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C
Adam, what's your point?
B
The future looks bright. My handshake is better than anything I ever saw. It's right here. You are one of one. I don't think I've ever said this before.
All right, gang, hope you had a good last couple days. We got the business podcast Wednesday. We got a lot of things to talk about. I got a special message for Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale that I will share with you guys here momentarily. We had an interesting day yesterday and it tells me about the history of Ritz Carlton, how big of a fan I've been and how disappointed I am with the product of Ritz Carlton lately. Maybe I'm alone. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the crazy one. Maybe you guys are on the same side, but who knows? We will definitely talk about that. And this is coming from a guy that's a big fan of their service because Rob was it. Last year we brought Ritz Carlton here to train all our executive team.
C
This year.
B
This year was when we brought him earlier. This one we brought him in spring. Yeah. And, and, and anyways, we'll get into. That's a whole different story. But we got Jeff Snider back here on the podcast. Long drive. He flew all the way from Singapore to be here. It was a 40 minute flight that he had some call it a drive, but it is what it is. It's good to have you back on. The audience loved you last time. And we have Tom and Brandon again. I'm the guy in the middle with the guys at 150 IQ sitting around me and we're going to try to get smarter today, folks. So few things. Number one, if you're thinking about going to a place that's a business friendly place to move to, maybe don't consider going to Minnesota. It may not be the most business friendly place to go to. We'll talk a little bit about Minnesota today. A few things with what's going on. Tariffs have surprising effect on unemployment Inflation patterns Federal analysis reveals Northwestern to pay $75 million in federal civil rights deal after anti Semitism probe Tom's got some stuff to talk about that Trump's administration new SNAP requirements take effect for food stamp recipients they're changing the game for people that are getting snap. Some may or may not like it. We'll see as we go through it. UK and US Agree zero tariff deal on pharmaceuticals Gen Z shoppers aren't spending like retailers need them to. According to Wall street journal. The 10 fastest growing jobs of the next decade according to BLS many can pay six figures. We'll get into it. BV warns of a new credit risk with gambling Prediction markets Starbucks strikes enters third week deadlocked with both sides holding firm. We'll see how that ends. Fewer international students are enrolling at US colleges which could possibly cost the country $1 billion. Where do Fed voters stand on December rate cuts? We'll talk about that. Black Friday online spending hits record 11.8 billion Palantir has its worst two years as AI stocks sell off this is according to the worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off this is according to CNBC Silver hits record highs in 2025 here's why the devil's metal could have further to run Elon's Asia problem Tesla sales in China hit 3 or low inside Florida's next chapter CEO predicts massive expansion as wealth surges into the state Unemployment applications dropped to seven month low last week. And we got a couple other things talking about data centers. But also yesterday a few things happened. Michael and Susan Dell put $250 that they want to give to 25 million children's accounts and they're encouraging other people to join them on this thing. There was a bunch of people that talked about it yesterday. I think Rob just told me that Cory Booker is actually supportive of this. They're trying to encourage other billionaires to want to, you know, jump in and contribute and give kids, give money to kids. We'll see what happened there. At the same time, Costco is not too happy with the president. They're soon the US government over tariff refunds ahead of Supreme Court ruling Kalshee raised a billion dollars at $11 billion valuation, doubling value in under two months. And then we got a couple of things we'll talk about. Putin said some comments yesterday about what he's ready to do if they decide to play ball. And he's talking specifically about Europe, but we'll get into that here in a minute. I think it's important to talk about it. And then we'll talk about also what's going on with Minnesota. And a couple of comments made by Pete Hex said if we get the time to our group here, we're going to get through answers quickly, which means we'll be able to do a lot of stories today. There's this fellow who's not on the podcast today who gives 17 minute answers, so we're not able to do too many stories. Some of you guys don't know who I'm talking about, but he's not here with us today.
C
Michael Saylor's not here?
B
Yeah, no, no. Michael Saylor gives 45 minute answers.
C
Michael, we love you.
B
Easy. I can literally come do a podcast with Michael, ask a question, walk out for 45 minutes, go take a nap, come back, ask the next question. Michael's still going. Value. Audience will love it.
C
Grab lunch.
B
He's phenomenal. He's phenomenal.
He's brilliant. And I don't know if you saw what happened with him and Chase. Did you see what Chase? The stories that came out about Chase trying to hurt Michael Saylor's microstrategy. Did you hear about that story? Have you followed that story closely?
C
Not. Not a lot. There's a lot of people that come after Michael. Michael seems to get in his bunker.
B
Well, they're trying to hurt him with margin calls. Almost a. If you can type that in. Yeah. JP Morgan boycotts calls after microstrategy.
C
I'm so.
B
Stock crash story. There's something going on here between them. This happened last week. Maybe we'll get into it. Jeff, you look like you have some thoughts on this.
A
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of trouble with the strategy leveraging up on Bitcoin.
B
All right, we'll get, we'll get it. I want to hear your thoughts on it. All right, gang, before we get into all the stories that we got here today with you, New Year's is around the corner. 2026 is going to be here like this. And, and for us, we had our off site meeting yesterday at Ritz for Lauderdale, which I'll tell you later on. But every year before we get into A new year. We have a long strategy session yesterday. Started at 7:30. We ended at 8:45. The best meeting ever. We've never had a meeting with this many strategies was shared and the plans of what we're doing going into 2026 with all our nine business units. But the question is for you, going into 2026, how ready you are. A lot of people asking and said, hey, how did this whole thing get started, this whole YouTube thing, was it accidental? Was it intentional? Was there a strategy behind it? I want you to watch this video and then you'll see what I'm talking about in regards to December 12th. Go ahead, Rob. So in 2013, we started a YouTube channel called Valuetainment. In the first year, Valuetainment got 167,000 views. That's it. And we were ecstatic. The next 10 years total, we got 491 million views in 10 years. You know how many we got last year? A billion views. You know how many we got last quarter? Last quarter alone, all social Media and our YouTube channels combined. YouTube is 700 million. Social is 900 million combined. Nearly 1.6 billion just last quarter. Why? Because every single year, we would plan for the following year. And I would watch everybody say, well, you know, I don't need this. Every year we would pay to see how we can make our YouTube channel tighter. Data, stats, all of it. If you're watching this, you said, man, I want to be able to plan for next year as well. Fantastic. December 12th. I do an event every year called the Business Planning Workshop. If you haven't yet registered, click on the link below. Get registered. I'm going to share with you our numbers, what we're going to be doing. You'll be able to apply it for your business plan as well. I look forward to seeing you there. There you go. Everything comes down to a plan. If you haven't yet registered Dec. 12, go to the link below. Get registered. Let's spend an entire day together. People from around the world are going to be on. There's going to be tens of thousands of people on. Companies are sitting and watching the whole thing with their employees and their sales team. Go to bpw.bedavidconsulting.com to register or click on the link below. Having said that, let's get right into it. I think the story, the first story I want to start off with, Rob, is Minnesota because of what happened with Tim Waltz. Let's just start off with that and get that knocked out of the way and we'll get into all the business stories afterwards. So the story came out last week, a few days ago about a billion plus dollars of what happened in Minnesota under Tim Waltz, where they're trying to find where this money went to. And a lot of people were silenced. A lot of whistleblowers were silenced. A lot of people got in trouble for even commenting about it. Eventually it got to a point where people were sick of it. They're like, no, no, no, we have to talk about it. Got pretty nasty. Now Comer is targeting Waltz and his Newhouse investigation, citing a billion dollars in alleged Minnesota fraud. Kristi Noem comes out and says 50% of Minnesota's visas are fraudulent. And there's a couple of things that happen. I just want to share this with you and I want to get some of the guys's thoughts here from the business perspective. Rob, which clip is this one here?
D
This is just a local news in.
C
Minnesota covering the investigation in the. Tim.
B
Okay, go for it. Could some of the money stolen and one of Minnesota's fraud cases have gone to a terrorist group? That's what the federal government is now investigating. U.S. treasury Secretary Scott Bessant blames Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Biden administration, saying they are investigating allegations that hardworking Minnesotans tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al Shabaab.
C
Republican members of the Minnesota delegation called.
B
On the U.S. attorney to investigate those allegations late last month. President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed Governor Walz and Minnesota's Somali community for fraud.
A
And crimes in the state.
B
Okay, so that's that clip. Now, Rob, if you can go to Kristi Noem, what she's talking about with the visas, because there's just a lot of stuff that's going on over here. This video was dropped yesterday. Go for it.
A
Rob, you told me to look into Minnesota and their fraud on visas and their programs.
B
50% of them are fraudulent, which means.
C
That that wacko Governor Walls either is.
B
An idiot or he did it on purpose. And I think he's bold, sir.
A
He brought people in there illegally that.
B
Never should have been in this country. Said they were somebody that they're not.
D
They said they were married to somebody who was their brother or somebody else.
B
Fraudulent visa applications, signed up for government programs, took hundreds of billions of dollars from the taxpayers.
A
And we're going to remove them and.
D
We'Re going to get our money back.
B
Okay, so Jeff, when you're hearing what's going on with Minnesota, I don't know how close you're following it. What are your thoughts on what's going on there.
A
I think there's a, you know, people have a fundamental reaction to what's going on there. And it's, you know, the idea for the American dream or the American. You work hard, you do your own thing, you get ahead that way.
B
Yep.
A
And so we have this fundamental reaction to stories like this where people are basically stealing. I mean, the fact that it might have been funneled to terrorism just adds another layer to this whole thing, another disgusting layer to everything else. But it's a symptom of what I think a lot of people have come to just expect. The bigger government gets, the more people have their hand out. And was anybody really surprised by this when the news came out? I was like, yeah, I guess. I mean, that sounds. I mean, it's horrible. It's not great.
B
But I don't know if it's a surprise part. I think, will there be accountability part?
A
That's what I mean. People have gotten to a point where we just expected. Because there never is accountability. Yeah, people, you know, they're stealing from the government all the time. And what we hear about it, maybe once in a while somebody gets fired or, you know, they have to go on vacation for a couple weeks. You never hear somebody going to jail for it. There's no deterrence. And it gets back to the idea of the uniparty. Everybody's protecting their own because everybody's using the government as some kind of payoff scheme. You know, we have to pay off a constituency, we have to pay off somebody over here, and everybody wants to do it. So we just use the government piggy bank to just channel funds wherever. There's never accountability because it's too convenient.
B
Tom, what do you think?
C
Well, here's what I think. First of all, if you think that the fraud in Minnesota is big numbers that are kind of eye watering, just wait till you see the same sort of visa fraud, SNAP fraud and Medicare fraud and welfare fraud that's in California. It will make the numbers in Minnesota look like a child's allowance.
A
We're still trying to figure out what the COVID fraud was.
C
Numbers for that, thank you very much. Exactly. That's where you start. So in Minnesota, there's two sides to it that I see. Side number one, Democrats try to get what they believe is good use of government funds to give welfare to these people voting blocks. So they feel they're giving it to voting blocks. Now there's half of the Dems that then turn a blind eye cause they know exactly what's going it's remittances. And when you just see remittances is a code word for exported money. When you see that how much did the Somali community go to banks that we can track transactions, Pat, and send money overseas. Remittances, it goes to Al Shabaab. You can also see if you study what are the size of remittances. You know what, what we could do, Rob, just real quick go ask for how big are the remittances annually from California to Mexico. So that'll give you.
A
So you can look at size of small countries.
C
You can look at these two numbers side by side and not all those remittances going from California to Mexico. Door fraud. Some people have jobs and are trying to send money home to their mom and dad who are living in, you know, cartel controlled, horrible, you know, you know, pueblos in Mexico. So in Minnesota the question will be they'll put it to a stop, but will anyone get arrested? What people wanted during the election and the reason that Trump right Now, Pat, is minus 20 points with independence approval rating today. You ask them and one of the things they talk about is affordability. We'll get to that later. But they say who's going to get arrested for this stuff? Who's going to get prosecuted this stuff? And right now, first you have to stop it. But you have one side of the Dems that allows it to keep going because they see it as a welfare program. They know the cheating is going on and they just see it as means of people that are, you know, getting money to live. And then on the other side, you have Dems that know damn well that it's going out in remittances. But maybe they didn't know it was Al Shabaab. But when it all hits the fan right now, this is where the Dems run for cover. But this is one of the things that the President ran on. I'm gonna stop the fraud. I'm gonna drain the swamp. And somebody's gotta get arrested. The American people want somebody to get arrested. They want exactly what Kristi Noem said and they want it backed up with handcuffs.
B
Well, if they wanna get support from the independents, they have no choice but doing that. Because when you look at what just happened. Rob, do you have the clip of this fellow who.
Went and met somebody at 15 years old on Snapchat and then it takes a girl into a place, rapes her and then is let go of this entire incident that took place? Go ahead and play this clip. Watch this, folks. Very disturbing. When you watch this on why people are upset with what's going on. Minnesota, go ahead.
A
Rob, out on probation for sexual assault, is charged once again. This time prosecutors say he picked up a woman he met on Snapchat and raped her at a hotel in Bloomington.
B
Prosecutors once called this man an extreme public safety risk, but he never spent.
A
A day in prison for his previous crimes. Fox 9's Mike Manzoni joining us from our newsroom now. And my prosecutor signed off on plea deals in these previous cases, Kelsey and Randy.
B
A judge sentenced the Minneapolis man in those cases back in May, but he got credit for time served so he never went to prison. It was all part of a pair of plea deals. This is the man we're talking about. His name is Abdelmahat Billy Muhammad. But Prosecutors say the 28 year old uses the names Kareem and Altesto on Snapchat. And that is where investigators say he met his latest victim as well as his two previous ones. Prosecutors say he picked up his most recent victim in Mankato back in September and drove her to a hotel near the Mall of America where he took.
A
Her phone, told her she wasn't leaving.
B
Raped her and held her against her will for days. That's according to prosecutors. Investigators used DNA to identify Muhammad as the suspect. His profile was already in the database from previous cases involving sexual assaults in.
A
Minneapolis in 2017 and another one in 2024.
B
A Hetman county judge sentenced Muhammad in May in those cases, including one involving a family, a 15 year old girl. Prosecutors say two other unidentified men took part in that assault and one threatened the victim with a gun. But Muhammad never spent a day in prison as we said because he got credit for time served trial. So you wonder why people are furious. Tom, you're making a point about why. Independence. You know where they're at would minus on certain areas. Support for the president. They want accountability. People want to say what the hell happens to guy like this. And by the way, Rob, yet one of the charts that you had up a minute ago which was phenomenal, showing who's getting entitlement benefits. Check this out. This is family receiving welfare. So purple is illegal headed households, red is legal immigrants, blue is us born headed households.
C
The people we want to give the welfare, citizen citizens, the people you want.
B
To give it to. And when you look at this cash go with a food. Look at what food looks like. Illegal 48% legal 38. That becomes what? That's 82%. Whatever that number is, a massive percentage of it is those two Then you have the Americans, any welfare, illegal, legal, and then you have the US Born. People see numbers like this, they're like, what am I doing my taxpayer? Why am I paying taxes? To support who? To support people. I ran a poll the other day, Rob, if you want to go to this poll, just to see what the audience was going to say, is it going to be, look at this poll here. Should illegal immigrants get snap, Medicaid and welfare that US Taxpayers fund? Look at the percentage. It's not even like, people, you should read the comments section. Like, what kind of a dumb question is this to ask? Exactly. It's crazy that you have to ask dumb question for the world to see that 92.4% says this is a terrible idea, but it's happened in America. Brandon, where are you at with this?
D
Yeah, so a lot of things here. I mean, the. I, I'm going to go to kind of a weird place with this and I've been feeling for a while in a weird place. Yeah, I know. I think that it's always bad when you have a politician who doesn't come from a position of strength financially, because I think the best and most refreshing thing about Trump is that he was able to go in and boldly say whatever he want to without really being worried about the financial consequences for his campaign. And, and like, whenever you're leaning on your political position as like a, like your source of income or your way of life, you're like, you're kind of a captive to what the people who helped you get into power want you to do. So, like the people like Tim Walls, you know, the potential for corruption or doing things with money, like the funding money that you shouldn't do is like, it's obviously much higher than somebody who comes in there with money who's like, just thinking about what's best for the people. So I don't know, I think that there's something to be said or considered for, like, people who go into politics should come from means or should come from means financially, because, yeah, I don't think the people who can't run their own lives or like, haven't shown they could run their own lives well, are going to run the country well. And then, yeah, that goes into like, all the other stuff.
B
And by the way, if you think about how it was in America in the first place, you didn't just do politics full time.
D
Right.
B
It was a form of service. Make your money, take care of your family, then get into politics, get back to the country that gave you Mayors didn't get paid salaries. People were not getting paid salaries. It was like, I'm doing this because I'm giving back to the country that gave me what I. Now people are going in as a business model of how to create wealth.
C
Yeah.
B
And that becomes a problem. Jeff, you look like you want to say something about this.
A
No, I think that's fundamentally the issue here, is that government has become a business. Right, Right. It used to be a purpose. The purpose was how do we best serve our citizens and how do we draw from the citizenry to accomplish those goals. And somewhere along the way, the bigger government got. It became a business, it became a racket. That's why people recoil at this, because why are all these illegal immigrants coming to the US and signing up for what you do, that you get paid. Of course, you can't blame them in some respect, because that's what everybody does. It's become a big business. And you have all of these NGOs and.
Nominally philanthropical enterprises that are set up to help people, and they tug on your heartstrings and say, yeah, these are poor people that need help. It's just a huge business. And that's what people are really. People know this. They know that's a business, and they. It's fundamentally unamerican.
B
I agree. It's becoming more and more public. Go ahead, Brandon.
D
No, no, Just think of how bad of a return on investment. This is where 50 to 60% of our budget goes towards entitlements, and then that's where the entitlement money is going to. And then we have to go to like another 2 or 3 trillion in deficit spending. So if it wasn't for this waste of money, we wouldn't even have to go into deficit spending, which is the reason we're at 38 trillion in debt, because we've done like 2 or 3 trillion in deficit for the last 30 years.
A
The thing is, I'm sorry, American people are incredibly generous, and they have been for a long period of time. But you don't, you know, you know, Alexis de Tocqueville, way back in the 19th century, marveled at how Americans would gather together in communities to help people who are struggling. There's always that undercurrent of, you know, people are struggling, we want to help them, but this is not that. This is something fundamentally different.
B
That is, by the way, that is by choice. Then there's by force. The choice is what Michael Della and his wife are choosing to do. And I want to stay on the Somalia story. Rob, is this the President commenting on what's going on in Minnesota? Minnesota? Is that what this is? Yes.
C
This is yesterday during the Cabinet meeting.
B
Okay, I want you to watch this. Watch what word the President used and how tired of it he is himself. Go ahead, Rob. And they contribute nothing.
A
The Welfare is like 88%.
B
They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country. I'll be honest with you, okay?
A
Somebody would say, oh, that's not politically correct. I don't care.
B
I don't want them in our country.
C
Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don't want.
B
Them in our country.
A
I could say that about other countries, too. I can say it about other countries, too.
B
We don't want them to help. We got to. We have to rebuild our country.
C
You know, our country is at a tipping point. We could go bad. We're at a tipping point. I don't know if people mind me saying that, but I'm saying it.
B
We could go one way or the.
C
Other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in.
B
Garbage into our country.
A
Ilhan Omar is garbage.
B
She's garbage.
A
Her friends are garbage.
B
These aren't people that work.
C
These aren't people that say, let's go.
B
Come on, let's make this place great.
C
These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain, and from where they came.
B
From, they got nothing. You can pause it right there. Now watch this. So you're listening to this. You're like, come on. How bad could it be? Here's a man who was sent back to Somalia. Okay? Watch what he says here. Go ahead, Rob.
I don't want to be here no more. I'm so tired of being here.
A
This place.
B
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So tired of it. Just like.
I want to go back. I don't want to be here no more.
I don't cut my hair.
C
I don't Shave.
A
I don't do nothing.
B
You can pause it right there. And I like them. Whoever picked that music, like that piano in the background. That was great. So, Tom, when you. When you're seeing this. And by the way, as you're going, Rob, you have one other clip where a Minnesota councilman is saying they will fight Trump deporting Somali immigrants. Is this the one, Rob? Is it? I don't want to play the whole three minutes. What's the main part of the beginning?
C
I believe so.
B
Okay, go for it.
A
I am. My name is Jamal Osman. I am the council member of War 6, someone who represents the largest East African community in Minneapolis. I am proud to say I'm a Somali American. This country welcomed me, my family, 26 years ago. It has provided me a life that I did not have in Somalia. We came here and we are thankful to be here. I've been educated here. Got the opportunity to serve my community, to be a council member. I know many families are fearful tonight. They are. But I want you to know that city of Minneapolis stand behind you as the leaders, both mayors and the chief and everyone that stand behind you are here to stand with you.
B
Yeah, you can pause, Tom. Thoughts? So, president calls it garbage. Nothing good. Why are we taking them? 88% entitlement programs. You see the gentleman there talking with the beautiful music playing the background on how much. How challenging it is to be in Minnesota, in. What do you call it? Pretty much Minnesota, but they call it Somalia. And from there to no longer be in the States. How do you process all of this?
C
Well, where to start? The first thing is a guy that I don't even know if that's a real. I don't even know that's not AI. I have no idea where that cut.
B
It did kind of look like AI.
C
Yeah. I don't know where the guy comes from.
B
Can you see on the grock, if.
C
He says it's AI, he's trying to seem like he's getting emotional. And he says, I'm not even cutting my hair. I'm not even shaving. But he's wonderfully clean shaven, except for a neatly trimmed mustache, you could see him.
B
And a pretty nice tattoo yet on his wrist, by the way.
C
Yeah. So you just look at it. And this reeks of Democrat pr. It's based on feelings. We're supposed to feel bad, so we're supposed to do something. So I'll set that guy aside because I can't validate who he is, where he's from, what he's done. We don't know his background. And it's just somebody's trying to make a heartfelt message out of it, number one. Number two, going back, I'll tell you what's going on. Minnesota is failing its people and it, you only need a mob and you have it with the Somalis. Then you get a police chief or someone in power with detectives who agreed to arrest or not arrest or start cases, Pat, they have to start the case and then you have a DA that wants to do it. And there was. Her name was.
Moriarty, you know, Marcy Mary. Mary Moriarty I believe her name was. And she was a county d. A county prosecutor, whatever her title was. But she was, she let these teenage kids go free, like 14 year old kids that committed a murder. Two of them let them go three. And as I recall, she's like, oh well, you know, they get influenced by their friends. And then she said, well we're, we're the. She's taken a look at all of the people that were arrested for drug charges and a higher percent were black. So she's concerned that, that we are racially targeting black. Wait a minute. Was each case on its merit for for sale transport of cocaine, fentanyl and crack and meth? Yes, it was. So each one of those individuals were there, but because they all happen to be one race, she said, oh, we're hyper targeting and we need to reduce sentences, release people do a lot of things. And so that's all you need, Pat. You need an attorney general to act like that. Not in the interest of the people or public safety, letting people go free. And that's how a three time sexual predator. That's her. That's it. HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY MINNESOTA wow. And she was. Yeah. And believe it or not, the people there was a committee at one point that voted not to. They said she shouldn't be our DA anymore. They wanted to overturn it, but she was just a train wreck, not in the interest of public safety. So all you need. And this is where people come out and say, well these are The Soros funded DAs. Who knows if Soros funded them or not. But when you have a DA that feels this way about the American people's safety coming third and then you've got the police now are going to favor one group and ignore prosecutions and detectives in the police department that are being led by the police chief and the DA on what to bring forward or not, then guess what? Sexual assault victims don't get represented. The place becomes less safe. People you know are suffering higher crime, one group goes free, and all of a sudden you have societal change and structural cracks. And then. And then you have Democrats turning a blind eye to people finding ways to fraud. And guess what? The Dems are perfectly happy about it because all they're caring about is the voting block that gets them power to continue their globalist agenda and the dilution of the sovereignty of the United States.
A
Bizdalk out.
Prosecutorial discretion. That's what it really comes down to. And that's something that we dealt with in Florida here. Remember last year, Governor DeSantis removing a couple of DAs because they weren't following the law. That's. I think that was. To your point, that was a targeted effort by, you know, whether it was source or what doesn't really matter.
C
Let's just say bad DAs that are now Criminal Justice League, they can't win.
A
At the ballot line, which is a.
C
Code word for not protecting the populace.
A
They can't win at the ballot box, so they seek a backdoor way to implement their same policies. And they use every tool available, including prosecutorial discretion, which is what we're really talking about here. And that's. It's rampant.
C
And then the appellate level, the Obama judges that still have not completely gone through the system.
Was what they, they chose to do.
D
Yeah, no, I mean, like, we look at the national figures with the, the Congress people and the governors and the, you know, the president, but it's like these layers of local Judges and, and DAs and Attorney Generals, like, they're the real, I guess, infrastructure of, like, what direction America heads. And. Yeah, like, Tom said it, like, you think that it's probably the Soros appointed DAs, but there's more people that think the way Soros thinks and just want chaos and destruction because the outcome they want, you know, is more likely if the. Yeah. People who are upholding the law in a way that promotes chaos and destruction. So that's. That's like what you got to look at. You gotta look at the local stuff, like, like, why are certain people running for these positions? Why are they getting funding from certain places? Like, why. Why is there an incentive to create chaos? And I mean, that's kind of a rhetorical question, but, you know, it's a business model.
B
It definitely is a business model to have something like that going on in America. But the good news is enough people are fighting back. And as much as social media, you know, you, you, we all saw the documentary Social Dilemma, how bad it is, and all this other stuff, social media has also become the enemy of the people in power who are getting exposed faster than they ever did. And they hated it, they didn't like it, and and we are right now at a phase where you guys can create content and talk about the stuff they want to talk about. Who knows what's going to happen if somebody else gets into office in 2028. As of right now, it's still free. But if they realize the mouthpiece, the people that are kind of sharing their thoughts are pushing the envelope a little bit too much. We don't know what's going to happen in 2028 or 2032 and these different seasons that we get into. Anyways, let me get into this next story of Florida Inside Florida's Next Chapter. CEOs predict massive expansion as wealth surges into the state of Florida. So let's see what the story is all about. Page.
13 folks. If you're following our stuff, our notes are free on PBD podcast Circle. Just go get the notes and go to page 13. So Florida rice as magnet for wealth, business and culture shows no sign of slowing down from luxury US to fine dining and world class real estate to Sunshine State blend of open economic policies, no state income taxes and year round sunshine continues to lure both entrepreneurs and investors. And top leaders say it's only the beginning. What we see is that more and more people are looking for this lifestyle and when you cater to demand, you're usually very successful, naftali Group Chairman and CEO Mike Naftali told Fox News Digital from For Lauderdale International Boat show earlier this month. They visit, they stay and they see that business is good and then they can create their office here, inform markets, president of US Boo Andrew Duel said. And I think we've seen a lot of corporations in the three big cities, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm beach investing in South Florida. We're coast to coast restaurants all over the United States, from Beverly Hills to New York City, but 25% of our business now is in South Florida restaurant. To Carmen Cameron Mitchell added, we're making a considerable investment in South Florida and we'll continue to do that. If I had it my way, I joke, but I'm always half serious. If I could just build restaurants in Florida, that'd be great. From 2019 to 2024, Florida's real gross domestic product rose more than 21%, more than 11%, double about double the 11% of real GDP the nation saw during the same time period, according to Governor's Office Tom what's happening with Florida here.
C
Well, with Florida, guess what? So I'm gonna step aside from all the politics and running for president and everything like that, and I'm just gonna use the words leader and thank you for governor. Ron DeSantis is a leader here in Florida, and we thank you. He's been a leader during the hurricanes. He got a bridge built, pushing hard on rescue services to get a kind of a land bridge, a rock bridge rebuilt to help with the hurricanes that happened on the golf course so they could get supplies and water first responders in. There's been so many things he's driving, and now he's driving this initiative to review whether property tax in Florida can be paid for in other ways. And we can help reduce the cost of home ownership and affordability with taxes. All of those things come together and the fact that there's no income tax in Florida, it makes Florida a magnet. A magnet for people that want to bring their business here. And I'll tell you, I'm not. You know, if billionaires want to move to Manila plan, that's fine. But what I'm really interested in is business owners that want to move here, provide good paying jobs for the populace with the, with the governor, I hope, also helping with regulation and move restrictions out of things so people can operate those business. But we also need a forceful piece of energy on housing, you know, taking away regulation and permitting timing. Look at the permitting timing. I mean, we're in Broward county, and Broward county is this little blue jail that's in the middle of South Florida between some very red counties and a phenomenal mayor in Maris. Suarez in Miami, where you can get things built. Look at all the. It's like the bird of Miami is the crane. You know, is my joke. You go down there and there's cranes building everywhere. So, you know, thank you for Suarez for bringing the flock of cranes down to Miami to build things. We need that in Broward County. And when you make Florida into this wonderful magnet, you have people that are coming down here and this guy saying, I wish I would only build, you know, restaurants in Florida. That's what I do. And then words talk number scream 21% GDP growth, double the national average under Governor DeSantis. So you, you make something, you build a great restaurant, you have a crowd at the door and you have a wait every day at 7 o'.
D
Clock.
C
I'm sorry, you have to wait 40 minutes for a table. Why? Because it's a great restaurant and everybody wants to go there. That's what's happened to Florida, we become a magnet for it and business owners.
B
Think about it will slow down. Do you think this will slow down?
C
I will. Well, whenever you get an influx like this, certain things become expensive, like rent. When you get demand on housing, right. And housing prices go up. And so there is this ebb and flow if you don't have enough new communities being built and things like that. So will it slow down a little bit? Yeah, probably not be doubling like it is in gdp, but people are still coming, Smart people are coming. And whether you're a billionaire coming to Manalapan, God bless you. Find your home or you're a business owner, come on down, man. Bring your jobs, employ people.
B
What do you think?
A
First of all, I think that Florida will experience some ebbs and flows. It always does. There's a housing cycle that goes along with it, and we're on the downswing of a housing cycle. There's a little bit of concerning stuff. Some overbuilding left over from COVID especially in the Tampa area and up around there. So housing might be a sore spot, but the bigger trend, as Tom's saying, still remains intact. I'm actually a refugee. I came from upstate New York 25 years ago. It wasn't the weather, it wasn't necessarily the taxes. The reason why people come to Florida is because it's business friendly. The reason we left New York state, first of all, you know, I grew up in the rust belt. I saw the downside of all that stuff. It isn't, you know, the rust Belt. You can blame a lot of factors for that, but a lot of it has to do with government overreach and overregulation. That's really why I left New York State. You come down to Florida, it's night and day difference. Florida is much more free and open, less regulated. That's where the lack of income taxes comes from. You compare New York state to Florida, not just in terms of population, but the government expenditures. Florida has more people now than New York state does, but yet their government expenditures are, I believe, less than half of what they are in New York state. And those two things correlate. The bigger a government is, the more there's going to be overreach, there's more, there's going to be interference in just daily lives of people who live there as well as the businesses that are trying to succeed. And it just becomes a toxic mix. So Florida has a lot of things going for it. But you know, the weather, the taxes, those aren't necessarily the key secret ingredients that make Florida a Top, top, top draw destination like Texas. People are moving to Texas and Florida because it isn't the same type of overwhelming, you know, really overwhelming government climate like it is in the Northeast or the coast.
B
Yeah. When you said refugee, I was like, all right, as long as you know you're not coming here from Minnesota or some place that we're looking at.
A
I don't know. I mean at one point, you know where I grew up in upstate New York. It's not great.
B
Upstate. We're in upstate. What part?
A
I grew up near a place near Syracuse called Mexico, New York.
B
Mexico.
A
Mexico, New York. Right on the corner of Lake Ontario.
B
Nice. How's the beach in Mexico?
A
New York, Harry?
C
Steakhouse or it's on the corner of Lake Ontario.
A
No lake effects?
C
No, no, no. We're up there. Summer is 230 to 4 o' clock on July 7th. That's summer because that's it. I went, I went there and a half.
B
I went there to be with the luge team. What is that city in the luge where they used to train? What's Lake Placid? Placid. Pretty sick experience. Brandon, your thoughts? Florida.
D
Yeah. So I think it's like the same thing that made America a powerhouse in the beginning. You know, there's things you can control, things you can't control. So like there's, there's God given things that Florida has that America had that made it powerful economically. But the things that you control is that the government is out of the way enough for businesses to be able to do their things without being restricted with regulations and whatnot, but in the way enough to where there's law and order and people have the faith and their ability to go out and take a risk and that the government will protect them if need be from people breaking the law, people trying to take things from them. So you know, Florida has that great mix right now of strong law and order and getting out of the way for the most part where there are like places they could improve, like what Tom said it's badly needed to improve the way that houses and construction is built with all that. But out of all the states, Texas and Florida are definitely the best with getting out of the way of business owners and letting them do their thing, but also upholding law and order. And then, you know, New York and California are the opposite of that. They let crime run rampant and they get our like enemy number one to business owners.
B
And by the way, you know, I would normally say Tennessee on that list if you zoom in a little Bit.
D
Look at.
B
Zoom in. This is GDP growth in 2025. Specifically, Texas is down. It's kind of weird.
D
Yeah.
B
You know, Nevada's down, and that's a no income, you know, no state tax. Tennessee is down. Look at Tennessee.
A
Yeah, well, Texas, Texas. There's the oil bust.
B
Right, Right. So they're dealing with the oil.
A
Still have a lot of oil.
B
And Nevada is dealing with the gambling stuff because the governor cannot fix the gambling problem. The casinos in Nevada are getting their asses handed to them in a big way. Maybe they got to bring the mob back. Florida's up 1.4. And look who's number one. South Carolina. I lived there for nine months when I was in the army. Fort Jackson, South Carolina, up 1.7%. Second is Florida. Who's third? Rob?
A
Is.
B
Is Arkansas third at 0.8? It looks like it.
A
And North Carolina, Alabama.
B
North Carolina's 0.8. And in Michigan's 0.2. Pennsylvania's 0.3. Alabama's 1. Georgia's.1. What's miss. Is that. That's. Mississippi is 0.7. Utah's 0.5. Mormons are working. They'll always work. That's one thing. Can rely on them. They're gonna always be working.
C
And look at all the Californians moved to Montana, built their ranches with Jane Fonda and screwed it up.
B
By the time. What is going on with Nebraska and Montana and Iowa? Look at Iowa. Nebraska are the lowest damn agricultural. Yeah, that. That could be it. That could be the case. And then Alaska, obviously, a great destination for people who want to be at a place where, you know, beautiful beaches, warm weather. Awesome.
C
Let's connect this to the President's leadership. Why do you think it was so important for him to have those agricultural tariffs and those agreements with China, selling soybeans to China. Where do we grow our food?
D
In the middle. Yeah, those. Those middle countries.
B
So he's looking out for them, is what you're saying?
C
I believe so.
B
All right.
C
I absolutely believe so.
B
All right. So we'll see. We'll see what's going to happen now in the interim. Costco is not too happy with the President. Costco is trying to sue the US Government over terrorist tariff refunds ahead of Supreme Court ruling.
Rob, if you want to pull up the. Yeah, the clip. Is this one of our friends that the. Is this AI or is this a real human.
C
It's a real human being.
B
Okay. Because the other guy was AI by the way.
Full disclosure. He had us getting emotional by the way they mix it they make emotional videos to get people to fall for it. And then you go to folks go to grok and ask is this real or AI? That was a TikTok that created it with the hand tattoo and everything is actually very creative. So let me get back to the story here before we got distracted over Brandon. Costco sues US Government over tariff refunds ahead of Supreme Court ruling They've sued US Government and sure it will receive refunds if the Supreme Court rejects President Trump's bid for sweeping authority to impose tariffs. In a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. court of International Trade in Manhattan, Costco said Trump's use of International Emergency Economic Powers act to impose tariffs left it uncertain whether businesses can recoup sums they should not have paid. Based in Issaqua, Washington, Costco joined dozens of companies suing to safeguard potential refunds. It is also amongst the largest with 275 billion of revenue in its fiscal year ending August 31st. Nation's largest warehouse club operator said US Customs and Border Protection denied its request for more time to make final calculations of tariff owed, threatening its right to complete refunds even if the Supreme Court rules against Trump. Custom and border protection had no immediate common. Costco did not immediately respond to requests for common. Other companies have also sued to preserve refunds include Bumblebee Foods, Ray Ban Eyeglasses and Kawasaki Motors, Revlon Yokohama Tire. And court records show a few other companies there as well. Tom, your thoughts on the story?
C
Well, first of all, words talk number scream. Let's start with this number. 91% to 8% at Costco, you know what that was? Percent of corporate donations to Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump, 91%. Kamala Harris with the Issaquah, Washington, the liberal blue state of Washington headquartered Costco that way. So the next time you go to Costco instead of Sam's Club or Walmart, ladies and gentlemen, think about that score. 91 to 8. So a company that's 91 to 8, what do they do? They hear that possibly the tariffs are going to flip back the other way. They sue the federal government because here's what they want. They want, remember, the tariffs are under executive pen. So they went in, they want a refund from the federal government. If they flip it back the other way, they want a refund for all the tariff money they paid this year and they're suing the government to get that placeholder, that precedent there. So if the Supreme Court goes the other way, they get the money back. Now I take you to this.
Once upon a Time I get a speeding ticket on the Ventura Freeway near Thousand Oaks. Not crazy. It's like 72. I was driving to work. I wasn't paying attention. It was only 55. Now, later, that speed limit, I was a much younger guy, went to 65. You know, the, the. Except like right near Encino is 55, but that, the 101, you know, going out to veterans. 65, I was unable to go downtown and say, hey, wait a minute, I got a speed ticket for 72 and a 55. It's now 72 and a 65 and not one person's ever been pulled over. Can I have my $100 back from my speeding ticket?
B
You didn't do that.
C
No, I didn't, but if I had done that, what would they would have been Costco. I would have been. I would have been Costco. And they would have said, kid, get lost, get out of here, or we're going to follow you home. And every time you don't perfectly stop for a stop sign, we're giving you a ticket.
B
Wow.
C
That's what Costco's doing. By the way, remember, 91 to 8% folks support Walmart. Support Sam's Club. If you happen to disagree with a company based, headquartered in Blue Washington, and they gave 91% to Kamala Harris and 8% of corporate donations to Donald Trump, who gave 91%. 91, that's Costco. 90.
B
What do wal Mart do?
C
Do? I don't know what the exact number.
B
For Walmart, but can you get the numbers for Walmart and for Target?
A
I think there were more 5050 Walmart.
B
Than Target or Walmart? Walmart. Jeff, what do you think about this? What do you think about what Costco is doing? You think this is. It's just more like insurance protection to get the money back?
A
Like, yeah, I mean, like Tom said, they're putting a marker down and saying if, if the Supreme Court rules this way, we want to make sure that there's not some legal trickery, that we give up the rights to our refund. If the Supreme Court says you can't impose tariffs, I mean, in one sense, you expect companies to act that way.
B
What's the likelihood Supreme Court's going to rule against the President?
A
I don't think it's very high.
B
Okay, got it. So if nothing happens, then they're moving on and they're just, hey, but you.
A
Do have, I mean, to Tom's point, you do have to wonder about the political theater about all this. Are they trying to make a political Point out of doing this and make it, you know, some kind of.
B
Who is the Costco CEO? Let's see who the Costco CEO is. By the way. Just, just stay on that. Rob, Rob, right there, if you can pull that up. Okay, so, so Walmart is 52.9% to Republicans 47. So they're pretty even, Steve, which is smart. What is, what is Target, by the way?
C
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota?
B
Target. You can see anything with Target, but you're seeing the stuff with Walmart. Okay, let's see who Costco CEO is. Rob, who is Costco CEO?
C
Remember, it was founded by James Sinegal, who they would nickname Senegal. And he was a flaming liberal. The guy that created Costco with so much good and so much service for the American people that's come out of that business. You have to remember it's a. It was a liberal cesspool.
B
So this is the current CEO of Costco. 91% went to Kamala Harris. Let's go a little bit lower. There's an severe forklift. He became an assessment warehouse manager, Phoenix Price Club expansion to Colorado 91 and warehouses overall, Westminster. And then after Price club, Costco merged 1993, he moved to Arizona and I became the regional vice president. He joined Costco's corporate management. Great. So. So you worked his way up to being the CEO of the company.
C
Well, the previous guy said he got attention because he said Costco will not eliminate its DEI policies.
B
What do you see that last SEO vouchers gained attention from Costco, announced it would not eliminate.
C
Okay, that was his predecessor.
B
Got it. So we know what Costco is. Hey, babe, if you're watching this, when are we canceling the Costco membership? As we're going through this.
Let'S give our business to Walmart. We do as well anyways, we like Walmart, we like Target. But listen, you know, by the way, matter of fact, let me see, is my wallet here? Let me see if I got my Costco. I rarely carry it in this wallet because it's so thick. I've had a Costco card. I've been a member of Costco for 20 something years. Look at AAA. I've been a member of AAA for how many years does it say? Do you see it at the top? I've been a member all the way in the middle right here, 23. 23 years.
C
Proudly over 20. They give you the little circle thing.
B
But do you know why? You know how many times I've used aaa? My pastor will make fun of me because when they would pull me over when I would run out of gas, they would call me by my first name because it would happen so often. 40 or 50 times, I ran out of gas in my car. I use triple A, shout out to triple A.
C
Three years from now, they'll be profitable on you because you're not driving anymore.
B
They'll finally.
C
They'll finally make up for all of those.
B
Finally, we're making. Can you see, like, a red mark on my name? This guy's not profitable, and all of.
C
A sudden you stop driving.
Anyways.
B
But look, I mean, Costco is a great place to go shop, and we. We go there regularly. You got Walmart and other options. But make decisions like this, if it's politics and if it's theater, what they're doing, fine. If they're playing hedging against the risk of getting some of that money back and legal is telling them to do that. It is what it is. But Tom just shared a number that tells us a lot. Brandon, will you go shop at Costco after this?
D
No. And this is exactly the problem with what the lack of tariffs, the lack of protectionism has done to America. Like, Costco's mad because they import a third of the things they sell from other countries, mostly from China. But that shouldn't be the case. If we had tariffs, if we had more protectionist policies in place, then they would be sourcing it from America. But they say the problem is America can't manufacture those things. Yeah, because of the lack of tariffs. Like, when did Costco really start blowing up? They started really blowing up in the 90s, right around the time that we brought China to the World Trade Organization. So Costco's mad because, you know, they thrive in a world with no tariffs. That's an internationalist world. But in a world that's, I think, good for the middle class, American, Costco doesn't exist. There's a bunch of smaller grocery stores that, you know can be competitive on prices, but when Costco exists, nobody could survive on a smaller level because Costco undersells all of them because they buy everything from China. Does that make sense?
B
Yeah, of course it does. But most of these guys buy like Walmart does as well. Kmart does as well. It's not like they don't. Rob, can you.
A
Actually.
D
That's why consolidations happen, though.
B
No, I agree. But can you. Can you pull up, Rob, and see what percentage of products in Walmart and Target and Costco are made in China? What percentage of their products are made in China? I'M curious.
Will we be able to tell questions on the author? Okay, according to 20, 60% of Walmart's imported goods to the US come from China. There you go. But it used to be from 80% down to 60.
D
Nice.
B
Damn. So they went down a quarter of a point, right? It went down quarter of a point.
D
I bet you it was like 20% in the 80s.
A
They had to reshore.
B
It wasn't intentional. That's because they didn't have a choice.
A
They didn't have a choice.
B
That's the part time.
A
Yeah.
B
So some analysts estimate that for non grocery items, categories like electronics, toys, apparel, house goods are 75% or more sourced from China. Walmart has publicly stated that around two thirds of US store merchandise is made, grown or assembled in the US okay so the bottom line product mix is estimated to be around 40 to 70. What's the target go a little bit lower? Target executives said that roughly 30% of Target's products are Chinese made. 30 figure represents a reduction from 60. 2017 to Target's actually doing better than than Walmart. That's in China made in China products and in Costco.
China. They actually don't have numbers on that.
D
I, I had to come up saying a third of theirs comes from international. Well, not China specifically, but international. There's a third.
B
Got it. Okay, there you have it. We're getting smarter folks. That's the goal. Next. Starbucks strike enters third week deadlocked with both sides holding firm. Okay, this is obviously not good, but it doesn't seem like this is slowing down. And I know Howard Schultz was trying to fight it for the longest time as they were going back and forth. So Starbucks worker United escalated Red Cup a rebellion strike over unfair labor practice on Black Friday announced that 120 stores in 85 cities had joined the effort. While Starbucks claimed fewer than half that number were impacted and that the strike has caused minimal disruption over the last three weeks. Since calling the strike on November 13th the company's highly traffic Red cup day when it gives away free reusable coffee cups to customers. Starbucks workers United reports and new stores have been added to its strike in list each passing week totaling now 120 stores. SW claims that the baristas in 550 United stores are prepared to continue escalating the strike unit until Starbucks delivers a fair union contract and resolves hundreds of unfair labor practices charges since the strike began. Starbucks has disputed number of stores impacted claiming many stores on strike list never closed and others have since reopened. Despite more than 125,000 people who've signed a no contract, no coffee pledge. Starbucks reports this year Red Cup Day was its biggest sales day in the company's history. Currently, two parties are not negotiate. Are not negotiating. After spending nearly 200 hours in negotiations and reaching more than 30 tentative agreements through April this year. Rob, can you please play this clip?
A
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B
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B
In time for this class.
A
I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe.
B
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A
I almost couldn't breathe when I saw.
B
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C
1-800-Contacts.
B
Like so many working people across this.
A
City, these are not demands of greed.
C
These are demands for decency.
B
These are workers who are simply being asked to be treated with the respect that they deserve.
A
What Thorad and I are dedicated to.
B
Is creating a nation and an economy which works for all of us, not just the 1%.
C
That's right.
A
So I just, just want to.
B
You are the 1%. The Starbucks workers for their courage here.
C
And around this country.
B
We are going to prevail. Oh, my goodness, Tom, look.
C
Brian Nichols got a tough job and a very tough job. People like me that used to be there, what, four and a. Probably four and a half times a week at $7 a trip. And I would get this, you know, white chocolate mocha that I liked in the morning.
And you take a look at what I was spending over the course of a year. And now you look at the last four years where I've the number, I could literally probably say about less than 10 cups of coffee from Starbucks directly over the last, over the last year. It's rare. It's like in an airport or something. There's no other choice. And Brian Nicholl had to come in. Now why did I do that? Because I hated Going into a Starbucks and you know, have to, to be at the baristas, listen to them pump their liberal drivel and have to sit there quietly because I can't say anything. And you don't want them to spit in your coffee. And I got tired of that. And I got tired of what they stood for and I got tired of what was going on and I got tired of homeless people being in there reeking. And it's not that homeless people don't need a place, but it's like, come on, you know, this isn't a homeless shelter. You're trying to have a place of business to sell coffee. All this is going on and people like me were saying, no more. Brian Niccol gets hired to turn it around because the previous CEO wasn't showing leadership at all. And so Brian Nichols pointing out, say, look, one of the things they want, they all want improved wages. They want higher wages. Yes, of course we all do. And they want more staffing levels. So they want more people. There's. And Brian Nicholas pointed out, say, hey guys, if I do that, that location is completely unprofitable and I close it. So do you want this fourth location, Albuquerque to close? Do you want it to close? Because you're going to strike and force us to do this, then guess what? We're going to close locations. And so this is an example where when the unions are trying to make a coffee service part time job into a living wage, which is what you saw Bernie and Mamdani doing in New York. And Brian, I'm with you. You gotta fight the good fight. You know, I'm hoping you can win this thing. I'm hoping that you can get through it so that there's something for the workers and something for the company. And more importantly, you can get back to serving coffee in a neutral environment where people enjoy coming and doing it. And I am behind Brian Niccol, I hope he's able to pull it off because that's what the board and the shareholders are paying him to do and giving in to ridiculous, you know, union demands that ends up making, you know, another 7% of your locations unprofitable. You close them. So congratulations by the way. You protested and you wanted two more jobs and you killed 12 jobs. Very good.
B
I got a question for you. The when did this whole negotiation start with union trying to attack Starbucks? When did this happen?
C
I believe it was two months ago. Rob, we can find the like I was just looking at it. Let me see if I can.
A
It goes back a little bit. Further than that. I mean, there have been problems over the last couple years.
B
How long has the problems been? How long?
A
I mean, Starbucks has been struggling as a business for quite some time. It's sort of a microcosm of the economy as a whole. Not to, you know, play devil's advocate too much here on the, you know, the Bernie side of things, but you can understand where they're coming from. From the perspective of an individual worker, things are not good at Starbucks. So if somebody comes along and tells you, let's get together, form a union and strike so that you have some power to push back against management, that sounds good.
It's illiterate as far as basic economics because as Tom was pointing out, you tried to raise the costs of operating a business. The business owner is going to close those businesses, but nobody actually thinks about that. You're not going to hear that from Bernie. What Bernie's going to say is Starbucks makes enough money, they can redistribute some of those profits from the stores that are profitable to these unprofitable stores. And we'll run it like a government enterprise where it's fair for everybody. But you have to understand where that message resonates to Starbucks workers. From their perspective. Work sucks. Starbucks sucks. It's struggling. Everything is not, you know, everything's bad. So why don't we strike? Why don't we try to make it better for ourselves? Not understanding that it's making the situation worse overall. Like you always say, the real minimum wage is always zero. But the people who are always, you know, agitating for a minimum wage rate don't ever realize it, nor do they suffer the consequences of it.
B
Yeah, I think, I think you're right with that messaging today that it's resonating with low and middle income families. Like, look, man, I just want to be able to take care of my family and be able to pay the bills. That's a fair argument. Rob, the part that makes it a little bit frustrating for some people when these actors come out and you want to sit there and say, okay, does this guy really actually believe in what he's talking about or is it just talk? Rob, if you can pull this up. So here's what happened with Bernie. He keeps talking about the top 1%. We got to keep reminding it because he's going to keep saying this. So we got to make sure the opposite side of the message is also being heard. Here's Bernie Sanders. Okay? Bernie Sanders claims and talks about the top 1%. Go to that picture. Rob, you Just had. Oh, I see what you're doing. If you can go to the previous one. Yeah, right there. Bernie earned two and a half million dollars from book advances and royalties from 2011 to 2022, according to his annual financial disclosures. During that period, political committees Vermont Independent bought $843,000 worth of his books from his publishers. OK. Political committees from Vermont bought that. And then if you remember when he was campaigning, after prolonged dispute between Senator Sanders and a union representing his presidential campaign staffers, two parties reached an agreement that will pay field organizers the equivalent of at least $15 an hour. At $15, a $50 million minimum wage and workers rise more broadly are centerpiece of Sanders. But field organizers were being paid an average of less than $13 an hour. This is what people don't forget, Bernie. So you are the 1%. You used to say millionaires and billionaires and you dropped a millionaire because now you're a millionaire. It's only billionaires problems. You were fighting for $15 minimum wage when you were paying $13 minimum wage. The level of hypocrisy is where people see the stuff. And you say, well, why do you want to do that with my money? But you don't do with your own money. Why don't you set the example with your own money a little bit? Not with us. Why don't you do it? That's also the frustration, Jeff, on the other side. Because what I'd like to see is get rid of the politics, sit down and talk to the people. When you sit down and actually talk to people and they tell you what's going on, what prices are, and then you help with. Like yesterday, one of the conversations we have with our guys is.
How the job of managers is also to help people with their careers. You're, you're, you're setting people up. Like me and Brandon have spoken about his career. How many times have we talked about your career? Dozens, dozens of times. And he asked me real questions. And some of the questions may be questions that are, you know, not popular to what the company needs. I mean, we had them in one department. He's no longer in that department. Maybe made a move to a completely different department. It's better for him, right? It's better for him on what he wants to do. Career planning is important if you're coming from a good place of helping these folks out. But when you're playing theater and you being, you know, politics and all that stuff, and you're a hypocrite on the inside with the Stuff they do with your own employees. Then you get exposed. Bernie seems like a real guy. I mean, this is a guy that. Can you imagine? It's kind of like this.
This guy is such a true believer in what he does that he freaking went to Russia for his honeymoon.
Do you know when this guy got married, Rob? Do you know when Bernie got married? Bernie got Soviet Union. That's right. He went to Soviet Union for his honeymoon.
A
I mean, but we got, again, the reason why his message is resonating, okay? The idea. Most people look at it, you know, why are people agitating to be a barista? That's not a career. Why are people aspiring to be a barista? And what they're saying is, look, we're not aspiring to be a barista. Have you seen the labor market lately? We're stuck here. We can't go anyplace else. Whether it be, you know, the college student that has massive.
B
How much of the onus is on them versus how much of the onus is on. No, how much of the onus is on the individual? How much of the onus is on regulation? How much of the onus is on the business owner? How much of the onus is on policies? Who do you put the onus on the most?
A
I think it's a combination of everything.
B
But who's the most.
A
The individual, Honestly, for an individual, they should not aspire to work at Starbucks, and I don't think most people do. But the reality of the economy today is there are no other jobs to go anywhere. And it doesn't look like that's going to change.
B
I mean, it's not for those people, you know? Why I ask is, when's the last time you went to Starbucks?
A
I never go to Starbucks. I don't think I've ever been to a Starbucks.
B
I have a bunch of people around me. There's a conspiracy going on. I don't want to talk about it publicly, so don't tell anybody. I have a bunch of people around me that are trying to get me to drink coffee, okay? So I told everybody by 50, I'm gonna have a cup of coffee. Vinnie wants to make the coffee. We're gonna have a whole event, but at 50 years old, I start drinking coffee. I don't need coffee right now. I'm fine. But I do have a latte that my wife introduced me to with. What do you call it? With. That's decaf. That tastes delicious, right? So I've been going to Starbucks a couple times the last two weeks. And let Me tell you, I don't know if it's me. You know, my kids like that additional. What's the drink they got Rob at Starbucks? The, the Breezer, the, what do you call it? The, the cold, you know, red drink. I don't know what it's called. My, my. Oh yeah, there's something there that the couple my kids really like and they put the cherries in it and there's fruit in it. I don't know what it is. Could be called the refresher. I don't know what it's called. But why is it, Jeff, help me with this. Why is it that every time I go anywhere in the world, if I go to Starbucks, half the employees are wearing masks? So to me a part of it is today. Yeah, today, 2025, December. So why is it that the mask wearing people with pink orange colored hair who have all these pronouns like to work at Starbucks?
A
No, I think it's self selection.
B
Right, so that's what I'm saying to you. So to me I think, I don't.
A
Disagree with your argument. I think that the rest I want.
B
You to push back. I want you to push back. But let me give my last one and I'll let you rip go into it. To me it's.
When you're part of the day them community and the, you know, pink orange community and the furry community and the half we're in masks community in December of 2025. Maybe say thank you for Starbucks for giving you a job because you know you won't be working at a lot of other places like that and Starbucks says we don't discriminate. So rather than celebrating that a company like Starbucks doesn't discriminate and offers these people jobs who want to wear masks in December of 2025, doesn't judge them, doesn't make them feel uncomfortable, doesn't make fun of them, actually embraces them. I think there's got to be a little bit of saying hey, thank you Starbucks because if you, if, if, if Starbucks doesn't give them that social program, we're paying for their salary, you and I are. So to me it's like thank you Starbucks for hiring these people. Cuz a lot of employers won't. What would you say about that?
A
I agree with a lot of what you said there, but I think there has to be work.
B
I'm still gonna get my latte. You can't change my mind.
A
That's what you know, nothing wrong with that. But I think, you know, you have to understand the climate that we're in. So even those people who should be in some degree grateful for having a job at Starbucks, that job still leaves them further and further behind in terms of their own fiscal situation. So from a purely individual perspective, they're thinking, why can't I get further ahead at Starbucks? Now you and I would say that that's not the point here. You're not supposed to use. Starbucks is a springboard. Like if you go work at McDonald's. McDonald's is not a career option. Starbucks is not a career option. But what a lot of people are saying, the reason why they're falling for this message from Bernie and Mandami and socialism is that they say, well, look, I'm stuck at Starbucks for the time being. Or I like working at Starbucks because they celebrate me. Yet working at Starbucks, I keep falling further and further and further behind in this economy. And I've been doing this for years after year after year. Eventually enough is enough to play devil's advocate here. You have to understand where these people are coming from. You're right. They should be grateful that they have any job at all. But that still doesn't make it whole. That still leaves a huge amount of gray area where they're saying, look, we are not thriving here. This is not working for us. We need to do something about it in the traditional route. And an actually healthy economy would be, you don't need to work at Starbucks. Go someplace else. Find a job that actually pays you what you're worth. But in this type of economy that we've been in since the post pandemic, you know, since the pandemic and lockdown showed up, it's almost impossible to do that. And it's getting harder and harder. So I'm not agreeing with the position, I'm not agreeing with the, with the strike and the tactics here and the overall thinking. But you have to understand where it's coming from.
B
Look for guided. Grew up extremely poor. Dad was a cashier at a 99 cent store in Manchester and Normandy. And the only option I had at 18 years old was to go to the military because from 0 to 18, I've never finished a book. I don't know if you guys. I'm not you guys, okay? I'm not you guys. You guys, you guys are brilliant. By the time you were 18, you would have done laps around me. I wasn't that guy. I never read books. So my, my out was you had.
A
Another route, but you took it.
B
You know what I did? I went to the army and I was going to do 20 years in the army because that was the thing I saw. I saw the only savior for a guy. Simple guy like me, broken family, troublemaker. Go to the army, do 20 years, get benefits, and then afterwards you become a cop. And so my first career was going to be military. My second career was going to be a cop or firefighter. And then, boom, the rest is history. That was literally my plan, 2020. I was going to go be a soldier, and then I was going to go be a firefighter for 20 years or a cop. And then what happens? You know, plans changed. And then somebody gave me a book, and I started reading a business book. And when I read this business book, like right now I'm walking around with this book here, it's not a book recommendation because it's 400 bucks. It's a book from 1972. I'm reading this book on perspective on McKinsey. The more and more I'm reading about this, the more I'm realizing how amazing of a guy this Marvin Bauer guy was. You know, a lot of times we hear about McKinsey Consulting Company, but we forget about what happened when James McKinsey, who the company's named after, while he was at his consulting firm, got a job to go work at Marshall Field as the CEO. So he left his consulting firm to go be the CEO of another company. While Marvin Bauer and these other guys are running a company, they're like, oh, it's okay. Go do that. Because it was bringing Black Friday savings are here at the Home Depot, which means it's time to add new cordless.
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C
U do you listen to?
B
Is it we could buy a house in Tulum.
D
Get optioning those options.
B
We could lose everything.
Or let's do a little research. Get your head in the trade and.
C
Make the investment decision that's right for you.
B
Learn more@finra.org TradeSmart get more attention. Our founder is now the CEO of Marshall Field. And then he dies out of nowhere, has pneumonia 10 days. He's in a Hospital. The hospital he's staying at. They don't have any antibiotics from. The guy dies at 49 years old. For the. Yeah, 49 years old. James McKinsey. This guy Marvin Bauer has a choice to stop the company and start a new company with a new name. You know what he decides to do? He says, there's no way we're changing a company's name. Keeps the company McKinsey. They agreed to pay 21% to McKinsey's family of every profit they made. The 21% equity. The company goes to the family every year. Even though the guy has not been involved for a while. Names his third son James McKenzie. Bauer is what he names his third son. He says, that guy's my hero. He changed my life. Right? Marvin Bauer. But I'm reading this book. Why am I reading this book? I want to know the history of consulting firms. Because we plan on building one of the biggest consulting firms worldwide so people can pick up books and go read and get knowledge. Who is that on? So I relate to the person that's dressed like that. I was the guy that would put peroxide in his hair and go to the beach to have orange hair. I'm that guy. I'm actually being serious, Right? If anybody knows you're from the streets, if you remember you're an LA guy, you wearing peroxide. You know, we would put peroxide just to go on the sun. And all of a sudden you had that little highlight in your hair. It was kind of cool to do. So back in the 90s, you're gonna bring it back. I get it. But where I'm going with this is, you know, when I worked at Burger King, I didn't work there because I was going to be a big the rest of my life. I worked it because a guy named Eddie was helping us become men. And so Eddie played a role as a mentor to younger guys. I just right now typed in Rob what Starbucks does. Because this is what I want to do to respond back to what you're saying. Criticism for Starbucks. What does Starbucks do to invest in its people and personal development? Okay. That's the question I asked Rob. Number one, the Starbucks college achievement plans, called SCAP. Starbucks pays 100% tuition for employees to earn a bachelor's degree through Arizona State university. Online. Only 25 undergrad programs are covered. Employees don't have to stay at Starbucks after graduating. There's no time commitment requirement. More than 20,000 partners employees have enrolled so far. Are you freaking kidding me? That's awesome. That they're doing this. Okay, Number two, Pathway to admission. College prep program. If an employee doesn't yet qualify academically for asu, Starbucks pays for bridge program that helps them become eligible. Three, World Class Leadership Training. Retail Leadership programs. Shift supervisor to store manager to district manager. Regional director. Number four, Starbucks Mission and Values Training. Culture Training. Beanstalk Employee Stock Ownership program. They give RSUs, financial well being and Life Skill Training. Okay. Apprenticeship and Career Mobility programs. They even have the DEI Coffee Master program. Black Apron Training. I don't know what that's called. Mental Health and Personal Resilience Training. Servant Leadership philosophy. Howard Schultz's influence. I can go on and on and on. We only hear the horror stories about these companies. And there's guys behind closed doors that worked like slaves to build these companies up. And Howard is one of them. Howard Schultz is one of them. Went about a small little shop turn into what it is. Do you have that clip? Wrap when Howard Schultz is being criticized about being a billionaire, says, I'm gonna. I'm now I'm no longer gonna apologize about becoming successful. You don't know my story. Have you guys seen that clip? Rob, do you know which one I'm talking about?
You ever seen this clip when he's getting pushed? He's getting pushed. I think he is in. I'm sure you've seen this. You know what I'm talking about. He is in court somewhere where he's being criticized.
And he gets angry and he responds as he should. As he should. I found it, Rob. If you go right here on his billions. No one gave it to me. Okay, here we go. Let me just share this with you. It's a short clip, Rob. If you want to pull it up, the one I have is just a short clip. Some of these guys are like three minutes or four minutes. Here, I just send it to you. How long does this one say it is?
C
This one's 54 that I found.
B
Minutes.
C
54 seconds.
B
Oh, play. Go for it.
C
Sorry.
A
This monarch of billionaire. Let's just get at that. Okay. I grew up in federally subsidized housing. Let me finish. I grew up in federally subsidized housing. My parents never owned a home. I came from nothing. I thought my entire life was based on the achievement of the American dream. Yes, I have billions of dollars. I earned it. No one gave it to me.
B
And I've shared it.
A
People of Starbucks, you did. So anyone who keeps labeling this billionaire thing, it's Michelle.
B
I. I don't mean to cut you off.
C
We have time limits.
A
Here, of course it's Bernie.
B
I'm not cutting you notice your.
C
It's your moniker constantly.
B
It's unfair. No, it is not. You have had more time. I've been generous with the time.
A
I'm sorry.
B
But, Mr. Chairman, we have a room full of people. We have panel. He doesn't want that message.
A
I got to shut you up.
B
He doesn't want that message to go out. So that's the problem. I got. So guess what? What do you want kids to look up to?
A
Well, I mean, look, there has been a cultural shift. When I was younger. When you were younger, we looked up to people who were successful. That was sort of the. You know, our idols were people who were successful. You know, billionaires. It didn't matter if they were billionaires in whatever field it was. There has been a shift where anybody who succeeds in the capitalist system is demonized as under this Marxist rubric where they have.
B
And I'm saying should stop apologizing.
A
I love what Schultz did, but that's what the cultural. The weight has shifted so that the idea is these billionaires didn't do it themselves. They didn't build it. You know, Obama's quip from a long time ago, he said, you didn't build that.
B
Yep.
A
The idea was they stole it. And that has resonated with a lot of younger people because.
C
And he walked that back. But it was exactly how he felt.
A
But exactly. That's the point that he's not alone. He said that because everybody around him agrees with it. So we have demonized successful people to the point that the term billionaire has become, you know, a pejorative, which is what Schultz was saying. Look, I built some. A company in the United States that is, you know, Starbucks. And we employ how many hundreds of thousands of people? How much do we contribute to the overall economy and the livelihoods of people? To take your point, he's done something really good, but something has shifted in the culture to where we no longer look up.
B
Who do you blame? They spend six hours a day with teachers who support biggest teachers union, who hate capitalists, who give 98% of their donation to the Democratic Party. They have a monopoly. Today I read a story about Michael Jordan trying to. He's not yet suing nascar, but Michael Jordan's furious with nascar, and I think he may actually end up winning because NASCAR takes 65% of the earnings and it goes to them, even though they don't. There's two families in nascar. We were just actually with them. It's so interesting yeah, he's suing NASCAR apparently, 20 hours ago. So one of them owns all the. All the tracks. The other one owns the brand. Michael loves the game. I think his driver is Danny Hamlin, or used to be Danny Hamlin, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. So his company is called 2311. I think it's called 23X1 is what his company is called. And he's got three cars, I want to say, if I'm not mistaken, three cars that are racing in it. Yeah, 23X1. 2311 racing. And he's got three racers, and each race car that's racing, they have. What's the number? To race each car is $20 million to race each car. But you make $10 million because the cable deal that NASCAR just got, which, by the way, it's a massive deal NASCAR just got. Rob, can you pull up the cable deal that NASCAR just got? It's like a $7.5 billion deal, $7.4 billion deal that they just got. It's massive $7.7 billion deal that they just got that runs from 25 to 20, 31. And you know what percentage NASCAR keeps of that? It's 63%, 64%. So Michael is suing NASCAR saying, listen, 63% is monopoly. Maybe 50% is the number we need to make some money. We're racing to lose money. What's the purpose of racing? Can you. Can you find out, Rob, what percentage that 7.7 billion NASCAR and the track owners keep? And look, we're not saying anything about anybody keeping or not keeping. But this is a monopoly law. So here's a story of a monopoly law taking place that Michael actually may end up. Yeah, right there. Look at that. NASCAR keeps 65 of the deal. Rob, can you compare that to other Sports Teams keep 25%. Track keeps 65. NASCAR keeps 10. Teams keep. Teams keep 25. They're like, wait a minute, we should get a little bit more because. And guess what? Michael has experience as what? He bought a team for a couple hundred million dollars. What was the team that he bought them? Bobcats or Charlors?
C
Charlotte Hornets.
B
He buy. He buys up for a couple hundred billion. A couple hundred million dollars. Sell it for two and a half billion dollars, whatever the number was. So he knows what the rights are to be shared. Right.
A
So, you know, this feeds back into the narrative, though. It's. It's the idea that these large companies are stealing from the public.
B
Well, but, but to me, to me, this is fair. You got a monopoly argument that you're making. Fine. This is true. You look at this here, NFL 66%. That argument can be made. NBA 41, MLB 26, NHL 19. So somebody may say, well, you know, I don't know if I want to own a, you know, NFL owners love Roger Godot, what he's done. Michael, simply saying, hey, nascar, kind of give us a break here. We should get a little bit more. But schoolteachers were wondering why kids hate billionaires and rich people. Who do they spend the most time around.
A
Yep.
B
You know, you speak to somebody who has an accent. That accent didn't accidentally come about. They came about because of who they hang out with. So to me, this hate towards rich people and successful people and entrepreneurs is because they were brainwashed for 12 years when they go to school, being around a bunch of people that support the biggest union, brainwashing these kids to hate job creators and that's a problem. I'll pause. Tom, your thoughts?
C
Well, first of all, I agree with you 100%. That is exactly how it happens on the education side. Now what's happening in societal. Now you were talking a little bit about the societal break. Well, I'll tell you what's happened right now. Says what happened under Biden was America became uproariously expensive because they printed money and then they had runaway inflation. Trump gets there, he gets the inflation down. He's saying, listen, I got the inflation down. But he can't take a victory lap on that, even though it's worth a victory lap. Why? Because the food and the housing are still expensive. They've stopped going higher, but they're still crushing the middle class. And so he's got to find ways to move there. And guess what, the people under 40 wanted to elect Trump to change that, but what did he change? He did change the inflation, but the underlying cost is harder to change and it's not going to happen overnight. And so here's where it's showing up. Yesterday at a cabinet meeting, it was yesterday or day before yesterday. I saw the clip. But J.D. vance had it right. And J.D. vance was talking very clear eyed and very clear words. He said, listen, the affordability crisis was the Dems, but we're not going to get everything done in 10 months. He said they need to understand they the voters. Americans lost 3,000 per household under Biden. Quantitative fact, but they've only gained 1,000 back under Trump. There's still 2,000 upside down and rents haven't come down and food hasn't come down. But inflation has stopped and things like energy are way down. So they can talk about the price of a turkey, which was correct. They can talk about Thanksgiving will cost you less this year, which was correct. And they can talk about fuel being down, but rent and groceries are still higher than they were and expensive. And so when JD Vance says 2026 is the year where we're going to get jobs, we're going to have a lot of economic expansion, people are like, okay, that's nice, but it's not seeing yet. But JD Vance is getting it. And what happens is now people, people want change the other way. Do you want to know how people who are not politically aware and are not paying attention in New York City, they just see rents and groceries. They elected Mandami now. And by the way, a huge part of those just believe that they're electing change because what's, what has happened to them under Biden hasn't changed yet. Well, wait a minute. It's going to take time to change. And what people don't understand is they need wage growth, number one, and we need long term inflation to stay right where Trump's got it and got it down. And he's trying to help with things like interest rate. You know what he's trying to do with interest rates? He's also trying to reduce the interest that he pays on, on the national debt and get the deficit down. That's high level thinking that Main street doesn't think about and don't see. And the cultural shift right now is people are saying, I can't afford to live. And I applaud J.D. vance yesterday for calling it the affordability crisis and pointing these things out, what they' but the wage growth isn't happening fast enough, so the people are reacting. And so a barista who's a manager at Starbucks or then says, I can't make it on this. Maybe you have a point that in certain markets there aren't other jobs except serving coffee. And suddenly you have to demonize the people running the company because somehow they're responsible for the make. You're going to be a coffee server at Starbucks and somehow Starbucks, it's their fault and they have to make up this affordability gap that happened under Biden. They don't see it rationally, so they say, yes, and the union's going to help me. Oh, here come the Dems with the feelings. Bang. And that's where it is. The affordability undercurrent here is a threat to the midterm elections.
B
Tom, let me tell you what happened Yesterday, I get a man act from a billionaire. Two days ago, I think you know.
C
Oh, yeah? Yes.
B
So I get him scheduled, 15 minute call. I'm like, all right, so what does this person want to talk about? Very successful guy, made a lot of money, you know, well known in his space. So we have the conversation. He says, I'm thinking about making content, but I'm concerned. Should I, should I not? I said, well, do you prefer being the quiet, low key guy where no one knows who you are? When you walk into a room, you can buy the restaurant if you want to, you can buy the hotel if you want to, but nobody knows you. You eat your food, you give your 30% tip, you walk away, you go to your family in your beautiful home, and you're just living a peaceful life. Kids are not harassed, nobody's really paying that much attention to your last name. You're good to go. Or do you want the opposite to do this? So while that's kind of where the debate is, should I, should I not do it? Right? Because I said so. If you do it, what approach are you going to take? What are you going to be talking about? Why I want to talk. So do you have any strong opinions? Why? Do, do you know what happens if you give strong opinions? Here's what's good. So we're kind of processing this thing. So watch what happens here. To me, there's two things to me, if you succeed, a part of you succeeding is helping other people succeed as well. Okay? It's got to be a way you give back. And you can give back in many different ways. Charity, you know, church or, you know, your own time, you know, military, politics. There's many ways to give back, right? One of it is career planning, I think. What, but you're telling me right now, and when I'm listening to your, your, your breakdown, Jeff is. I think more people need to sit down. If you have a nephew, you have a niece, you have something, sit down and do a little bit of career planning with them. What do you want to do? Where do you want to be? The other day I saw my nephew who's a phenomenal soccer player. They had a game, he scored two goals. And one of the goals he scored was ridiculous. Sean Sabatimani, absolute beast of a soccer player. Lefty, a tall, good looking guy. And I'm talking. So tell me about, you know, tell me about what your grades are. Tell me about where you're here. I think we need to be a little bit more also asking, by the way, People like that are everywhere. There's plenty of people that want to. I see Tom doing it all the time. I see plenty of guys doing it all the time. But managers, if you're watching this, you may be a manager or an executive going into 2026, you're a business owner. When's the last time you did career planning with your guys to see what they want to do? People that report to you, what questions are you asking them? What aspirations do you have? Do you know if you do? Just so you know, you're probably one of only two or three people that asked that person that question this year. Let me say one more time, do you know if you do, you're one of only two or three people this year that ask that question from them. If that. You could maybe even be the only person that's non family if you ask that question. Because no one's sitting there and saying, hey, what do you want to aspire to do? What dreams you got? What plans you got? What do you want do to? Who do you want to be? What kind of a life do you want to live? Do you want to have kids? How many kids do you want to have? Do you know how much it costs to do that? Do you know what the cost of private school is? Had a couple that came up to me that won a contest and they said, look, instead of going to dinner, can we just do a planning for our family in the future? I said, sure, let's sit down. We went through the whole thing. They're like, wait a minute. To have five kids and to put them in private school and to live in a five bedroom small house, we need to make this much money. Yes. There was a moment where they look at each other.
As if no one ever talked to them about this. I said, let me get this straight, I didn't do any magic here. This is regular stuff. He says, well, none of our parents ever sat us down and talked about stuff like this. And then reality hit. And then they said, well, maybe instead of five kids we go to two or three kids. Well, maybe instead of a five bedroom house we rent. Well, maybe instead of private school we go to public. Well, maybe instead of a brand new car, we go to a 10 year used car. Then they started really kind of sitting there and saying, honey, we have one of two choices. Either we compromise and we live this life or we increase our market value. Those are the two choices you have. You can't sit there and point fingers and say, can somebody pay me a half a million dollars? Here because lifestyle is so expensive. Can somebody pay me $250,000 here? Because it's so hard to raise kids. That's what's causing people to ask those questions. Yes, things are more expensive. Yes, homes are more expensive. Yes, the income to price of home went from three and a half times to eight. Eight and a half times. You know what numbers I'm talking about here. Yes, it's ridiculous when I talk to regular people, but as individuals, I think we can do a better job career planning and coaching some of the guys. I'll give you the final thoughts on the story and we'll go to the next story.
A
Well, I was just going to say you're exactly right. And that's where the socialism comes in. Because in the absence of that type of information, whether it's just planning or sitting down and talking about this, guess what happened? The socialist comes in and says, that billionaire over there, he's the reason why you can't have five kids. He stole it from you through his evil, greedy capitalist ways. And so to most people, they look at that and say, I don't have any other explanation that sounds plausible. So I'm gonna believe that. And then the union, like Tom's point here, the union comes in and says, yes, those greedy capitalists stole it from you, so you deserve to have all that and they should give it to you. So it's, it's a, it's an information vacuum.
B
No, you're right. Have you seen that stat? Stat, Rob, on how many married homeowner people we had in America from 1950 to today to 2020. Have you seen this chart? Brand? I think maybe you and I have talked about this before. If you go pull up this chart, if you go pull up this chart, look at this. From 1950 to today, look where it's.
D
Estimated, look where it starts cratering.
B
19, you're going to 70. I think it's more 8, 1990 on this one. But watch this year. Estimated percentage of 30 year olds who are both married and homeowners from 1950 till today. This is scary. Jeff. This kind of goes to what you're talking about. Look at the 50s. Over 50% of 30 year olds were both married and homeowners in the 50s, in the 60s, even the 70s. And then 70 drops 5% to 45%, but it's still 45% in the 80s. That's only 45 years ago and it still stays at that in 1990s. That's 35 years ago. We're at 43% of 30 year olds were both married and homeowners. Then look at the drop after 1990 in 2000 goes to 33% in 2010. It goes to 22% in 2020, 15% in 2025, 10%.
A
You know what the, I don't know if you know what the single biggest factor in that is.
B
What's that?
A
College.
B
College.
A
That's when people started going to college in Mass. So you started running up debt, you started delaying life decisions. So you're no longer buying a house and owning a house and married at 30. You're now doing it at 35 if you can afford it. Except college gets more and more expensive, you keep getting bigger and bigger debt, housing prices continue to go higher and higher, and so you just keep falling further and further behind.
C
Well, rather than a business podcast, we could talk this to a social impact podcast because you're correct. That's one of the factors, one of the other factors that you see here, and I'm going to show you a reflection right into the election that just happened. So you go take a look at the rise of feminism when women were told, you know, oh, you know, being a mom with a job or a part time job is not good, you're being used. And what feminism sold to the American, American women and what happened with marriage rates and when marriage rates dropped, Pat, you know, and I'm going to get all kinds of heat. Let's just watch the, watch the, watch the chat. Here we go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
A
As you're saying, controversial feminism.
C
Feminism has robbed women of the place that they put their natural, nurturing, protective emotions. So you know what they're nurturing and protecting now, Pat? They're nurturing and protecting things like trans, things like this. Where are the angry middle class women coming from? We talked about them in the, that what a huge voting block they were. Where are the angry women coming from? They don't have families, they do not find fulfillment and they have to channel this angry passion. You, by the way, do you, do you know, you know, if you were to take an Armenian woman from Glendale and watch it right there and put her in the same weight class and put her in the ring with somebody, right? And then whisper to her, that guy tried to hurt your kid, you're gonna see a first round knockout. That Armenian mom is going to be like Hulk turning green and go after it. You know what that is? That's her protective instinct. That's her maternal instinct. That's her mom, that's her family leadership. And you Put a strong man next to her. You have a powerful family. When you rob that from women, they redirect that natural protective instinct and they start protecting irrational things. They start screaming about Trump, they start screaming about things. They're redirecting what is their natural protective instincts. And it's coming out as irrational protection of wacky stuff. And that's what you've got. And so people stop getting married, college, debt effect. There's like four social things that have. That has flipped it. And when you take a look at this, go look at the angry liberal women and tell me what percent are married, what percent of kids, what percent have maybe a job and a career, but also have the opportunity to have a child and fulfill their natural role. They're robbed of that. Feminism. Robbed it. That's a good point. And. And guess what? The Democrats lost.
B
So two things. By the way, just so you know, Tom, I just want to let you know you're about to get a lot of manex from Armenian mothers. Armenian mothers. If you're trying to manect Tom, this is his manect.
C
They're going to be with. They're going to be with me.
B
But for a second I thought you were going somewhere else like that. No way.
Construction stuff. And then all of a sudden I'm like, tom, they're going to come after you. To all the Armenian mothers and women that like what Tom said, that's his QR code. Let me go back to it.
C
That's a deep respect to those people.
B
So two things. One, Jeff, you said college. Tom, you said the feminist movement. What do you think?
D
Cost of living.
A
That's two things are related.
D
Cost of living. Because college, I think at a time there was a good return on investment with it, but that it became a negative return on investment once it got more expensive than it pays you afterward. But I think you could educate yourself out of poverty for sure and not using college, you know, like you, you said that for yourself. I would say the same thing for myself. Like from changing situations at least to like books and learning something about a specific topic instead of like going $100,000 into debt for something that's kind of a very broad topic.
B
Yeah. So we got three reasons here from 50 to 2025. But the reality of it is, if that pattern continues, that's not good for America. Okay? That's not good for America, period. Because you need guys to be able to get married, have kids for not only the replacement, right now being at 1.5, eight children being born per women. That's the lowest it's been in the history of America. And the replacement game is 2.1. And the incentive to get married, the incentive to have kids, the cost of it, the time to put into it that, all of that, it's getting a lot of people to wonder if, if, you know, that's a decision, that's a good decision to make today or not. Anyways, okay, let's get to the next door here. So while we're talking career, maybe this is a good thing to talk about. Finances. You guys hear about what Odell Beckham said yesterday on a podcast? Odell Beckham, yesterday on a podcast said the following. Okay, he said, it's very hard to live off of $100 million contract. Okay? So folks, I want us to sympathize with him, but there's a part of it where he has a very good point. Just brace for impact. You can get upset. Just light it up on the chat section. But here's Odell Beckham talking about the Harsh math on $100 million NFL contracts, wearing a Michael Jackson shirt. Go ahead, Rob. If I didn't have a dollar in my account right here today as we speak, I'm gonna be straight for the rest of my life. No question.
C
Right?
B
I don't think everybody is in that. And when you've sacrificed your whole life to get here, and you're like, Yeah, I played 10 years in the league, and I always explain this to people like, bro, you give somebody a five year, $100 million contract, right? What is it really? It's five years for 60. You're getting taxed. Do the math. That's 12 a year. You know that you have to spend, use, save, save, invest.
Flaunt, whatever. However, just being real, I'm gonna buy a car, I'm. Give my mom a house, I'm gonna do. Everything costs money. So you, if you spending $4 million a year, that's really 40 million over five years, eight a year, you know, and now you, you start breaking down the numbers. It's like, that's a five year span of where you're getting eight men. Can you make that last forever? And you always hear the people who ain't us and ain't been in the position, like, oh, well, that would last like that. Okay, so he said this. Then you had Shannon Sharp responding to it. Here's what Shannon Sharp had to say. Go ahead. If you get $60 million liquid and that can't last you a lifetime, you got, you got, you got some, you got a problem. Do you really need 10 houses? Do you really need 15 cars?
A
No.
B
Do you need. Do you need to buy everybody in your house, everybody in your family? Imagine that cost a million, $2 million. Because here's the thing.
C
Yeah.
B
Something. First of all, if you buy somebody in your house, your family house, a house that cost a million, $2 million.
A
Yeah.
B
First of all, they can't afford the upkeep on it because if they could, they'd have it already. See, it ain't the payment, it's the upkeep.
C
Right?
B
Ish. Go wrong, bro say he's spending 4 million a year. If you spending 4 million a year and it ain't a business related. You out your mind. Ain't no way in hell I'm spending 4 million a year. Okay, you buy mom a house. If I were to buy mom a house, I'm damn. They're gonna probably get her a house that I can go ahead and pay off. So I'm gonna spend a half a million dollars for mom because I got to get her something that she can clean for herself. Because I can't play for a cleaner, sir. Because, see, that's another expense. You get a big house, somebody cut the grass. I don't need. I need somebody to come with a pushing lawnmower and cut the grass. That's another expense on me. O Joe, flying private.
C
Now you see why I fly spirit.
B
The past 20 years.
By the way, he does. I've been on a flight.
Oh, he said last 20 years. Okay, who wants to take this one? Jeff, you want this one here? Sure.
A
I mean, common sense, right? That's really what they're saying is common sense. I mean, money doesn't last forever. You make these huge contracts, it's like a windfall. There's a reason why lottery winners end up broke because they don't. Like we just talked about, people don't have the capabilities to manage their own finances nor the foresight to plan. How am I going to live for the next 50 years off of one income stream that's going to end at some point. There's just a lack of information, planning.
C
You know what? If you're an athlete and you got a giant contract and you want to come down here and you want to have coffee, I will spend two hours with you for free.
A
And I'm the private jet.
C
No, and I'm going to, I'm going to put a bunch of stuff down on paper and I'm going to say, you go copy of this and you go share what you learned today with everybody. Else, because I'm going to warn them about the wrong kind of financial advisors. I'm going to warn them about always paying your taxes. I'm going to warn them about overcoming consumption but enjoying the fruits of your labor. That started at high school where you were busting your butt and there was a lot of people around you that made money off you. Your high school coach wanted to be a college coach, college coach wanted to be a pro coach, and everybody wanted you on that conveyor belt. And you were making money for an awful lot of people. And now you're gifted part of the 1/10 of 1% of athletes that actually make it to get paid in professional sports. And everybody laughs at these guys. What these guys are saying is that no one sat down with them. And Shannon Sharp is saying, here's what you realize. He's saying, just put the word realize in your head and ignore the profanity and just listen to him. I realize if I bought my mom a house, I got the upkeep, I got to pay a guy with a lawnmower, I got to pay all this stuff. He wants his mom to do that, and he wants to take care of his mom the way she raised and took care of him. But he's realizing, wow, forever is a long time. So. And by the way, it's a house. She can clean herself. So he's saying, not anything too big, that you got to have maids and other things, that this is what's going on. Nobody provides this. This education because nobody cares to. And then, God bless them, they're on a podcast and they're talking about this, and people are laughing at them. If you can't do that, you can't. No, no, no, no, no. No one. Everybody's been living off them, and now no one has told them how to live well off themselves. And they end up with agents that take advantage of them. They end up with financial advisors that take advantage of them. Oh, invest in this, invest in that. And they don't family members. They need people to come alongside to say, hey, you know, here's some tips. Take them back and talk to the rookies. Take them back with all this. There are the. In the NFL. The NFL does some of this, but the NFL, most of it is worried about, do not get caught in a strip club where they start shooting at each other. Be careful of. Of cleat chasers that want to get pregnant from you. They. They have all the things that relate to the face and the brand because they're we Jersey for a team. With the brand and that jersey with the team is underneath the shield called the NFL. And they want all that to look good. And it doesn't look good if you get in a bar fight and you knock out some other person or you get arrested for, you know, assault. They don't like that. The NFL doesn't like that. So they're really good at doing all this. The teams do some, and not all teams are like this. Some of the teams talk about financial things I've heard, but not all of them. A lot of times it's up to the players, but who's in the players, earnings, an agent and stuff. So when you look at this, you know, you can make fun of them and you could do all that. But you know what? Now they're having to live off their self after a whole line of people has been living off them. And they need education and they need help so that they can do good things with their money, support their family, but make it all the way. Because having a tragedy at the end where you have a broke athlete with all the stuff going on, they've got personal responsibility, but I think that's a tragedy because whereas the people that could have been alongside and mentoring them, not interested in their money and just helping them get set for the future.
D
You see that documentary called Broke that talks about this and it's, it's like 80 of them end up going bankrupt within a couple years after.
B
Yep.
C
Yeah.
D
I mean, but yeah, you're totally right. Like just the way that inflation is like.
B
There's an older documentary, it is Mark Rippin in it. I mean, if you know Mark Rippin, folks, you're, you're over 40 for sure, but keep going. You were saying, Brandon?
D
Yeah, no, I was gonna say that if they had like a quick financial rundown or like I'm surprised there's not a booming industry around, like a financial management for athletes, because it's like a unique position where you have a quick 5 to 10 year window to make a lot of money, then you're never going to be able to make money off that skill again. But just the way that inflation's set up, it's kind of perfect for them because if you like invest half that into anything, basically that's an asset rather than like just money sitting in the bank. You know, you're going to do well over 30 years with the way that the government devalues our money. So, you know, like, if you put in property, you put in like the stock market, you put in any like limited asset that's going to do well. But you know, they don't know that stuff. Obviously 20 year old kids who, you know, came from poverty that are suddenly have $100 million.
B
By the way, I don't know if it was Mark Rippen. Can you check? Mark? It could have been who was the Cleveland Browns quarterback. That was a decent quarterback. 41 mil. Yeah, that's who's in that documentary. Bernie Kar is in that documentary, I believe. Yeah.
A
You know what part of the problem is there's expectations. People have expectations and they're oftentimes unreasonable. This is not just about athletes. This is normal people too. They start making a little bit of money and their expectation is that it removes all constraints. Yeah, like you make a lot of money, you think I can do whatever I want now. I can have a private jet, I can live in 18 different houses and.
C
There'S a lot of people around you want to help you do that.
A
Exactly. For a fee. Right. And so yeah, you have to realize expectations are number one, you don't remove constraints, you raise the ceiling a little bit. But number two, you're going to attract people like Tom was saying, who are in the business of being in your business. So expectations are just not calibrated correctly. And again, this is not just a problem for athletes. It's lack of information. That's a theme of the show.
B
It's interesting you say that. Two points I want to make on that. I got a manect the other day from a lady who, her husband passed away and she got seven and a half million dollars, give or take, and he had a good amount of insurance policy. And it's like, hey, what do I do with this now? You know, you kind of like, well you know, I'm a seven and a half million dollar person. No you're not. I said you're a three hundred thousand dollar a year person. What does that mean? If you put that seven and a half at 4% at some place, if you are getting 4% income on it every year, you're making roughly $300,000 per year. Right. Give or take, whatever the numbers, I think it is exactly $300,000. I said don't judge the amount of money you have in the bank. If you don't have an income. What he says in the Odell beckham, he says 60 million. If all of a sudden the contract is done and you're no longer playing, who the hell is going to pay you $100 million over five years if your name isn't Tom Brady or Troy Aikman or who's the other Dallas Cowboys? A phenomenal commentator. The quarterback, Romo. Phenomenal, right? They're. They're saying he may be one of the best ones, but, you know, I was with Antoine Walker about 10 years ago, 2015. We're in Chicago. We're having a cigar together at the cigar bar. And it's me, him and Matt Sopalo. Very nice guy. He was a very good NBA player. And his career earnings? He made $108 million in his career. You know what his net worth is today, give or take? I don't know what it is, Robbie, if you can pull it up. But he was talking about openly. I think he teamed up with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to coach the younger kids of what it's like to have, you know, money right there. $250,000 on the next one. Rod Celebrity Network. $250,000. It's pretty wild. You got paid $108 million. He said something. He said, you know what the biggest challenge was? He said, when the money was coming in one day, I'm playing blackjack with Jordan because they're both from Chicago. Chicago. So you know, Jordan, Chicago, he's in Chicago. They're playing blackjack. And he says, I'm watching Michael play million dollar hands or hundred thousand dollar hands, whatever story he was saying. He says, I thought, I can afford to do that, and then I realized I can't. So sometimes it's partying with a guy who has real money, and you think you have real money, you don't have that kind of money, but you want to seem like you can hang with that guy and you can't. Don't be tempted to do that. That's the story Antoine Walker was talking about. And by the way, that documentary you're talking about broke, I think Andre Risen was in it. Bernie Kozar is definitely in it. A few other guys that were in it who talk about that as well. Jamal Mashburn, who actually did pretty good for himself later on, ended up becoming a businessman. We spoke once. Jamal was a great. Did he play for Kentucky at one point? Jamal Mashburn? Was he a Kentucky guy? Tom. And then he came out.
C
I don't remember where he came out.
B
He played for the Mavs. He used to average, like 20, 24 points a game. Mashburn was actually a lights out. Yeah, he was Kentucky. Yeah, he was Kentucky. So anyways, I saw that story with Odell Beckham. Kind of made me think about what some people are going through financially. I know Some people may laugh and say, well, $100 million, that, that applies to people making a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars, 250 a year, 80 a year. All of that habits you create applies no matter what kind of money you're making. All right, let's get to the next story here. Next one I want to get to.
D
Is.
B
Trump administration's new SNAP requirements take effect for food stamp recipients. Brandon, this is your story. I'm going to come to you with this one here. Rob, I think you have a video on this one here. The administration's new requirement for nation's largest food aid program went into effect on Monday with the aim of reforming the costly system. Trump's one big beautiful act raised the age limit from 54 to 64 for people who must work, train or volunteer at least 80 hours a month in qualifying activities to receive assistance from Supplemental nutritional assistance program, SNAP. The size and scope of SNAP, which supports more than 40 million Americans, came under renewed scrutiny during the government shutdown as funding for the sweeping food assistance program neared. A funding lapse of SNAP average served an average of 41.7 million participants per month, about 12% of Americans, costing taxpayers roughly $99 billion. The CBO projects the new requirements will reduce the average monthly Snap recipients by 2.4 million over the next 10 years. The Trump administration has claimed that cost for the benefits have grown out of control due to the growing reliance on the program and fraud within the system. Brandon, your thoughts on this?
D
So when I was looking at the story, I'm looking at what Trump wanted to do with the requirements and the age change and everything, I'm like, great, great, great, great, awesome, awesome, awesome. And then when I got to the part that said we'll only reduce the number of recipients.
B
2.4 million.
D
Yeah.
B
Yeah.
D
So that doesn't make any sense. It sounded like like a significant changes they was making to it. So I, I don't see how it's going to only reduce it by that much. Like, out of that 41 million, like, I, I think that at least half of it's probably either illegal immigrants who shouldn't be receiving based on what we saw before, or people who are you fraudulently receiving it and kind of abusing the system? Like, it's not a sustainable thing to run a strong country giving away this degree of money. And this 99 billion is a small piece of, of what entitlement spending is per year. Entitlement spending per year is 3 trillion a year, like I said before. So, like out of all that, like, that's one of the most disappointing things about Doge, too, is that once Elon started, like, asking questions about Social Security payments to people who are 200 years old and where Medicaid spending is going, that's when he got really nervous and really quiet and backed away from all of it. Because I think he had some scary things said to him during that period of time. Because think about, that's like the. The biggest slush fund in the history of the world is that, like, block money that gets spent on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. So imagine like, how dirty that cesspool is when you look into it. But that's what's bankrupting us, Jeff.
A
Yeah, you agree? And the other thing is, you know, 2.4 million people over 10 years, that's not a real reduction. That's cosmetic. It's more theater. And again, this is why people are so fed up with us, because they would. Their. Their initial reaction to the story is, okay, good, because we know there's a lot of fraud that takes place in snap. We can see it when every time we go to Walmart, right? And then they come out and say, well, we'll get rid of 2.4 million people out of the 41.0.7 million already. You're like, wait, what? That's a small percentage. And over 10 years, which means you're going to eliminate a couple hundred thousand people per year. This either. We're being lied to.
B
Tell you, though. But what does it tell you? Tells me something. It tells me something.
No, what I'm.
A
What it tells a business.
B
No, no, no. What it tells me is. And maybe it's the same thing you guys are saying. What it tells me is if it's anything more, it could cost them 20, 28 and 2026 midterms.
A
But that's the business. The business. Either. Politics is about buying.
B
Right, Right. For sure. So to me.
Ideally, this needs to be, what, 5 million a month? 2 million a month. A million a month instead of 41 million. You're building people to rely on the system. Right? Okay, so, but to remove that, what. What's that party going to do? What are those videos going to look like? Starving kids, crying videos. And they won't be AI. Going viral, emotional, heartfelt. How cold. You're sitting out there having steak, having folk ra. Haven't see urchin. I can't even go out there and buy some Campbell soup where the food is shit based on one of the executives, and you're doing this to me?
C
Exactly.
B
That's that, that, that, that's kind of like.
So they don't want that optics. So they're trying to do it in a very, very subtle way. They're playing politics, in other words. Tom, do you have any thoughts on this?
C
Yes, I do. And I'll just, I won't repeat a thing that anybody said. I'll just take you back to Chuck Schumer. And when they started talking about Chuck Schumer, got this little look in his eye and I remember distinctly he was saying, well, so we want to turn off food for that many. And he was sitting there thinking to himself, that was the evil Schumer smirk, that this would be a gift for the midterms. Cuz if you go after Snap, you're basically defunding, you know, the graft that's coming to a significant portion of the Democrat voting bloc. And he knew it, and he knew it and he knows that there's carryover in the independence in the middle. And he knew it, it. So he knew exactly what he was going to do. And this is Schumer. Basically what you're saying, Pat, is I dare you to stop the corruption. I will get you at the.
B
I know he will. I know, I know he's.
C
And he was saying that.
B
Yeah, yeah.
D
Question though. So, like, how many of those blatant.
C
Cruelty and all this stuff, he was just.
B
Yep, go ahead.
D
How many of those 41 million are Trump voters? Like, like which. Where are the votes that are going to be moved if, if he's not.
B
About the 41 million. No, no, it's, it's. How many of the 41 million will influence the 12% of independence? To say, I don't think you're bingo. Good, you're going to go the other side. That 42 million, the 41 million influenced the 12% independence, which is who you need.
D
Yeah. And you think their propaganda could be stronger than the propaganda. Yeah, I know.
B
Do you realize the financial capital of the world just voted for a Muslim mayor from Uganda who is a democratic socialist who said the end in mind, the end vision is what? To seize the means of production.
C
Yeah.
B
His words.
C
Chapter one, paragraph one of the Communist Manifesto goes and beats you.
B
In the city with the most billionaires. Right. In the city with the most millionaires. You do that. So to me, they're salivating for Trump to extend this even more and they're disappointed that the number is only two and a half million. They were hoping it was 10 million over two years. That's what they were hoping for. Which they didn't get. I want to play a clip here to ask a question about why some young men are not getting married. You guys know Professor Galloway? That's Professor Galloway. And the guy on the bottom was a hardcore soldier in a, in a big war called Tropic Thunder who was like a very, very, like a legit guy. And he works out hardcore. He had a nice gym. What was the gym called, Rob? In the dodgeball gym. Yeah, you know what, the gym.
A
Average Joe, average jokes.
B
Yeah, I know.
D
Mega gems.
B
By the way, do you know the girl in a movie that he pumps himself to make himself look bigger? You know that girl in a movie that ends up dating Vince Vaughn in a movie? That's his wife.
A
Really?
B
It's his real life wife.
D
Oh, that's.
B
Yeah. This guy's apparently very close with Tom Cruise and a bunch of other guys. But here's Professor Galloway talking about. Marriage is the new luxury item, folks. Do you agree? Rob, can you run a poll on this? Go for it. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.
A
Listening to this podcast.
B
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C
Home and auto bundling.
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A
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B
Cut the camera. They see us.
A
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B
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates.
A
Excludes Massachusetts. 60% of 30 year olds used to have at least one child 40 years ago. Now it's 27%. They can't afford to. And also, when you have a lot of young men who aren't economically viable, we don't like to have an honest conversation about mating. Men mate socioeconomically horizontally and down women horizontally and up. Beyonce could work at McDonald's and marry Jay Z. The opposite is not true. 75% of women say economic viability is.
B
Key to a mate.
A
Only 25% of men. So when men are not doing well economically, we have an absence of mating. We have an absence of what is the opportunity to do the most rewarding thing in the world and that is build a family where you get to that point of building something with someone else. It's tough on women, but it is absolutely disastrous for men. It just makes me very upset and rattled to think that the most rewarding thing in my life is effectively off limits. Marriage is a new luxury item. 4/5 of people in the top quintile of income earning households get married.
B
Only one in five men in the.
A
Lowest quintile ever have an opportunity to mate. Only 80% of women have reproduced in our species on the planet.
B
Only 40% of men.
A
Women are disproportionately and unfairly evaluated on their aesthetics. Men are unfairly and disproportionately evaluated on their economic viability. And a society collapses on itself because those men get angry. And the most dangerous person in the world is a lonely, broke young man.
B
Going, there you go. My dad would say that all the time. Tom, your thoughts on this?
C
Yeah, we're not here to promote anybody, but Prof. G has written a couple very interesting papers on this that I think both Pat and I agree with. And he's broken down the stats exactly as he's talking there. You know, what we need is.
This isn't something you can change at the voting booth. This isn't something that you can change overnight. We need a viable, thriving economy that is building the kind of jobs so these men are employed and are attractive mates. Because what I said about women is true. It's not just these, you know, so called super aesthetic women that are marrying the rich guys. There's women out there that want a stable, honest, clean guy to have a life with. And when guys are all by themselves, as Prof. G said, you're in your bedroom all by yourself playing video games. Isolationist. You know, the online world is your world. You're not building yourself socially. And then never mind, you go out to find a job and in certain areas you can't, you know, we need the, the economy to be booming so that people have jobs. And guess what? With the job comes pride and self esteem, good pride and self esteem and attractiveness. And guess what? You find women that are attracted to that. You have kids and you build the strength and fabric of the country that values all those things. But you gotta do it one step at a time and you gotta do what you can do to reach across and encourage and help people, you know, raise up. And that's where my heart is when I say I leave people better than you found them. That's what I try to do. When I say that I'm always willing to talk to people about how do you find a way up? That's what I'm trying to do. That's me, Jeff.
A
I'm going to go back to college here. What did men do long before everybody had to go to college? What kind of jobs did they end up gravitating toward? Yes, there are not as many of.
B
Those as farmers, construction hands, plumber.
A
Right. And so what we did as a society is deviate and rechannel a lot of that effort into what goes on in colleges these days. Unproductive uses the old Austrian economic term malinvestment. We're malinvesting in our human stock by forcing people to go to college when they should be doing something else. That's not the only reason. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that's the sole answer here, but that's part of the problem here is we've overestimated the value of college education. And maybe there was a time when that was the case where college education actually did build up the. The intellectual stock of the labor force, but that ship has sailed. That passed a long time ago. Now we just mass produce all of these people into college and we don't give them productive skills. In fact, we give them. They end up being lost at the end. They end up overburdened with debt. They're lost. They have no real idea of where they're going, and they don't really have any productive skills that can be used to build a career and therefore a family. So, yeah, I'm gonna demonize college again.
C
And we allowed them to go into debt getting our history degree.
A
We encouraged them to. That's the thing, the incentive structure is you have to go to colle. If you don't go to college, you'll be left behind.
C
And there's no underwriting qualification because that's. That university that had that student loan partner immediately sold it to the processors at the US Government.
A
It's. But it's all backwards.
C
There is no risk. There is no risk. You know, you think the mortgage crisis was bad because they weren't underwriting and they were doing Nina loans and stuff. That is nothing compared to, excuse me, the shit that the student loan processors, you know, do after the fact on payments, but that the student loan providers do with no thought to the underwriting and what you're doing to these kids. Now you signed on the line for that car payment, you got that high car payment. The individual has to be accountable for their actions. They are, and I'm against the.
A
But they don't have the information.
C
But they are getting. There are drug pushers in the, in the registrar's office that are pushing these student loan options. No, no, don't drop off and don't just sign here.
A
But most college kids don't have the information to make informed decisions. Number one, their parents don't tell them their school. Their schools are incentivized to push them off into college. That's the case. And nobody tells them. If you go to this school, your expected net earnings over your lifetime is going to be X. Everybody thinks it's huge. If I go to college, I'm going to be rich. Because once upon a time there was a differentiation where if you did go to college, you ended up in the top end of the income spectrum. But that's a long time ago. So you can't. People don't realize that they're actually going in the wrong direction. By going to school, they're getting worse off. Their net worth, their future net worth is going down. And that's partly to blame. What we're seeing, what we just talked about here with the lack of family.
C
When you go in to get a car loan, by law, there is a square that is in the middle of the page, one third of way from the top and it is the total of all these payments. When you sign for a car loan, they have to. By law, they have to tell you that. By the way, here's the information. There's your payment, there's your rate, that's your paying for the car and there's the top total of payments. They're all together. They're right on a line. Right there have to be shown that's not the case when you get to the student loans. So it's their fault for taking. For not thinking. I'm getting a $300,000 student loan, am I going to make $300,000 extra over 10 years to pay this back? Maybe if I'm a cardiologist, you know.
A
But they've been told yes. They've been told the answer is yes. Go to school, take out the debt, it doesn't matter. Because when you come out the other side with a degree, you're going to make X more money than you do.
C
I know they've been told it's a tragedy, but I'm also saying there's personal responsibility. Sign in that paper.
B
Sure, sure.
D
Yeah. And I think it's more than that.
B
Tom Bradley says, shit. The only thing I ask of you, Tom. Next time you're gonna say that, just say earmuffs. Give it a second, then drop it. Go ahead, Brian.
C
I'm sorry, I have to.
D
I think it's a little bit more than that, too. I think that there's just not enough urgency amongst people because, I mean, ultimately, like, only 20 of people, I think are motivated, like, exceptional people. And then 80% of people are just, like, you know, less motivated, unexceptional people. And that's the way it's always been. And no matter how much people want something, it's. It's going to be less people than the majority that, like, do everything possible to improve their situation to, like, like, you know, be at the top echelon of society. I mean, and it's like, I think there's something to be, like, hopeful for guys. Like, I. I would send Rob this chart here because it shows that most of the time, like, guys don't even appear most attractive until they turn 35. So this shows, like, when girls are considered, like, the most appealing and when guys are most appealing. So, like, girls peak at age about 23 in terms of, like, they call it sexual market value. And then guys peak around age 35 because that's when they come into, like, their. And physical and financial prime. So, you know, it's probably a lonely place for guys are in, like, their early twenties because the. The girls at that age, like, seem like way out of their league and don't have any interest in them. But, you know, like, if you do pull all of your energy into improving yourself financially and, like, physically and all that, then, like, I think you're going to be in better position than if you just mope about it.
B
I don't know. I. I think 47 is still peak.
D
So.
A
For certain people.
C
A fan of this, but no, it's not. It's. So women peak at the boob on the. On the left there at 23, and then the boob on the right at 43. Men peaks 20 years.
B
Look more like knees bent than they do boobs. If your boobs look like that, that's a weapon, Tom.
C
Well, remember we were in LA where 86% of the boobs were not real.
B
Yeah, but that's a terrible doctor. Like, that guy should get fined. That doctor should be like, I want to read his Yelp reviews because there's complaints.
C
Have you walked down the beach in penance?
B
No, Tom, I don't know what beach you go to. We don't go to nude beaches. Rob, can you go back to the other chart that you had about swipe rides. Yeah, go ahead, Randall.
D
So that's nothing to do with money, by the way. So you know that, that whole article for, from Scott Galloway, he was saying it's because of money only. No, it's also because of looks. Like this is just purely looks. Nobody knows how much money anybody's making on Tinder. And this shows that guys, they, they swipe right on 52% of women they see on Tinder swipe left. And 40%, 7%, then women, they swipe right on only 3% of guys they see on Tinder then swipe left, meaning they say no to 95% of guys they see on Tinder. So women are just like much more selective based off, like visuals and first impression than guys are. So there's more than one factor. It's like not just finances, but yeah, the financial thing's definitely a thing. The cost of living, we, we've talked about to death, that's a problem. But it's like there's, it's not like a huge amount of motivated people that are like, willing to do anything to get themselves out of that situation.
B
Yeah, I mean, look, the question is marriage worth it? The poll, here's what people are saying, Rob. It's a luxury item. This is what people said. 2, 200 people voted. Do you agree with Galloway that marriage is the new luxury item? Yes, 43% said no. Okay. The reality of it is it is very expensive to get married today. Okay? Very. But I will tell you.
You know, you can, you can buy a lot of things, you can travel, you can party, you can have fun. One of the main purpose of being a human being is to procreate. And I don't mean the exercise of it, go at it. I'm talking about the actual idea of a kid that calls you and says, dad, where are you? You daughter calls you and says, dad, when are you coming home? I run home, Brooklyn runs to me and she puts her feet around my back and hugs and puts her cheek against the cheek. All the money in the world. You don't even think about it. You don't think about the success. You don't think about your following. You don't think about the money in the bank account, the investments, the people that called you. You don't think about any of that stuff.
C
Stuff.
B
You just think family. And to not experience that as an individual, it's, it's a, it's a travesty because it's a God given tool, God given gift given to us to do something with that and to see that kid grow into somebody later on who independently, their dreams are becoming a reality. They're figuring life out. And you always have these people that are walking around with your pain. Your thoughts are with them. It's priceless if you can find a way to do it. I'm not, folks, I'm not telling you to find a closest person near to you and go make a baby with them right now. You shouldn't. You got to choose that properly. Making a baby with the wrong person could be, you know, crazy as well, but it is something for you to be thinking about Anyways. Every year during Christmas time, we give away Christmas trees. And for some of you guys that are in Fort Lauderdale, Rob, do we have the dates for it?
C
I believe it's tomorrow from 12 to 4. I'm confirming right now.
D
But tomorrow, 12.
B
That can't be tomorrow, Rob, because I've never done a CT on this video.
C
Thursday, December 4th, 7 to 9pm no.
B
No, we're changing that time. Okay, we're changing that time because that's not, we've not done a single CT on that. So then let's, let's not play that clip. But anyways, guys, we're about to announce that we're going to be giving away Christmas trees here soon on our property. Last year we gave hundreds away and people came through and it was a very cool experience. We give away Christmas trees and ornaments and a bunch of other things. So stay tuned for that. And then last but not least, Jeff Snyder, Phenomenal as usual. Brilliant mind. Go subscribe to his YouTube channel, Euro Dollar University, follow his content. Rob, can we put all that stuff below as well for people to be, be able to find him? Jeff, great work as usual. Appreciate having you on. Tom Brandon. Guys, God bless. On Friday your favorite person will be on the podcast that I know you guys can't wait to see him. God bless everybody. Take care. Bye bye. Bye bye.
Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Patrick Bet-David (PBD)
Guests: Jeff Snider, Tom Ellsworth, Brandon (Home Team)
In this packed installment, Patrick Bet-David and the Home Team (Jeff Snider, Tom Ellsworth, Brandon) tackle a wide array of political, business, and social topics in their distinctive, fast-moving fashion. Leading stories include the Minnesota fraud probe involving Governor Tim Walz, Costco’s lawsuit against the federal government over tariff refunds, the ongoing Starbucks labor strike with Mamdani protest highlights, and Odell Beckham’s viral comments on the NFL, income, and wealth. The hosts also dive into economic trends, state policies, and social challenges—from housing and business migration to the emergent view of marriage as a luxury item.
[10:00–32:45]
Background:
Minnesota is under scrutiny due to over $1 billion in alleged fraud during Tim Walz’s tenure as governor. Whistleblowers were allegedly silenced, and federal authorities are investigating if some stolen funds were funneled to terrorist organizations like Al Shabaab.
Kristi Noem’s Claims:
South Dakota's governor cites 50% fraudulent visa applications in Minnesota, blaming Governor Walz for lax policies enabling fraud and misuse of welfare benefits.
Discussion:
"The bigger government gets, the more people have their hand out… Everybody's using the government as some kind of payoff scheme." – [12:09]
Crime & Sentencing Laxity:
Welfare Breakdown:
Politics as Business:
“Now people are going in as a business model of how to create wealth, and that becomes a problem.” – Patrick Bet-David, [21:01]
Federal Leadership & Community Responses:
“They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country…I'll be honest with you, okay?” – Trump, [23:13]
[33:46–43:58]
State Spotlight:
Florida continues to lead the nation in GDP growth, entrepreneurship, and wealth migration—propelled by “open economic policies, no state income taxes, and year-round sunshine” with rapid business/real estate expansion.
Leadership Appreciation:
Tom credits Governor Ron DeSantis for economic dynamism and quick-response leadership:
“I’m just gonna use the words leader and thank you for governor. Ron DeSantis is a leader here in Florida, and we thank you.” – [35:27]
Business-Friendly Environment:
“The reason we left New York state…was the government overreach and overregulation. Florida is much more free and open, less regulated.” – [38:31]
Rankings:
Florida remains second in real GDP growth, behind only South Carolina, far outpacing states like Texas, Tennessee, and Nevada.
[43:59–54:25]
Costco’s Lawsuit:
Corporate Politics:
"91% to Kamala Harris and 8% to Donald Trump… next time you go to Costco instead of Sam's Club or Walmart, remember that number." – [46:04]
Sourcing from China:
Economic Critique:
“If we had tariffs...they would be sourcing from America.” – [52:04]
[54:26–70:56]
Strike Escalation:
Union Demands vs. Business Viability:
“If you improve wages and staffing per store, that location is completely unprofitable and I close it... union demands end up making another 7% of your locations unprofitable. You close them. So congratulations. You killed 12 jobs to get two.” – [58:16]
Socioeconomic Realities for Workers:
“The reason why they're falling for this message from Bernie and Mandami and socialism is that they say, well, look, I'm stuck at Starbucks for the time being...yet working at Starbucks, I keep falling further and further behind in this economy.” – [69:13]
Progressive Messaging & Hypocrisy:
Starbucks’ Employee Development Programs:
[98:07–111:14]
Viral Quote:
Odell Beckham:
“You give somebody a five year, $100 million contract, right? What is it really? It's five years for 60. You're getting taxed...you spend, you save, you invest...Can you make that last forever?” – [99:34]
Athlete Wealth Management Debate:
“If you're an athlete and you got a giant contract and you want to come down here and have coffee, I will spend two hours with you for free...I'm going to warn them about the wrong kind of financial advisors. I'm going to warn them about always paying your taxes.” – [102:32]
Broader Relevance:
PBD points out these challenges apply at all income levels: habits of financial discipline and future planning are essential, not just for celebrities.
[111:17–117:44]
Policy Change:
New rules require able-bodied adults up to age 64 to work, train, or volunteer to qualify for SNAP food aid. Projected to reduce rolls by only 2.4 million over 10 years from 41.7 million recipients.
Hosts’ Reaction:
“If it's anything more, it could cost them 2028 and 2026 midterms...they don't want that optics.” – PBD, [114:38]
[117:45–131:20]
Professor Scott Galloway's Thesis:
“The most dangerous person in the world is a lonely, broke young man.” – Prof. Galloway, [121:07]
Economic & Cultural Explanations:
"Feminism has robbed women of the place that they put their natural, nurturing, protective emotions...people stop getting married, college, debt effect, ...there's like four social things that have flipped it [marriage/home ownership rates].” – [97:03]
Advice on Self-Development:
Personal Reflection:
PBD closes with a stirring argument for the value and joy of family:
“All the money in the world—you don't even think about it...You just think family. And to not experience that as an individual, it's a travesty because it's a God given tool, God given gift...” – [131:20]
On Government Fraud & Accountability:
"The bigger government gets, the more people have their hand out… Everybody's using the government as some kind of payoff scheme."
– Jeff Snider, [12:09]
On Crime & Soft Sentencing:
"You wonder why people are furious...They want exactly what Kristi Noem said and they want it backed up with handcuffs."
– Tom Ellsworth, [15:59]
On Political-business Entanglement:
"Now people are going in as a business model of how to create wealth, and that becomes a problem."
– Patrick Bet-David, [21:01]
On Costco’s Political Donations:
"91% to Kamala Harris and 8% to Donald Trump… next time you go to Costco instead of Sam's Club or Walmart, remember that number."
– Tom Ellsworth, [46:04]
On Athlete Wealth:
“You give somebody a five year, $100 million contract...it's really five years for 60. You're getting taxed...Can you make that last forever?”
– Odell Beckham, [99:34]
On Worker Frustration:
“...working at Starbucks, I keep falling further and further behind in this economy.”
– Jeff Snider, [69:13]
On New SNAP Requirements:
“If it's anything more, it could cost them 2028 and 2026 midterms...they don't want that optics.”
– Patrick Bet-David, [114:38]
On Marriage As a “Luxury Item”:
“The most dangerous person in the world is a lonely, broke young man."
– Prof. Scott Galloway, cited at [121:07]
For a full exploration of these issues and plenty of unscripted color, tune in to the episode.