Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, November 21st, 2025

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head

Episode Theme: Tackling Government Corruption – Weaponized Justice and Entitlement Fraud

Date: November 21, 2025 | Host: John Solomon & Shane Harris

---

Overview

This episode features an in-depth exploration of government corruption, focusing on the "weaponization" of federal agencies, accountability in the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the mounting fiscal crisis caused by fraud and abuse in America’s major entitlement programs (Medicaid, SNAP, Medicare, and especially Obamacare). The hosts interview prominent voices—Sen. Ron Johnson, Rep. Eric Burleson, attorney Christina Bobb, policy expert Brian Blaise, and fiscal fellow Kurt Kaushman—who share investigations, reform proposals, and personal experiences dealing with both lawfare and wasteful federal spending.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of Government Corruption and Weaponized Justice

Featured Guest: Sen. Ron Johnson, Chair, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

• Weaponization of Federal Agencies

  • Sen. Johnson argues that the DOJ, FBI, and other agencies have been "radicalized" since the Obama era, with entrenched leftist actors using investigations (“lawfare”) to target political opponents.
  • "They burrowed in leftists throughout government and we're living with results... Jack Smith weaponized the agency and tried to criminalize what JFK did with alternate electors." (08:16–09:25)
  • New dragnet operations like "Arctic Frost" are alleged to surveil and prosecute not just President Trump and allies, but ordinary citizens.

• Dual System of Justice

  • Johnson contends there is “no single system of justice” but a multi-tiered one favoring powerful Democrats.
  • Quote: "We have a dual or a multi-tier system of justice and that's not what our founders envisioned." (18:11–18:45)
  • Lack of prosecution in Clinton Foundation and Biden-family investigations is cited as evidence.

• Shrinking Government as Solution

  • Proposes eliminating agencies like the Department of Education to remove the "layer of bureaucracy that's done nothing."
  • Johnson echoes Trump's call for major rollback, warning Republicans must act quickly or Democrats will permanently change congressional rules (i.e., end the filibuster).

---

2. Medicaid & Entitlement Reform – Exposing and Fixing Waste

Featured Guest: Rep. Eric Burleson, House Oversight Committee

• Major Medicaid Reforms and Future Plans

  • Burleson lauds the passage of "the one big beautiful bill" to target Medicaid waste, while calling for complete overhaul of Obamacare, describing it as an “abject failure.”
  • Proposal of a “super HSA account” to replace current ACA structures and restore patient choice.

• Fraud & Improper Payments

  • Massive improper payments: $233 billion annually (improper) and $521 billion (total fraud).
  • Quote: "You think that when somebody has died in the Social Security system, that all the other systems would follow suit. But the left hand does not know what the right hand does." (29:43–30:48)
  • Calls for improved data-sharing between agencies (especially concerning the deceased) to prevent fraud.

• Impact on Inflation and Affordability

  • Burleson links deficit spending and entitlement fraud directly to inflation and higher interest rates.
  • Quote: “Every dollar that government spends in deficit spending is inflationary spending... We have got to restrain ourselves and reduce spending. If we could, we would see inflation go down.” (31:12–32:37)

---

3. Lawfare & Weaponization – Firsthand Legal Experience

Featured Guest: Christina Bobb, former Trump attorney

• Personal Impact of Weaponized DOJ

  • Bobb details her own (and others’) targeting in Arctic Frost, emphasizing that ordinary Americans—not just high-profile figures—are at risk.
  • Quote: “If they can do this to President Trump, if they can do this to sitting members of Congress, they can do it to anybody... Americans really don't appreciate how much their own rights are in danger.” (35:07–37:15)

• Reform Priorities

  • Calls for comprehensive election reform (voter ID, limited mail-in ballots, clean voter rolls) as the crucial defense against weaponized law enforcement and political targeting.
  • Criticizes Republicans for sustaining surveillance powers (FISA) and allowing warrant abuse.
  • Quote: "I think Republicans... are a bit out of touch with the concerns of the Republican base... It's Republicans that are the surveillance party." (39:06–40:55)

• Symbolism of Trump's Pardons

  • Bobb, recently pardoned by President Trump, frames it as a necessary signal to acknowledge ongoing legal battles for ordinary Americans, not just political elites.

---

4. Health Care Fraud and Obamacare’s Unintended Consequences

Featured Guest: Brian Blaise, President, Paragon Health Institute

• Expanded Subsidies and Enrollment Fraud

  • Pandemic-era policies created “fully subsidized plans,” incentivizing agents to enroll ineligible people for high commissions—often without enrollee knowledge.
  • Blaise’s research: 6.4 million “improper enrollees” on Obamacare, millions never using their plan, and tens of billions in payments flow directly to insurance companies.

• Systemic Issues

  • Quote: “You have massive improper enrollment, big benefits to health insurance companies. And we now see millions... didn't use their health plan a single time.” (44:15–46:23)
  • These subsidies are paid straight from the Treasury to insurance companies, with little benefit to those truly in need.

• Broader Impact

  • Ties the fraud to inflation and higher costs for all Americans—not just taxpayers but those with private insurance due to price distortions.
  • Criticizes the Democratic remedy as “throwing good money after bad,” perpetuating subpar products.

---

5. Budget Consequences and Closing Thoughts

Featured Guest: Kurt Kaushman, Fiscal Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity

• Scope and Ramifications of Fraud

  • Hundreds of billions annually lost to fraud—from international gangs (especially post-pandemic) and domestic loopholes.
  • Administrative failures, such as lack of cross-checking between agencies (e.g., dead people receiving benefits), exacerbate waste.

• Making Reforms Stick

  • With Republicans’ slim window, Kaushman urges urgent action: regulatory and statutory reforms can withstand power shifts.
  • Quote: “You do a regulation, you improve program integrity... some of it has to do with fixing the underlying incentives for members of Congress to care more about these things.” (55:08–56:37)

• Incentivizing Congress

  • Advocates for structural budget reforms so that lawmakers have incentives—and political cover—to tackle fraud, even in “untouchable” entitlement programs.

---

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Sen. Ron Johnson:
  “The root cause is the radicalization of the Democrat Party who is pushing bigger government because they just want power.” (09:48)
• Rep. Eric Burleson:
  “We know that the government loses $233 billion to improper payments and $521 billion annually to fraud... The left hand does not know what the right hand does.” (29:43)
• Christina Bobb:
  “If our elections are not secure... the American people have effectively lost their voice. They're either going to get thrown in jail or not be able to effectively elect the people of their choice.” (37:15–38:06)
• Brian Blaise:
  “Washington sending enormous payments to health insurance companies on behalf of people who don't know they're covered, have other coverage, and don't benefit from the plan at all.” (46:15)
• Kurt Kaushman:
  “The American taxpayers are shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars every single year that is going straight in the pockets of fraudsters.” (53:26)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening and Topic Introduction: 04:02–05:54
• Interview: Sen. Ron Johnson (Weaponized Justice, Entitlement Fraud): 07:10–19:28
• Interview: Rep. Eric Burleson (Medicaid/Obamacare Reform, Welfare Fraud): 24:08–32:40
• Interview: Christina Bobb (Lawfare, Election Security): 33:49–42:48
• Interview: Brian Blaise (Obamacare Fraud, Health Policy): 43:53–52:06
• Interview: Kurt Kaushman (Broad Fiscal Consequences, Incentivizing Congress): 53:06–56:47

---

Episode Style and Takeaways

The discussion is urgent, direct, and at times combative, with all guests warning of existential threats to American governance and finances from entrenched bureaucracy, intentional fraud, and ongoing legal targeting ("lawfare") against political opponents. Despite the gravity, the hosts and guests maintain a message of action—stressing the importance of reforms in Congress and the need for public vigilance.

---

Bottom Line

This episode is a comprehensive audit of multiple forms of government corruption—both legal and fiscal—focusing on concrete examples (like Arctic Frost, Medicaid fraud, and Obamacare waste), and proposing legislative, bureaucratic, and election reforms. Listeners are left with a sense of both urgency and empowerment, encouraged to pressure Congress, join grassroots organizations, and remain vigilant against what the hosts describe as entrenched, radical opposition to American values.

Transcript

[John]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

Life gets messy spills, stains and kid chaos. But with anime, cleaning up is easy. Our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out, so you never have to stress about messes again. Made with liquid and stain resistant fabrics, that means fewer stains and more peace of mind. Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers allowing you to refresh your style anytime. Need flexibility? Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa effortlessly. Perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes. Plus, they're earth friendly and built to last. That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch. Get early access to Black Friday pricing right now, sofas start at just $699. Visit washablesofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life. That's washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Amazon Five Star Theater Podcaster]

Amazon five Star Theater presents real customer reviews performed by a real serious improv podcaster. Tonight's review Spatula for the Stars When I'm dead and civilization eventually collapses, this spatula will remain. It will be the only rune uncovered by some unknown species of the future upon which they base their assumptions of our existence. Eggs they reposit these extinct people like to eat their eggs and this was their primary tool for cooking them. Let us teleport and put this device.

[John]

In the Milky Way exhibit.

[Amazon Five Star Theater Podcaster]

5 stars Zachary Find your perfect gift this holiday on Amazon.

[Shane Harris]

Spinquest Social Casino It's Thanksgiving time. The turkey's hot and the family's loud. Instead of football, play a different game on your phone. Live dealer Blackjack, crafts and slots play anytime, anywhere. Spinquest.com this Thanksgiving gobble up a $30 coin pack for just $10. Come play today.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Spinquest is a free to play social casino. Visit spinquest.com for more details. Oral health goes beyond just aesthetics. It's deeply connected to your general health and well being.

[Shane Harris]

That's why preventing oral health problems before.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

They start is so important. With when you use the Colgate Total Active Prevention system, you're not just helping.

[Shane Harris]

To prevent oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

You're laying the groundwork for overall wellness.

[Shane Harris]

Colgate Total's three product routine includes a.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Reformulated toothpaste, an innovative toothbrush, and a refreshing antibacterial mouthwash that all support a healthy mouth. In fact, the three products were designed to work together to be 15 times.

[Shane Harris]

More effective at reducing bacteria buildup in.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Six weeks starting from week one compared to a non antibacterial fluoride toothpaste and flat trimmed toothbrush. Take control of your oral health and get the Colgate Total Active Prevention System today so you can be dentist ready. Visit shop.colgate.com Total this is the story of the One as a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility, he knows keeping.

[John]

The line up and running is a top priority.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

That's why he chooses Grainger, because when a drive belt gets damaged, Grainger makes it easy to find the exact specs for the replacement product he needs. And next day delivery helps ensure he'll have everything in place and running like clockwork. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[John]

Good evening, America, and welcome to this Just the News, Real America's Voice Special Report. Our topic tonight tackling government corruption. Everything from weaponized justice to entitlement fraud. We want to thank our partners at AMAC for joining us on this critical conversation. Tonight. We're diving deep into the scandals eroding trust in our institutions. The DOJ accused of targeting President Trump and his allies through abusive probes like the FBI's own defrost operation, and billions of dollars lost to fraud and entitled programs like SNAP and Medicare and Medicaid, even dead people getting billions of dollars of benefits being sent to them long after they're gone. President Trump has long pointed out that the doj, as well as America's intelligence agencies were weaponized under the Obama and Biden administrations. And we also know that America's entitlement programs are bleeding the country of its wealth, especially on a lot of those entitlements are being fraudulently collected, oftentimes by foreigners. Tonight, we'll explore how Congress can hold the line, expose the abuses and root out the waste to protect taxpayers before we hit a debt cliff we can't recover from. We have a powerful lineup of guests, including today Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who's been leading the fight to hold those responsible for both wasting our money and weaponizing our justice system. We'll also have on Missouri Congressman Eric Burleson, a voice for entitlement reform on the Oversight Committee, and as well as former Trump attorney Christina Bobb, facing her own case of alleged prosecutorial abuse in Arizona. And on the medical fraud topic, we'll bring in Brian Blaize, president of Paragon Health Institute, whose studies on the waste and fraud in Obamacare have led Congress to an important discussion in the next few weeks. All of that is part of our great conversation, too. Before we get to bringing in our Guests, I want to bring in my amazing co host for the evening. He's AMAX Newsline editor in Chief Shane Harris. Shane, great to have you on the show.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, John. What we're hearing from our members is that these topics are extremely important to them. As you mentioned, the waste, fraud and abuse in America's entitlement programs. What's going on with Doge and now Arctic Frost is coming out. And really this administration, just from one day to the next, we're learning more about corruption that's been going on in the federal government, which is exactly what President Trump was talking about on the campaign trail last year. We're hearing from our more than 2 million members every day that they want to see more done to stop this. And so I'm excited to get into it with our guests and learn more about what we as the American people can do to root out and stop the waste, fraud and abuse in government.

[John]

So important. I was at the Patriot Boot Camp in Virginia just a couple of weeks ago, and a person came up to me there and said, there's only two things I want before I hand off my country to my children. I want some of my money back, and I want my justice system back. And I thought that was such a profound statement that someone understood that this path we've been on is not only unsustainable, it's downright un American. And I know a lot of AMAC members feel like that member. It was a special event and a lot of special people there. Shane. So great, great alliance among the patriots who are association of Mature American Citizen Members. Amac. So good stuff.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

All right.

[John]

I can't think of a better way that we could kick off this show than what I call or who I call the voice of reason in Congress. He has been relentless in trying to get his colleagues to focus on common sense solutions to the wasteful and unsustainable spending and to also all the corruption that has come from the Biden years, the Obama years, and weaponized justice. He chairs the most powerful Senate investigative body, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson. Senator, great to have you on the show today.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Hello, John. Hello, Shane. Thanks for having me on.

[John]

You have done more than anyone I can think of in the Senate to shine a light on these problems and to put meaningful solutions on the table. Things like just rolling back to the spending patterns before the COVID era to just kind of get the budget stabilized. Are we in any better shape? Do we have a political will in Congress to change course or is it going to still be a struggle?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

You know, I'm not the most uplifting character. No, we got a real problem here. Let's step back and let's take a look at this from 30,000 foot view here. I come from manufacturing. You solve a lot of problems in manufacturing. There's a process you have to go through. You first have to admit you have the problem, then you have to properly define it. And so when you're talking about waste in government, the root cause of this problem literally is the radicalization of the Democratic Party starting with Barack Obama, remember Bill Clinton, actually with Newt Gingrich. We had surpluses at the tail end of the 20th century. It's literally the radicalization of the Democrat Party which then took over power under Obama. They started weaponizing all these agencies. They burrowed in leftists throughout government and we're living with results. What we are witnessing currently, when you start looking at the Arctic Frost investigations, you see the dragnet undertaken by Jack Smith targeting not just President Trump, not just members of Congress, but ordinary American citizens. For example, 38 Wisconsinites, I know most of these people, they're just good patriots that they're God fearing, country loving law enforcement supporting people who got caught up in that dragnet as Jack Smith weaponized the agency and tried to criminalize what JFK did in having an alternate state of electors when there was a dispute, for example in Hawaii. So this is him. The left is running circles around the right in terms of non governmental organizations, in terms of legal groups that are engaged in this lawfare against ordinary American citizens. I mean the civil lawsuits against alternate state electors in Wisconsin and other states, it's flying under the radar because the left also controls the legacy media. So this is an enormous problem. We can drill down to the the individual problems like the complete miserable failure of Obamacare and how Democrats are trying to mask that failure with these literally over 10 years, more than a trillion dollars in subsidies to mask the fact that Obamacare caused premiums to skyrocket on the individual market. So we can talk about those, the fraud in SNAP and in Medicaid expansion and all these areas. But the root cause is the radicalization of the Democrat Party who is pushing bigger government because they just want power. Is the unifying factor of Democrats is they want to acquire and maintain power. They don't care who they destroy in that acquisition. Maintenance of power.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah, Senator, thanks so much for being here. And as you mentioned, this goes all the way back to Obama. Most recently with the Arctic Frost Investigation. So I kind of want to take things 30,000 foot for a level, 30,000ft for a moment. Nobody has been on the front lines of this more than you. Going back to 2015 to now, really, the story of President Trump's rise, his first term and now his second term, has been him fighting against the swamp and the swamp fighting back. Your thoughts on what needs to be done to actually win that fight? We've seen a lot of progress, but as we saw with Arctic Frost, you know, the left is really pushing back on this. What do we do to actually make some legitimate and permanent progress in this fight?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Again, he was fighting back against the radicalized Democrat Party and all of their operatives. I mean, to call it the swamp is. I think it's doing a disservice to really what the problem is. These are Democrats who want power. And so from the minute that Donald Trump came down that escalator, they realized he was gonna be a disruptive technology. They knew he was upset, the apple cart. And so they had to destroy him. And they pulled out all the stops to destroy him and anybody around him. And then they just got emboldened by the success, the fact that they weren't caught, that they were actually able to engineer the Mueller investigation, even though they knew the Russian collusion was a complete hoax, a dirty trick by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Again, that's what people need to understand. Clearly, this is an issue of government. I mean, government might be able to be reformed. This is a problem of a radicalized left having completely taken over the Democrat Party. We're a two party system here. And now we've got one that is completely radicalized, only interested in their quest for power. They don't care who they destroy. Look at the most recent shutdown. They didn't care that government employees, the American people, were paying the price or being used as pawns in this highly politicized dysfunction. That was their goal. They wanted to make sure that the American economy doesn't succeed so they can say, oh, it's all the Republicans fault, they're in control. Vote for us in the next election. That's their game plan here. It's sick.

[John]

So the reason they abuse government is they've made it so large. And it seems like a very simple, prescriptive antidote to this would be to shrink the resource that funds and empowers that machinery of abuse. President Trump this week put a proposal on the table to get rid of the Education Department, not get rid of the funds that go to the states and local schools. But Just get rid of the layer of bureaucracy that's done nothing. Can something like that even get through Congress? Or are you concerned that the Senate can't get the 60 votes on that?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, again, that's why I've reluctantly agreed with President Trump, because he's completely right. When Democrats regain power, they will end the filibuster. So we better act first.

[John]

When we do it, we'll do it.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

For the benefit of the American public. We'll do it to pass good laws like eliminate the Department of Education, secure our elections fully, secure our border, hopefully repair the damage done by Obamacare, and transition to a system that actually works for the American people, improves health outcomes and health.

[John]

Health care throughout America.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

That's not what the Democrats will do when they on the field bus. They'll add more Democratic senators, they'll pass the Supreme Court. It'll all be about maintaining their power. And that's what Republicans need to understand. Unfortunately, we've got some big spending Republicans in our ranks as well. We're not a monolith because we don't have that unifying goal of acquisition of power. We have different ideas, we've got a broad spectrum. But I'm hoping, I'm hoping that my other Republican colleagues will come see the light. As we just witnessed the obnoxious obstruction by Democrat day after day, they got to understand that this wasn't about health care. The shutdown was not about the subsidies. They use that as an excuse. This was about shutting down the government, taking our economy so they could run a change election. Blame Republicans for the fact that we have been able to bring prices down. They just want power.

[Shane Harris]

And Senator, speaking of power and the abuses of power, I want to return for a moment to the Arctic Frost investigation, which I know that you've been intimately involved with. As you mentioned, target not only President Trump and sitting members of Congress, but also everyday Americans, including I think you said, 30 some people in Wisconsin. And I want to ask you what your prognosis is or what your hope is to get some real justice for that. What do you think needs to be done to punish those responsible? And do you think we're going to get there?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, the first line of accountability is exposure. It's the most important thing. I just met with Pam Bondi, the Justice Department yesterday. She's totally dedicated, as is Cash Patel, to find the documents, get the documents, make them public, so the American public understands how outrageous this weaponization of government is. The problem is you've got burrowed in partisan actors still in the Justice Department and the FBI, they're having a hard time staffing those agencies because of the weaponization. I mean, it doesn't take a dictator, doesn't take too many hangings in the public square to get the population to fall in line. And that's what the Democrat Party, all their operatives, all these outside legal groups, that's what they've been doing. They've been weaponizing government against ordinary citizens. So people are reluctant to throw away their legal career to join the Justice Department for three years under Trump. They'll be blackballed. They'll be disbarred. Okay, so it's a real problem. That's what I'm saying, that the left is running circles around us because they don't care who they destroy. They don't follow the rules. The rules are for somebody else. And because they control the media, they never called on the outrage.

[John]

Senator, I want to turn to something that was recently turned over. You do a new cache of documents involving Hillary Clinton's corruption. You did so much to show the Biden family corruption. But the Clinton foundation and its ability to collect money from people who needed decisions from Hillary Clinton hasn't ever really gotten its full airing. Even though you tried your darndest going all the way back to 14, 15 and 16. What have you learned in the new files? And is there still some crimes to be prosecuted, even though they may be years old?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Yeah, I'm not prosecuted, so I don't really understand all the statute of limitations, how they apply to different crimes. Now, what we found out is basically the Justice Department, the deep state actors, the partisans in the Justice, Justice Department, preventing any of that prosecution from moving forward. They just blocked it. And they're able to do that. They're able to frustrate me. Let's face it. We know that the federal agencies did everything they could to sabotage the first Trump administration. They're still at it. They're trying to sabotage everything this administration is trying to do. So that is the root cause. I think the Clinton behavior is outrageous. People like Peter Schweitzer, people like yourself, investigative journalists who pointed this out, we basically know these things.

[John]

But.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

We don't have a single system of justice here that holds everybody equally accountable. We have a dual or a multi tier system of justice, and that's not what our founders envisioned at all. But that's the sad fact. And again, the Democrats also have the media. They have all these NGOs, they have all these outside legal groups that are carrying out their agenda. And I'm afraid to report. Conservatives simply don't have that. We have the Tea Party movement, which, let's be honest, was pretty well marginalized by a lot of establishment Republicans once it was developed. And so those outside groups that advocated there was a pushback, some balance to the leftist groups. They just don't have the power they used to have. We need to re energize conservative groups to push back and be a counter and a balance to all the liberal groups out there.

[John]

Senator, before we go, I want to say something. I almost never disagree with you, but you said at the beginning of this interview that you aren't uplifting. I actually think people find a truth teller in Washington to be very uplifting. You give it to us straight. You don't sugarcoat it. You don't spin us. You tell it what it's really like. And I have to tell you, for those of us who want truth, it is kind of uplifting. So I'll disagree with you one time. But thanks for joining us. Good to have you on the show.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Thanks for giving me the opportunity. Have a great day.

[John]

Yeah, we appreciate you every time you come on. All right folks, we've got a lot more ahead. A quick commercial break first here from our great sponsors. But in the meantime, I want to give you a little bit of homework assignment as constant Eric Burleson's coming around the corner. Go to AMAC US JustNews and right now go match me. Become a five year card carrying member like I am. It's one of the best investments I've ever made. It's only a buck 20amonth. That is a stage deal. Join 2 million plus patriots like me and Shane and others and become an AMAC member. You get all the benefits of savings, incredible news, a magazine, weekly podcast and the opportunity to work together with other patriots to make this country better. That is a great investment. AMAC US News. We'll be back in just a second.

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

Tired of spills and stains on your sofa? Wash away your worries with Anabe. Annabe is the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly prices. That's right, sofas start at just $699. Enjoy a no risk experience with pet friendly stain resistant and changeable slipcovers made with performance fabric experience cloud like comfort with high resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs flavor fluffing. The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime. Shop washablesofas.com for early Black Friday savings up to 60% off site wide, backed by a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back. Upgrade [e-mail] Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Amazon Five Star Theater Podcaster]

Amazon Five Star Theater presents real customer reviews performed by a real serious improv podcaster. Tonight's Hot Sauce Eating this hot sauce is a fever dream. It's like acid turning my saliva into lava. I chug almond milk to cut down the heat and assume it's over. But at 1am the sauce strikes again. It woke me from a deep slumber and sent me to the toilet. I took a runner's pose in the bathroom. I thanked my landlords for the tile floor. The pain rustled my gut like an M16 bullet spiraling about until finally I woke up 30 minutes later. Then, praying for the end. Settled in calm. But no. It rips the sheets off your bed, hurls you around in a fury once more, double flushes the toilet, punches a hole in the wall, then leaves 5 stars Erin B thank you for listening to Amazon 5 Star Theater. Looking for unforgettable gifts this holiday season? Like a hot sauce to literally burn your thoughtfulness into the memories of your friends? Find your perfect gift this holiday on Amazon.

[Shane Harris]

Spin Quest Social Casino It's Thanksgiving time. The turkey's hot and the family's loud. Instead of football, play a different game on your phone. Live dealer blackjack, crafts and slots. Play anytime, anywhere. Spinquest.com this Thanksgiving gobble up a 30 coin pack for just $10. Come play today.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Spin Quest is a free to play social consultation casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Run a business and not thinking about radio? Think again.

[John]

Because more people are listening to the.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Radio and iHeart today than they were 20 years ago. And only iHeart broadcast radio connects with more Americans than TV, digital, social, any other media, even twice as many teens than TikTok. And that reach means everything. Just think about the universal marketing formula. The number of consumers who hear your message times the response rate equals the results. Now let's get those results growing for your business. Radio's here now more than ever, and iheart's leading the way.

[John]

Think radio can help your business?

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Think iHeart streaming, podcasting and radio. Where the reach is real. Let us show [e-mail] that's iheartadvertising.com or call 844-8844 iheart one more time. Just call 844-844, iheart and get radio working for you.

[John]

Welcome back America to this just the news real America's Voice special report. We're tackling the issue of government corruption. That's something very close to your hearts. We been talking about it on the show and tonight we're gonna lean into some of the solutions. I'm still joined by AMAC Newsline Editor in chief Shane Harris. And our next guest is a man who has led the fight against weaponization and also wasteful spending in Washington. He's a member of the House Oversight Committee and he's been one of the champions of fighting for entitlement reform. He's Congressman Eric Burleson from the great state of Missouri. Sir, good to have you on the show.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Great to be on.

[John]

All right, so there is a lot of important discussions going on in Washington that we haven't had in a long. Medicaid were just off limits for a long time. But folks like you and Chip Roy and Chairman Harris are all working on entitlement reform, particularly Medicaid reform. Tell us why now and what are some of the best ideas.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

You know, the Medicaid reform that we were able to get accomplished in the one big beautiful bill was monumental and something that this town never thought in a million years that we could accomplish. And, and I'm proud to be a member of Congress where we were actually able to make some changes to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse within the Medicaid system. Now, now we need to take on the health care system for, for, for everyone else. You know, everyone's health insurance premiums are going through the roof. Obamacare has been proven to be an abject failure. It was the only thing it's successful in is, is destroying the health care economy and forcing, forcing us down the road of single payer system. And so while we have the Republican majority that we have, we cannot waste this time or this opportunity. We need to do reconciliation 2.0. We need to go back in to reconciliation and fix Obamacare. And I don't mean, I'm saying dig the whole thing out, completely eliminate it or provide a alternative that no one will want to stay in Obamacare. So provide a free market like a super HSA account that lets people, people pick whatever insurance plan that they want. Instead of having your employer pick your plan or government pick your plan and your network and your doctors and your pharmaceuticals, the patient should be able to pick their doctors, pick their, their insurance plan, pick the hospital they want to be a part of that. Will actually start driving down costs. And so we need to be doing this. We need to be having this conversation today.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah. Congressman, you mentioned Medicaid reform, which is obviously an issue of top concern for our AMAC members, many of whom are older Americans, rely on Medicaid. And you mentioned Obamacare, and that's something, you know, when Obamacare first passed, AMAC was leading the charge against it. And it sort of has died down in recent years, but it's kind of crept back into the news. And so from from your insider perspective, what do you think the chances are of actually getting some major reform or even a full repeal of Obamacare? As you're in these discussions, and especially after the government shutdown where this was a major issue, what do you think the next steps are and what's your analysis of our odds of getting that done?

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

The more that people talk about it, the better our odds get. And I think that the impetus has been created because the Democrats were demanding us for us to be able to extend the COVID era enhanced subsidies for Obamacare. And those subsidies were checks that were literally not written to people. It was written to insurance carriers. The whole system is designed to enrich insurance carriers and eliminate choice for the patients and the consumers. So I think that there's temptation by some moderate Republicans to extend that past the election. Some of them believe they need to do that to win their election. And my response is the whole, everyone's health insurance premiums are going up by about 20%. And if you pass these extended Obamacare enhanced subsidies, you might reduce that to an increase of 17%. Do you think the American consumer is going to thank you? No, they won't recognize any of it. If anything, we're just putting this nation into more debt and throwing money down, down the drain towards a program that, that absolutely does not work. So I think that if Republicans feel the political pressure to do something about health care, that's good because we need to tackle this topic and I'm ready to do it. Chip, Roy and I have been talking about this for quite some time. In fact, we're doing white paper, you know, focus groups tonight even to try to try to drill down on, on a solution that the American people will love.

[John]

That's important. An alternative, a credible alternative will make it go a big way to solving the problem. Something that you've really focused on. The GAO does it really well. But you have taking a look at just the vast fraud and sometimes improper billing, improper payments, I think about 200 billion you tracked last year in some of the welfare programs. This gets highlighted every year. It never gets fixed. Is this the window where we finally get it fixed? It seems like it should be easy to tell if you're paying someone who doesn't deserve it. You should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Yeah, we should. And Doge did a great effort in identifying that. And a lot of that work, to your point, was already identified by the Office of Inspector Generals. And for example, we know that the government loses 233 billion to improper payments and 521 billion annually to fraud. And so that is huge. And Congress needs to step up and do something about it. And there's simple things that we can do. For example, we could require that the Social Security Administration provide their full death report to some of these agencies so that when somebody is died, you would think that the, you think that when somebody has died and the government's removed or, you know, mark that down in the Social Security system, that all the other systems would follow suit. But the left hand does not know what the right hand does in this town. So we need to, we need to build some interfaces and connections between all of these systems.

[John]

Yeah.

[Shane Harris]

And Congressman, I want to tie this back to one of the hot, hot button political issues, or the hot button political terms that's being thrown around a lot today, and that's affordability. And I wanted to give you a chance to talk a little bit about how addressing the waste, fraud, and abuse will actually make life more affordable. Because if the government isn't spending so much on things it doesn't need to be spending money on, that makes everyday life affordable for the American people.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

It absolutely does. Look, every dollar that government spends in deficit spending is inflationary spending. So when we're spending $2 trillion more every year than we bring in, then we. That by definition, is printing money and diluting the value of every person's dollar. And therefore, every time you go to this to buy something, you got to put forward more dollars. This, It's. We have got to restrain ourselves and reduce spending. And if we can do that, we will see inflation go down. It might even reverse. If we could, if we could dramatically reduce spending and we, we would also see interest rates come down. So when the government is spending $2 trillion more, we have to take that out in debt, which means we're out there shopping for the debt in order to pay in order to continue our spending problem. And when we're shopping, we're basically competing with consumers or businesses who are looking to take out loans or debt and that's driving up interest rates. You could, the Fed could lower rates all day long. But the market for, for the, for in the demand is what's, it's, what's keeping interest rates, you know, statically high. And so that's government. At the end of the day, government has to reduce its spent expenditures.

[John]

Great to have you on the show, Congressman. What an honor to have you on tonight.

[Congressman Eric Burleson]

Anytime, John. It's an honor for me.

[John]

Yeah, we love having you on. You're doing such great work. All right, folks, quick commercial break. But when we come back, former Trump attorney Christina Bob will discuss the weaponized justice system she's experienced firsthand. Now before we do that though, we're going to go and have a quick commercial break. And during that break, I got a good idea. Go over to AMAC US, Jesse, because for as little as a buck 20amonth, you can get a five year membership. You can become join 2 million plus patriots like myself, like Shane, like Bobby Charles and all the great folks that we bring on the show. Go join AAC today. AMAC us. We'll be right back. Welcome back everybody, to this just the news, Real America's Voice special report. I'm joined again by my good friends at amac, specifically amac. Newsline's Shane Harrison. Our next guest is Christina Bobb, former Trump attorney and current Judicial Watch litigator. She's also the author of an extraordinary book called Define. I encourage everybody to get a great read. Christina, great to have you back on the show.

[Christina Bobb]

Thank you so much for having me, John. I'm thrilled to be here.

[John]

We love having you. We're talking about abuses and corruption and waste and fraud and you can't have that conversation about if we don't talk about the weaponization of what happened in the justice system. You've written an extraordinary book. You witnessed that systemic, systemic abuse firsthand. Tell us, are we turning a corner? Is this the moment where accountability and a turn occurs?

[Christina Bobb]

Well, we're definitely at the crossroads for sure whether we've made the right turn or not. Personally, I'm still kind of waiting to see how that plays out. I was hoping to see the Department of Justice come out a little bit more aggressive. You know, I do give them credit that these types of cases are complex and trying to weed this out is not a simple task. So I'm trying to be patient. But I am eager to see the direction that we end up taking because we are at a turning point.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah. And Christina just kind of building on that idea a little bit you're somebody who's seen firsthand the lawfare and the weaponization of government moving forward over the next several months, the next couple years. What would you like to see from the Trump DOJ to kind of ensure that some of the stuff that we saw last year doesn't happen again in the future?

[Christina Bobb]

Personally, and maybe a bit selfishly, I would like to see whether it's criminal charges or criminal referrals or the civil litigation section. Harmeet Dhillon, Section 1. I don't, to be honest, I don't necessarily care which way it goes, but we need to see the Department of Justice weeding out civilly or criminally with prosecutions. The people that have been targeting regular, ordinary Americans that are just trying to exercise their civil rights and support the candidate of their choice. I was part of that. It was the whole Arctic Frost that got pushed all the way down to the state and local level President Trump just pardoned. I want to say 77 folks, myself included, largely symbolically, but still a very important symbol of what's going on at the state level. I think Americans see a lot of the high level stuff between Donald Trump and Letitia James and comeyou know, the people that kind of, they look like elitists above just the common man. And I don't think Americans really appreciate how much their own rights are in danger. If they just so happen to support the wrong candidate or God forbid, they actually become successful at voicing their opinions, they'll be targets. So personally, I would like to see more of the cases targeted on the Arctic Frost aspect of things that actually were targeting ordinary Americans, I would say illegally.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah. Christina, I'm so glad you mentioned that because I think a lot of the headlines, they talk about President Trump, they talk about the spying that went on on members of Congress. But the message that you've always pushed and that I think is really important, is that if they can do this to President Trump, if they can do this to sitting members of Congress, they can do it to anybody. And as you mentioned with Arctic Frost, you know, beneath the national headlines was everyday Americans who were really impacted by this. And so I'd just like to get your take on the continuing threat to everyday Americans. You know, if we, if we didn't have a Trump administration, if we do have another Democrat administration somewhere down the line, what are the threats that still need to be addressed either from an administration standpoint or what, more importantly, what does Congress need to do do to ensure that this doesn't happen again?

[Christina Bobb]

Well, I think Congress, the most Important thing they can do is pass comprehensive election reform. I mean, pass the reformations that President Trump wants. Voter id, no mail in ballots are only for very limited situations. In person, voting one day, voting no ballots received after the election, do what they can to secure the elections as best as possible. Because if our elections are not secure and you have rogue people from whichever party running the Department of Justice and these state organizations, I mean, the American people have effectively lost their voice. They're either going to get thrown in jail and they're not going to be able to effectively, through elections, elect the people of their choice. So if whether the Department of Justice actually brings charges that could clean some of this out kind of remains to be seen.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

But.

[Christina Bobb]

But as far as I can tell, Congress really hasn't done much of kind of plugging the other hole, which is all of the shenanigans going on within our elections. We have to have both of those. You know, there's lots of issues to tackle in our nation, but if you don't have clean elections and you don't have a clean Justice Department, I mean, our. Our liberties are very, very much at stake.

[John]

Hmm. I want to stay on that subject, Christina, because I think it's so important. We were born in this country in part because our founding fathers chafed at the idea that the British system had general warrants, meaning they could look anywhere and try to find a crime, rather than just investigating something narrowly. Arctic Frost was basically a giant dragnet. They were just dragging the ocean looking for any rusty license plate they could hang on a person. How do we get reforms to things like Fisa and Title 3, which allows people's phone records to be taken, because it's obviously way too easy to get people's private data without a real cause of action, 1,000%.

[Christina Bobb]

And I love this topic because it's a Republican topic. Republicans are the ones that continue to double down, allowing these FISA warrants, allowing FISA and all of the procedures that go along with it to continue. And so I was particularly upset, you know, and I understand the senators have come out and said, it's not what it means. You know, it's not what it looked like. But the senators that said, you know, the eight senators that snuck that provision in, allowing $500,000 for themselves but not for anybody else who was actually harmed and actually knew that they were being targeted, to me, I think that was. That really highlighted the symptom or maybe even the root cause is, I think Republicans, and I say this as a strong conservative, I think The Republicans in office today are a bit out of touch with the concerns of the Republican base. And I think that little, if you want to call it a snafu, you know, that's my friendly way. I think they've missed the mark, and I think they. I don't believe that the Republicans in Congress right now really understand how important that issue is to their constituents, because if they did, they wouldn't be voting the way they do. And then on the other side of that, I don't think the American people really truly understand how much Republicans are to blame for it. I think it's easy to look at all of the lawfare against Donald Trump and all the lawfare against Republicans, and people who may not be in D.C. or may not be in the news regularly don't realize that it's actually Republicans that are enable, you know, in some ways enabling that to happen. By the way they're voting on surveillance, it's Republicans that are the surveillance party. And the good news about that is we can change it. We can just change it, because that's our side that's doing it. But so far. So far, they haven't now.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah, absolutely. Christina, I just wanted to get your thoughts and you sort of hit on this. I know that President Trump gave you a pardon, and I think that that speaks to his ability to understand that this is an issue to the base, not because you did anything wrong, but as sort of a symbolic gesture that he sees you and the everyday Americans who have been impacted by this wanted to give you a chance to just give your thoughts on what that meant to you and what it says about him. As someone who understands this issue.

[Christina Bobb]

Yeah, no, I really appreciate it. You know, it's not going to directly impact my state case, but it did help bring it back into the news because I think a lot of people assumed that when President Trump won the election, all of those cases just went away, and they didn't. We've all still been fighting it month after month after month for over a year at this point, for. Well, for over a year past the election, you know, 18 months for me, and I know two to three years in some of the other states. But so it was the thing that I was really grateful for about it was it brought it back into the news to. For people to go, oh, that's still going on. So that was great. And then the other side of that was, I think Donald Trump is trying really hard to accomplish the agenda and to represent the people who put him in office and his Department of Justice has not pursued this. I filed my whistleblower complaint that's out for people to see. And I think at least on the civil side, they can look into a lot of the abuses that stem from Arctic frost and step in and help help these Americans that are still facing these charges. And we haven't seen that come out of this DOJ yet. So I also took it as Donald Trump trying to kind of make up a little bit for where his DOJ is lacking.

[John]

I have a funny feeling it's going to be a very busy winter for the Justice Department. I have a good idea for people who want to learn a little bit of what the system's like, too. They can read your amazing book, Defiant Christine. It's a great book. You do such great work. Thanks for joining us today.

[Christina Bobb]

Thanks so much, John.

[John]

Yeah. Appreciate you so much. All right, folks, what a great conversation. Go check that book out. It's absolutely chilling to read what Christina went through. It's amazing. All right, up after the Blake, Brian Blaise of Paragon Health Institute will discuss finding billions of dollars in Obamacare fraud. And while we're in a break, I got a homework assignment for you. Go to my good friends at AMAC US JustNews. They make this special possible. You can join for as little as $120 a month and become a five year member like me. That's how much a five year membership cost. I'm plug 20amonth. It's a steal. Go do it. We'll be right back with more. But in the meantime, go check out AMAC US Just news. Welcome back, America, to this Just the news. Real America's Voice special report brought to you by our friends at abac. I'm still joined by my amazing co host tonight, Shane Harrison. It's time to bring in Brian Blaise, president of Paragon Health Institute and former special assistant to the president for economic policy under President Trump. Brian, great to have you on the show.

[Brian Blaise]

It's great to be here, John. Thank you.

[John]

All right, so we've been talking this whole show about ways that the government and taxpayers end up losing money because of waste, inefficiency, fraud, corruption when it comes to Obamacare. You've done an awful lot to show the American people how corrupt and how inefficient this program is. Tell us a little bit about it.

[Brian Blaise]

Yeah. So the main problem is these expanded subsidies that were enacted during the pandemic to help Americans make sure that they didn't lose health coverage. But they've had massively negative unintended consequences that have exacerbated fraud. What they did is create fully subsidized plans and give incentives for unscrupulous brokers and agents to manipulate the applications of enrollees so that they form their application to be eligible for these fully subsidized plans, even when they weren't. That generated big commissions for agents and brokers. It also generated big profits for health insurance companies. If health insurance companies, they get these subsidies or payments directly from the US treasury into their coffer. And it turns out you can roll a lot more people in the program if individuals don't have to pay a penny for the coverage. So we did an analysis in the greater Obamacare enrollment fraud that found that there are 6.4 million improper enrollees in this program that don't have the income that that they have on their application to qualify for these fully subsidized plans. And that has led so many of these individuals don't know that they're covered. They were misled by schemes advertising free plans, advertising cash gift cards if they gave their information that was necessary for enrollment. So you have massive improper enrollment, big benefits to health insurance companies. And we now see millions and millions of these enrollees, 12 million in 2024, in fact, didn't use their health plan a single time in 2024. So no doctor service, no prescription, no lab test. So basically what we have is Washington sending enormous payments to health insurance companies on behalf of people who don't know they're covered, have other coverage, and don't benefit from the plan at all.

[Shane Harris]

One thing that I'd like to point out and have you expand on is what this means for not only Americans who are paying for all these subsidies and all this fraud, but for Americans who just have their own private health insurance. How does this affect them and the rates that they're paying?

[Brian Blaise]

So that's a great question. You know, Obamacare had underlying features that have increased commercial prices, so that there has been, there's higher payments, largely because of a lot of the consolidation that's happened with Obamacare. You do have people that have private insurance paying additional premiums because of that. But most the biggest effect is rising tax burdens, rising inflation, rising interest rates. So all of this wasteful spending, just one, it has to be financed. It's now financed by deficits and all of deficits. Higher deficits mean higher interest rates, higher inflation. These expanded Obamacare subsidies, which were part of the COVID response, were a contributing factor to the rising inflation that Americans suffered under during the Biden Administration.

[John]

Just amazing. Brian, I want to ask a little bit about, do any Americans get any of these subsidies or do they just go straight to the insurance companies? Right. And the people we're trying to help actually don't touch this money at all, do they?

[Brian Blaise]

No, they are payments directly from the treasury to health insurance companies. Now individuals, they benefit from having to pay less out of pocket premium because there's a shift in the responsibility to the taxpayer. But people don't have control over the subsidies. They go directly to the insurance companies. They have limited ability to use the subsidies in ways either on plans or on care that they think is the best fit. You know, one of the things that we think is important to both improve health care and also to reduce all of the waste and fraud is to realign incentives. So if the government is sending subsidies for lower income Americans to those Americans and giving them the ability to choose the health care services that work best for them, that's a way to dramatically reduce the waste that's resulted from all of these subsidies. You know, health insurance companies have been the big winner from Obamacare. They have benefited from the fraud. If you look at some of their financial reports, they indicate that there is a material risk if the government starts to take action to reduce the improper spending and fraud in the exchanges. And their stock price has increased three times faster than the general S and P increase since Obamacare took effect.

[Shane Harris]

Yeah, simply incredible. And Brian, let me ask you this. The level of fraud that we're seeing with all this, what you've just described to us, is this all some big accident or was this by design? In other words, when the Democrats set Obamacare in motion over a decade ago, is this really what they were trying to get us to all along?

[Brian Blaise]

You know, that's a good question. I think that the Democrats, when they enacted Obamacare, I think they were genuine in their desire that the law work and they wanted to create a individual market, the place where people go that don't get employer sponsor insurance that offered more competitive plans. I just think it was very ill designed. And because of its ill design, it didn't create more affordable health coverage. Premiums and deductibles increased for coverage that had increasingly narrow networks, meaning that it didn't cover a lot of the best hospitals and doctors in regions. Rather than dealing with the underlying flaws in Obamacare and looking for bipartisan solutions, they just layered a massive additional subsidies to health insurers to prop up a program that is failing. It is now nearly 85% of the entire market is the revenues that insurers receive are subsidies or payments from the federal government. That is not a sign of a healthy competitive market. That's a sign of a market that has been damaged by excessive government regulation and mandates and subsidies. And what these subsidies do is that they perpetuate a cycle where premiums and prices continue to increase. So we need to stop the throwing good money after bad money. And the key to reforming Obamacare and the American health sector is to stop subsidizing insurers for offering inferior products and to realign incentives so that insurers actually provide coverage that Americans value and will spend their own money on.

[John]

One thing I'm certain of, Brian, we've done a lot of work based on the Paragon Health Institute's great research. You have the roadmap. Congress just needs to pay attention. Great honor to have you on the show, my friend.

[Brian Blaise]

Thank you very much. Appreciate you saying that.

[John]

Yeah, folks, go check all the great work Paragon's doing. They understand this better than anyone. All right, Shane and I have to get to one more break, but before we do that, head over to AMAC US News. Why? Because you can can join and become an AMAC member like me. I'm a five year card carrying member for as little as 120amonth. That's for a five year membership. That's AMAC US. Go check it out during the break. We'll be right back. Welcome back everybody to this just the news, real America's Voice special report. I'm joined by my good friend Shane Harris at amac. And it's time now to bring in our final guest of the evening and he can tell us the consequences of fraudulent spending and entitlements and what that means for the overall economy and the individual American taxpayer. People like you and me. He's a fiscal policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity. He is Kurt Kaushman. Kurt, good to have you back on the show.

[Kurt Kaushman]

Hey, it's great to be here with you.

[John]

All right. I love when we do this. You've helped us understand how we got to this $38 trillion monstrosity that's a deficit debt. Help us understand where waste, fraud, abuse, and I guess corruption in some degrees gets us to this unstainable future.

[Kurt Kaushman]

Well, the American taxpayers are shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars every single year that is going straight in the pockets of fraudsters. Every program has its unique characteristics and there are lots and lots of different ways for people to cheat the system. During the pandemic, there were literally hundreds of billions of dollars that were stolen when all that money went out to, you know, help people get through the consequences of the shutdowns and the lockdowns and all of that. Some of them were international criminal gangs. And the problem is that one, we just don't have enough agency oversight. That's starting to change. We saw Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins saying that people are going to have to reapply for SNAP benefits because there's just so much fraud in the system. She says, so it's a real cost on the American people. It's also making it harder for people that are eligible for the programs to get access to them. We see that especially in healthcare. And there's so much work left to be done. There was some progress made by the reconciliation bill this summer, but there's just a lot more to be done. And some of it has to do with fixing the underlying incentives for members of Congress to care more about these things.

[John]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shane Harris]

And, Eric, if I could ask you to expand a little bit more on that. So what we've seen from the Trump administration is that they've been very committed to fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Congress has sort of dragged its feet a little bit. But we know that Republicans won't control Congress forever, and they won't control the White House forever. And they may actually have a very short window before the midterms next year to do something long term about the waste, fraud, and abuse. So from your perspective, what would you like to see get done in the next 10 to 12 months to make some of these reforms more permanent?

[Kurt Kaushman]

Well, everyone needs to do as much as they possibly can during the time that they have. A lot of things are pretty sticky in Washington. You do a regulation, you improve program integrity, and those things will last for a long period of time. You change the laws even more. So the ultimate goal, however, is to get Congress to be thinking, hey, what's the best way to provide value for the American people? And right now, they don't really have a system that's set up for that. They have an appropriations process, which is great, but it's only about a quarter of spending and none of the revenue. A lot of the programs where the fraud, the waste and the abuse are so rampant are not in the appropriations process. They're in the other 3/4 of spending. Sometimes they're through provisions of the tax code. And so if you want to get Congress to be an active participant in reining all that nonsense in, you need to get Congress looking at the entire federal budget, all the spending, all the revenue, all the tax preferences within per committee spending caps so that they have an incentive to manage within their portfolios for the best value. And that means going after and having political cover to go after the nonsense that's out there right now. The incentives for that are pretty weak because oftentimes there are people that are getting paid because of some of this nonsense and then they come in and they'll lobby Congress. Not the criminal element, of course, because those people are not going to be going to their politicians, but you know, people of, of legitimate businesses that benefit indirectly from some of this stuff.

[John]

Kurt, you guys do such amazing work at Americans for Prosperity, Smart Forward Thinking Solutions. Great honor to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.

[Kurt Kaushman]

Thanks so much for having me.

[John]

All right, folks, it's hard to believe the hour went away like that, but we had a great conversation. First, I want to thank my amazing co host tonight, Shane Harris, and of course, our partners at amac, the association of Mature American Citizens. You can thank them too. Here's how you do it. Go become a member like me. Here's how you do it. You head over to AMAC US JustNews to join for as little as a buck twenty a month for a five year membership. Fight for truth and get great benefits. It's a great deal.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

I'm a member.

[John]

Hope you join me as well. Thanks for joining everybody. We'll be back with regular programming tomorrow. Have a good night. This is an I Heart podcast.