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- [00:00]
Dave Smith
Foreign.
- [00:07]
What's up, everybody? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith and he of course is the beautiful Robbie the Fire Bernstein. How are you feeling today, sir?
- [00:17]
Rob Bernstein
I'm doing well. How are you, Mr. Smith?
- [00:19]
Dave Smith
I'm doing well. I'm, I'm okay. I'm a little bit bummed out today. I have not. I'm, I'm gonna have to tweet, I guess about this at some point, but. So we weren't supposed to have a show today. I announced on the site I was supposed to go out and speak at the Young Americans for Liberty YALCON event in Cincinnati, Ohio, but I, my flight got canceled and there's just like terrible weather coming in. Tried a lot of different things. We were down to trying an option to go to different cities to fly me into different cities to have someone pick me up and meet me. But we weren't able to make it work. They were no flights available in all of the New York City airports. And I really did try anyway. Not able to make it. Not able to make it there. I guess we're talking right now. I think I'm going to like do my speech by Zoom from here. So I will address the, the kids. But of course it's not nearly as fun as being there in person. And I really do, I've done, I can't remember how many of the Young Americans for Liberty events I've done, but they're always like among my favorite things to do. I just love it. It's, it's really cool, Rob, to go see like, you know, 20 year olds who are, you know, really hardcore into the same stuff that we're into and they're really excited about it. I always really, I don't know, I always, I appreciate kind of like the honor of like being like, oh, okay, I'm here to like talk to the younger generation of, of, you know, liberty loving people who, who look up to me or whatever. So anyway, I really, really enjoyed doing it. I will absolutely do everything I can to be at next year's big Young Americans for Liberty event. I love the organization. I've met a lot of cool people there over the years. So it sucks. It's one of those things. It's, you know, Rob, I mean, we, people who listen to this show are probably, I mean, we mostly rant about the news, but we do about flying on airplanes quite a bit because it's just inevitable if you got two people who got to fly on airplanes time that these type of things Happen. It sucks. We're, we're busy. We travel the whole year. We try our absolute best to never miss any of our, any of our, our live performances, whether that be speeches or, or comedy shows. So anyway, that sucks. But I will address the young Americans for Liberty on behalf of the middle aged Americans for Liberty. Rob, don't you worry. I'll be, I'll be representing us.
- [02:47]
Rob Bernstein
It's inspiring to see that some, some younglings are finding this. I, I find there's uh, a little bit of an uptick in like the college age kids that are coming out to porches and even what I see at our live shows and I just, I just love to see it. You're like, oh, like I would have thought, you know, my audience was more 20 year olds. It just isn't. Which is cool. You know, I'll porch with 50s and 6 year olds. They make for a fine porch tour crowd. But it's nice if the younger kids are, you know, finding honest information this early in their lives.
- [03:19]
Dave Smith
Yeah, and I do think that there's something, I don't know, I guess there's, there's something to be said for particularly I'm thinking about like libertarians have always felt this way, but I guess it's true in general if you're like it, I, I don't know just for, if you don't like a lot of things about your current system of government and culture and you're kind of advocating that things be different on some level, you recognize that like this is a long project, this is going to take a long time and that kind of means that like this is, this is going to be for, you know, to be carried out. There's going to be work to be done here. And I personally, and I really don't want this to come off the wrong way because I do want to think about the weight of my words when I say this. I'm not implying anything like you should be black pilled or like there's not a lot of important work to be done in the meantime or that like this all just isn't really interesting to keep talking about and, and, and trying to understand. But it does kind of seem, Rob, like the boomers are going to have to die off. You know what I mean? Like those guys like, and not just, not just that they have to die off because I don't know, Rob, I mean maybe our, our, this current system collapses before the boomers die off. It's quite possible if you ask me. But like maybe it's more accurate to say the boomers are going to die off. And that's almost like the big thing for Americans to think about, about the future, you know, that like, you know, you take, you know, you take the boomers out of the equation and American public opinion and American culture and American, I don't know, finances. Just everything is so much different
- [04:58]
Lindsey Graham
that,
- [04:58]
Dave Smith
you know, and so anyway, it's very, it's very interesting to talk to young people who are aware of this stuff.
- [05:03]
Rob Bernstein
And just speaking of being careful about your words, the audience is more 30 and 40. A porch door. I don't mean to disparage them that a bunch, bunch of people are like, wait, I wasn't 50 and 60. What are you talking about?
- [05:13]
Dave Smith
You do. If you saw, if you stood next to these young Americans for Liberty, you'd look 68.
- [05:17]
That's all I got.
- [05:18]
No, I mean, there's, there's, you know, older people there, too. There's speakers and organizers and stuff.
- [05:22]
Rob Bernstein
But and on that note, I do got porches coming up. Cocoa, Florida. St. Augustine, Florida. Walpole, Mass. Newton, Mass. In Rhode Island. And then, of course, you and I are going to be at the, the Improv, I think, of Fort Lauderdale this Friday and Saturday or Thursday? Friday.
- [05:37]
Dave Smith
Thursday. Thursday and Friday. That's right. So that'll be the day after tomorrow. July. What, what do we got here? Excuse me. I believe it's the 30th, right? Yeah, it's, I'm sorry, July 30th and 31st down there in Fort Lauderdale. And then we'll be in Appleton, Wisconsin. I'll be back at the Comedy Mothership in Austin, Texas. Louisville, Kentucky, Fort Worth, Texas, Dallas, Texas, Salt Lake City, and then Las Vegas. So we got a bunch of stuff coming up. Comic Dave Smith, me and Rob will be out there on the road. All right, so I wanted to talk a bit about Lindsey Graham today because it was that, what was it his funeral today? I don't know. They had some type of service today. J.D. vance was, was speaking. And we didn't get to this in yesterday's show, but there's anyway, a lot, you know, a bunch of people are giving speeches about Lindsey Graham's legacy. And there's also, just a couple days ago, there was, evidently Rob, Lindsey Graham had a documentary crew following him for the last few months. And a bunch of footage was released of his immediate reaction to the, the launch of the war in Iran, which I found to be fascinating. And, well, I don't know. I mean, I guess before we even get into any of this, I guess it's it, isn't it, Rob? It's a little bit of an interesting situation. Like, I'm listening to J.D. vance give, you know, like, a speech about how great a person and how charming Lindsey Graham was. And. And, I don't know. Listen, you. You guys know, like, look, I'm a little bit harsh on J.D. vance. I've been. I've been harsh on J.D. vance for the last year. And at some points, perhaps unfairly, you know, rob, what is J.D. vance? After all? He's the Vice President. He's not in charge of anything, and he's kind of. What. What would you say? At least rhetorically, what is he the most. The closest sounding to us in the administration. So in a way, you're like, oh, we're beating up on the guy who's most. Not worse or whatever. But, you know, the thing with J.D. vance, Rob, is that he's kind of like, you know, like. Like when you were, like, a kid and like, a bunch, you would, like, jump someone's fence and then vandalize their property and spray paint something on. And then the guy woke up and he came out running like, I'm going to kill you kids. And then everyone ran away, but one fat kid couldn't get over the fence. And, you know, he wasn't even really the one who was leading or who's doing the worst, but that guy gets the crap beat out of him because, you know what? You're all that's here. The rest of them all got away. And like J.D. vance, there's just this. I don't know, Rob, there's this feeling where, like, he's the one who's still kind of hanging on and asking for something from us. He wants our vote. Marco Rubio doesn't even want our vote. Marco Rubio already knows he's not carrying us, but J.D. vance wants to. J.D. vance. He's the only one left who wants something. And so what am I to do when I see him praising Lindsey Graham? Why? Now, don't get me wrong, Rob. I know. I understand. In the world of. Not just the world of politics, but in the world, sometimes you got to say nice things. It's the nice thing to do at a funeral. But. But from my perspective, while I've watched this administration just trash the country, trash our movement. Nah, I don't. I don't feel like. I don't think I do have to put up with this. I got to say, Rob, I do. I very much. As I expressed the last time we talked about This I very much have the sensibilities as a person of being like, yo, you should not speak ill of the dead. You know, at the same time, I'm disgusted hearing JD Vance just praise a man who's, whose whole career was advocating death and destruction and human despair. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Crowd Health, a longtime sponsor of this show. I've been telling you guys about this company for years because I really believe in what they do. And of course, summer is in full swing. And if you want to enjoy your beach days and barbecues without the constant stress of broken healthcare, go check out what real medical freedom looks like. For under $100 a month, crowd Health is now offering the Black Swan membership, the no BS alternative for people who want control over their care, their costs and their lives. For just $85 a month, you get a dedicated team of expert bill negotiators who are fighting for you, access to low cost prescriptions and lab testing, plus a hand curated network of high quality, affordable doctors vetted by Crowd Health. So there's no insurance company, there' restrictive doctors networks that tell you who you can and can't see. 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- [11:29]
Rob Bernstein
And with thinking that that was noble, I mean, that's one of the things that's really apparent in the documentary is that if you got our worldview, he can't believe that someone could be such a villain and how disgusting it is. But to him that he, he's not, he's not afraid that there are cameras recording him saying these things.
- [11:47]
Dave Smith
Well, that's one of the things that's so interesting about this and it's one of the reasons why I did want to talk about it on the show. You know, we kind of. We kind of got into this on the. The last episode a little bit. But I was. I was trying to make. And maybe it was a bit of a clumsy connection between the. Like, the Mossesian idea of human action with economics and then the idea of, you know, human action in politics. And I don't know. I guess there's just something where it's like, we can talk about things in collectives all the time, and sometimes that's important, and sometimes it's very useful to understanding things. Like, no matter what you talk, like, if you were talking about, like, the scandal in the Catholic Church, you're like, there's. The Catholic Church is a thing in your mind. And, like, what that means, essentially, is like, well, I don't know, like, the organization and everybody who works there and all. And that is a thing. So you have to be able to. But if you really wanted to understand, say, what was going on, there were individual players who had, you know, they were human beings. It's human. It's human beings acting human beings doing stuff. So each individual human being had his own childhood and his own stories and his own ambitions and his own heartbreak and his. And so, in other words, in order to really understand what's really going on here, you kind of got to understand the individual players. Now, that's harder to do. And so at times, you just focus on what they're doing, what actions these humans are taking. But it is always interesting when you get a little bit of an insight into who the person is. And much like, you know, this has been. I don't know. I mean, this has been something I've been talking about publicly for 20 years. But I guess between with the two examples of both Fauci's diaries and Lindsey Graham and this. This documentary, it's just been interesting lately to think about that, to get a little window into these people. Because, look, Rob, it obviously does. It just changes the dynamics a little bit when you find out that Foushee is, like, real excited that he's having a zoom meeting with an NBA player and, like, oh, isn't that neat? And that he's, like, drunk in the moment on how famous he is all of a sudden. I don't know. That's very interesting. That's very useful information into just, you know, like, putting this whole story together. And likewise. Yeah, it's. It's interesting to. To. I don't know, to. To see how Lindsey Graham actually was, at least in his limo. With his camera crew. I mean, who knows, you know, what. What broke once he got away from them. But, yeah, it's. It's worlds apart from the morality that me and you believe in, that's for sure. All right, do you want to. Should we.
- [14:44]
Sponsor/Announcer
Yeah.
- [14:44]
Dave Smith
You know, let's just go right to the Lindsey Graham. Let's go to the first Lindsey Graham clip. Let's. Let's play that.
- [14:50]
Lindsey Graham
Able to deliver. Oh, to be honest with you, I think about three to four weeks, we should have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities. And what we're trying to do is just get a few cities to fall and the next month get the Arabs more openly involved tomorrow or by the end of the week and just have almost irreversible momentum.
- [15:19]
Dave Smith
So that was the clip. Okay, so this one is the more getting into, like, his. Just not his psychology, but just, I don't know, the certainty. You know, there's other clips. We're going to play a couple other ones where you'll see more of his exuberance. But I gotta tell you, and. And because for nothing else, I think it's important to just tell the truth about these things. You know, people are going to talk about Lindsey Graham's legacy. I did. I really did find this. This clip to be very fascinating to that whole conversation, because here you have not just, you know, not just like, hey, remember 20 years ago when you said there were weapons of mass destruction, but there weren't. And. But you have just from, you know, just in the last few months here as this war is breaking out, Lindsey Graham is like, he. And I've seen this a lot from warhawks over the years. First off, he can't contain his excitement. There's something truly sick about this. He can't contain his excitement. And then they just kind of get drunk with this certainty of what's going to come next. And here you see, I mean, very clear about as objective as you could get. You know, Rob, like I always say with the. The Austrian verse, you know, other classical or. Or, you know, derivative, you know,
- [16:41]
Rob Bernstein
economic
- [16:42]
Dave Smith
schools of thought, I always go like, well, look, the Austrians are the ones making the argument that you can't just empirically test everything against everything. You got to think these things through. But if ever you could empirically test something, I mean, he sits here and explains how the Iranian regime is going to lose control of the cities and how their country is going to. And rob those cities like this was. Only this has been in the last, you know, four months or Whatever. I guess going on five months now, those cities in the next days after he said this had million man marches in support of the regime. Like he just got this all completely wrong. And I guess they're, they're almost look like even if you want to, I don't know, Rob, if you want to say, hey, look, Lindsey Graham is an evil. From our worldview he's evil, but from his worldview it's a different thing. It's like, yeah, but dude, if you're this wrong all the time, over and over and your wrongness involves a policy of killing people, Jesus Christ. At a certain point, where's the distinction? And you know, I think that's Rob, and I'm really curious to just get your thoughts on this because this is, you know, this is something, it's like a through line through all of my Israel debates and all of this that it's like, look, I understand that, like, I understand that Lindsey Graham was a U.S. senator who wore a suit and a tie and had some southern charm and would crack a dirty southern joke when none of the ladies were, were looking or whatever. And like, and I understand he wasn't like a, like a head chopping member of ISIS or like a barbarian, you know, Hamas, you know, angry, you know, 20 year old, throwing a rock or whatever you picture. But like, dude, when you're this wrong all the time and you're Paul, it's like what I always say in the debates with Israel. At a certain point, if you're killing this many people, I, in effect, you're still the killer. Like eventually it doesn't matter how sophisticated a way you do this in, you are so wrong. All you advocate in effect is death and destruction forever. Why am I not supposed to look at you like a monster in your death? I don't know you can touch on any of that that you want.
- [18:51]
Lindsey Graham
Rob.
- [18:52]
Rob Bernstein
I had a similar takeaway watching this clip where, you know, you might say Lindsey Graham has no interest in the success of the United States people. And it's just that he's so tied in with the military industrial complex and jobs in his state that he's just pitching war all the time, only for basically war profiteering. If you're watching this clip, you get, oh, this guy actually thought there was a pathway to victory, right? If you're out pitching, firstly, I'm not sure that a victory and I, let's just go with the idea. America needs to be an empire and kicking people's ass for American interest actually benefits our country. And so in this case, he thinks that within couple weeks, Iran, there's gonna be revolts and people are gonna actually start overtaking their government. And so there's a pathway to victory here. Well, that clearly did not happen. And so you got a guy who spent his entire life advocating for a war, thinking that there would be a successful conclusion. And what he thought was gonna happen clearly did not take place. So he was wrong. Which means that when he went out there and he initiated, hey, we need to be having this war, and this war is really important, he was just wrong. And so you can't celebrate that guy. And if anything, you gotta punish these individuals. Cuz you made the biggest blunder probably the United States of America might have made. Find me a bigger, I mean, if you have their worldview of empire, find me a bigger blunder that we've made in terms of foreign wars and entanglements, in terms of weakening the US Empire. If you believe in the need of a US Empire. And I mean, this is such a massive mistake and you have it on full display that what he thought was going to happen clearly is not taking place.
- [20:25]
Dave Smith
Dude, I mean, when you're, I mean, dude, when you're, you're on record now supporting Iraq, Afghanistan, you know, Libya and this, geez, man, it's just like, I don't know, why am I, I, I, I don't think it's unreasonable to go, you know, one of my favorite things ever, if you remember, Tucker Carlson one time had Max Boot on cnn. People don't know Max Boots. Another like arch neocon guy, you know, like always supported every one of these wars. Lindsey Graham, indistinguishable on foreign policy. And, and Tucker at one point goes, he goes, max, I'm not trying to be cruel to you, but like, why don't you try like painting houses just goes like, why don't you just pick another job? You're so bad at this. You get everyone wrong. Or at least. And, and I got to say, look, I mean, I so like, if you were to even argue at a certain point, if I go like, hey, okay, so Lindsey Graham supported the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the war in Libya, the war in Syria, the war in Somalia, the war in Yemen, and supported the destruction of Gaza. He supported the war in Iran, is, was one of the biggest cheerleaders in the Senate for the war in Ukraine. Like all of these policies, Rob, there's not a single one of those that you could point to and even pretend was a win. No, I mean, look, you could, the Closest you could spin to any of this would be that Ukraine wasn't completely taken over by Russia, which, you know, I mean, that's, that there's a strong argument, but like, but for US support, you know, that like, Russia maybe would have just totally destroyed. Okay, but like you, every last one is a loss. Millions and millions of people are, are, are, you know, dead. Innocent people are dead as a result of this policy. Now, one might ask themselves, why are you any different than Stalin or Hitler or any other person in political power who we label as like, oh, you killed all these innocent people? And what, what people would respond with that? Well, first off, people don't like, they don't like hearing things like that because it sounds like something a left winger would say quite often. So they have a kind of like, repulse, like, well, what do you mean? Oh, yeah, Dave, America's always the bad guys, or, oh, yeah, we're all just as bad as them. But actually, what I'm arguing for is this the opposite of relativism. I'm arguing for moral objectivism. I'm arguing for, like, an objective standard. Now, if you're going to say, like, these things are different, well, what's the objective standard? And whenever you get into that, Rob, what they, and this is the same thing that Israel defenders will do whatever you do when, when you, when they get into this is, they go to motives. And so they'll say something like, well, look, you could kind of understand that, like, however misguided the war in Iraq may have been, that's not the same thing as giving orders to execute every last Jew in a town. Because, you know, maybe someone was misguided and they thought that, like, oh, he did have weapons of mass destruction or this war would help the Iraqi people or something like that. But you gotta say, I think there's a real problem with that defense. And I've, I've, I've been working on this for years now. Kind of like how to tackle that. But I just think there's a real problem with your defense being like, no, but we didn't really mean it. You know, like, we didn't really do it because we're bad. We did it for these noble reasons. Because, well, first of all, like, Hitler had his abstract, noble reasons too. Stalin had his abstract noble reasons too. They all claim. Now you could certainly say that, like, hey, if you're putting, like, a woman or a child into a gas chamber, there's no, like, possible you got this wrong. Or so, like, okay, fair enough. But then on the other side of it, Rob. Hey, look, I really wanted to do this nice thing that involved murdering a bunch of people, but it just didn't work out. But my heart was in the right place. Like, if you were actually bringing that defense to any reasonable, like, court of law. Okay, let's say that defense holds. Rob. How about the second time you do it and the third time you do it and the fourth time, like, by the time you're like a 12th time repeat offender, do you still get to go, oh, no. But it's not like sociopathic murderous behavior. It's just like, oh, darn it. Lindsey Graham was wrong about how the cities would fall once again. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Body Brain Coffee. Love this stuff. 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- [26:24]
Rob Bernstein
How about being a arrogant dumbass? Making highly consequential decisions on a repeated basis is evil. And so if you can't take stock on the fact that you're making horrible blunders that are leading to death because you're just wrong in your analysis. You should not be making that analysis. And if you're continuing to make the analysis because you like the power that comes with it, then you're engaging in evil and you can't hide behind the fact of, oh, I was just a dumbass with a. What I thought were good ideas.
- [26:53]
Dave Smith
Yeah, yeah, no, that's right, that's right. And, and, and also, like you just, I don't know, I guess also, and this is particularly true, like I completely agree with everything you said 100%. But then just like, in addition to that, I feel the need to add that with people like Lindsey Graham or many people involved in the US war machine, or many people involved in the Israeli war machine and the Israeli government, they really push it to the level of me believing that they're just this stupid because, you know, then you go listen to Smotrich. Literally just today I saw a clip of him openly bragging about the full amount of apartment buildings that they've destroyed in southern Lebanon and the amount of apartment buildings that they've destroyed in Gaza. Literally bragging that we didn't just drive Hamas out, we destroyed the homes. And with like the heavy implication that look, they're never coming back. Like that's ours now. And so like, okay, well that guy sure as isn't just misguided, right? Like that's real Hitler esque right there. He, he knows what he's doing, has incorporated that into his worldview, kind of likes that aspect of it and certainly isn't slown down by it. So what? But then also it's like with Lindsey Graham, it's like, I don't know when the thing about you is that you always loved war, like you're always for war. It does just start to make you wonder like, come on dude, are you really just this wrong? Are you just this stupid or are you in whatever way compromised, sick in the head, or just aware that this is a price tag with your policy? It's like, yeah, a whole bunch of innocent people are going to die. But you know what? It's not me and mine, it's over there either way. I just, I don't really if I'm being honest here. And again, this is not from a left wing perspective where I'm saying like, there's nothing, there's no relativism in this. It's like objective standards here. I just don't really see a sound coherent argument as to why this is worlds apart from like someone praising Hitler immediately after he died. You know, aside from the difference that he wasn't the Fuhrer, he was just one member of the phony Senate. But, you know, he was like, okay, that difference. Understood. But, like, aside from that, I don't know, Rob Morley. I don't really see much a difference.
- [29:16]
Rob Bernstein
Well, let's. Let's watch the other clips where we can see Lindsay Graham being even more gleeful about this here.
- [29:21]
Dave Smith
You know what? Let's. Yeah, okay. Let's do that. Let's go to the other Lindsay. Gr.
- [29:25]
I'm sorry. You're.
- [29:25]
You're absolutely right. Let's go to those. Been knocked out now.
- [29:33]
Their missile count is going way down, amazingly.
- [29:40]
Lindsey Graham
Look what we've done here.
- [29:41]
Dave Smith
I know.
- [29:41]
Lindsey Graham
I almost cried.
- [29:43]
Dave Smith
Yeah.
- [29:43]
Lindsey Graham
I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this?
- [29:47]
Dave Smith
You've been pushing this for years.
- [29:48]
Lindsey Graham
Right, right. It's here. I talked to Trump this morning. Oh, he's Jack. He says, best thing I've ever done. He loves blowing stuff up. So, you know, there are a lot of people inside didn't want to do it, so I had my challenges. But President Trump, when he gets into the zone, he listens, asks good questions, you know, no tweeting. He has done nothing. He hadn't tweeted much at all. No drama. He's been a great wartime president. I said last. Last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they're the right two guys to confront this evil.
- [30:33]
Dave Smith
Don't entirely disagree with him on that one. They are a lot like FDR and Churchill. Now, that means very different things to me and Lindsey Graham, but I would agree with him on that. Rob, what can you say, man? I mean, again, this is like
- [30:49]
what
- [30:49]
I'm saying, like, when I'm making comparisons to, like, Hitler and Stalin. Again, in his words, Trump likes blowing stuff up. You know, people die when you blow stuff up. Everybody knows that. Iranians have been dying by the thousands during this thing. People in Lebanon have been, you know, like, people. And anyway, Rob, I mean, what can you say about the glee that this guy feels like?
- [31:14]
Sponsor/Announcer
Even.
- [31:15]
Dave Smith
I'll just say this and then you. But even if you're pro war, even if me and you, Rob, are wrong about everything and the pro war hawks are right about all of this, shouldn't they still be kind of, like, somber as they launch the thing? They know innocent people are going to die. This is. This is Lindsey Graham is doing this, like, hours before 168 little girls get killed, you know, this shit is fucking dark, man.
- [31:48]
Rob Bernstein
Yep. It certainly doesn't have the Flavor of morality or adult in the room of this is going to have terrible consequences, but it needs to be done. And I wish we weren't here. This is a guy who's gleeful about the fact that he's finally able to get a war that we never needed and he finally found a president that he could pitch on it. And hilarious. He pretends like he's the adult in the room of, well, Donald Trump. I could finally get that child to focus and stay off Twitter.
- [32:13]
Lindsey Graham
Yeah.
- [32:14]
Rob Bernstein
And he was zoned in asking all the right questions. I guess all the right questions are how, how is this going to go, Mr. Lindsey Graham? Oh, perfect. The people themselves are going to revolt and within a couple months, we'll have multiple cities and momentum on our side. So great that Lindsey Graham is the adult in the room was able to get Donald Trump's focus for Donald Trump to ask good questions, which also just showcases, you know, Donald Trump's bad at his job that he's looking to Lindsey Graham for advice. And the advice boils down to a completely flawed policy or idea of how this might go. But, yeah, I mean, just to your point, the fact that he's giddy about this because this is his life's work, is this accomplishment without any sense of it sucks that this is what we have to do, but we have to do it. It's pretty disgusting to see that he would even record that and put it out on film or allow for it that he's so locked in on that what he's doing is right.
- [33:10]
Dave Smith
Yeah, no, that's well said. Yeah. All spot on. And the other thing I was thinking about with this, I talked about this a little bit. I did a Tom Wood show yesterday. I think that's out tomorrow, but go check that out. As always, Tom woods, the goat. The best ever. Love that guy. Go. His show is so good. By the way, people don't haven't go through the archives of the Tom Wood show, one of the best shows out there. But we were talking about how, like, there's this weird dynamic where they'll do this thing where so like Thomas Massey gets unseated in Congress. And then you'll see someone on social media will be like, the Jewish money came in and. And took out Thomas Massie. And then someone else will be like, that's really anti Semitic to say it like that. But then you see John Podhartz go, and the Jewish money came in and took out Thomas Massey. And you're like, oh, hey, but you just said the same thing that he's like, it's not anti Semitic if you're for it. It's only anti Semitic if you're against it. Like, it's just such a bizarre standard that, I don't know, just can't possibly what. So anyway, the thing I'm thinking, like, and this is that I've been saying, like, since the 12 Day War last year, Rob, as you know, I've been on all the highest profile debates around the country saying this is the war the neocons have wanted the whole time. They've spent 20 years trying to get this war. This is a continuation of the seven countries in five years. And the clean breaks. Right? Like, this has been the whole central argument. And then as if I need. It's like the Fauci diaries. As if we need another piece of evidence. We don't. We've already got our case sealed. But then. Oh, God. Well, here he is admitting that they were funding gain of function research, and here he is admitting what the death rate was and where the origin of the virus came from. Okay, well, here is Lindsey Graham. What is the first thing he says? The same as Benjamin Netanyahu. The first thing he says when they launched the war is, this was my life's work. Like, they acknowledge we've been pushing this war the whole time. This is what the whole global war on terrorism has been leading up to. And what is this? I mean, like, who's even arguing anymore that this isn't a strategy for Israel? Who else is the strategy for, Rob? What the strategy your life's work was what, toppling Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi and the Ayatollah in Iran, for who? You get 50 guesses, Rob, which country is it that Lindsey Graham wants to do that for? Like, I don't know. That's the other thing that I saw about this too. Like, while he's so giddy about. And this is one of the interesting things about. It's kind of like the way people. You know why, like, when people talk in. In a fight, like UFC fighters or boxers will talk even a very high level sometimes. And it's like, because if you get a guy emotional, they give away a little bit. They get. They get out of their game. And this is why it's kind of interesting seeing Lindsey Graham when he gets emotional and gets excited. Because the first thing he says is there's always something Freudian in people when they get real emotional. The first thing he says is, this is what we've been trying to do the whole time. And that's Right. And what was Lindsey Graham, by the way? Keep in mind, everybody, the original never Trumper, if you remember the first guy he started feuding with when he was running for president. The original never Trumper. Well, Donald Trump carried out their life's work. And by the end, as you know, it's working out really wonderfully. We all get to inherit the spoils.
- [36:43]
Rob Bernstein
Yep. Let's. I think there's one more clip.
- [36:45]
Dave Smith
Yeah. Let's go to the next one. Do you have it on speaker, Ryan?
- [36:52]
Yep. Okay. Okay. All right.
- [36:54]
Connecting you now.
- [36:54]
Lindsey Graham
Yeah.
- [36:55]
Dave Smith
Hello?
- [36:55]
Lindsey Graham
Hey, baby. Lindsay.
- [36:58]
Dave Smith
Hey, Lindsay. How are you?
- [37:01]
Lindsey Graham
I couldn't. I'm just so impressed. Glad to be your friend.
- [37:06]
Dave Smith
I'm glad you are my friend.
- [37:08]
Lindsey Graham
I'm going to meet with the president this weekend. I'm going down to Doral. I'm going to try to get him to join with y' all in Lebanon to maybe fly some with you. Would you like that?
- [37:18]
Dave Smith
Yeah, I, I get that. I think. I think you have a point. But I've been thinking about the other side of it for a second. We're concentrating right now on your phone. If we tell Hezbollah that we're going all the way, we threaten them. But if we actually do it.
- [37:38]
Lindsey Graham
Okay.
- [37:38]
Dave Smith
Then they have no reason not to go all the way against us.
- [37:42]
Lindsey Graham
Okay.
- [37:43]
Dave Smith
That's not our interest.
- [37:44]
Lindsey Graham
Okay.
- [37:45]
Dave Smith
Do it later.
- [37:46]
Lindsey Graham
Well, I'll. Okay. Well, that's, that's actually good counsel. I put it out there as an idea. We can always.
- [37:55]
Dave Smith
So here is a real fascinating exchange where you have, you know, what can only be described as like a childlike, gleeful Lindsey Graham calling Netanyahu, essentially just praising him, saying he's so glad to be his friend. He's so excited and actually getting out ahead of Netanyahu in what he's going to be advocating the US Military do on behalf of Israel. You know, he is actually saying, I'm going to go to Trump right now to try to get him to join the war in Lebanon. And, and Bibi is going, well, wait, hold on one second. Not quite yet. We want him bombing Iran still because we want Lebanon, essentially. We don't want them to go for broke right now. So if they see Americans coming, they know that it's time to go for broke. So we don't want that. So maybe in a little bit.
- [38:47]
But.
- [38:47]
And this is like, I don't know, man. It's truly, truly remarkable. What are your thoughts?
- [38:54]
Rob Bernstein
I get that they're filming for a doc here and so that maybe this is somewhat staged, even though this doesn't make Lindsay look great. So I can't imagine that this was overly staged, but the casualness by which you would think these were more planned out decisions of it sounds like two teenagers just calling each other like, hey, I'm, I'm going to see Trump. So I'm going to ask him if he know some extra stuff while I'm there. And Netanyahu is like, by the way, he goes, oh, yeah, dude. I mean, typically speaking, we love bombing. And so I get where you're coming from. In this case, I don't think it's the right time because we're Jews and we try and be sneaky and we don't want them to realize that we're actually trying to destroy them. And so if you guys stay out of this, we can pull more of our sneaky, sneaky moves and then we
- [39:34]
Sponsor/Announcer
can do that later.
- [39:35]
Rob Bernstein
But you listen, you definitely have the right idea. But we already have enough beers at this party and I don't want people getting too drunk. So don't actually bring the hard liquor from your parents cabinets. Like, yeah, it's a wildly not so. It's a not sophisticated call from Lindsey Graham where it's not like he's done a ton of analysis. He's just calling up like, hey, as long as I'm seeing President Trump, I'm going to get it, I'll get, I'm going to try and get some more bombs for you guys.
- [39:57]
Dave Smith
No, it's just, it's just more bombs for Israel. That's it. That's the extent of Lindsey Graham's analysis. Benjamin Netanyahu is at least thinking, he's at least got a little bit of a strategy. Yeah, I mean, look, I don't, I don't know, you know, how much more there is that, that you can say, but there's. Yeah, look, I mean, here's, here's Lindsey Graham, just a merchant of death. And I, and I'm sorry, I don't, look, I'm, I understand anybody being turned off by what they see as like cruelty in the face of death or being turned off by people who are like, mocking him or making jokes or trashing or saying they're glad he's dead or things like that. Completely understand. Not partaking in any of that. Not really particularly my style either. But honestly, like, if we're just analyzing that, I don't know, I don't want to hear my, I don't want to hear politicians praising Lindsey Graham. I just, I find something and there'd be Something kind of sickening about all of it, to be honest. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Quince. I've been telling you guys about Quince for a little while. I love this company. I own several articles of clothing from them. If you're looking to level up your summer wardrobe without breaking the bank, definitely check out Quints. Everything at quints is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. I'm telling you guys, they have stuff that looks really, really nice, that's both casual and formal and is very reasonably priced. Quint's European linen pants and shirts are the perfect warm weather upgrade to add to your rotation, starting at just $34. Their tees are soft and easy to wear, and their lightweight cotton sweaters are perfect for cooler summer nights. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middleman. So you're paying for quality, not brand markup. Also, Quince goes way beyond clothing. They have custom upholstered sofas, ceramic cookware, premium bedding. It's the kind of brand you end up recommending to everyone for everything. So elevate your summer wardrobe today by going to quince.compotp for free shipping on your orders and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada as well. That's Q U I n c e.compotp quince.compotp for free shipping and 365 day returns. All right, let's get back into the show.
- [42:23]
Lindsey Graham
All right.
- [42:25]
Dave Smith
Speaking of sickening, you know, it's the second worst government program, Rob. First is war. Second is grocery stores. We've always said that it's always first. But, you know, we got commies to the left of us and warhawks to the right, so we gotta deal with all of them. But I'm sure you saw Rob. Mom, Donnie has opened at least one of.
- [42:48]
Rob Bernstein
I don't think he actually opened it. I think this is the developing. Okay. I think.
- [42:54]
Dave Smith
I'm sorry, I'm getting fake news here. It's being developed.
- [42:57]
Rob Bernstein
Yes. I think it's like six months out and he. And he was showcasing.
- [43:02]
Dave Smith
Was that real food behind him or was it North Korea style fake food?
- [43:07]
Rob Bernstein
Well, I'm guessing it was a fake display of what might exist in the future and a description of what the pricing mechanism is. But I believe I had it wrong because I thought that it was the grand opening and I think it was more the press conference of the way that the stores are planning on operating.
- [43:25]
Dave Smith
Okay, interesting. Well, let's Go to the.
- [43:27]
Rob Bernstein
I was it as well. I thought that it was an opening.
- [43:32]
Dave Smith
Oh, there you go. Well, here, let's go to mom. Donny's announcement of developing a grocery store.
- [43:38]
Sponsor/Announcer
We know that for many New Yorkers, 30% at the grocery store means something very different. Since 2019, food prices have soared at grocery stores around the country by roughly 30%. In fact, talk to shoppers around the city and you'll often hear the same frustration. Wages have not kept up. Making matters even worse, some corporations have built out technology that allows for something called surveillance pricing, collecting personal data to charge some people more than others for the same carton of eggs for the same gallon of milk. All of this leaves too many New Yorkers feeling like groceries are out of.
- [44:18]
Rob Bernstein
I have to comment on that. I agree with him that I hate the concept of discriminatory pricing. That a company could see that you're a person who will pay more for something, so they'll charge you more. I don't think anyone likes paying more than the next person. With that said, if you are looking to help poor people, the poor people are the one are not the ones being charged more for eggs. What that means is that a grocery store that has like an. If they're using this technology. If you had a grocery store, theoretically with one store in Harlem and one on the Upper east side, the Upper east side might be paying more for eggs, which would actually supplement the cost of eggs for the people in Harlem that you're trying to actually.
- [44:55]
Dave Smith
What you're for. We don't like it, but you should like it. It's liter, right?
- [45:01]
Rob Bernstein
Okay.
- [45:01]
Lindsey Graham
Yeah.
- [45:02]
Dave Smith
Anyway, it's the opposite of what he thinks it is.
- [45:04]
Sponsor/Announcer
Unless.
- [45:05]
Rob Bernstein
Unless. Is it theoretic? But this wouldn't be like from surveillance of customers. You could say that there's a company that's actually charging more in the poor areas because they have more security risks or other costs that they have to offset. But that's not actually what he's. That's not what he's describing. He's describing tracking individuals and charging wealthier individuals more for food because they can pay more. And what a dumb pitch.
- [45:28]
Dave Smith
Yeah. Yes, Agreed here. Let's keep going. Reach.
- [45:34]
Sponsor/Announcer
And that is frankly unacceptable, which is why city government is stepping in to make people's lives more affordable. Today I am proud to announce a collection of essential staples that will be predictably 30% cheaper at all 5 of our city run grocery stores. This core set of goods will include all fresh produce, meat and seafood, along with 20 other essential items like cheese, Milk and bread. Here's how it will work. Once a month, our five city run grocery stores will set prices for this core set of goods at 30% below typical retail prices. No exceptions, no gimmicks. The savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations nor sticker shock at the checkout line. Not for our seniors living on fixed incomes, nor for the parents who rely on a regular supply of apple slices to keep toddler tantrums at bay.
- [46:30]
Dave Smith
Now
- [46:34]
Sponsor/Announcer
can we all see this incredible example of produce in my hand? Now you will see these plantains here. So for anyone wondering how much these beautiful plantains might cost, you can use this QR code or head to Grocery NYC to access our policy report. I'm going to demonstrate exactly what that means. Ladies and gentlemen, the QR code does work.
- [47:02]
Rob Bernstein
See this here? All right, 30% more to not have to QR code a piece of produce to find out what it costs. So.
- [47:11]
Dave Smith
Well, I just wanted, let's just get into this a little bit because look man, I mean, as is with all of these things, well, first off, who knows exactly what's going to happen, but when all of them do happen, everyone will have their story about why it didn't work or what was this, or what the cost was. But all I would just challenge people to do here is just think this through for a minute and try to think about how silly the idea of all of this is here. He's saying, okay, so he's going to, he's developing five grocery stores, they're gonna pick a basket of goods and decide that they're pegging it to 70% of whatever that costs on the market.
- [48:04]
Lindsey Graham
Right.
- [48:04]
Rob Bernstein
You just gotta point out that's convenient for a socialist because now you've got a market pricing mechanism to work off of.
- [48:11]
Dave Smith
Yeah, well that's right. Well that's one thing immediately. Right, so you're just basing it off just what they charge minus 30%. Seems a little bit arbitrary. Seems a little bit arbitrary what goods you pick in there and what aren't. He goes, it'll last for the full month wide for, you know, like look, immediately it starts raising some questions. Like there is a, there almost is a recognition of scarcity, Rob, if you get what I'm saying. Because why make it for a month? Why only these, why only these items? Why not, you know, all of the items in the store? Why only five stores? Why not 10 stores? Why a supermarket? Why not a shoe store? You know, there's a lot of questions here and these are the Things that capitalists have to deal with asking these questions all the time. And like, it's funny, when people, politicians want to get into it, they think somehow that, like, none of these questions are relevant, but they're very important questions. And what happens with capitalists is if they don't get the questions right, they lose a ton of money. And that's the way that, you know, that's what they have to deal with and why they, they work these things out. But you might. So look, as of right now, I mean, according to. This is the answer I got from AI. But also keep in mind, these budgets, with city budgets never stick to exactly what they are. But it says the plan right now has initial capital funding, public allocation of $70 million. $70 million, that's, that's been put aside. Now, almost certainly they'll run over that. Almost every government project runs.
- [49:43]
Rob Bernstein
It was initially million and so, and they've already spent 70 million. So whatever it is 15 up or something like that.
- [49:52]
Dave Smith
Rob, I'm usually pretty good at predictions, but it's rare that they actually have already come true the second I make them. No, but anyway, you know, so that's an easy prediction to make. Government, bud, will usually run over what they are. But so right away, like, if anybody's being honest here, it's like already the conversation is, this is a math question. Now, number one, in the immediate, in the scene, not in the unseen, just in the scene, there's a math question meaning, oh, okay, seven, $70 million. Or, or, I'm sorry, what do we say? You said it went from 60 to 70, right? So $70 million. So now it's not, did New Yorkers like paying 30% less on these 20 issues? It's a math equation of is that savings more than the 70 million that you're costing the taxpayer? But then, of course, the other question is, Rob, is that you, you're taking $70 million from the taxpayer and investing it in this with, like, is there any sense, you know, you'll hear Democratic socialists, Rob, Keith Knight, I think, made this point. I don't know if he said it exactly like this, but you'll hear Democratic socialists, they often wage theft or profit sharing, right? So they'll talk about the fact that if you are being paid a wage, right? So, so if I work a job for a wage, well, then my boss is stealing what they'll call the excess value of my labor, right? And if he's making a profit, I should take part in profit sharing. Now, for some reason, you never hear him mention loss sharing. This never comes up that actually go look up the numbers. I don't remember exactly what they are, But I think 50% of businesses fail in the first few years. The overwhelming majority fail in the first decade. Most businesses fail, most businesses don't work. Are the workers on the hook for that? Okay, so that's one question, right, that kind of exposes something in the socialist worldview. But that same question applies to government investing money. You know, most people, even when they're investing their own money and so they're very concerned about the risk, end up losing when they go into business. Oh, by the way, Rob, I don't know, you want to run those numbers through New York City brick and mortar businesses because, oh, you're going to come up with some whole, whole bunch of different numbers there. But so the idea that just on behalf of the taxpayer, it's a good idea that we invest in this riskiest of, of, of investments because it's good for people to pay 30% lower in groceries. Even from the socialist perspective, you'd understand that. Well, there's a calculation there to be made to say maybe it would have been better to just give the taxpayers the money to go grocery shopping, right? Like if you're opening a store that's going to be bleeding money, that's going to be losing its own. Like this may. So it doesn't, it's. This is the infantile thing that democratic socialists insist on that's really infuriating is it's like, no, it's good because it's free and it's less. What are you against it? Fresh produce, free, less. Like none of these other considerations need be thought about. But if you want to be an adult, you actually have to think about this shit.
- [53:03]
Rob Bernstein
Well, I'll tell you why this policy is going to fail is because the exact communities that it's looking to support are going to show up and go, hey, where are the individually wrapped gushers? And so you got a guy here who's going, listen, I'm going to help you guys out with fresh produce. And firstly, I don't know how concerned those communities are with their availability for fresh produce, but if also I, I didn't hear him mention the word eggs in his list of, of goods.
- [53:31]
Dave Smith
I think he did. No. Did he?
- [53:34]
Rob Bernstein
And maybe you're right and, and, and meat. But I, I mean, all right, firstly, it's the $70 million I don't believe is the total number because you also have the allocation of the real estate, which would be one of the, your biggest expenses in New York, I think 70 million is just the build out number. The next issue that you have is that one of the locations that they built, which is the one in Harlem, was four times the cost of what private grocers would spend on a build out. And that includes even like a Whole Foods, which is a very, which is a more high end market. Which leaves you with the question of can the government do better than the private market? And you got a history of these, these government grocery stores failing. And now you're in the next stage of I guess the operators getting the contracts and whether or not it turns out to be worthwhile for them. But the biggest flaw that I'm just hearing is firstly, there's no guarantee on the items that are going to be there. And the best you're going to get is a 30% discount on a monthly basis from what's happening at the grocery stores. So if you continue to have inflation, you don't have it for, I mean if you were looking for government groceries, you're not getting free guaranteed food. You're getting as there's inflation and food costs are going up on any given mile, you can purchase what you're looking or select goods for 30% less. So I'm just saying like the socialist dream of a free market, that's not even what they're offering you. They're offering you 30% less if you're willing to shop at the government store for the select goods that will be available.
- [55:04]
Dave Smith
Dude, it's all. And again as we always say with these things. Well, look, maybe I should make one other point that I just, I were, I wonder about. But and there might. They may have come up with some answers to this. But there's lots of logistical questions like around the stuff too Rob. Like so can anybody shop there? I believe anybody shop. So anybody from outside the city can come in there and get 30 cheaper groceries too. Yeah, because that opens up some, I
- [55:32]
Rob Bernstein
guess the assumption is who's traveling it. The point is this is not that good that you have to worry about non city residents who are willing to pay a toll on both sides.
- [55:41]
Dave Smith
Probably not. Yes, probably not. But then in a sense you could also go which, which happens a lot with this kind of like socialist nonsense. Is that also like look, okay, so me and you maybe don't like the idea of paying a different price than everyone else or someone with more money having to pay more of a price. Right. But there is something where like if the government's going to come in and reduce prices by 30%. Should a guy making $5 million a year be able to come in there and get his groceries for that much cheaper and now get subsidized by the taxpayers to pay less for his stuff? So you're not even like targeting the people who need the help. You're kind of, it's like a spray shot out at everyone. But look, let me say this right, because I've been trying to make this point quite a bit on economics lately, but I'll try to make it here too, that, because I think, honestly, I think the Mrs. And Austrian, I think we're the only ones who really see things this way. Even other free market types aren't going to make this point. But the thing is that like, again, you have a problem here. The problem is high prices, right? Like, that's the issue of what's going on with groceries. You have high prices. Why do you have high prices? You have high prices because you have debased your currency. Okay? Like, the thing about prices is that if you feel like prices are too high or you feel like prices are too low, that for lots of different reasons, people always want prices to be different. Everybody wants. I want the price that I pay for everything to be very, very low. And I want the price that I get paid for everything to be very, very high. But for an economy to prosper, what you want is accurate information in your prices, not the prices that you want. Like if your currency has been destroyed, the prices are going to reflect that. And trying to, through the force of government, change those prices. It's. You're changing the signal. You're not. Now, I understand with groceries you could say, yeah, yeah, but that's putting real groceries in people's pockets. But I think there's a deeper point than that. You know, I remember one time Ron Paul was asked, this is like in 08 or 09, why the federal Reserve shouldn't be buying up all these toxic assets. And he goes, he goes, well, the assets should be left to be sold on the, on the market. And then the CNBC host goes, yeah, but they're, they're worth zero on the market. And then Ron Paul goes, okay, well, that's good information. Why put that on the taxpayer? Like, if they're worth zero, then they're worth zero, so why would the Fed buy them? You know what I mean? Now we all own something that's worth zero. Like there's, it's like you're messing with these prices. But so, so in other words, right, why is it think about it like this, right? Why is it that no Democratic policymaker is advocating that neuroscientists get a higher minimum wage? Why will you never hear a socialist talking about how neuroscientists need a higher minimum? Because they don't get the minimum wage. They don't get the minimum wage. They don't have that problem. They have skills, right? They, they have knowledge, they are educated. They have marketable skills. You don't need to worry about them. So in other words, if you have a whole community of people and you go, they're all making $4 an hour. That is information. The information is that your workforce does not have marketable skills. Just raising the price didn't give them marketable skills. It didn't make them neurosurgeons. And so in a similar sense, the, the idea that you would say, hey, we have this problem, which is the, the prices of, of, you know, you know, the price of groceries is going up. It's like, okay, but what caused that then? If you won't even ask yourself what caused that problem, then obviously you're not going to really be able to solve it. And then you're just doing silly little things like this. Like, is it. Who says it's a good investment to spend way more than, you know, that then private companies spend to open supermarkets and, and, and that we're investing the taxpayers money? You know, say whatever you will, Rob, about those, those private businessmen who open supermarkets, they raise their money from people who voluntarily give it to them. They don't just force those same people who they're claiming to want to help to invest in something that may or may not be profitable, that may, may completely tank. So, you know, again, we'll see how this goes. That as always, yes, I'm sure if the first person who gets in there and gets a piece of produce for a little bit cheaper will probably like that. But overall, as a model, it makes no sense. And, and if it did make sense, then at least socialists just be consistent, advocate for this with everything. Like, if this does make sense, then like, why should it? Just, just answer this question then why only for a month? Why only 20 items? Why only five stores? We got big problems. There's millions of people in New York City who need groceries open 50 stores, spend the entire budget, right? Like, what's.
- [60:50]
Rob Bernstein
I don't know.
- [60:50]
Dave Smith
Is there a limiting principle here, Rob? I never seem to hear one. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Ridge. You gotta Check them out. I've had a Ridge wallet for for many years now. I switched from the traditional leather brick in my back pocket, which I did for far too long. But you got to go check out a Ridge wallet. They're unique, slim, modern, modern design. They hold up to 12 cards plus cash. So it's like a minimalist wallet. It's just everything you need. But I'm telling you, you pull one out, it's a conversation starter. They all look really cool. They have 50 plus colors and styles to choose from. They're all made from premium materials like aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber. All Ridge products have a lifetime warranty. So this is literally the last wallet you'll ever have to buy. There's a reason they have over 100,000-star reviews online. And losing your wallet is the worst. We've all been there. But with the Ridge AR tag attachment, you'll always know exactly where your wallet is before panic mode kicks in. And Ridge isn't just about wallets. They create premium everyday carry essentials like key cases, suitcases, rings, all built with the same sleek, durable design. And no matter what you pick, Ridge has free shipping, a 99 day risk free trial, and a lifetime warranty on all of their products. So for a limited time, our listeners can get 10% off at Ridge by using the promo code POTP10 at checkout. Just head to ridge.com and use the promo code POTP10 and you're all set. Once again, ridge.com promo code POTP10 for 10% off. All right, let's get back into the show.
- [62:22]
Rob Bernstein
I guess the best the government can do is 30% off on select goods on a rotating basis and then up to the store owners to actually be able to source them and then not log the highest available price for those goods to give you the least actual discount. It's going to be fun to see what kind of games actually come into play. Also, I think I was wrong. I think it does include eggs. But you know, I'm excited to see how this plays out because as I said, to the extent that Mamdani tries to actually run with socialist policies, we get to watch them fail in real time. And so, you know, let the rest of the country learn what happens when you vote in Democratic socialists.
- [63:02]
Dave Smith
Yeah, or just start buying up some of those items. Is there any rule prohibiting you from buying up the 30% cheaper and then selling them at retail?
- [63:12]
Rob Bernstein
Oh, that's an interesting one. Some, some people come in and just buy out the whole store and then set up shop on the, on the street and.
- [63:19]
Dave Smith
But you got to make sure you go, you got to go to the projects, you got to sell it back to poor people. You got to make sure that you're, you're gouging them. I'm just kidding. Don't do that. We're not the greedy libertarians people think we are. Yeah. Anyway, it's like there is, isn't there something that was interesting? Like at least the, the old socialists would just go all the way and say, yeah, collectivize all the farms. Right? Like, at least, like, you know, say it with your whole chest. I mean, so don't, please don't. Because it does result in tens of millions of people starving to death. We're not trying to do that. But like, that's, it's, it's like, oh, we're going to apply that same logic, but just in a drop, just one little drop of it. Okay, but why, why stop there? You know, I, I was watching this video that this guy made, the, like, why I'm a liberal and not a democratic socialist video, and. Well, just to save you to the end of it. They have no reason not to.
- [64:13]
They don't know.
- [64:14]
Well, sometimes the market should work for some things, but other things the government should come in for. Okay, well, that's not much of a theory now, is it? Why? Based on what criteria?
- [64:24]
What?
- [64:25]
Like, I, I don't know. I mean, I just think to me, this is like a cons. This is a basic consistency test. You know, there are goods and services, okay? Some of them are very, very important. As we talk about a lot on the show, actually, like, there's a bunch that are very, very important that none of us even really think about. Like, but I mean, even, like things like toothbrushes or something like that are very, very important.
- [64:46]
You need it.
- [64:46]
You use it multiple times a day, or at least I hope you do, and clothes and shoes and, you know, all these things. But, okay, healthcare and, and supermarkets and all these things, it's all part of. So if, if you're saying that it is a more efficient model for the government to tax you and then the government to provide goods and services back to people, if that gets better, goods and services to people, then do that with everything. And if price controls work, if, if, if the government can just write a law that says, hey, these prices are cheaper, hey, we got a problem here, man. Look, everybody acknowledges it's a problem that groceries have gotten. Well, if it's a solution that government can just say, well, I just Wrote a law that says they're cheaper, or I just opened a supermarket where we sell them for cheaper, then, okay, fine. But it would really help people if the price of wheat and grain and flour and, and housing and everything was a lot cheaper. That would really help poor people. So I'm saying the government should open a store for all of those things. The government should sell your TVs, the government should sell your. Your laptops. The government should sell you your grain. The set the price of wheat. The government should set the price of rice. You know, whatever. Why shouldn't they do it with everything if they should do it with these things? And if not, if not, why not? Why does it only make sense for grocery stores but not for shoe stores? Because I've never heard a socialist explain that, ever.
- [66:22]
Rob Bernstein
Well, Mamdani might actually be a better politician than we gave him credit for in that.
- [66:27]
Dave Smith
Oh, he is. Oh, he for sure is.
- [66:29]
Rob Bernstein
But what you might actually find is that your fake socialist wealthy kids that are living in New York City who are for Mamdani but don't actually understand what socialism is and don't really want it, suddenly have a store that they're using for the kind of goods and services that they like, which is lettuce, fruits and vegetables, and they can get it for 30% off. And they go, oh my God, look at how well this democratic socialism is working. And the poor people who this is supposedly supposed to support don't really actually make use of these stores, nor is it helpful to them.
- [67:02]
Dave Smith
Dude. And I'll tell you, that dynamic happens with government programs all the time. All the time. You know, like when you have what. What ends up happening? Right?
- [67:12]
Rob Bernstein
Fire voters somehow.
- [67:13]
Dave Smith
Well, but, but I just mean that to your exact. So, so like, for example, so like Martin Luther King in, in the civil rights movement, he would point to like black kids living in the slums of Mississippi and be like, look how poor these guys are. You know? And then like in the 70s, you get this like affirmative action push that gets. So then you'll have like Ivy League colleges that are like, hey, we're gonna up the number of black students that we have at Harvard or whatever. So what happens when Harvard has to up the number of black students? Okay, well, typically speaking, the black students that would go to like Wesleyan, you know, now can get into Harvard, right? So the upper middle class black kid with a dentist father and a lawyer mother who was going to go to Wesley and now can go to Harv.
- [68:03]
Harvard.
- [68:03]
Oh, the black kid in the slum in Mississippi. Did he get into Harvard? Because they.
- [68:08]
Rob Bernstein
No.
- [68:09]
Dave Smith
Like, it didn't actually help. And so it's a very good point you make that, like, this isn't going to help the people who Mom, Donnie puts on the front of the brochure. Let's just say that it'll be like scenesters who are getting this stuff. Anyway, that's our episode for today. I will be addressing the Young Americans for Liberty crowd later on tonight, unfortunately, remotely. But I don't know if they put that online or not. But I'll think of some stuff to say and then I'll say it. And hopefully it comes out real good tonight when I say it.
- [68:38]
Okay.
- [68:38]
Thanks for listening. Port store.com, smith.com Catch you guys tomorrow. Peace.