← The Josh Hammer Show
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- [00:01]
AARP Representative
Americans may not agree on much, but we agree on Social Security. We all pay in it ought to be there when we need it. Social Security could face a funding gap in less than a decade and I don't want to see a pay cut. I'm with AARP in the fight to protect the Social Security we earned.
- [00:19]
Mike Netter
Pledge to protect Social Security@aarp.org weearnedit that's
- [00:25]
Jeff Vaughn
aarp.org weearnedit paid for by AARP. Welcome back to the JOSH Hammer show. I'm Jeff Vaughn filling in for Josh all this week. Finally, to a topic that I'm really, really interested in. I've always wanted to discuss this and have a great economist to discuss it with. I also wanted to talk about just how I think the Democrats have always used this as a crutch against the American people. And I think that that is unfair. And that is the stock market. I do a lot of business news. I'm a personal investor myself and I follow the ST and it has been just gangbusters lately. Just to give you some facts, Goldman Sachs just turned even more bullish on the stock market, raising its year end target for the S and P up another 6% upside from the current levels. So the markets are gaining shaping up to be a very, very good year. But you hardly ever really hear about that in the mainstream media. And if they do hear about it, then the Democrats say that, well, Wall street and investing is just for billionaires and millionaires. Average Americans don't benefit. Well, I'm an average American and from a very young age, I got invested in the stock market and I had a portfolio that I managed and it was something that was important to me and I didn't have a big bucket of money. And that's most people, by the way. A lot of people invest and everybody has some sort of financial vehicle that goes into those financial markets. And so this does actually affect a lot of people. So I'm happy to have EJ And Tony with the Heritage foundation as chief economist here on the Josh Hammer show to talk a little bit about that. EJ it has just been great to see the stock market doing so well. I know a lot of it is because of artificial intelligence and tech, but nonetheless, if you take a look year after year, it's a good place to put your money well.
- [02:26]
EJ Antonio
And I think that's why the Trump administration has taken so many steps to try to increase the number of Americans with exposure to equities because we don't want it to be as you said, and as the left often accuses that this is somehow just the playground for the wealthy elites. No, we want all Americans really to have some skin in the game here. Not only because we want them to care about what goes on in corporate America, but also we want them to share in the benefits of these stock market rallies.
- [02:57]
Willie Nelson
Example.
- [02:58]
EJ Antonio
So whether you're looking at Trump accounts or whether you're looking at the revisions to 401k rules, for example, that DOL just proposed, all of these things I think are going to help more Americans get more exposure to things like equities and even to not just public equities, but private equities as well. Crypto, et cetera.
- [03:19]
Jeff Vaughn
Yeah, it's really a way to build wealth. About 98% of US households have some type of financial asset. Roughly 62% own stocks directly or indirectly. Directly through their 401ks. And for anybody that has a 401k out there, you really need to take advantage of that because it is free money. I want to talk a little bit about Elon Musk and the SpaceX IPO, EJ, because I. What he announced last week I thought was really interesting. The CEO of a. I mean, we're talking about the IPO for SpaceX is expected to be just under $2 trillion. Yet one of the. I think he is the richest man in the world. Elon Musk wants retail investors to take part in this IPO at a much larger percentage than previous IPOs. If you could explain just how important that is, that he has opened up this opportunity to benefit and to become involved in an IPO as a retail or just an individual investor.
- [04:23]
EJ Antonio
Well, I think it's important that we allow more Americans to be able to get into these things, even though it's not necessarily on the ground level. In the case of SpaceX, they've been around for a while here. It's still important that we allow more Americans the opportunity to get into these corporations at an earlier stage, as opposed to just allowing accredited investors to do so. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some very good reasons why some of those rules and regulations are in place and why you typically don't want the average Joe with no investment experience to necessarily have all of the the same options available as these accredited investors who are supposed to have been around the block and have a much higher net wealth and understand what they're doing, etc. Now, clearly these rules always paint with a very broad brush, right? It's not always the case that every accredited investor knows what he or she is doing. That's why plenty of them lose money. But it's also the case that the average Joe who has no financial literacy, even if it's through no fault of their own, even if it's through a failed American education system, again, these rules and regulations are what they are for a reason, but that's not to say they're perfect. And I think it's good to see some of those rules reformed, frankly, to accommodate for things like SpaceX.
- [05:44]
Jeff Vaughn
Yeah, I think it's really interesting how the administration has reached out, especially to young people, because that was one of the things I think that's really a secret sauce is if you invest early and a lot of people think that they don't have enough money to invest early, you don't have to have tens of thousands of dollars. You can start really small and over time build it up. And that was one of the things with the Trump accounts that I think is so key, not only for those, you know, those that qualify to get the thousand dollar benefit from the government, but if you have a child that wasn't born in that year, you can still take advantage of the Trump accounts and have a lot of money. If you could explain a little bit about just how important starting early is and how this administration has seen that. And I think that's very important down the road to being, you know, being financially independent.
- [06:35]
EJ Antonio
Oh, certainly. And if you are going to, not only actually, I should say, regardless of whether you have that seed money from the treasury in the account initially, if, if parents can essentially just make sure they're contributing the max each year to that child's Trump account, then by the time the child turns 18, you're going to have well over $100,000 in that child's account. And that's assuming you get very, very poor market returns. If you get what we would, I think, consider to be average market returns, you're going to have more than a quarter million dollars in there. I mean, that is a way to pay for college with cash. That's a way to pay for not just a down payment, but most of a home. It can be used for all kinds of expenses, whether that's a wedding and starting a family, et cetera, et cetera. Right. It's a great way to give a child a real head start on life. So again, it's a great, great opportunity. And I think those compounding returns are a very good illustration of why it's so important to that people start investing early and that they start saving early and that they Again, give their kids that kind of financial head start. But I will say, I think one of the things that really explains the huge disconnect in some of our economic data today, when we look at how well the stock market is doing and then you look at the worst consumer sentiment numbers literally on record. I think it's because of a lot of Americans today, with the current cost of living crisis, they feel priced out of the market. Not because stocks are high, because you can buy a fraction of a stock. But I think the larger issue is that a lot of Americans just simply don't have the money to save and to invest right now, and that's why you get that discrepancy. So the opportunity is still available. It's just that a lot of Americans don't have the savings left at the end of the month to take advantage of that opportunity.
- [08:29]
Jeff Vaughn
Yeah, I think that's something that kind of dovetails into our next little discussion here, could be affordability. And that's one thing that the Democrats are running on. It seems to be resonating as well. They're getting some traction with that. And I do understand affordability is definitely. It's, it's become a higher cost of living in a number of places. I'm in California. I can see that right off the bat. And a lot of people are struggling because of gas prices and utility fees and whatnot. But explain to me how you think this is going to end up with the Iran conflict and how we could possibly. It seems to me that we need to wrap this up sooner rather than later. You know, the midterms are going to be something that's going to be very important to President Trump and to the Republicans. Is there a window for them to kind of get to right the ship, if you will?
- [09:18]
EJ Antonio
Well, I think you're absolutely right that we do need to get this conflict wrapped up sooner rather than later. We need to get the Strait of Hormuz reopened. And I know some people have made a very big deal about Iran not being allowed to toll the strait to. But just from a strictly economic perspective, Iran's tolls on the strait only amount to about a dollar per barrel of oil leaving the Persian Gulf. That's not that much of an impact, certainly a lot less of an impact than no oil leaving the Gulf at all. But I think what's important for folks to remember is that even if you get the Strait of Hormuz opened literally today, it's going to take weeks, in fact, in some cases more than a month for ships to actually get out of the Gulf and get to their various destinations in Asia, in Europe, sometimes even in the. And the result of that is it's going to be a long time before that crude actually gets to refineries and starts bringing down prices for things like gas, like diesel, like jet fuel. And on top of that, we have been as a way to try to counter the supply shock of losing all this oil out of the Gulf, we have been depleting our reserves at a dramatic rate. And that's again to try to insulate us from that supply shock. So all these nations around the world that have been depleting their reserves, hundreds of millions of barrels worth of crude, they're going to have to replace those reserves, which means when the negative supply shock goes away, it gets replaced by a positive demand shock. And so you will still have a lot of upward pressure on prices that'll be sustained for a while. We're not going back to $60 crude anytime soon, unfortunately. So the sad news is I think it gets worse before it gets better. But ultimately I'm hoping that this does lead us to more domestic production and more resiliency in terms of, of supply chains. Again, that's in the long run.
- [11:10]
Jeff Vaughn
Well, under this administration, we're now the, the U.S. is the largest producer of oil, so that we kind of turn the corner there. We just need to get other states like California involved in and pumping oil as well and getting that, those jobs and that those prices down real quick. I appreciate your expertise. You mentioned when this needs to be wrapped up sooner rather than later. Do you see a timeline where something bad might happen if we don't get this Iran conflict wrapped up because of the reserves have been tapped into and all the things that you mentioned, Is there something, EJ in your mind that says we need to get this done by Thanksgiving or something?
- [11:52]
EJ Antonio
So when I look at all the different supply chain data that we have, whether that's from S and P Global or it's from the Federal Reserve bank of New York, all the different supply chain indexes, things are getting worse at a pretty fast pace. And so while there's not necessarily a specific date because it's going to depend. Are we talking about sulfuric acid and copper? Are we talking about helium and semiconductors? Are we talking about things like glycols? It really just is very market specific when those different markets get into very fast price escalation. But I would say overall, if this is not wrapped up in the next month or two, it is going to lead to frankly worse supply chain conditions than you had during COVID And that's saying something.
- [12:39]
Jeff Vaughn
Well, let's hope that that doesn't happen. E.J. antonio with the Heritage foundation, chief economist, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Stay with us. This is the JOSH HAMMER show, who
- [12:50]
Chevron Announcer
helps America go farther, fly higher, dream even bigger?
- [12:54]
Jeff Vaughn
People do.
- [12:55]
Chevron Announcer
Since 1879, our people have been more than a source of energy, they've been a source of progress. Today, that same progress is helping deliver record US Energy production, fueling the workers, the makers, the boundary pushers and risk takers who spark the breakthroughs that move America forward. Learn more about what our people do@chevron.com USA250.
- [13:23]
Jeff Vaughn
And welcome back to the Josh Hambur show. I'm Jeff Vaughn filling in for Josh all this week. Thank you so much for joining us. This is Election Day in a lot of states across the country. It is right right here in California. I'm in Los Angeles. We have a primary today for LA mayor gubernatorial race as well a number of down ballot offices like attorney General. Iowa has a primary today, as does Montana, New Jersey, also South Dakota and New Mexico. So it is Election day. And I certainly want to thank those individuals that have helped us along the way on getting all the information related to this primary election. I will give you as much information as I can here in Los Angeles and in California. This is a national audience. I know a lot of you are watching and you're looking to California to see are they going to get it right this time? Are they going to vote the bums out, so to speak, and right the ship? I'm not convinced that that's going to happen. But it is election Day and there is hope and we'll see how that turns out. So we'll talk a little bit about that. Also, I just want to tease coming up, I'm going to have update with our White House correspondent Willie Nelson about America 250 and what's going on at the front lawn at the White House. You might have heard about this cage fight and this cage match that's going to go on with the UFC on the front lawn. Well, wonder no more because we're going to have an update on that coming up here in just a little bit on the Josh Hammer show, just a few minutes. It's, it's really a fun segment. You really learn a lot about what's going on in D.C. with Willie and a little bit about this UFC fight coming up on June 14th. And also a little bit about the Current celebrations and who's in and who's out. You've heard some of the controversies about that, so we'll talk about that. Let's get to the LA mayors race. I am here in Los Angeles. We have this election today and there are really three candidates that are vying to be mayor. You've heard of the incumbent, Karen Bass. Karen Bass was here when the Pacific Palisades. Actually, she wasn't here when the Pacific Palisades burned down. She was in Ghana. She was in a foreign country, although she knew that the dangers of the fire could occur. But she was out of town. The city burned. The person that she left in charge couldn't take a phone call, didn't return phone calls during that crisis, during that emergency. And the Pacific Palisades and other parts of Los Angeles on that day burned down. She is running for reelection. A lot of people would say that would disqualify you from even being in office ever again. But she is running for reelection. And sadly, I'm here to say that she probably will make it. Here in California, it's a jungle primary. The top two go on to November unless somebody gets 50% plus one. I don't think Karen Bass, the incumbent, is going to get 50% of the vote plus one. I think it's going to be between her and I think she's going to make it through. And you've heard Spencer Pratt, if you have been watching this nationally, you know Spencer Pratt is the reality TV star who has come on. His house did burn down the Palisades, and he's been racking up a lot of wins in the AI space for campaigns. He's done a really good job. I think he's probably changed politics, certainly in California, but maybe nationwide when you take a look as to how to run a campaign, Spencer Pratt has really changed things with his AI videos. And if you have a chance to take a look at them, I think they're very interesting. And it really has kind of elevated his position. The third person that could get in is a city councilwoman. She is a Democratic socialist, Nithya Rahman. So it could be Karen Bass and Nithya Raman. It could be Spencer Pratt and Karen Bass, probably the most likely. But there's only a 15% turnout so far in the mail in ballots, which I'm told is very, very low. And it's going to probably take days to count here in California. It's a third world country and we can't get the vote count that night or even within 24 hours. I bet you it's probably going to be by the end of the week. And we've had examples here where races have been up in the air for weeks. But again, that's what's what's going on here in Los Angeles and in California. I want to go to a sound bite. This is our current mayor in Los Angeles, Karen Bass, talking about what Los Angeles used to be. Let's run that clip.
- [17:58]
Karen Bass
The LA that I grew up in, first of all, was a lot cleaner. There were not people sleeping on our streets. The city was actually affordable. You could rent an apartment, work part time and go to school. So it was a lot different. And I am so hopeful, though, because our city has grown to be such an international city and I love that. Everybody in the world lives here and our city is much more diverse than it was before, many more people. But unfortunately, the city isn't affordable now. And we do have people sleeping on our streets, which is exactly why I ran for mayor, because I know how our city can be and we're going to get there again.
- [18:40]
Jeff Vaughn
Well, there you go. She says it herself. She says it was much better. When was it much better? When she was not in office, When Newsom wasn't in office. The good times weren't that far back. I've been here for 11 years. The good times were when I was here, when I first moved here in 2015. It's just gone to heck in a handbasket in the last three or four years under the leadership of, of these Democratic socialists like Karen Bass and Republican, I'm sorry, like, very liberal Governor Gavin Newsom. By the way, there is some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the gubernatorial race. I get to that in just a second with a Republican. That's my thought there. So, anyway, back to Bass. She is up for reelection. She thinks it should be back to the way it used to be. That's when the Democrats were not in power. Nonetheless, she probably will be reelected and will probably just stay the same. And that's one of the frustrations that a lot of people have. We've talked a little bit about lost liberals. I have a lot of friends of mine that are moderate Democrats that are maybe even leaning a little bit to the left and maybe liberal that say that they're lost as to who to support because they, they don't agree with what Karen Bass has, has said. And we have some sound coming up in future segments here today on the Josh Hammer show that will reflect a little bit on that. So we'll talk about that in just a few minutes. All right, so let's wrap up the LA City race and let's go to the California gubernatorial race. Two Republicans have been doing pretty well. Steve Hilton is the leading GOP candidate, but Sheriff Chad Bianco is right up there in double digits as well, has done really, really well. But because of the fact that he could split the vote, Steve Hilton is asking for Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside county to put his support behind Hilton to get them over the finish line. Here is candidate for governor for California, Steve Hilton, asking for that.
- [20:44]
Steve Hilton
There's two days to go till the election, and I just want to say something directly to everybody who supports Chad Bianco, who might be thinking of voting for Chad or any other Republican, in fact, any other candidate on the ballot. There's a lot of candidates for governor. Here's where we are. It's a very, very tight race. Three people competing for two spots in the general election. Myself, Javier Becerra and Tom Steyer. Tom Steyer is catching up. There is absolutely no guarantee that we're going to get a Republican in the top two. In fact, it's now looking more and more likely that we'll have two Democrats in the top two. I know that many Republicans were holding on to the hope that we might have two Republicans in the top two, myself and Chad, and then we guaranteed change in California. But if that was ever possible, it's certainly not possible today. You just have to look at the math. This is not personal. It's not about me or Chad or our qualities or our record or anything like that. It's about the future of California. And if we don't get a Republican in the top two, we have no chance for change. And that's going to hurt every Republican running, not just me, every Republican running for the state legislature, for Congress. It's going to hurt our chances of getting voter ID through. This is a very, very serious moment. So I'm asking each and every one of you, please, let's focus on what we all care about, including Chad, which is saving California. There's only one choice if we want to save our state, and that is to vote Steve Hilton and make sure everyone you know gets that message, too. Thank you.
- [22:26]
Jeff Vaughn
And there you have it. And I'm sad to say that I don't know that even if you have a Republican, that you would get changed because this state is so ingrained in, so deep blue that people will vote for the Democrat no matter how bad that Democrat is. Take example Kamala Harris, she got to the point where she was because of California support. Javier Becerra, former attorney general here in the state of California, went on to be a member of HHS secretary under Biden and was an abysmal failure. He's probably more than likely going to be the next governor. Now, I think think what Hilton says is right. If you got two Republicans in there, there would be change for sure. I'm not banking on that. I think if, if Hilton pushes through, and I think that he will, I think it's a little unfair to ask for Chad Bianco to put his support behind anybody else, because I think he's done, he's performed really well. He's in double digits. He's definitely in the top four, if not the top three, depending on the polling. And you don't really know what polling is right or not right. So I think that's a little unfair. But I will say that more than likely Hilton will make it through and there'll be Hilton and probably Javier Becerra and then this state will just vote for the Democrat, it doesn't matter. And they, even though they want change, they won't vote for change. And that's pretty much what it's going to be. So stay tuned. I'm Jeff Vaughn filling in this week. This is the Josh Hammer show. We'll be right back.
- [23:57]
Chevron Announcer
Who helps America go farther, fly higher, dream even bigger?
- [24:01]
Jeff Vaughn
People do.
- [24:02]
Chevron Announcer
Since 1879, our people have been more than a source of energy. They've been a source of progress. Today, that same progress is helping deliver record US Energy production, fueling the workers, the makers, the boundary pushers and risk takers who spark the breakthroughs that move America forward. Learn more about what our people do@chevron.com USA250.
- [24:31]
Jeff Vaughn
Welcome back. I'm Jeff Vaughn. This is the Josh Hammer show and I'm so very happy to be here and filling in all this week for Josh Hammer on the Josh Hammer show here on Newsweek and also on the Salem News Channel. It is Election day. There are six primaries happening today. I'm in Los Angeles. California is one of those key primary states today. But let's go to Washington, D.C. where we know the White House is watching all those primary today. But there's also something else going on, something on the front lawn that's very interesting. And it's part of America 250. And we have our very own White House correspondent Willie Nelson there at the White House in D.C. to tell us a little bit about what's happening on the front lawn. Willie.
- [25:12]
Willie Nelson
Jeff, great to be here with you. I'm here in Washington, D.C. it's a beautiful sunny day out. There's a lot happening at the White House currently behind me, as you can see, and perhaps maybe with some footage I sent over to your producer. The construction For UFC Freedom 250 is well underway. I've been coming to the White House now for about a week, almost every day, and every time I'm here, it seems like there's a whole new layer to it. This thing, Jeff, is massive. You can see the cranes are going. I mean, it's honestly quite the spectacle to see the White House from the front. Such an iconic image, and then right behind, just this giant piece of infrastructure that looks like it would belong in a Six Flags amusement park. I've never seen anything like this here in D.C. and they're not sparing any pennies on the budget here. They are going all out. This thing is much bigger in person, Jeff.
- [26:14]
Jeff Vaughn
And so this. This is a UFC cage match that's going on in the front lawn on Flag Day coming up on June 14th. And this is pretty significant. I don't think this has ever occurred at any point in time in Washington, D.C. certainly not in front of the White House. So my understanding is, Willie, it's going to be a limited amount of people that are going to be there. 4,500. And it's going to be mostly military.
- [26:39]
Willie Nelson
That's correct. They are prioritizing members of the military. And yes, you're correct. This is a very unique event for the White House. They've never had anything like this before. And I'll give you a little bit of background about the ufc. They are known for the top athletes in the world, Jeff. I'm talking people who have dedicated their lives to fighting at the highest level possible. Dana White, the CEO and president of the ufc, and President Trump go far, far back. They've known each other for 20 plus years. And when Dana White took over the UFC early on, he had a very hard time booking venues. It was regarded as human cockfighting, is what people would say. They would call it barbaric. They said it was like Roman Gladiator, like. But during that time, President Trump would let Dana White use his venues all around the country at different Trump resorts, literally in ballrooms. And so, because of that, Dana White has such a sense of loyalty to President Trump, because not only did President Trump believe in the ufc, he's talked about how much of a fan he is of fighting and athleticism, but he believed in Dana White. And so because of that, a lot of people criticize Dana White. And he always pushes back and says, hey, this isn't political. This isn't one way or the other. I always would be honored to be at the White House. But President Trump has been, you know, more loyal to me than anyone else. Now, the fight itself, Jeff, is pretty unreal that it's happening. These fighters, Justin Gaethje versus Ilya Toporia, Ciryl Gane versus Alex Pereira, these are the best fighters in the world. The headliner and the co headliner, each of those could be their own event. So to have them all on the same card, it only is right, it only feels right for America's 250th birthday. And I want to make a note that, as you mentioned, it's on Flag Day. It also will be on President Trump's
- [28:53]
Jeff Vaughn
80th birthday, just happens to be on his birthday as well. It is going to be a lot of fun. And as I understand it, even though it's Flag Day before the official America250 celebrations, which will of course come to crescendo on the 4th of July, this is kind of part of that and leading up to it. And I know you being in D.C. you've seen the effects of the cleanup efforts that have occurred in front of America 250. I mean, this is a place where people are going to come to the, you know, the Washington monuments, they want to view the White House, they want to go to the Mall. Some things have been spruced up, if you will, right?
- [29:31]
Willie Nelson
Yes, Jeff, that's correct. The city has a whole new face to it. It is, so to speak, beautiful again. I mean, you see before and afters. I'll give you an example. Columbus Circle over by Union Station, close to Capitol Hill. I mean, it looks like you could eat off the floor, it's so clean. And you look at photos from just two years ago where there were, where it was filled with spray tags and water and all this dirty residue. They're really taking an initiative to make D.C. beautiful. And it's really because America's 250th birthday is this year, and the President wants people to be able to walk around the streets, to be able to enjoy time outside all these beautiful monuments we have here. And they have a whole new life to them. I was with my mom who came in town last week, and we walked over to Union Station and we just couldn't believe how, how, how great it looked. And America 250 is, is really Coming together.
- [30:35]
Jeff Vaughn
Well, I know that they're sprucing this up for the America 250. But unlike California Governor Gavin Newsom that spruced up San Francisco just for President Xi to come in, the Chinese president, and then it went back to normal afterwards, I don't think that this is going to be the same case. I think it's going to be cleaned up for quite some time. I want to talk a little bit more about the America 250. There's going to be a number of musical acts and that's kind of gotten to a point of controversy because a number of people, it appears that they have kind of caved to the woke mob, if you will, and can't perform for anything that shows patriotism for America just because it happens to be with President Trump or under President Trump. So I want to give you the ins and the outs of this celebration. The people that have said they are not going to perform. Bret Michaels, former frontman, a Poison the Commodores have said no. Martina McBride, a country music singer with that great song Independence Day, very apropos. Is not going to be there. But who is Florida? CNC Music Factory is a. Maybe this is the Great American State Fair. Also Vanilla Ice. We have some sound from Vanilla Ice. He was interviewed by cnn. It seemed like CNN was pushing back as to why you'd want to be there. Take a listen. Tell us why you're still planning on performing even though we've heard that from the president when so many other performers are deciding not to.
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Willie Nelson
I don't know.
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Vanilla Ice
I can only speak for myself and I, I'm proud to be an American. I was born here and raised here and this, this is my country and I don't like anybody telling me I really can't be proud of it. And this is a huge honor to play the birthday. It's one the of in a lifetime, you know, 250. So I'm honored and I just, you know, I, I respect everybody else. I know there's a lot of tension everywhere. This whole world is like a snow globe. But it shouldn't be that. And music is here to bring people together, man. And you know, it shouldn't be that this music is dragged into politics. It's not fair. You know, I'm, I don't even vote. I'm not a politician. I don't have anything that I don't even have the first thing to say about how to run a country or do anything like that. I think this is a huge honor and, and I'm, I'M wanting to celebrate the country I was born and raised in, man.
- [32:50]
Jeff Vaughn
And there you go. Ice Ice baby is going to be there come rain or shine. And Willie, I think that that really kind of shows you a lot of people's opinions. It's music, man. It's not politics. We want to enjoy the 250th of this country, the independence of everybody here, not worry about politics. And this is a nonpartisan event, but of course, it has been made to be partisan.
- [33:16]
Willie Nelson
Yeah, Jeff, and I really liked the way Vanilla Ice put it in that clip you played. Music is meant to bring us together. None of these people are politicians or really even that politically motivated. I would say from the acts I saw, this should be about America celebrating the greatest country on earth has made it to 250 years. It's the nation's capital. I, I love seeing a message like that about unifying and everyone putting everything to the side so they can come together and celebrate this country as one.
- [33:50]
Jeff Vaughn
Yeah, Willie, we just have one more minute, actually about 30 seconds. I know you wanted to give us an inside scoop on who's going to be at the White House today. If you could do that in about 30 seconds, that'd be great.
- [34:01]
Willie Nelson
Yes, Jeff. So just under two hours right over here to the right in the press briefing room, Dr. Oz will be giving a press briefing. It's expected to be about Medicare, Medicaid and policies they are passing to help combat fraud. Should be a Good time with Dr. Oz.
- [34:19]
Jeff Vaughn
Well, hopefully we'll get some more of that information from you later today, Willie. Thank you so much. Willie Nelson. He is White House correspondent on the front lawn, bringing us up to speed on everything going on with America. 250. Willie, thank you and God bless America.
- [34:33]
Willie Nelson
Jeff, take care. Thanks for having me.
- [34:35]
Jeff Vaughn
You bet. Stay with us. This is the Josh Hammer Show.
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Jeff Vaughn
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- [35:13]
Jeff Vaughn
Welcome back to the Josh Hammer Show. I'm Jeff Vaughn. It is election day across six states of America. I'm in Los Angeles. We have a primary election here today. Also states with notable primaries, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico. We'll be following that, of course, throughout the Day and throughout the week here on the Josh Hammer Show. I'll be filling in this whole week. And so we'll be talking a lot of politics because it is big primary season here in the election. As we run up to the election coming up, this is going to be for governor in California also. So we're going to be electing a new mayor, possibly a new mayor in Los Angeles. And we're also got a number of down ballot offices as well here in California, all part of primary election day and the polls close here at 6pm we do have a number of guests today that we're going to talk about, one of which is Mike Netter. MIKE netter News he's also running for a state senate seat here in California. He's Republican. He's got a great mind when it comes to politics and knows the ins and outs of everything that's happening in the state when it comes to deep dive into those ballots. And Mike, it's interesting just out of the gate yesterday I reported on some of the they call it election suppression but there has been a ballot box that was set on fire. There's been an election precinct I believe in Long beach that was vandalized. And so this has already started here in California. We have election day today and I understand it that the voter turnout for all the mail in ballots was pretty low at about 15%.
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Mike Netter
It's fascinating. I always love election day Jeff. It's a lot like Christmas. You don't know who's coming over, you don't know what's happening and it's over like at 8:00 clock tonight rapidly. But the problem is when you talk about turnout, so many people leave presence under the tree. I want to use that metaphor for a second because why the top line turnout for those of you go, what is this guy talking about? Mike Netter for state Senate by the way. Got to get my pitch in Jeff at Mike on X and for don't know what I'm talking about right now. The top line turnout meaning the ballot so far is 16 point now by people go eh, what does that mean? That means 16% of the people so far have turned in their ballots that have been counted. But I'm going to go on for a second. You invited me in. Wait, there's more as they say in my district for example, which is a million people for the state Senate 22, there's only been a 12% turnout. So the turnout varies rapidly area by area. And then we also have another huge problem which is nationwide. But Especially exasperating in California in that many people do not vote on 100% of the ballot. They check the box for governor, they just turn in a ballot and they go home. We call it the undervote in the business. And for people you've got to vote on 100% of your ballots, like not opening all your presents, not finishing a test, it is critically important. And that's how the Democrats have really taken over California.
- [38:37]
Jeff Vaughn
So explain that in further detail, Mike, because I know people. I mean, like I saw the ballot. It had a bunch of judges, you had a bunch of different races. And I could see where it takes a lot of time. If you really want to be informed and do the research, it's going to take some time. And I know a lot of people that will just check the box for, you know, for attorney general, because that's one of the races here in the state of California. Lieutenant governor, the governor, and then maybe something else and then call it good. So you're saying that those do get counted? Of course, but they're undercounted because they don't cover every single race.
- [39:13]
Mike Netter
Correct. The percentage of ballots that you see turned in means that someone's turned in a ballot and they have not voted on 100% of their ballot. In the business, we say, we call that the undervote. Now, you made an interesting point that I'd like to dwell on for a second, that oddly enough, judges, because everybody knows what a judge does. We've seen Judge Judy, we've been to traffic court. And so they sometimes people research them. I get a lot of calls, who should I vote for for judge. But example, Lieutenant governor would be another example where if we even look at Ballopedia, you can see the top line number of votes, but then the aggregate or total votes drop when you get to lieutenant governor, state senate, again, big difference, 8, 10 points. Because people don't know what these offices do, no less, who the candidates are. So it's important to vote for the judges, but it's also really important to vote for all those officers offices sandwiched in between, which aren't really sandwiched because they affect your everyday life.
- [40:21]
Jeff Vaughn
Yeah, well, this is a national audience here on the Josh Hammer show and I want to reflect on them. A lot of people are watching California. I have family, most of my family is outside of California and they watch California politics for this jungle primary that it is, of course. And so I want to talk on a national level. It's kind of interesting. A lot of people are looking to California, they're seeing a lot of the dysfunction, but yet those same people that brought all that dysfunction seem to be the favorites in this election. I want to go to a sound bite. This is Doug Ellen. He is the creator of Entourage. I never watched the program myself. Entourage, I understand, was a very popular, maybe it was a pay per view channel program. And Doug Ellen was describing to Billy Bush in a podcast a little bit about the race for mayor. He says he's been in LA for quite some time and he is going to vote this election, which would be today. Here's his reaction as to how he feels about L. A.
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Doug Ellen
Keep your eyes on the road because of those potholes, buddy. I've gone through four tires in six months.
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Doug Ellen's Friend
You know what I've got? I'm lucky. I know everyone will hate me in la, even though I bought this car when I was a liberal, you know, to save the world. But I'm in a Tesla, it's driving for me. I'm not really doing anything, you know, just keeping my eyes on the road.
- [41:45]
Doug Ellen
Let me pick up on what you just said. When I was a liberal, what happened? How was it in the heyday of your liberalism? Was it, Was it good? Did you feel good? You feel better about yourself? Did you like your city? Why'd you change?
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Doug Ellen's Friend
You know what, I don't know what's going on in the world, but I love this city so much. I dreamt my entire childhood of going to la, of making movies, of making TV shows. And from the moment I got here, it was everything that I dreamt it could be. And opportunities felt possible. You felt safe. You felt a beauty and an edge and a creativity that was here and that honestly is gone. And, you know, I've said this, you know, on social media, but the amount of my friends, and I'm talking the workers in this town of cinematographers and grips and lighting people, whatever, who can't get jobs, who've worked for 30 years. So the Hollywood business, we all know there's. There's other problems besides the leadership, from the streaming to all the, you know, all the other places giving breaks. But it really is bad here. And I'm really sick and tired of the media trying to gaslight us and tell us that everything is great, we're imagining everything that's happening, you know. And, you know, I posted yesterday that about a year ago when people thought it was yesterday, but it wasn't, my house was broken into. I watched it from a ring camera, not there, and I saw two guys kicking the doors to my house. And it has really changed my entire neighborhood over the last five years. And it's become, you know, it's just become completely uncomfortable. And I went to Nashville for six months to try something different. And honestly, it's a better life there. But I still love this place and want to fight to get it back to where it was. So I came back, and there you go.
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Jeff Vaughn
I mean, that really is in a nutshell. You know, I have neighbors, I have friends that live in la. Some of them call themselves lost liberals. They remain liberal politically, but yet they're lost. And they don't know who to vote for because they see what's going on in this state and in this country and they do not like it. Just like that gentleman there said, it's, you know, it's dirty, we're not safe. He's been broken into in his home. My neighborhood has been affected by crime, and we never had that years ago. So, Mike, there really is this sort of undertone, and you see it with Spencer Pratt, a number of people that are kind of fed up. I just wonder if that momentum is going to be enough to overcome and get a new candidate, a new leadership behind the wheel.
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Mike Netter
Well, at some point it has to. And I know we like to break into Republican, Democrat, liberal and conservative, literally. In California, and being a nationwide show, I want to dwell on something. This affects the entire country. This is idiocy versus normalcy. Look, I don't care who you are, what your party is, how you were brought up. No one wants to get shot. No one wants a suspension on their car to drive through a pothole that should be labeled a lake when it's raining. No one wants that. No one wants to have boys competing against girls. But here's the problem, Nation, is that California does have one good export. We are still 12% of the country's population. And, Jeff, you probably want to know what that export is, and that's bad. Politicians. Becerra to Washington, Harris to Washington. Newsom is trying to get the expletive deleted out of here. So the reality is California should be greatly concerned with this election. Not just because who wins, but the fact that if California doesn't establish a level of normalcy, of logic, of competent life, these same people that brought this idiocy to the left coast, will we bring it to Tennessee and everywhere else. Either from the White House.
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Jeff Vaughn
Exactly.
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Mike Netter
UFC match. Or somewhere else.
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Jeff Vaughn
But. But it's. But it's on full display here in Los Angeles. We had those fires that burned down an entire city I have driven. I had friends that came in from Michigan for spring break and I drove them through the aftermath of the Palisades fire because they wanted to see it. And it was like a bomb dropped. I mean, to put it in perspective, it is utter devastation. The mayor was out of the country and the city and the leadership dropped the ball at every single opportunity. And my understanding is, is that she's probably going to make it. We're talking about Karen Bass into a runoff in November. That is what people outside of California do not understand is what happened with the LA fires, what happened with the homelessness, what has happened with crime should unqualify her as a candidate. But she's more likely probably going to be reelected.
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Mike Netter
This flows down from Gavin Newsom. Let's be director. Government's first and primary job is to protect me from dying or my property being damaged. Okay, Forget for a second, even Bass going to Ghana. I kind of withered because she wanted to get out of la. She had a free trip. I'm kidding here. But the reality is they didn't fill up a very large swimming pool, you know, where it's a reservoir, because she put someone in charge of it who didn't know what they were doing. The list goes on and on. Bass shouldn't make the runoff. But here's the problem. The hardcore liberals, the left, as we call them, they're not. Not for normalcy. They simply want to ran rave against issues which don't affect your everyday life. Right. My house burned down in 2007. It affects your life. And these are the things that the left wants us to forget because they're ranting and raving about things which don't affect our life. We have to, well, make sure this election we vote.
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Willie Nelson
Yeah.
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Jeff Vaughn
I think what's really interesting for people outside of Los Angeles to understand, that old saying about you will burn it down. To rule over the ashes is a common theme here. I do believe that a Karen Bass and Governor Newsom are very much okay with burning it down as long as they are in power. And that really is what it comes down to. It seems to me that, you know, the quality of life here has gone down. I moved here a little over 10 years ago. I've seen the decline in the amount of time that I've been here. I have neighbors that have grown up here their whole lives, and it's unrecognizable from when they were a child. So it's really interesting to get this perspective from you, Mike, real quick because we got to wrap up. I know that you were running for state senate. That's a state office here. This is a national audience. But tell me the importance of your race in about 30 seconds.
- [48:53]
Mike Netter
Port to the race is it represents a million people. The state senate districts in California extremely huge. Regardless of who becomes governor, we have to get stop passing legislation that ruins our lives and start passing legislation that makes California a model for the country. Again. Vote, vote for myself and state Senate 22 and make sure you vote on the entire ballot. Complete your test and open all your presents.
- [49:19]
Jeff Vaughn
I'm Jeff Vaughn filling in for Josh Hammer. That's going to do it for today's broadcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll see you tomorrow.
- [49:34]
Chevron Announcer
When the world is just too much.
- [49:37]
Mike Netter
Turn it off and turn on.
- [49:39]
Jeff Vaughn
Positive, encouraging K Love.
- [49:43]
Mike Netter
I'm gonna praise world of freezing Caleb.
- [49:46]
Jeff Vaughn
On Caleb is sunshine for my soul.
- [49:49]
Doug Ellen's Friend
I love Kayla.
- [49:54]
Mike Netter
Listen now on your radio online or
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Jeff Vaughn
on the free K love app.
- [49:58]
Mike Netter
K Love makes me feel so good.
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Willie Nelson
Positive, encouraging Caleb.