Breaking Point with David Zere - January 3, 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: Real America’s Voice – Breaking Point with David Zier

Date: January 3, 2026
Host: David Zier (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Theme:
The episode, airing at the dawn of 2026, focuses on the intersection of politics, veteran welfare, military policy, New York State governance, and national economic trends. With a diverse array of guests—including representatives from the Warrior Ranch Foundation, military analyst L. Todd Wood, Nassau County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, and Hugo Gordon (Editor-in-Chief, Washington Examiner)—the show provides both on-the-ground stories and broad political analysis, all through a lens emphasizing American values, freedom, and a critical stance on mainstream narratives.

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Episode Overview

• Main Theme:
  In this New Year's edition, host David Zier explores pivotal issues for 2026—veteran support and therapy, military leadership and accountability, New York’s looming state elections, energy and economic policies, and the state of the national economy as the midterms approach.
• Tone:
  Patriotic, candid, critical of current mainstream and progressive policies, and optimistic about an economic rebound and restoration of “American values.”
• Major Guests:
  • Eileen Shanahan & Daniel Altobrando (Warrior Ranch Foundation)
  • L. Todd Wood (CDM Press, former military special operator)
  • Bruce Blakeman (Nassau County Executive, NY gubernatorial candidate)
  • Hugo Gordon (Washington Examiner)

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Warrior Ranch Foundation: Equine Therapy for Veterans

Guests: Eileen Shanahan (Founder/President), Daniel Altobrando (Media Specialist)
Segment: [00:16]–[10:20]

• Mission & Origins:
  • Provides horse-interaction therapy for veterans and first responders to foster healing and well-being ([01:54]).
  • Inspired by Eileen’s military family background and love for animals:

    "It's really simple. I love my country and I love horses. ...I've always been taught to give back to the country."
    — Eileen Shanahan, [02:25]

  • Over 500 veterans and first responders helped to date, now on six acres in Calverton, Long Island.
• Therapeutic Approach:
  • Equine therapy leverages the horse’s prey-animal nature—hyper-vigilance and sensitivity—mirroring PTSD symptoms in veterans.

    "There is almost an immediate bond when you work with horses. What you learn from horses... it's the beginning of self-awareness."
    — Eileen Shanahan, [06:30]

  • Confidence-building and leadership through groundwork with horses, as well as the “twofold mission” of also rescuing horses.
• Organizational Structure & Impact:
  • Funded by donations, grants, and corporate support.
  • Seeks to expand nationally.
  • Veterans often help build and maintain the ranch.
• Resources:
  • Website: WarriorRanchFoundation.org
  • Documentary: “Warrior Films” ([10:08])

2. Defense Policy, Military Accountability, and Culture Wars

Guest: L. Todd Wood (CDM Press, military expert)
Segment: [12:50]–[23:41]

• Pentagon Policy & Technology:
  • Discusses the ROTOR Act and implications for helicopter and aviation safety/transponder tech ([13:48]).
• Vaccine Reinstatement for Troops:
  • Updates on efforts to reinstate benefits for thousands of service members discharged over vaccine orders:

    “I think we really did make an impact by bringing it up in the briefings... there was a lot of obstruction to that effort.”
    — L. Todd Wood, [15:43]

  • Calls for accountability for officers who enforced “unlawful orders” and the psychological toll on young service-members ([16:49]–[17:36]).
• Culture, DEI, and Leadership:
  • Strong critique of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military and Obama-era leadership changes:

    “When I was in, nobody cared what color you were... It's no more, because they've enforced this identity politics.”
    — L. Todd Wood, [18:17]

• Military Faith & Chaplaincy:
  • Importance of spiritual leadership; critique of de-emphasizing religious support for troops ([19:43]).
• Navy Modernization & Industrial Capacity:
  • Discussion on shipbuilding, the Golden Fleet, and need for private sector collaboration for military readiness ([21:01]).
• Resources:
  • News: cdm.press
  • X: @ELToddWood, @CDMPress ([23:02])

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3. New York State: Election, Economy, and Energy

Guest: Bruce Blakeman (Nassau County Executive, GOP gubernatorial candidate)
Segment: [24:49]–[35:53]

• Political Landscape:
  • Blakeman confident about winning GOP and Conservative nominations, sharply criticizes Gov. Hochul:

    “New York state is in the state of shambles. Governor Hochul has been a miserable failure for people of this state.”
    — Bruce Blakeman, [25:15]

• Campaign Strategy:
  • Aggressively fundraising and campaigning statewide, highlighting exodus of residents/businesses due to taxation and regulation ([26:49]–[28:03]).
  • Focus on reducing taxes, inviting business, easing regulations, and cheap/abundant energy:

    “I haven’t raised taxes in four years… we have to reduce the tax burden. We’ve got to produce cheap energy.”
    — Bruce Blakeman, [28:47]

• Energy Policy:
  • Critique of Hochul's renewable energy plans and offshore wind as “a green energy scam.”
  • Advocates for fracking, domestic natural gas, and nuclear minibars for clean, plentiful energy ([30:33]–[32:40]).
• Immigration & Public Safety:
  • Strong criticism of New York’s “Green Light Law,” recounting a criminal case involving an unvetted driver’s license issuance:

    “We need to get serious about making sure that the government identification that we give out is given to people who have been thoroughly vetted.”
    — Bruce Blakeman, [34:13]

• Resources:
  • Website: blakemanfornewyork.com

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4. Economy, Midterms & National Politics

Guest: Hugo Gordon (Editor-in-Chief, Washington Examiner)
Segment: [36:49]–[47:45]

• House Midterms Outlook:
  • GOP’s seven-seat majority is at risk; Democrats kitchen-table “affordability” message is resonating ([36:51]–[37:26]).
• Affordability, Inflation, and Trump Track Record:
  • Democrats are framing economic issues as affordability first, responding to polls.
  • National economy growing at 4.3%, but challenge remains: even as inflation cools, prices stay high:

    “When the rate of inflation comes down, it doesn't mean the prices come down. It just means the rate of price increases slows down.”
    — Hugo Gordon, [38:11]

• Democratic vs. Republican Solutions:
  • Critique of Democratic plans (Obamacare subsidies, more spending) as inflationary and market-distorting.
  • Calls for deregulation, more housing, permitting reform, and local-federal coordination.
  • Questions whether Trump/GOP can take enough credit for economic rebound before early voting:

    “You can't keep telling people that they're not suffering when they're feeling they are suffering.”
    — Hugo Gordon, [39:13]

• Challenges for GOP:
  • Historically, the party in power often loses seats in the midterms. Gordon skeptical about GOP holding the House:

    "I would say it's more likely that they will lose the House than that they will retain it."
    — Hugo Gordon, [46:31]

• Resources:
  • washingtonexaminer.com
  • X: @HGurden
  • YouTube: Washington Examiner (quarter million+ subscribers)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• "It's really simple. I love my country and I love horses....I've always been taught to give back to the country.”
  —Eileen Shanahan ([02:25])
• "There is almost an immediate bond when you work with horses...it's the beginning of self-awareness.”
  —Eileen Shanahan ([06:30])
• "When I was in, nobody cared what color you were... It's no more, because they've enforced this identity politics.”
  —L. Todd Wood ([18:17])
• “Nassau county is larger than eight to ten states in the United States. Our gross domestic product is larger than 126 nations in the United Nations.”
  —Bruce Blakeman ([28:47])
• “When the rate of inflation comes down, it doesn't mean the prices come down. It just means the rate of price increases slows down.”
  —Hugo Gordon ([38:11])
• "You can't keep telling people that they're not suffering when they're feeling they are suffering."
  —Hugo Gordon ([39:13])
• “I would say it’s more likely that they will lose the House than that they will retain it.”
  —Hugo Gordon ([46:31])

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Important Timestamps and Segments

• Warrior Ranch Foundation & Equine Therapy:
  [00:16] – [10:20]
• Military Technology, Policy, and DEI Debate:
  [12:50] – [23:41]
• NY Gubernatorial Election, Economy, and Energy:
  [24:49] – [35:53]
• 2026 Midterms, House Outlook, and National Economy:
  [36:49] – [47:45]

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How to Connect & Learn More

• Warrior Ranch Foundation:
  warriorranchfoundation.org
• Warrior Films Documentary:
  warriorfilms.org
• L. Todd Wood & CDM Press:
  cdm.press
• Bruce Blakeman:
  blakemanfornewyork.com
• Washington Examiner:
  washingtonexaminer.com

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This episode ties together real-world grassroots veteran support innovations, sharp criticism of evolving military culture, the high-stakes New York gubernatorial race, and honest commentary on national economic themes and the crucial 2026 midterm elections—all delivered in a brisk, conversational, and patriotic style.

Transcript

[Eileen Shanahan]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[David Zier]

Happy New Year from all of us at Real America's voice. It is 2026. Where did 2025 go? It's like, unbelievable. Just went by like light speed. And I want to bring in our first guest with us from the Warrior Ranch Foundation. But I just wanted to say that this is a very crucial year. If the Dems take back the house, it's going to be chaos of President Trump and the agenda and the executive orders that Warren codified and other things are going to really. It's going to be a struggle for President Trump, but the economy is gonna take off. I am 100% convinced of that. I'm in commercial real estate and building for almost 40 years and I've been all over the country with Real America's Voice news. The amount of reinvestment in America, just like Trump's first term, in the second and third year of his presidency, the economy took off like a rocket ship. It's gonna do it again. I don't know if it's in time for the midterms. Early voting starts in 10 months, but we're gonna get to that a little bit later in the show. I wanna bring on our first guest, Daniel Altobrando. She's the media specialist, War Ranch foundation, and Eileen Shanahan, founder and president of Warrior Ranch Foundation. Welcome to the show, ladies. Thank you so much.

[Eileen Shanahan]

Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

[David Zier]

Happy New Year. Happy New Year. So you're right here on Long Island. I'm on Long Island. I didn't know that. It's really great. I've followed your organization over the years. Tell us about what the Warrior Ranch foundation is, what's your mission statement and what's going on?

[Eileen Shanahan]

Sure. Well, again, once again, thank you for having us. Through horse interaction therapy, Warrior Ranch foundation provides a safe haven of health and well being for veterans, first responders and horses in need. And it's been working. We to date, we have served over 500 veterans and first responders right here on Long Island.

[David Zier]

Wow, that's incredible. What was the inspiration, Eileen, you're the founder of the organization. What was the inspiration for you to do that?

[Daniel Altobrando]

David?

[Eileen Shanahan]

It's really simple. I love my country and I love horses. I come from a family of military. I myself am a civilian, but I have Marines, Navy, army, firefighters, police officers, EMTs, nurses, all in my family. And that was the inspiration. I love animals and my husband and I have been rescuing horses and dogs for many years. And Warrior, our first horse, was truly the Inspiration for Warrior Ranch Foundation. I've always been taught to give back to the country.

[David Zier]

So, yeah, I have a similar past. I was in the Air Force Auxiliary for five years as a teenager. I saw a plane crash when I was 13, but I got married and had a kid, and all my friends went into the service. That was my original plan. It's my biggest regret not serving. And I lost one of my closest friends in 9 11. And I remain active. And I started a veterans group. We'd go to Ward 57, where the most grievous injuries were at Walter Reed, and give them, like, laptops and help them get home to their families, and so they can communicate with their families also from the. From the trauma unit. But I think what you're doing is so special because I know how hard it was for these guys and the ptsd. Tell us, Danielle, why don't you tell us a little bit about the organization and how it helps our soldiers, our veterans. Do you help them assimilate? Is it to restore their family life? What's the goal and how do you do it?

[Daniel Altobrando]

Well, really, the fascinating thing about it, excuse me, Is that I've been learning as I've been going there, because I'm not exactly a horse person. I'm not a veteran or a first responder, but as I've seen, they call it a somatic experience. So it's difficult to try to explain what that is. But it happens with music, it happens with art. It's kind of an awakening that takes place. But not only that, and Eileen's created a great community there, you know, of camaraderie and, you know, the horses just really bring people together. And it's beautiful to see how many.

[David Zier]

People are involved with the organization. How is it structured? Do you rely on private donations? Do you have corporate sponsors? How does somebody get involved with you? And is it national?

[Eileen Shanahan]

It's a. We want to be national. That's the ultimate goal right now. It is very local. We've had folks from up and down the whole east coast attend Warrior Ranch. We actually have some people who've been here in the beginning and have moved away and specifically come back to come back for a day or two to spend at the ranch. So that is, you know, a testimony in and of itself. Yes, we do rely on public donations and grants and corporate donations, and we have a little bit of everything. We have grown quite a bit. We are actually going into our 10th anniversary in 2026, so we're very excited about that. And it has grown because of the support of the community, I can't thank them enough. And a lot of the veterans and first responders came out and helped and helped build the ranch. It initially started in our backyard and we now have six acres in Calverton. So being that you're here on Long island, you have to come out and see.

[David Zier]

Yeah, I absolutely will. And I know there's a lot of horse trails and it's conducive with the Pine Barrens legislation. You know, in the core preservation area out there. And also locally here near our studio, we've got Kinectquat Park. And a lot of people own horses all the time. You know, it's. It's a really beautiful place here. But, you know, a lot of people, a lot of the organizations I was involved with in the past, like Camp Victory, I think that was in Missouri. They were helping troops assimilate back in. So, like, we have a good VA here. A lot of places around the country don't have great VAs. You know, if you're like in places like Tennessee and other places, it might not be as good as, say, Florida or New York. But what services do you provide that a VA hospital can't? And tell us about some examples, Eileen, of you helping some of our troops.

[Eileen Shanahan]

Sure. Well, very simply, it's equine services. So what we do is we teach our participants about the nature of the horse. There is a science behind it. It's very magical, but there's a science behind it. The horse by nature is a prey animal and humans are predators. That is just nature. And horses senses are very heightened. They have incredible eyesight, incredible hearing. Their sense of touch is. I mean, they could feel a fly land on them. So they're very hyper vigilant. And that is a parallel between our veterans and first responders. Because of what they do, they have to be hyper vigilant as well. So there is almost an immediate bond when you work with horses. What you learn, what you learn from horses, you learn. It's the beginning of self awareness because whatever energy you're giving off that horse is going to respond accordingly. So you start to learn about yourself and the energy that you're giving off and. And you just learn more about yourself. And then that, that in turn goes into your personal life. You know, you also become very self confident because we teach you how to work with a horse on the ground first, you know, and you can move horses communicate through body language. So you can move a horse by simply like giving them rhythmic pressure with your hands. And when you start moving 1000 pound animal just by looking at it or by doing something like that, it becomes very empowering. So your confidence grows, you learn about boundaries. There are so many things that you learn about working with a horse and as well the horse, the energy from the horse. We all have a magnetic field around us and a magnetic energy field. Ours is about five feet wide, our little circle. Like, you know, when you walk in a room, you feel that energy of somebody with a horse. It's about five times that. It's about 25ft. So the horse can sense our energy from that far away. And when we enter that arena, to the herd, if we're really nervous, this is another unique thing. Horses in a herd sync up their heart rates and it's all the same level. So if you ever see a herd of horses grazing and then all of a sudden, all at once they jump up and run because they're flying animals. It's because that lead horse sensed some danger. And then they'll run and ask questions later. They're not going to go, oh, what was that like, we might go, oh, hey, what was that? You know, the horses, they're out of there, they'll ask questions later. And so when you go into that arena, you have to be that leader. And that's what we invoke on our participants. It's like, take that leadership that you learned in the military, take that leadership that you learned as a first responder and bring it into that arena with you and you can be as light as a feather, as firm as necessary. That's the saying that we use with the horses. And they just learn so much about themselves. And the other thing I'm not sure if you're aware of, it's a twofold mission. We rescue horses too. So that is enticing for our veterans and first responders to come in and help the horses because that is their natural skill set to serve, protect and help.

[David Zier]

Well, that's great. Danielle. We have less than a minute. Where can people get involved? Follow you go online socials, tell us about it.

[Daniel Altobrando]

Well, you can go ToWarrior Ranch Foundation.org you'll be able to see that. You can volunteer there, you can donate there, you can sign up for, for all different things there. You can also see we put together a documentary that explains a lot further what we've gone into. It addresses pts. It helps people to understand, it helps you to understand about the horse and to also understand about the service that has been given to our country. And it also, it honors those that trusted us enough to share their story so you can learn about it there. And you can also learn more from the website.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Are you on Insta or Facebook? Wonderful.

[Eileen Shanahan]

Warrior films. Yeah.

[David Zier]

And Warrior Films, right? All right, everybody.

[Eileen Shanahan]

Warriorfilms.org Warrior Ranch Foundation.org is the foundation. But Warrior Films did the documentary and that is on our website now. You can check it out.

[David Zier]

Everybody go check it out right now. Eileen and Danielle, I want to wish you a very happy new year and we'll have you back. Maybe we'll come out and check it. Maybe bring some cameras or something.

[Eileen Shanahan]

I'm going to hold you to that, David. I'm holding you to it. Thank you so much.

[David Zier]

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[L. Todd Wood]

Oh, great to be back. Love the show. Thanks for having me on, dude.

[David Zier]

Yes, yes. It's my honor to have you back on, and I hope you had a great Christmas holiday and Happy New Year. Okay. Happy New Year. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm excited about, like, what's going on at the Pentagon. I want to jump around on a couple of issues. The Golden Fleet, the Christmas Worship Service, the Pentagon, the VAX Reinstatement, Naval Rapid Capabilities, the ROTOR Act. You know about, you know, helicopters because you're a helicopter pilot. Let's start with that. So the ROTOR Act, Ted Cruz stripped it out of the NDAA because it was a bone of contention. And they passed the. The ROTOR act because, what is it? The ABS B wasn't engaged in that Blackhawk, and now it's going to be limited as to when they can turn it, turn that system off. Tell us about that technology and what it means to aviation.

[L. Todd Wood]

Well, I mean, you know, I left in 94, so it's been some iterations of technology since I got out, but every aircraft has a transponder or a device that tells everyone who's where the aircraft is, the call sign, you know, what type of aircraft, speed, altitude, all of that. And you can turn it on and off. Flying a helicopter is inherently dangerous. I mean, it's not like a plane. Whereas if the engine goes out, you keep gliding. Right. I mean, the helicopter can auto rotate, but it's essentially a bunch of rotating forces equally opposed to each other. And if something gets out of whack, then it's extremely dangerous. I'm not sure that what happened. I don't think we know what happened in that crash yet. I really don't think we have a good idea of what happened yet. And I would like to see more before I blame it just on the transponder. I tend to think there's some. Some other agendas maybe in the crew or something that also was in that crash. But, you know, I can't prove it.

[David Zier]

Interesting. Okay, so you and I were on the ground and I, we spoke about this before on the show, but since then, Secretary, Press Secretary Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, came out with a statement talking about how they're going to look at 8,700 troops, either reinstatement of benefits or other 3,000 dishonorably discharge and you and I both pressed either the press secretary or the Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness, Anthony Tata, which I did, about this very issue. And maybe it was timely that, you know, we, we kind of pressed them on it, that they came out with this statement. But regardless, it was Trump's campaign promise, so maybe they were just going to do it anyway. But tell us a little bit about what's going on with that.

[L. Todd Wood]

Look, I know a lot about this, and I don't think they were going to do it anyway. And I think we really did make an impact by bringing it up in the briefings. And I've been involved in this for years. And it's not just this. It's also the servicemen who were impacted by the anthrax illegal order that forced a lot of people to get vaccinated and a lot of people harmed and a lot of careers harmed when they didn't want it. And those people still have not been reinstated. So there's a long backlog. And you can go from, well, it's incompetence to its flag officers or people in power that don't want to resurrect this because they were involved in implementing it and, or all the way up to, you know, more nefarious actions of trying to harm the force. So I think this is very critical that they are going to put these people back in, because there was a lot of obstruction to that effort. Right. I mean, yes, Trump and Hegseth pushed it, but then nothing really happened, and there was a lot of dragging of feet. And you have a lot of flag officers in this time around who were very involved in commanders, very involved in pushing this unlawful order, which Hegseth came out and said it was unlawful.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Will there be repercussions for the leadership, just like will there be repercussions for the senior officers who got us out of Afghanistan prematurely?

[L. Todd Wood]

That dei. I mean, go down the list. I am hopeful. I'm not that optimistic. But I don't think we can have a seriously a serious military until we have some accountability on these issues. Because it's a leadership issue. Right. If, you know, your commander tried to force something on you that was unlawful and then really harassed and persecuted you. I mean, they were putting, like, kids at West Point in, in, in confinement. I mean, it was not cool what they did to people. The pressure, the psychological operations that they did on these very young kids that, you know, were at their mercy. And it was an abuse of power, in my opinion.

[David Zier]

So that leads to another question, because I Felt like, you know, I've always followed the military. I didn't serve, but, you know, I'm a military buff since I'm 13. And I felt like what was going on in the Pentagon before Trump was diabolical. In between the Trump terms.

[Bruce Blakeman]

It.

[David Zier]

Was it that bad? What? What was it? Was it. Were they under direct orders to be jerks? Yes.

[L. Todd Wood]

Well, so you have a situation where, you know, I think Obama fired a lot of warriors, if you will.

[David Zier]

Yeah.

[L. Todd Wood]

And they brought in a lot of. I call them infiltrators, whatever you want to call them, people who were going to push that agenda on the military and all this dei, the vaccines are all part of that, a piece of that. And yes, they. They were putting in policies that were not good for the armed forces, whether it be, you know, Mark Maoism, essentially in ideology, dividing people, you know, military. When I was in. Nobody cared what color you were. I mean, they just cared. Do you have my back? I got yours. That's all people cared about. And it really was a colorblind environment. It's no more because they've enforced this, you know, identity politics, which creates division and diversity, is not our strength, you know, being. That's why you get a haircut in the military. It's why you go through basic to, like, break you down and rebuild you all as one unit. And when you start fracturing a unit where you have different, you know, ideologies or people or colors or sexual orientation or whatever, it's meant to destroy that cohesive fighting force. And that's what they were going after. And, yes, I hope there's accountability for those people, and it's something I'm passionate about myself.

[David Zier]

Two. Two quick topics. We have about a minute and a half, two minutes for each. The military chaplain getting rid of the army spiritual guide. A big priority for Hegseth to make sure the chaplains can not just be support officers, but actually, you know, be there for the troops. And bringing back religion, is that an important factor for those guys who are serving?

[L. Todd Wood]

Extremely. You know, when I was at the Air Force Academy, you had physical, you had education, you know, academic, and you had the spiritual side that was emphasized. You know, whatever your faith is, you needed to have that component to be, you know, an effective leader to serve instead of, you know, taking from others. And I think that servant leadership model has to come back, and I think faith is a big part of that. So, yes, I agree with him.

[David Zier]

Yeah, I know they only mentioned God one time in the army spiritual guide. I believe so. I Think Hegseth wants to get back to that. And I was at the Christian Christmas worship service, which was just phenomenal with Anne Wilson and Matthew west and Franklin Graham. Really, it was really wonderful. And they, they said, you know, it wasn't just about Christianity. No matter what your religion is, you need, you know, as long as you report to God. So I thought it was good. It wasn't exclusionary. I wanted to talk about the Naval Rapid Capabilities office. You know, we had a literal combat class ship launch a drone, I think, in the first strike off of one of those. And it has some pluses, but overall it hasn't been successful. The freighter program getting canceled, but now Trump announces a golden fleet. John Phelan doing a tremendous job. Right. Tell us about what's going on.

[L. Todd Wood]

The Navy has some serious issues and we have to have strong leadership to get our ship building back. And the rapid capabilities issue is a big thing. You know, when I was in the Air Force and Special Operations, I was in charge of a unit. It was kind of between the flight line and the maintenance people because we would have capabilities that we would need on the aircraft and we needed. And it needed to be done quickly because we had a mission that had to do this or that. And so it's very important to have that rapid capability, a mindset to develop weapons, tactics and other things, maintenance capabilities that need to be done quickly. So I'm hopeful that they can do that in the Navy. Well, he's talking about two and a half years.

[David Zier]

Yeah, yeah. And Trump signed the Defense Acquisition Executive Order, which the NDAA codified. And it goes in sync with what the Navy is doing. Because I feel like the Navy is really outpacing the other branches maybe in their initiative to partner with private industry and all that. I thought that was just exceptional. What's going on? Tell us about these new battleships. We have about a minute and a half. Or these new ships. You know anything about them? China has 379 ships. We have under 300. Are these going to be critical?

[L. Todd Wood]

They are going to be critical. You know, I'm not the naval expert. I'm an Air Force guy and helicopter rotary guy. But I would say that our ships, Trump is right, are, are behind schedule. We're not building enough. Our capabilities been, you know, I think intentionally destroyed to build ships. We've got to rebuild it. I think you mentioned the Constellation class frigates that were canceled. Hopefully this will replace them and a lot of them. So I'm hopeful for that.

[David Zier]

All right, well, next time we're going to talk Air Force. All right.

[L. Todd Wood]

I worked with the Navy a lot. It's all good.

[David Zier]

That's good. That's good. So, yeah, I really enjoy your Breath of Knowledge. And I've been on CDM Press. Where can people find you on socials and on the web?

[L. Todd Wood]

Well, CDM Press is our main site that all our different sites around the world feed into. Eel l Todd Wood on X and CDMPRESS on X for the main Twitter handle and have people subscribe there because we got deplatformed and lost about a half million people.

[David Zier]

We're trying to rebuild in 20 seconds. You got any hot stories you're working on?

[L. Todd Wood]

We do, and I can't talk about it yet, but I got a blockbuster that's about to come out, man. So I'll let you know when it happens. It'll be a big one.

[David Zier]

All right. Sounds good. Hot off the press, El Todd Wood, cdm.press thank you for all your hard work and thank you for your service to the country. And happy New Year.

[L. Todd Wood]

Happy New Year. Merry Christmas.

[David Zier]

We'll see you soon. Yeah, Todd's really great and served our country for 20 years, you know, and operated one of these big MH53, you know, special ops retrofitted chop copper is really great. We'll be right back with more. Don't change the channel. A happy new year to everybody across America. This is David Zier. You're watching breaking point. Unreal, America's voice news. I'm very excited about 2026. I'm not so sure how the congressional midterms are going to go, but there's a lot of good things are going to happen with the economy and maybe New York will get a new governor. And here to discuss that is gubernatorial candidate for New York state governor and the current Nassau county executive, Bruce Blakeman. Welcome to the show.

[Bruce Blakeman]

Happy New Year, David. Thank you so much for having me.

[David Zier]

Happy New Year, Bruce. So great to have you on. I was at the White House a week and a half ago or so when I found out that Elise was dropping out. And I know, you know, you were buying ad time at that time. Are you relatively confident that you were going to be the candidate for governor?

[Bruce Blakeman]

Well, I always felt very confident that I would be the Republican and Conservative Party candidate for governor. And I'm also very confident that I will be the next governor of the state of New York because New York state is in the state of shambles. Governor Hochul has been a miserable failure for people of this state. So we have a lot to talk about. I've got a great track record with respect to managing a large government organization and doing it efficiently and making communities safe. My county's the safest county county in America, and I'm on the border of New York City, so I know how to get it done. And I will manage New York State in a way that people will be proud to be New Yorkers again, and they'll be happy once again. Right now, they're miserable.

[David Zier]

Yeah, Nassau county is a great place to live. You know, I'm in Suffolk county, which isn't so bad here on Long Island. Two red counties. But, you know, Nassau county has great parks. You've got great services, you've got great townships. Oyster Bay and there's so many things to do for a kid. You know, skating rinks and parks and basketball and marinas and beaches. I mean, it's a really wonderful place to grow up. But this is a statewide race. There's a lot of work to do, not that much time to do it in. Right. So it's right around the corner here. 10 months, 11 months goes by really fast. How are you going to approach this race?

[Bruce Blakeman]

Well, I'm. I'm operating on all cylinders right now. Pedal to the metal. I've been all around the state in the last few weeks, and I have a trip to Buffalo Saturday, and I'm going to be working really, really hard and making sure that I get my message across to the people of the state of New York. I just got back from Florida not to play golf down there, not to lay out by the pool. I was there working all the time, raising money because to run in a race like New York race for governor against Kathy Hochul, and the. The amount of money that she's been able to amass from people that she is rewarded with contracts in this state is just over the top. I have to raise that money, too. And I'm going to raise it to make sure that we get our message across and that we're able to tell people the real story about what's going on in New York. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people are leaving. We're the most overtaxed state in America. We're the most overregulated state in America. And. And that's why people are leaving in droves and businesses are leaving our state.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Kathy Okul has got a war chest. Right. Probably approaching $18 million or something like that. And the machine. Right. You've got so much going on in New York State here, but New York has a Lot of problems. You know, Mooney at Moody analytics two months ago said that New York State is currently doing as poorly as 22 other states in the country that are considered recessionary. And it could get worse. You know, AI jobs are going to come. Maybe there'll be less employment for startup jobs and other financial sector like Wall street jobs have been hemorrhaging in New York City. What's the solution to bring back the economy in New York State?

[Bruce Blakeman]

Well, you know, one of the big issues, and maybe the biggest issue right now is affordability. And there's two ways to approach it. You can approach affordability with big government programs that give handouts to people and they don't make them any more prosperous. They don't create a future for their families. Or you can create economic development and job prosperity. And that's what I want to do. I've done it here in Nassau County. I can do it statewide. Nassau county is larger than eight to 10 states in the United States. Our gross domestic product is larger than 126 nations in the United Nations. I know how to run a big organization to do it efficiently. I haven't raised taxes in four years. And I know that the tax burden makes our state less affordable. So we have to reduce the tax burden. We've got invite businesses into our state. We've got to cut regulations, we've got to produce cheap energy. Those are the things that will produce a more affordable state and a more prosperous state for all of our families that live here. So they don't live paycheck to paycheck so people can live a comfortable life and not only be able to pay for the necessities of life, but also some of the luxuries in life.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Very big air facilities proposed upstate New York. They're going to need almost 10,000 megawatts of power alone. And Governor Hochul wants to end natural gas for construction for any buildings under eight stories. And Indian Point is offline. Our nuclear power plant here in New York. Where is she expecting to get all this energy from? And what will you do to create that energy?

[Bruce Blakeman]

Well, it's not from ocean wind farms, which is probably the most expensive form of energy there is. It's amazingly inefficient. It's a pipe dream. It's a. It's a green energy scam. And I will end that on day one. What we need to do is we need to start opening up other sources of energy, such as fracking on the southern tier of New York. You know what's really amazing? David is. As I drive along the Southern tier and I go over the border, just over the border in Pennsylvania, people are driving around in brand new Cadillacs. On the New York side of the border, they're in rusted out 25 year old pickup trucks. We need to create prosperity for New Yorkers and that means cheap energy. That means being able to exploit the natural resources that we have and make sure that we have different alternative energy sources. Clean coal, natural gas, fossil fuels. And I have no problem mixing that in with wind turbine energy. Not in the ocean, but in other places. I have no problem looking at some of the new technology. With the many nuclear facilities that they have now, they're exploring throughout the United States and they're considering in many areas. Think about an aircraft carrier, how much energy that needs. They have small nuclear reactors on them and they are completely safe and they wouldn't expose communities to any great danger. They could be situated in places that were rural, but they could produce a tremendous amount of energy. We have to be open to all forms of energy sources because with AI, we're going to need that. And by the way, Hochul's plan to go all electric by 2030 is just a pipe dream. It's never going to happen. And, and it's ridiculous.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah.

[David Zier]

And natural gas meets the clean energy standard for 2050 and beyond. And these smarts, these nuclear reactors, you're right there. From 1 to 30 megawatts, where your average nuclear power plants from 300 to 900 megawatts. These things are the answer going forward. We're only four or five years out from that. I think New York should make some plans for that, especially for industry. I have one more question. I'll give you the floor. We have about two and a half minutes left. The green light law, right. My daughter had to give five forms of ID to get her permit. You could just walk online in New York State now with no proof that you're a citizen and get a driver's license. Yesterday, federal court struck down DOJ challenge to the green light law. What can we do to fix that?

[Bruce Blakeman]

Well, let me tell you what happened here in my county. We had a situation where there was a larceny, a very large larceny at a jewelry store. We did a very thorough investigation and because of our relationship with international law enforcement, you know, I have the 10th largest municipal police department in the United States, we were able to zero in on the perpetrator and we eventually arrested the perpetrator. Think about this. He was of Romanian nationality, carrying an Irish passport who came to the United States through the southern border into Arizona, made his way to New York and guess what we found on him?

[David Zier]

The New York state driver's license.

[Bruce Blakeman]

New York state issued driver's license without a background check, without fingerprints. And all New York state would have had to done is do a background check, a warrant check. There were warrants out for this guy in seven or eight different nations. He was part of an international theft ring. We need to get serious about making sure that the government identification that we give out is given to people who have been thoroughly vetted. So I'm telling you right now, as governor, I won't tolerate issuing willy nilly government ID to people who aren't properly vetted and don't have legal status in this country.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Governor Hochul, this isn't a Republican Democrat issue for New Yorkers anymore. We need help here in New York. We're hemorrhaging the good people, the small business owners. It's an SOS and we got a really left New York state legislature tell our viewers where they can follow you. And I wanted to wish you a happy new year and thank you so much for coming on the show. I'm very grateful.

[Bruce Blakeman]

Lakemanfornewyork.com that's it. You'll see my website. Please come on. Visit us if you can donate. We would love to get you involved emotionally in our campaign, financially in our campaign. We will save New York state. We will put New Yorkers first. We will make New Yorkers happy again. And we will espouse American values that built the greatest economy in the world. And we will not let people like Mandami and Hochul destroy capitalism in the great state of New York.

[David Zier]

All right, that's really well said, Bruce. Happy New Year again to you and your family. And we'll catch up soon.

[Hugo Gordon]

Thank you.

[David Zier]

Thank you so much, everybody. We'll be right back. Where does the time go? Happy New Year, everybody. I can't believe that year flew by. 2025, an exciting year come. The country is on the rebound and on the mend. And last week I pressed the Democrats and the House Ways and Means Committee at Capitol Hill about, you know, this is really about interest rates. You don't need all these subsidies. Right. If you can get interest rates down to 3 and 4% again somehow. But I want to talk about the midter. I have the editor in chief of the Washington Examiner. I'm honored that he's here with us. Hugo Gordon, welcome to the show.

[Hugo Gordon]

Thanks very much for having me. Glad to be here.

[David Zier]

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you again. And there's so much going on. The GOP only has a seven point lead. Right. In Congress. Seven seat lead. They could lose it very easily. Right. There's some vacancies. The Democrats unveiled this American Affordability act last week. I was on Capitol Hill for it and I got to ask them questions some things. I think they're centering themselves a little bit because they don't want to sound like, you know, crazies and so they can win the House back. Right. Tell us about the American Affordability Act.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah. Well, the Democrats have clearly decided affordability is their, is there, is their theme. Because they are reading, they've read the polls and they see how it works. It keeps on coming top of voter priorities. And the other thing is sometimes it'll be inflation is top and then the economy is second and sometimes the economy is top and inflation is second. But it's really all the same thing if you appeal and the Democrats are recognizing this to people's pocketbooks. If they feel that things are getting better for them, then they're going to be happy. If they don't feel it's getting better for them, they're not going to be as happy. Now, it's kind of a race against time for President Trump on this.

[David Zier]

Yeah, I agree.

[Hugo Gordon]

No, he came into office and inflation was at 3%. It had been at an appalling 9.1% under Joe Biden back in 2022. And the problem for President Trump is that when the rate of inflation comes down, it doesn't mean the prices come down. It just means the rate of price increases slows down. So last month there was inflation was 2.7%, but there was the numbers were slightly iffy because of the shutdown. And some of it, we don't know what's going to happen. But it's real wages, real incomes have been increasing faster than inflation. And the thing that is going to help President Trump if it happens is that faster pace of wage and income growth exceeds inflation and people start to feel things getting better. And there was good news today in that the GDP, the economy was revealed as growing at 4.3%, which is a pretty, pretty good clip.

[David Zier]

Incredible.

[Hugo Gordon]

It's really good stuff for President Trump if it can be sustained. And that's the big question. I think that as much deregulation as Trump can manage in the meantime to speed up the economy. But here's one thing that I think that President Trump has not got rights so far, and that is his mixed messages on affordability. He's called it a hoax too many times and you can't. And this is the problem that, I mean, Biden tried to pretend that this was somehow a wealthy person's problem, that it wasn't really just everybody was feeling it. You can't actually keep telling people that they're not suffering when they're feeling they are suffering. But yeah, president has actually addressed affordability. But I think that he would do himself a big favor by dropping the idea that this is somehow, somehow.

[David Zier]

So I'm worried that I know things are going to take off and 19 trillion in reinvestment. I know he's doing great things. No tax on tips, overtime, Social Security. All these things are going to happen. Is it in time for early voting in September? You know, and the Dems are going to be obstinate because they know this American Affordability act with middle class tax incentives and first time buyer incentives is going to be their platform for the fall. Is there a chance that we get some traction or Trump gets some traction. Traction in the next two quarters to convince the people? Because you can't tell them things are great when they're suffering.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, look, I think that there will be some traction, but you know, I think that Republicans and conservatives need to recognize that historically they're facing some serious headwinds. You know, the average number of these that gets that flip is, you know, like over the course of the past 50 years is, you know, something like 30 seats.

[David Zier]

Yeah.

[Hugo Gordon]

That the, the Republicans don't have that kind of margin. But you know, the losses, if there are losses, might be limited, but it's, I think, I think one shouldn't be kind of, you know, like saying everything's, everything's grand. It's not grand. I got a feeling that this, you know, 2026 does not currently look like a great year for the Republicans. And one does have to hope that the economy kicks in faster that the 4.3% growth that we've seen just in the last month kicks in. And people start to say, oh yes, we remember what it was like with great growth in Trump's first term of office. We also remember what it was like, how bad it was under Biden. We know that the Democrats talk a good game maybe, but actually they deliver rising prices. And here's another thing, if I may just the thing about the Democrats is that their solution on affordability is to subsidize and spend more. In other words, inject more money into the economy. So, for example, with the Obamacare subsidies What they're doing there is stimulating demand without allowing an increase in supply that pushes prices higher. And it's ironic that, because people feel that the economy is not working for them. And that's because basically of high spending, left wing policies, more and more of them are turning towards socialism. And you see that with the incoming mayor of New York.

[David Zier]

Yeah. So the Inflation Reduction act is just like what the American Affordability act is. Right. It's more subsidies, low income housing, all kinds of stuff. But, but what I think is going to happen this year, I have about 40 years in commercial real estate building. And I think that, and it's logical. Right. And everybody knows it when they think about it. People who are locked in at 2 and 3% on their mortgages, who have not sold and there's been an inventory crisis are going to start to put their houses on the market this year and move up. Maybe some upward mobility because mortgages would be more attainable, which will open up housing inventory for some younger people. And if you can get a mortgage at four and a half percent, 5% by July, August.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah.

[David Zier]

Will that be realized for early voting in September? And I'm going to say the same thing again. You know, it's like, you know, is it too much? Is it too little, too late? Right.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, you look, you know, that's the, whatever the $64 million question. Every little bit helps. If interest rates come down, as you say, all of those people who've wanted to, you know, to buy their first homes and have been suffering that just not quite being able to make it are going to feel better about it. And, and, and the truth is that the Trump and Republican policies are just so much better for, for, for this. I mean, one of the things that we have been advocating at the Washington examiner is reform and permitting so that people can build more, that more houses can be built without them being tripped up by, you know, environmental activists and sued and hobbled into just getting bogged down. The reason that there's, you know, high housing prices is not just because of interest rates. It's also because there's, there's not enough houses being built.

[David Zier]

Okay.

[Hugo Gordon]

There's all sorts of ways.

[David Zier]

So.

[Hugo Gordon]

Which we should. Yeah, go ahead.

[David Zier]

Yeah, Well, I, but a lot of the costs are state and local and county taxes. 10,000 a year, 5,000 for homeowners insurance. Whenever you wake up, you owe $1500 before you even pay your mortgage. And a lot of these permits are home rule issues for the local townships. So how is, how is the federal government Going to address that. We have two minutes. I'll give you the last word.

[Hugo Gordon]

Yeah, well, you know, look, there's a lot, as you say, which is local, but there's also, you know, there's also nepa, which is environmental protection. And obviously there has to be a will on the part of the local government, but we need low interest rates, we need less government spending, we need more house building. People have to feel that the economy works for them. And I think that that's one of the real grave dangers that has been posed is that, you know, people in my age group, baby boomers, you know, bought their houses on low interest rates. They're not moving. And we need it. It needs to be opened up so young people can participate in this, in the economy. They can feel it's working for them. And, and it stops them from turning to the kind of socialist mayors that we're now seeing becoming more popular.

[David Zier]

Do you. I saw the 13 last polls in Real Clear Politics aggregate has the Democrats winning by four in September. Do you see the possibility of the GOP pulling it out? They lost 41 seats in 2018, but they didn't lose as many in 2020. And so on.

[Hugo Gordon]

I. Look, there's a. Always a possibility, which is one of the reasons why politics is so interesting. It's like sport. You actually don't know what the result is going to be. But you have to say that it's. I would, I would say it's more likely that they will lose the house than that they will retain it. I'm sorry to be there, Harbinger, but, you know, that's what I would bet if I were betting my last dollar.

[David Zier]

Interesting. Well, I love the examiner Teller viewers where they can follow the Washington examiner. And you've got great writers and your ascension's been something to watch. So I appreciate that.

[Hugo Gordon]

Thank you very much indeed. Yeah. Viewers, I mean. Visit washingtonexaminer.com follow us on X washingtonexaminer.com you can follow me H. Gurden on Twitter and other of our. You know, we have some great writers like Byron York. Yeah. And. And we also have a YouTube channel with more than a quarter of a million subscribers. So do join us there. We do a lot of video. Okay. There's various ways in which you can interact with and see our stuff.

[David Zier]

Well, Hugo, I want to wish you a happy new year. When we have more time, I'd love to talk about other issues with you. Sorry, I have a heart out, but grateful you came on. Thank you for the information.

[Hugo Gordon]

Thanks very much. And happy New Year to you.

[David Zier]

Yes, you, too, sir. Thank you, everybody, for watching Breaking Point. It's going to be a great year, right? The economy's on the rebound, growing at 4.3%. You just heard it from Hugo Gordon of the Washington Examiner. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week.

[Eileen Shanahan]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.