← Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov
What’s Buried in the Bill (feat. Rep. Greg Landsman)
00:44:50
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- [00:01]
David Beckham
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- [00:32]
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- [01:04]
Jessica Tarlov
Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Jessica Tarlov. Last week, the House narrowly passed the budget reconciliation package, Trump's quote unquote, big, beautiful bill. It's over 1100 pages of legislation. And though Senate Republicans have indicated that they're going to make some changes, it's still worth wrapping our heads around what's in the House pass version and why. Today I'm joined by Congressman Greg Landsman of Ohio. He won election to Congress in 2022 when he flipped his district from Republic control for only the second time since 1995. Representative Landsman, thank you so much for joining us today. It's nice to meet you.
- [01:40]
David Beckham
Good to meet you. Thanks for having me.
- [01:41]
Jessica Tarlov
It's my pleasure. As a liberal that works in conservative media, there are certain people that I like to have in my back pocket. Like when they say aoc, I say Pat Ryan or like Greg Landsman. So it's nice to, to meet you as a, a sane anchor. Not that she's insane, but you know what I mean.
- [01:58]
David Beckham
She and I serve on energy and commerce together and I think we're a decent crew. Right. Like, she's more progressive on many things than me, but she's got obviously an incredible amount of talent when it comes to communications.
- [02:13]
Jessica Tarlov
Huge.
- [02:14]
David Beckham
And her ability to make arguments and to, I think, breakthrough, which is a huge part of what Democrats have to figure out is how to get attention and to break through. And there's a lot to learn from her, though, I think, you know, and I've said this to her There's, I think, a lot to learn from us too, which is I represent part of the country where you have an equal number of Democrats, Independents and Republicans. And so it's, it's a pretty pragmatic middle of the road district. And I, I think I have a pretty good sense of where voters are on most issues in the language they use. And, you know, I think people like us working together is a good thing.
- [02:54]
Jessica Tarlov
It's undoubtedly a good thing, A, for the vibes, but B, for the electoral outcomes. And it always bothers me, I guess, that we get pitted into these buckets so much that people can't get past that to see how much actually unifies us and then what you can learn from the other side. And at this moment, when we have lost the communications battle so egregiously to the right, it's clear that AOC and Bernie are doing something right and folks are focusing on that. But there's still like this downplaying of effectiveness, I guess, because of past positions, you know. Well, she said defund the police. I said, yeah, I know that she said that. She doesn't say it so much anymore, but we're not talking about what her presidential platform will look like. We're talking about what can we learn from folks within our party and how can we support each other.
- [03:45]
David Beckham
Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, ultimately you want to build and you have to build the broadest possible coalition. And that takes a lot of intentionality and work and it's organizing and it's the way in which you communicate and it's how you build teams. But it's a big part of what has to happen moving forward. In my opinion, we, as Democrats, we have to sort of come clean with voters in terms of where things weren't what we said or others in our party said, and rebuild some trust. Because there's an issue there, right? Like, even though Trump is underwater, so are Democrats. And so there's some work to do there. Ultimately there's gotta be this national effort, effort to organize the broadest possible coalition. And you can wait for a candidate to emerge that really has that ability to build that coalition, or you can start to lay the groundwork now. Let's lay the groundwork now and build that huge coalition and do it by laying out in part a really compelling set of fixes or policies similar to what the Republicans did in 1994 with the Contract for America. Just do one, you know, and I've taken a stab at this and laid it out and shared it with folks including AOC to say, like, look, this is, you know, where I think we build the broadest possible coalition. And, you know, ultimately, I think that's what you're going to see over the course of the next couple of months is a more unified national effort where we're not just fighting the chaos and corruption and cruelty of Trump, but there's also a larger, really compelling vision.
- [05:28]
Jessica Tarlov
What are the key planks of that vision?
- [05:31]
David Beckham
So for me, there are three. One is fixing the economy, and that's one where Democrats have to, you know, come clean. I'm. This, this is where, you know, AOC and I are close in that, you know, are aligned. I know that the economy has been fundamentally broken for decades. And that's something that she and Bernie and others have been talking about. It's what I've been talking about in my very purple district. And it's what Pat talks about. I mean, Pat Ryan and I, you. This is where we sync up and all agree that, you know, the economy's been structurally broken. And the idea that there were Democrats telling people it was okay, and look at GDP and look at unemployment and all this other stuff, it's like, no, look at people's bank accounts. I mean, it's grim. People are struggling to pay all their bills and the concentration of wealth is just, you know, is so egregious and so harmful. And so you gotta fix the tax code, you gotta fix the economy, you gotta get rid of price gouging, you gotta take on corporate consolidation, all that stuff. Number two is reforms to government and politics and just like fixing the economy. We have to be the anti establishment reformer crew again and say, look, we had power in 2021 and 2020, the presidency, the House and the Senate and the Senate didn't pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We didn't. You know, the House passed a bill to end partisan gerrymandering and to end voter suppress dark money and get money out of politics. But the Senate didn't and, you know, Democrats have to own that. And then the last piece, and this is where there's going to be some disagreement within the party. And that's okay. I just, you know, hopefully I win out. It's good for you, is that it's, it's public safety, national security. I mean, and, and part of public safety is, is border security and immigration reform, which we were the leaders on for so long. And then way too many in our party were like, oh, you know, it's not that important. It's like it's hugely important. You know, the last time we had meaningful gun reform where we tackled gun violence is we paired it with hiring more cops. That's, that's how the crime bill got done. Now, I'm not suggesting you do the crime bill again, but you, you do say, like we're gonna, we're gonna hire more police officers because communities all over the country need cops and we need, you know, the kind of common sense gun reform that's gonna lead to, you know, safer communities. And from a national security, we need a strong defense. You know, and so there are many of us in our party that are pretty hawkish. And it's not because we want war. It's the exact opposite. If you, it's an old Roman saying, if you, if you want peace, prepare for war. That's all. And, you know, so in any event, those to me are the three big things. Fix the economy, fix politics and government, and keep everyone safe.
- [08:22]
Jessica Tarlov
I love that you could actually answer that question directly because there are a lot of Democrats that are talking a big game about having a plan. And then I say, okay, well, what's the bumper sticker? Just like, lay it on me, right? I want to know what our new no tax on tips is going to be because voters have, who aren't paying attention to the daily grind of this, have a very small attention span for what's going on and they're going to remember the things that stick out. So a three point plan is great. And I wanted to double tap on your point about crime and public safety. I live in New York City. We are on our way to having Mayor Andrew Cuomo, I think directly as a result of the conversation that you were just having about people not feeling safe and the quality of life in a major American city, a crown jewel of the world, being below where it is. And people at this moment, and my, my friends have been telling me that this is resonating, that they're looking for a competent gangster. And in a lot of ways though, I've debate the competency of Trump, but that's kind of like the bucket that he fell in, right? Where it was just like, I don't like all this stuff about him, but he was actually gonna be able to get stuff done and I'm gonna be safer as a result. If that's a good thing. You're nodding your head. So competent gangster, you're into that?
- [09:37]
David Beckham
Yeah, I mean, I will.
- [09:38]
Jessica Tarlov
I mean, not into it.
- [09:39]
David Beckham
Yeah, I'm nodding my head because I, I understand where it comes from. I think people Want toughness. They, you know, things are broken. And when things are broken, you want somebody who can come in and fix it. That's where we are. And if there is a bumper sticker that I'd be okay with, we're gonna be the ones that fix it. We'll fix this. And you need to have a toughness to you and to your team and to the people you pull together, because it is complex and it is messy and it's gonna require a, I would say a toughness and a level of strength and determination and action that says, you know, that gives people the confidence that you're gonna break through and get it fit fixed. And I, that to me is where, you know, I would use different language, but I'm not, I'm from Ohio.
- [10:31]
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah, you don't have to talk like me.
- [10:34]
David Beckham
I don't, you know, like, I'm in New York. I'm not in New York, but I get it. Like, I, I, I, I, I feel it. I want somebody who I know is going to go into a room and say, hey, guys, we have to, we have to fucking fix this. And so I don't care, you know, exactly how we do it, but no one's leaving this fucking room until we fix it. That's, to me, the energy the country needs.
- [10:58]
Jessica Tarlov
Was that the energy that won you a purple district?
- [11:01]
David Beckham
Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, like, I was at City hall for five years and I was known as somebody who just got shit done. Like, I, I, I can put people in a room and hold them in that room until they, you know, people who don't agree on something. So, like, we did a ton of eviction prevention work, a ton of it. And it has kept tens of thousands of children and families in their homes. We got the landlords and the tenant advocates in a room, and for months we were like, you know, look, we're going to keep meeting until we can iron out fixes. And, you know, I think, you know, people find that compelling. It made a big difference. And, you know, more and more children and families are still in their homes because of it. And our eviction numbers are better than most places. We did it with preschool. We had a vision to say, like, every kid in this city needs quality preschool. Two years of quality preschool. We wanted to be the first city in the country to do it. So we brought everyone together, the teachers union and other folks in labor with the business community and the schools, and we passed a ballot measure. Took us years, but we passed a ballot measure. And since I was the only city in the country that provides two years of quality preschool. The list goes on for me in terms of accomplishments based on being a person who cares deeply and who's willing to go in and throw punches until something gets done, I love that.
- [12:26]
Jessica Tarlov
And the two years of preschool since I have preschool age kids sounds mighty good to me because we don't have that here. Before we get to the specifics of the reconciliation bill, you already mentioned the Energy and Commerce Committee, which you sit on, and you guys pulled an all nighter. I mentioned it on the podcast as kind of an, an inspirational moment in active democracy. Not only that people can stay up 26 hours in a row, but that you guys were so well coordinated, you had so many special guests to show the real implications of this bill focused mostly on the Medicaid cuts. But can you kind of take us through what, what you guys did, what you hope to accomplish, and if you think any, you know, hearts and minds were changed as a result?
- [13:07]
David Beckham
So, yeah, let me start at the end. I do think in that there were people on the other side of the aisle that are more conflicted than they were. And I don't know how this is going to end. We don't know because it's now in the Senate and it may come back differently. In fact, it will likely come back differently. And I do think the 26 hours straight of hammering in a very compelling way didn't change their votes in that first instance. But over time, I still think it's a question. Now, what we did was we started organizing, meeting early. And you know, Frank Pallone chairs that committee and he and his staff have been incredible about getting us in a room, working through what we expected to be the policy and then what we knew would be or talk through what we thought would be the most compelling arguments to make. And that was something we worked on for weeks, if not months together as a committee. And then, you know, we get an opportunity, we're in the minority, to use the power that we do have, which is to procedurally hold them in a room for 26 straight hours, offering amendment after amendment after amendment after amendment. And they weren't joke amendments, they weren't messaging amendments. They were real amendments. You know, for example, one of my amendments was to get rid of this new fee that they're going to charge low income families to get certain procedures, most procedures. And there's no argument for it other than they're trying to generate more money for tax cuts. And they need the numbers of people who are using Medicaid to go down. And so they're finding all of these ways to, you know, kick people off or as one, one member on the other side said, clean up their roles. So in any event, there, you know, it was, they were all very compelling amendments and they voted against every single one of them. But the people who sat in the room, I mean, they came up to me afterwards and they would say, like, that was really compelling or you made a really good argument or one, you know, who, who I do believe is struggling with this. I think a lot of them are struggling with this. This is not what, as I said, my sort of closing arguments. This is not the assignment they wanted. They, if they had been told, hey guys, we, we want to do tax cuts and provide tax relief for working people, the middle class, farmers and small businesses. That's it. We don't, you know, we want to clean up fraud, waste and abuse. So work with the Democrats and follow the GAO reports which lay out all the fraud, waste and abuse. But we don't want to add any more to the deficit. And, you know, we're not going to take anyone's health care or food. They would have passed that easily with us. I mean, easily. You know, it's a teeny set of changes to the tax code that would only affect the wealthiest people in America. That's it. They wouldn't even notice it. And, and there would be no deficit spending. No one loses their health care, no one loses their food assistance. And you get rid of all this waste, fraud and abuse, saving a ton of money. But it's based on what the GAO and the professionals say, as opposed to, you know, a bunch of, you know, fake claims about abuse in order to pay for tax cuts. So in any event, I, it was a lot of prep. It was a lot of us knowing what they were going to do. This is the part of this fight, this big fight that we were prepared for. I mean, I don't, we weren't prepared for, you know, Trump saying he's going to invade Greenland or that, you know, that was a problem. How could, you know, how could we have known? There are other things. I don't, I don't think we were prepared for this level of corruption. It's insane how much he's doing to line his own pockets. I mean, he's raking in billions or the cruelty. But we all read Project 2025. We knew this was going to happen.
- [17:00]
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah. I mean, you're so right. The cruelty is the point. Right. No truer words from the last almost Decade, Right. Since he came down the golden escalator.
- [17:08]
David Beckham
Although I would say, like, for him, for Trump, the point is making money. He wants to make as much money as he possibly can. That is his goal. That's his North Star. And in order to make as much money as he can, he has to have power. And that's why he cares about power and winning this election and then using power to, you know, with the tariffs, so that people have to come to him and get exemptions. But to get exemptions, you gotta pay him money, you know, power. In terms of the dinner over the weekend where all these people showed up, you know, and gave, you know, I don't know how much money, but it's, you know, hundreds of millions, tens of millions he made.
- [17:56]
Jessica Tarlov
For him, I think it's $394 million is, roughly speaking, okay, almost a half.
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David Beckham
A billion dollars for one dinner that.
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Jessica Tarlov
Goes to him where most people didn't even get the access that they thought that they were going to get.
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David Beckham
Yeah. On top of it now, in order to get the money, he needs the power. In order to get the power, he needs attention, and that's what he does. And sometimes cruelty is what gets him attention. And I think the cruelty is serves the need for attention, which helps him with power, which ultimately serves his, you know, his most important goal, which is. Which is to make money. And he has been doing this his entire life. My hope is that at the end of this, it'll all sort of fall apart the way every one of his businesses has, where a bunch of people sue and, you know, usually it was bankers for him. Now I think you just have everyday people who've been ripped off who are gonna sue. But I just. I think that, you know, understanding Trump through that lens is really important.
- [18:55]
Joe
He is.
- [18:58]
David Beckham
He is a true grifter and willing to be as corrupt as humanly possible. Like, no one's ever been more corrupt. And he doesn't care because he's going to walk away with billions and billions and billions of dollars.
- [19:11]
Jessica Tarlov
Not a lot in there that I would argue with. As a liberal that lives in a conservative media environment, I have found it incredibly frustrating how little resonance that argument has with conservatives. I don't know as much about the audience, and we have a lot of Democrats that watch the 5 and independents, but this case that they're making, and Mike Johnson has been making it too, that what Trump does that's corrupt doesn't matter because it's in the open, is astounding to me on a number of levels. But I think more concerning is that it's actually representative of how a large swath of Americans feel, and that goes to this point that there is such a low level of trust or faith in people who are our elected representatives that they would just much rather be stabbed in the front than in the back. And unfortunately, even though I don't give a ton of credence to the massive cover up story that Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson have been selling with Original Sin, certainly there's a lot of truth to the fact that Joe Biden couldn't have done this job for another four years, but they think that we're the backstabbers and that they're the front stabbers. And you see this in the way that they are selling the reconciliation bill as well. Mike Johnson, these are work requirements. I mean, his own state has hundreds of thousands of people that are on Medicaid who, if this went through, would be thrown off. And he's kind of shrugging at it. He said it doesn't matter. It's all fakes who do this. I mean, the entire premise of what Elon Musk did was false fraud. So what do the Democrats do about that?
- [20:53]
David Beckham
Yeah, I mean, this is, I, it's a really good question. The, the answer is you have to make sure that it's clear that it's coming at an expense to you. And you know, ultimately people know that. So, like, you know, the fact that he, you know, he, he had, he used the White House over the weekend to have some dinner where a bunch of people gave 300, $400 million to him, that's corrupt. You're not allowed to use the office for your own personal financial gain. Same with, the same with the plane, this bribe plane from Qatar and the Trump coin. I get why people would be like, yeah, but like, is that, does that really affect me? It seems like it's another world and I don't really, you know, understand that world. And maybe I give them the benefit of the doubt, but they do also understand that what they're trying to do is further build on this broken economy where they are shifting wealth away from us by cutting healthcare and food assistance and other investments in people in our communities in order to pay for another round of tax giveaways to billionaires and big corporate investors. That's outrageous. And that's where people do draw the line. Fine. You want to have, you want. If some rich person wants to have dinner with Donald Trump. Okay, you know, I mean, obviously that's.
- [22:33]
Jessica Tarlov
Going on all the time, right?
- [22:34]
David Beckham
That, that's, it's going on.
- [22:35]
Jessica Tarlov
That's the way the world works.
- [22:36]
David Beckham
Yeah, but they are in this budget. And with these cuts, the indiscriminate firing of people, the, you know, over 100,000 federal employees being indiscriminately let go, what it's doing to services, what they're doing to the Social Security Administration, how that is screwing over seniors, how this budget, that is stabbing them in the front. And that is a level of corruption that people have struggled to paint Trump or congressional Republicans with. But one of the reasons why I won in 2022 against, you know, an incumbent who had been there for 30 years, where I joked that he'd, he'd been in Congress for hundreds of years, it was that he, he was the quintessential swamp animal or creature, that he was swimming, I mean, drowning in corporate PAC money. And I don't take corporate PAC money. And this guy, he takes all this corporate PAC money from gun manufacturers. And so he's not going to do anything. That's. That. That would make sense. Even with police, even when police say, well, could you at least do red flag laws or could you do this or could you do that? No, no, no. Because he gets all this money from the gun manufacturers who make billions of dollars. Is he going to cap the cost of insulin for children? Which was. Is my first bill. First bill, my first term. First bill this term. Like, I'm gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna keep at it until we cap the cost for insulin for everyone. No, because he is swimming in corporate PAC money from the pharmaceutical companies. That's what built this, you know, terrible, ridiculous budget bill is corporate PAC money. And they're the ones who are getting the benefits. That is stabbing you in the front. And the American people will hate this. And they do. They hate this bill. It's a terrible bill.
- [24:25]
Jessica Tarlov
Right. And you have some strange bedfellows on this. I rarely say good things about Josh Hawley, but he's being totally objective about the cuts.
- [24:35]
David Beckham
He's an actual economic populist. And the party said that they were gonna go in that direction. Trump said they were gonna go in that direction. This will be a betrayal. I mean, I think people will see the terrorists as a betrayal. I think people will see. Because that's the kind of corruption, Right. I'm gonna try to control the global trade situation, so people have to come to me and pay me for exemptions. And that's different than a dinner party. Now all of a sudden my prices are higher because you Want to make money, you know, shaking countries and companies down that I don't like. You know what I mean? Like, and the corporate PAC staff, these folks are swimming in corporate PAC money. I mean, this is where, you know, there's a crew of us, a growing number of us, you know, sort of newer members that don't take corporate PAC money. We don't take corporate PAC money because we know at the end of the day, this is what the American people hate the most, is the idea that Somehow we represent 750,000 people, yet we would go, they go, they go to Washington and then, you know, take the money from these folks and start voting with them and not us.
- [25:53]
Jessica Tarlov
But where to go? Back to our first discussion about UNAOC or the different sides of the party kind of coming together. That is one of the unifying public opinions out there, that there shouldn't be corporate PAC money. And it's only a new trend. I've only spoken to a few representatives who are moderates like yourself, someone who's a member of the New Democrat coalition that says that you don't take corporate PAC money and has managed to actually win your election. Because I do understand the concern over saying I'm not going to take it, but you don't have an email list like Bernie Sanders, right, Or an AOC and how it takes money to win these elections.
- [26:33]
David Beckham
I travel a lot. I mean, I go around, you know, because I do living rooms and, you know, I, you know, you find a way. But yeah, I mean, I, I think it was not only good for me, but it was key to, you know, beating this, this, you know, multi term, you know, he'd been there again 26 years, almost three decades. He had taken more corporate PAC money than just about anyone else in the House. And I ran, if you go watch my ads, I don't take corporate PAC money. I said it in multiple ads. I say it over and over as a way of ensuring or making sure people know that I will always be with them and no one else. And I think the party needs to head in that direction. That's where Obama was. I mean, that's where we were. And so, yeah, I think that Trump is without a doubt the most corrupt president in American history. Just the sheer volume of cash that the guy is depositing into his own bank account. But the big issue in terms of corruption is the kind that messes with people's lives and that is the role that money, big money plays and getting these politicians to vote for the big money guys as opposed to voting for the people that you represent. And I think Josh Hawley, I don't know if Josh Hawley takes corporate PAC money or not, but for him to say very clearly and emphatically taking away Healthcare from 10 to 14 million people, anyone to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy is terrible policy. And I think he said political suicide. And he's right. Yeah.
- [28:15]
Jessica Tarlov
And very intentional to write that op ed in the New York Times of all places to come to the liberal dark side for it. We're going to do a quick break. Stay with us.
- [28:30]
Joe
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- [28:52]
David Beckham
Of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com this episode is brought.
- [29:02]
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- [29:30]
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- [30:01]
Jessica Tarlov
So the policy matters. The pledge to only be there to represent the folks from your district or the average American is important. But the messenger, him or herself, is also important. And I can't help but notice that you are not 75. I looked it up. You're 48 years old. You look great. Thank you very much. And that's one of the big discussions that we're having within the Democratic Party right now about age. And we have lost, I think three members have Been passed away, unfortunately, since Congress started. So in the last four and a half months, and I've seen the lists of representatives, the oldest representatives, I think it will be Nancy Pelosi at 85 when the next election cycle comes around. Where do you stand? Scott would want me to ask, are you for age limits? But I'm gonna, I'm going to ask that and then also just say more broadly, how can we get people in our party who have done so much for us and push legislation forward, push culture forward, push the party forward to be cognizant of Father Time, who comes for all of us whenever he pleases, frankly. Or she. Maybe she is a she.
- [31:23]
David Beckham
But, yeah, I mean, I, I'm for term limits. It's going to be hard to get done because Congress is never going to do it. I'm one of not that many people that support term limits, but do so publicly. I just think that it's good. And if you want to take a break, term limits doesn't mean that you can't come back because I served. This is where I think age is maybe the wrong way to look at this. I mean, Nancy, in some ways is one of the most still, she's incredible, compelling and like, you know, like, she's just, she's more on her game than, you know, some of the more younger members.
- [32:06]
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah. And she would be the first to remind you. And she did it all in heels.
- [32:09]
David Beckham
I mean, I worked for Nancy. That, that was my first job. And I had a hard time at 22 years old keeping up with her. I mean, I genuine. And I still, I'm still like, she buzzes around the floor the way I do, and I, and, and I find myself sitting down and sort of taking a minute sooner than she does. But so I think, I think it's time, you know, where you, you know, and I think term limits forces people to take a break. So, you know, the idea is 18 years for the Supreme Court. That seems to make a lot of sense to me. It doesn't preclude you from coming back. So, anyways, the reason why I'm a little skeptical of age is that. And this is a unique thing. So hopefully Scott will give me some grace here. But when I got to City Hall, I think everyone needs good mentors. My mentor was a guy named David, or is a guy named David Mann. He was a former member of Congress, mayor, and then he wanted to come back and he was at City hall, and he and I ran the budget together. And I learned so much from him. And I thought that was a hugely important thing that he came back. You know, he helped us get through some really complicated years and some really complicated budgets. So I, I think it's, I, I, I tend to believe that yes, you know, elections should be more competitive. I want to end partisan gerrymandering so that we have more competitive elections. I want to get money out of politics and I think that there should be term limits so that people, you know, take a break and if they want to come back, then come back.
- [33:48]
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah, well, it gives voters also the chance to evaluate them as they are versus, I mean incumbency is the most powerful force that you can have in running an election anyway. But at least people kind of get a blank slate. Ish. To look at you again, the 70 year old version versus the 50 year old version that they sent to Washington.
- [34:07]
David Beckham
Yeah, I mean I do think it's, it's ideas and energy and a worldview and trustworthiness that matters most. Right. As opposed to age, that's all. And there are people who are younger who have lost their way in my opinion.
- [34:27]
Jessica Tarlov
Totally. I'm sure that we have it on our side, but I think that some of the younger representatives on the right are the most maniacal that they are. And a lot of that is correlated frankly to growing up on the Internet and how red pilled they are. And they, you know, if you can't meme it, it didn't happen. And that's concerning.
- [34:48]
David Beckham
On another level, one argument I'd make, I think I'm going to make it here and we'll see how it plays out is that maybe we need some 90s kids. Now I say that obviously as a 90s kid, but in the 90s, if you grew up in the 90s like me, you didn't have the Internet so you appreciate a world without the Internet. I didn't, you know, like, I think I got my first email address. That's what it was, an email address.
- [35:15]
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah.
- [35:16]
David Beckham
When I got to College in 1996. And you didn't really use it, you know, it wasn't like something, I mean when we were in college there was no cell phones so we still had to, you had to memorize everybody's four digit, you know, number for their room. Yeah, but we also, that was the last time we balanced the budget. This is the last time we fixed the tax code. So we saw, we grew up, we saw a group of leaders work in a very bipartisan way to fix stuff. They didn't always get it right. Don't get Me wrong. But they did work together to do all kinds of really important things. It was the last time we got close to a peace agreement. I mean, you know, Clinton was there in the Rose Garden with Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and the PLO leader, Arafat, and, you know, they got as close to a peace deal as anyone. But again, on the budget stuff, it was the last time we balanced the budget. We fixed the tax code. We ran a surplus. We ran a surplus for years. It was the largest economic expansion in American history. And we passed meaningful gun reform paired with hiring police officers. So I do think there's a. Is this a moment for a 90s kid, at least, to be sort of helping us get to a place where we've fixed the economy? Government is running way more efficient. I mean, if you grew up in the 90s, you were all about making it work better, finding the fraud and the inefficiencies. We were serious about immigration reform, all of these issues that are coming up. We did make some meaningful progress in the 90s, and there's, I think, some lessons to be learned. But those of us who were raised in that time period, I think I have a moment. This is a moment for us to step up and say, here's the path.
- [37:21]
Jessica Tarlov
Forward on a whole host of levels. I agree with that. I mean, everyone reading the anxious generation wanting their kids not to have cell phones, it's clear that you're gonna be a lot healthier if you're not attached to your phone all the time. And the value of knowing even your recent history, the amount of people that have very strong opinions on what's going on between Israel and Hamas and Gaza. And then Bill Clinton was giving a speech recently where he talked about that summit and the peace agreement that was in front of Arafat and said you were gonna get more than you could have ever hoped for if he had just signed on the dotted line there. No one I'm talking like this. I'm an elder millennial. I'm a 1984 baby. And I feel like sometimes I sound like Margaret Thatcher or something. The way that I'm talking about what happened under Clinton, I said, doge Al Gore. He dozed. But this is how you. Doge properly correct?
- [38:15]
David Beckham
Yes. It was like. I mean, one of the things I did before I left city hall was establish an office of good government. Because this is. You've gotta be constantly improving. You have to make it better every day. Every day, you gotta make it better and easier for people to use, because you want people to use It. And to get the help they need so they can be successful, so they can participate in an economy, and they're contributing in a way where our economy is growing what you want. And that's. Yeah, that's what we did. And we can get back to it. And I think there's something to the fact that, like, for those of us who grew up in the 90s, and I mean, we literally, you know, our parents kicked us out of the house during the summer. My kids started their summer break Thursday, and it's rainy today, and they're like, what are we going to do? And they're just. You know, when I was leaving, they were trying to come up with a plan, but they don't really have many options and blah, blah, blah. I said to Sarah, my wife, on the way out, I mean, you could do what we. My parents did or your parent, which is like, lock. Just kick. We got locked out.
- [39:21]
Jessica Tarlov
Just go outside.
- [39:22]
David Beckham
And I remember coming back to the house and being like, I wonder if she's kept the door locked. My mom and I would. I would. And it was locked. And I was like, well, I guess I got to go play. Or, you know, I said. I literally said to my son today, I was like, go in the creek. It's been raining. Like, you know, like, get. We used to make these little boats out of stuff we found and, like, have races. And he was like, what? What are you talking about? I was like, ah, never mind.
- [39:44]
Jessica Tarlov
Look it up somewhere. I want to ask you at the end of the interview, I always do this. What's one issue that makes you rage and one thing you think we should all calm down about the tax code?
- [39:55]
David Beckham
It's so frustrating to me. I mean, you got all these people working their tails off, and right now, the tax code favors wealth, not hard work. And so what needs to happen moving forward to. To fix what's fundamentally broken about the economy and the world in which we're living or the country is. You got to fix the tax code so that it rewards hard work, not wealth. And then what do I need to calm down about?
- [40:24]
Jessica Tarlov
Or all of us just nothing.
- [40:26]
David Beckham
All right, hold on.
- [40:27]
Jessica Tarlov
If you're perma rage, what do you.
- [40:29]
David Beckham
What do I get too worked up about?
- [40:32]
Jessica Tarlov
It could be sports.
- [40:34]
David Beckham
I mean, I do. Yeah. Since it's sports related. I get way too worked up about the Bengals. Yeah. I'm getting nods here. Like, I.
- [40:43]
Jessica Tarlov
Your whole let's go back knows that you get to work.
- [40:46]
David Beckham
You know, me being a 90s kid. In 1989, the Bengals went to the super bowl. And it became my identity. There's a picture of me in the local paper. Cause I grew up in Butler county. And, you know, we had a little teeny local paper. And that's also where J.D. vance grew up, by the way. But very different experiences, or at least after. We probably have very similar experiences. Doesn't matter. Not the point of the story. Point of the story is, in 1989, Bengals go to the Super Bowl. Becomes my entire identity. I'm on the front page of our paper with a bunch of other kids from sixth grade, right? Because I was in sixth grade at the time. And we're all in Bengals gear. And that. I, like, cut it out. And I framed it and I was so excited. But then they go to the world, they go to the super bowl, and they lose in the last minute. And it is the most unhealthy relationship I have. And no matter what I do to try to manage my emotions and to try to stay calm, everything about it makes me worked up and to the point where I can't go to the stadium anymore. I had to watch the last Super bowl in 20, 20, 23. Cause my son wouldn't watch with me because usually I watch with him and I fold laundry or I make beds. I have to be something other than, you know, watch the game. Otherwise I'm. I'm like, too emotionally, like, I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. They. I. I went to go see a, you know, watch at a friend's house. They put me in a room with a sound machine and a dog so that I could sit there and pet the dog to get through the game. And the door stayed shut, and it was still very difficult.
- [42:23]
Jessica Tarlov
That's a lot. I hope that you have sought help.
- [42:25]
David Beckham
Listen for that. I have healthy relationships in my life. That is the most unhealthy thing that I have. And I can't. It's not fixable. And it is what it is.
- [42:36]
Jessica Tarlov
Well, acceptance is an important stage in all of this. Congressman Landsman, thank you so much for your time. It was great to meet you.
- [42:42]
David Beckham
You too. Thank.
- [42:51]
Jessica Tarlov
You.