Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H3 - FL Stole the Cash Cows

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H3 - FL Stole the Cash Cows
Date: March 21, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)

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Overview

In this hour, Clay and Buck take a deep dive into several intertwined national topics: the ramifications of key Capitol Hill hearings, divisions over Middle Eastern policy and anti-Israel sentiment, the exodus of wealthy populations from high-tax states (with a focus on Florida and New York), the inefficacy and bloat of government welfare programs, and ongoing concerns over abuse of public funds in homelessness and health programs. While weaving in listener calls, the duo balance sharp critique with their trademark banter and personal anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Capitol Hill Hearings & Joe Kent Resignation (01:04–13:08)

• Confirmation Hearings:

  • Ongoing Senate hearings, including Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation, are discussed as emblematic of intra-party Republican disputes (01:04).
  • “These two guys just don’t like each other … There are people who, you know, you just don’t like or they don’t like you.” — Buck Sexton (01:49)

• Joe Kent’s Resignation:

  • Tulsi Gabbard testifies on Capitol Hill; hosts express respect for differing opinions in foreign policy, especially for veterans like Kent (03:41–04:58).
  • Caroline Levitt responds on behalf of the White House, downplaying claims that Trump is under foreign influence and affirming the value of dissent within the administration.

"It's deeply disappointing … to resign with a letter filled with falsehoods accusing the President … of being controlled by a foreign country. That's both insulting and laughable all at the same time."
— Caroline Levitt (04:13)

• Debate Over Dissent:
  • Clay shares personal preference for internal disagreement rather than public resignation, comparing organizations and workplace dynamics (06:07).

“If I Heart made a decision … I wouldn’t come on the radio and be like, I can no longer work here. I would make my pitch, other people make decisions.”
— Clay Travis (06:07)

• Conspiracy Theories & Anti-Israel Sentiments:
  • Hosts highlight the proliferation of theories about Trump’s allegiances, emphasizing that criticism should be based on policy, not personal attacks or conspiracies (07:13, 09:34).
  • Buck underlines that suggestions of Trump being “bought and paid for” by Israel are “insulting to Trump … and to argue that a foreign country could bully or buy him … is insulting.” (07:13)

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Middle East, Israel, and Changing Geopolitics (10:05–19:25)

• Aftermath of October 7 Attacks:
  • Clay and Buck discuss how Israel’s responses have shifted the regional balance, with adversaries like Hamas and Iran weakened (10:32).
  • They speculate on regional realignments, particularly increased cooperation between Israel and Sunni Arab states.

“The most ironic part … is that Hamas’s horrific 9/11-style terror attack could end up resulting in the most pacified Middle East … we have seen in our lifetime.”
— Clay Travis (11:44)

• Tulsi Gabbard on Islamist Ideology:
  • Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony highlights concerns over the spread of Islamist extremism, both as a security threat and as a vector for foreign influence (16:12).

“The spread of Islamist ideology … poses a fundamental threat to freedom and the foundational principles that underpin Western Civilization.”
— Tulsi Gabbard via Caroline Levitt (16:12)

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State Economics: Florida vs. New York & High-Tax Flight (21:16–26:57)

• Kathy Hochul’s Plea to Wealthy New Yorkers:
  • Discussion centers on NY Governor’s plea for wealthy ex-residents to return and subsidize the state’s social programs. The hosts lampoon Hochul as unsophisticated and out of touch (22:32).

“Maybe the first step should be go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home.”
— Kathy Hochul (23:18)

• The Florida Advantage:
  • Clay and Buck detail how Florida’s population and budget efficiency has outstripped New York’s, attributing this to better governance and no state income tax (24:30).

“Everything that involves the state of Florida is more efficient, more reasonable, more sane … Miami, things get a little third world down here, but state of Florida, fantastic.”
— Clay Travis (24:56)

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The “Homeless Industrial Complex” and Government Waste (25:12–34:29)

• Ballooning Cost of Homelessness in NYC:
  • New York is spending over $81,000 per homeless person annually—more than most residents’ earnings, the hosts observe in disbelief (25:12–25:52).

“It would be better off … if [the government] just walked up and gave $78,000 in cash to every homeless person.”
— Buck Sexton (25:52)

• Redefining “Homeless”:

  • Hosts note shifts to terms like “unhoused” or “unsheltered” are semantic dodges to evade accountability for policy failure (26:57).

• Fraud and Grift in Government Programs:

  • Buck and Clay argue that much welfare spending flows to administrators and non-profits doing little to address core problems, likening this to fraud evident in daycare and disability programs (29:18).
  • They specifically reference high-billing autism therapy and daycare schemes that have little actual service to real families (31:03).

“There is a homeless industrial complex now—NGOs and bureaucrats getting paid to not actually fix the problem.”
— Buck Sexton (30:39)

• Democratic Incentives for Status Quo:
  • The hosts contend that Democrats don’t want to fix these chronic issues, seeing them as forms of wealth redistribution and party patronage (32:55).

“Not only are Democrats unwilling to fix it, they don’t want it to be fixed. Yes, they believe that this is a redistribution of wealth to people who should get the money.”
— Clay Travis (32:55)

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Federal Bailouts, State Bankruptcies, and National Debt (34:52–36:30)

• Out-of-Control Spending:
  • Commentary on looming federal bailouts as cities and states spend beyond their means and the national debt hits another milestone ($39 trillion).
  • Buck asserts that 75% of government spending could be stripped with no harm—“We could strip 75% of all government and be better off.” (35:14)

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Listener Calls & Notable Quotes (37:31–38:53)

• Lessons in Governance:

  • Caller Joe from Minneapolis cites Margaret Thatcher:
    “Socialism seems like a great idea until you run out of somebody else’s money.” (37:31)

• On Joe Kent’s Principles:

  • Caller Terrence from “the free state of West Florida” questions Joe Kent’s fitness and claims about intelligence access, expressing skepticism about his motivations (38:03).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “No one puts baby in a corner. No one tells Trump what to do.” — Clay Travis (04:58)
• “I’m 100% certain that Trump is not bought and paid for by Israel …” — Buck Sexton (07:13)
• “Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, now the Iranian, the Ayatollah himself … every one of Israel’s terroristic foes has been decapitated, almost on a literal level …” — Buck Sexton (10:32)
• “Florida’s budget is half the size of New York’s budget. And Florida has 2 to 3 million more residents as a state.” — Buck Sexton (24:30)
• “There is a homeless industrial complex now—NGOs and bureaucrats getting paid to not actually fix the problem.” — Buck Sexton (30:39)
• “Not only are Democrats unwilling to fix it, they don’t want it to be fixed.” — Clay Travis (32:55)
• “We could strip 75% of all government and be better off.” — Buck Sexton (35:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:04 – Start of substantive discussion; Capitol Hill hearings, intra-GOP tensions
• 04:13 – Caroline Levitt/White House respond to Joe Kent resignation
• 06:07 – Clay on public vs. private dissent
• 09:34 – Anti-Israel conspiracy theories
• 10:32 – Aftermath of October 7 and regional realignment in the Middle East
• 16:12 – Tulsi Gabbard on Islamist ideology
• 22:32 – Kathy Hochul’s call for New York’s wealthy to return
• 24:30 – Budget efficiency: Florida vs. New York
• 25:12 – NYC homelessness spending exposes government waste
• 29:18 – Government program fraud (autism/daycare)
• 32:55 – Democratic incentives against reform
• 37:31 – Listeners call in: socialism, Joe Kent, government waste

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Conclusion

This third hour delivers a rapid-fire, insightful breakdown of current American socio-political controversies, blending policy critique, humor, and pointed analysis. Clay and Buck highlight the unintended consequences of state and federal policy, lambast government inefficiency, and mourn the erosion of practical political stewardship—always with an eye for teachable moments and a willingness to challenge both their political allies and adversaries.

Listeners are left with a clarified understanding of the divides roiling the Republican party, deep skepticism about the direction of blue-state policy, and a reminder that government excess and inefficiency often work in tandem to maintain the status quo.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

with Level Up Expo.

[Howie Mandel]

The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up. March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time scores and breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.

[Clay Travis]

Third hour of play and Buck kicks off right now. Thanks everybody for being here with us doing our show. Informing, entertaining, breaking it all down for you and also want to take your thoughts, comments and everything else. See, we, we look at those VIP emails and we put questions to the people making the big decisions up on Capitol Hill and in the White House when we can. So we're seeing them all. Send those in. Send the talkbacks in. Something I wanted to get into, Clay. The two hearings are going on right now, or I should say today, not right this moment necessarily, but two hearings that were going on today on Capitol Hill. One was the Mark Wayne Mullen confirmation hearing. I do believe he will be confirmed. Senator Rand Paul will be a no vote as he just told us in the last hour. And these two guys just don't like each other. That's just where this is. There are people who, you know, Clay, I believe some, some people don't like me, which I find unfathomable. But there are people who don't even know me and don't like me. And there's some very few people know me, don't like me. But you know, even Clay Travis as, as affable a fellow as he is. I'm sure there are, I don't know, some woke sports writers out there who,

[Buck Sexton]

lots of them actually hate me.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, yeah. Just, just don't like you. And they say Mean things about my friend Clay. And then I want to fight them, but, you know, it's okay. People. People have their disputes. And of course, the senators will weigh in on what they think about all this with their votes, with their confirmation votes. So we put it out there. We will have Senator Mullen on after he. Assuming he's confirmed or either way, actually, just if he wants to. He may not come on, by the way. He may say, look, everything that's needed had to be said was said. But we're not. We're not taking some position on this other than letting these two important voices in the Republican Party have that discussion. So, yeah, we've already reached out to his team, and so, you know, he's welcome to come on. Okay, couple things here. First one is the. So Tulsi Gabbard is testifying on the Hill. I want to get to her some of her testimony, the dni. I don't even think I agree with Tulsi Gabbard necessarily on. On a whole range of foreign policy issues. But I do like her as a person. I think she's an ethical, good person, and I think she's a patriot. So that informs my judgments of her. I feel the same way about Joe, Ken. I think he's a patriot. I think that he is giving a lot to this country. And I don't really like people throwing that to the wayside over a policy dispute on the right so quickly. I'm seeing a little bit of that. You can say Joe Kent is wrong. You can say Joe Kent is crazy for what he's putting forward on this Iran war. That's up to you. But the guy served. And the guy lost his wife, who was serving in a. In a forward deployed, you know, combat. You know, combat enabling role. So let's all just maintain that level of, I think, earned respect that the guy has. Again, you want to trash his resignation or you think it's a bad idea, that's fine. But people are saying things like, you know, I'm not even gonna say what they're saying, but they're saying crazy stuff. Oh, he's a traitor. The guy's not a traitor. Caroline Levitt spoke about this. This is Cut nine. Let's hear what she had to say about the Joe Kent resignation from NCTC Director.

[Caroline Levitt]

He said he always thought Joe Kent was a good guy, obviously has a commendable military record and experience. However, he was not someone who was involved in the Presidential Daily Brief, part of the President's intelligence briefings over the last several months. Have not seen him here at the White House for quite some time. And the President feels it's deeply disappointing that after the President gave him an opportunity in this administration to serve the American people, that he would resign with a letter filled with falsehoods accusing the President of the United States by being controlled by a foreign country. That's both insulting and laughable all at the same time. The President is the leader of the most powerful country and military in the world. Nobody tells him what to do.

[Clay Travis]

Now, this is basically clay, what we were saying. I mean, I even said this. I'm like, no one tells Trump what to do. I said that yesterday. It's like, no one puts baby in a corner. No one tells Trump what to do. But the way that this was handled by Caroline Levitt here from the White House, I think this is totally, totally within bounds, totally on point, which is, he's a good guy. I think he loves America. He's over his skis on this one. It's a shame he didn't do more with the role. And, you know, people are allowed to disagree. This is America. You know, nothing nasty or personal, but. But saying he's. He's off on this one. And, you know, that's that.

[Buck Sexton]

This. This is why we played the audio from the 1980s yesterday, because I think there are a lot of things you can say about President Trump if you disagree with him, he's at the behest of anyone, or they can bully him into doing anything, I think is completely and utterly untrue.

[Clay Travis]

The idea that there is anyone who could bully President Trump, I don't think there's anyone on the planet who could bully President Trump into anything that he

[Buck Sexton]

didn't otherwise want to do. Now, can you. Which is the job of the president, can you sit down in front of President Trump and say, hey, this is why we believe we need to strike Iran, or why the Venezuela decision makes sense. Buck, you've been in these rooms. You briefed the president. We really want the president to get a wide variety of perspectives so that he can hear, marinate, think about different arguments, and then he's the ultimate decider. And you, I'm sure, have seen a lot of times when people in positions of power have been pitched on two divergent perspectives. I. I'm not a big fan personally. This is just me of, hey, I disagree with something someone did. So I'm gonna go public, and everybody needs to know that I disagree. That's my personal opinion. Like, if I. We work for iheart. If I Hart made A decision one day that I disagreed with. I wouldn't come on the radio and be like, I can no longer work here. I would make my pitch. Other people make decisions. I don't run the.

[Clay Travis]

If all of our radio stations invaded Greenland simultaneously and we thought there was like a human rights issue, it might be a little different. But yes.

[Buck Sexton]

And also, by the way, some people out there are like, oh, you know, I don't really buy that anybody inside of the Trump team can be bought and paid for. Anyone. I'm 100% certain that Trump is not bought and paid for by Israel, which is actually insulting to Trump, to me, to argue that a foreign country could bully or buy and pay him into doing anything.

[Clay Travis]

But I think that this, that's I appreciated. You know, Caroline Levitt's obviously excellent at her job and she's speaking on behalf of the White House, but I think she's really summarizing very well what Trump's feelings about this are, which is Joe, Kentucky good guy, thought he'd be a good member of the team. He loves his country and he's a brave dude and I respect that. On this. He's gone a little wackadoo and it's good that he's leaving. I'm sorry that he didn't find a way to operate better within the team. I think he's wrong, but it's not. This is a person that everybody should like, malign and think ill of going forward. It's. This is a departure. You know, to your point, Clay, look, he believed, he didn't. He was opposed to the Iran war. He was somebody who didn't want intervention in Iran. He's a non interventionist and he's a guy who has been out there getting shot at during the intervention. So, you know, I think he's allowed to very much allowed to have his opinion and have his opinion heard on this. He didn't change his mind or something on this last minute. He's not a fit for where the administration is in this. I actually think people resigning and saying this is why I'm resigning is, is a good thing instead of if the alternative is, remember Trump term one. There are these people, like the guy who wrote that, like resistance editorial, I'm staying in the machine to thwart Trump. But no, that's wrong. You should not be doing that. I just, I think the part of this that has rubbed some people very much the wrong way is the, some of the insinuations about the reasons for Trump doing this as it pertains to Israel and the Israeli lobby in this country. And people are. People are very sensitive about that. That's just the truth. People get very sensitive about that because there's some really crazy stuff that people say around those lines, too. But I think that the way the White House has handled this is. Is, you know, at least from this statement from Caroline Levitt, totally respectful and within bounds. It's a slap down on the issue, but it's not a slap down of the man. Joe Kent's not a bad guy. He's wrong on this.

[Buck Sexton]

Do you see the posts that. I mean, first of all, there's a very anti Israel element that is active online that isn't actually very representative of the nation as a whole. But there are a lot of people who will say, oh, you're. I mean, because they'll say President Trump is corrupted. Do you see in the comments? Anytime anybody says anything positive about Israel, they're like, you got paid $7,000 for this tweet. Have you seen this? Like, that's like echoing everywhere.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, they definitely don't know how much you sold out kick for seven grand. Seven grand isn't getting Papa Clay out of bed, I'm telling you.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm just going to say I wouldn't do anything for seven grand, much less sell an opinion for seven grand. I mean, some of this stuff is just the conspiracy theories out there are crazy. And again, it's really wild. I think historically when we write about this, the fact that a lot of people decided after October 7th that somehow Israel was the instigator and the bad guy of everything that has happened since, I think is just a total bastardization of what has truly occurred and also a function that is misreading what actually has occurred, which is Hamas thought that they were going to be able to severely disable Israel in many ways. Instead. Buck, think about this. Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, now the Iranian, the Ayatollah himself. Every one of Israel's terroristic foes has been decapitated almost on a literal level as a result of the October 7 attacks. Israel is in a stronger position than it's ever been before, I think.

[Clay Travis]

And Saudi Gulf states are more friendly toward Israeli security and a better future for the region than they ever have been before. Major Sunni Arab countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, but other Sunni Arab allies in the region. Are

[Buck Sexton]

you.

[Clay Travis]

The craziest part of this is. Or maybe the, you know, the most ironic part of it is that Hamas's horrific 911 style terror attack could end up resulting in the Most pacified Middle East. Yes, we have seen in our lifetime. Now, that's a could. That's not is yet. We're obviously still bombing Iran. But you look at what's gone on with the enemies of. Yes, the enemies of Israel, but notice the enemies of Israel. It's not like Israel has beef with Hezbollah and America's like, you know who we really like? Hezbollah. Because we remember the Marine Beirut bombings. You know, the Marine barracks bombings in Beirut. We remember what Hezbollah has been doing in the region, in Syria and around the world. Like, it's not like Israel's enemies are groups that we go, man, they're doing a lot of nice charity work. And why is Israel so harsh on them? They're our enemies, too.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

And they would kill us just as quickly as they would kill Israelis. I mean, that is just an observation of reality. So I wanted to get into some of the Islamist threats. Can we get it? Let's hold it because I want to come out. Cut six. You see there, Clay?

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

She's Tulsi Gabbard again. I like. You know, and I tell you, I like Tulsi. I like Joe Kennis, people. So take that for what it is. Tulsi Gabbard going after the spread of Islamism. Let's play when we come back in a second, because I think people should hear that this is still a real concern, a real problem, and something that we should think of as a top national security issue to be tackled.

[Buck Sexton]

No doubt. We'll play that for you when we come back. Cut six. Get it ready, boys and girls. But in the meantime, Buck may not know it. Tomorrow, March Madness starts officially. A lot of fevers, maybe a little sore throat. Starting to set in with a lot

[Clay Travis]

of my bracket beat your bracket? No, actually, that didn't happen.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, we did both correctly picked the champion, which was the Florida Gators last year. You did pick the correct champion.

[Clay Travis]

We got to go bracket head to head bracket challenge this year. I'm. I'm filling it out.

[Buck Sexton]

We'll do the brackets. We'll get you ready. And if you like the brackets, as most of you do, my 11 year old told me yesterday, this is cute. He said, dad, I've already finished, filled out 12 different brackets. I said, are you sure? I. I said, how many different champions have you got? He said, oh, I've got eight different champs, Dad. I went through and he's super excited. In fact, I just told Rusty, who's here working with me from. From iheart. Hey, can you get some brackets printed out we don't have a a printer. I'm trying to figure out how to get them out so the kids can all fill them out. But if you love March Madness prize picks gonna be a lot of fun for you. You can play along at price Picks. We just had the World Baseball Classic last night. NHL NBA March Madness. Soon to be the major League baseball season. I believe it starts next week. We are going to be able to have a lot of fun with those. And you get $50 deposited in your account in all 50 states when you play. $5 at pricepix.com if you use code CLAY that's pricepix.com code CLAY $5 deposited turns into 50. That's pricepix.com code clay pricepix.com code C L A Y Get hooked up today.

[Clay Travis]

You know them as conservative radio hosts. Now just get to know them as guys.

[Buck Sexton]

On the Sunday Hang podcast with Clay and Buck. Find it in their podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Howie Mandel]

The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report Apple. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.

[Buck Sexton]

The Global Gaming League is presented by

[Howie Mandel]

Atlas Earth, the fun cashback app. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am

[Clay Travis]

inviting you to witness history as me and my Howie do it gaming team

[Howie Mandel]

take on Gilly The King Wallow 267's million dollars gaming in an epic global

[Clay Travis]

gaming league video game showdown. Plus a halftime performance by Mult platinum artist Travy McCoy.

[Howie Mandel]

Watch all the action and see who

[Clay Travis]

wins and advances to the championship match right [e-mail] that's globalgamingleague.com in partnership with Level Up Expo.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We were just talking about playing this cut for you, I believe. Cut 6. Tulsi Gabbard if I'm not mistaken. Listen.

[Caroline Levitt]

The spread of Islamist ideology in some cases led by individuals and organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, poses a fundamental threat to freedom and the foundational principles that underpin Western Civilization. Islamist groups and individuals use this ideology for recruiting and financial support for terrorist groups and individuals around the world and to advance their political objectives of establishing an Islamist caliphate which governs based on Sharia. There are increasing examples of this in various European countries. And President Trump's designation of certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations is a mechanism to secure Americans against this threat. In response to setbacks to their capabilities of conducting large scale complex attacks, Islamist terrorist groups have shifted toward focusing on executing information operations to spread propaganda and inspire or enable individuals located in or with access to the West.

[Clay Travis]

So still a problem.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. And again, what, what I would say, if you want to be optimistic about things. We were just talking about the continued fallout of October 7, 2023, as we come up on what, two and a half years basically since that terror attack. I'm not sure that we have ever had a potential for a more secure and more stable Middle east in any of our lives than where we are right now. Now, that doesn't mean that there may not be a great deal of tumult for the rest of March, for the rest of April and May, but I do think if you get the Abraham Accord signed on to by Saudi Arabia and they normalize relations with Israel, the call, the, the, the guest we had on yesterday, I think is so important psychologically. Iran has been left behind. Iran has been completely and totally left behind by its peer groups. In fact, a lot of countries that were beneath Iran in terms of economics. And that's embarrassing and somewhat humiliating to many people who live in Iran. And so it's one thing if the United States is wealthier or even if Israel is wealthier, but when Saudi Arabia is wealthier, when Qatar is wealthier, when the UAE is wealthier, that's a form of failure and falling behind your peer countries. And I do think that that is going to in many ways motivate a long term positive response. Now, what we just talked about is how long does President Trump want to be bombing Iran? How many of these guys are going to be taken out? Israel seems to have buck a stronger predisposition towards changing regime than the president does and the United States does, which is why most of the strikes that you're seeing from the United States have to do with military infrastructure from Iran. And, and at this point, most of the strikes from Israel have to do with checking leadership off the, off the board, taking people out. And I do think that is a reconciliation that is going to have to be determined at some point in time. President Trump wants this to be over, I think earlier than Israel would prefer.

[Clay Travis]

I also think that even if it isn't a different regime in place when this is all over, at least this phase is over. There will be going forward in any negotiation. Don't play games with us, guys. Yeah, don't play games. Don't, don't think you're going to do anything and get away with it. At least under this president, you are not going to get away with it and you will pay a terrible price for any nonsense. There is advantage in that. There is value in that concept and Trump knows that. All right, Very reliable cell phone for a cell phone service at the most reasonable price. That's how I would describe Pure Talk. They're certainly less expensive and more value oriented than some of the big names like AT&T, Verizon or T Mobile. But they're also a company that relies on an all US based customer service team. That's a team that easily understands you. And they're so straightforward and they're great. I've worked with them before whenever I have a question or anything comes up with my phone. But by the way, my phone's great because it's on America's biggest 5G network. So PureTalk is on the same towers and network as one of those big name companies, but you're just getting it at a much better price point. For $25 a month, PureTalk gives you unlimited talk, text and plenty of Data. And with PureTalk, there's no contract, no consolation fee. Grab your cell phone, dial pound250, say the keywords Clay and Buck. Let PureTalk's US customer service team help you make the switch in 15 minutes or less. Dial pound250, say Clay and Buck and you'll save 50% off your first month again. To make the switch to Pure Talk, just dial pound250, say Clay and Buck. Switch to Pure Talk today. Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Let's talk about New York for a second, shall we? Hello to everybody on War nyc. Fantastic Heritage radio station that really covers much of the Triborough area. Or, sorry, that the Tri State area. Triborough. Good Lord.

[Caroline Levitt]

Tri.

[Clay Travis]

Tried Tri State. I haven't been gone that long.

[Buck Sexton]

Guy moves to Florida suddenly, doesn't know anything about New York anymore.

[Clay Travis]

The tribe boroughs, the three boroughs in New York. Like I gotta, I gotta remember things here. I gotta keep, keep things straight. But wr, great station listening many of you and the truth is, sorry, we're gonna have a little fun at the expense of New York State governance right now. That's just where this is going because a lot of very wealthy people have become quite annoyed with what's going on in New York. Not just New York, Washington state now has this millionaires tax situation. Same thing California. California just got so many taxes, all kinds of problems. Kathy Hochul, who is honestly somebody that you wouldn't want in charge of the bake sale for the pta. Not even the pta. You wouldn't want her running the bake sale to raise money. Like you would not want this woman in charge of anything of any consequence whatsoever. She'd be burning the zucchini bread. There's no question about it. And here she is telling people that they need to move back to New York. Wealthy people need to move back to New York so they can fund welfare programs in New York. Play 8.

[Caroline Levitt]

There is this anxiety, which is real. And we're continuing to address the affordability crisis, which I believe should be the number one priority of this legislative session. What can we do to take off some of that pain that New Yorkers are feeling that I hear about literally every day? What I want to make sure we are smart about is having a system in place where it's not just taxing for the sake of taxing and being conscious of the fact that I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state right now. There are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. Okay, cut me the checks. They just. If you want to be supportive. But maybe the first step should be go down to Palm beach and see who you can bring back home.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, I mean, she's saying Florida, Florida has stolen her cash cows. And a lot of them are in Palm Beach. A lot of them are here in Miami Beach. Let me tell you. I got neighbors and, and they're in Delray and they're in Boca. Hey, a lot of places around here. And Clay, this is really. I appreciate this. She is so unsophisticated in so many ways that she's just saying the truth here, which is New York or former New Yorkers, please move back to New York so you can be milked like the cows you are for the welfare state. That is her case.

[Buck Sexton]

And so we've told you this. And it is going to long range mean that states like Tennessee, Florida, Texas, 0 state income tax states are going to be far more effective and well run than super high income tax states that are losing, as you just heard Kathy Hochul say, a lot of the base that has paid for all of the Government to exist. What was the data point you gave us, Buck? That New York, I think has a little bit fewer people now than Florida. Right. But Florida's government is half the size of New York's.

[Clay Travis]

Well, Florida's budget is half the size of New York's budget. And Florida has 2 to 3 million more residents as a state. 2 to 3 million. By the way, there are a lot of states that barely have 2 or 3 million residents.

[Buck Sexton]

And as a general rule, how would you say as a Florida resident, that the Florida budget and the governance is at running the money that they get at basically managing the taxpayer dollars.

[Clay Travis]

Everything that involves the state of Florida is more efficient, more reasonable, more sane compared to New York state level governance. Everything, everything is easier, everything is smoother, everything makes more sense. Miami, things get a little third world down here, but state of Florida, fantastic.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, so building on that, you mentioned this stat earlier and I saw it in, my jaw dropped. It's rare that I see a stat and I'm like, oh my, I can't believe this is real New York. Is it? New York City is spending more money than the average New Yorker makes on homeless people. What is this math, Buck? $81,000 a year, I believe, was the. So all of you out there, I, I, you worked a long time with not making $81,000 a year? Buck, I worked a long time not making $81,000.

[Clay Travis]

I aspired to 81,000. I was like, oh my gosh, think about life at 80K.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

This is, by the way, 100 true.

[Buck Sexton]

A lot of you out there are aspiring to life at 80k, right? That's a lot of money. That is what New York is spending on homeless people. And you made this analogy earlier. How many of you out there listening to us right now in New York are busting your asses all day long and you're not making 81k and you're looking around and you're saying, wait a minute, what is the state doing that they're providing 81k a year in support for homeless people? This is just so flagrantly flawed. I mean, it's, it would be better off and this would be an awful idea, but if the entire government just got out of the way and they just gave 80, $78,000 in cash, you would save money if you just walked up and gave $78,000 in cash to every homeless person.

[Clay Travis]

I, I, I also, by the way, there's nothing, there's nothing inherently derogatory about the term homeless. These people clearly don't have homes. This whole thing about unsheltered now, unhoused.

[Buck Sexton]

Unhoused is unsheltered.

[Clay Travis]

Is the other the same. The same thing? No, I'm sorry, we're not doing this. Ok. The reason they're doing this is because homeless, Homelessness and homeless realities across this country, people have learned more about this. They've started to understand that almost all of the homeless, the truly homeless population, almost all have either extreme substance abuse or extreme mental health or a combination of both issues and disorders. The stories that you hear about a family of four kicked out of their home, down on their luck, that can happen. It does happen. I get it. It is rare. And they don't stay homeless because there are programs and there are, you know, thankfully, this notion. Thankfully. I mean, but there are things to help people get back on their feet and they tend to do so. The real homelessness issue is people with severe mental health and severe addiction issues, overwhelmingly. So this. The stories about someone lost their job, they're down on their luck. 1% of the. Of the unhoused or homeless population at any point in time, 5% maybe. I think that might be too much. It's people with those problems now. Those are human beings who deserve help too. I'm not, I'm not saying otherwise. My point though is they're changing the definition, truly. Or they're changing the terms we use of homeless because they don't want people to think about the discussions about, like Gavin Newsom said he's going to lower homelessness. That was the term he was using in California over a 10 year period. It's like doubled.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

So they're changing the word. So it's like a new problem now. Right. It's like, oh, well, we're not dealing with the homelessness thing, Clay, because we completely failed now. We're dealing with the unhoused population. And, and here's the other thing. 81. This is from the comptroller of New York. This is. Yes. You know, right wing, angry blogger.net or something. This is from the comptroller of New York. $81,000 a year per homeless person in New York. Why are we spending? Think about, should we just give a check?

[Buck Sexton]

Should you give a check for half

[Clay Travis]

of that 40 grand in cash to every homeless person? One time payment. There you go. Lump sum. Get away.

[Buck Sexton]

Actually cut half of the expenditures to your point. And you know what's a big part of this? There are a lot of people who are doing nothing to actually help homelessness that are being paid a lot of Money inside of that $81,000 where you

[Clay Travis]

get this is the ugly true. This is the ugliness of it. Ok, we're seeing this, my friends. Some people are going to really start to pull these dots together. I also think this is part of why Elon just with the whole Doge thing had kind of a like a thermonuclear meltdown of there's just so much fraud and so much waste and so

[Buck Sexton]

much crap that it was and nobody else is it unlike in a business where you would have somebody look at it say we can't run a business like that. We need that for our country and for our government.

[Clay Travis]

I think Elon was truly just overwhelmed by the scale of this. And in his, you know, his brain is able to tackle these things at scale and he's just like, this is completely. This monster is 100 times larger than I even realized. Anyway, a big part of this notice Clay. The autistic, like autistic kids programs, the child daycare, Somali. I'm talking look at the autistic kids thing and that's in California. I think they've started. Look at the spending on these programs has gone absolutely stratospheric in recent years. This is fraud, my friends. People are being paid a lot of money to do nothing of public benefit and they're getting taxpayer dollars to do this. And you know why the Democrats keep this going. It's a giant cash cow for their constituents. What do you think if you walk into some city funded homelessness program in New York? What do you think the voting record of the people that are getting checks from the city to run the program? What do you think of voting? I bet it's 95, 99% Democrat. It's just like the public school systems have become now, Clay, this is about vote harvesting. This is about donations. This is power for the Democrat Party. There is a homeless industrial complex now essentially of all these NGOs and bureaucrats getting paid to not actually fix the problem.

[Buck Sexton]

And this is also ties in with the health care system being broken. There was a Wall street journal editorial saying 99% of one state. I think it was Ohio. Of the fraud analysis, it was all fraud. 99. I also think again, this goes to health care. Nobody knows what it costs. The government funds a ton of it. Doesn't look at spending. There are people being paid $600 an hour to do autistic rehab that didn't actually have any kids with autism. I also think this ties in with an interesting question. We keep talking about how the number of kids with autism has skyrocketed. That's certainly true. How much of the autism diagnosises that we are seeing are completely made up and a function of being able to make money at 4, 5, and $600 to do autism therapy? I mean, some of these companies, you saw what happened in Minnesota, but I think the same thing is happening in California. These companies don't even have a physical location. They have a P.O. box, and they're getting paid millions of dollars a year. They're not even pretending. Just like you saw with the Somali daycare thing. Remember, Buck, it is interesting. No one has come out that I've seen and said, hey, my family lost daycare. Leave aside whether you think the government should be involved in Somali daycares at all. If they were actually doing Somali daycare, wouldn't. Tons of people have come out and said, oh, my goodness, the kids daycare. I can't go, I can't go to. I haven't seen anything about this. This was all a sham. And it's a function of government not being well run enough for people to notice where all the money is going. It's just, it's infuriating for anybody out there that pays taxes. It really is.

[Clay Travis]

It's. It's astonishing. And what you realize is that, and this is a, this is a pretty stark realization, but it's true. We think about fixing this. Not only are Democrats unwilling to fix it, they don't want it to be fixed. Yes, they believe that this is a redistribution of wealth to people who should get the money. They want homeless administrators on the, on the city, you know, getting, getting their budget paid for by the city, by the taxpayers. They want them making 3, 4, 600 grand.

[Buck Sexton]

Think about how crazy it is that New York is spending more money, more than $81,000 a year for every homeless person. I mean, it should be infuriating.

[Clay Travis]

The average household in New York City, people who are working, people who are showing up, and we've all been there. I have showed up to jobs on mornings where I hated so much I thought I was going to throw up. I mean, I just, like, I'm not making any money. This sucks. I've, We've, we've all been. But you show up and you suck it up and you do it, you do it for your family, you do it for, you know, the people around you who are counting on you. 80 grand going to every, you know, spent for every individual homeless person. What are they doing? Yeah, where is all the money? Think about this how can that be possible? Where's all the money going? We know what it is in the public school system. The public school system in New York pays more than most private schools cost across the country per pupil. You know where the money goes? Bloated administrators making 150 grand to show up, sit at a desk, do nothing all day. There are tens of thousands of them.

[Buck Sexton]

It's crazy how many people don't, don't do it. Don't do anything and are just administrators.

[Clay Travis]

It goes to vice principals of a district as a vice principal. What, like, you know, in case someone needs to step in for the principal, like vice principals and vice chancellors and all this stuff. We're making 2, 300 grand to be working for the public school system of New York or New Jersey or any of these states.

[Caroline Levitt]

Hmm.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, and you can retire after 20 years and you get all your benefits and everything paid for. I mean, friends, by the way, this is also where all your city taxes and state taxes are going as well. And you know what the game is at the end of all this Clay? Federal bailout. It's coming. You get a Gavin Newsom administration. What, you think he's going to leave California high and dry with its budget deficit? Oh, no more. They'll just find ways to more.

[Buck Sexton]

That's a good point because thankfully most states have to have balanced budgets, but a lot of cities have ended up going bankrupt and again, the federal government doesn't. So the buck, to buck's point, the bailout goes on the books of the federal government. I saw today we hit 39 trillion national debt. The, the number today now is 39 trillion. And what percentage of that money do you think has been well spent again? Much. We could strip 75% of all government and be better off. I mean, I think that there's zero doubt about that. Unfortunately, we're not going to do it. You want the full springtime experience, the budding trees, the blooming plants and shrubs, the whole deal. Spring is starting to spring. Spring has sprung some places, although other places it's still cold. But if you're excited for spring, and I am, and you're excited for warmer weather, and I am. And part of that is nutrients and new shrubs and new plants. You need to go check out one of our newest sponsors, Fast Growing Trees. They have more than 1200 different varieties of trees, shrubs and plants. They ship directly to your home. You do the planting, the plants and the trees do the rest. Fast Growing Trees catching on, already shipped to 2 million American households. So far, everything you order backed by their alive and thrive guarantee. That's how well they've nurtured your new trees and plants. Surprise someone you love this spring at first. Fast growing trees.com use my name, Clay C L A Y as your promo code to get 20 off. Fast growing trees.com My name Clay. Clay for 20% off, keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast. Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. In Closing up shop, let me hit you guys who've been waiting a little while and try to hit as many of these as we can in rapid, short order. Joe in Minneapolis, what you got for us?

[Clay Travis]

Hey, guys, this is a perfect teachable moment. The things that you describe going on in New York, wanting people to come back from Florida. Let's accentuate and make this an educational moment. Margaret Thatcher, who once said, socialism seems like a great idea until you run out of somebody else's money.

[Buck Sexton]

It's well said. And there's never been a time when the government hasn't wanted more. I'll just point out billionaires. Oh, we're only going to tax the billionaires. Remember, initially, the income tax was just going to go after the super wealthy. How'd that work out? Terrence in West Florida, what you got for us?

[Clay Travis]

That's the free state of West Florida. So this Kent guy, it's a need to know. He was not in the wiring diagram to know anything. He was in counterterrorism. He did not have a need to know the war planning, the war planning that was going on to enter into the conflict that we have right now in Iran. So I'm just sorry. And then also this guy, he was all three parties. He was a libertarian, he was a Democrat, and he was a Republican. He's not a principled man. I'm sorry. He's just not a nice man.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you for the call. Quickly, Scott in New York state, you got an idea? You got 10 seconds.

[Clay Travis]

I would like to see the $500

[Buck Sexton]

bill come back and Trump be on

[Clay Travis]

it because, let's face it, 100 bucks does nothing.