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C
What's up? What's up, everybody? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith. He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein. I hope everybody's doing good out there. How you doing, Rob? Coming to me from a hotel somewhere.
D
Yeah. I'm currently out in Charleston at the fine Holiday Inn Express. Let me say thus far, this town is overrated. Everyone hides Charleston. I will. You do feel like a creep walking around here. They got like a college for models or something and you're just like, I think I gotta stay in my hotel.
C
But no, that's good. Like getting. No, just getting older and being a dude. It is a where like there's a point in your life where like, it's like young hot girls are around. That's like every boy's dream. And then like you just hit an age where you just like, if there's young hot girls, you're like, I'm just going to stay inside. I want to remove myself from this situation.
D
But coming to the end of porches here, everybody. This was a fine run despite all the travel hassles, which I warn everyone and I will let you know how bad it is. But this Wednesday, I'm outside of New Orleans. Then I got two last gigs out in Denver, Colorado and that's it for the year. So if you're out in the New Orleans area, I got this cool bar outside of town music venue. Go to portstore.com come hang out.
C
Hell yeah. And then of course, me and Rob. I know the first show is sold out. Last I had heard, there are some tickets for the second show. One night only. November 22, poughkeepsie New York comicdavesmith.com for those links. Now tell me. So as people who listen and follow our schedule may know, I've pretty much been after torn the whole year. I've been off for these last few weeks and that happens to be while there's the government shutdown. I've been here and a lot of stuff. I'm supposed to get on a plane this Thursday to go to New Orleans. I mean, I'm assuming I'm going to find a way to get down there somehow. How bad was the airport situation for you?
D
Well, I'm here to let you know that we are just hostages in the government's game of trying to make the other team look worse. And you know, it's one thing when you want to take away people's healthcare or food stamps, but when you start delaying my flights, then I really take issue with it and say to government, figure it out. But Friday, just every single time I walked up to the gate, I got the text from them that they were delaying my flight another two hours and they just kept doing that. And then yesterday, the flights that we had got canceled. I booked a new flight for menu and who's opening up for me. And they kept delaying his flight, finally canceled it and he went on the line and he said he'd never seen so many angry white people since January 6th.
C
Well, we had a lot to be angry about that day and a lot to be angry about today as well.
D
He said he just, he just retreated and let the everyone else get angry. Said people were slamming on the desk. It was getting out of hand.
C
Yeah, well, all right, well, I guess I'll be one of these guys. I'm going to end up being on a viral video somewhere on a Thursday.
D
Here's the pro. The airlines will take any excuse to not do their jobs and they kind of, they're not gracious about it. I paid a premium on a ticket that day on a flight that wasn't going to fly. But what they do is they just sell every single possible ticket that they can. And then at the last minute, they just decide what flights weren't going to make them money and they go, oh, it's because we don't have enough air traffic controllers. I'm sure 90% of the cancellations don't even have anything to do with that. Not to mention, I don't understand why air traffic control is a government job. Just let the airlines do that and we won't have all this chaos. But the airlines are not gracious. They won't let you know when they're canceling your flights. They'll book you on the flight, they'll have you show up to the airport, and then they'll tell you at the last minute that it's the government's fault and you can't fly.
C
Yeah, no, it's pretty infuriating. Yeah, it's good. You got to just hate everybody involved in that situation.
D
Hitchhike to Skank Fest. That's my recommendation.
C
There you do. Come. Come hell or high water, we'll. We'll make sure we get there. Okay, so I want to talk about a few things on today's show. I. I gotta start just with there. You know, there's this, the same kind of theme of what we've been talking about for a bit on the show now, which is this, this really. I don't know, it's being dubbed the Civil War on the Right. I don't exactly think that's right. I think it's much more. It's much closer to like the Donald Trump phenomenon in, in 2016, where Donald Trump, you. If you turned on the news, you would think everybody just hates Donald Trump. And I'm talking about the Republican primary here. I'm not. People kind of forget about this stuff because Donald Trump conquered the Republican Party and then he took over. But if you actually remember the primary process in 2016, there was national Review, which was the most prestigious, you know, publication in Conservatism, Inc. In the second half of the 20th century in America. It's like the, you know, the home of William F. Buckley and all these people, right? The National Review came out with a front page cover that said Never Trump. That had, like, all the staff members of National Review going, we will support any other nominee except him. Mark Levin said, I will never support Donald Trump. I'll support anybody else but him. Ben Shapiro, never support Donald Trump. All these guys who now are the biggest Trump dick riders, you know, who will now turn around and criticize, like, me for being like, oh, you're critical of Donald Trump. They were all never Trumpers. In fact, Reince Priebus, who was the chair of the RNC at the time, floated out the idea of changing the rules at the convention, essentially requiring that you get a crazy higher number of delegates that no one could possibly get. And then just saying the convention can pick who the nominee is, he openly floated out, just stealing the thing from Donald Trump, even though he won it. And if you remember famously, the next day, Donald Trump said, try it and there'll be Riots in the streets. Riots in the streets. And anyway, I bring up this dynamic because when you, if you were. And, and even though 2016 isn't that long ago, it is. A lot has changed since then. But if you were reading National Review or you were watching cnn, now, believe it or not, I know you're listening. In 2025, people used to do those two things. I know, it's like you say that in 2025, you go, imagine you're reading National Review or watching CNN and people go, what? Who's this joker talking about? No, that doesn't describe anybody. It did used to describe people. And if you were reading those or watching those things, you, it would be easy to go, oh, wait, Mitt Romney, the previous nominee, just gave a speech saying, anyone but Donald Trump can be the nominee. Like this whole now, it might appear, oh, there's a civil war. There's a civil war amongst the Republicans. But that's not exactly right. And, and even as you would watch all of these guys tell you this one, Donald Trump is the most radioactive candidate. He's the one you can't possibly have. You know, it would dawn on people that he's number one in the polls. You know, like, and not by a little bit, you know, by a lot. Like, Jeb Bush, the favorite, is now at 2% and Donald Trump's at 60%. You know what I mean? Like, he's dominating the polls. What actually ended up happening was that it was, it wasn't exactly a civil war. It was the elite party establishment and their mouthpieces versus Donald Trump and 80% of the base. That's really what the dynamic was. And you might notice this again just during this whole last week. Tucker Carlson being made out to be the Candace Owens being made out to be. Oh, these are the people who need to be canceled. But then you might also notice that they are number one. Number one and number two, however, exactly, you want to measure it. And so it's like, no, this isn't exactly a civil war. This is very similar to 2016. And again, for the same reasons. It's the war party versus the people. It's a much more accurate way to characterize it than a civil war. This isn't like divided. It's not like if you just talk to random Republicans and go, hey, should we be sending a bunch of money overseas right now? No, no, we shouldn't. Like, any more than the Republicans were divided on immigration. They're not divided on Tucker Carlson or Donald Trump for that matter. So anyway, that's one thing and I would just say that I guess it's obviously this is very, it's very in our wheelhouse, like this is the world that we exist in. And also on this show, I've kind of had like all of the people involved in this, you know, well, at least all of the ones on, on.
D
A certain side of it.
C
Happy to have the other ones on. Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, open invite, come on out, let's talk about it. But anyway, it's just so there's been more going on with that and it's hard not to talk about because it does seem to be so relevant. Like much like with Donald Trump, while, while it's not a civil war, there is kind of like, you know, to use the phrase that me and you maybe don't love the most, but like a battle for the soul of the right wing in America. It does seem like something like that is going on. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is the Wellness company. Now, some of you may know about this pill called Ivermectin. It became very popular during the pandemic and about 58% of the world's ivermectin supply comes from China and 75% from Asia overall. But not the wellness companies. Introducing American made Ivermectin. Safe, trusted and produced right here in the United States. Ivermectin has been prescribed globally for more than 30 years and has even earned the Nobel Prize in medicine for its proven ability to eliminate parasites and support overall health. New research also points to potential benefits for skin, immune system and cancer support. Most pharmacies charge $5 a tablet, but the wellness company is offering higher 18 milligram dose for just over $3 each. You'll get a six month supply designed for four 21 day cleanse cycles, all at an unbeatable price. Support American medicine, not China's supply chain. And get your US Made Ivermectin today at TWC Health problem. And make sure to use the promo code problem to save $30 off plus free shipping. That's TWC Health problem promo code problem for $30 off and free shipping. All right, let's get back into the show.
D
It certainly just feels like censorship in the name of special interest. And I hadn't thought about it, but you're so right that it's early Donald Trump. It's the same thing as Covid. You're crazy for not getting the vaccine. They're trying to shame Republicans. Go all these People that you prefer listening to are not actually conservative and they're dangerous to the party. It's the same. It's just the new form of censorship. That's all it is.
C
Well, and, and you see that, right, Rob? Yeah, exactly. But you also see that when like, well, look, it's like, even if they'll say like, okay, here's our beef with Nick Fuentes is that he's said thing, you know, anti Semitic things. And then you go like, okay, but Tucker Carlson doesn't have any of that baggage, right? And you're just as mad as him. So, like, it seems like that's really not what it's about. Or they'll be like, Candace, you know, digs into too many conspiracies that are unfounded. You'll go like, okay, but then, like, me and you don't really do that now, do we? Does anyone want to argue with us about any of our conspiracy? Like, what are our conspiracies, Rob, over the last 10 years together? Or that that Trump wasn't a Russian spy? Like, what. What conspiracy is that? We buy into that the vaccine would like that the vaccine wouldn't stop you from getting Covid and might actually, like, injure you. Is that a conspiracy? Like, like literally go. And so even the people and oh, but they hate us just as much as they hate them, too. So after a while, it is kind of hard to not go. It really seems to be that the issue here is like, these are the people against the war party. Seems to be the only thing that really explains all of it. And okay, so the latest chapter in this was that Megyn Kelly, who, I got to say, I really do like Megyn Kelly. And I thought she was very reasonable in this, but so she had. She was doing some event. I forget exactly who was it connected to? Turning Point or something? Or maybe it was just her own event, but she was doing an event. So she interviewed Tucker Carlson and then the next day she. Or later in that day, she interviewed Ben Shapiro and you know, the Tucker Carlson, we obviously already had him on the show and he said some of the same things, but it was, you know, just. Just obviously being correct. It's just not even, I don't know, just undeniably write about all this stuff, but there was this, this part with, with Ben Shapiro. So then Ben Shapiro comes on to essentially like struggle session Megyn Kelly or why she should be calling out the bigotry of all these other people. And there was this moment that happened here. Now, full disclosure, I did. I did Liam McCollum show the other day? I love Liam. I think he's. He's great. Me and you, we hung out with them last time we were out in Montana. And he's great. You guys should follow Liam McCullough. Really, really sharp young guy. One of the best young guys in our, our space. And so we did, we talked about this clip on there. I just, I had to do this with you, Rob, and I had to do this on our show. So apologies to all you guys who saw that show, but we're going to go over the same one again because it's just too wild. So let's play that. And then me and Rob will, will respond. But here is Ben Shapiro. Try to keep up with this.
E
Here.
C
Here's Ben Shapiro trying to get Megyn Kelly to condemn Tucker Carlson and wait for it. Rob, here's why.
F
My point is that that's not his point. And again, none of this.
E
We disagree.
F
Well, no, none. We disagree on the interpretation of what Tucker has been doing for the past two years. And it's very difficult for me to believe that Tucker is merely anti Israel when, for example, today in his newsletter, I mean, I can directly quote it if you'd like to. In his newsletter today, he claimed that Zorin Mamdani is not anti Semitic. This was his newsletter today, this morning. I mean, I'm happy to read the text. It's pretty. It's a little extraordinary because again, it is, it is kind of shocking.
D
Yeah, I'll let you, I'll let you go first if you want to comment on this. But it's already just such a flaw in logic.
C
Dude, it's. I just. The reason why. I just love this. This is Ben Shapiro. Ben Shapiro. Facts don't care about your feelings. Accusations of bigotry can't shut down debates. I remember this one time he was. He was arguing with some crazy leftist college chick and she was talking about implicit bias and this idea of like, you have some implicit bias or implicit racism or something like that. And he was like, yeah, but like, I don't know, like you don't even know what your motivations are yourself. Sometimes you don't even know those. And now you're saying what? The motivations that you don't even know are your motivations are your motivations. He goes, this is just ghost hunting, man. Like, and it was like, it was such a good point just to tear apart their argument. This same guy is now. Yes. If you have, if you didn't quite catch this. Okay, keep this. This is literally what Ben Shapiro is doing. Ben Shapiro is saying, Megan Kelly, you ought to be condemning Tucker Carlson for being an anti Semite. He's not just anti Israel, he's anti Semitic. How is he anti Semitic? Well, he's anti Semitic because he said another guy wasn't anti Semitic. Just think, think about the leap of that already. Ok, but like, like obviously you could like if there is someone who really hates Jews, me saying he doesn't hate Jews doesn't make me hate Jews. It might make me incorrect about this guy. But that does not. Like, it doesn't even follow from that. But here's. Look, let's just finish the rest of the clip, Rob, because it's just more fun to trash when you actually hear what. Here's the evidence of why Tucker Carlson's anti Semitic.
F
Here's what Tucker Carlson wrote in his newsletter today or what his newsletter says under his name. He said, is the incoming mayor a fan of Israel? Does he want America to fight its wars? Not particularly. But a Jew hater, that's a different conversation. We've never seen anything to suggest he falls into that ugly camp. If we're talking about fighting the left. Defending Zoram Hamdani, who literally said that Hamas, he has no opinion whether Hamas should disarm, who posed alongside the 1993 World Trade center unindicted co conspirator who would not globalize the intifada, who suggested that whenever there is in a New York police department boot on somebody's neck, it's an IDF lacing the strings to suggest that that's not anti Semitic in any way. No way.
A
Okay, but.
F
Or when he, when he's going to.
E
Give you a defense of Tucker here. And I don't need to defend Tucker because I'm not talking.
A
I think in.
E
General because I know him and I listen to him and I understand generally where he's coming from. He would say his problems are with Israel and he would say that that shot that Mamdani laid against the IDF is a shot against the IDF and Israel and how he thinks pro war, not against Jews. And I think, and I think all.
F
I can say is finds himself in complete alignment with Zoram Hamdani. It is very difficult for me to believe that he does not agree.
E
It is in a place right now of the same place that Charlie was getting to toward the end of his life, the ch. The same place that some people had tried to drive me, which is you're under withering non stop accusations of being something, you know you're not. But from. From some people.
C
You can pause it right there. Who you love. I just love Megan Kelly going. And we could end the clip there, but it's like Megan Kelly's basically going, yeah, I think. I think Tucker's in the same place Charlie found himself in that I find myself in, where it's like, you guys are just such, like. I don't know what it's like, dude, honestly, how. I'm sorry. I'm not putting words in Megyn Kelly's mouth that she handled this better than I would have probably. But, like, the idea that you go, Tucker is. I think about this, Rob. Tucker's an anti Semite because he says, this guy is not an anti Semite. And the proof that this guy is an anti Semite is that he refuses to condemn the phrase globalize the intifada. Like, by the way, you know, the IDF has been involved in training American police. It's not that crazy to make a point. There's nothing anti Jewish about talking about a foreign military that has a relationship with American domestic police. And there's nothing his opinion about whether Hamas should disarm or should not disarm. I mean, that's a pretty contra. I don't know. There's lots of opinions on that that don't mean you hate Jews. And then again him, like, Anyway, this is just so pathetic. Rob, what can you say about this? You're. He's a big. Well, then, honestly, if just by extending this logic, then Megan Kelly's an anti Semite too, right? Because Megan Kelly is sitting here saying, Tucker's not an anti Semite, and Tucker's an anti Semite for saying someone else isn't an anti Semite. So she's guilty of the same thing by transfer. You know, like, she's guilty of the exact same thing. So why don't you call her out to her face? Would it just start to sound too retarded at that point? Like, how many le. How many guilt by association levels can we get to here? All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is the Tuttle twins. You know, we've had some great sponsors over the years, but this one is really near and dear to my heart. You know, you've heard me talk about Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard and F.A. hayek. Well, all of their greatest works are in children's book form thanks to the Tuttle twins. These books are made for kids, but honestly, an adult could spend a couple hours reading through them and walk away with a solid foundation on the core concepts. There are incredible books and get this, they've sold over 6 million copies. Think about how amazing that is. Imagine the impact that's going to have on the future. And here's something else. They also have a magazine. The Smith family household gets one in the mail every month and each issue explains a current hot topic with a Tuttle Twin adventure article and activity. But the most powerful thing about these magazines is that they spark important teaching moments and conversations with my kids that I just normally wouldn't have. So please go to tuttletwins.com problem and get a deal on the magazine subscription Description. It's like 50 bucks. It's the price of a couple pizzas for a full year of mind molding, learning for a little one in your life. And they've got all types of stuff. I had my kids on their like they have the hardcover books that are great for like toddlers and even pre toddlers. Like they've got a great range of everything all the way up to like older kids and stuff. So go check them out. TuttleTwins.com problem that's Tuttle T u t t l e Twins.com problem all right, let's get back into the show.
D
It's such a wild claim because firstly he goes my evidence that Tucker Carlson is an anti Israel but is actually an anti Semite is that he defended that mom dummy is not an anti Semite. And then his proof that Mumdami is an anti Semite is all rhetoric that is criticizing Israel and is not criticizing the Jewish people. And so you got double folded. You haven't proved that Mumdami is actually an anti Semite and now you're labeling that Tucker is definitely an anti Semite just because he's saying that Mamdami is not. That that is not proof of anti Semitism in any capacity and Ben Shapiro knows it. Which is why he doesn't even want to have this conversation or get the pushback from Megan and just go, well he can defend himself because he knows the game of I just need to give a reason and then let's just move on from this. And I've stated a reason.
C
Yeah, no, that's right. And then just everything is all so pathetic too. Like look, even the thing and I look, I'm speaking about this not knowing too much about it because who the hell cares? But the thing is that mom, Donnie took a picture. First of all, taking a picture when you're running for mayor Taking a picture means nothing, dude. It means absolutely nothing. It's. Listen, I'm not running for mayor, and I've taken pictures with all types of people. People ask for a picture. It's part of the. It's just part of being a public person, dude. Sometimes people see you and they go, mind if I get a quick picture? And you go, sure, because what the hell? Why not? You know? And, like, so you say that just means nothing. He's a mayor. He's going around the city. He's running for office. He can literally. You cannot say no if anyone ever asks you for a picture when you're running for mayor. So literally, that means nothing. But then they also go, so he took a picture with the unindicted conspirator of the 93, which I know is a legal term, and I know they really love it. They've said that term every single day, all day long since this picture came out. Because.
A
And.
C
And obviously it didn't really move the needle too much with voters, now, did it? Because, like, even when you're trying to make that sound bad, you know, there is something about that first word there, Rob, you know, that just really undercuts it. Like, oh, unindicted. Oh, okay, right. Meaning there were never charges brought against him, let alone a conviction of anything, meaning he's innocent or presumed innocent. Right? Like that. Isn't that the whole. So again, there's just nothing there saying globalize the intifada. Look, intifada means rebellion in Arabic, okay? And like, there. There. There was what's known as the first intifada and the second intifada. There was violence in both, but the first intifada was largely nonviolent. The second one was very violent. But so, like, the whole point of anyone going, like, well, when they say globalize the intifada, there are. Now, look, there might be people who mean violence by that, but, like, there are also people who just mean, like, oh, no, the whole world should be sticking up for the Palestinians to, like, not get treated this way. It's not that crazy that he didn't want to condemn that. And also, like, why. I don't know it. Like, why the hell would he want to. When that's his base. He's a leftist. Why the hell should he condemn what his entire base views? And, you know, again, Ben Shapiro, all this is. Is just pathetic. Like, if you're against Israel, therefore you hate the Jews. You know what critic of Israel is, Ben Shapiro? Not calling an anti Semite. That's just really Just so pathetically weak.
D
You know, this rice eating socialist might turn out to be anti Semitic, but there's no reason to say at the moment that he is anti Semitic. It's the same game of every time someone makes a anti Israel comment, you go, well, he's anti Semitic. Which is this actually the same charge that you just have against Tucker Carlson is, oh, he's not just anti Israel, he's anti Semitic. And my proof is, is because he defended this other guy who also only made statements that were like, if Zoron was up there and saying, we don't have a problem with the, with wealth, we've got a problem with Jewish landlords in this city and we need to take back wealth from Jewish landlords. But any other wealthy landlord, that's not a problem.
C
Sure, sure.
D
That would be anti Semite.
C
Yes, yes, no, that's right. But they, the thing is, they can't point to one thing like that. Like, there's not one thing like that where he's, it's even been. I mean, look, I'm, again, I have no dog in this race. He's a commie. I don't care. Make him a Jew hater too. He's already a commie. That's so much worse. Like, who cares? But I'm just saying, like, I don't see the Jew hatred. Maybe it is there and we, like you said, maybe he turns out to be one. But it's with Tucker Carlson's email. I'm on Tucker Carlson's email. I read this one. You know, the whole spirit of the thing was like, yeah, he's a commie. But like, I don't know, they're saying he's a Jew hater. That doesn't seem like, that doesn't seem apparent at all. And then of course, Ben Shapiro there, it's like he goes, I think when you're in lockstep with mom, Donnie, like, then you. And you're like, it's just so bad faith. It's so disingenuous. Yeah. He just said, I don't see the evidence. Is Tucker talking about free buses and rent, you know, freezes? No. So he's not in lockstep.
D
And this game is not helping. I think we all saw it that in, I mean, listen, terrible candidates ran against mom, dummy. But when they tried to turn the New York mayorship into some sort of a conversation about Israel, and he just goes, well, I'm not really all that concerned about that. As the New York City mayor, I want to make things more affordable that resonates. And then when you turn around and you go, well, this other thing is more important because at the root of that is actually anti Semitism. You're not. You're not courting any favor. That's not. Firstly, it's not anti Semitism. And even if that was. I'm just saying, is it theoretical if it was a true. If the guy believes in, you know, if he's not looking to harm anybody. But he's like, I'm just not as focused on racial issues. When did the left become the people of. No economic prosperity needs to be second to us propping up the, you know, the. The harmed classes. And we need to put racial issues first. I don't care what your economic policy is. What I care about is that you say that you're going to stand with the plight of the black man and women in this country.
C
Yeah, that's. Well, there's a thing is like Ben Shapiro also, you know, he does this other thing in there where he's kind of like, well, I haven't seen, you know, Tucker's not attacking the left. He's not attack. Attacking Mamdani or something like that. It's like, there's two things on that. Number one, well, Ben Shapiro, we're attacking you and you're acting like the left. So same thing to me, man. Like, yeah, we're attacking the dude who can't take on anyone's arguments and instead shouts accusations of bigotry. And then when is asked to back them up, has the most pathetic take ever. Like, so, yeah, we're criticizing you. And like, number two, what can I say? You guys made it kind of hard. I mean, look, obviously we've talked quite a bit about how we don't like Mamdani's economic ideas, but when you run a lockdown governor, who's quite literally a murderer, the most disgraced human being in America, you run him. And then the whole attack campaign about Mom Dunny is like, eek, he's a racist because he won't visit a foreign country and kiss their wall. It's like, yeah, you make it pretty goddamn hard to get on board with that. Yes. No. In other words, you guys, people like Ben Shapiro attacked this guy in the dumbest possible way. You found the one thing that isn't actually something to criticize him about. That is a losing issue, and you ran on that. And now you're mad that more of us didn't pile on to your ridiculous losing issue, which is that you. If you have a problem, you Know, like, dude, there's been, I mean, multiple reports, multiple reports of babies being used as target practice by IDF soldiers. From doctors in Gaza. There's been like at least six or seven doctors who have said that they've consistently seen babies shot in little kids. I'm Talk, I'm talking 1 through 5 year olds shot in the groin, shot in the head, shot in the body. And at first that one of the doctors said, you know, at first we thought there must be some like sociopath sniper, like some rogue agent here. And then they started finding it like in all different parts of Gaza, like the similar. Okay, there's been reports of. Again, this isn't even reports. The Israeli government said that when Hamas is slow rolling the dead remains, they're going to half the aid that's coming into the civilian population. Okay. If you got a problem with any of that, Rob, you hate Jews? Like what, I mean, what is this? This is, it's, it's actually more ridiculous than any accusation of racism I ever saw leveled at Ben Shapiro. You know, you know, he would say things sometimes like, he'd be like, you know, whatever, black. He would say, black kids are like seven or eight times, whatever. The numbers are more likely to be raised without a father. And that's a real problem. And then people would go, you're a racist. You hate black people. And you'd be like, yeah, that's stupid. What Ben Shapiro is doing here is dumber. It's a worse version than that. And that's it. So like, yeah, dude, I don't know. The whole woke right battle, you guys are just the woke left. You're the same thing as them, just only about Israel and Jews. Everything else, that's Ben Shapiro. The glove should be off for everyone else except my group. Facts. Don't care about your feelings. All right, I do want to move on. Okay. I want to talk about a couple of things here that were specifically, you know, kind of interesting things that have, have been put out there. Economic proposals that Donald Trump has, has made, I guess, since our last show. And one of them is the $2,000 tariff stimulus checks and the other one is the 50 year mortgage thing that he's talking about here. And I thought they were kind of interesting topics to, to look for us to get into. I don't know, I guess I'll just start by and I'm real curious to get your thoughts on both of these so we could go through them one at a time. But I would just, I guess start by saying like, man, the Trump Administration is just getting more and more pathetic by the day. I just find all of this shit to be just absolutely like, like desperation, Hail Mary's that, you know, like, like this is something that you do when your coalition has fallen apart, which I think is kind of the message here, you know, And I've been one of the people saying, because I've seen Republicans, you know, who have been like, oh, this last week's election didn't really mean that much. These were just Democratic strongholds or whatever. And I'm like, no, I don't think that's true at all. This is a big wake up call to Republicans. And it seems almost like maybe Trump feels the same way. But oh my God, talk about the worst way to handle it. To just throw the most pathetic, I'll send you all money. This is like on the level of like the kid in school who's like, I'll pay you all to come to my house type shit. Like, sure, I mean that, that might work. It might get some more people over to your house, but it is the worst, most long term destructive and just, and just pathetic way to appeal to voters. And then the 50 year mortgage thing just seems like a crazy scheme to me. But anyway, we could take these one at a time, whichever one you want to do first.
D
All right, so let's, let's start with the tariffs. And I think what Donald Trump is trying to do here is he's got a Supreme Court case going on at the mom having to do with the tariffs. And it appears as though he will not be allowed to implement his current tariff policy because it should be under the purview of both revenue and taxes, which are under Congress. Now, there's two elements of gigantic stupidity and there's things, These are things that I've talked about in the past. First and foremost, the fact that you're able to enact a policy and then it takes a year before it gets to the Supreme Court to find out you couldn't do it. Is a dumb system, secondary Supreme Court. You want to do something, you find out, am I allowed to do it? And then you go and do it. Now here's the dumber part. Not only is the government not necessarily responsible when they get things wrong, there's already a conversation now about whether or not it's feasible to unwind a policy that shouldn't have been implemented because it might be too sloppy to give refunds back to people that have already American businesses that have already had to pay tariffs. Now just think about how disgusting that is that there could be government overreach that costs your business money. And then the Supreme Court goes, yes, that was illegal, and they shouldn't have done that, but it's too sloppy for us to return the money that we shouldn't have taken from you. And so what Donald Trump is trying to do, in my opinion, I don't know that I've seen anyone else say this, is he wants to send direct checks out to make it even sloppier to recoup the money from the government that had been collected by tariffs. Because if the money was collected by the government and then sent out to taxpayers, it's even sloppier to clean up. So, for one, I think that's part of his Hail Mary play. And the whole Supreme Court system is stupid in regards to the fact that you can enact a bad policy. And then they are hesitant to punish government for the bad policy because it's messy, stupid across the board. Now, driving up prices because there are tariffs and then handing more money to individuals to go pay on those goods is also not great economic policy if what you're dealing with is people that are upset about prices going up. And if you want to see how sending direct stimulus checks played out, go look at terror. I mean, go look at the inflation that took place after Covid when he sent checks directly to people's homes.
C
Yeah. The thing is that people are still, there are people who are still stupid enough to go, to look back and go, like, that was a tough time, but Trump did send me that check, and he knows that. And he, he knows that there are people like that. And, and there's a reason why he made sure to put his name on that check in 2020, you know, and, like, that's what they called it, Trump bucks. And he knows. And like, you know, I, there's so many things that are crazy, but then you hit, you had a lot of the good ones, you know. But I would just say, too, that the idea, even if you were going to sell the idea that, like, tariffs raise revenue, okay, right. Like, there is some revenue that's raised from tariffs. You're like, dude, we're $38 trillion in debt and going further into debt every minute, like, what position are we in to say, oh, we have, we have this surplus now we're going to pretend it's a surplus. That's just extra sitting around there. Might as well send some checks out. It's just, it's ridiculous. I did listen to, I saw there was the, I heard the audio of Gorsuch of the Supreme Court. And it did not sound like he was buying it at all. Just like their ridiculous argument, this is.
D
Trump's stupidity as he keeps talking about how it raises revenue and, you know, or it's. But now they're trying to pretend that it's not revenue or taxes, which they can't explain. Well, who, who bears the cost of this? And they go, well, ideally down the line will create American jobs. And so prices. Well, explain to me when these factories are coming and when all this stuff is being made in America. But between now and then, it sounds like the President's talking a lot about raising revenue from it. So you kind of can't pretend that this is just, you know, presidential policy for job increasing, which even if it was, I mean, that's central planning.
C
Yeah, no, that's right. And it will. Look, I mean, the idea that, that, the idea that the President of the United States having the unilateral ability to just tax trade is the key to prosperity is just so ridiculous. And again, know, we've been saying this whole time, it's all just been, it's been goofy economics this whole time. And you can never even, it seems like you can't even pin Donald Trump or his supporters down on what they're even saying tariffs do. You know, like, it's like, what are you saying? Are you saying tariffs make us rich because they protect industry? Are you saying tariffs are leveraged to get good deals out of other countries? Or are you saying they're ren. Revenue generating? You know, like, which, like. And it almost seems like. And look, I almost. I mean, I guess theoretically you could argue they're all three. Right? But it's not a very good argument. There's a lot of flaws in it. But, like, you could make that argument, but it does seem like they justify it with one. And then when you knock that one down, they move to the other one. And then you knock that one down, they move to the other one, then you knock that one down and they move back to the first one you knock down. Like, it's just that it's all over the place. And like, even if, like, look, for each one of the arguments, like, the only argument that actually stands that yes, you could put some pressure on another government to maybe get some concessions out of them, okay, that. That is reasonable. But in terms of tariffs generating revenue. Well, first of all, the problem isn't that the US Federal government doesn't generate enough revenue, generate trillions of dollars every year in revenue. The problem is that they not only spend, that they spend another couple trillion dollars on top of it. That's the, that's the major problem. Okay, so it's obviously a spending issue, not a revenue issue. And we like, I mean, I don't know, but I would venture to guess that if you just look at the tax revenue, where we got to be over $3 trillion, I'm sure probably between 3 and $4 trillion that the federal government brings in, in tax revenue every year that is bigger than any government in the history of the world. You have the biggest, most powerful government in the history of the world just based off the revenue that the federal government collects. The fact that they want to be that much bigger so they borrow and then print the money doesn't really suggest that it's a revenue problem. And then in terms of the stuff as we've talked about before, in terms of like protecting business, if that were really the case, if that really made us, well, then again, just reducto absurdum this shit, then why not higher tariffs? Why not 5,000% tariffs on everyone? Or how about this, just write a law that says it's illegal to trade with the rest of the world. Why not get the most protection? If you believe in protectionism, then right away you'll start figuring out, oh yeah, that would make us drastically poorer. So anyway, it's all just been goofy economic policy. And after a while, as Donald Trump is, is failing across the board at so many of the other things, it's just like, I don't know, there's, it's harder and harder to let any of this stuff go.
D
People, people just have to learn free money is a devil's deal. And the last time they sent you a check, it was because they could keep you in their, in your homes and you wouldn't criticize them. Doing another financial bailout for the big banks. And every single time they offer you free money, it just means you're going to be more in debt. And whatever thing you were going to use that free money on is going to be more expensive. Which turns us to the 50 year mortgage plan, which by the way, I'm a big fan of freedom. If you want to walk into a bank tomorrow and the bank wants to give you a 50 year mortgage and you think that suits your needs, go for it. People are, people love homeownership. And the idea, what's nice about homeownership is that you think, okay, I'll never be homeless because I'm going to own this thing. The problem is you also still have property taxes. You're never not paying rent. You're renting what you own from the government once you paid for it. And you've got the problem that people can move to your area and all of a sudden your area can get more expensive and that tax can go up on you or your insurance rates can claim. And all of a sudden you can find that the thing that you've been paying into your entire life is actually not that affordable or that you can't even continue to live there. And the problem with a 50 year mortgage is firstly, it's going to put more people into the housing market, which means prices are going to go up. But not only that, if you're paying off your home for a full 50 years, I mean, the amount of interest you're paying on your home, the idea that you're going to make money on the thing, I mean, even if you're like a 7% interest rate, I mean, you're really, let's say you buy a home, I guess you're putting down $50,000. Maybe buy like a $400,000 home or something, maybe that's best case scenario and you're going to be paying that off over 50 years. I mean, just the idea that you wouldn't have made more money in the stock market or that that $50,000 that you put down, that's going to end up being homes at a more at a higher evaluation, I don't know, it seems like a real suckers game. It just feels like a lot of people are going to be sitting in more debt for longer and stuck in homes that they didn't actually want.
C
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All right, let's get back into the show. I think so. I, I think one of the things that is in common with both of these policies with the, the tariff dividend and, and, and the 50 year mortgage is that both of them are acts of desperation. They're, they're, you know, look, trying to give people a $2,000 check is going shit. I know I'm tanking in the polls and I know I'm losing popularity, but at least I could come, I could get some more people to vote for the Republicans in the midterm if we just send him a check. Now obviously this will lead to disaster. It will make the country worse off. Right, right, it will make the country worse off, as it always does. But in the short term, I might be able to get through the midterms and then this scheme with the 50 year mortgage is essentially going, well, look, we've had a real problem here. It's like the game of musical chairs is running out. There's less and less chairs and when the music stops, we might be, you know, the prices are going up and up and the interest rates have been going up and monthly payments are getting more and more unaffordable. And so what happens is that if you spread the money you're borrowing over 50 years rather than 30 years, you save a couple hundred bucks a month on, on, you know, your, your mortgage payments. And so in the shortest of short runs, that is better for somebody. Right now in the long run, you're paying like almost twice as much interest to the bank. So like if you run the numbers, like if, if you take out like a $500,000 loan and you could look at like what you end up paying, the 30 year life of a mortgage or you look at what you'd end up paying on the 50 year life. It's like hundreds of thousands of dollars extra that are going to the bank. So obviously pretty good deal for the big banks, which is so weird because that always seems to be the case. Every government policy always seems to be really good for the big banks, which is always a real puzzle to put together. But so now look, it is true that like you can make creative arguments with all this stuff. So you could say that even though somebody is going to, let's say somebody is going to pay more money in interest to the Big banks over this thing, okay? They're saving money every month. And so you could argue like if they took that money they were saving every month and they invested that money, then maybe they could make up the difference or something like that. By the way, still a pretty good deal for the banks. You got to go gamble your money to see if you can make that. They're guaranteed that they get way more money or they can come foreclose on your house. Still seems like a pretty good deal for them. Not such a great deal for you. But then I guess the bigger point of all of this, Rob, is that it. It's just got a feel of like, like student loan forgiveness type thing. I mean, what. You're not even kind of addressing the core of the problem here. And you know, the core of the problem here is that it's, everything's getting too expensive. The currency debasement is catching up. You know, the, the essence of the problem here really is robust, that we, simple as it is, right, we have a government that is so big we can't afford it. We can't afford the size of government that we have. This is not overly complicated. It's for pretty obvious reasons. You know, you, you can only tax so much. There's, there's, you know, even if you raise tax rates to, to 90%, you know, you're not going to get that much different revenue. It just, it affects behavior. People don't produce that much more when they're at getting taxed at 90%. So you can only tax so much, and then you can actually only borrow so much, and then you start printing the money. And that's the only way to have a government this big is to have constant currency debasement. They can call these fancy words like monetary policy or quantitative easing, but it is no different. It is really no different than like ancient Rome diluting their gold coins, just making your money worth less. And as that happens, the money doesn't go as far, so things become more and more expensive. And that's what's destroying the middle class. It's what's destroying the young. What is it that's so big about this government? Well, it's basically two categories. Well, I mean, interest on the debt now is becoming a really big category itself, but it is the military and the entitlements. We've, we're dead set on being a world empire, which is illegal. It is not what we're supposed to be, and it's not what the American people have ever decided to be. And then we have these giant entitlement programs that are huge transfers of wealth from the young to the old, from a poorer group to a wealthier group there. And both of them are indefensible and inexcusable. But the problem is no one, including President Trump, has the fucking balls to even mention that. That's the problem. None of them have the fucking balls to say it. Because you know what, if you say, hey, we might have to look at some Social Security cuts, old people don't like that. And you know, old people, Rob, they tend to vote Republican and they tend to vote in real high numbers. You say you're going to get rid of their Medicare. Old people don't really like that and they vote in high numbers and they vote for Republicans. So it's not politically expedient for Donald Trump to ever mention anything about entitlements. And also he, you know, there's a whole bunch of weapons contractors and the whole establishment is the war party. So he goes, no, we'll have a trillion dollar budget. That's what I call for a trillion dollar Pentagon budget and will never touch the entitlements. And then you're left in a position where all you have are these harebrained schemes like this because you can't get to the fundamental problem, which is that the prices are getting crazy expensive. It's just like college. You, I talked to, I talked about my father in law about this. He, he bought his first house in the 70s and it was like, I think it was like around two years income, you know, like he was, he was, he started having kids young. So I think he bought his first house around 22, 23 years old. This is in the 1970s. It's not, you know, ancient history, although it feels like it. I think he was making like 16 grand a year and he bought a house for like 30 grand. Now he did take out a mortgage. He didn't buy it in cash, but, but you know, when you talk, you're talking about a mortgage that's a few thousand dollars, you know what I mean? Like, it's not like that, that big of a thing and it's just like, but he could buy a house young in his life. You know, I heard it was interesting today. I saw on the Ron Paul Liberty Report shout out to the goat, Ron Paul and, and Dan McAdams. Ron Paul was talking about how his father bought a house for cash in the middle of the Great Depression. And he goes, you know, not like it was, he goes, it wasn't like a mansion, but he goes, it's a nice house, a nice lawn, nice little property. He bought it in the middle of the Great Depression for cash. You know, it's like we, we take it. Much like with college, you just take it as a given that this thing costs $200,000 a year. But like why the hell does it, why should it, why do we have to go into a 30 yet, let alone a 50 year mortgage to purchase a house? Like it wasn't written in the stars that that's the way this has to be. It's, it's all over this monetary policy and other government interventions. And so like the, the thing is that there's no reason right now, Rob, the average age of a first time homebuyer is 40, 40 years old. Now. There's no reason why it has to be like that. Especially when you think about how much richer we are right now than in the Great Depression again, on every level, how much easier we can build homes, how much better we can build homes, how much like how much better we do everything now compared to the Great Depression. But you could buy it for cash then and now you got to be a debt slave to the bank for life. That is crazy, okay? And there's no reason why it has to be like that. It simply doesn't. This is all just a government policy, but they're unwilling to address the root cause here. And so instead all they can do is try to come up with these schemes that will obviously make the problem worse long term, but might get you through a midterm election. It's really, it's really pathetic.
D
You're 100% right. That it's all a product of government spending and inflation that got us into this mess. So making more funds and capital available to people doesn't sound like a win. But in terms of, and I might have to give this more thought, but in terms of like you as an individual considering taking on a 50 year mortgage, it's such like, it's just an inflation bet where I guess if you can have the capital and inflation goes to the wazoo or may like, it just kind of puts more people into the game of owning assets versus having, holding on to cash and being in the game of rooting for inflation because then you know what you owe on your house is actually going down relative to what the, what you took on. But if over the course of this 50 years you actually see some sort of a credit crunch or you actually see, I mean, do you really want to take a bet that in the next 50 years the check is not going to come due for the United States of America and that the Fed has endless ability to keep flooding the market every time asset prices are coming down. Because otherwise what's going to end up happening is the capital that you put into the house, which is probably 20%. And then every year that you're paying off your mortgage, which is essentially rent, you're just going to, you're going to get wiped out on a little bit of capital that you have.
C
Yeah, yeah, no, that's, that's a concern for sure. And it's, you know, it's just look like, like I was saying before, like we've, because of the monetary policy and because of the prices of everything going up, you've created a situation now where like I said, first time homebuyers are 40 and, and that I just think like it's very, it's very hard to measure exactly how destructive that is for a society. You know, like it's really destructive for a society to say that. Like, you know, in my, in my grandfather's day and my father in law's day, like a 23 year old could get a house. And oh by the way, to just be clear here about my, my father in law's situation, he had, I think he had two kids at the time. He's 23 years old, he was a truck driver and his wife didn't work. He just bought a house. He was 23. Now I just say this because it is, that is like inconceivable in today's America. The idea of like a 23 year old guy who has a, you know, a job, like just a blue collar working class job and his chick doesn't have to work and he can just buy a home and take care of his family, she can raise his kids and he can do the working. I mean that is just not, that does not exist. Nobody listening to this knows anyone like that or very few people do. Maybe it's certain parts of the country, but it's really rare these days. And so the, but what happens is, and look, even if you're not gonna, well look, if you're gonna have kids, which is, you know, just saying objectively pretty important for the next generation, but some of us have children. So if you want to have children, you know, because of course it's not just a matter of owning or renting, it's like the reason why people don't own until they're 40s because the prices are so high, it's so unachievable. And it's like that means that stability is very unachievable, you know, and obviously that makes it much more difficult to start a family. It's a difficult thing to start a family when you don't have any stability in your life. And waiting till 40 is a real problem because you know that's, that's pretty late in the game to do that. But then even if you're not even at people who don't have kids, just there's something for the tranquility, for the stability of being able to own property. Like there's, there's, there's something really important about that being achievable for like the average person in society. Because when you own property, and this isn't only, this isn't only the case if you own property. I mean this is also the case if you just like, you know, if you own stuff or if you are, you know, have meaningful relationships in your life or, or meaningful work in your life. But the more that you have all of those things, the more invested in your society you are, the more you care about it. You know, like it's just I, you, you just. When, when you, the more you own, the more skin in the game you have, the more of a stake you have, the more stability you have, or all of those things are enormously positive forces for the cohesion of a society. And it really tears, I mean we see this right now, it really tears things apart. And particularly, particularly when young men, okay, and I mean like, it's got to be the average man because today we kind of live in a situation where like, if you're, I think whatever, like if you're like elite level, like if you're like the best looking, like most athletic, like coolest guy, there's, there's wide open paths for you, I guess, as there always are. And then that's true for women too. If you're like the hottest girl, you know, you could. But for average people, just like the regular person, and particularly for young men, if the average 22 year old young man sees no reasonable path to where he could ever theoretically like be able to provide that type of stability for a woman, be able to provide that type of life for himself and they don't have a good, a good job and they don't have status and they don't have anything like meaningful in their life, that is dangerous. That's when young men become radical and become violent and become destructive. And so it's like, you know, it's like these, these government policies, even Something like that just seems removed from all of this. Like, oh, we're just talking about monetary policy here, but like, you know, you're talking about a lot more than that. You're talking about the health of your civilization. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Kalshee. I've been telling you about them for quite a while now. Kalshi is a prediction market where you can bet on just about anything that has a clear outcome, and you can see where the markets are trending on any of these things. So you can see what people are betting on, where inflation's going to be or who's going to be the next mayor or governor or president. And it's very interesting because you get information when people are putting their money up that you can't otherwise otherwise get. And you can also bet and win and have some fun. So go check them out. Kelsey.com join the over 5 million users who trade on politics, culture, even the weather. Kelsey.com Go have some fun. All right, let's get back into the show. So anyway, Donald Trump's just terrible.
D
It's just such a backwards approach to figuring out financial products. They're going to indebt people for longer to make more cash available for them to purchase something that they can't currently afford. That just doesn't sound like a win to me.
C
Yeah, especially when, like, the. So many of the answers are just so obvious. Like, you're like, oh, well, like if.
D
We give you some of the capital for free up front and we give you a lower interest rate for the first couple years, and then it goes up later, and maybe you make more money later. But, you know, if interest rates really skyrocket, oh, great. You got the 2008 financial mortgage crisis again.
C
Yeah, right. Right again.
D
Why not go with Kamala Harris's plan? Just give people $30,000 up front so that they have most of what they need for the initial down payment and pretend like that's not just gonna increase all the costs of owning a home and indebting people for longer. The college is the perfect example. They made loans available if you wanted to go to school, and colleges went great, we can charge these people more money. And then you had more people leaving colleges, more in debt. And you want to know why people don't own homes?
C
Yep, that's pretty much it. Right. And, and, like, it's, it's a, it's unbelievable. And, and there's, you know, no matter how much you see it like, it's, it's weird because once you see it, I guess, like, if you're just not thinking about it, you maybe you don't. But like, with college, with health care, with child care, with. And with housing, isn't the fundamental question is like, why are these prices so high? It's just crazy that it seems like we people could have a whole conversation about the topic and that never comes up, that it's like, wait, but why did these prices get so out of reach? And, you know, it just seems obvious that, like, you should ask that question because that's the problem you want to solve. So you might want to know what caused it. And like, in the ca. You know, in, in the case of, of college, it's obviously the loans. And then in, in the case of housing, it's not much different. And you know, there is something also, like, you know, as you said, Robin, I totally agree with you, right? As long as you have property taxes. And in some ways you could argue that property taxes are like the, the most evil tax. I'm not saying I agree there's arguments, but like, there is something about it where it really does. It essentially means communism, right? Because, like, is if you have property taxes. Well, what you're really saying is that the government owns all of the land. I mean, essentially, even if you pay off your mortgage, you're renting, you're renting from the government. If you don't make your payment, they come and take it from you. That's what a landlord does, right? That means it's theirs. Like, what, what, what? You know, if I own a house and I don't live in it, what meaningfully makes it mine? Well, it's mine because I get to set what the price is. And if you don't pay it, I'll take it back from you. The same thing with the government. And so once you have this, you have a situation essentially where the government owns all of your homes. But then you look at like, the big banks that give you, like, well, like, what loans are they giving you? Rob, none of these banks have any money. They don't have anything. They have. They have a fraction of what people have put into the banks, right? Like, like, in other words, they don't even have the deposits that all of us see on our statements. You know how you like to think that, like, if you see in your checking account that there's $5,000, you're like, they have five. No, they don't. They don't have it. You know, now you could take the whole $5,000 out and they'll give it to you. But if everybody tried to take their balance out, they don't have nearly enough, so they don't have this money. The Fed prints the money and loans it to them at basically 0% interest or very, very low interest, and then they loan it. It's essentially like, you know, it's just. It. It's a double whammy of, in essence, the government or the banking apparatus, which is, you know, a subset of the government always just owns the home. And like there's, I don't know, it screws over regular Americans. And also it's just bad. It's bad for the soul of the nation. It's bad for the spirit of, of supposedly free people that you. Everybody's got to sit here and rent from the government is essentially what it comes down to. Screw. That final word to you, Rob. What do you got?
D
Hail Mary's from Trump. He's losing his shit. So, yeah, I'll. I'll send you a check and I'll figure out how to get you a home.
C
It's not good. All right, we'll catch you guys tomorrow with a brand new episode. See you then. Peace.
Host: Dave Smith (C)
Co-Host: Robbie "The Fire" Bernstein (D)
Recorded: November 11, 2025
In this episode of Part of the Problem, Dave Smith and Robbie Bernstein tackle current controversies on the right, accusations of bigotry and censorship in conservative circles, the ongoing rift between establishment and populist voices, and critically analyze Donald Trump’s latest economic proposals. The hosts maintain their signature blend of irreverence, skepticism, and libertarian critique while deconstructing media narratives and government interventions.
"I'm here to let you know that we are just hostages in the government's game ... when you start delaying my flights, then I really take issue with it and say to government, figure it out." — Robbie (02:50)
"It was the elite party establishment and their mouthpieces versus Donald Trump and 80% of the base. That's really what the dynamic was." — Dave (07:13)
"Ben Shapiro is saying, Megyn Kelly, you ought to be condemning Tucker Carlson … How is he antisemitic? Well, he's antisemitic because he said another guy wasn't antisemitic. Just think about the leap of that already." — Dave (15:14)
"Honestly, if just by extending this logic, then Megyn Kelly's an antisemite too, right? … How many guilt by association levels can we get to here?" — Dave (19:05)
- Trump proposing $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks, attempting to tie trade war revenues into popular cash stimulus.
> "Talk about the worst way to handle it. To just throw the most pathetic, 'I’ll send you all money.'" — Dave (32:51)
- The hosts skewer the economics:
- Tariffs raise prices for Americans, then stimulus checks “solve” a problem the government created.
- They stress U.S. faces a spending, not a revenue problem.
> "He knows that there are people like that … there’s a reason why he made sure to put his name on that check in 2020." — Dave (34:57)
- Trump administration floats stretching mortgage terms to 50 years.
- Robbie sees it as encouraging more debt, benefiting banks while worsening affordability and mobility for buyers.
- Dave connects the housing crisis to high prices fueled by currency debasement, expansive government, and malinvestment, not a lack of creative mortgage products.
> "It's just an inflation bet … it just kind of puts more people into the game of owning assets versus having, holding on to cash and being in the game of rooting for inflation." — Robbie (50:45)
- They liken it to failures in higher education, where more government-backed loans drove up costs without fixing underlying incentives.
"We have a government that is so big we can't afford it... It's all over this monetary policy and other government interventions. And so the thing is that there's no reason right now, Rob, the average age of a first time homebuyer is 40, 40 years old. Now. There's no reason why it has to be like that." — Dave (46:35)
On accusations of antisemitism:
"Dude, it's... Ben Shapiro. Facts don’t care about your feelings. Accusations of bigotry can't shut down debates … this same guy is now—Yes, you ... ought to be condemning Tucker Carlson for being an antisemite. He’s not just anti-Israel, he’s antisemitic. How? Because he said another guy wasn’t antisemitic."
— Dave (15:14)
On government and housing:
"If you have property taxes... what you’re really saying is that the government owns all of the land. ... Even if you pay off your mortgage, you’re renting from the government."
— Dave (58:20)
On Trump’s economic Hail Marys:
"Hail Mary’s from Trump. He’s losing his shit. So, yeah, I'll send you a check and I'll figure out how to get you a home."
— Robbie (61:38)
As is typical of Part of the Problem, the tone is sardonic, fast-paced, and conversational. Dave and Robbie blend sharp humor, principled libertarian analysis, and skepticism toward both left and right establishments. They are candid, unfiltered, and impassioned, particularly when attacking illogical media narratives or big-government policy.
This episode serves as a critique of both right and left’s use of censorship and guilt by association—particularly in debates around Israel—while exposing the economic and political unseriousness of "Hail Mary" solutions like tariffs and ultra-long mortgages. The hosts stress the need to address root causes—government overreach and monetary manipulation—rather than perpetuate cycles of intervention and reaction.