With Iran Threatening Terror Attacks, Biden's Open Borders Get even WORSE, plus IRS Targeting the Middle Class

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson - Episode Summary Release Date: April 8, 2024

Hosts:

• Ben Ferguson – Host
• Senator Ted Cruz – Guest

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Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update, Ben Ferguson engages in a comprehensive discussion with Senator Ted Cruz. The conversation delves into pressing national security concerns, border issues, economic challenges, and the administration's policies affecting the middle class.

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1. Southern Border Security and Terrorism Threats

The episode opens with a focus on the deteriorating situation at the U.S. southern border, highlighting an increase in unauthorized entries and individuals on the terrorist watch list.

• Senator Ted Cruz emphasizes the severity of the situation:

  "If you're a terrorist, you're not likely gonna go turn yourself in to the border Patrol agents, which is what millions of the illegal immigrants Joe Biden has let in are doing." [05:17]

• Ben Ferguson comments on the administration's open border policies, linking them to heightened security risks:

  "The number of gotaways has skyrocketed, Senator... the list of their perks is skyrocketing as more and more illegals coming across the border." [04:34]

Key Points:

• Significant rise in "gotaways" (individuals who evade border patrol).
• Increase in apprehensions of individuals on the terrorist watch list under the Biden administration.
• Concerns about sophisticated methods of illegal entry, including drone incursions.

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2. Iran's Escalating Threats and U.S. Foreign Policy

A substantial portion of the discussion centers on Iran's aggressive stance and its implications for U.S. national security.

• Senator Ted Cruz highlights Iran's commitments to terrorism and the administration's inadequate response:

  "Iran is funding millions and millions of dollars to fund Hamas terrorists, to fund Hezbollah terrorists... Joe Biden continues to this day not to enforce the oil sanctions." [19:34]

• Ben Ferguson questions the administration's approach, suggesting a lack of decisive action:

  "What message does that send to them? They can do whatever they want in the middle east and America won't respond." [18:32]

Key Points:

• Iran's promise of retaliation following strikes in Damascus, targeting U.S. facilities.
• Biden administration's efforts to secure a new nuclear deal prioritized over enforcing existing sanctions.
• Historical context of oil waivers under previous administrations and their impact on Iran's economy.

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3. Iranian Oil Sales and U.S. Sanctions

The conversation delves into the complexities of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and their enforcement.

• Senator Ted Cruz provides a historical overview:

  "When he pulled out of the deal, there were still significant components of the deal that remained in place, and the most significant was what was called the oil waivers... we ended up with now an anti American leftist, Petro, who again, hates America." [20:04]

• He criticizes the Biden administration for lifting sanctions in practice:

  "They have not officially lifted the sanctions. The sanctions are technically still there in name only, but we're allowing them to export their oil." [20:04]

Key Points:

• Termination of oil waivers drastically reduced Iran's oil exports from 1 million to 300,000 barrels per day.
• Biden administration's failure to enforce sanctions led to a resurgence in Iranian oil sales, now exceeding pre-waiver levels.
• The increase in oil exports funds Iran's support for terrorist organizations.

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4. Economic Challenges: Bidenomics

The episode critiques the current administration's economic policies, labeling them detrimental to the American populace.

• Senator Ted Cruz outlines the economic downturn:

  "Overall prices are up 18.6%. Real average weekly earnings are down 4.2%... In the month of March, zero new manufacturing jobs were added." [30:25]

• Ben Ferguson counters the administration's claims about gas prices:

  "Now, Senator, that's just a lie. Gas prices are not down. Anyone that goes the pump knows this." [29:55]

Key Points:

• Significant increases in gas and grocery prices, straining household budgets.
• Decline in real average weekly earnings and stagnation in manufacturing job growth.
• Bidenomics criticized for failing to deliver economic relief and stability.

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5. IRS Audits Targeting the Middle Class

A critical examination of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reveals a shift towards auditing middle-class Americans contrary to presidential promises.

• Senator Ted Cruz discusses the IRS findings:

  "As of last summer, 63% of new audits targeted taxpayers with incomes of less than $200,000. Only a small overall share reached the very highest earners." [32:22]

• The administration's plan to expand the IRS workforce is seen as a tool for increased scrutiny:

  "They are right now hiring the first 30,000 of those employees... it means a whole bunch more IRS employees there to harass you." [32:33]

Key Points:

• Contrary to promises, the IRS is predominantly auditing middle-income earners.
• Expansion of the IRS workforce aimed at intensifying audits and potentially exploiting loopholes.
• Impact on small businesses and average citizens feeling targeted.

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6. National Security and Domestic Policy Failures

The discussion underscores the administration's focus on domestic issues at the expense of national security.

• Senator Ted Cruz labels the Biden White House's foreign policy as ideologically driven:

  "They divide the world into blue countries and red countries... Their entirety of the Biden foreign policy is to undermine, to alienate, to weaken the red countries." [27:10]

• Ben Ferguson calls for greater media coverage and public awareness:

  "The American people have to have a moment where they say, no, no, we don't believe you anymore." [33:18]

Key Points:

• Prioritization of domestic policies over critical foreign relations and national security.
• Perception of the administration as undermining traditional U.S. allies while appeasing adversarial nations.
• Urgent need for public recognition and response to administration's policy failures.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to stay informed, share truthful information, and recognize the critical issues threatening national security and economic stability. Senator Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson emphasize the importance of accountability and the need for a collective response to the administration's policies.

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Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz on border security threats:

  "The risk of a terror attack here in the United States keeps going up and Joe Biden's open border is making it worse and worse." [02:36]

• Ben Ferguson on Iran's threats:

  "Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced the death of seven military advisers in the Damascus strike... Iran promised, 'to take a decisive response.'" [10:47]

• Senator Ted Cruz on economic hardships:

  "Anyone who goes to the grocery store, anyone who fills up their tank at the pump... discovering, holy cow, what I thought I could afford is now out of reach." [34:01]

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This episode of The 47 Morning Update provides a critical analysis of current administration policies, highlighting significant concerns in border security, foreign policy, economic management, and the treatment of the middle class. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on these issues and engage in informed discussions to advocate for effective policy changes.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is THE Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, we have got a lot on this Monday to talk about and it's more than just the eclipse. There are new warnings at the southern border about possible terrorists coming across as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's right. We should start with the fact that the eclipse is going to be happening today, that it is, by all accounts going to be spectacular. It's right over the middle of Texas. And so if you are anywhere in the path of the eclipse, I'd encourage you go outside, take a few minutes to obviously don't look directly in the sun, but you can do the pinhole effort with a piece of paper and take your kids out there and see. We should get for a good chunk of Texas about four minutes of darkness right in the middle of the day. And so that should be worthwhile to go see. And actually, Ben, you're right now in Kerrville, Texas, at a ranch right in the prime viewing spot. So I will say today as Verdict is coming out, the sun will be blotted out.

[Ben Ferguson]

It will be, I said rarely in my life can I say that I went to the perfect spot. If it's good enough for NASA, it's got to be good enough for me. So it's going to be four plus minutes of total darkness, they say, and my kids are here. It's going to be fun. In Kerrville, they say the town of Kerrville is going to swell by over 500,000 people just to see this moment. It's a once in a lifetime experience.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that is phenomenal. And I will say we've got a lot to talk about on the pod today. We've got, first of all, the border continues to get worse and worse and worse. We're seeing gotaways increasing. We're seeing people on the known terror list increasing. That is combining with the growing news of the threats of a direct terror attack because of the war in the Middle east, because of Iran, because of Hamas, because of Hezbollah, because because of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The risk of a terror attack here in the United States keeps going up and Joe Biden's open border is making it worse and worse. We're also gonna talk about the new audit done at the IRS when it turns out that, well, you know, all of Joe Biden and Janet Yellen's promises not to audit the middle class, turns out they were lying. They are, in fact going after the middle class, which would be exactly what we told you on this podcast they were gonna do. And finally, we're going to Talk about the impact the economy is having on Americans across the country on prices on on day to day living and how despite the White House trying to spin baby spin Biden nomics is proving to be a disaster for for most Americans.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Well let's talk about the warning at the southern border. The number of gotaways has skyrocketed, Senator. And this is as there's been so much attention on the border which, which again goes back to the point that you've said over and over again this administration created this. They don't believe it's a problem. They believe this is a way to change this country. It's an opportunity for them to bring in new voters and change things with the map in Congress, with the census. The list of their perks is skyrocketing as more and more illegals coming across the border. The problem now is the number of people that are on the terrorist watch list is also skyrocketing. They're coming across southern borders. There's been concerns and warnings from the FBI. You've been warning about this for quite some time.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. If you look at the number of suspects on the terror watch list apprehended at the southern border for the entire four years of the Trump administration, fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2021, the total people on the terror watch list apprehended was 26. Over a total of four years. Joe Biden came in, opened up the border, and those numbers have skyrocketed in the last six months. In the. In the first half of fiscal year 2024, 69 suspects on the terror watch list have been apprehended. That's in six months. That is more than 10amonth. We had 26 in four years. And under Joe Biden, we have more than 10 known terrorists or people on the terror watch list apprehended every single month of this fiscal year. You put that on top of the really concerning number, which is the known gotaways. Known gotaways are people we've observed at the border we know are there. But they got away. And they got away. Typically, the gotaways are much more likely to be serious problems. They're more likely to be criminals. They're more likely to be murderers or rapists or child molesters. They're more likely to be gang members, and they're more likely to be terrorists. If you're a terrorist, you're not likely gonna go turn yourself in to the border Patrol agents, which is what millions of the illegal immigrants Joe Biden has let in are doing. Just in the month of March, there were over 20,000 known got aways. Just on Sunday, there were 919 known gotaways. Those are people among those 919. We don't know how many terrorists are there, but we do know that if the terrorists are coming, that's what they're going to be as a gotaway.

[Ben Ferguson]

And those numbers are coming from Customs and Border Patrol. So this is the own Biden administration's numbers. They're telling you this. There was also something else that Governor Abbott, a good friend of yours, said on Fox News Channel. He was asked about the Biden administration. Are they changing? Are they doing anything different? I mean, in reality, we know the Biden administration sues Texas so that Texas can't protect and defend itself and tries to rip down the razor wire and the border security measures they put up. But what he said about this is the issue of the terrorists coming across. He also said something else that's very interesting. That those on the terrorist watch list, they make more money for the smugglers and the cartel members that are bringing them across. They're willing to pay more to get across our southern border. Take a listen to this from Fox News.

[Unknown News Anchor]

The chief of the border patrol is saying exactly of 140,000 got aways.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If we don't know who is coming.

[Unknown News Anchor]

Into our country and we don't know what their intent is, that is a threat. Does President Biden agree?

[Unknown Advertiser]

The president absolutely believes that along that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Border we do have significant national security.

[Unknown Advertiser]

Concerns that have to be met. He also said that they're doing everything.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That they possibly can.

[Unknown Advertiser]

But are you worried that we're in a September 10th mentality on this issue?

[Unknown News Anchor]

Let's be clear. The Biden administration is doing nothing to stop terrorists from coming across the border. They are knowingly allowing them in. And there's two categories here. They're the terrorists who were actually apprehended. The terrorists apprehended are an all time record. Many multiples of those who came across the border under the Trump administration. But second, you talked about the gotaways. The terrorists will pay extra not to be caught. What that means is the number that we've caught, which is extraordinary. There's far more than that have gotten across the border. Remember this Also Last month the FBI director talked about a potential 911 type terrorist attack because of the terrorists who are coming across our border. The chief job of the President of the United States is national security. The President Biden is failing at national security. We are extraordinarily concerned about a terrorist attack occurring in Texas or elsewhere in the United States because of the terrorists who are crossing our border at will, unstopped by the Biden. Do you think ISIS is here today? So I have no information that they are. However, again, the FBI director was talking last month about the possibility that ISIS could be coming here. Think about this concept. It's ridiculous that anybody has their shoes inspected at an airport these days when terrorists can come right across the border and sneak in and come here. Let me foreshadow also another concern we're going to have really soon that started kind of beginning right now. And that's going to be drone wars. The capability of the cartels about getting things across the border through drones already is extraordinary. And they're going to be more aggressive, more sophisticated in the drone attacks. We can sustain a drone attack any time.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, you've talked about this. The number of drones that are coming across, we played this audio on Verdict just a few weeks ago where they were before Congress. They were talking about tens of thousands of drones that are coming across into American airspace, some of them dropping drugs and fentanyl, some of them spying on Americans. They can also be used to target and to kill people as well. We are seeing that in the Middle east right now. We're seeing that in the war between Russia and Ukraine. And yet all of this is happening. And we go back to one of the things you said there. I mean, Senator, are we in a September 10 mentality, which is what you heard her say there on Fox? Because I am terrified that the Biden administration is absolutely in a September 10th mindset.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I think there's no question about it. And the risk of a major terrorist attack in the United States is higher today than it has been anytime since September 11, 2001. And on top of that, we have the news breaking this weekend, USA Today reported, quote, the U.S. is on high alert for a potential attack on Israel or on American facilities in the Middle east in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed Iranian commanders. Two U.S. officials told USA TODAY Iran vowed revenge after suspected Israeli warplanes bombed its embassy in Damascus on Monday, killing a top Iranian military commander, a major escalation in Israel's war with its regional adversaries. The Biden administration is concerned about the possibility Iranians might attack U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, sources said, And American forces were in a heightened state of vigilance. Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced the death of seven military advisers in the Damascus strike, including Mohammad Reza Zahidi, a senior commander at its Quds Force, an elite foreign espionage and paramilitary arm. Iran promised, quote, to take a decisive response. So we have Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, promising a decisive response, funding millions and millions of dollars to fund Hamas terrorists, to fund Hezbollah terrorists, to fund Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to attack directly American forces in the Middle East. And we have on top of that, Joe Biden and the Democrats. And by the way, it's not just Joe Biden, it's every congressional Democrat who has rubber stamped these open border policies who have given the Iranians at Hamas and Hezbollah a red carpet invitation to come into this country. And by the way, you heard Greg Gabbitt talking about the drones. Our drone vulnerability is enormous. I mean, we had testimony of upwards of 25,000 drone incursions from the cartels across our southern border. At a time when Americans are directly threatened with terror. Joe Biden has given an invitation to the for the terrorists to come to America.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Look, I do a radio show every.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Let's, let's talk about what's also happening in those warnings coming in the Middle east right now. We, we did a show and I got to say to all the Verdict listeners, you guys were amazing in spreading that show on social media. If you missed it, we did an entire episode on Israel and what's going on in Israel. You can grab it and share that wherever you are on social media. But there was a lot of people that I think learned a lot from the discussion that we had here. And look, you now look at what's going on in the Middle east and this threat from Iran, I think we should all take it. Obviously very Seriously, I don't think they're lying. I don't think they're basically trying to bluff on this one. And the concerns are significant, but the real concern is, is America's lack of response or saying to Iran, you better not screw with us. And we've allowed them for months and months to attack US Interests in the Middle east without us really retaliating. And that's part of the reason why they're so bold right now. Am I wrong?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You're not. It it's worse than that. Look, I mean, we just a couple of weeks ago, I forced a vote on the Senate floor to block the Biden administration from sending billions of dollars to Iran. And every single Senate Democrat but one, everyone but Bob Menendez voted no. And Menendez did it right at the end. I think he was mostly at the other Democrats who have demanded that he resign. And so he voted with me. But every other Democrat was happy to vote to send billions to Iran and by Iran has launched over a hundred attacks on US Servicemen and women in the last six months. Not only that, you know, we just talked about the threat from, from Iran and the escalation in the, in, in the threat. What did the Biden administration do? Well, a U.S. this is from NBC News. Now a U.S. intelligence assessment warns that Iran could carry out an attack using a swarm of drones or land attack cruise missiles and that that Iran could target an Israeli diplomatic or consular facility in the region in retaliation for the strike on Damascus. According to two U.S. officials familiar with the assessment, Iran is likely to respond before the end of Ramadan next week. So there's a particularly heightened alert right now. On Friday, a top aide to Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said, said Tehran sent a message warning the United States not to get involved in the fight between Israel and Iran. Quote, in a written message, the Islamic Republic of Iran warns US Leadership not to get dragged in Netanyahu's trap for the US Stay away so you won't get hurt is what Muhammad Jam City that's how what his name is posted on X. He wrote that in response the US Asked Iran not to target American facilities. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said reports that the US had asked Iran not to target American facilities were simply wrong and Iranian spin. And here's a little bit more. We received a message from Iran following the strike in Damascus. In response, we made clear that we were not behind the strike. We also warned Iran not to use the strike as a pretext to further escalate in the region or attack U.S. facilities or personnel in the hours after the strike in Damascus. That is, the Biden administration reached out to Iran directly to assure Tehran that the US Was not involved and did not have advanced knowledge of the strike. So, in other words, this is what the Biden administration does in the middle of the war, what do they do? They call Iran and they're like, oh, we're sorry, we're sorry, we're sorry. Mind you, Iran is funding Hamas, is effectively waging war with Israel. And what is Biden doing calling Iran and apologizing and also allowing an open border with an invitation for anyone with ill intent to come into this country.

[Ben Ferguson]

We also know that Iran, through their proxies, have been targeting American interests in the Middle East. And yet we still call and say, hey, don't worry, we weren't involved in this. What message does that send to them? They can do whatever they want in the Middle east and America won't respond.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, sadly, that's exactly the message that Joe Biden is sending every day. Iran is discovering they can attack Americans, they can murder Americans. They can attack over and over and over again. And the Biden administration, not only no response, the Biden administration's response will be, here have billions of dollars. It is bizarre. It ought to be an incredibly simple principle. Don't give money to people who want to kill you. And I'll add an addendum to that, who are actively trying to kill you. And yet Biden and the Democrats keep shoveling cash more and more to Iran. And by the way, Iran is still selling 2 million barrels a day of oil because Joe Biden refuses to enforce the oil sanctions that's funding the regime.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want you to explain this even more because this is something I think many in the media have refused to cover and tell the truth about this. We have sanctions right now that are in place on Iranian oil that have been in place for quite some time. And the only difference is this administration, they have not officially lifted the sanctions. The sanctions are technically still there in name only, but we're allowing them to export their oil. Is that the easiest way to explain it to everyone listening?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, that's exactly right. And let's review the bidding. Let's do a little bit of history on Iranian oil sales. So if you go back to the Trump administration, there was a big battle in the Trump administration within the administration about whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama deal, which was a terrible deal. Both the State Department and the Defense Department said, no, do not pull out of the deal. I Strongly disagreed. I went to President Trump repeatedly over and over and over again and argued this deal was catastrophic. It was endangering America. It was bad, bad. And, and the president agreed with me. President Trump overruled his own Secretary of State, overruled his own Secretary of Defense. He pulled out of the Iran deal. Now, once he pulled out of the deal, there were still significant components of the deal that remained in place, and the most significant was what was called the oil waivers. The oil waivers allowed Iran to sell oil, and that's really. That was the. The major source of funding for the regime. I began then arguing to President Trump, we needed to end the oil waiver. There was again a fight within the Trump administration on this question. At this time, the lines were a little bit different. You had State arguing, no, do not end the oil waivers. You had Energy, the Department of Energy, saying, yes, end the oil waivers. This was. Mike Pompeo had just started as Secretary of State, and the State Department was arguing, if we end the oil waiver on Iran, the effect will be that the price of oil will skyrocket, the price of gasoline will skyrocket. The Department of Energy chimed in, and you would think the Department of Energy has some expertise in energy. They said, no, that's ridiculous. There's plenty of global supply of oil. We can end the oil waiver, and it's not going to cause prices to skyrocket again. I leaned in vigorously. I urged President Trump, end the oil waivers. States wrong. Energy's right. Well, President Trump again agreed with me. Overruled his own Secretary of State. He ended the oil waivers. At the time he did that, Iran was selling roughly 1 million barrels a day of oil. So that was their major revenue source. We ended the oil waivers, and we now know who, who was right. Energy was right and State was wrong because we ended the oil waivers and the global price barely moved. It had negligible impact on price. There was plenty of supply. What it did have an impact on is it devastated the Iranian economy. And their oil sales dropped from 1 million barrels a day to about 300,000 barrels a day. And so when Joe Biden came into office, the Iranian economy was in shambles. The effect of those oil sanctions were crushing, and all Joe Biden had to do was not screw it up. But, but understand that Biden and the Democrats, their number one foreign policy objective is getting a new nuclear deal with Iran. And bizarrely, they prioritize this over everything. So Biden almost immediately stopped enforcing the oil sanctions. Just, just, just kind of look the other way. And so what happens is Iran has a ghost fleet of tankers that they send oil mostly to Communist China. China buys it and it funds Iran. Biden came in. Iran is selling 300,000 barrels a day today. Iran is selling 2 million barrels of oil a day.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

More than double what they were doing before we ended the oil waiver. And they're using that. That has been upwards of $80 billion that Joe Biden has given a theocratic, homicidal, genocidal maniac, that is the Ayatollah who pledges death to America. And right now he's pledging to retaliate directly. And yet Joe Biden continues to this day not to enforce the oil sanctions.

[Ben Ferguson]

Last question for you on this. Why do you believe he refuses to enforce them? Is it just political ideology? Is it he's compromised in some way? Or is it he's just completely ignorant to the threat that Iran is to the world's stability, including to Israel as well as America?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I think the ideology of the Biden White House and the Biden State Department, in many ways, this White House doesn't have a foreign policy. They have a domestic policy writ large. So they broadcast out to the world. They divide the world into blue countries and red countries. And red countries are those countries that wanted to be friends with America when Donald Trump was president. And blue countries are those countries that hated America when Donald Trump was president. And the entirety of the Biden foreign policy is to undermine, to alienate, to, to weaken the red countries and to acquiesce, to appease to, and send billions of dollars to the blue country. So the reddest country of all is Israel. It's why Biden systematically undermines Israel. Other red countries include the United Kingdom, that include nations like Brazil. When you had Bolsonaro was very pro America, what happened? The Biden administration undermined him and they got Lula, a radical leftist who hate America. Colombia was another red country. We had a very strong pro American ally in Ivan Duque. The Biden White House undermined Duque. We ended up with now an anti American leftist, Petro, who again, hates America. Guatemala. Guatemala we had the president of Guatemala was strongly allied with the United States. As soon as he left, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on the outgoing president of Guatemala. Who are the blue countries? Well, there are lots of blue countries. You've got China's a blue country. Russia is a blue country. North Korea is a blue country. Venezuela is a blue country. But the bluest of all blue countries is Iran. The Biden administration, they View this, it's almost like religious. Their obsession with a new nuclear deal with Iran and they're willing to bend over backwards no matter what. You know, I'm reminded there was a political cartoon when John Kerry was Secretary of State and Obama was president. And it had the Ayatollah saying, death to America. And it had John Kerry saying, can we meet you halfway? That's the view of this White House. They're naive, they're ignorant, and they want to shove billions of dollars to Iran even while they're actively trying to murder Americans and funding the war in Israel.

[Unknown Advertiser]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Data that's come out, a warning that came from you on this show. And I want to play that in a moment. But, but I want to get to the headline here. There are two things right now that are worrying many Americans. Number one, it's Bidenomics. It is a disaster. Right now we are seeing even top Biden economic adviser bragged about gas prices which are up 50% since Biden took office, saying, quote, we are pleased that gas prices have come down. Now the media is allowing them to lie and the American people are not going to fall for this, I don't believe. But take a listen to this. This is coming from the White House, from the Biden team, trying to convince Americans that, hey, you're paying less to the pump right now than ever. You should be excited.

[Unknown News Anchor]

So important for American families and a big focus of President Biden. We are pleased that gas prices have come down by a $40 relative to that peak that was caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But as you say, we are watching carefully to make sure that those gas prices at the pump don't go up.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, Senator, that's just a lie. Gas prices are not down. Anyone that goes the pump knows this. We also know now that grocery prices are nearing 40% higher than they were in 2019. And to add insult to injury, we're now being told on top of all of that that's hurting the middle class, there's now going to be more than ever IRS agents that are targeting specifically middle class Americans with more audits than ever before.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. First of all, in terms of prices, you know, they're crowing about that. They say gasoline prices are lower than the worst they were under Biden, but they're still up 51% from where they were under Trump. By the way, overall prices are up 18.6%. Real average weekly earnings are down 4.2%. Real average weekly earnings were up 8.2% under Trump. And in the month of March, zero new manufacturing jobs were added. And so, look, the economy is hurting mightily. And then you put on top of that, the IRS is doing actually what we predicted on this podcast is targeting the middle class. The Wall Street Journal wrote that wrote just a few days ago, quote, the Internal Revenue Service got an audit of its own in time for tax day. And two irregularities jump out. President Biden's plan to hire a new army of tax collectors is falling flat. And the agents already at work are targeting the middle class. Those are the two findings of the IRS's watchdog, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The most recent data suggests the IRS is still focused on the middle class. As of last summer, 63% of new audits targeted taxpayers with incomes of less than $200,000. Only a small overall share reached the very highest earners, while 80% of the audits covered filers earning less than $1 million. And as the Wall Street Journal urges you don't forget to save those charitable giving receipts. This is exactly opposite what Joe Biden promised the American people. But it's what we knew was going to happen. They were going to use the new agents to go after the middle class. That's exactly what they're doing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me just remind people of what you said on the show, and this was quite some time ago. Here is the warning when we said it here early on, that they're, they're going to come after average Americans, not just the elites as they were claiming.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

For Good Friday and Easter. The IRS released the news, they did it as a news dump going into the holiday because they didn't want people to pay attention to it, that they are right now hiring the first 30,000 of those employees. 10,000 of them are being hired in the current fiscal year. And in fiscal year 2024, they're planning to double that with 27,000 new hires. Now, now, now, what does that mean? Well, let's, let's go through a lot of different elements. The long and short of it is it means a whole bunch more IRS employees there to harass you, to harass citizens, to harass small businesses, to harass and target the political enemies of the, of the Biden White House.

[Ben Ferguson]

But, but Senator, you look at that warning and you look at what you mentioned right beforehand about prices that have skyrocketed, the cost of goods and services are up, manufacturing jobs that are down. And there has to be a moment, I would argue, of reckoning with the average American voter where they look at this administration and they sit there and they stare at you in the face. They say, no, no, gas prices are good. And the American people have to know, no, that's not true. And they say, oh, no, no, the price of the grocery store, they're not that bad. They've got to have a moment where they say, no, no, no, we don't believe you anymore. You travel a lot. You talk to a lot of people around the state of Texas. I don't believe that the American people are going to be bamboozled by this much longer.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, I think the American people know that bidenomics is a mess. And in fact, you see the Biden White House backing away from using that term bidenomics, because they thought it was a good thing and they discovered, oh, wait, people think it's a terrible thing. That's. Listen, anyone who's paying the bills, anyone who goes to the grocery store, anyone who fills up their tank at the pump, anyone who deals with healthcare costs, electricity costs, rent, mortgages, I'll tell you, young people, I think one of the most potent things is young people buying their first home. A young married couple, they're suddenly discovering they can get about half as much house as they thought they could get. Because a few years ago when you had mortgage rates at two and a half percent, you could get actually a pretty big, pretty, you know, a nice three bedroom house, a backyard, a swing. And suddenly young people are discovering, holy cow, what I thought I could afford is now out of reach.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. This is going to be a top issue certainly going into this big election November. And I hope that conservatives all over the country just tell the truth and I hope that the media will start covering it. They're still covering. And you can hear it in those headlines. You can hear it in the audio. They will allow them to lie on national TV to your face about how great things are when they know compared to where they were in 2019, 2020, it is a disaster. Don't forget Senator Cruz and I do the show with you every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We have a weekend review of what you may have missed on Saturdays. So make sure you grab the show, hit that follow button or subscribe or auto download and most importantly, share it on social media wherever you are. You guys were amazing at sharing that episode we did on Israel. It was one of the top episodes we've done. Thank you for getting in the fight and letting other people know what's going on. And on those in between days, make sure you grab my podcast as well. I'll keep you updated on the latest breaking news, the Ben Ferguson podcast and the senator and I will see you back here on Wednesday morning.