Alito’s Omelet (feat. Mark Cuban)

Summary

The Daily Beans: Episode Summary – "Alito’s Omelet (feat. Mark Cuban)"

Release Date: March 27, 2025

Hosts: Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg

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1. Signal Chat Scandal and Legal Implications

The episode opens with Allison Gill addressing the latest developments surrounding the controversial Signal Chat incident. Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic released a transcript of a group chat among top Trump administration officials discussing a planned strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. This revelation has ignited bipartisan calls for investigation.

• Senate Response: Both Republican Chair Roger Wicker and Democrat Jack Reed of the Senate Armed Services Committee have urged a thorough investigation into the matter.

• Supreme Court Involvement: Judge Boasberg is also central to the controversy, with American Oversight suing key cabinet members under the Federal Records Act for improper handling of the Signal Chat messages.

Allison Gill highlights the gravity of the situation, stating, "If this somehow gets through, that basically means that the President can put anybody on a plane under the Alien Enemies Act and deport them." (02:45)

Dana Goldberg adds that this situation serves as a form of karma for the officials involved, remarking, "I think it's a little bit of karma." (03:28)

2. Vaccine Study Controversy

The hosts delve into the troubling appointment of anti-vaxxer David Greer by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to lead a study on the alleged links between vaccines and autism—a theory long debunked by scientific research.

• Expert Concerns: Experts like Jessica Steere of the Autism Science Foundation criticize the appointment, emphasizing that Greer's involvement undermines public trust in vital health measures. Steere asserts, "They are starting with the conclusion and then looking to prove it. That's not how science is done." (14:02)

• Political Ramifications: The episode touches upon Senator Bill Cassidy's efforts to compel HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to disavow his stance on vaccines, highlighting the deep political divisions exacerbating public health challenges.

3. Democratic Upset in Pennsylvania

A beacon of hope emerges as Democrat James Andrew Malone secures a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in a historically Republican-leaning district. This victory marks the first time a Democrat has held this seat in 136 years.

• Strategic Messaging: Senator Vince Hughes credits Malone's success to focusing on issues like Social Security and healthcare, moving away from the partisan battles that have previously hindered Democratic efforts.

Allison Gill emphasizes the significance of this win, stating, "We just had one and we won it." (18:45)

4. Supreme Court Upholds Ghost Gun Regulations

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court upheld federal restrictions targeting ghost guns—homemade, untraceable firearms. The 7-2 ruling, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, marks a departure from the Court's usual skepticism towards gun regulations.

• Dissenting Opinions: Justices Alito and Thomas vehemently dissented, with Alito likening the regulation to cooking an omelet: "If I show you, I put out on a counter some eggs... Is that a Western omelet?" (20:18)

• Government Stance: The Biden administration defends the regulations, citing the surge in ghost gun-related crimes and the need for stricter controls to ensure public safety.

Allison Gill critiques the dissent, remarking, "You can't just disassemble everything and use that as an argument." (23:07)

5. Interview with Mark Cuban – Cost Plus Drugs

Mark Cuban joins Allison Gill to discuss his venture, Cost Plus Drugs, aimed at making prescription medications more affordable through transparency and minimal markups.

• Origin Story: Cuban explains the inspiration behind Cost Plus Drugs, reacting to instances like the exorbitant price hikes of essential medications. "The entire pharmaceutical industry is completely opaque... That's awful." (27:58)

• Business Model: By showcasing actual costs and applying a fixed 15% markup, Cost Plus Drugs offers medications at significantly reduced prices. Cuban shares success stories, such as a cancer patient saving $900 a month by switching to their service.

• Healthcare Reform Vision: Cuban envisions a simplified pharmacy system devoid of middlemen, ensuring patients can afford their medications without financial strain. He states, "We're just trying to simplify it." (33:05)

• Government Collaboration: Discussing potential partnerships, Cuban mentions ongoing talks with the Department of Veterans Affairs to extend Cost Plus Drugs' benefits to veterans, highlighting the broader impact on public health.

• Political Commentary: Cuban critiques the current administration's staffing and policy decisions, linking them to systemic inefficiencies and advocating for merit-based hiring practices.

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6. Conclusion and Call to Action

Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to take proactive steps in holding officials accountable, especially in light of the Signal Chat scandal. They emphasize the importance of supporting initiatives like Cost Plus Drugs to foster positive change in healthcare.

• Good News Segment: The hosts also share uplifting stories from listeners, promoting community support and advocacy.

• Final Thoughts: Emphasizing resilience and incremental progress, Allison concludes, "We're still having elections and we're winning them," reinforcing the episode's theme of hope amidst turmoil.

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Notable Quotes:

• "If this somehow gets through, that basically means that the President can put anybody on a plane under the Alien Enemies Act and deport them." – Allison Gill (02:45)

• "They are starting with the conclusion and then looking to prove it. That's not how science is done." – Jessica Steere (14:02)

• "We just had one and we won it." – Allison Gill (18:45)

• "If I show you, I put out on a counter some eggs... Is that a Western omelet?" – Justice Alito (20:18)

• "We're just trying to simplify it." – Mark Cuban (33:05)

• "We're still having elections and we're winning them." – Allison Gill (63:07)

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Conclusion:

In "Alito’s Omelet (feat. Mark Cuban)," The Daily Beans navigates through high-stakes political scandals, groundbreaking Supreme Court decisions, and innovative solutions in the healthcare industry. With insightful discussions and expert commentary, Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg provide listeners with a comprehensive overview of pressing issues, all while infusing their signature snark and progressive perspective.

Transcript

[Allison Gill]

MSW Media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Thursday, March 27, 2025. Today, Jeffrey Goldberg from the Atlantic has released the entire Signal Chat except for the name of the CIA agent. The Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Wickr, and the ranking member, Jack Reed, have called for an investigation into the Signal Chat incident. A Democrat has won a Pennsylvania state Senate seat for the first time in history. The Supreme Court has upheld Biden's ghost gun limits. An anti vaxxer has been hired to head a study on vaccines. The Trump administration has responded to Judge Boasberg's order to show cause why they're not in contempt of court for refusing to turn the planes around. And speaking of Judge Boasberg, he has drawn the American oversight lawsuit against the cabinet members in the Signal Chat. I'm Allison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

People are probably not very happy about that.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, too bad for them. Yeah. This whole thing, I've been thinking of it like in juxtaposition, the, the Alien Enemies act case and the Signal Chat thing, because in the Signal Chat, they're like, no bombs and war plans and times and people, no big deal. But on the other side, in the Alien Enemies act case, they're like the times at which these public flights known to the public took off are a matter of national security. And we can't divulge any information to you, therefore we're not in contempt. It's just bizarre. So we're going to be talking a lot about that on Sunday on the episode of Unjustified. But Boasberg, he got the response from Trump just right before midnight, the response to his show, cause Order, Right. Where he's like, tell me why you didn't show me how you didn't violate my order. And they came in and they made this really bizarre argument saying, well, since the planes were already in the air under the Alien Enemies act, when you ordered us to turn them around, that wasn't under the Alien Enemies Act. That would have been a separate order from the President to turn the planes around. And so he made the decision not to under his Article 2 powers of the presidency. I've never heard this argument before. If, if it somehow gets through, that basically means that the President can put anybody on a plane under the Alien Enemies act and deport them. Seacot, and then no one can make the planes turn around other than him. It's just bizarre. Yeah, yeah. And, and like I said, the new. So, you know, the American oversight is suing Heg Seth for The Signal chat thing. And among others like Ratcliffe and Gabard are all named in this, plus other cabinet members. Everybody in the, everybody who is in the signal chat people, except for, except for Jeffrey Goldberg. They're suing under the Federal Records Act. Right. Because you're supposed to keep the set disappear messages for one week or four weeks or whatever. That's against the law. And so they're suing. And Judge Boberg pulled that as a random assigned case to him. So that's, that's just fun to me. I don't know.

[Dana Goldberg]

I think it's a little bit of karma. I really do. This is the around and find out. I'm sure there was a little internal giggle by Boberg when he pulled the case too. He felt like te.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. So one day they're going to be saying no public flight information for commercial airlines is top secret, classified. No war plans about who we're bombing and when we're bombing them. That's totally not secret at all. And it's just going to be hilarious to see of them try to square dance around that bullshit. But, you know, that's what they do. That's what their lawyers do. They're very, they've gotten very not good at it. You'd think with all the practice they've had that they'd be better, but that's the way they wind things through the courts. Also later in the show, I'm going to be talking to Mark Cuban and we're going to talk about his Cost plus Drugs website, which basically allows you to get prescription drugs that he has been able to buy in bulk at cost plus 15%. So cost plus. Cost plus drugs. And so I'm going to Shark Tank Mark Cuban. It's going to be great.

[Dana Goldberg]

He's a good guy. I mean, I think there's a couple billionaires in this world whose hearts are in the right place. And I do think he's one of them. I just, I do. I maybe prove him wrong one day. But right now I feel like he's fighting the good fight.

[Allison Gill]

He is. There's things that I definitely disagree with him on, like government. And he doesn't think Joe Biden did a very good job. And you'll hear him say that and you'll hear me just not take the bait because I really want to talk about Cost plus Drugs and what Musk and Doge are doing.

[Dana Goldberg]

Good for you.

[Allison Gill]

But, you know, I didn't want it to devolve into a shouting match about how rad Biden is Because I'm just right. And nobody needs to hear me say that on this.

[Dana Goldberg]

No one come at me. Like I said, I just feel like there's some things he's doing that are actually good for the people. Cost of drug prices is one of them.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, agreed. So we're going to talk to him. But first, before we get to any of that, we have a lot of news to get to, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from the Post. The Atlantic on Wednesday published a transcript of top Trump administration officials group chat this month discussing an imminent US Attack on Houthi militants in Yemen, offering a fuller accounting of the sensitive information they exchanged after the magazine's editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to the conversation by. By Mike Waltz, that occurred over an unclassified commercially available messaging platform, Womp Womp. So I love this because Goldberg called their bluff. You'll remember yesterday during the congressional hearings, Gabbard, and everybody was like, there was nothing classified in there. I attest there was nothing classified in there. I swear to God, there's nothing. And so the senators were like, well, then you'll release it. No, no.

[Dana Goldberg]

And then they dragged Goldberg's name through the mud, which was a stupid thing to do, knowing he had receipts. And he printed them.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, he sure did. Now the newly disclosed material adds fuel to a mounting controversy about the decision by several officials, including President Trump's national security advisor, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence, CIA Director Vice President JD Vance, who everyone hates. In fact, I think Waltz had to go call in Stephen Miller to tell J.D. vance to shut the fuck up. All this to discuss sensitive operational plans over the messaging app signal, which is encrypted but not permitted by government rules for discussions of classified information and to do so in a group including a journalist. The episode has infuriated Democrats who have demanded resignations of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and put the White House in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the judgment of nearly all the Trump administration's most senior national security figures. The president's defenders have acknowledged that Goldberg was inadvertently included in the chat, while seeking to downplay critics assertions that the material shared over the messaging app, had it been compromised by an adversary, would have jeopardized the lives of American service members involved in that operation. The Trump administration has vowed to take a harder line against the Houthis. I thought they were the peace presidency, but who've carried out attacks on commercial ships, American naval vessels and planes and US Ally Israel and against Iran, which has long provided the Houthis with financial and military support. The transcript published by the Atlantic on Wednesday includes a message sent from Hegseth at 11:44 Eastern Time, March 15. The IDEs the IDEs of March, the day of the Yemen operation, confirming the precise timeline of the planned strike scheduled to commence roughly two hours later, he wrote. Team update time now 1144 Eastern. Weather is favorable. Just confirmed with CENTCOM. We are a go for mission launch 1215 Eastern F18s launch first strike package 1345 that's 1:45pm trigger based F18 first strike window starts. Target terrorist is at a known location and should be on time. Also strike drones launch MQ9s. More F18s launch second strike package strike drones on target. This is when the first bombs will definitely drop pending earlier trigger based targets and then at 3:36 F18 second strike starts. Also first SEA based Tomahawks are launched. More to follow. We are currently clean on opsec. Waltz later provided the group with information on the strike's impact, saying a building had collapsed and that multiple targets were believed to be killed, including a quote, top missile guy who was allegedly struck while walking into his girlfriend's building. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, Dni Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, both whom participated in the chat, asserted to lawmakers that there's nothing in those messages that's considered classified. That's a lie. Some former intelligence officials have rejected those claims, describing a projected schedule of attacks like the one Hegseth shared with the chat group and as a closely guarded secret that should be discussed only in a secure environment. Quote, this information was clearly taken from the real time order of battle sequence of an ongoing operation. It's highly classified and protected. That's Mick Mulroy, former CIA paramilitary officer and Marine Corps veteran. So you know somebody without any experience at all?

[Dana Goldberg]

No, no.

[Allison Gill]

He also served as a senior Pentagon official during the first Trump administration. He said next to nuclear and covert operations, this information is the most protected. And this is just breaking the top Republican and Democrat senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee. They're actually asking the White House to expedite a Defense Department review of the Trump administration officials group chat on signal about the attack on Houthi militants in Yemen. This is Chairman Roger Wicker, Republican from Mississippi. He told reporters Wednesday that the top Democrat on the committee, Jack Reed, is joining him in his request. So this is Wicker's idea, the Republican Earlier Wednesday, the Atlantic magazine published messages that included operational details, as we know, of the military strikes. And Trump has two events scheduled Wednesday afternoon where he might field questions of the episode, including an announcement on automobile tariffs. Wonderful. But this is great, I think, you know, I mean, I'm no friend of Roger Wicker, but I'm glad that he's asking for an investigation, though I wish it wasn't. The DOD agreed. The Pentagon investigating itself. Yeah, Pete Hegseth's like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna investigate myself promptly. Yeah, yeah, no, thanks.

[Dana Goldberg]

I agree, my friend. This next one's from the Post. A vaccine skeptic like this can't get any worse. Who has long promoted false claims about the connection between immunizations and autism, has been tapped by the federal government to conduct a critical study of possible links between the two. That's according to current and former federal health officials. The Department of Health and Human Services has hired David Gere to conduct the analysis. And that's according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity of fear of retaliation. Gere and his father, Mark Gere, have published papers claiming vaccines increase the risk of autism, a theory that has been studied for decades and scientifically debunked. David Greer was disciplined, by the way, by Maryland regulators more than a decade ago for practicing medicine without a license. He is listed as a data analysis in the HHS employee directory. What a mess. Public health and autism experts fear that choosing a researcher who has promoted false claims, they're going to produce a flawed study. Of course they are, with far reaching consequences. They also fear it's going to undermine the importance of life saving inoculations and further damage. Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government's premier public health agency, has stressed vaccination as the safest and most effective measure to control the spread of some contagious diseases, including growing measles outbreaks that have already reached Texas and New Mexico. And I quote, it seems the goal of this administration is to prove that vaccines cause autism even though they don't. That's what Allison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds autism research, quote, they are starting with the conclusion and then looking to prove it. That's not how science is done. President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Have repeatedly linked vaccines to autism. Kennedy has often cited studies by David Gere, as I've been saying, and his father, a physician, asserting that the research reveals the negative effects of vaccines. Jessica Steere, a public health researcher who leads the nonprofit Science literacy, that's a fucked up word to mess up right there. Science literacy lab, that's just I'm leaving in because it's funny for everyone that scrutinizes research on high profile health topics. Said that the Gears research is riddled with basic flaws and that the pair have, quote, demonstrated patterns of anti vaccine agenda. The quote goes on. This is a worst case scenario for public health. This is from Steerer and went on to say, it's a slap in the face to decades of actual credible research that we have. During Kennedy's confirmation hearing, Senator Bill Cassidy, he's a Republican from Louisiana, he pressed Kennedy to publicly disavow his past claims about vaccines and autism. And he did that because Cassidy used to be a doctor. Kennedy replied he would do so if presented with data, disproving the link despite the overwhelming body of research that already does.

[Allison Gill]

That's not how science works. You don't have data to prove a negative. You have all the data that shows.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep. Now it's not clear how are Weigear, who's not a physician by the way, and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. How he was chosen, I have no idea. Now he was charged with practicing medicine without a license, as we know, in May of 2011, just weeks after his father's license was suspended for allegedly putting autistic children at risk.

[Allison Gill]

Both of their licenses were yanked.

[Dana Goldberg]

Now, I'm going to make a leap here. I don't, you know, I don't know if it's been confirmed that the President's son, Barron, people are speculating he may be on the spectrum. I'm not saying anything people don't already know. And to me, it wouldn't be that far fetched if Donald Trump so desperately needed to prove somehow that a vaccine is what did that to his child. Because God forbid, Donald Trump has what is in his eyes, even though I don't see it that way, an imperfect child. I just am telling you, I would not be surprised if that's the link. Like I said, I don't want to spread conspiracy theories on this show. We just know who Donald Trump is and what he would do to actually somehow make himself feel better about just normal situations in life. I just, I'm not, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Allison Gill]

No. It's hard to know what's in his head. I mean, it could be as simple as he wants a bunch of people to die because Putin is in charge.

[Dana Goldberg]

That does go back to the whole, you know, and I don't want to. I hate making comparisons to the Holocaust, but the Germans killed a lot of their own people who they thought were not quote unquote, normal, that may have had some sort of a neurodivergence or, you know, something that we would now classify as such.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. So you might be right. Right. Where they're like, well, it's not our great thoroughbred master race genes. This must be some sort of outside thing that causes this. Yeah. Who the fuck knows? But that's not how science is done. And, you know, we knew this was gonna. We knew this was gonna come. Absolutely. With RFK Jr. Was, was confirmed because he makes money off of, from law firms, off of suing vaccine makers. And if he can put out a bogus study under the auspice of the CDC saying that these things are connected, that autism and vaccines are connected, he becomes he pads his wallet by millions and millions of dollars. All right, next up from WHTM27 in Pennsylvania, and this is so fucking cool. Democrat James Andrew Malone narrowly won a special election for state Senate in a stretch of Republican leaning. And that's actually ruby red Pennsylvania suburbs and farming communities, scoring an upset in a territory that a Democrat hasn't represented in the chamber for 136 years. A Democrat has never held this seat. This district was drawn in 1980, and it's never, ever had a Democrat. Wow. Now Malone's victory over Republican Josh Parsons might be a light in the darkness for Democrats struggling to unify around a strategy to counter President Trump and at each other's throats publicly in an election in solidly Republican territory. A top state Senate Democrat, Senator Vince Hughes of Philly, said Malone's success shows the value of Democrats talking to people about protecting Social Security and health care access amid the chaos and pain that the Trump administration is sowing. Malone won by about 400 votes in a race that went to the Republican by 17 points. Trump won it by 16 in November. Now, the Senate vacancy in northern Lancaster county was created when Senator Ryan Almond, who's a Republican, he quit to take a job working for US Senator Dave McCormick. Malone and the Democrats built on a strong advantage in mail in ballots to combat the Republican signals significant voter registration edge. And Democrat Dan Gronauer handily won a special election in Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, keeping majority control of the state House in his party's hands by a single seat.

[Dana Goldberg]

Amazing.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. Go. Nower beat Republican Chuck Davis in a district in the Mon Valley region southeast of Pittsburgh, winning the seat that became vacant in January with the death of Democratic state Rep. Matthew Gurgley, quote, we knocked on thousands and thousands of doors, Gonauer said. We worked hard and we didn't take anything for granted. Now Gonaur's victory means Democrats control the House by a single representative. 102 to 101. The party will be able to keep Democratic House Speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia as the chamber's presiding officer. DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that the majority means state House Democrats, quote, can stand up to Trump's mayhem in Washington, prevent efforts to weaken Shapiro's authority and, quote, continue to expand job opportunities, strengthen schools and create safe communities in Pennsylvania. Go now will be resigning as a detective supervisor after spending well over a decade as a police officer in McKeesport. He's a teamster and a first term member of the school board in McKeesport, where he graduated high school. Gonauer is married and has three children. So the thing that I love about this is, you know, a lot of folks are like, ha, ha, that's funny that you even think we're going to have elections ever again. We just had one and we won it.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Allison Gill]

And that brings me hope. Now, I know Donald Trump has signed that executive order trying to gut our voting rights and voter registration in states, and I know that he's gonna try to privatize the post office to make mail in voting real hard. But all of that's illegal. I think the courts will stop it and we'll see going forward. But just to know that we are still having elections and we're winning them and we're flipping them by dozens of points is fantastic to me.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I really true believe that he overplayed his hand too early because he could have held this, he could have held his executive order for closer to the midterms, and he chose not to, which is going to give time for these lawsuits and give time for these courts to actually come back with some rulings. I think there was an overplay this time on his incompetency.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, good point.

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

This is good news, by the way. We're bringing you some early. This is from the Times. The Supreme Court on Wednesday, it upheld federal restrictions aimed at curtailing access to kits that can easily assemble into homemade, nearly untraceable firearms in a 7 to 2 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the court's conservatives. As we know, the justices left in place requirements enacted during the Biden administration as part of a broader effort to combat gun violence by placing restrictions on so called ghost guns. The Ruling in favor of gun regulations is a departure from the court, which has shown itself to be skeptical both of administrative agency power and of gun regulations. Two conservative justices Alito and Thomas, each filed dissent.

[Allison Gill]

No.

[Dana Goldberg]

Shocking. Yep. The Biden administration enacted rules in 2022 tightening access to weapons kits after law enforcement agencies reported the ghost guns were exploding in popularity and being used to commit serious crimes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimated that the use of the gun components in kits and crime increased tenfold in the six years before the rules were adopted. Among the regulations requiring vendors and gun makers to be licensed to sell the kits now. So mandating serial numbers on the components so that guns could be tracked and adding background checks for would be buyers. That's a big one. Gun rights groups. They sued, arguing that the government had overstepped its bounds in regulating the gun kits because they did not meet the definition of firearms under the Gun control Act of 1968. Maybe that should be updated. Opponents have gone regulations argued that most people who bought the kits were hobbyists, not criminals. In legal filings. By the way, most is carrying a lot of weight right there in legal filings. The groups argue that a majority of firearms used in crimes were traditional weapons that were manufactured professionally. Lawyers for the government argued in October while President Joe Biden was still in office, said the gun kits should be regulated as, quote, firearms because they allowed, quote, anyone with basic tools and access to Internet video tutorials to assemble a functional firearm quickly and easily, often in a manner of minutes. During the Oracle arguments, a majority of justices appeared to favor keeping the rules in place with at least two conservatives, that would be John Roberts and also Justice Amy Coney Barrett. As I said, she's been surprising us. Raising sharp questions about arguments by the plaintiffs that the Biden administration had overstepped its bounds. Other justices made comparisons to cooking. Justice Alito appeared to push back on the idea that gun kits could count as firearms. He made an analogy to cooking an omelet in his questions to the government's lawyer. I can already see where this is fucking going. I know, as in, when do components of a gun actually become a firearm? Quote, if I show you, I put out on a counter some eggs, some chopped up ham, some chopped up peppers and onions. Is that a Western omelet? That's what Alito said. And I want to retort to that to say, all right, put a sperm on a counter, put an egg on a counter, put that into someone's uterus and we have what? A Western omelet, A Western Omelet. Apparently that doesn't make a baby. It doesn't make a baby. So my point is, you can't just disassemble everything and use that as an argument and then just decide that from conception. Fuck off.

[Allison Gill]

Is that a Western omelet? Oh, my fucking God.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, my God.

[Allison Gill]

I can't. I can disassemble an M16A1 and put it into parts in front of me. It's not an M16A1 until I assemble it, but it sure as goddamn hell has a serial number on it. You have to have a background check to get it. Like, just because you can take something apart. You know what? We should take the Supreme Court apart. Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

And my point is, his arguments are consistently hypocritical.

[Allison Gill]

I know. And by the way, if I were the lawyer fighting for the Biden administration in this particular event, and Alito said, what if I put some eggs on a counter? I'd be like, nobody can afford eggs, sir. That would just be my two cents anyway. What a bunch of bullshit. All right, speaking of, you know, fighting back, it is time for a little good trouble. What are you guys doing? Getting into trouble. Getting. All right. Today's good trouble. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, let's call and remind our senators and representatives who voted for Pete Hegseth. Well, senators who voted for Pete Hegseth and our representatives in Congress that support that, let's remind them that they voted for an unqualified candidate with a questionable background. They put American safety in the hands of an amateur who inexcusably invited a journalist to join an unsecured chat about a foreign military operation. So everybody, call your members. Do your call 5 app right. And ask them to draw up. Either draw up articles of impeachment for Hegseth, Gabbard, and Ratcliffe, or. Or. And. Or to call on them to resign immediately. So that is the good trouble for today, because it's just unconscionable what these people have done and how they've endangered absolutely the lives of our. Of our people in uniform. Gross. All right, we have some good news, but first, we're going to talk to mark Cuban about costplusdrugs.com right after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. Have you ever wanted to learn more about wine but didn't know where to start? As someone who used to feel intimidated by wine shops and sommeliers, naked wines has completely changed the game for me. They make exploring incredible wines effortless. No sommelier certification required. And here's how it works. Naked Wines connects you directly to over 90 independent winemakers worldwide. Cutting out the expensive middlemen so you get award winning bottles for up to 60% off retail price. This is the coolest thing, you guys. They've been perfecting this model for 15 years, funding passionate vintners to focus on quality over quantity. And the best part, no commitments or membership fees on your part. You're free to pause or cancel anytime. My latest discovery was the chateau's cool D? Luti Prosecco. Super. It's a 2023 grape. It's an absolute masterpiece from Italy's Prosecco capital. It's zippy, it's sparkling, it's crisp. It's got green apple, peach flavors. Finishes with a delightful citrus that makes every sip safe. Bellissimo, right? And what makes it special? Paolo's three generations of winemaking expertise. It shines through in every bubble. No wonder every vintage sells out faster than the last. Naked Wines has transformed my evenings. Whether celebrating small wins in the courts or pairing with charcuterie, which is a big win, I love knowing that each bottle supports an artisan like Paolo. Like, these are people, these are vintners, and they have passion about what they do and I get to support them directly. And nobody's taken money out of either of our pockets, so it's great. Now is the time to join Naked Wines community. Head to nakedwines.com DailyBeans Click enter voucher and put in code DailyBeans all one word for both the code and the password and you'll get six bottles of wine for just 39.99 with shipping included. That's a discount of $100 off your first six bottles. Again, go to nakedwines.com dailybeans with the code and password dailybeans for six bottles of wine for $39.99. You'll be glad you did. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm honored today to be joined by billionaire investor and entrepreneur. He's the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He's a shark on Shark Tank and the co founder of what we're going to discuss today, Mark Cuban, Cost plus drugs. Please welcome Mark Cuban. Hey, Mark. How's it going? Good.

[Mark Cuban]

Thanks for having me on.

[Allison Gill]

No, thanks for joining me. I've been wanting to talk to you about this for a while because after the election, I sort of. We were all kind of anticipating that people were going to have a harder time in this administration getting their hands on affordable pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs. And there's going to Be could possibly face losses in health care. A lot of people being fired by doge from the federal government who are going to lose their health care coverage are going to need these alternatives. And I know that this is a word of mouth situation. Cost plus Drugs.

[Mark Cuban]

Yes, it is.

[Allison Gill]

So tell us a little bit about why you wanted to start Cost Plus Drugs and what it is.

[Mark Cuban]

So I'll give you the origin story. I got a cold email from a Dr. Alex Oshmiansky, based out of Denver, and he wanted to start a compounding pharmacy, a pharmacy that actually makes drugs in Denver to create drugs to offset a shortage in sterile injectables. Believe it or not, there's still a lot of generic drugs, particularly injectable drugs, that go in short supply. I had no idea at the time. And so we started talking, and it was right around the time the pharma bro was going to jail. And I was like, how can this dude just take this drug, Daraprim, and just jack it up by, you know, $750? I forget what the exact number was. I mean, that's just insane. And so I started digging in and it became very clear that the entire pharmaceutical industry is completely opaque. You know, if you think about what happens when you get a prescription, you go to the doctor, the doctor says, hey, Allison, you need da da, da, da da. And the next question out of their mouth is not, can you afford it? You know, how you know, is this going to be an economic issue for you? It's what pharmacy do you use? And from there it's completely up to you. And I was like, you know, that's awful because we've all heard the stories of somebody standing in line and getting to the pharmacy counter and not being able to afford their medication. And so we started digging in and we just decided that, you know, what we needed to do was simplify things. So we created the company and a website called costplusdrugs.com and what we do that's different, when you go to costplusdrugs.com, you put in the name of the medication. We don't have them all. We're working to get there. We have about 2,500 different medication SKUs. You put in the name, and if we carry it, up, it comes. And what's different is we show you our actual cost and then we show you our actual markup, which is 15%. And we're primarily mail order. We do have affiliate pharmacies, but from there we charge $5. That goes to the pharmacist to review everything and $5 for shipping and handling. And in taking that approach, with that smaller markup, we've been able to save, you know, people millions. I don't know, it could be hundreds of millions, it could be a billion. I don't even know how much we've been able to save people, but a lot of money. Just having that markup and just being transparent was completely unique in the industry. Nobody had ever done it before. And you know, we publish our price list. So any company, any insurance company, any customer, any, you name it, anybody can see our prices. And we're still the only company who does that. And so, you know, as you mentioned, we're all word of mouth, but the impact has been, you know, I get emails almost daily now. You know, I got one a couple of weeks ago now where somebody said, you know, Mark, my cancer medication was going to be $900 at my local big pharmacy. And you know, I had to make a decision. I mean, I've got cancer, I don't know if I'll live, you know, more than two years with or without the medication. But I didn't want to put my wife in a position where we had to borrow money and she was going to have to keep on paying it. It's going to be 900 some dollars a month went to cost plus drugs and it was $73 a month. You saved my life. And that happens over and over and over again, which is just insane when you think about it, that just something just taking such a simple approach has completely changed an industry.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, I agree. And you know, I'm a veteran. I get my care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. For now, we'll see, we'll see what ends up happening there. But you know, and I worked there for over a decade and we have long at the VA been able to negotiate, I think because of Bernie Sanders, to negotiate our drug. And so sometimes you get one version of it, sometimes you get another version of it. It's whatever they were able to buy in bulk for cheap.

[Mark Cuban]

Do you guys have CO pays at all?

[Allison Gill]

It depends on how disabled you are. If you are, you know, 50% or more disabled, it's zero dollars. If you' 30 to 50% disabled, it's eight bucks. If you're, if you don't have a service connection, you're means tested to see how much you can afford. And so with the potential changes, at least listed in Project 2025, coming up with reducing veterans benefits, more people may be thrown into having CO pays And that's why Cost plus would be more effective. Could be more effective for these drugs. But are you able to offer these prices because you buy in bulk? Is that the idea?

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah. Well, first, you know, my. But the goal is not to make as much money as possible. The goal is to fuck up the healthcare industry and to really change it so that people can afford their medications. And so, you know, we're. We're close to breaking even now. We're finally getting close. But, you know, for. We've been shipping three years, and we've been losing money for three years, but that was okay. You know, we're able to sell so much less expensively because our markup's only 15%. But we've met. We're making it up in volume now, and our costs are going down. But the thing about it is, when my price goes down, I pass it on. So if my cost for medication goes from 100 to 50, then the cost to the patient goes from 115 to $5 and 70, you know, $57.50. And so, you know, that's the way we do it.

[Allison Gill]

No, that's a. That's a good way to. That's the kind of move fast and break things that I appreciate.

[Mark Cuban]

Right. Instead of just break them and let them stay broken.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. Or with no plan to fix it, coming in with a solution that breaks the old way. I feel this way about independent media. I think that that's happening quite a bit, which is why I'm so glad that you've decided to join us on our podcast today. Now, I've also, my understanding is this isn't just for consumers, that providers can go in and join too. Can you talk about that?

[Mark Cuban]

So we have costplusdrugs.com, which is for direct the patient. And then we have Cost Plus Marketplace, which is where hospitals and clinics and pharmacies can come in and buy. Buy directly from us. And believe it or not, you know, we're. We price that, you know, cost plus 10% for, for commercial, because you don't buy it on a prescription basis. You buy it in bulk. And we're saving hospitals 3, 4, 5 million dollars. Just little old us who came in and we haven't even been working on this a year. And, you know, it's insane. The savings, what we've been able to offer, it just shows you how messed up the healthcare industry, both on the healthcare and the pharmacy side is. And, you know, healthcare should be really easy. Really, really easy, because you go to the doctor, the Doctor prescribes you something or not. Hopefully not. Where you go to the doctor and they says, okay, you broke your arm. We need to do A, B and C. There's only really two questions. How much are they going to charge and how are you going to pay for it? That's it. But this entire industry has sprung up to complicate all that. You know, so you have pharmacy benefit managers, you have transaction processing, you have, you know, denials on the pharmacy. You've got all these things that were introduced just so you've got a reason to charge more. And so what we've said is we're just trying to simplify it. We just want to make it so that when you go to the doctor and you need a prescription, you can be right there saying, okay, let me check to see if I can afford this. And you just go to costplusdrugs.com and there's a price for you.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, I wish you. I wish there was a way you could contract with the military health system.

[Dana Goldberg]

Because we're working on that right now.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, good. Because when I was at the va, you know, like I said, we negotiated to buy in bulk, but the military health system and Defense Health Agency had not done that. And so even though the Tricare co pays were. Were low, the cost to the taxpayer was exceedingly high.

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah, really high. And so we're starting to have conversations, believe it or not. You know, the new administration came in and I had been giving them a hard time online and somebody reached out to me and, and we started talking and then they said, well, I can't say that I'm talking to you, but help me anyways. So we're helping anyways, and they've been really good, actually. And so we're working to potentially offer things to VA to other agencies because a lot of. I didn't realize this. Different agencies have their own pharmacy benefits and deal with it directly. Not everything goes through cms.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And a lot of tricare benefits right now are being clawed back, which is like, you know, maybe more rural family members and military people who have to go see private doctors who then can be charged, who can charge 115% of Medicare rates and 115% of pharmaceutical rates, and it ends up not necessarily costing that service member or their family anymore. But like I said.

[Mark Cuban]

But then that's the whole thing. 115% of Medicare for a doctor, that's fine. Right? Doctors deserve to get paid. I got no problem with that. But 115% on the drug side Particularly if they're doing enough with, you know, the wholesale, the WAC cost and retail cost, the pricing gets insane. And so that's really where we're trying to have an impact when we talk to them.

[Allison Gill]

Well, I'm so glad you're doing this. And I can't let you go without asking you about the news of the day, the scandal of the the of the hour, because there seems to be a new one every hour. But just your top line thoughts on this classified signal chat. I'm, I'm, personally, as a former Navy, Navy person, I'm blown away by this. I was.

[Mark Cuban]

No, it's crazy. It's crazy on a lot of different levels. But I mean, it's like trying to expect the D student to turn into an A student. You, you know, this is, this is where we're at. And there's no amount of yelling and screaming at them that's going to change how they approach all this. And so while I think it's great media, you guys have got to stand up and, you know, state the obvious in a lot of cases, you know, I see this. Let me take a step back. When you hire people in any organization, whether it's the government va a company, when you hire for loyalty over competency or excellence, this is what you get. And I'm not saying that the Biden administration was good. Right? They were messed up in a thousand ways. Right. There were a thousand different things that I disagreed with that I think they screwed up. But, you know, this administration is not hiring for excellence. And because of that, we're going to get things like this and it's going to add up. And my hope is nothing is so is disastrous. And, but if it's not disastrous, it'll add up and people will start to recognize the problems that are created by not hiring based off of merit, which is insane when you think about just saying that, not hiring based off of merit, giving all their positioning on dei. Right. But the reality is, as much as we yell and scream, the only person who can convince a Trump supporter to no longer support Donald Trump is, is Donald Trump. It's what he does that's going to change hearts and minds of the people that voted for him. And I don't think that's going to happen quickly. I always use the analogy we've all had people in our families or that close to us that married somebody that we didn't like, and no matter what you say to them, they're not going to change. And because you didn't like it they're going to dig in further and you could find bodies in the basement and it would still be the best thing that they've ever done. And so I think we're in that honeymoon phase still. So you just kind of have to aggregate all these things, take note of all these things, look to see and look. And the other thing I would say is not everything he's going to do is bad, you know, and so you've got to recognize that that stop clock is right twice a day. And you've got to be able to accept the positive things because that gives you more authority when there are negative things. If, you know, one of the issues that I have is if you're just throwing bombs at Trump all the time and not recognizing things that may be positive, no one's going to, you know, I don't think it accomplishes a lot. But on the flip side, if you, okay, this is the good, here's the bad, I'm willing to recognize the good. Now it's your turn to recognize the bad. Then I think, you know, we can have better conversations.

[Allison Gill]

I'm not sure that he's nuanced enough to accept that. Oh, well, they said a nice thing about, oh, no, I'm not talking about him.

[Mark Cuban]

I'm talking about people. People, voters, constituents, residents. Okay, right. Because when you're just telling somebody that person, your spouse is an idiot all day, every day, they could be the biggest idiot in the world, but that, you know, the person that married them isn't going to recognize you as, you know, and we've all had those conversations. My right wing friends thought, you know, Biden was the worst thing ever. He was a criminal. This, this, this and this. That's just a position they took. There's just no point in me just saying, Trump is this, this, this and this.

[Allison Gill]

But I know, I just kind of personally feel just from a personal background that it would be akin to being like, yeah, he beats me, but he got me flowers that one time.

[Mark Cuban]

No, I don't. You know, that's true in a lot of ways.

[Allison Gill]

I know what you're saying, though. If dude gets rid of daylight savings time, I'll be like, hat tip.

[Mark Cuban]

I look at things. How do you create change? Here's where we're at. Where do we want to go to in the pharmacy business? It was like, no one's ever going to change the pharmacy industry. Don't even try, you know? And I'm like, okay, what are the actual steps that I can take to have this impact? And I Look at politics the exact same way. Where are the leverage points so that we can create change that benefits the country? And so when, like I said, you just yell at them, people aren't going to change their minds. But I think he's created a lot of really leverageable situations, particularly through Doge, that can, you can talk about. And I'll tell you exactly what, what I'm referring to. I'm all for cutting government, right? And cutting back on the size of government. You work there, right? You see, you've seen waste. It's not like everybody deserves their job or is good at their job, etc.

[Allison Gill]

Etc.

[Mark Cuban]

I get no problem with that. Especially waste, fraud, abuse, no problem with that whatsoever. Tariffs can be strategic, right? Got no problem with strategic tariffs. You know, cutting a lot of these contracts, I get a lot of problems with. Right, because you made commitments. But it is what it is. But what's really a mess is when you do them all at the same time.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, well, sledgehammer instead of a scalpel, right?

[Mark Cuban]

Right. Well, you don't even think it through. Right? So here's my bigger point. There is going to be a rural red recession caused by Doge. And so where you can have an impact and really change things is going to these small towns where the federal employment and the federal rent that they pay and buildings that they own is a material percentage of that town or city's tax revenue, tax based and employment based. And so if you're in a rural part of Alabama and they close the three person Social Security office, now you got those three people unemployed and they also closed, you know, the forestry group that's in that same town. And now, you know, 10% of the people that work there don't have their government jobs and those buildings are closed. That's going to be horrific for those towns. And so then you get the contractors that thought that they were going to be able to, or even the farmers, let's say in Alabama that thought they were going to be able to sell some grain or whatever it may be to a foreign country under usaid. You saw that with, in Nebraska with cattle farmers, beef farmers, where they sold a bunch of stuff under USAID and now they can't get it. And now they're also looking at Medicaid cuts. And the state of Nebraska is estimating a $200 million shortfall going to those towns, going to those states and going to the Republican candidates or Republican politicians there and saying, look, our city, our town, our county, our state is suffering because of this person. You're supporting. What are you going to do? Because then you put them in a catch 22. Am I going to support my town or am I going to support Donald Trump?

[Allison Gill]

Yeah.

[Mark Cuban]

And so that's what I say. That's where I've tried to, you know, tell people and like on Blue sky, you know, where I like to post a lot of stuff. That's what I talk about, you know, Ogden, Utah, the state of Nebraska, all these different towns that are just getting shit on and nobody's paying attention to what's happening to them. And I think that's where the Democrats should go. Because when you put those Republican candidate, Republican candidates come 2026 and they're up for renewal, if they don't turn on Donald Trump and turn on Doge, they're not getting reelected. And I think that is the most unique opportunity that Donald Trump is creating for Democrats and independents.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And that's the reckoning that I've been talking about for a while. At some point, these electeds who have to get reelected, Donald Trump doesn't, will have to decide whether they're going to be for their constituents or for Donald Trump.

[Mark Cuban]

100%. You're exactly right.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And you'll appreciate this, you know, because of going back to the whistleblowing and fraud, waste and abuse. My whole job for the last couple of years, I was at the va. I was embedded with the dod and my job was to make sure the Department of Defense paid the VA for health care that the VA provided to active duty service members. That was my whole job. And I had to go through a third party who got a chunk out of it, too. So for the last two years of being in my job, I was like, guys, my job shouldn't exist. I am sitting. You're seriously paying me six figures to make sure the government pays the government through a third party who gets a chunk?

[Mark Cuban]

That's insane.

[Allison Gill]

That's ridiculous. And so I tried to work that out and eventually, right before I, before I left, before Trump fired me, I had made it so that those budgets were worked into each agency's budget. And so we didn't have to spend money paying people to pay people because that's more dollars for veterans and active duty service members for sure.

[Mark Cuban]

And that's the right way to do it. It's, you know, like you're just mentioning. Right. There is stupidity in government. That's just part of the beast. Right. And you know, and you guys would talk about it all the time. I'm sure all my other friends that Work in government, talk about it. And so. But thinking it through and saying, how can we do this in a way that is a net positive without, you know, net financial positive, without destroying communities, without. Yeah, look, I understand why people don't feel sorry for all the people who have been fired because I've been fired. Everybody's been fired or close to it, or knows somebody in their family who has been fired. This country isn't big on empathy these days. I understand that, but I don't understand why they don't think it through. Why don't they don't use basic analytics? Because it's not like you didn't have the data. Like that stuff, the idiocy you notice, like the five things. Email, you know, send me the five things. You've done this, gone, forgotten, no one's brought it up in how long.

[Allison Gill]

Actually, the box is full. Everybody who's contacted me says their, their submissions for the Five Bullets are getting kicked back.

[Mark Cuban]

Oh, are there really? So that's how dumb they are, right?

[Allison Gill]

Yeah.

[Mark Cuban]

And it's just the dumbest shit ever. But if you had gone to department heads and said, you know what, we need to make cuts, you need to find 20%, tell me the way to do it and let's work it out in a way that's fair to the people and fair to the tax, give.

[Allison Gill]

You a year to do it and whatever.

[Mark Cuban]

Exactly. You probably would have gotten better ideas that ended up cutting more money and saving taxpayers more money.

[Allison Gill]

I would have stood up and said, my job is dumb, put me somewhere else. You know, and then, you know, then.

[Mark Cuban]

You'Ve got the healthcare benefits. Like when you, when you're firing hundreds of thousands of people. Just normal distribution of issues takes place. You've got people who are critically ill and you've got people, you know, women who are pregnant, you've got, you know, etc. Etc. And there's no consideration to them just going on.

[Allison Gill]

COBRA is expensive, you know, local unemployment offices being overrun with claims.

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

For example, you know, and then they're.

[Mark Cuban]

Doing the dumb shit with Social Security where if you change your bank deposit information, you can't just make a phone call. So they've closed maybe just even a single person office in this rural town. And you have to go either go online or you go to another Social Security office and it might be 400 miles away if you're.

[Allison Gill]

I have to drive to Arizona to get wet signatures from my mom and I to change direct deposit on her Social Security to me so that I can take care of her.

[Mark Cuban]

That's insane.

[Allison Gill]

I know, I know, I know. And, you know, it's costing more than it's saving, and that's, you know, at.

[Mark Cuban]

Some point, right, 101. That will show up at some point.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, it absolutely will.

[Dana Goldberg]

And.

[Allison Gill]

And the, you know, the last thing I'll end on is that there just seems to. The problem here is, is that they don't. I don't. You know, I think they're just trying to break everything so they can privatize it, line their own POC pockets and take the tax cuts.

[Mark Cuban]

I really don't think so, but. Yeah, well, we'll see.

[Allison Gill]

They want to privatize everything.

[Mark Cuban]

I'll tell you real quick. I think they don't mind if the economy crashes because then interest rates will drop like a rock and then borrowing money will be dirt cheap. And so at that point in time, assets will inflate. You know, quantitative easing, when all the interest rates just drop really quickly. And the Fed buys this and this and this. That's UBI for rich people. You know, that just means assets are going to inflate in value. And I'll be able to borrow money cheap. I'll be able to invest in things cheap. I'll be able to, you know, the stock market will skyrocket. Bitcoin for them will skyrocket. And I think that is really what they're trying to do, you know, privatizing it. You know, the tariff side of it is kind of his version of privatization, where, you know, we'll increase tariffs and you'll move your company here. But again, like everything else, it's not really thought through because what you need in order to make that happen is innovation. You know, you've got. You're not all of a sudden. Just because there's a 25 tariff doesn't make it cost effective for somebody to move a business here or start manufacturing here. You need to find a way to make it. Make it more cost effectively, you know, because China's not sitting still. Vietnam. Except I can go on for days and how stupid this shit is.

[Allison Gill]

I know. I think that the point that I was trying to make is that whistleblowing is now considered shameful and everyone has to be a yes man.

[Mark Cuban]

Is that what you're. Is that what you're hearing from people?

[Allison Gill]

And, you know, one of the first things I learned in business leadership and in the military and in the government is that there's nothing wrong with stepping forward and saying, I made a mistake. Let's fix it sooner, rather than later. And that's not looked down upon. And that's why this whole signal chat thing just blows me out of the water. But it's not surprising. It's a Roy Cohn move, right? Did nothing wrong.

[Mark Cuban]

You just nailed it. A Roy Cohen move. Like, I've read every Roy Cohen book there is, you know, just because it's just. If you want to know who Donald Trump is, just read about Roy Cohen. Right? You nailed it. You nailed it. You know it. Never admit you're wrong. And Roy Cohen never read a book in his, you know, never read, never learned, never did anything. And that's so Donald Trump up.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, you're so right. It's been really like an honor to speak to you today. Tell everyone what they can do to check out Cost plus drugs, if they're a provider, if they're a consumer, and we'll end it with that.

[Mark Cuban]

If you go to costplusdrugs.com if you're a patient, hopefully we can save you a lot of money. If you're a distributor, hospital, whatever, go to business.costplusdrugs.com and that covers everything else.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And if you're veteran, Tricare and you have a copay, check out costplusdrugs.com because there might be a lower price for you on the Medicare.

[Mark Cuban]

Absolutely. And we're definitely going to do our best. This has been amazing. Allison, thanks for having me on. You're the best.

[Allison Gill]

Thank you. It's been great talking to you. Mark Cuban, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news everyone. Then good news everyone. And if you have any good news confessions corrections, especially pronunciation corrections, all you got to do is send that in to [e-mail] and click on contact. We also take shout outs. Whether it's a self shout out or a shout out to a loved one or a small business in your area, like a little bookstore that could use a boost or an LGBTQ plus owned business, black owned business, women owned business. You know, you get the drift. Or your business. We love to hear about what you're making and creating. Also shout outs to government programs that have helped you or family member. Or if you know a federal government worker in your life who's doing amazing things, working for the federal government and taking care of Americans, we want to hear about that. Anything from Social Security on Medicare to WIC, SNAP, Section 8, great VA health care you've received and of course, student debt relief. We love to hear those stories. And all you got to do to get your submission read on the Daily Beans is pay your pod pet tax, which means attach a photo of your pet. People have been tagging me on social media with capybaras all day and I love it. Keep doing that.

[Dana Goldberg]

Me too. I'm getting otters.

[Allison Gill]

Getting the otters. Yeah, getting otters. I'm getting the capybaras. There's a capybara song I had no idea about. I'm really excited. Thank you for sending those. If you don't have a pet, you can send an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find him a home. And as you can tell, any animal photo will do. And we're we're doing bird watching for the foreseeable future, which can be a photo of a bird or you and your family and friends flipping off Trump and Musk properties. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. First up, from Noel G. Hi, Legumi leaders. I want to share about baby hair. In the womb, around 21 weeks, a fetus grows dark colored, fine downy hairs all over their body. It's called lanugo. It will fall out near birth or within a few weeks after birth. My third baby had a full head of lanugo, as well as some on their ears and upper back. Yes, made for such a cute little fuzz included. Pod pet tax. My pup, Viola Maypenny, my son's oldest pup, Toby Trouble. And my youngest son's kitty, Nifty, who loves going inside of things. Okay, Nifty is a great name, but Viola Maypenny is gorgeous.

[Dana Goldberg]

So good.

[Allison Gill]

And the kitty is. Look at her. Look at that. Very regal dog and beautiful kitty in a trash can.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's Miss Maypenny to you.

[Allison Gill]

Excuse me, Princess Maypenny.

[Dana Goldberg]

There's definitely a throat clear there. Excuse me.

[Allison Gill]

Awesome. Thank you so much for that.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, this is from Sean and Noho pronoun she and her hey Beans Queens. This weekend I attended the Women of Sci Fi convention in Burbank, which was a charity event to raise funds for LA fire recovery. One of my main reasons for wanting to go was several of the women there were instrumental in making the Kamala Harris quote women of Sci Fi fundraising zoom happen. I wanted to thank them personally for their involvement in politics and making their voices heard for such important reasons. One of the women, Chase Masterson, is a founder of the Pop Cultural Hero Coalition, which works to provide mental health and Emotional learning programs for kids, teens and adults, programs that address bullying, provide support for the LGBTQIA community, and all sorts of other incredibly important tools to make thoughtful, empathic people. After all, thoughtful empathic people don't vote for authoritarians. I wanted to shout out with gratitude everyone involved in the event, everyone who attended, and hopefully there will be more events like this in the future. It was a great weekend of women centered nerdiness with the world. Can use more of Yep, her BODPET tags Here are Mando and Le Le Leah Leia. Leia, thank you. Oh, of course. My if I kept reading my Star wars dogs on a trip to the beach from last year. Sadly, Leia, the purebred gsd, the German shepherd dog. Okay, why am I struggling today? Has had health issues and while she's only four, she seems like a much, much older dog these days. We're doing all sorts of tests, MRIs, you name it, to get to the bottom of it, and I hope that things turn around so in 26 she's able to run and play at the dog beach again.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, look at these beautiful babies.

[Dana Goldberg]

Very sweet.

[Allison Gill]

Mando and Leia, I love it. It great name. Thank you so much, Sean and I. I wish I would have been able to go to the Women in Sci Fi event in Burbank.

[Dana Goldberg]

You'd have been in hog heaven.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, right. That's totally up my alley. Next up, anonymous pronoun she and her Yesterday, my young niece found the signs I was waving to protest Governor Glenn Youngkin over the weekend when he came to Richmond, Virginia to watch the reenactment of Patrick Henry's Liberty or Death speech. Did you see the video of this? This went to this church to watch the Give me Liberty or Give Me Death. It was the anniversary of that. And he walks out and everyone's booing him. Boo.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's fantastic.

[Allison Gill]

Like, it was. It was pretty amazing all the way down to his. And then when he got down to his little SUV across the street, tons of people booing him. It was amazing. So he went to watch the reenactment of the Liberty or Death speech. And my niece asked why I was angry. So I did my best to explain the many ways the administration is breaking the law and hurting people in ways that an 8 year old could understand. But then she asked me why no one is stopping the bullying, and I had to admit that I didn't know. But I do know that as Americans, we have the right to petition the government for now. So I showed her how to contact our elected Officials. And she emailed Virginia's senators, representatives, governor and state officials to ask them why they haven't put Donald Trump in jail yet. I'm so proud of this little activist in training. Plus, don't tell her, but I tricked her into practicing online research, writing, composition, formal letter writing, and spelling. It's always that, right? That's potpet tax. I've included a picture of confetti. She's a shy 2 year old. Easy. What the mutt with a flippy floppy ears and insatiable appetite for treats available for adoption at the Pasadena Humane Society. I love the Pasadena Humane Society, by the way. After the Eaton fire, the Pasadena Humane Society shelter is full to bursting with abandoned and stray animals whose humans were displaced. They desperately need adoptions, foster homes, and donations through Friday, March 28th. They're even waiving adoption fees. Here's a link to the shelter. We'll have it in the show notes. It's Pasadena Humane.

[Dana Goldberg]

That looks like a perfect little pity.

[Allison Gill]

I know. It's like a pocket pity.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's cute.

[Allison Gill]

I absolutely love this dog. What do we got? What do we got? Confetti. It's just a purebred pity.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. Adorable.

[Allison Gill]

Adorable. And I think that's so great when you get to take an opportunity for a kid who wants to write a letter and use it as a learning experience. I remember Dana, when I worked at the va, we toured some supplemental health programs over at Walter Reed. And one of the things they're doing is they're having active duty service members with PTSD train service dogs to then be given to veterans who have ptsd.

[Dana Goldberg]

Wow.

[Allison Gill]

And so you tell them, hey, we need your help training dogs for veterans with ptsd. And the service members are like, totally. I'm in. Because they want to help their, you know, they're veteran friends, and so they, you know, they would have them take the dog to the cafeteria, give clear commands in a calm way and, you know, in a loud cafeteria, take them out to crowded settings to try to be able to give them calm, cool commands. And after a while, these active duty service members with PTSD and TBI are realizing, hey, you're teaching me how to be around crowds and to communicate in a calm way.

[Dana Goldberg]

They're like, that's pretty impressive.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. Are you mad? Nah. You know, and so then they would be helping not just train these dogs for veterans with ptsd, but helping themselves learn how to communicate in calm and understandable ways in, you know, stressful situations. Fantastic.

[Dana Goldberg]

Very amazing. Yeah, thanks so much, Alison. All right. This one's from Anonymous. Hi Dr. Gil and Dana. I'm looking for hope for those feeling a bit dejected like myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm still being active in reading and sharing the news and protest participation. However, I'm trying to come to terms with the potential consequences of losing this fight. And as I'm always planning for all scenarios, we should be celebrating as we come close to paying off my wife's student loans next mine making home ownership hopeful possibility. In this shitty housing market. We should be able to focus on our NBAs and how we try to improve upon our professional merits and increase the likelihood of achieving greater financial freedom, but these feel like naive pursuits in our current times. I refuse to not speak out for my wife, my non white and LGBTQIA friends, et cetera, despite being by all appearances your prototypical straight white dude. And I say this knowing full well it could eventually mean imprisonment in a place like El Salvador, even for us everyday folks. And I know in a place like this having a celiac and asthma means almost certain death and not a quick one. All of this is weighing heavy on my mind. We've worked hard. I had a hard working single mom that raised me right in time, taught me to do what I needed to get out of our town and making something of myself. I busted my ass to do really well in undergrad and get a full ride to grad school. I busted my ass to work my way up the pay scale as quickly as possible just so that we could try to afford housing without completely pinching pennies. And now all of this effort seems to be for naught while family that pays far less attention reacts with it's both sides and you're overreacting. The media does this. Sorry for the rant. As penance, I've submitted photos of our dog Po and cat Willow. Anonymous, you are not overreacting. Anonymous, this is the media's fault. A lot of it. But you were not overreacting to any of this. In fact, the people that got us here are the ones that underreacted. So please remember that.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, agreed. And if you're looking for a little bit of hope, just maybe focus on that election that we won in Amishtown, Pennsylvania Lancaster, a Trump +17 district that we flipped and won and a Democrat will sit in that seat for the first time. We're still having elections and we're winning them. And to me, I don't know, I just felt. I personally felt like overwhelming hope with that. And you know, for me, the best thing I can do is just, just do my best every day and, and I feel like good things happen. So maybe, you know, I often compare it to like a walking into a house in the show Hoarders. Instead of like seeing the whole overwhelming mess at once, just go back into a tiny corner in a bedroom and just start.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. That's all you can do.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. It's a one day at a time sitch. Right. Thank you so much for these animals are gorgeous, by the way. Next up from Anonymous in California. Bless me queens of the beans, for I have sinned. They say confessions are good for the soul and mine is hurting. While I don't condone harassment or violence, I love a good practical joke. Recently I've had a few people get under my skin so badly I decided to frivolously shop on Etsy for Anonymous glitter bomb letters and after a quick Google search of public records, I sent them to the home or work addresses of especially infuriating Trump supporters. In my sphere, this provides much needed comic relief. This is fantastic and it helps a small business. The latter helps relieve my guilt. I never do it more than once to a person, so it's truly an entertainment prank, not harassment. To be safe, I looked up the legality of this. I've done this about a half dozen times to people in different states. I don't always know the recipient's reaction. Rarely do people confess having had this done to them. It's just too embarrassing. But in a recent group chat with friends, we were questioned as to who would do such a thing to a certain right wing nut job friend's spouse. There was ultra fine glitter and tiny dicks confetti all over said spouse. I jokingly said that it wasn't me, but I wished I could claim that sort of shenanigans and would love to buy the perpetrator a beer who almost got caught that time. As penance, I would like shamelessly plug I would like to shamelessly plug my friend in Louisiana doing amazing stuff for the LGBTQ fam. My friend Keir, known as Thugsy Declown in New Orleans entertainment circles, got the rights to rewrite and do a theater production based on the movie Harold and Maude. They will do more shows in April. This is their first performance and they've worked out how to so hard to make this happen. I love Harold and Maude. It's called Harold and St. Claude, a reimagining of the classic film Harold and Maude. In 1982 at the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, young Harold is coming out and meets Claude, an older drag queen. Together they explore life, death and love. We have a band, but it's not, it's not a musical and we encourage the audience to come dressed like it's the 1980s.

[Dana Goldberg]

This sounds like a blast.

[Allison Gill]

I can so love this. Thugsy to Clown Director with Blue Mullowed, Busy Bear, Frank Dakota and the Bearded lady with Lilith Dorsey, Velvet Spade, Dick Jones and Rose Bush Blues. We will be in the Twilight Room March 27th. That's tonight at 7pm we'll have a link to the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival in the show Notes Podtax is a photo of my cat with cattitude Bella and my lover boy rescue dog buddy. Can you guess his breed? I also included as a bonus shout out a photo of my 18 year old mother holding my infant self in 1970. My mother benefited greatly from social social programs like welfare. She was raised in poverty, going without shoes and dental care at times. She got her GED after quitting school to hitchhike around the country with my dad and eventually have me. She graduated from community college and worked hard to provide a better life for me. She became a supervisor for the Employment Department of California and spent decades trying to help others ready themselves for job interviews, confront unfair employers, and access systems and programs that were designed to help them. She is now a devout senior swiftie and enjoying retirement. First of all, the baby photo is amazing. Adorable baby. And then the kitty photo is great. And I like how your dog and cat are pretty much the same colorations.

[Dana Goldberg]

I feel like the dog might be an Aussie collie mix.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, I think you're right. Great.

[Dana Goldberg]

Looks like we don't have any answers. So we are definitely we're correct.

[Allison Gill]

There's definitely some sort of shepherd in that dog. Whether it's an Australian cattle dog or an Aussie shepherd or that is could.

[Dana Goldberg]

Be some great Pyrenees in there too. That's a fluffy white chest.

[Allison Gill]

It is a big beard, but yeah, that dog will herd your. That's.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

That'S a good shirt. My dog will herd your Shit it. All right, thank you so much everybody for sending all this amazing good news in. We need more of it. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. And to get it read on the air, just pay your pod pet tax or send a baby photo. Or all three send that in a bird watching photo too. We we don't mind. Any final thoughts today, my friend?

[Dana Goldberg]

Not today.

[Allison Gill]

All right. I appreciate you. I just want to thank Mark Cuban for taking the time to speak with us today and showing a lot of love to independent media media. We really do appreciate it and we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family.

[Dana Goldberg]

I've been AG and I've been DG.

[Allison Gill]

And them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giant and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information please visit mswmedia. Com MSW Media.