Hour 1 - Congressional Stock Trading

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode Title: Hour 1 - Congressional Stock Trading
Host: Clay Travis (solo; Buck Sexton traveling)
Date: October 1, 2025
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview of the Episode

Clay Travis hosts a solo edition of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show while Buck is traveling in Taiwan. In this episode, Clay dives into the U.S. government shutdown, critiques the American healthcare system, discusses the ongoing battle over congressional stock trading, and interviews Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett. The tone is candid, irreverent, and at times exasperated—full of Clay’s signature humor and skepticism about Washington.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Government Shutdown: “Groundhog Day All Over Again”

[00:05 - 16:00]

• Shutdown Background & Historical Context:

  • The federal government is shut down (again). Clay points out this is the 20th shutdown since 1976 and calls it a familiar storyline.

    "Since 1976, the US government has shut down 20 times. So if you are out there and you're thinking this just feels like the same plot over and over again, Groundhog Day. In many ways it is." — Clay, [00:51]

  • The longest previous shutdown was under Trump (34 days in 2018).

• Current Showdown’s Core Issue:

  • The controversy centers on whether to extend COVID-era healthcare policies (expensive subsidies implemented by Democrats), which Clay argues are unnecessary and a continuation of unsustainable spending.
  • He claims these policies could add $450 billion over the next decade, referencing a Wall Street Journal editorial.

• Clay’s Critique of Healthcare & Policy:

  • Clay is fiercely critical of the US healthcare system, calling it “profoundly broken” and “anti capitalistic.”

    "It is the most inefficient and the least effective part of, I would argue, the American economic system. It is anti capitalistic in many ways. It is profoundly broken." — Clay, [02:25]

  • He shares personal anecdotes (e.g., his wife’s car accident and hospital billing confusion) to highlight lack of price transparency and irrational incentives in the system.
  • Highlights the absurdity that sometimes those with insurance pay more out-of-pocket than those without due to convoluted billing practices.

• Who Foots the Bill?

  • Clay contends that much of the policy push is to extend benefits to those who “don’t pay taxes,” including illegal immigrants, with working Americans ultimately paying the tab.

    “Democrats want to provide health care for as many people as possible, including many different illegal immigrants. And ultimately, this is paid for by all of you out there that are working hard. Every single day, they're reaching into your pocket.” — Clay, [12:40]

• Long-term Concerns:

  • He expresses deep concern about America's broken healthcare and tax systems, suggesting they should be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. He uses metaphors comparing the systems to unstable buildings with poor foundations.

    “They're both so fundamentally broken that you would actually do better if you just tore them both down and built a functional, rational health care system and tax policy.” — Clay, [08:35]

• Shutdown Impact?

  • Clay doubts most listeners’ daily lives will be affected by the shutdown, snarking that some may welcome an extended closure.

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2. Congressional Stock Trading & Ethics

[19:00 - 34:52]

Introduction to the Problem

• Clay introduces Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) to discuss why congressional stock trading isn’t banned, remarking on the apparent “insider” timing of some trades (notably Nancy Pelosi’s).

• Clay’s Take:

  “Some of the best timing that has ever existed in the history of the world. … Even if it's not actually improper, it certainly has the appearance of impropriety, which I think demeans the overall value of trust in public servants.” — Clay, [19:26]

Congressman Tim Burchett Interview

Opening Remarks:

• Burchett is unsparing in his criticism:

  "Congress is broke and it is crooked as a dog's leg, brother. There is no other explanation. When a congressman can make 600% return on their investment... It's unfreaking believable." — Rep. Tim Burchett, [20:54]

• He points out that some members simply emulate Pelosi’s trades as a personal investment strategy.

The Solution:

• Burchett advocates for a clear, simple reform:

  "No stock trading for members of Congress unless it's a mutual fund and your siblings and your wife and spouse, whatever... That should be it. You know, make the dad gum sacrifice." — Rep. Tim Burchett, [22:19]

• He notes how difficult it is to enact reform—even getting a bill out of committee is tough due to bipartisan opposition.

Double Standards & Ethics:

• Burchett humorously contrasts his struggle to get permission to sell skateboards (his hobby) with how easy it is for Congress members to trade stocks with potential inside knowledge:

  “If I want to do insider trading, just become a member of Congress and it rains on you.” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [23:11]

• Clay concurs, emphasizing the wisdom of buying diversified mutual funds over individual stocks—especially for lawmakers with privileged information and busy schedules.

Examples of Potential Abuse:

• Burchett details how Congressional committee members bought shares in missile defense companies before lucrative no-bid government contracts were awarded (with the implication of inside knowledge about military aid to Ukraine).

  “…members of some of our military committees that had access to that information had bought stock and guess what? The missile defense companies ... just some of them a couple of weeks prior to it. … their stock prices would go up dramatically. And yet that's common practice in Congress.” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [24:46]

Why Does the System Persist?

• Both parties are “gutless”; leadership is motivated by power and perks, not reform.
• Schumer is watching his left flank (AOC, possible primary challenge), prioritizing his career over governance.

  “Schumer is watching his rearview mirror. … And all it is, is about staying in power. And that's what Washington D.C. is truly about…” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [27:41]

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3. Lighter Personal Moments and Culture

[29:02 - 34:09]

• Burchett shares how fulfilling and therapeutic making skateboards is, his background in shop class, and the challenges jumping through ethics hoops to sell them.

  “It's cheaper than a psychiatrist. … I make it out of recycled stuff, mainly because I'm cheap. I guess I'm fiscally smart…” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [29:58]

• Clay jokes that if Hunter Biden can sell paintings for hundreds of thousands, surely Burchett can get clearance to sell some skateboards.

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4. Humorous College Football & Political Parallels

[31:20 - 34:52]

• Clay throws a curveball, asking whether Tennessee QB Nico transferring to UCLA was a worse decision than Kamala Harris picking Tim Walz as her VP. Burchett’s response is tongue-in-cheek:

  “I'm going to say Kamala because she was a train wreck anyway and she just picked a bigger train wreck.” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [32:12]

• Both riff on the meme about each VP’s intelligence being lower than the last, ending the interview on a light, irreverent note.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Healthcare system reality check:

  "The fact that healthcare is connected to employment is crazy." — Clay, [05:46]

• Ethics in Congress:

  "Congress is broke and it is crooked as a dog's leg, brother." — Rep. Tim Burchett, [20:54]

• On trying to sell skateboards vs. trading stocks:

  "If I want to do insider trading, just become a member of Congress and it rains on you." — Rep. Tim Burchett, [23:11]

• On Schumer’s motivations:

  "Schumer is watching his rearview mirror. … And all it is, is about staying in power." — Rep. Tim Burchett, [27:41]

• Comic relief—Tennessee and VP picks:

  “Kamala because she was a train wreck anyway and she just picked a bigger train wreck.” — Rep. Tim Burchett, [32:12]

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Important Timestamps

• [00:05] — Clay opens with context on the shutdown and Buck’s absence
• [02:25] — Clay’s critique: “profoundly broken” healthcare system
• [12:40] — Comments on who pays for health policies
• [16:00] — Suggestion: Congress should have salaries cut during shutdowns
• [19:00] — Congressman Tim Burchett joins the show
• [20:54] — "Congress is broke and it is crooked as a dog's leg, brother."
• [22:19] — Burchett: Simple rule—no individual stock trades for Congress
• [24:46] — Example of likely insider trading with defense contracts
• [27:41] — Schumer’s political motivations
• [29:58] — Burchett on making skateboards: “cheaper than a psychiatrist.”
• [32:12] — Burchett on Kamala Harris’ VP pick: comic riff
• [34:52] — Congressman signs off

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a spirited blend of wonky policy rant, sharp-tongued critique, and unvarnished skepticism regarding both government shutdowns and Congressional ethics. Clay and Rep. Burchett pull no punches—on Washington's broken systems, leadership’s motivations, or the farce of Congressional insider trading. The segment closes with some fun jabs at college football and national politics, wrapping up an hour that’s as entertaining as it is exasperated with “business as usual” in D.C.

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Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[B]

Welcome in Wednesday Edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. I hope all of you are having fabulous weeks so far. We are here hopefully to make that a bit better than it otherwise would be. The government is shut down. What is the impact we will discuss. Buck is not shut down, but he is in Taiwan right now and he is continuing to to travel around over there. He'll be back Monday on the program, just FYI. So you have got me as you have on Monday and Tuesday, solo. For the rest of this week we will take your calls, we will take your talk backs. We will dive into a variety of different pertinent subjects. We're going to be joined by Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett. He was listening to our discussion about why congressional stock trading is is not banned and he has some strong thoughts on that. I'm sure. We'll talk about the shutdown as well. And then at 2 o' clock our friend Tutor Dixon, I just saw her last week speaking when I was speaking up in Michigan. She will join us. She's part of the Clay and Buck Podcast network. We had a really good time hanging out up at Mackinac island where the Michigan Republican Party was having their by annual event at the Grand Hotel up there. So that was a lot of fun. And I was there last week. I think I was there last week. Everything runs together, but I guess it was two weeks ago. We will dive into a lot of topics, but off the top, the shutdown is underway. And I got to be honest with y', all, you know, and I think Buck and I have talked about this quite a bit on the program. We are not of the opinion that the shutdown is ultimately that big of a story because eventually it will get resolved and we'll just add on more debt. But I do want to give you some historical analogy of where we are. Since 1976, the US government has shut down 20 times. So if you are out there and you're thinking this just feels like the same plot over and over again, Groundhog Day. In many ways it is. There were no shutdowns between 1995 and 2013, but three have occurred in the 12 year since. The longest one was in Trump 1.0 and that lasted 34 days back in 2018. Really the essence of this shutdown, just so you know, is a battle over whether there should be an extension of COVID healthcare policies which were put in place by Democrats as part of their massive blockbuster out of control spending bills that they forced through in the COVID era. And the reason why this spending cost is up now is because they pegged it for a relatively short period of time so that it did not continue to cost money going forward. Now, this is me, and you have heard me go off on this quite a lot. The healthcare system in the United States is broken. Every single one of you listening to me right now is nodding along because it is just a broken marketplace. It makes no sense the way we have designed it. It is the most inefficient and the least effective part of, I would argue, the American economic system. It is anti capitalistic in many ways. It is profoundly broken. This spending package that the Democrats are insisting on continuing would add up over the next decade, according to the Wall Street Journal editorial page, to around $450 billion. And much of it is a subsidy to that is in a large extent unnecessary. And so this, let me give you a little bit of a background of exactly what's going on. Try to simplify this for you. So we begin with the foundational point that the health care system in this country is broken. And anybody who's ever had to get on the phone with their insurance provider knows exactly what I'm talking about. Studies suggest that one reason our healthcare system is broken, probably the primary one, is nobody has any idea what anything costs. And so you can't make a rational decision in your life about whether or not you need an MRI or whether you need a need to go to the hospital or not, because a lot of times you don't have the information as you, you're not a doctor as, as necessary. And what has happened is doctors wildly overprescribe because much of this is paid for by insurance. And patients to a large extent are not making choices that are rational. I'll give you an example that that happened recently in my family. I think it was a few years ago. My wife was in a car accident. She was fine. She was able to get to the hospital and make sure everything was okay without needing an ambulance. But the ambulance, the police officer told her, hey, the ambulance can take you, but it will end up costing you thousands and thousands of dollars. Or you can take yourself to the, to the hospital on your own. How many people actually make that choice? How many people actually in much of your life? And I've talked about this in my own life, when it came to having our kids. We went to go tour the hospitals. Nobody could tell me what a delivery cost. Went to all these different hospitals. They're competing to see who has the fastest wi fi. They're Competing to see who has bamboo floors, who has the best flat screen televisions in the delivery area, what sort of security there is to make sure that your babies are safe. All those things are fine. They don't compete on price. I just said to each of them, hey, what's this going to cost me? None of them could tell me. I mentioned to you, I think, last week, because I think it's a really instructive analogy, that I went and took one of our kids when he had strep throat. My wife took the other one. She was on the ball, knew where our healthcare card was, knew exactly who our healthcare provider was, turned it over when we checked in. When she checked in, I didn't have any idea where the healthcare card was. Somehow I couldn't find it in my wallet. I think we had switched. And my incompetence meant that we were billed as not having health care. And we paid a fraction of what my wife paid for the exact same medical treatment because we had health insurance. It's all broken. All of it is broken. And I, I could get on a, a pedestal and talk about this forever. The fact that we run health care as someone who has owned a business and has had to pay for healthcare, the fact that healthcare is connected to employment is crazy. Uh, I have been a freelancer who was not an employee. Um, and the fact that I had to go out into the healthcare marketplace and figure out what policy was the right one for me was incredibly complicated, too. Insurance is the only thing all of us have to pay for that we hope to never use. And the entire insurance industry is totally broken in conjunction with health care. We spend way more than any country in the world and we do not get the best results. And the data reflects that. You could eliminate half of all medical treatments and there wouldn't be any change in life expectancy in this country. So my general proposition is I don't want to take anything. I know Tylenol was in the news. I get made fun of. I don't want to take any drugs. I don't want to take anything. I feel fortunate. I've been pretty healthy in the grand scheme of things. And I think that they wildly overprescribe and over medicate us as a whole. And yet, simultaneously, the people who actually do need health care, the people who are actually sick, the people who are in desperate need of health care, cannot get it, and the people who don't need it don't feel like we're getting any kind of rational health care that makes common sense. Ok, so that's where we really are. And in essence, much like our tax code, because I would say, number one, broken system in America's healthcare, number two is tax code. They're both so fundamentally broken that you would actually do better if you just tore them both down and built a functional, rational health care system and tax policy. Instead, we have just continued to add layer upon layer of a broken foundation. And as a result, if you want to use sort of a building metaphor, we have constantly shifting in the winds, tall buildings with no structural stability, and they'll fall over all the time, and they make absolutely no sense. So, God. Hey, happy optimistic Wednesday, everybody. We've got two hugely broken systems that threaten the very fabric of our democratic republic. Because as we have an aging population, the cost that we're going to have to put out for healthcare is going to be borne increasingly by a dwindling number of young people in America. And the budget and the math just doesn't add up. So all of that is the foundational issue that is in play here. And one of the real unfortunate aspects of, of of our democratic republic is once something is created, once the government creates a project, it almost never leaves. It just goes on the ledger as a cost long into the future. And Democrats want to provide health care for as many people as possible, including many different illegal immigrants. And ultimately, this is paid for by all of you out there that are working hard. Every single day, they're reaching into your pocket, they're taking your money out, and they're giving it to someone very often who is not even an American citizen. But this is all part and parcel of a broken health care system. Obamacare is collapsing, by the way, because it's predicated on giving insurance companies more money. And the entire concept of insurance is they have to get tons of people who are never going to need it in order to pay for the people that actually do need it. And young, healthy people, a lot of them just say, I don't need health insurance. And as a result, the insurance companies don't get that money. And as we have an aging society, the profit margins of insurance companies going down in the future. But I just come back to that analogy. I would be paying far less for healthcare if I had no insurance at all. So would most of you. That is a broken system. And my analogy there of walking in with a kid who has strep throat one day after we got insurance for the kid who did have a strep throat, I paid. My wife knows the exact dollars because she's still fed up about it because my incompetence actually benefited the family because we had to pay less money, but we paid a fraction as uninsured walking into a clinic patients of what a health care insured family would pay. So it's not only that the system is broken, it's that people who are actually trying to do the right thing are getting gouged and people who have no interest whatsoever in buying in at all. They're essentially getting free health care. You pay a lot. Many people pay virtually nothing at all. Okay, so that is the essence of why we have a government shutdown. Because Democrats want to give more people who do not pay taxes free health care. And Republicans are saying, wait, that was a Covid era policy that we put in place. It should expire. Thankfully, now that Covid is over. So that is the essence of what is going on and we will see exactly how long it takes for this to be resolved. I suspect that many of you out there will be like me and there will be absolutely no impact to your life whatsoever by the fact that the government has shut down. In fact, a lot of you are saying, I wouldn't mind the government shutting down for a long time. First time I heard the stat, it didn't make a lot of sense. But when you dig into the details, unfortunately it's very true. Across our country, a home burglary happens every 30 seconds on average. 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[C]

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[B]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show okay, after that, open on the fact that we are now in the midst of of a government shutdown. And I bet by the way, most of you are actually at your jobs because you don't get to just have a shutdown and get paid. This is what's going to happen. By the way, government employees are just not going to work and they're eventually going to get paid for all the time that they didn't work. So you just basically get an additional vacation week or a couple of weeks and then they'll eventually vote in the fact that all them are going to get paid. Honestly, I think every time the government shuts down, Congress should get their salaries cut in half. If you can't manage to keep the government open, then there should be a bill in place that everyone who works in Congress, that's all the representatives, all the senators, they lose half of their salary for the year every time there's a shutdown. You know what I would happen, I bet would happen? There would never be a shutdown. Because if they actually had consequences themselves when the government shuts down, they would get the job done and they would never actually shut down. I'm just saying if somebody wanted to pass a bill that said, hey, anytime the government shuts down, Congress loses, everyone on in Congress loses half of their salary, there would never be a government shutdown. But Chuck Schumer is such a hypocrite on shuts down shutdowns that even CNN is playing a montage from him in the past talking about government shutdowns. Chuck Schumer cut one here. This was cnn.

[A]

What if I persuaded my caucus to say I'm going to shut the government down. I am going to not pay our bills unless I get my way. It's a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis. Shutting down government over a policy difference is self defeating. We can never hold American workers hostage again. While the CR Bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.

[B]

Ah, yes, Chuck Schumer so terrified of AOC challenging him in a primary and probably beating him and ending his political career that he is now a huge hypocrite. That was Chuck Schumer about never shutting down the government over policy differences. And now Chuck Schumer has shut down the government over policy differences. I, I will tell you this too. When Buck and I started this show, I thought to myself, you know, I bet, well, there's a lot of congressmen and women and a lot of senators who are super sharp, super smart. These are the people leading our nation. I'm going to be really impress by all of them. There's a lot of morons. I'm sorry, many of y' all are much smarter than the people on Capitol Hill. You know it. But it's just pathetic to see. They're not leaders. They're cowards. And many of them are also morons. Moronic cowards is a bad combo. Protect your home with Leaffilter, America's number one gutter protection company. More than a million homeowners have installed this solution for you. That means you never have to clean out your gutters again. Right now, you can get a free inspection free estimate. Save up to 3, 30% off your entire purchase at Leaffilter's website. Leaffilter.com Clay Protect your home from flooding, roof damage, rotting and foundation issues. Go online today to schedule your free gutter inspection. Get a no obligation free estimate in the process. A leaffilter trusted pro will clean out, realign, seal your gutters before installing leaff filters. Leaffilter also includes a lifetime no clogs guarantee. Over a million homeowners to date have trusted leaffilter. Join the team and at leaffilter.com clay that's leaf filter.com clay. Welcome back in Clay. Travis. Buck Sexton show We are joined now by congressman Tim Burchett of the great state of Tennessee. Government is shut down. We're going to get into that. But Congressman, you wanted to come on because you're as fired up as Buck and I were about the amount of stock trading that some of your colleagues are engaged in and not just stock trading. Some of the best timing that has ever existed in the history of the world. I mean, Nancy Pelosi is Warren Buffett level investing savant. Isn't this just. Even if it's not actually improper, it certainly has the appearance of impropriety, which I think demeans the overall value of trust in public servants. I think you probably agree it's kind of crazy, isn't it?

[A]

I agree 100%. And thank you so much for letting me come on with you. It's an honor. Congress is broke and it is crooked as a dog's leg, brother. There is no other explanation. When a congressman can make 600% return on their investment and you know, and it day in and day out or 300 or 200 or whatever. I mean, just go on the unusual Wells website and read the top hundred. It's unbelievable. It is unfreaking believable. And people are making a living now of just following Nancy Pelosi stock trades. Yeah, Warren Buffett needs. Warren Buffett needs to go to the. Go to the front porch and sit there and play with his grandkids or something and just turn it over to Pelosi. It is unbelievable. And we can't even get the bill in committee. Neither party. They're gutless. They are gutless. And it is shady as all get out. And you know, I have a. I had a $12,000 portfolio that my buddy Tommy Saller managed. Everybody needs a dadgum mutual fund, and that's what we ought to do. And I get sick and tired of hearing people in Congress say, oh, I'm sacrificing so much. Well, dad gamut, go home and let somebody else do it. That's not sacrificing so much. America is tired of this garbage. It is broke. You've called it out. We've called it out. And here's what's going to happen if we do get this bill to the floor. And Luna has represented Annapolina Luna, she's going to try to. If we don't get this bill out that everybody's been working on, which is a little too big and a little too beautiful in my opinion, but still, she's going to take my bill, which is a clean bill, just says no stock trading of, you know, for members of Congress unless it's a mutual fund and your, and your siblings and your wife and spouse, whatever, and. And that's it. That should be it. You know, make the dad gum sacrifice. It's crazy. You know, I make skateboards. It's and I'm 61 years old and I haven't broke my neck yet. I made one for Tulsi Gabbard a couple weeks ago and she loved it. But yeah, I always tell people when I work on these skateboards, it's cheaper than a psychiatrist. It's good therapy for me. But people want to buy them, so I'm trying to sell them. I went to the ethics people and I literally have to get. I'm getting a business plan together. I've had to. I've had to hire an attorney if I want to sell skateboards. But dad Gamut. If I want to do insider trading, just become a member of Congress and it rains on you.

[B]

It is wild. And you know, I was going off on this congressman because my thing is I now have resources. I've been in a position where I had nothing and actually owed a lot more money. Go to law school. It's not cheap. I owed a lot more money than I had assets for a while. But just doing what you're saying is actually really good advice. Buy s and P500 index funds. Buy big groups of stocks. We're not even saying certainly that members of Congress can't own stocks. It's just don't trade individual stocks. Like this is. Having a blind trust in just having a large basket of mutual funds or index funds is actually really smart advice for anyone out there listening to us right now. And it's crazy to me that first of all your job should be pretty busy. The idea that you should be pulling out your phone and doing individual stock trades anyway, it feels kind. It just feels bonkers to me that this is going on.

[A]

Well, some of them do hundreds. I know trades in a year. Can I give you one example that everybody can follow and could understand? During the Biden reign of terror when he decided to give our missile defense system to Ukraine, which I don't vote for any more. Any. I haven't voted for any dollars for Ukraine. I'm sick of that. But anyway, that's another story. Well, it turns out that members of some of our military committees that had access to that information had bought stock and guess what? The missile defense companies over just some of them a couple of weeks prior to it. Now why do you say, what does that mean? Well, we had to replenish ours in a no bid multi billion dollar contract with these companies overnight. So you see, their stock prices would. Would go up dramatically. And yet that's common practice in Congress. They can watch the trends. You're in the meetings you know, you hear about COVID you hear, I was in the meeting, you heard about COVID And I remembered I had, I had bought Denny's stock and all the left accused me of some kind of insider trading. I left the dadgum meeting because the Democrats wouldn't let any of the. They had all their staff members in the seats and we couldn't get any seats. But anyway, I have, I've just come to the conclusion that we've got too much information and generally the vast majority of the people up there probably aren't doing something incredibly shady. But we know that this time in and time out when they just seem to just defy all logic, every odd, the odds of trading, and every month they turn in these huge gains. And it's just baffling to me that we allow that to go on and we can sit here and tell the American public that nothing's going on.

[B]

How does this shutdown end up ending, Congressman? Like, where does it go from here.

[A]

When Schumer sees his polling numbers declining? I think what's really behind it is, and this is my theory, I've put it on people and they, they've agreed with me. Schumer is looking in his rearview mirror right now and all he sees is AOC and that big grin of hers bearing down on him. He knows that she can raise millions of dollars overnight. Just, that was me snapping my fingers overnight. Hollywood, all the elitist, they'll be throwing the money at her. And all he's doing is watching that New York mayors race where literally a Marxist communist will win probably unless something lets God shines favor upon the poor folks in New York that don't know any better.

[B]

By the way, God shining favor on the poor folks of New York actually means Andrew Cuomo should win. That's how bad of a situation they're in.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well that's, that's. You're very accurate. You're very accurate. But the truth is, is that Schumer is watching his rearview mirror. He knows his polling numbers. And the reality is he needs to go back to flipping raw cheeseburgers on his grill and playing with his grandkids, if he has any, and get out of this thing. He has left. You know, he was, he wasn't a moderate, but he was just an old classic liberal. And now he's just turned far left as you can get. And all it is, is about staying in power. And that's what Washington D.C. is truly about in leadership. They love the suburbans, they love the, you know, four Deep with security. They love the spotlight. They love never standing in line. They love the security, they love the access and, yes, the access to the inside information. And when they're out of leadership, it's gone. It's gone. All that is gone. And they can't stand it. And his time has come and gone, like a whole lot of them that need to be out of there, but he is. That is why he's going to wreck this country, is just to keep himself empowered. And Hakeem, you know, he's out there talking about something. Nobody's paying any attention to him. He's saying how the House Republicans are shutting government down. We voted to keep the dadgum government open. Only one Democrat voted with us. And, you know, the whole thing is just, it's so obvious. And as soon as his polling data flips on him, he'll be at the table with Trump, but he won't be till then.

[B]

We're talking to Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. How did you get into skateboarding and making skateboards?

[A]

Well, I didn't smoke pot and I didn't drink. Although, since I've become a member of Congress, I've seriously considered taking on crack cocaine just to take off the edges. But. But no, I just always liked it. I like, I like the physics of it. And, and I'm an inventor. I always just make stuff. And I had a little piece of plywood and some old skates, and I put it on there. And, And I would just. And that's. Those are death traps, you know, and, and I never, And I, you know, my dad would challenge me if you can get to the end, see if you get to the end of the driveway or something. And, you know, eventually I would. And then, and so I, And I'm just. I've always been fascinated by bamboo. It's poor man's carbon fiber. I read an article on it in 1980 in a national Geographic, and so I started just. I've always done stuff and tinkered, and now that I've got some equipment to do it in, my major was technological adult education. Certified to teach shop. Basically. I can weld and build engines and I can burn your house down if you want me to wire it. I'm not very good at that, but I can do all those things. I can do casting and, and just all the stuff around the machine shop, but I just like it. And then I'm a capitalist at heart. And I read somewhere that there's a. I think it's a five billion dollar industry in this country. Now, I don't want all five billion of it, but I wouldn't mind shaving a little off the edge. And so, you know, I make it out of recycled stuff, mainly because I'm cheap. I guess I'm fiscally smart, but, you know, I use old pallets and I've been using banana fibers off of banana plants that I've grown. And I'm just all over about it. I just. And skateboards, something you can make small and you can transport easily and kids dig it. And when you see a 61 year old out there with his vans on, skateboarding on a board that he built himself, it's kind of cool. And it's good to bring up conversation and, you know, and I like it. And again, as I say, it's cheaper than a psychiatrist.

[B]

We're talking to Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. All right, I got the ultimate controversial question for you here to close up the interview. Congressman. All right. Better decision. Who made the better decision? Who made the worst decision? I know you are a big University of Tennessee football fan, Nico. Going to ucla, transferring from Tennessee, going to ucla. UCLA is now lost every game. His head coach has been fired. His offensive coordinator has been fired. Sorry. UCLA fans out there catching astray. You didn't expect this. Okay, Nico. To ucla. That choice or Kamala Harris picking Tim Walls as her vice president? Who made the worst decision? Who made the better decision? You're on the floor.

[A]

I'm going to say Kamala because she was a train wreck anyway and she just picked a bigger train wreck. I almost, you know, they. They always pick somebody who. I always feel like somebody that's not going to overshadow them a lot of times. And, but I, J.D. vance, as we say in East Tennessee, he kicks some ass. I like JD he's strong and he's a. He's kind of a buddy of mine, I guess, but yeah, that dad Gum. Well, they call him Tampon Tim or something. I don't even like saying it, but he is just a. He's a knucklehead, man. He just can't get out of his own way. I don't know who he was run against to get elected governor out there, but dad Young must have been a convicted felon getting ready to go the electric chair or something. I'm not sure the Republicans put up against him, but yeah, Nico, I mean, he just took some bad advice, but he's. He'll get a little bit of a paycheck and if he's. He can just get all his groupies and family away from him. He might be okay. He might be able to salvage something in the Canadian Football League. But, yeah, that's where I'm at. Before I get myself in any more trouble.

[B]

Well, I'm already thinking the headline for the New York Times is going to be Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett praises Nico for his move to ucla. Hey, this is. This is a lot of fun. And I would argue, I love the Tim Walls. You may have seen the meme Congressman where it shows Barack Obama and he says, I need someone dumber than me as VP Joe Biden. Joe Biden says, I need someone dumber than me as VP Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris says I need someone dumber than me. And it's Tim Walls. There's a lot of truth to that. And we have seen a rapid descent in intelligence across the board there. We appreciate the time. If people want to get the skateboard, by the way, where do they go?

[A]

Well, nowhere yet. I'm okay. Got a business plan. I got to put it on ethics and, and so they can approve it or not.

[B]

Hey, if Hunter can sell paintings for $500,000, I would think you could probably sell a skateboard for a couple of hundred bucks. But what do I know?

[A]

Well, the Biden family couldn't spell ethics, so I got. I just want to be the. The man my, My little girl thinks I am. So I'm going to try to follow the rules here. I get my lawyers involved, and we'll get it all worked out eventually.

[B]

Hopefully at the end of the year.

[A]

Hopefully in time for Christmas.

[B]

That's the goal. Just in time for Christmas. Hey, we appreciate the time. Go big Orange, and we'll talk to you again soon.

[A]

Thank you, brother. Appreciate y'.

[B]

All, man, he is great. Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Let me give you a good news. Gold's up 40% this year. Now, the downside is that's because people are like, I don't know if I have a lot of faith in the US dollar right now because government's spending so much money, inflation has skyrocketed, and still it's kind of lingering around out there. And a lot of people have decided, as has been the case for centuries, that gold is a safe repository for your money because it's always going to have value. And if you've never done it before, Birch Gold can help you convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a tax sheltered IRA. In gold, you don't pay a dime out of pocket. This is just your opportunity to invest in gold physical, tangible asset that has held value for centuries. The best indicator of the future is the past, and gold has always been a safe haven. If you want to learn more about whether gold can make sense for you, text Clay to 98-98-98 right now to claim your free info kit on gold and that's Clay to 9898 98. Protect your future today with Birch Gold. Want to be in the know when you're on the go? The Team 47 podcast Trump highlights from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck Podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

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[B]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Doug in West Lawson Doug, I'm sorry, if you're a UCLA guy, that was a fabulous question. I thought the congressman tried to dodge it a little bit there and I know he enjoyed it. He's a huge college football fan. But what do you got to tell us about ucla?

[A]

Well, not only was sick, Coach Foster, the head coach fired and the defensive coordinator parted ways with the team, the offensive coordinator yesterday the defensive coordinator left. So it has not been a good season and the the quarterback from Appalachian State transferred to UCLA for 1/4 and then he's now the quarterback at Tennessee.

[B]

Oh yeah, and he's leading the entire SEC in passing yards. So I'm sorry for Bruins. Thank you for the call by the way from west la. I'm sorry for everybody out there in in Westwood, all of the UCLA fans. This is a dumpster fire of epic proportion. So it's right up there with Kamala picking Tim Walls. I mean, it is. It is a tough one to decide who made the worst decision. When we come back. I think I mentioned this a little bit yesterday, but I want to really kind of dive into it because I do think it's incredibly impactful in the larger culture. Remember that Sydney Sweeney jeans ad? Yeah. American Eagle is printing money as a result. I'll tell you why it matters next.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.