unpopular. Eric Swalwell has now washed out. And the candidates include, let me give you the list here. Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton. Democrats Javier Becerra, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Natalia and Antonio Villagrosa. They're all in this shark pit of an attack. There's no independent on the stage, but let's imagine if there was. I want to propose an idea to you. Independent candidates are not just moving the needle. We are the needle, even in a place like California. And today I was listening to Draymond Green's podcast. I love it, highly recommended. The amazing hall of Fame player for the Golden State Warriors. One of the best defensive players of all time. And he was talking about his coach, Steve Kerr, who's won, I think nine championships as a player and a coach. One of the most trusted and respected winners in America. A voice of reason. Spoken out many times on issues of gun violence. He's spoken on out about Iran, he's spoken out about ice. He's a person that people trust and respect and would follow. What if Steve Kerr ran for governor of California and as an independent? I think he'd wipe the floor with all of them. It'd be like a four game sweep. But imagine Steve Kerr going from winning an NBA championship to running the state of California. I think he would bring people together. I think he would be a unifier. Steve Kerr might be retiring this year and I hope that he will consider running for office. Come on this show. Coach Kerr, I admire you, respect you would love to hear about if we can recruit you to run for office. If not for California, maybe for president. But Steve Kerr is a kind of leader, an outsider, a different kind of a voice, an independent voice that we need. One other thing. Maybe you can get Draymond, if he's not going to retire, to come on over to the Knicks for a year or two. We'd really like that. And I think Draymond should run for office back in Michigan too, because now is the time to bring all kinds of leaders onto the political battlefield. We don't need to push them away, we need to welcome them in. Remember that Ronald Reagan was once a candidate. Remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger was once a candidate. Donald Trump was once a candidate. Vladimir Zelensky was once a comedian. And then a candidate. We need outsiders. America wants them. And Steve Kerr might be a good one. Stay vigilant.