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The Daily Beans
Liquidation Day (feat. Mayor Karen Bass; John Fugelsang)
01:07:40
Friday, April 4th, 2025 Today, the acting Inspector General for the Department of Defense has launched an investigation into Pete Hegseth’s Signal chat messages; the Senate has voted to rescind some of Trump’s tariffs which caused the third biggest stock market crash in modern history; federal prosecutors have dropped the charges against the guy Nancy Mace says assaulted her; massive layoffs at the FDA include scientists working on bird flu and pet food safety; Judge Boasberg held a hearing in the contempt proceedings in the Alien Enemies Act case; and Allison delivers your Good News.
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, April 4, 2025. Today, the Acting inspector general for the Department of Defense has launched an investigation into Pete Hegseth's signal chat messages. The Senate has voted to rescind some of Trump's tariffs, which caused the third biggest stock market crash in modern history. Federal prosecutors have dropped the charges against the guy Nancy Mace says assaulted her. Massive layoffs at the FDA include scientists working on bird flu and pet food safety. And Judge Boasberg held a hearing in the contempt proceedings in the Alien Enemies act case. I'm your host, Alison Gill. All right, hey, everybody. Tons going on. Still relatively light news day on this Thursday. But a light news day these days means we only have a million headlines. So we're going to get to all of those. I also am going to talk to John Fugelsang today because it's Fuglsang Fridays here on the Daily Beans. And I am going to be joined later in the show by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, former congresswoman. I'm excited to speak with her about everything she's doing for Angelenos just up to the north of us here in San Diego. Also, Dana is out, but she will be back on Monday, I promise. She's on a cruise, making people laugh, bringing mirth to the masses as she does so well. So, ooh, Judge Boberg held a hearing today for the contempt proceedings. It was a show cause hearing. Right. That's a step along, you know, on the ladder of contempt. And this was about his March 15 order that said they have to turn the planes around and bring the people back to the United States not to release them, but just to give them due process under law, like the, like the INA or the apa, for example. And it did not go well for the government. Today. A guy named Ensign was arguing for the Department of Justice, Trump's Department of Justice. And yeah, Boasberg painted him into a corner like 14 times. Got the timeline, got the guy to admit that, you know, they, that they, there were people that were brought back on the plane. Got them. He got them to admit that all the lies that the Trump administration is, is telling about what Judge Boasberg did are, in fact, not true. And it will, it didn't go well. He basically said, yeah, yeah, I am likely to find probable cause that, that this administration was in contempt. But he didn't rule from the bench. He said, don't expect a ruling until at least next week. And then he said, I'll see you on April 8, because April 8 they're holding a hearing about the Trump invoking the state secrets clause. And during the hearing today, Boseberg was also very skeptical of that as well. So we will cover that April 8 hearing. I'm sure before April 8, we will have probably that these guys were unable to show cause, which will then kick off contempt proceedings. Okay, so it's not holding them in contempt yet it kicks off contempt proceedings. Who. Which means each side will get to brief on whether or not they should be held in contempt, the Trump administration, and then the judge will make a decision, determination about whether or not to hold them in contempt. And as I have said, after that, they're probably going to see if they can purge the contempt, cure the contempt, become not in contempt anymore by actually returning these folks to the United States for due process. And he mentioned that briefly in the hearing today. He, he basically asked the government, hey, you know, if, would you be willing to purge the contempt if I find that there's probable cause that you are in contempt? And they couldn't really answer that. He danced around quite a bit. There was a lot of, you know, like, well, I, you know, I, I don't have that information. I'm not familiar with the process. I can't tell you what I told the government after you ordered the planes turned around, because that's attorney client privilege. And so we'll see. But I think we're well on our way to contempt. And again, if he's held in contempt, there's, we're still on, you know, step four of the hundred steps to actually put anybody in jail. And that would require probably an appointment of someone deputized to be able to do that. That's a long way down the road. First, they're going to have a chance to cure this contempt, and we'll be covering it for you. But this is good news. The judge wasn't having it. And I know people are like, oh, it's going so slow. It's only been 19 days. It's actually going pretty lightning fast considering. I mean, Judge Boasberg showed up like, that morning on March 15th. They, the plaintiff sued at like 1:12am and he called a hearing at 5, got the first hearing at 7:30 and then another one at 5:00pm he was wearing plain clothes because he didn't have his robes with him. He's going really fast. And this is all due process. Okay. So we can't really skirt due process in a, in a case about due process. That would be weird. So, anyway, it was bad for the government today, which means it's a good day for me and Americans and everybody in El Salvador, although they shouldn't have ever been there for one minute. It is horrific. It is torturous down there. It is disgusting. I know Kristi Noem went and took pictures in front of cages of human beings. It was absolutely disgusting. And they should never have been put there without due process. And it shouldn't have been put there at all because as Andy McCabe and I discussed here in the United States, if you are convicted of a crime, you face, you know, you, you face that crime here, and then you serve your time here. But most of these people haven't even been convicted of crimes anyway. We will keep on top of this for you. It's an absolute abhorrent circumvention of law to try to use the Alien Enemies act when we're not even at war. And even when we have used it, when we're at war, we've used it inappropriately. I think the law needs to be repealed. All right. We have a lot to get to today, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up, from our good friend Natasha Bertrand at cnn, the acting inspector general of the Defense Department will review Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's use of Signal in a group chat with other key national security officials to discuss military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen last month. And that's according to the inspector general's office. And they, they made an announcement on Thursday. In a letter to hegseth, the acting inspector general, Stephen Stebbins, wrote that the objective of the IG's evaluation is to determine whether Hegseth and other Pentagon personnel, quote, complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of commercial messaging applications for official business. The probe will also examine whether Hegseth complied with classification and records retention requirements. According to the letter, the review will take place both in D.C. and at the U.S. central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee requested that Stebbins conduct the review after the Atlantic magazine reported last month that Hegseth and other senior national security officials used Signal to discuss military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. As part of the investigation, Stebbins indicated that Hegseth will likely have to turn over materials for the IG to review. And he can't get out of this because you. Unless he resigns because inspectors general can't go after former officials. Now, Stebbins, who previously served as the Pentagon's deputy inspector General was appointed acting IG after Trump fired Robert Storch. Who? Or Stork. I can't, I don't know if it's a, a ch or a K sound there. Who? That guy was fired by Trump, along with more than a dozen other inspectors general at federal agencies in the first few weeks of the Trump administration. Stebbins was appointed as a principal Deputy Inspector General in April of 2023 under the Biden administration. So he's a career guy. And in a similar story, Trump apparently fired eight people on the advice of Elora Loomer. The decision came after Loomer vilified the staff members by name during about a half hour meeting with Trump on Wednesday when she walked into the White House with a sheaf of papers attacking the character and loyalty of numerous National Security Council officials. Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor, joined later in the meeting and briefly defended some of his staff, though it was clear he had little if any power to protect their jobs. New York Times says it was a remarkable spectacle. Ms. Loomer, who has floated the baseless conspiracy theory that the 911 attacks were an inside job and is viewed as extreme even by some of Trump's far right allies, was apparently wielding more influence over the staff of the national security council than Mr. Waltz himself, who runs the agency. The people fired included Brian Walsh, the senior director for intelligence, Maggie Daugherty, the senior director for international organizations, and Thomas Boudre, the senior Director for Legislative affairs. And that's according to the Times. Those are just some of the people that were fired today. All right, let's, let's talk tariffs. And who could have seen this coming? I mean, who among us hasn't seen Ferris Bueller's day off?
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John Fugelsang
In 1930, the Republican controlled House of Representatives in an effort to alleviate the effects of the. Anyone?
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Alison Gill
Anyone?
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John Fugelsang
The Great Depression passed the. Anyone?
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Alison Gill
Anyone?
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John Fugelsang
A tariff bill, the Hawley Smoot Tariff act, which.
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Alison Gill
Anyone?
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John Fugelsang
Raised or lowered raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone?
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Alison Gill
Anyone know the effects? It did not work. And the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. All right, so the dow lost about 1700 points today. That's about 4%. The NASDAQ is down 6%, and the S&P 500 lost 5%. It's so bad that Republicans in the Senate are pushing back. The Times reported that the Senate on Wednesday approved a measure that would block some of the tariffs that President Trump imposed on Canada, with a handful of Republicans joining the Democrats to pass a resolution. A handful being Four to pass a resolution that would halt levies set to take effect this week. The measure is all but certain to stall in the House, where Republican leaders have moved preemptively to shut down any move to end Trump's tariffs. But Senate passage of the measure, on a vote 51 to 48, just hours after Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on more than 100 trading partners, including the European Union, China, Britain, India, a couple of islands where there's only penguins sent a signal of bipartisan congressional opposition to the president's trade war. The resolution targets the emergency powers that Trump invoked in February. These emergency powers that he invoked so he could impose these tariffs on Canada, a move that has rattled markets and drawn bipartisan criticism from lawmakers, even Ted Cruz, concerned about the economic impact on their states and districts. Now, how many times have I said a day of reckoning would come? The day would come when members of Congress who have to run for office again would have to choose between pleasing Trump, who doesn't run for office again, or bankrupting their constituents. Seems like that day is here. Quote, the president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on, in my view, a made up emergency. That's Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia and lead sponsor of this bill. The resolution, I should say, quote, the fentanyl emergency is from Mexico and China, not Canada. The resolution, sponsored by two fellow Democrats, Mark Warner, Virginia, Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota, seeks to revoke the emergency declaration and with it, Mr. Trump's ability to enforce the tariffs set to go into effect Wednesday. Yesterday, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican sponsor of the resolution. But three other Republican senators who have expressed unease about the potential economic consequences of Trump's trade measures joined in support. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, majority leader, by the way, argued that eliminating the tariffs on Canada would be a mistake and amount to turning a blind eye to what he said was a growing fentanyl problem from America's northern neighbor. Makes me think Thune is going to benefit monetarily when the tariffs are, I don't know, eased up on next week. He did this. He's done this before. He did it in February, did it in March. Announced tariffs draw him back. Announced tariffs draw him back. Market tanks, market goes up. Market tanks, market goes back up. Reminds me of when Elon went on Saturday Night Live and moved the stock market. Or when he announced his Twitter thing and moved the stock market. That's the best case scenario here, isn't it that this is just stock market manipulation? That's really the best case scenario. But the Post reports that White House officials have circulated internal talking points telling surrogates that President Donald Trump's new global tariff regime should not be characterized as a starting point for negotiations. That's according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Investors have been holding out hope that these tariffs will be removed as foreign leaders reach new agreements with Trump, who is famous for his love of deal making. I call it shaking people down. I call it extortion. But sure, love of deal making is one way to go. Washington Post. But these internal talking points that are circulating among the administration suggest that that might not happen immediately. And some of Trump's most senior aides suggested publicly Thursday there would be no quick reversal like there was in March or like there was in February. And how long have I been saying he's going to punish allies with tariffs and then remove them to extort something from foreign leaders? I mean, it seemed obvious to the rest of us, right? And sure enough, within an hour on Air Force One, Trump contradicted those talking points. After multiple White House aides insisted that new tariffs were not a negotiation, Trump said he'd be open to negotiating with other countries. Now Trump said he'd be open to tariff talks with other countries if they offer something phenomenal. Chris Repke, chief economist of Forward Bonds, said that Lutnick's comments appeared to confirm what Trump said Wednesday, that the president has dug in on the trade barriers and that it would not be easy to have them removed. He said, quote, I listened to the commerce secretary and theoretically there's going to be negotiations, but it would have to be some kind of deal for him to back off the reciprocal tariffs to this degree. These aren't reciprocal, by the way. I don't think any negotiation will get it down enough to matter. That's what Ruppke said and went on to say, I think people are not really listening to the president. Okay, sure. All right, let's shift gears with some news again from the Post. Nearly half a dozen senior veterinarians at the Food and Drug Administration were laid off in a purge, including employees in a center that has played a key role in the recent bird flu outbreak that began rampaging through dairy herds for the first time last spring, according to three FDA staffers. Some of the veterinarians laid off this week had helped design studies last year showing pasteurization kills the virus in milk found on store shelves. And that's according to three staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. More recently, some of the center's veterinarians providing leadership on the response have focused on determining the source of bird flu in raw pet food, which led to two recalls last month because of the potential for the products to be contaminated with H5N1. The cuts also ensnared staffers focused on communicating directly with the public, such as detailing how Americans can protect their pets from the bird flu. That's according to the staffers. Quote, Word has to get to the people, one staffer said. If things happen behind the walls of government and we're not sharing it with the public, then all the work that we do is not getting out so people can take steps they need to protect themselves. Shock waves reverberated through the FDA's center for Veterinary Medicine Tuesday morning as the news spread that experienced veterinarians were being cut, including those who work on the safety of pet food, prevention of chemical contamination in the food supply and measures to keep infection causing bacteria from becoming resistant to drugs. Tristan Colonius, the agency's chief veterinarian and co lead on the FDA's bird flu response, was among those let go. Other senior veterinarians were also part of the purge, including a senior leader who has worked on the Veterinary Medicine center for more than three decades. Sandra Fay, the president of the American Veterinary Medical association, said they want to work with Congress, the group wants to work with Congress and the administration to ensure some positions and personnel across various agencies are restored. Quote the AVMA works on a weekly basis with very talented and dedicated veterinarians at the CVM on issues involving not only animal health, but also animal and human food safety, public health and issues affecting international trade. I don't know if we're going to have to worry about trade with anyone for a while, but that's what Faye said in a statement to the Post and went on to say, we're looking forward to continuing to work with the new FDA commissioner to ensure that this incredibly important expertise continues to be readily available and fully utilized. A few officials in the FDA Veterinary Medicine center impacted by the cuts have also been working with the USDA on efforts to develop novel therapies to treat Sick Poultry. The FDA's Human Foods Program also works on the bird flu response, and it's unclear how much of that staff has been impacted. Most of the H5 bird flu response has remained intact at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which leads the response on tracking and preventing human infections. That's according to multiple officials who spoke anonymously. But four staff members working on H5 were laid off at the CDC, including three who were trying to improve personal protective equipment for frontline workers exposed to H5N1 and other viruses. They were part of the center that researches and protects worker health, according to three CDC employees. The cuts at FDA also appear to impact disease response beyond the bird flu. At least two senior veterinarians laid off include those working on a new iteration of a national action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance, which is being done in conjunction with other federal health agencies and departments. The under the radar issue can have huge consequences. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when drugs used to treat bacterial infections are no longer effective. When antimicrobial medicines are used in animals, it can contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance to bacteria that can actually be transferred to people. Drug resistant germs sicken nearly 3 million people every year in the United States and kill about 35,000. That's according to the CDC. And our last story today also comes from the Post. Federal prosecutors have dropped an assault charge against a foster care advocate accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican from South Carolina, during a December reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. This is according to court documents. The single sentence filing in D.C. superior Court closes the criminal case against James McIntyre, 33, but doesn't explain the decision, probably because it's embarrassing. A spokesman for Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. whose Schiff has promised to block unanimous consent to confirm. The spokesperson for Ed Martin declined to comment and they didn't say why. Funny. Mace, a staunch supporter of Trump who Trump appointed Martin, criticized the decision to drop the case in a statement alleging that McIntyre had aggressively shaken her hand, injuring it as he advocated on behalf of transgender youth in foster care. Quote, when a man can physically assault a woman in the halls of Congress with impunity, it sends an appalling message to every woman in America. That's what she said through a spokeswoman. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. I was injured intentionally and I'm still in pain. I filed charges and they were inexplicably ignored. But I will not be. I will not back down, I will not be intimidated, and I sure as hell won't stay silent. He shook your fucking hand, you coos. McIntyre, co founder of the Illinois chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America, had been charged with assaulting a government official. His December 10 arrest on allegations by Mace that he aggressively shook her hand and sparked outrage from advocates who had gathered in D.C. to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the passage of a law that actually expanded federal support for foster care. In the criminal complaint filed in court, Mace told U.S. capitol Police that McIntyre, quote, took her hand with both of his hands and shook her arm up and down in an exaggerated, aggressive handshaking motion that lasted three to five seconds. Oh, so Andy McCabe and I talk about this all the time. We talked. It came up a lot during the immunity hearings when Trump said rogue prosecutors will be going after political enemies and there's nothing that can stop them. And Sotomayor and Kagan and Justice Jackson were like, yeah, there's a lot that can stop them. A grand jury has to return a true bill, then there's pre trial motions to dismiss, then there's a trial, then that, you know, a petit jury, and then there's the appeal process and that, like, there's a lot, you gotta. It takes a lot to lock somebody up, as we know, Right? And so the reason Andy and I talk a lot about that is because Bill Barr went to a couple different grand juries trying to get a true bill on Andy McCabe for lack of candor or some bullshit and could not. Wasn't able to. So these charges happen, but now they're being dropped. That's how bad they are when, when Ed Martin and Pam Bondi can't even make charges stick. And that's why there's no explanation as to why these charges were dropped. I guarantee it. All right, everybody, it's time for some good trouble. What are you guys doing getting into trouble? All right, everybody, it is Friday, which means tomorrow is April 5th. Tomorrow is hands off 2025. So go to handsoff2025.com find the rally nearest you. Put on your comfy shoes, stay hydrated, and know your rights. Know your rights. This is from the aclu. Number one, you do not need a permit to protest in response to breaking news. And you do not need a permit to march in the streets or along sidewalks as long as you're not obstructing traffic or access to buildings. Number two, when you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. Number three, if you believe your rights are being violated when you can, write down everything you remember, get contact information for witnesses and take photographs of any injuries. Number four, if you get stopped by the police, ask if you're free to go. If they say yes, calmly walk away. Number five, if you get arrested you have the right to ask why. Otherwise, say you wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer immediately. Do not sign, say, or agree to anything without a lawyer present. And number six if you get stopped by a member of the military or any law enforcement officer at your protest, you have the right to remain silent or tell them that you'll only answer questions in the presence of an attorney, no matter your citizenship or immigration status. So remember your rights. Let's get out there in March. Next up, John Fugelsang, followed by Mayor Karen Bass. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. This podcast is sponsored by Peak Peak's Radiant Skin Duo combines Sun Goddess Matcha and BT Fountain Electrolytes for the ultimate in beauty and wellness. This powerful duo supports glowing, hydrated skin while boosting energy, gut, health and Overall Vitality. Get 20% off the Radiant Skin Duo plus a free starter kit at PeakLife.com DailyBeans so I need to tell you about this game changing duo I've been using from Peak Life. I used to be that person trying everything for better skin and then I tried everything for better energy. And let me tell you, this combo delivers on both. First up, Sun Goddess Matcha. This is not your basic Matcha. It's quadruple tested for toxins. They shade the leaves 35% longer to pack in more goodness. The flavor is this creamy umami deliciousness that makes my morning ritual something I could look forward to. And there's no jitters, just clean energy and focus thanks to L Theanine and my skin looks noticeably brighter. Then there's the BT Fountain, my hydration hero. It has ceramides that plump your skin from within. Zero sugar, no weird additives. It's completely vegan and once I toss a packet in my water bottle, I get hydrated at a cellular level and I can feel the difference right away. The best part is they come in little pre measured packets that make it so easy to stay consistent. Just dump it in water hot or cold and you're good to go. No measuring, no mess. After a few weeks of using both, I woke up one morning actually noticed that glow that everybody talks about. Fewer fine lines, less redness. Just better skin overall and the energy stays steady all day. No 3pm Crash. So if you're ready to transform your routine right now, you can get 20% off the Radiant Skin Duo plus a free starter kit which includes a rechargeable frother and a glass beaker. With my exclusive link, it's peaklife.com dailybeans that's P I Q U E peaklife.com dailybeans don't miss out. Glow naturally into 2025 and beyond while supplies last. You'll be glad you did. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is Friday on the Daily Beans. That means da da, da da. It's Fugal saying Fridays with my good friend, host of Tell Me Everything on channel xm. Sirius XM Channel.
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John Fugelsang
No, go with it. Go with that one. Go with that one.
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Alison Gill
M Serious Channel Progress.
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John Fugelsang
Spit it out.
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Alison Gill
It's 127 on Sirius XM progress.
- [26:52]
John Fugelsang
That's authenticity. That's what Democratic voters want. Alice said authenticity.
- [26:56]
Alison Gill
Look behind the curtain. And that is that show is what? Weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. And if you don't have X Serious M Channel Progress.
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John Fugelsang
She can pronounce Fugal saying. Folks, I want to point that out. That wasn't hard for her to say.
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Alison Gill
You can always check out the John Fegel Sang show podcast. My good friend John Fel saying hello.
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John Fugelsang
Hello. Happy Trump Tax day to all who celebrate. Hi. Wow.
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Alison Gill
Yes, it's Liberation Day. Liberating me from my money.
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John Fugelsang
God, we should be, we should all be laughing about Kid Rock's Mountain Dew pimp costume instead. Yeah, we have to deal with, thank you, 32% of American voters for giving this to us. 54% tariffs on stuff made in China. What? I, I have to buy more truck bibles. What am I going to do now? My God.
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Alison Gill
Yeah, I know. Where are you going to get your MAGA hats and, and your golden diapers?
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John Fugelsang
It's like, it's like they wanted an Iraq war for so many years, and Donald Trump and the idiots wanted the Great Wall of Tariffs for so many years. And once every generation, we get to see these idiots get exactly what we want and the rest of us pay for it.
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Alison Gill
Well, now it seems the president of peace, Donald Trump, is loading up B2 bombers down at Diego Garcia, which is a pretty big hint that they want to bomb Iran. But, you know, story for another day.
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John Fugelsang
If Putin says so. Let's Iran's not on our top three countries that we're allowed to invade. Let's not.
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Alison Gill
But look at all these tariffs on Russia, though.
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John Fugelsang
Oh, yeah. Isn't it striking? Wow. I mean, why, why, why? It's almost like he's either really stupid or someone's paying him to deliberately sabotage the economy. I, I, this is what I thought last night and we, we talked about it on the air. I was like, look at what he's doing. Deliberately Crashing this thing. I, I mean, this is Trump part two, Right. This was, this was not supposed to be a Marvel franchise. This was supposed to be a one time disaster like Cat's the Movie. But like now, like, how are we supposed to think that he's not being paid by a hostile foreign actor to crash this entire global economy?
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Alison Gill
John, John, John. Russia was a hoax. Actually, somebody I just was able to share, I just listened to, you know, for funsies, an episode from like 2018, 2019, a muller, she wrote. It's called Trump is a Russian Asset.
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John Fugelsang
Yeah.
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Alison Gill
And the interviews are David Rothkopf, as you know from Deep State Radio, and Bill Browder. Right. Putin's enemy number one back then.
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John Fugelsang
Yes.
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Alison Gill
Author of the Magnitsky Act. And so, yeah, it's, there's, there's penguins.
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John Fugelsang
That got more tariffs. Penguins were tariff harsher seals on islands uninhabited by man got harsher tariffs than Vladimir Putin.
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Alison Gill
Oh, yes, yes, of course, we saw that. Right. With the herd and McDonald Islands totally uninhabited except by penguins.
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John Fugelsang
You get a tariff and you get a tariff. Everybody gets a tariff. You're going to take a beating, America, but it's for your own good. Okay, if anyone asks, you tell him you fell. All right? Okay, that's it.
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Alison Gill
What are we, I'm just, just now looking. Dow is down 1650 points. Yeah, yeah, great.
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John Fugelsang
I mean, I, I, I guess we can celebrate a few things. One, the countdown has now begun for Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary, to be blamed and fired for these tariffs. I mean, that, that countdown has already started.
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Alison Gill
Well, first we got to get rid of the National Security Council people that Laura Loomer is throwing under the bus because, you know, Laura Loomer is a brilliant national security expert. She's advising Donald Trump on who to get rid of signal gate. But let's, let's talk just for a.
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John Fugelsang
By the way, can I just say one thing about Laura Loomer? I'm not here to judge consenting adults. I'm just glad that one time Donald Trump doesn't have to pay for it. It's got to be good for his ego. One time he doesn't have to pay for it. Go ahead.
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Alison Gill
Yeah, no, no problem. We all had a little bit of a shot in the arm on Tuesday. We had Senator Cory Booker break Strom thurman's record of 24 hours and 18 minutes giving a speech on the Senate floor. We had Susan Crawford defeat Elon Musk basically in Wisconsin.
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John Fugelsang
Thank you.
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Alison Gill
And, and we had, I think wins in Florida. We didn't actually win the seats. But we, we gained more ground than the margin that Crawford won by in Wisconsin. We gained more ground in Florida one, in Florida six. Incredible. Plus 33 Republican district, you know, being cut in more than half, being halved at least. And the same with the other. Just like a 22 point gain. Just incredible to do in four short months. That felt good. I felt real good Tuesday. Then of course, we all look at our portfolios today and the feel he's very good at dashing our feelings of niceness. I remember January 5th feeling really, really awesome because we had just taken the Senate with Ossoff and Warnock.
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John Fugelsang
That's right.
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Alison Gill
And then boom, January 6th. So we aren't ever allowed to feel good for very long. But I'm care, I'm going to carry that feeling from Tuesday in my heart for as long as I can. I've written about it@melisserote.com I'm going to go back and read it when, when things are dark again. But talk about a little bit about how, how you felt after, after Tuesday.
- [32:23]
John Fugelsang
Well, you also have to remember, while the good times are quickly forgotten, the negative times are quickly forgotten by worse times. Because Cory Booker made us forget. RFK Jr gutted our entire national health infrastructure, which I want to get to at some point because that could affect our lives even more than the tariffs. But you're right, that was forgotten right away. This is the era of what I call what the fatigue, where our outrage circuits are so completely burned out. Now, I love Cory Booker's speech. I, I get all the critiques of it. I understand. Yes. I, I wish he hadn't voted for some Trump appointees. I wish he hadn't skipped a few votes. There's like seven he didn't vote against. I wish they could withhold unanimous consent, push the caucus to not approve. All these guys, slow down the gears. Other things I'd like to see him do, but he acknowledged that. And was it self serving? Was it a fundraising exercise? Of course it was. But it's what people need to see. And, and it's also a reminder that we can't keep waiting for these Democrats to show up and be the heroes. That's never how history has worked. It's always been the people. And then the Democrats cash up and LBJ signs the piece of paper after the activists spend years and years and years getting LBJ to the table. But I love the speech and I want to see more stunts like that. I want to see more narrative grabbing headlines like that. You know what I Just campaign event for Tuesday, too. What?
- [33:43]
Alison Gill
They're having a meeting. Senate Democrats. Because they can't call it a hearing. Yeah, it's like a shadow hearing to interview and have a couple of people who were ousted. Like the, you know, the. The pardon lawyer. The pardon attorney from the pardon attorney's office, for example. Senate Democrats are having them come in and testify in a hearing. I'm like, wait a minute. We can have shadow hearings. Why aren't we doing this on signal gate? Why aren't we doing this on now? I know we can't get adversarial, recalcitrant witnesses in. We're not going to be able to get Kristi Noeman to answer questions. We don't have subpoena power. But you can bring in experts, right? You can bring in former judges, you can bring in former government employees. You can bring in experts to answer your questions and hold a hearing. Why aren't we doing this?
- [34:33]
John Fugelsang
You can start the building blocks of what will eventually be a truth and Reconciliation committee. I think that's what you're trying to say.
- [34:40]
Alison Gill
Yeah.
- [34:40]
John Fugelsang
That you can begin the infrastructure of what someday will put these criminals behind bars for good and will forgive Merrick Garland, and they will all be locked up forever. Look, I love Tuesday. I love seeing elon Musk spending $20 million of his money to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court and save it from the Marxists. He kept saying the Marxists, the Marxists. And all that really happened was we just watched him redistribute his own wealth. So it was a beautiful day.
- [35:07]
Alison Gill
It'll be the end of Western civilization as we know it if Susan Crawford wins.
- [35:11]
John Fugelsang
It shows how scared they are.
- [35:14]
Alison Gill
I'm surprised they haven't tried to connect her victory to the stock market today.
- [35:20]
John Fugelsang
Listen, this is all connected to the fact that. That. That Elise is not going to be our ambassador to the U.N. i mean, like, it. That shows how scared they were. Like, that was only, what, 65 days after election Day. And they pulled their nominee for the UN because they got so terrified about holding their very thin majority. This is just a week ago. Because their majority is as thin as the chunky coat of paint around Donald Trump's epidermis. So they're terrified. And this week only made them more scared. And it humiliated Elon Musk. So much so that Donald Trump himself allowed someone to leak. Because it's all leaks with these people that he's going around there talking about how he's gonna let Elon go at some point. And it's so awkward. For me, Allison, because I'm like BFFs with both of them and I don't wanna see this breakup. But this is what we've said from the beginning. It's a cult of selfishness. It's the most self selfish people in the world working together to be selfish. And we expect these narcissists to not turn on each other like a couple of hungry rats in a cage. So, you know, it's going to hurt a lot of people. But we have to remember the comedy element of all of this. Throughout the suffering and the anguish, don't forget to stop and smell the train wreck. This is not going to bring back American jobs. I mean, this is going to bring back horse drawn carriages because we can't drive cars anymore. Like, like, I think everything's, everything's going to get so bad right now.
- [36:41]
Alison Gill
Let's talk specifically about something that's going to get real bad. We're gutting tons of stuff in Department of Health and Human Services, including the fda, the people who inspect our food, the people they just cut, the people who inspect pet food. Like just that alone. The danger in that alone. And by the way, gutting the eis, which is what cdc, like, if you have some sort of E. Coli outbreak, they run out, try to find it, triangulate it, stop it. That's gone too. So not only are the food inspectors gone, the, the food inspector when the E. Coli cops are gone.
- [37:20]
John Fugelsang
That's right, that we're going to make salmonella great again. I mean, like, this is hhs, nih, CDC food. Thousands of doctors and researchers and public health officials and scientists and I know fans of talking snakes don't like scientists, but do you, do you, do you feel safer now? MAGA friends? Like, like, do you feel protected? Because this is, this is, this is the scariest thing that's happening all week. This is scarier than the tariffs. And I don't mean in the, you know, carnival, haunted house, fun, scary. I mean, like, holy crap, we just fired the fire department and the whole town's on fire kind of way. Like, this is strapping us all into a roller coaster with no staff on duty and there's no seat belts and.
- [38:04]
Alison Gill
Like there's actually dynamite next to you.
- [38:06]
John Fugelsang
It's a massacre of public health. This is, it's like, let's take the airbags out of the car and then drive it off the cliff and see what happens. Like what they're doing right now. And the worst thing about all of.
- [38:16]
Alison Gill
It is they're taking the fire Extinguishers out of the Tesla.
- [38:18]
John Fugelsang
All of it. I could just go to metaphor. Hell with you. We're already in. I mean, what is the. What I. Look. RFK literally is using this to put this anti vaxxer in charge of his new panel to investigate the alleged links between autism and vaccines.
- [38:33]
Alison Gill
Well, there's a reason for that. Because he gets millions of dollars from a law firm that suits.
- [38:37]
John Fugelsang
Exactly. But we have. But. But the messaging I want to see from the Democrats is that this is the most outrageously shitty evil thing RFK Jr has done yet. And that's saying quite a bit because he was pro choice until two months ago. What they're doing here is they're conveying to every adult man and woman in America on the spectrum. Every teenager, every child with autism. The government is saying, you are broken. Something's wrong with you. You are the way you are because something went wrong in medicine and science that caused you to be this defective thing. They are not just being ableist, they are scorning an entire population that within our lifetimes is going to become a protected civil rights class. It's bad enough that they got the pro wrestling lady gutting the Department of Education, which is going to hurt IEPs for autistic kids all around the country. And what's the greatest metaphor, Alison? The Elon Musk truck on fire outside of a Trump Hotel? Or inaugurating a racist on MLK Day? I think the greatest irony is the pro wrestling lady destroying public education and trying to kill private universities.
- [39:44]
Alison Gill
Yeah, all my balls, lady. I think she produced all my balls for idiocracy.
- [39:49]
John Fugelsang
Exactly right. So, like they're, they're being so hateful. And the smart money for Democrats is to come in here and say it's not just a conspiracy theory. There's no peer review studies to support this, that vaccines cause autism. We understand autism more than we ever have. And these people vote and these people are our family members and our co workers and they're finally for the first time being understood. A hundred years ago, we didn't diagnose kids with autism. We chained them the radiator somewhere and wondered what was wrong with them. So what RFK is doing here is one of the most evil things of the entire evil agenda. And I'm really afraid that gutting our entire health infrastructure, which we can't feel yet, is going to hurt us even more than tariffs.
- [40:29]
Alison Gill
Yeah, no, I agree. And I assume that the Trump administration putting together an emergency committee right now to see how to respond to what the stock market is doing in response to the tariffs. And I'm sure he's going to be spending this evening, you know, talking with top officials about how to make sure our food is safe, how to make sure vaccines are effective and how to, how to continue to fund autism research. Right. That's what he's doing tonight.
- [40:58]
John Fugelsang
No, I think he's planning his next golf trip tonight. I think, I mean, like, I'm just glad that I could finally get some interest in my script for a screenplay I wrote called Smoot Hawley two Electric Boogaloo. Like when, when, when the left is agreeing with Rand Paul this hard. Something smells really bad in Denmark. But here's the big thing, and I've talked about this on your wonderful show before. I can't wait to see if Trump pulls this back.
- [41:23]
Alison Gill
I. That's what I'm wondering.
- [41:25]
John Fugelsang
At the end of the first week of April. Because then he declares victory after he's manipulated the markets to enrich himself at his scumbag aristocrat friends. Which is exactly what he did the first, first week of February and then pulled back and the first week of March and then pulled back. If he untarriffs this late in the week, you know this has all been a stock scam.
- [41:47]
Alison Gill
It's all pump and dump. That is what I was going to say to you. The best thing we can hope for is that that's what it is.
- [41:52]
John Fugelsang
Yeah, that they're just grifters. Best case scenario, they're not deliberately being paid by Russia and China to tank the entire Western economy, but that they're just a couple of shitty low level grifters with bad taste in hookers. That's it. And this summer they're going to blame all of it on Joe Biden anyway. So let's find out what they're up to.
- [42:09]
Alison Gill
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens. We'll talk about it next week. I'll saying Fridays on the Daily Beans, my friend. It's always good to see you. Let's see if I can get this right. You can Hear him weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific on Sirius. XM channel progress one. Nope, I didn't look. I got it wrong again.
- [42:24]
John Fugelsang
That's beautiful.
- [42:25]
Alison Gill
SiriusXM progress channel 127. It's called Tell Me Everything. You don't want to miss it. And if you don't have Sirius, you can always catch the John Falang show podcast. I only do this 800 times. You know, like, I, I'm not sure.
- [42:37]
John Fugelsang
Last name can Break anyone.
- [42:38]
Alison Gill
My last sign off is going to be fun today.
- [42:40]
John Fugelsang
My last name can ruin anyone's diction. It's, I've seen it happen.
- [42:44]
Alison Gill
It's never your name. It's my brain. It's, it's, I think we're, we, we.
- [42:48]
John Fugelsang
We white guys have the most ethnic names once in a while.
- [42:50]
Alison Gill
I'm so, I think we're, I think we're full. I think the brain is full and things are starting to fall out.
- [42:54]
John Fugelsang
Can I just say to your listeners that Donald Trump thinks reciprocal is when you let the escorts slap you back to heighten the foreplay. He doesn't really understand the term, but.
- [43:02]
Alison Gill
With a rolled up magazine with a.
- [43:03]
John Fugelsang
Picture of your daughter on it, there's the callback I needed. Thank you.
- [43:06]
Alison Gill
There you go. You're welcome. Take it with you. Have it. It is yours.
- [43:09]
John Fugelsang
I'm going to go scavenge for socks now outside of Walmart.
- [43:12]
Alison Gill
Thank you. Thank you so much, my friend. Everybody, we're going to be right back with the mayor of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass. Stick around. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is truly an honor to be joined today by former congresswoman and now mayor of Los Angeles. Please welcome Mayor Karen Bass. Hi, Mayor, how are you?
- [43:31]
Karen Bass
I'm doing just fine. How about you?
- [43:34]
Alison Gill
I'm doing, I'm doing as, as well as can be expected with everything that's going down, but very happy to be a resident of Southern California these days.
- [43:41]
Karen Bass
Me, too.
- [43:43]
Alison Gill
I wanted to talk to you today because we had a really great day for democracy on Tuesday federally with the Honorable Senator Cory Booker breaking Strom Thurmond's Senate floor speech record by going 24 hours and 19 minutes, actually ended up going a little over 25 hours. And then we also had the wonderful wins in Wisconsin and Florida. And I know we didn't win those seats in Florida, but man, we made a big dent. And I think everyone's kind of feeling good. And I want to keep that feeling up by talking about some of the amazing things that are flying under the radar that you and your team are doing in Los Angeles because of the fire hose of news that we're seeing right now. So let's kick this off with talking about, first of all, something that's near and dear to my heart because I worked downtown Los Angeles Department of Veterans affairs on veteran homelessness. But homelessness in general. Give us the picture of what's going on in Los Angeles.
- [44:41]
Karen Bass
Well, absolutely. And I want to talk specifically about veterans homeless because much good news there. Let me just say that for the first time in years, homelessness has been escalating. And finally we see it tipping down. And especially street homelessness, where we've had a 10% reduction in the city of Los Angeles. We have so much more to do because the system is profoundly broken. But the mandate I felt from Angeleno's coming into office was get the people off the street and into housing. Don't just move them a few blocks away so I can't see them. Get them housed and get them cared for. And so I launched a program called Inside Safe. I signed a number of executive directives to cut through the red tape and get building underway. But you know what, even with that, you can't build fast enough. So we need a system of long term interim housing, someplace where individuals can be for a year, a year and a half while a building is being put together. And so we're working on more cost effective models because motels are too expensive. But one thing is, is that it is so expensive for people to be on the streets, aside from the fact that four to five of them don't wake up every morning. But the burden that they cause to people who are housed is just enormous. And so this is a humanitarian crisis that the nation's second largest city has got to solve.
- [46:11]
Alison Gill
Yeah, and you're well on your way. I mean, and it's, it's, it's going down now for the first time in a long time. I recall with veteran homelessness under the Obama administration, I think we were able to, to, to cut it in half. And then it started going up again. I can't remember during whose term that was. I think it was sometime between 2016 and 2020, but I'm not quite sure. So tell us how you're cutting through this, through the red tape and how you're working with other stakeholders to make sure that this problem is more easily solved. Because like you said, so much red tape, so much time, this has to be done incrementally. And the plan that you've put together is truly incredible just in the fact that it is a step by step process, a real action plan with real results. Right?
- [46:57]
Karen Bass
It absolutely is. I mean, you were talking about a dysfunctional system that has creeped along for the last over 20 years. And so you're not going to correct that in two short years, but we've certainly made headway. But one of the things I've discovered along this journey is that there are a lot of policies that are in place that keep people on the street. Veterans, for example. If you are a veteran and you take veterans benefits. We counted that as your income and then said you made too much money. So I'm not going to give you a housing voucher. So last year I took 50 mayors to Washington D.C. we went to the White House, we went with the Secretary of Veteran affairs and we got that policy change. We literally have 3,000 vouchers in Los Angeles that veterans can't access until now. And so now we are going to launch a campaign to get veterans housed by appealing to landlords to say, do your patriotic duty and house a veteran. We have the voucher for you, we have the veteran.
- [48:02]
Alison Gill
Well, amazing work from your office on this and I look forward to it continuing and we hope to have you on in the future with even better news. Let's talk about something that Republicans in general writ large sort of lied about in order to get elected and that's that crime is up, violent crime is up in every all these blue anarchic jurisdictions. Look at the terrible crime. The streets are horrible, everything is awful, which is simply not true. And your office has worked to bring down crime significantly, right?
- [48:41]
Karen Bass
We've had a significant reduction in crime because we've used a comprehensive approach, I believe, in working to prevent crime. But when crime happens, you got to deal with it and you need law enforcement to do that. And so our comprehensive approach involves gang reduction, tested, researched based strategies. And that has been helpful in reducing homicides. But I do have to say that if you are a victim of crime or you know somebody who's a victim of crime, then I don't care what the statistics say for you, crime is absolutely a crisis. And so we do have to acknowledge the subjective factor and the fact that you know, if you are a victim, how it hits you. But it is important to keep the statistics and to document that things are much, much better than they have been in the past. We had homicides. Now as far as I'm concerned, one homicide is too many. But homicides were lower than 300 for the first time in many, many, many years.
- [49:47]
Alison Gill
And that is, that's a huge mil. I expect it to continue to go down with your comprehensive approach. And then the final win. Well, there's a lot of wins. But the one I wanted to other one I wanted to focus on today is Los Angeles recovery time from disasters compared to other, you know, other municipalities. I believe when I was talking to some of your staff that like restoration to water and power after the camp fire that took like 18 months, but in LA it took far shorter period of Time talk about that. And again, I think this has a lot to do with the, you know, for the reasons you were able to cut homelessness and bring crime down. A comprehensive approach. And cutting red tape.
- [50:32]
Karen Bass
Exactly right. And so one of the first things that we did was we had an emergency declaration which then gave me the authority to expedite other things such as cutting the red tape so that people can begin the rebuilding process it very, very quickly. So you are correct. Water and power was restored within a couple of months in the Palisades. And I think what a lot of people might not realize is that there were a lot of homes that weren't destroyed or the damage was minimal, like smoke damage, and they were able to clear it out. And so there are people that are living in the Palisades right now because of the efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers in terms of removing the debris. We're going to announce soon that almost 1,000 properties are ready for rebuilding right now. In the other fires, Paradise, Woolsey, Lahana, it took them months and months and months, in some instances over a year, 18 months before rebuilding can begin. So I set up a one stop shop so that homeowners can come in and all 12 city departments where in normal circumstances you have to drive all over the city to the different buildings to get your permits and to get your plans approved. Well, now, you know, you can go to one place. We are trying to waive as many fees as possible. Some we can't waive because they're in law, but we're trying to reduce and waive fees so that people can get up and running and building. And you know, as mayor, I only represent the Palisades. I don't represent Altadena or Malibu. And so that is my sole focus. But I work in strong collaboration with Katherine Barger, who is the chair of the County Board of Supervisors. Lindsey Horvath represents Malibu. Catherine represents Altadena. And working in collaboration with the board because the board, the county, is responsible for the debris removal. So keeping everything moving quickly. The other thing I did a few days after the fires, actually before the fires were completely put out, is we opened up a disaster assistance center. And at the disaster center, we've had over 8,000 Angelenos come through. We've been able to provide and give them access to every governmental agency that you could think of, from the passport office to the DMV for IDs or driver's license to SBA and FEMA. And we even have mental health supports there in case people become overwhelmed. And then we opened up four centers for the workforce because not a lot of attention has been paid to the fact that thousands of people worked in those homes, worked on the properties. Some of the gardeners and nannies, for example, were dealing with multiple homes and had employees, and they were small business people or there were a lot of businesses in the Palisades. So the workforce there needs relief. Now, unfortunately for them, the only way we can reach them is by doing what we're doing right now and letting people know that these centers exist. One is in west la, south la, Boyle Heights and Sylmar. And we are providing resources, including direct financial assistance.
- [53:52]
Alison Gill
Yeah, And I'm so glad you brought those up. The LA Impacted Worker and Family Recovery Centers. Right. Because even though, and you know, you're not the mayor of Malibu, you're not the mayor of Altadena, but there are so many Angelenos who work in those areas, like you said, that were impacted. And that is why I think the collaboration, aside from cutting through the red tape and all of the other benefits of collaborating with other leaders, other local leaders, is so important because everybody in every city is impacted by the other city.
- [54:25]
Karen Bass
Exactly right. We are all interdependent, and this is the time for Angelenos to come together. And so you saw that right after the fires, you saw thousands of people turn out and volunteer and come up with supplies and other things that people might need who lost everything. So we want to keep that spirit going. So on April 26, we're going to have a citywide activation where we're calling on people to help get our city ready, because in a little over a year, we're going to have the World cup here. So we want people out cleaning and planting trees and removing graffiti. And so I'm hoping that your listeners will think about attending on April 26, and we'll give you all that information.
- [55:06]
Alison Gill
Oh, I can't wait. We'll have a link to it in the show notes. And one last question before you go, because this is on the mind of a lot of Angelenos in Southern California. People in California in general. The president, this administration has a tendency to withhold federal disaster relief funding to cities that he doesn't like. I remember talking to my friend Olivia Troy when Orange county was on fire in the first Trump administration. Trump didn't want to send any disaster relief, and Olivia Troy had to remind him that those are actually Republican voters down in Orange County. And then the money went in. Now what are we doing to prepare our cities for a potential Eventuality of, you know, they're dismantling fema, they might withhold funding. Are our mayors working with the governor to try to have a backstop to this potential problem?
- [55:55]
Karen Bass
Well, we actually are working directly with the administration as well. And I do have to say that one of the reasons why things have been moving very quick is because the administration has provided a tremendous number of members of the Army Corps of Engineers. So we've gotten a lot of resources. We have no indication that FEMA is going to be cut back or reduced. President Biden put a policy forward that said that we could get 100% reimbursement. What is normal or typical is 75%. President Trump has continued that. So so far, fingers crossed. We are doing okay with the administration and are in direct communication with them. Keeping those lines of communication open.
- [56:39]
Alison Gill
Well, I just hope it stays that way. And if it doesn't, I know that you and your team, given everything you've been able to do so far, we'll be prepared. And we really appreciate you coming and talking to us today. Mayor, it's been an honor.
- [56:53]
Karen Bass
Thank you.
- [56:53]
Alison Gill
Thank you.
- [56:54]
Karen Bass
The honor is mine. Appreciate being on and hope to come back.
- [56:57]
Alison Gill
Yeah, we'll definitely have you back. Everybody. Put it in your calendars. April 26th. We'll have more information in the show notes. Everybody could come out and, you know, keep Los Angeles beautiful. It's hard to make it more beautiful, but I think we can, I think if we put our heads together, maybe we can do a little bit. So again, thank you so much and we'll see you soon.
- [57:15]
Karen Bass
Thank you.
- [57:16]
Alison Gill
Bye bye, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then, good news, everyone. And if you have any good news, confessions, corrections, anything good you want to tell me, anything that made you feel good today, even if it's tiny, even if it's like minute, like, like yesterday my friend and I got together and watched the first season of White Lotus. It was awesome. It was just nice to hang out and have a break from all the news. Anything this small is not small. There's no such thing as too small is what I'm saying. Okay. When it comes to making yourself happy during, during this, during this shit show. So you can send any good news to us, any shout outs you have to a loved one, friend, family member, small business in your area, some great, you know, community organizing or activism that's happening. Also self shout outs. We love shout outs to government programs that have helped you Or a family member, like Affordable Care act subsidies or great VA health care, Social Security. I know a lot of folks that listen. Grew up on the Head Start program or, you know, with Snap, wic, stuff like that. Anything at all, Send it to us dailybeanspot.com click on contact. All you got to do to get your submission read on the air is give us your name or stay anonymous. Give us your pronouns or don't. We're very. We're very chill. And of course you have to pay your pod pet tax, which just attach a photo of your pet. We can guess the breeds if you want us to try. If you don't have a pet, send an adoptable pet in your area. If you don't have that, go find a photo of cuddly otters on the Internet or frog orgy and send it to us. We'll take any animal photos. I like capybaras. Send those. And if you don't have that, bird watching photos, which can be actually a bird, or you and your friends and family flipping off Trump properties and musk properties. Then if you don't have any of that, you can send your baby photos. Everybody's got baby photos. You can even just find a random baby on the Internet. We don't care. We just love photos and we love your good news. We try to make it as easy as possible to get your good news in. First up from Dave. Pronouns, he and him. Hey, proud dad of a transgender child veteran husband to an immigrant writing to you from the Pacific Northwest, Dave. That's awesome. So many times I've listened to the Daily Beans and you'd tease a shit show when talking about the Mango Menace. Fuck that guy. As a musician, I composed a short piece you might like. Hopefully it's a few seconds of smile for you. It's a great instrumental. It's called Shit Show. We'll have a link to it in the show notes. I've listened to it. It's wonderful. My podbet tax is Sierra. The Seattle Humane Society labeled her as a level five wallflower. It took her five weeks to come out from her crate on her own, but now she's a love bug. Keep up the good trouble, Dave. Thank you. She's gorgeous. I love, I love, love, love her goatee. She's adorable. Thank you so much for that. Next up, Anonymous pronoun She and her. Ooh, we got some good bird watching. Beans Queens. I have some surprise good news. In the fall of 2020, when Biden was running against Trump, I decided to apply for Italian citizenship by ancestry. My appointment was December of 2022. January 31, 2025, I got an email saying I was added to the Italian registry of Citizens Abroad. I bought a last minute flight to my consulate and my Italian passport arrived on February 15th. Good thing too. Prime Minister Maloney changed the laws on March 28th to limit successful citizenship by ancestry applicants to two generations which would have excluded me. P.S. i wanted to share this bird watching picture from a very short notice consulate visit for a passport. Awesome. Thank you so much for this. Congratulations. Anonymous Next up, Chuck G Pronouns he and him Good morning to the Beans Queens, my only consistent source of light each day amidst the shit show that is US Politics. I'm writing with good news today, something I never thought I'd say. My student loans were just paid off through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Woohoo. I was afraid I'd missed that boat by about a year and thought for sure that Trump and his merry band of idiots would cancel the program before I could benefit. And with the recent talk of abolishing the Department of Education, who knows where we're headed? Regardless, my years spent teaching at Public University have finally paid off for podpet tax. Please see my dog Winnie, with whom we just celebrated five years of unconditional love with plenty of barking. She would have voted for Kamala. Thanks for all you do. I love the dog. Looking at a sign, a Harris Waltz sign with a cat on it and this is fantastic. This is gorgeous. And it must have been during Halloween time because it looks like there's hands coming up from the ground and a grim reaper over in the background with some glow in the dark chains that he's rattling. This is fantastic. I'm not sure where you live, but that looks like my neighborhood in San Diego. My friend Chuck G. Thank you so much. Next up, Elliot Pronoun she and her I recently, recently started listening to your daily Beans podcast on my awful commute in Hawaii Traffic. Oh, it's bad, it's bad. Elliot, after hearing my mother listen to you every day I'm home on leave. Recently, stress has been high in the Navy. Yeah, with changing policies, but at least for now, daily operations haven't changed. My good news is that my mother will be flying to Hawaii to visit in a couple of days. I can only hope I I've deep cleaned my room enough to meet her standards, but I'm excited to take a break from living here and pretend to be a tourist, if only for a little while. So to that effect hi Mom. Attached are pictures of Lulu, my rotty retriever mix who I raised from birth. She's followed me through all my moves from Guam to Connecticut to Pearl Harbor. She's my rock, even if she costs an arm and a leg to fly. Elliot, beautiful dog. Thank you for your service. Thank you so much for your service. I'm so sorry. This is a harrowing time to work for the government, whether it's in the military or as a civilian. So thank you and your mom. Oh, look at this dog. What a beauty. Oh, and there's the puppy. Picture this I'm gonna click, right click save just to bring me joy when I need it. Thank you so, so much. All right, next up, anonymous pronoun. She and her hello illuminating legumes. I'm in Vegas for a conference, catching up with friends I haven't seen in a year or more and feeding my spirit. Having a creative outlet has been essential in getting through this shit show. And being surrounded by like minded, talented and amazing people feeds and heals my soul. Today a couple of friends joined me in flying some birds. It was a cherry on top of a really good day. Bonus tax my monkey in a cat suit. I think you can guess her breed first of all. Hell yeah. Flipping off that non casino that Trump built because he couldn't get a gaming license. Oh wow, look she's way up there on the cabinet. Little arboreal baby tortie, right? Oh, so cute. Thank you so much for that. Everybody click on that link and you can hear the Shit show instrumental. There's a couple of lyrics. Shit show. And I appreciate everyone sending in your good news today. Be safe out there tomorrow during the hands off rallies. And remember, these are early on, right? We're going to start building and building and building until we get to a point where we can send a couple million people, all of us right to dc. So wherever you're at, go out there, get the names, sign up with Indivisible and let's start building that coalition and keep moving forward and let's just always just. I'm just going to be remembering Tuesday for a while. Wisconsin Senator Booker, the cut the advances we made in Florida. I'm just going to keep that in my heart for a while. And I wrote all about it and whenever I feel down, I go and read it again. So thank you so much. And if you're able, because of these tariffs, because of the crashing stock market, we've got a couple advertisers who have to pull back on their advertising budget. So if you're able to support us only if you're able. I think it's like three bucks a month as the starting point. Please join us. And in return, you get these episodes ad free. You get them early. You get to see the photos that I talk about. You get first dibs on tickets to VIP events and galas, and you get to come to our monthly Zoom Happy hour where you can ask me questions. You also get all my show notes. I don't know if a lot of people know this or not, but at the end of the week, I think we, we post every single news story that I cite in the show for that week. So you get all that too. If that's your, if that's your thing, if you're a research person. All right, everybody, thank you so. Oh, by the way, you do that@patreon.com Muller she wrote that's how, that's how you sign up to support us. And we appreciate you. Thank you so much. Dana and I will be back in your ears Monday. Andy and I'll be in your ears on Sunday. I know Harry and I are going to do a bonus episode for cleanup patrons this weekend. There will be a bonus episode for the Beans for patrons this weekend in the weekly wrap up and send us those photos. That's what we want to see. In the good news next week is all of the handsoff2025.com photos. Send them to us. We love to read those signs and see everybody get together to protest what's going on in the Trump administration and the Trump regime. Everybody again. Until next time, please have a safe weekend. 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. I've been ag and them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison 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 Giants 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.