Hour 3 - We Can't Lose Focus

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Hour 3 – We Can't Lose Focus
Date: December 11, 2025
Host: Buck Sexton (solo; Clay Travis absent, traveling)
Guest: Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)

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Episode Overview

In this third hour, Buck Sexton hosts solo, diving into the day's top stories with characteristic energy and skepticism. The core focus is on the persistent challenges facing the U.S. economy, inflation, and the housing market. Buck examines the political implications, the role of the Federal Reserve, and the broader culture wars. Notably, Buck features an extended, insightful interview with Senator Ron Johnson, tackling economic policy, health care reform, and partisan gridlock. There’s also meaningful reflection on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the social response, alongside listener calls and moments of levity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. State of the Economy: Inflation, Housing & Political Stakes

Segment start: [02:20]

• Buck frames the economy as America’s most crucial issue, noting widespread concern over housing affordability:

  “You can basically afford half the house you could four years ago... This is unsustainable. This is crazy.” —Buck Sexton [02:40]

• Points out:

  • Average housing prices up 50-60% nationwide in four years.
  • Blames a failure to construct enough new homes, compounded by excessive bureaucracy and state regulations.
  • Calls for deregulation and removal of permitting delays, citing Miami’s slow approval process as an example.
  • References the Federal Reserve’s slow response and questions its quasi-governmental nature and lack of rapid action on rates.

• Quote:

  “Why should you wait months for permits to do things that are totally lawful and you have every right to do to your own property? It's crazy. Multiply it out millions of times and you see the housing crisis.” —Buck Sexton [05:50]

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2. White House Messaging on the Economy

Segment start: [04:03], audio clip

• Caroline Levitt, via the White House press secretary, emphasizes “digging our country and economy out of that hole,” insisting economic metrics are improving despite persistent voter pessimism.
• Levitt accuses Democrats of being “the greatest con artists in history” for now claiming to care about affordability issues they created.
• Buck applauds the administration’s focus but critiques slow institutional responses, especially regarding the Fed and housing.

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3. The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Seeking Transparency

Segment start: [07:30]

• Buck updates listeners on the trial of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, calling for full transparency over government proceedings.

• Plays audio of Erica Kirk (Charlie’s widow), expressing heartbreak and outrage at those justifying or mocking her husband’s murder online.

  Notable moment:

  “You're sick. He's a human being. You think he deserved that? Tell that to my three year old daughter...There's something very sick in your soul and I pray that God saves you.” —Erica Kirk [11:00]

• Buck reflects on the social media dehumanization and the dangers of ideological depravation:

  “We have a fight against evil in this country alongside the fight for political sanity...There’s no agree, disagree on whether what happened to Charlie Kirk was a horrific and monstrous act.” —Buck Sexton [14:32]

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4. Right-Wing Distraction & Political Sanity

Segment start: [16:00]

• Buck urges conservatives/the right not to “lose focus,” emphasizing the importance of united action over petty infighting:

  “I worry that we're taking our eye off the ball a little bit here... We got a country to save.” —Buck Sexton [16:45]

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5. Listener Call: Connecticut Zoning Laws

Segment start: [22:14]

• Brian from Connecticut describes how the state’s Democrat supermajority has overridden local zoning to mandate acceptance of apartment developments—alleging political motives to shift voting demographics.

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6. Interview: Senator Ron Johnson (WI) — The Economy, Housing, Health Care, and Political Gridlock

Segment start: [23:51]

A. Economic Recovery & Housing Affordability

• Johnson highlights:

  • The prolonged impact of dollar devaluation and inflation, much of it irreversible in terms of prices.
  • The importance of driving housing supply through permitting/licensing reform—hampered by recalcitrant Democrats.
  • Asserts that Democrats prioritize power retention over real solutions.

  Quote:

  “The shutdown was all about making sure President Trump is not successful. That's how devious the Democrats are.” —Sen. Ron Johnson [25:10]

B. Health Care Reform

• Explains that America’s third-party payer system (insurance/government paying most health costs) fuels high costs and inefficiency.

  • Claims that restoring consumerism and free-market competition would reduce prices.
  • Praises cash-only surgical centers and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as prototypes for lower costs.

  Quote:

  “The solution is consumerism, free market competition. But we are 180 degrees from that... It's about consumers and they would love a competitive system.” —Sen. Ron Johnson [28:00]

C. Legislative Priorities and Trump’s Reforms

• Johnson discusses confirming judicial nominees, continued oversight of pandemic responses (esp. vaccines), and “repairing the damage done by Obamacare.”

• Recommends “Vaccines on Trial” by Aaron Siri for those seeking to understand vaccine policy skepticism.

• On upcoming 2026 races, Johnson stresses the challenge of getting the Republican message past media bias, but praises Trump’s focus on “the right things.”

  Quote:

  “He (Trump) is a man who loves his country, and he is a man who is just... determined to do what has to be done to clean up the enormous messes left by Biden.” —Sen. Ron Johnson [34:10]

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7. Marketplace Optimism: Howard Lutnick

Segment start: [35:15], audio clip

• Lutnick (CEO, Cantor Fitzgerald) predicts strong Trump-era growth:

  “This economy... can grow 4%, it can grow 5%. And I think under President Trump, you're going to see it grow.” —Howard Lutnick [35:32]

• Johnson agrees, contrasting Trump’s “real-world priorities” with the left’s focus on “DEI” and cultural controversies.

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8. Comic Relief and Listener Talkbacks

Segment start: [41:27]

• Buck engages with listener comments, sharing a running joke about his disdain for “Hamilton” and preferences in firearms, reinforcing the show’s blend of politics and humor.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On housing & regulation:

  "Why should you wait months for permits to do things that are totally lawful... It’s crazy. Multiply it out millions of times and you see the housing crisis." —Buck Sexton [05:50]

• On political divides:

  “We are fighting against often... the forces of the dark side, the forces of evil in this country.” —Buck Sexton [14:40]

• On Democrats' motives:

  “For Democrats, it's all about power. I wish Americans would understand that.” —Sen. Ron Johnson [25:30]

• On healthcare:

  “When you remove consumers and the benefits of free market competition... you're not going to get low prices, you're not going to get better quality, you're not going to get a high level of customer service.” —Sen. Ron Johnson [27:15]

• On the Trump economy:

  “If you bring down interest rates and you bring down energy, you're really grabbing people's pocketbooks and putting more money in them.” —Howard Lutnick [35:24]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Economic Overview & Housing Crisis: [02:20] – [08:00]
• White House Press Secretary Audio: [04:03]
• Assassination of Charlie Kirk & Erica Kirk’s Response: [07:30] – [14:00]
• Political Focus & Cultural Battle: [14:30] – [16:45]
• Listener Call - Connecticut Zoning: [22:14]
• Senator Ron Johnson Interview: [23:51] – [37:34]
  • Housing/Economy: [24:23]
  • Healthcare: [26:55]
  • Judiciary/Vaccines: [31:17]
• Howard Lutnick’s Economic Outlook: [35:15]
• Listener Talkbacks & Comic Relief: [41:27]

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

This hour strikes a serious, battle-ready tone: Buck Sexton hammers at the consequences of inflation, regulatory gridlock, and social unraveling, while Senator Ron Johnson calls for a return to free-market solutions and vigilance against entrenched partisan interests. The show also features moments of anger, moral clarity, and dark humor—especially surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk—and, as always, a little banter and community spirit through listener contributions. If you missed the episode, you’ll come away with a vivid sense of today’s Republican/conservative frustrations, their preferred policy fixes, and the urgency of “keeping focus” in turbulent times.

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Transcript

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[Buck Sexton]

Shh.

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[Senator Ron Johnson]

This is where mindset comes in.

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Someone will be eliminated.

[Buck Sexton]

Pressure is coming down.

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[Buck Sexton]

It's the third hour of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show. Now clay will be touching down here in Miami soon. Any minute perhaps, Eagle 1 will have landed. But we're gonna keep going on this third hour. Just me solo talking to all of you. And tomorrow the dynamic duo will be back together in action here on the air and talking about everything that matters. We have a big focus today on the economy, which I think is the single most important. This is not like a out there on a limb kind of thought. This is the single most important issue politically in the country right now. The concerns over prices have gotten to be very, very loud. You're hearing a lot about this. And I've seen some of the data, for example, on things like housing. You can basically afford half the house you could four years ago. Now, half the house, so to speak. You've had nationwide something like a 50, 60% increase on average. I believe, in housing prices. This is unsustainable. This is crazy. So there's a bunch of reasons for that. There's the. Under. The failure to construct enough houses is a big part of it. But we will get, we will get into some more of this. First up, though, we have Caroline Levitt, who has been talking about the economy today. I don't want. This is cut 29. And what the president is doing on this. She just said this. So let's hear from the White House press secretary. Play it.

[White House Press Secretary]

He's focused on digging our country and our economy out of that hole. Every day things are getting better and they will continue to. And, and President Trump understands better than any politician in this city the pain that the American consumer has been feeling for years now because of the last administration's policies. You heard him in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this past week campaigning and talking to these voters saying, I was elected to fix this problem and I am fixing it. Don't forget who created it, and that's the Democrats. And I think when you hear the president talk about affordability, he, he's saying the Democrats are the greatest con artists in history because they are now trying to claim ownership of an issue that they created. And every data point and every economic metric does, in fact show that the economy is improving. And so I do wish more people would report on those facts. I do wish that more people would remind the American public how we got here and why. It does not mean this president is discarding the feelings of the American people. He gets it better than anyone, which is why his entire administration has been focused on on the issue of the economy and energy prices since day one.

[Buck Sexton]

So that is what we need to be hearing a lot more of. I think the laser like focus from this administration on these issues that really matter. I mentioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen and what he thinks needs to happen here. Look, this is a guy who has operated at the highest levels of finance. Finance, finance. I feel like in New York. Am I the only one you. I've heard people say finance, but then I kind of want to smack them. Finance. Right. We say finance. So he has been Advocating for the Fed to bring down interest rates even faster. I know we just had a rate cut. I think the Fed is too little, too late on this, which is a frustration. The whole notion of the Federal Reserve. Well, creature from Jekyll island, the book. We could have a whole talk about this. I feel like we could get into Ron Paul's greatest hits on this. Like what exactly is the Fed doing? How, how do we have this thing that operates as a quasi government entity without actual oversight from the government in a meaningful way? There, there are problems here. There are problems here. And to be clear, I think, I think that the Fed has been slow. I think the Fed has been operating in a way that, you know, why not bring those. Well, they would say it's because inflation, but inflation has been pretty steady for a while. That's a big challenge. Getting the Fed to move quickly enough so that you don't have this over demand and lack of supply in the housing market. And then, you know, Besant is talking about even things like a house declaring a national housing emergency. Right. I mean, there has been real conversation out there about what can the administration really do, what has, what is possibly on the horizon, getting rid of the regulations and the additional costs that are. Some of you, you know what, I bet we have some homebuilders, you know, people that are either general contractors or do home building from the ground up, who could weigh in on this one. And I know we have many of you listening talk about some of this, you know, give us what it's like. What is it like when you try to build a house from scratch, specifically in a place like New York or California? What are the hoops you have to go through? I'm here in Florida and I'll tell you, even to do home renovations. Now, this is a Miami thing, this is not a state of Florida thing. But because of Miami, which is not a super efficient government, you can wait months and months for permits. Why should you wait months for permits to do things that are totally lawful and you have every right to do to your own property? It's crazy. But now take that and multiply it out millions of times and you see the housing crisis that has played out across the country, Right? You see, why is it that we don't have the supply that we need? Well, everything is slower, everything is more expensive and it's artificial. It's artificial. These are things, these are decisions that governments have made, particularly state governments. And a huge percentage of the cost comes from this. So getting rid of these regulations and red Flags and all this stuff that go up would be, would be really helpful. And that's something that I think we can count on this administration to continue to focus on and do more. Oh, by the way, I am. We're monitoring this. The alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk is appearing in court now. It is a closed session. We will have Charlie's widow, Erica Kirk, also the CEO now of Turning Point usa. We will have her on the show tomorrow. She wants to talk to all of you about her book, about Charlie's legacy, but a whole range of things. So we will be talking to her in, well, in 24 hours or so. But I know there's a lot of, a lot of eyes on the transparency that people want to see when it comes to the way this Charlie Kirk assassin is tried, the government's information about everything surrounding the assassination. I'm absolutely all in favor of that transparency. And I hope that any questions that people have will be put to rest that, you know, whether it's like the guy who at the assassination stood up and tried to obstruct a lot, like, what was that guy doing? And there were comments that seem to be made online from some people in the alleged assassins, in the alleged assassins circle indicating that he may have had, or that they may have had rather some advance warning or knowledge of this. So that's why the transparency in this case is going to be so important. But he is in court now, and that's something that we will certainly continue to follow closely. You know, actually, I'll play this. Erica Kirk has said, and this was. She sat down with CBS News's new editor in chief, Barry Weiss, and she was asked about these people. Erica was asked about those who are so morally. What's the corrupted. That's not even a, that's not a sufficient word. I'm trying to think of a better word for it. Deformed. So morally deranged that they would celebrate that what happened to him. It was a horrific and traumatic and, and all the, all of that here is, you know, for any normal person, you see this and go, this is of the worst things I can remember seeing ever. I can remember because we read about horrible things. Sure. We hear about horrible things in other countries. And we saw it. We saw what happened, Charlie. We saw the video. And it was very clear and it was, it was traumatic. And here is Charlie's widow, Erica, addressing those people that I saw, for example, on Blue sky after the hours after the assassination. They were, they were, they were expressing glee. And I told you this was this was very disturbing. Very disturbing and very real. It was out there. I saw it myself. I read, I read what the people were saying on Blue sky, the lib social media site where you got to go if you're like an Ms. Now watching New York Times subscribing loon. I saw what they said. Anyway, here's Erica weighing in on this play. 19. What do you say to people who justified his death? You're sick. He's a human being. You think he deserved that? Tell that to my three year old daughter. Excuse me. You want to watch and high residential the video of my husband being murdered and laugh and say he deserves it. There's something very sick in your soul and I pray that God saves you. I pray because that is what is so wrong. The Internet in this world has dehumanized us. I, I understand certainly her, her sense of really almost a bewildered outrage. How could someone be so sick that they would see this happen to anyone? And Charlie obviously was a, was a phenomenon and doing so much important work. If I saw that video and it was someone I'd never heard of before and I knew that he had a wife and children at home and that he was giving a speech at a college campus, I would have been sick to my stomach as I was when I saw what happened to Charlie. I mean it truly gave you that deep, truly visceral gut level revulsion of something demonic unfolding before your eyes in this world. And that we as Americans really just as human beings aren't all absolutely crystal clear on that, that there are leftists out there who still to this day, I might add, and immediately on that day were, were mocking this, thought it was funny. We're making jokes about it and, and we're celebrating it. We have, we have a fight against evil in this country alongside the fight for political sanity and all the rest of it. In fact those two things go really hand in hand. We are fighting against often sure, we can talk about tax rates and I was just talking to you about building codes and regulations and stuff that sure, that's in the realm of government and regulation and what's best for society. And we can have agree, disagree on some of that. There's no agree, disagree on whether or not what happened to Charlie Kirk was a horrific and monstrous act. There's the truth, which is that it was those things. And then there's the spiritual derangement of those who do not see that truth. And they are not a tiny, tiny group in this country. Unfortunately this is one of the reasons why I think it is so important that we stay focused on not just the things that Trump is trying to do as a matter of policy, but that people who still stand for things and have principles speak out. Because the forces of the dark side, the forces of evil in this country are very much on the march. And sure, things have been good this year in a lot of ways. Obviously, I'm talking about the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, but, you know, there's been a lot of positivity around Trump and around the restoration of sanity. And we've talked about that here. I worry that the right is losing focus right now. And I say the right politically, but also those who are in the right. I worry that we're taking our eye off the ball a little bit here. There's a lot, like I said, a lot of squabbling, a lot of the preening and personal, you know, tit for tat on stuff. We got a country to save. We got a country to save. You know, I mean, I can tell you there are some people in the administration who come from the media world and they know that as long as they're doing good stuff for Trump, the American people, for the Constitution, we support them, irrespective of whether we were buddies back in the media days or whether we were competitors or anything else. Because there's some stuff that matters more than that sort of petty nonsense. And we'll talk to Erica Kirk more about, about all this tomorrow. But I just, I had to note that the. Yes, the assassin, I have to say, alleged for legal reasons. Right, but the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk is, is in court now as I speak to you. All right, because so many of you are generous with your dollars. Preborn was able to rescue nearly 70,000 babies this past year. Abortion has been at exponential levels. And the easy to access abortion pill is taking such a toll day in and day out. Vulnerable women are facing this situation of having this pill pushed on them by so many forces more than ever. And so babies are in danger. But preborn is there to save these tiny babies. For just $28, you can introduce at risk babies to their mothers through ultrasound. That's the gift that preborn provides to any pregnant mother that visits one of their clinics. Because once she sees that precious life and hears their heartbeat, she's twice as likely to choose life. Please donate a gift of any amount. It will go directly towards saving babies lives. Dial pound250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound250. Say baby or go to preborn.com buck that's preborn.com buck sponsored by preborn News and Politics, but also a little comic relief, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Shh.

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[Senator Ron Johnson]

This is where mindset comes in.

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Someone will be eliminated.

[Buck Sexton]

Pressure is coming down.

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This is Trainer Games.

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[Buck Sexton]

The Christmas mood like some synthesizers. Courtesy of my favorite Mannheim Steamroller baby. That is how we roll. That's how we steamroll. In fact, that's what we say. That's how the steamroll nation gets it done. So we roll. Okay, we are going to get into some of your calls and talkbacks. Also, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin will be with us next. He'll be a great guy to talk to about the housing issue and also health care and to work through what the problems are, what the solutions are, what Trump is doing to get on this stuff. Because, you know, unfortunately Biden messed it up so badly we can't fix it quickly enough. Even though true is not a, is not a powerful message going into the midterms, it's just not. It's just not. This is like when they remember they tried to say that the good Trump economy was actually the Obama economy. And every kind of laughed about that. But oh my gosh, Trump's doing like the Trump economy. At first they said he was going to crash the economy. This I'm going back to 2016, 2017 or 2017, 2018. And they said it's going to be terrible. And then it was really good. And they said, oh, well, it's because of Obama. Right? You know, you're in charge. You're in charge. For better, for worse, you're in charge. So you take the, take the good, you take the bad, you got to deal with it. But we'll talk to Senator Ron Johnson about all of this stuff. And then can we get Brian in Connecticut real quick here? Brian, go ahead.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Buck. Big fan. Let me first say that you are a natural and you are the rightful heir of Russia's spot. And I love the show when it's just you. But I wanted to talk about what's going on in Connecticut with the Democrat super majority. They have rammed through a law that effectively ends single family standalone homes in Connecticut because they're allowing developers to circumvent any local zoning control of their town and they have to allow apartments and so forth and is clearly to give the Democrats an electoral advantage.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, let me, let me return to this because we got to, we got to thank you for the call. I'll address this in a second here. But I want to tell you about Tunnel the Towers Foundation. You all know Tunnel the Towers. I love what they do. They provide mortgage free smart homes to America's heroes, severely injured veterans, Gold star families. It's a beautiful charity doing incredible things and keeping our sacred compact with our heroes in this country. Country that we will never forget and we will be there for them. Tunnel the Tower Season of Hope campaign is our opportunity to stand united and make a difference in the lives of those who have sacrificed so much. Donate 11amonth to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's t the number 2t.org welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Senator Ron Johnson is with us from the great state of Wisconsin. Senator, appreciate you, sir.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, Buck, Merry Christmas.

[Buck Sexton]

Merry Christmas to you. Let's talk. You're a business guy, right? You're not just a politician, although there's nothing wrong with being a politician, but you're a business guy as well. What is going to have to happen here for more people to see the good things that the administration is doing? What, what things does the administration have to focus on more? What changes, if any, have to be made to deal with prices, bring them down, make housing more affordable? What's going on here?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, they actually had to have seen results, and in many cases they are. The problem the president faces is you have 40 year high inflation under the Biden administration. First, again, you devalued the dollar. I've been talking about this since, you know, from 1998, that dollar is worth 51 cents. From 2008, 2014, it's worth 74 cents. 2019, that Dow is only worth 80 cents. So that's permanent devaluation that raised the prices of everything. Now, there's some products, you know, commodity products, things like oil, things like eggs that because of the avian flu, that type of thing, you know, destroy herds and you have, you know, lower supply so that artificially dries up or temporarily dries up the price. And some of those things come down and they are coming down. But I think the administration has to be very careful in terms of promising things that they can't deliver when it comes to just generalized prices. I mean, that devaluation of dollars occurred. Those prices are where they are. But what you can do, you know, for example, housing starts, do everything you can in terms of, you know, lowering regular licensing and permitting that type of thing. Now, Democrats don't cooperate with that. So it's hard to pass a law to do that. President Trump is obviously in overdrive in terms of executive orders to try and do right by the American people and improve our economy. But here's what he really faces. The shutdown was not really about health care. That was the excuse they used. That was the issue they used. The shutdown was all about making sure that President Trump is not successful. That's how devious the Democrats are. They Want to see a tanked economy. They don't want health care prices to go down. They don't want any prices to go down. They want President Trump to be blamed for it so that they can win elections, so they can regain their power and maintain it. For Democrats, it's all about power. I wish they're voters, I wish Americans would understand that about Democrats. They're not doing it for you. They're not thinking of you, the American people. They are thinking of themselves and the power they want to accumulate and hold over you.

[Buck Sexton]

Tell me about this or these dueling health care bills. You had a Senate vote today, didn't pass, which wasn't unexpected, but trying to get the word out about this. What is the Republican approach to making health care prices stop being so crazy? What is the Democrat response to this and what do people need to know?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

So the root cause of our healthcare problem is the healthcare financing problem and it's caused by the third party payer system. Patients pay probably at most 10 cents of every dollar spent on health care. Otherwise it's the insurance companies or it's government either for Medicare, Medicaid, va, whatever. So when you have somebody else paying for things, when you remove consumers and the benefits of free market competition out of the marketplace, you're not going to get low prices, you're not going to get better quality, you're not going to get a high level of customer service. That's what a free market does. So what we have in our healthcare system, every incentive Obamacare led to a dramatic consolidation of every sector in the healthcare system. Hospitals, hospital associations, insurance companies, PBMs, drug, you know, it's just a massive consolidation. There's not one incentive to lower costs. Everybody's making a cut. And the example I use, I mean if you're a realtor and you're making a 7% commission, you'd much rather have that house sell for a million dollars than the hundred thousand worth, right? So they're selling us all kinds of products that could be dramatically lower. Rick Scott had a marvelous hearing in his aging committee and he brought in, I think Mark Cuban is one of the witnesses, but he brought in a surgeon from Oklahoma who set up a cash only surgical center which, which attracted some other surgeons, wanted to be part of this, this venture. They had to determine what prices were. In the end, their prices for surgery, surgical procedures are 10%, a tenth of what hospitals are charging. That is the potential for our healthcare pricing if we return consumerism. But the problem we have buck is most Americans now because the third party payer system has been in place for decades. Don't think they really ought to pay for health care. They got to buy insurance. They'll complain about the price of that. They got to pay taxes, complain about that. But once that's done, they don't care what. They don't even. Nobody knows what anything costs. Doctors don't, nurses don't, the patient doesn't know. Only the bean counters in the insurance companies and government. That's it. So that's a complete breakdown of a market and of consumerism. So if you want it back. So this what, what the Republican alternative was, it's a small step, you know, funding HSAs. That's the way you start transitioning people into getting used to paying for things. So when you go to the doctor, you go, how much is this 50 minute this is going to cost me? What's that procedure going to cost? What's that test going to cost? Do I really need that? Is there another way to evaluate this? That's what consumers would do. That's what we do in everything else. When you do that in health care. So that's the root cause of third party payer system. The solution is consumerism, free market competition. But we are 180 degrees from that. I mean we're so far down the path of socialized medicine. The question is can we bring it back? Can we dial it back? You know, here's some goat hope Obamacare is high deductible plans. It's catastrophic coverage, but it has all these strings attached to. So it's catastrophic coverage that costs a fortune. You go back to true insurance, you know, where you're just covering the big things. And with HSAs have put people and put money in people's pockets with these accounts really start paying for those visits, they start paying for those procedures. You can see just dramatic reduction. The problem will face is the providers. They're not gonna like it. You know, if you've ever speed in business, you'd much rather be in Monopoly. You don't really want to have to compete price wise. You be fat and lazy, don't compete price wise. Don't worry about your quality. People just have to come to you. It's about consumers and they would love a competitive system.

[Buck Sexton]

Speaking to Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Senator, what is top priority for you next year in terms of what you'd like to see accomplished in the Senate? It's a midterm year, gonna be a lot of focus on things. How are we doing with getting judges through by the way and Trump appointees. That's an imminent issue. And going into 26, what's top of your agenda?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, first of all, because we changed the rules because Democrats were so obnoxious that you know, even reluctantly we changed the rules of 51 votes. So we're just, you know, I can't remember how many there were something 80 to 90 nominees that we just confirmed today. So the nomination process is fixed. So I want to continue to focus on the fact that we're mortgage our kids future. I would love to repair the damage done by Obamacare, transition to a system that works or start transitioning. You know as chairman of PSI permiso committee investigations I continue to be absolutely committed to advocating for the vaccine and the COVID injection injured. We're laying the groundwork for that. We've had good hearings. We're trying to, we're uncovering. I mean you probably saw that Dr. Prasad leaked memo that pretty well conclusively proves that the FDA hid the fact that they had autopsies that proved 10 deaths. Now that's just the tip of the surface though. Okay, that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of people that were killed by the COVID injection. But again we'll continue to do oversight. The American people have to understand. By the way, there's a great book for your audience, vaccines on Them by Aaron Seri. There are a lot of good books, Dissolving Illusions, Turtles all the way down McCulloch's book, Aaron Seri's book is sort of the seminal book that brings it all together. If you want to understand about vaccines, the lack of testing, you know, really how corrupt our pharmaceutical companies and our federal health agencies are when it comes to vaccines, childhood as well as the COVID injection. Read Aaron series book Vaccines Amen.

[Buck Sexton]

Any predictions or feelings? I know it's, it's next door, so it's not your state, but I think we're going to have a big open Michigan Senate seat right in the next cycle. What are you hearing because you're close enough to have your ear to the ground a bit about how things are looking in the state next to yours. You know, Michigan and Wisconsin have a friendly rivalry on many, many levels. If Clay was here, we could talk football, but he's out right now. But the Senate in general and perhaps that Michigan seat, how are you feeling about our chances to stay in the majority?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, you know, Wisconsin tough. Michigan's is even tougher. It really does boil down to how well is the economy clipping along Here, how well do Republicans do in terms of communicating to the American public this is what we're trying to accomplish. This is how obstructionist. This is what Democrats aren't allowing us to do. Again, it's enormous task because the mainstream media, the legacy media, is the communication wing of the Democrat Party. So we've got our challenges, but we have a president doing things that nobody, nobody else would do. Yes, that's what you got to love about President Trump. I mean, I know he rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I don't agree with him in everything. But he is a man who loves his country, and he is a man who is just feeling determination to do what has to be done to clean up the enormous messes left by, by Biden. But that's also a challenge. I mean, people expect things fixed overnight. They're just not blaming Biden for all the damage and the Democrats for all the damage they've done, whether it's our healthcare system through Obamacare, the crime in the streets because the open borders. It's a tough environment. Buck, I wish you could say, oh, yeah, we got this one covered.

[Buck Sexton]

No, you always shoot straight with us. And you're a guy who has to fight to bring the truth out in your state. You're in a competitive state, so I get it. I just wanted one more thing for you. Senator, this is Howard Lutnick was on, on this morning on TV cnbc talking about the Trump economy. I just wanted you to react to what he had to say about it because he's, he's sounding very bullish. Play. This is cut 30 guys. Play it.

[Howard Lutnick]

I think you bring affordability. You focus on housing and bring the affordability of housing down. You focus on the farms and bring the price of groceries down and you bring down interest rates. Remember, if you bring, bring down interest rates and you bring down energy, you're really grabbing people's pocketbooks and putting more money in them. You've got taxes coming down. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on our Social Security, things like that, these things. And you drive GDP growth, real GDP growth, not the middling growth that we've gotten used to this sort of 2% nonsense. This economy, the $30 trillion U.S. economy can grow 4%, it can grow 5%. And I think under President Trump, you're going to see it grow. And people think, oh, these things are impossible. Lower rates, lower energy, you're going to have that growth. You're going to fix America doing both sides, raising wages, great jobs coming into this country, bringing down the cost of energy, bringing down the cost of interest rates. You're going to have Americans feel good about the United States of America under Donald Trump. And that's what we're playing for. We're playing for fixing both sides of the spectrum.

[Buck Sexton]

What do you make of it, Senator?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, if you had to choose between a president, United States and administration, that laying out those kinds of goals, that they're going to focus on those kinds of issues, the things that actually impact American, the American people's lives versus the president who's focusing on, hey, let's let all these criminals in from Venezuela, let's focus on dei. Let's make sure that, you know, transgenderism reigns through the country. I think the choice is pretty obvious now. Are they going to be able to accomplish anything? Listen, you know, President Trump, he sets his sights high. That's a good thing. He's focusing on the right things. And again, whether it happened as much as well as Howard Lutnick is predicting, I sure hope so. But he's they're focusing on the right things versus what the Democrats focus on, which is just utterly destructive. And prosperity, it's going to, it's going.

[Buck Sexton]

To be all about this economy in this next year. So Senator Johnson, always appreciate you making the time. Merry Christmas, sir. Happy holidays. Thanks for being here with us.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Merry Christmas to you new listeners. Take care.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Senator Ron Johnson]

Shh.

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[Senator Ron Johnson]

This is where mindset comes in.

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[Buck Sexton]

Pressure is coming down.

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[Buck Sexton]

Today on Clay and Buck. Tomorrow will be Clay and Buck, as in he'll be back. And we'll be here in my South Florida studio doing the show and gonna have a Christmas party tonight. So that'll be fun. Some Christmas holiday cheer going on there. Let's get to some of your talkbacks. Always appreciate those, podcast listener Ryan. This is a. A hit it.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Oh, man. Clay and Buck, you guys had me rolling when you were talking about Christmas. Oh, you were my spirit animals, brothers. I appreciate you both. I've been listening to you guys from the beginning. Listened back in the day, my dad actually turned me on to rush. And I'm 46 now. And I just feel like when I listen to you guys, I'm hanging out with a couple of friends. Buck, the fact that you hate Hamilton, Amazing. I do too. Love you guys. Keep it up.

[Buck Sexton]

Hey, thank you so much, Ryan. And we think of all of you who listen as our friends and our radio family. So the feeling is mutual. And I'll just say, yeah, I hate Hamilton. I think it's terrible. I think it's not. I think there's nothing about it that is good. The music isn't good, the writing isn't good, the premise isn't good. I don't like any of it. So that. That is. And during the whole thing too, I was like, what are people talking about? This is not. This is garbage. This is not a. It's like a billion dollar Broadway play. It's total. A total mass delusion on its own. Podcast listener Eric wants to do a little gun talk here. Bb, hit it. Hey, Buck, this is Eric in Arizona. Just letting you know, with your small hands, the Glock 19 is perfect. Us guys with the bigger hands. Glock 17, plus two extra rounds. Bye. You know, maybe I shoot one handed, buddy. You know what I'm saying? Maybe I don't need two hands to steady my firearm because I've practiced enough and so the size of the grip doesn't really make much difference to me. Just throwing that out there. But, you know, at least you're not a 1911 guy, because then I'd have to make sure we got you a sippy cup and got you to bed early because that's what 1911 are for. The. The older crowd. Thanks for hanging with us guys. As always. We will have a lot more to discuss tomorrow, as always. And also go to crockettcoffee.com. why aren't you drinking Crockett coffee? If you're a coffee drinker, you should be drinking Crockett Coffee. It is the great American coffee brand and 10% of our profits goes public. Powers Foundation. Go to crockettcoffee.com we are going to have a fabulous Christmas celebration tonight. There will be maybe some Clay and buck photos [e-mail] tomorrow. Clay may even be drinking some. We will see.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Shh.

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[Trainer Games Announcer]

You are the fittest of the fit.

[Commercial Announcer]

Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Commercial Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Buck Sexton]

Pressure is coming down.

[Commercial Announcer]

This is Trainer Games.

[Promotional Announcer]

Watch it on prime video starting January 8th.

[Trainer Games Announcer]

Ever wish you could try the Washington Post and see what all the talk is about? Right now you can with a one week pass for just $7. No commitment, no strings attached. Just $7 for one week of unlimited access to the Post. It's the perfect way to explore our award winning journalism and experience what subscribers already know. There's nothing else quite like it, so why not give us a try? Go to washingtonpost.com week and start your $7 one week pass today. That's washingtonpost.com week.

[Promotional Announcer]

The world's best ski and snowboard athletes are chasing medals. Now you can follow their every move. Join Insider, the official US Ski and snowboard fan loyalty program and get premium viewing at World cup ski events, exclusive athlete meetups, discounts from brands you love and a custom welcome gift mailed direct to your doorstep. This winter, show your support as they race for the podium. Head to insider.usski and snowboard.org and join today.

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