← The Find Out Podcast
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- [00:00]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Foreign.
- [00:08]
Podcast Host 1
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Find out podcast. We've got a great show for you today. We have Senator Chris Van Hollen, the senior senator from Maryland. Senator, it's great to have you today.
- [00:18]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
It's good to be back with you guys. Thanks.
- [00:20]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah, we were just joking before that. We see seem to see you every week or two, so we're glad to see you again. And there's always good stuff to talk about. And I want to dive into this bill that you just released last week, which is called the. The. Sorry, I'm. I cannot see without my glasses. Oh, the working Americans tax cut. That working Americans tax cut, which has an oppressive number of sponsors and also groups that are endorsing this. So, Senator, this is a unique bill from Democrats. You don't usually see, like, eliminating taxes for a wide swath of people. Why don't you tell us what this bill is and what, what it could do for people really getting squeezed by Trump's tariffs and a slowing economy?
- [01:04]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Well, the fundamental idea behind this bill is exactly a recognition that people are working harder than ever and still being squeezed. So people are making a paycheck, but because of the high costs and prices that they're facing, they're just struggling to get by. And so this is the Working Americans tax cut bill. And the idea is essentially, if you're making a living wage, in other words, just enough to support yourself for yourself and the family, then you shouldn't be paying federal income taxes. You should be essentially able to keep more of what you earn in order to pay your bills and have a dignified life for yourself and your family. That's the fundamental idea. 130 million Americans will benefit. They'll have a little bit more of their paycheck to keep. It is fully paid for and offset by a surtax on millionaires. Right. Starting with a 5% tax on the first dollar, over a million dollars a year. So if you're making over a million dollars a year on that first dollar, over a million, you'll pay 5%. And it's a little escalating surtax, that's about 1.5 trillion. And it provides the revenue to provide relief for people who are working paycheck to paycheck.
- [02:25]
Podcast Host 1
And I think if I'm reading this correctly, they're all making fun of me because I can't see without my glasses. But there's also a reflection, so I don't do it. But this would essentially mean that anybody who's making the median average income, which is about $46,000 for a single filer, they would pay no federal income tax. Correct. And I think right now that that's almost a doubling of what it is. I think it's somewhere in the 20,000 range. Now, is that, is that correct?
- [02:48]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Well, you're right. It's for somebody whose income is a single person whose income is about $45,000 a year, that's about the median cost of living expense in America. And what that means is that they're just making enough to meet their basic expenses. And so. Right. If you're in that category or below at that income level or below, you would not pay income taxes. It about doubles the number of Americans who are not paying income taxes from about 30,000, I think, to maybe 60,000 in that range.
- [03:27]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah, I mean, that's a, that's just a tremendous amount. I mean, for these folks. I mean, one of the things that we talked to you about when you were on our State of the Union show was I asked you a very pointed question about, and I'm going to have you answer it again for people who didn't hear it, but has Donald Trump put forward any proposals to actually reduce costs for the American public? And the answer is.
- [03:46]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Well, the overall answer is on costs. No. Right, right. In fact, we're seeing costs go through the roof. And as I've said before, including on your show, that includes his illegal tariff tax. And he should give every American household that seventeen hundred dollars back, and he should do it right now. So costs are going through the roof. And, you know, with this war in Iran, in addition to lives lost, we're of course seeing upward movement on pressure in the Republican tax bill. It's important to remember they called it the big beautiful bill. Beautiful for billionaires. Pretty much sucked for everybody else.
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Podcast Host 2
I would have a different B adjective.
- [04:29]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
There were provisions in there that are going to expire in 2028 that did help some folks. So, for example, no tax on tips. Right. No tax on overtime. And my view is those individuals, they should actually be getting a sustainable tax cut and actually a better tax cut. And it makes no sense to say that somebody who's making $45,000 a year on tips should actually do better than somebody who's making $45,000, but not on tips. And so our bill provides real relief and permanent relief to those folks.
- [05:03]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah, I mean, I think my inarticulate point was that in the Trump tax bill, there was some minimal benefits, but your bill would obviously put much more money into the pockets of poor working class. Americans who are dealing with these higher prices right now, you know that, as you said, I mean, it's a stunning number. Every American, I believe, is owed $1,700. I mean, Donald Trump gave poor and working class Americans one of the largest tax increases in history. And it's really interesting that, you know, I'm looking at the sponsors on your bill and I don't see any Republicans who want to cut taxes for people who are making $46,000 and below. You know, I keep hearing that these guys care about the working class Americans, but they don't seem interested in cutting their taxes if it means their billionaire friends are going to, you know, have a slightly higher marginal rate that they're going to have to pay.
- [05:58]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Well, that's exactly right, because they say one thing and they always do another. The billionaires got a permanent tax cut in their bill. This no tax on tips provision expires in two years. And if you look at the overall benefits of the Trump plan, about 75% go to the top 20% and about 50% go to the top 5%. Whereas in our bill, it's the folks at the 80% and below that will see all the benefits that do flow from this bill. So we're actually focused on those working Americans. He's focused on the billionaires.
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Podcast Host 3
So I have a question on this because for me, I come from a marketing background, and my question with all these bills always is, how do you market this to swing voters? It sounds like a great idea, but, like, what is, what's the strategy for getting them to perk up? Because I feel like those are the kind of people where you need, like, something quick and they just need to understand it. So, like, because Trump, you know, the look, we call it the big beautiful bill, right? Like, that's, you know, he's a master of that stuff. Have you guys talked at all about how he would approach marketing this to people who really need to be the ones that go, yes, I really understand that they're doing this for me as opposed to trying to focus on millionaires and billionaires.
- [07:12]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah, this is a bill that will help the folks that Trump claimed he was helping. And it's going to be those folks who are essentially earning a paycheck, and that paycheck is enough to support their basic living expenses. And we don't want them to have to pay a federal income tax and essentially have a living wage taken away. So effectively, we're talking about working people, middle class Americans who often are getting screwed in this process, and they're the folks who will benefit and they will benefit significantly. Like I said, 130 million Americans will benefit from this. And it will be paid for by the folks making over a million dollars every single year who've been making off out like bandits, especially, you know, those who are earning a lot of money off of money as opposed to money off of hard work. So let me put it this way. The affordability equation has two sides to it, right? They're the costs which are going up and up and up and we need to contain them, right? The cost of electricity, of, of groceries, of childcare, of health care. And we need to really ramp down on those costs by going after big money, special interests. But then the other side of the equation is how much money you got in your paycheck, right? And we're focused in this bill on that part because we think that you should be able to keep more of what you earn to pay your basic living expenses.
- [08:45]
Podcast Host 1
I want to ask a question about tax cuts. The, the, the stimulative effect of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires compared to tax cuts for poor working class Americans. My, my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, you know, the Republicans have said since 1980s with Ronald Reagan that if you give massive tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, that then there will be a trickle down effect onto everybody else, basically the scraps of what the billionaires and millionaires are spending their money on. But my understanding is that, you know, like if you are giving tax credits to families that are barely making ends meet, that has actually a far better stimulative effect on the economy than if you're giving it to say, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, who's, I think almost at $1 trillion of net worth. Like how much money can they possibly spend? And I'm curious, I assume I know your answer, but I'd love to hear your.
- [09:37]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
But that's absolutely right. And I think, you know, people, when you think about this a little bit, it's intuitive, right? If you're Jeff Bezos and you make another buck, you're not going out to spend it on groceries or at your local retail stores and helping your local businesses. Whereas if you're making enough income just to get by or pay your basic living expenses, you're taking that extra tax money that's now saved to you, getting to keep more of the paycheck you earn and you're going out, right? You're going out to your local businesses, your local restaurants, and you're spending it so a much bigger, as you said, stimulative effect. So it benefits everybody and does really lift all boats. The Republican trickle down argument is just bs Right. What we've seen in the past is that the, the folks who do well, the yachts, the already rich are lifted up. Right. Everybody else is kind of treading water or sinking. This will help everybody.
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Podcast Host 2
It seems like those billionaire guys, they don't really like to share. That seems to be the, seems to be the whole thing.
- [10:46]
Podcast Host 1
Right.
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Podcast Host 2
They're like a dragon hoarding wealth on their pile of gold.
- [10:50]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
That's exactly right. So, you know, when Donald Trump gave that speech on his inauguration day and he said, you know, it's going to be the golden age of America.
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Podcast Host 1
Yeah.
- [10:58]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
You remember the guys who were sitting behind him, Right. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk.
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Podcast Host 1
Yep.
- [11:04]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
They're like, you know, they're just gilding the lily. And, you know, you got a billionaire cabinet. These guys wake up every day and they just want to make more money for themselves and their families and their billionaire buddies, including gross corruption, obviously, this Trump administration.
- [11:20]
Podcast Host 3
Yeah. So I have a question that's sort of built around how you package this with other stuff, because I think coming into the next election, a lot of people want to see from Democrats certain things like universal health care proposals or, you know, child care, all that sort of stuff. How does the economics of this idea sort of square with the budgetary constraints of pursuing those sorts of things in conjunction?
- [11:42]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah, look, I very much believe that we need to extend the Affordable Care act tax credits. In fact, you know, my view is that, yeah, we want to, we want to address some of the broken aspects of the system, but my view is the overall healthcare system is pretty much broken and we need a Medicare for all system. That's my view. And we need more affordable child care. And this bill that I've introduced, along with, you know, 19 colleagues all overall, this is not intended to be the only Democratic tax plan. Right. It works together with other proposals, including tax on wealth. For example, Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill that has a wealth tax and he uses some of those proceeds, for example, to expand Medicare right to include coverage for, you know, eyesight and hearing and dental. I've long supported that. So this is to be viewed in tandem. I will say, though, I think it's a very important piece of it. I think it's an important pillar because, you know, this goes to people who are currently paying income taxes, who have current income tax liability. And I do think so many of those folks are getting Squeezed more and more and this provides them with some relief.
- [13:06]
Podcast Host 3
Yeah, it's a direct response to the situation on the ground.
- [13:09]
Podcast Host 2
Right.
- [13:09]
Podcast Host 3
I mean that, that's 100% what it is. If you don't do both at the same time, protect the future in the short term, it's just, you know, it's all going to kind of fall flat. So I think that makes a lot of sense. That's great. And you know, I, I am curious in that vein of like, what are your thoughts? Because I've always, I don't really know the ins and outs and the details of this, but the best way to tax the wealth of billionaires, obviously the majority of their wealth is actually coming from assets that are intangible and you know, the way that they trade. So like I've seen some proposals from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. What do you think is the best route forward to tap into that money? People essentially just move money around and make money off that movement. What do you think is the best avenue to actually be able to take some of that money and put it into the benefit of the average American?
- [13:55]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
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- [14:18]
Podcast Host 3
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- [14:21]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
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- [14:25]
Podcast Host 1
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- [14:39]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah. So there are two pieces to this. And what you're getting at is the, one of the fundamental problems in our system, which is that people who make most of their money off of money get a much better deal tax wise than people who are making money off their hard work every day. And people are passing on that wealth from one generation to the next, tax free. We are literally creating this huge American aristocracy. Which of course runs counter to the whole idea that people are going to come to the United States, work hard and work themselves up by the bootstraps. People are literally passing on billions of dollars and they mean tax. So years ago, and I will reintroduce it, I propose something to get rid of stepped up basis. Because what happens is let's say we all make a billion dollars. Let's, you know, okay, billion dollars, that sounds good. And then, you know, we all die. Not as good that billion dollars, the gains is passed on tax free. To our heirs. And so through what's called stepped up basis. So my view is you get rid of that. But even that's probably not enough. You need to begin with huge fortunes, like multi billion dollar fortunes to actually tax that with a wealth tax. And there are a number of proposals, you say, and I think all of them have good elements to them. Bernie Sanders has one, Elizabeth Warren has one, Ron Wyden has one. And I do think that we need to pursue that approach. In addition to what we're talking about in this bill, which is income over a million dollars being taxed, some of that is also investment income.
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Podcast Host 2
Right.
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Senator Chris Van Hollen
That's not all wage income. We do make sure that we are taxing those gains for people making over a million bucks a year.
- [16:28]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah. Because I think even today, correct me if I'm wrong, but the, the taxes that even at the highest rate, which I think is 20% or somewhere around that, on, on basically dividends, which, which if you're a billionaire can be millions and millions of dollars per year, that is still taxed at a lower rate than most Americans income. Correct. Which again, seems like a very messed up system.
- [16:50]
Podcast Host 2
Doesn't sound quite right to me.
- [16:53]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
It is a totally messed up system. And you know, it goes to the point where we say like, you know, Warren Buffett's secretary has a higher effective tax rate than Warren Buffett or take any of these folks. And so, yeah, there's no reason we should give preferential tax treatment to someone who's making money off of money compared to those folks who are making money through their paycheck and wages. It's insane.
- [17:23]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah, 100%. Well, I've also been really impressed at some of the groups that you've gotten to endorse this bill already. I think I've seen the AFL, cio, the Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. It seems like there's a lot of real excitement and energy behind this bill. What, what can people who are listening, who are all across the country right now, what can they do to, to make sure that their members are supporting this bill as well?
- [17:48]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah, look, for now, if they could reach out to their Democratic senators, as you pointed out earlier, Republicans, they talk a good game. They're not going to support any bill that taxes, you know, millionaires. Right. They just won't. Those are their buddies. So if people can call into their and write in or reach out to their senators, Democratic senators and Democratic House members, we want to build momentum. We already have 19 senators and it includes both Angus King from Maine but also Bernie Sanders. Right. We have some of the folks people think of as the more moderate members of our caucus, but also the most progressive members of our caucus. And I'm glad you raised the endorsing groups because the AFL cio, I mean, their whole reason for being is to help working people making a paycheck. So they're very much for this American Federation of Teachers. You know, teachers are already underpaid in our country. And so this is their number one priority. They announced this is their number one priority to provide their teachers with a little bit more money in their pockets. And then we've got indivisible, we've got MoveOn, we've got Public Citizen, there's a group called Patriotic Millionaires who recognizes that they've done very well in this country and they want to make sure other people have a chance to make it too. So we have a great coalition. People should call in and ask their members to co sponsor the bill in the House and the Senate. In the House, it's Don Beyer, Congressman Don Beyer, he's introduced the bill, so that would be a big help.
- [19:29]
Podcast Host 1
Great. Well, everybody, you should call your members, even if they are Republicans, you should call them and give them a hard time about this because this strikes me as sound policy that's trying to right some of the wrongs that frankly, you know, the Republicans and conservatives have, have been sort of screwing Americans since the 80s. I mean, you could see that the income inequality gap has exploded as trickle down economics seems to have gained footing. I think we have cut taxes on rich people now like five times since the 80s and never have seen any stimulative effect whatsoever. So I'm hoping that the fifth time's a charm and people will realize we should not do this anymore. But we, we will see. But I appreciate this. I also think a lot of people don't know and I'm, I'm going to dig into. Happened two years ago when you mentioned teachers. There was a bill, and I think you supported it, that Joe Biden signed that expanded the amount of teachers that were eligible for Social Security. I think it was a bill that was passed in January of 2025 and that one's personal to me because my mom is, was a teacher in Maine which was part of the, the group that didn't actually qualify for Social Security. So that changed last year and that made a big difference for teachers.
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Senator Chris Van Hollen
So I, yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that. There had essentially been a carve out for a group of Americans. I'm glad we were able to bring everybody into the. The fold on Social Security.
- [20:49]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah. And she spends the money, trust me. So she. It's getting back out there. I do want to turn to the. The big issue of. Right. Well, there's a couple of big issues, and we've only got a few more minutes left. But I want to talk about Iran for a second. And, you know, obviously, this war is not popular. We lost more service members. I think we're over 10 now. You know, you are privy to a lot more information than the average person. Do you have any idea why we are there and what the goal is?
- [21:19]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
So we've, as of today, lost 13 of our. Our service members, hundreds wounded, and over 2,000 civilians in that region killed, including about 150 Iranian schoolgirls.
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Podcast Host 1
Yeah.
- [21:35]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Who were hit by a Tomahawk missile. Meanwhile, we've seen prices going up, and we're spending over a billion dollars a day in Iran. When I say we, I mean American taxpayers. Right. It's well over 13 billion, and they're asking for much more. And so people should be asking themselves, what the hell is this all about? And the reality is the Trump administration gives constantly shifting reasons. And the reason they constantly shift them is after they make one argument, people say that doesn't make sense and shoot it down. So, for example, they said we were doing this to go after Iran's nuclear program. They don't have a nuclear weapons capacity. And in fact, I think most Americans remember when Donald Trump told them last year that we had obliterated their nuclear program. What happened to that? So every time they come up with one rationale, it proves to be false. They move to another false one. The bottom line is they have no end game. So what they've done is taken the lid off Pandora's box and ignored the warnings, frankly, from the professional intelligence services, where all the public reports indicate that they forecast that if you got rid of the Supreme Leader, you could actually get somebody more radical and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards would be strengthened. And so that's what Donald Trump's done. He's gone into a war that he promised he would not take us into a hundred times promised. And put all of us at greater risk at great costs. So we should end this war yesterday. And I hope everybody will call upon their members of Congress from both parties to vote not just for the war powers resolutions, but also insist that the Republicans put up an authorization to use military force, because I don't think they will actually want to vote for it. Uh, are you stuck staring at your W2. Are tax refund worries holding you back?
- [23:48]
Podcast Host 3
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- [23:51]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
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Podcast Host 1
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- [23:59]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
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- [24:02]
Podcast Host 1
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- [24:04]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
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- [24:10]
Podcast Host 1
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- [25:12]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
And ultimately, we just shouldn't be providing any more money for this war that's making us less safe.
- [25:21]
Podcast Host 1
So one thing that's really disturbing to me and you know, you, you, you were actually born in the region. I think you're born in Karachi, right? In Pakistan.
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Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah.
- [25:29]
Podcast Host 1
And so you, you know more about this area than most people. My understanding is that Donald Trump has been reaching out to our allies for assistance in this war and is essentially getting silence, which I think is maybe one of the only times in history that we have ever launched a war like this and had everybody, mostly everybody. I know the British are letting us use bases, but mostly everybody has just thrown their hands up and been like, no, we are not doing this.
- [25:57]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Well, you know. Yeah, you're right. My, my father was a career foreign service officer, so, you know, like a military family, we lived at different parts of the world, came home and you're absolutely right that our friends and allies around the world are looking at this and going, what the hell did you just do? And we don't want to be dragged into this. And of course, it's really rich for Donald Trump to now be criticizing NATO members who don't want to get sucked into this war after he threatened Greenland, which, as you know, is part of, part of, you know, Denmark, one of our, you know, NATO allies. He threatened them and right now he loosened the restrictions on sale of oil to Putin. So.
- [26:44]
Podcast Host 1
Right.
- [26:45]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
He's actually providing more money for Putin's war machine to go after Ukraine, which, of course, our NATO allies have been working very hard to make sure we don't reward Putin's aggression. So Donald Trump is rewarding Putin. He's hurting our allies and putting us all at greater danger. So no wonder they don't want to have anything to do with this mess. And to your point, in earlier conflicts we did even, even those where I, for example, I was very much against the Iraq war, but there was more effort by the previous administrations to get some coordination with our allies. But, you know, we should have learned. We should learn our lessons. And Donald Trump pretended he learned her lesson. He said he was going to not go into any more wars and focus on bringing down costs. Instead, he's starting wars and raising costs.
- [27:39]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah, I mean, the gas prices, I mean, I live in New York City, so they're. But like, you know, two or three weeks ago, they were 260 a gallon. And then I walked by it. Today it's 350. I mean, it's gone up 90 cents a gallon. And I'm curious, Senator, you know, obviously, Maryland's a blue state. I think I asked you another. In one of our other times, I asked a similar question. But like, you do have a fair amount of. Right. Or. Excuse me, right. Or Republican areas or conservative areas. What are you hearing from your constituents about the gas prices in particular? Because a 90 cent, 80, 90 cent increase can be devastating for working class families.
- [28:15]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah, look, we were already hearing from folks in every part of our state, including the rural areas of Western Maryland, Eastern Shore, many of whom voted for Donald Trump. Many of them already feel betrayed. Right. Because of rising costs and rising prices, including from the tariffs. I mean, that just walloped a lot of small businesses in Maryland. And now you have this on top of that. Right. You have these rising gas prices, rising diesel prices, and they are going, what the hell, Right? This is the guy who said he was going to keep us out of wars. Now he's getting us into wars, which in addition to the Human costs. We're also experiencing these, you know, price increases. So I think a lot of them are like, what the hell? I mean, you've all seen these tapes, right? Back when Obama was president, Donald Trump said that Obama was going to take us into war with Iran because Obama didn't know how to negotiate anything. Well, Obama negotiated a deal to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, right. Donald Trump comes along in his first term, tears it up and now he's the one who can't friggin negotiate. And Netanyahu, just the other day Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel said he's been waiting 40 years. This is a quote from a couple 40 years to go after Iran with, with the Americans. And the sad thing is that, you know, took a president stupid enough and reckless enough to fulfill Prime Minister Netanyahu's goal of going to war against Iran, it's just madness.
- [30:03]
Podcast Host 1
Well, I have one final question, Senator, and it is a bit of a two parter and I haven't asked anybody this question yet. So I apologize for you being the first. But I saw you speak at a progressive conference a few months ago. I knew who you were. I didn't know a lot. And I saw you and I was really impressed with that. And I was impressed with your going down to El Salvador to get Diego Garcia, Kilmar Abrego Garcia released, which you did, which was really impressive. And I obviously seeing this bill which has an impressive range of progressive and moderate Democrats connected to it. I'm seeing a lot of like ideas coming from you. Are there any other jobs that you may be interested in, Senator, moving forward? You know you're going to start getting these. So I got to, I got to start.
- [30:48]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Look. God. So you know, first let me just say I am very focused on trying to help our colleagues in 2026 and win, of course, the House and the Senate for Democrats. I just did an event in Maryland for Roy Cooper. We're going to do one for James Talarico. I've done others for colleagues. That is immediate goal number one. But number two, I do believe in 2028 that it's not going to be enough that we simply say what we're against. We have to be clear what we're for, including this middle class working people's tax cut, including making sure that all of us aren't having to foot the bill for the, for these data centers for the richest companies on the planet. So I do plan one way or another to be a strong voice in shaping what the Democratic Party will Run on exactly what form that takes, I don't know. I will say it's been about a year now since they snatched Kilmar Abrego Garcia off the streets of Maryland. He is now back home with his family, but the Trumpers are still engaged in a vindictive prosecution against him. But I do remember a year ago, there were a lot of Democrats who were quietly grumbling, oh, go. Don't. Don't do that. Don't rock the boat. And I hope we've all learned the lesson that finger on the wind politics is weak. It's a losing proposition. And I do worry sometimes that Democrats are too, you know, hedging their bets, finger in the wind. You can't hedge your bets when you're facing a tyranny and an authoritarian regime like we're facing now. So I'm all in for the fight, whatever form it takes.
- [32:34]
Podcast Host 1
Well, thank you for that. And you are right. And for those who don't remember, you did get some flack for that. And you were like, oh. People were like, oh, it's performative. Oh, that's not going to do anything. Well, you know what? It worked and we got him back. It also raised the giant spotlight onto this issue. So I hope every Democrat that is running for office is watching, because I think we are ones that would say action over words. Like, we're kind of tired of hearing the sort of status quo stuff. And anybody who goes for a higher job saying they want to return to quote, unquote, normalcy, I think is, is, is doa. Like, it's just not. We need a new path forward.
- [33:08]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah. Amen to that. Look, yes. Anybody who thinks that we should just go back to the pre Trump status quo is delusional. After all, Trump won because of that status quo. How people were feeling that status quo. He promised change. Of course we're getting change in all the worst ways under Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean we just sort of go rewind the tape and start where we were. That is nuts. The American people want change, and I think they want big change, and for good reason.
- [33:39]
Podcast Host 1
Well, Senator, I think we all completely agree. And you, you, you stayed over a few minutes, so we appreciate you taking the extra time. Where can people follow you online? What do you do? Is there a place in particular they should follow you?
- [33:50]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah, well, look, I'm on, I'm on X. I'm on Instagram, I'm on all of those, those channels, YouTube. So, yes, please, please join me. And most of all, please make sure Everybody works hard to save our country. I've, I salute every day the folks in Minneapolis who literally are blowing their whistles to protect their neighbors and on the illegal ice operations. But let's do it together. We'll only win this together, 100%.
- [34:19]
Podcast Host 1
Well, thank you, Senator. We really appreciate it. And thank you for coming on to talk about your workers tax cut bill, which I think is a really great one. People should check it out and encourage their members to endorse it. So thank you, Senator, and hopefully we'll have you back on maybe down the road. If you've got other things you want to talk to us about, we will do that. So thank you very much. Cheers. Thanks. Bye. Hey, everybody. You know, it's even more awesome than watching or listening to the Find out podcast. Becoming a member of the Find out media Network. For $10 a month, you will get access to all of our shows and bonus content. Plus, you are going to help build our company up so that we can produce more shows and create more content to move more people to the left. So if you could join us at either Patreon or on our substack@findout media.subsack.com we would appreciate it.
- [35:06]
Podcast Host 2
Thank you.
- [35:08]
Podcast Host 1
Well, guys, I have to say I, I have become a big fan of Senator Van Holland after meeting with him a few times over the past few months. I got to say, I'll say it now that we're off. I think he's a dark horse candidate for president.
- [35:22]
Podcast Host 2
I can see it.
- [35:23]
Podcast Host 1
I believe. I really do. I think he, One, he's been in the House and the Senate. Two, he's got both foreign policy, domestic. Three, he seems to be able to pull progressives and moderates together, which I think is going to be a big thing for Democrats. So I know not a lot of people know him right now, but I think people are going to get to know him over the, over the next
- [35:43]
Podcast Host 2
few years, even under 70, which is a win. That's a win for me.
- [35:47]
Podcast Host 1
There you go.
- [35:49]
Podcast Host 2
The thing about him being born in Pakistan, guaranteed the right would run rampant with it.
- [35:54]
Podcast Host 1
Well, it's the same. Yeah. I mean, they probably will. It's the same thing that John McCain, because John McCain was born in Panama and his dad was in the Navy. It's the same, it's the same idea. So there's really no legal.
- [36:04]
Podcast Host 2
But yeah, they'd lose their mind.
- [36:07]
Podcast Host 1
Oh, I'm sure they will find it.
- [36:08]
Podcast Host 2
But, but that's the thing with any candidate. Anybody could have. I mean, you could, you could run as clean as campaign as you possibly no skeletons in the closet. And they'd find something.
- [36:17]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yep.
- [36:18]
Podcast Host 1
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean there. But this is also why it is important that people like us exist. So that there is more of an ecosystem to fight back on that. Because it's going to be awful. Right. They're gonna. They're gonna make up the worst stuff and. And if it's a. A woman or a person of color who's the nominee, like it's going to be infinitely worse. Yeah. So it's good that we're all. We're all out here to make sure that doesn't happen.
- [36:44]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Yeah.
- [36:44]
Podcast Host 2
To be clear, infinitely worse in that the right will be losing their.
- [36:49]
Podcast Host 1
Oh yeah. Well, they're gonna, they're gonna do it anyways. I mean. And also like seeing more and more of these Nick Fuentes types seeming.
- [36:56]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Oh my God.
- [36:57]
Podcast Host 1
Like.
- [36:58]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
But like the thing is that that's
- [36:59]
Podcast Host 2
like the one interest. I've been kind of like quiet watching it in the last week. Watching them in fight about the wrong. About the war and there's still like the infighting between Clandis and Erica. It's pretty interesting.
- [37:12]
Podcast Host 1
It's.
- [37:12]
Podcast Host 2
It's. It's interesting.
- [37:14]
Podcast Host 1
Well, did you see this?
- [37:16]
Podcast Host 2
Did you watch the documentary?
- [37:18]
Podcast Host 1
No. The Manosphere one? Is that what you're talking about?
- [37:20]
Podcast Host 2
Yes.
- [37:20]
Podcast Host 1
I gotta watch. I actually want him to come on. God, we gotta get him on the show because I. We have to watch it then. We have to because. But no. How. What was your take?
- [37:29]
Podcast Host 2
It made me lose faith in humanity a little.
- [37:32]
Podcast Host 1
Yeah. Like surprising.
- [37:34]
Podcast Host 2
Well because like I'd seen it online, right? The Chuckle Fox that are like breaking their jaw with a fucking little hammer to like increase jawline, which is just insanity.
- [37:42]
Podcast Host 1
That's. Yeah. Say that again so that people understand what that is.
- [37:45]
Podcast Host 2
Like, so take an actual like a ball peen hammer and tap themselves. Like break their jaw to like get it micro Break it to get it to like be a sharper jawline.
- [37:55]
Podcast Host 3
Sane.
- [37:55]
Podcast Host 2
There's a leaderboard of like progress, like ranked by viewers on Twitch and of like who is the objectively most. Chad slash.
- [38:06]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Like, I don't.
- [38:08]
Podcast Host 2
I'm not even. Like I'm chronically online and I'm not even that chronically online. Like I don't even know the terminology and it sickens me a little.
- [38:15]
Podcast Host 3
That's horrible.
- [38:16]
Podcast Host 1
And then. Have you seen this? I don't even know if I should bring it up. I'm for it.
- [38:22]
Podcast Host 2
Go for it.
- [38:22]
Podcast Host 1
This argument between Megan Kelly and Mark Levin, a right wing and she Is she's now referring to him as having a micro penis.
- [38:39]
Podcast Host 2
I'm for, oh, this is amazing.
- [38:40]
Podcast Host 1
I like this. And then Marjorie Taylor Greene jumps in, quote, retweets it to confirm that she also believes that Mark Levin or Levine, whatever it is, has a micro penis. This is the argument on the. On the right.
- [38:57]
Podcast Host 2
Oh, my God, I love it.
- [38:58]
Podcast Host 3
This is great.
- [38:59]
Podcast Host 1
Which, yeah, we got.
- [39:00]
Podcast Host 2
We got dipshits that are hitting themselves in the face with a hammer and these people talking about Mark Levine's micro dick.
- [39:07]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Oh, my God.
- [39:08]
Podcast Host 3
This is the world we live in.
- [39:09]
Podcast Host 1
Being ruled by idiots.
- [39:11]
Podcast Host 3
Yes, certainly.
- [39:12]
Podcast Host 1
But, like, the most embarrassing part is that we lost to them twice.
- [39:16]
Podcast Host 3
Yes. That is fucking.
- [39:17]
Podcast Host 1
So, like, we should laugh and mock that. And I think also cry a little.
- [39:21]
Podcast Host 2
Cry. It makes me want to cry a little.
- [39:22]
Podcast Host 1
But I do think that they're pulling themselves apart at the seams. Right. Like they are now, like, because they're all trying to figure out who's going to be the big man or a big woman, I guess, after Trump's gone. Right. Because this is sort of what all of this is about. Right. This is jockeying for position and power. You know, you've got Mark Levine, who is pro war, and I guess Megyn Kelly, who, on top of not liking anyone that's not white, I guess, is anti war. Like, it's hard. These. All these horrible people are arguing and all I can say is there's that graphic that's from a movie that just says, let them fight.
- [39:56]
Podcast Host 3
Yep.
- [39:56]
Podcast Host 1
And that's my take. Let them eat each other alive.
- [40:00]
Podcast Host 3
Yes. There's no question about it. Like, I mean, the other piece of it too is prior to this, they were in the minority and, you know, they weren't in. The Republicans weren't in power. And all this stuff was like something new to the average person. And now when everybody's actually seen it, they're like, oh, this is horrendous. Never mind. And they're just going backwards, which is awesome. That's exactly what we knew was going to happen, but.
- [40:20]
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Right.
- [40:20]
Podcast Host 3
Some people had to see it to believe it.
- [40:23]
Podcast Host 1
Well, I think that's all we are going to talk about today. But I do want to mention a couple things. Luke, you launched a new show, Get Angry. Yes.
- [40:33]
Podcast Host 3
Let's go.
- [40:34]
Podcast Host 2
And it fucking charted.
- [40:36]
Podcast Host 1
It did.
- [40:37]
Podcast Host 2
Awesome.
- [40:38]
Podcast Host 1
We have been told that it is almost impossible to chart with a brand new show.
- [40:43]
Podcast Host 2
Twice.
- [40:44]
Podcast Host 1
Twice. We've done it twice. And so Get Angry is gonna. The second. Well, it's up, up everywhere if you want to go check one Episode's up.
- [40:53]
Podcast Host 2
Yeah.
- [40:53]
Podcast Host 3
Yep.
- [40:53]
Podcast Host 1
The next episode drops Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. And then we've got shows coming next week which we'll talk about next time. So you got to come back and listen to us on Thursday. But we've got. Do we have two launching next week or one dvd? Two. We have two shows launching next week which we'll talk about on Thursday in a little more detail. But please go check out Get Angry with Luke and country artist Brian Andrews. And I tell you, if you need like, you know how like a basketball, there's warm up music or football, there's like different stuff like if you need to get hyped up and you don't have any music around, cooking, get angry. And that will send you like bouncing around the room and also trying to break the record for the most F bombs dropped in. Oh, yeah, it's which I think it
- [41:37]
Podcast Host 2
was 90 something was 90, 94 in 35 minutes, I think. Pretty sure.
- [41:43]
Podcast Host 1
But you know what, what I liked is I saw there were people referring to themselves as grand who said they loved it. So like you're hitting all the demographics.
- [41:51]
Podcast Host 2
I'm impressed. I. I was very impressed by many people liking it.
- [41:55]
Podcast Host 3
My mom loved it. She's in her 70s, so you're killing it, dude.
- [41:58]
Podcast Host 1
That's great. Hell yeah. That's great. Well, go check out Get Angry. Also make sure you sign up to the Find out media. Find out media newsletter@findout media.substack.com that's where all of our shows are going to be released from. That's also where if you get a membership there, you'll get access to all of the, the extras that we're going to be putting out along with the shows. So. And that is just $10 a month. You eventually will have seven shows. And that's just the start. We're going to build a lot more, so check that out too. So but with that we are going to wrap because I got to get out of my house before my child comes back. And so everybody have a wonderful day. We'll be back on Thursday.