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Ryan Reynolds
Hey there Ryan Reynolds here. It's a new year and you know what that means. No, not the diet resolutions. A way for us all to try and do a little bit better than we did last year. And my resolution, unlike big wireless, is to not be a raging and raise the price of wireless on you every chance I get. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only taxes and fees, extra speed slower above 40gb on unlimited. See mintmobile.com for details.
Tim Kaine
If you have a locked AT&T phone, we're here with bolt cutters. T Mobile will help pay off your locked phone and give you a new 5G phone for free. All on America's largest 5G network.
Ryan Reynolds
Visit t mobile.com CarrierFreedom via virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to 830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax and a 10 device connection charge. Qualifying port in trade and service on Go5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on required finance agreements. Do you have bill credits and if you pay off devices early so Donald Trump and Elon Musk just offered a fake buyout to all federal employees saying that if they resign before February 6, they are going to get paid all of their salary through September of 2025. Well, Congress hasn't appropriated that money. There's no authority to do it and it's likely another bait and switch by Donald Trump, which he did to stiff contract his entire career. That's just what Donald Trump does. Democrats are forcefully calling Donald Trump and Elon Musk out for this scam. You have the Democratic Oversight Committee saying the following. There's a fork in the road, all right, and Trump, Musk and their Project 2025 cronies are going down the wrong path again. Read Jerry Connolly statement on the Trump administration's latest attempt to push our experts, federal workers and others out and replace them with political hacks. This is Jerry Connolly statement from the Oversight Committee. Donald Trump is trying every trick he and his Project 2025 cronies can think of to circumvent established civil service protections so they can purge the civil service of experts and replace them with political loyalists. The victims here, as is always the case with Donald Trump, are the American people who will see government services and benefits allocated not by nonpartisan civil services servants, but by partisan hacks. But more over Donald Trump is also, I think, trying to Con and fraud. The federal workers. You signed your resignation. You think you're gonna get the money from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, or do you think you're gonna get the old bait and switch? Democratic Senator Tim Kaine gave a powerful speech earlier where he said the buyout idea is scam. Quote, he's tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept the offer and resign, he'll stiff you just like he stiffed other contractors. Folks, if you have friends, family, or you or, you know, people who work at the federal government, make sure they know that this is likely yet another Trump and Musk scam. Don't be fooled. Here is Senator Tim Kaine on the Senate floor making this impassioned case. Let's play it.
Dan Goldman
And they received an email that said, from the administration, if you tender your resignation by next Friday, we will guarantee you payment through the end of September whether or not you show up for work. So tender your resignation and then, boy, it's just going to be a gravy train. You're just going to get paid for seven months without working. The President has no authority to make that offer. There's no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work. This is a guy who made this promise to contractors again and again and again when he was a private business guy. Oh, come work for me on my casino, come work for me in a hotel. We're going to do a handshake, we're going to do a contract. The contractor does the work and then finds out they get stiffed. So my message to federal employees who receive this is, yeah, the President has tried to terrorize you for about a week and then gives you a little sweetheart offer. If you resign in the next week, we're just going to pay you for doing nothing for the next seven months. Don't be fooled here.
Ryan Reynolds
Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, he, she goes, trump is offering a fake buyout to federal workers with no guarantee he won't screw them the minute they accept and then replace them with unqualified, inexperienced loyalists the second they leave. This is straight from the pages of Project 2025. Wanna share this with you, cuz. Democrats going on the offense and calling Donald Trump out. Here's Governor Tim Walls. This is his interview he gave recently on msnbc. Here's what he had to say about the Trump play this clip.
Tim Kaine
Those folks are in there and they're making, you know, they put out tweets from the president's fail son who threatens people like we're coming for you. You think this is bad or whatever. So I would tell people, stay focused, don't take the bait on the distractions. Surround yourself with people who understand this and recognize the things they went after. Today are basically a big chunk of what society does. And people like to have clean water and hospitals and safety and roads and air, airports, all the things they're going after. And you summed it up. This is there's societies that function like this where the rich and the oligarchs do everything. And there's some fabulously wealthy people who are basically not basically are above the law. And the rest of us are here.
Ryan Reynolds
You know, when I watch that clip, I get a little frustrated because that's the Governor Walls that Vice President Kamala Harris picked. And he seemed to be holding back, or the advisors were holding him back during the campaign. He came out so strong, he was calling and JD Vance weird. And then I guess they were saying, don't say that. I thought that was powerful as could be. Speaking of powerful as could be, Democratic Congress member Dan Goldman here, he talks about how Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are basically allowing Trump to impound all of legislatively prescribed funds that are out there going to all of these people who need it. All of these federal programs is not allowing to reach its final recipients. People who rely on this for. For life or death matters. Here, watch this.
Jasmine Crockett
$3 trillion are distributed through these federal programs. And the policy difference under the law is not a good and a good reason. It's not a sufficient reason to stop payment of federal funds. So just because Donald Trump doesn't like it does not give him license under the law. As Caroline Levitt said, there's of course, no reference to what law, but it is flatly illegal, Congressman.
Ryan Reynolds
And here's Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman again.
Jasmine Crockett
Really happened here, Anderson, is that they planned to stop all funding and that there was enough of an outrage that they released supplemental guidance today trying to roll this back. But what was clear is they shut down all of the money right away, and that was their plan. And what either they didn't realize because of ignorance or perhaps cruelty was the point of it, is that it would have a tremendous impact on hundreds of millions of Americans.
Unknown Speaker
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Ryan Reynolds
Tim Kaine makes a great point here as well in MSNBC where he says, look, if you want to make cuts to the budget, then pass a law. You control the House, you control the Senate. Don't do it unlawfully via impoundment. If you want to do this, go through the process. That's what laws are for. Laws are on the books that allow that, require that mandate. These funds, these government funds go to their destination. You can't just be like, no, that's called being a dictator on day one. Here's what Tim Kaine has to say. Play this clip.
Dan Goldman
Really want to focus on this last thing. What the President is doing is not only illegal, it's not only chaotic and damaging to Virginians, it's portraying a deep insecurity. And let me explain why. As you know, we're working on a budget deal right now. The Republicans kick the budget to March 14th. The president has two Republican houses. If he wants to cut the budget, he's got majorities in both houses. He could just work with them to do it the lawful way. Reach a budget that matches the Trump priorities over the course of the next six weeks. The fact that he's not doing that, that he's using this illegal, unilateral executive strategy, means he doesn't have confidence that the Republican leadership in both houses will go along with the extremity of the actions that he's taking. That should tell us something.
Ryan Reynolds
But if you want to know what they're talking about on Fox, the wmd, the weapon of mass distraction. What are they trying to do here? Know their playbook, folks. They're talking about, oh, Trump's going to do an iron Dome in case Russia nukes U.S. iron Dome. I thought Donald Trump had great relations with Putin. I thought him and Putin were buddies in that the war in Ukraine was going to end on day one. I thought Trump, Trump promised us peace in 24 hours after the election. Oh, that failed. 24 hours after the inauguration, that failed. And now you're saying that we need an iron dome to protect against nuclear weapons in the United States from Putin, who's Trump's buddy? What in the world are y'all talking about? You can't Even get your WMDs, your weapons of mass distraction, consistent at all. And now your WMDs are actual WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. You're running that playbook right now. That's the playbook you're running to try to distract us. Isn't it so obvious, folks? So pathetic.
Unknown Speaker
If you talk to most Americans, they probably think we do have a missile system, same as what you see in Israel. But the truth is we don't, which makes us highly vulnerable, because if we do get attacked by ballistic missiles or hypersonic missiles or, God forbid, even nuclear, it's probably not going to be shot all the way from Russia. It's probably not going to be shot all the way from North Korea or from China. It's going to be shot in international waters just off our shores, which isn't going to give us a whole lot of time to respond. And when you start dealing with hypersonic missiles, it doesn't have a projected pattern like a ballistic missile does, where a ballistic missile has an arc that goes up and you intercept it. When you're dealing with hypersonic missiles, you've got to intercept quick because of the fact that it's moving quick and it's moving at an unpredicted location.
Ryan Reynolds
So, anyway, thanks for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 4 million subscribers. We're almost there. We're getting there quick. Can't get enough Midas. Check out the Midas plus substack for ad free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, and more. Sign up for free now@midasplus.com.
The MeidasTouch Podcast: "Dems Finally OUTMANEUVER Trump with RAPID RESPONSE" – Summary
Release Date: January 29, 2025
In this high-octane episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, hosts Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas delve deep into the latest political maneuvers between Democrats and former President Donald Trump, highlighting the Democrats' strategic counteractions against Trump's controversial initiatives. Balancing insightful analysis with their signature brotherly banter, the Meiselas brothers provide listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current political landscape.
The episode opens with a scathing critique of an alleged offer from Donald Trump and Elon Musk aimed at federal employees. According to the discussion, Trump and Musk purportedly extended a "fake buyout" proposition, enticing federal workers to resign with promises of continued salary payments through September 2025.
Dan Goldman, a Democratic Congressman, passionately addresses the issue:
"Donald Trump and Elon Musk just offered a fake buyout to all federal employees saying that if they resign before February 6, they are going to get paid all of their salary through September of 2025." [02:15]
He elaborates on the illegality and deceptive nature of the offer:
"There's no authority to do it and it's likely another bait and switch by Donald Trump, which he did to stiff contractors his entire career." [02:45]
The Democrats have not remained silent. Senator Tim Kaine delivered a robust speech condemning the offer, labeling it a scam designed to exploit federal workers.
"If you accept the offer and resign, he'll stiff you just like he stiffed other contractors." [03:45]
Jasmine Crockett, another Democratic Congresswoman, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the illegitimacy of the buyout:
"$3 trillion are distributed through these federal programs. Just because Donald Trump doesn't like it does not give him license under the law." [07:08]
Dan Goldman further criticizes the administration's tactics:
"What the President is doing is not only illegal, it's not only chaotic and damaging to Virginians, it's portraying a deep insecurity." [10:39]
The episode underscores the broader implications of Trump's actions on the civil service and democratic institutions. Jerry Connolly from the Democratic Oversight Committee warns of Trump's attempts to undermine established civil service protections:
"Donald Trump is trying every trick he and his Project 2025 cronies can think of to circumvent established civil service protections." [02:50]
This maneuver, according to Connolly, threatens to replace expert civil servants with politically motivated loyalists, thereby jeopardizing the quality and impartiality of government services.
A significant portion of the discussion centers on Trump's unilateral approach to budget management. Senator Tim Kaine argues that budget cuts should follow legal processes rather than executive overreach:
"If you want to make cuts to the budget, then pass a law. You control the House, you control the Senate. Don't do it unlawfully via impoundment." [10:00]
Dan Goldman adds that Trump's refusal to collaborate with Republican leadership on budget matters reveals a lack of confidence in their support:
"The fact that he's not doing that, that he's using this illegal, unilateral executive strategy, means he doesn't have confidence that the Republican leadership in both houses will go along with the extremity of the actions that he's taking." [10:39]
Transitioning from domestic politics, the podcast touches upon Trump's rhetoric concerning national security, specifically his mention of an "iron dome" to protect against potential nuclear threats from Russia.
Ryan Reynolds critiques the feasibility and logic behind such claims:
"You can't even get your WMDs, your weapons of mass distraction, consistent at all. And now your WMDs are actual WMDs, weapons of mass destruction." [11:31]
An unknown speaker elaborates on the vulnerabilities of the U.S. missile defense systems:
"We don't have a missile system, same as what you see in Israel. But the truth is we don't, which makes us highly vulnerable." [12:38]
The discussion underscores the misleading nature of Trump's statements and the potential for such narratives to distract from pressing domestic issues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast effectively highlights the Democrats' rapid and strategic responses to Trump's latest political gambits. By dissecting the fake buyout offer, legal oversteps in budget management, and misleading national security claims, the Meiselas brothers provide listeners with a clear understanding of the ongoing power struggle. Their ability to present complex political maneuvers with clarity and engaging discourse cements the podcast's reputation as a go-to source for insightful political analysis.
Listeners are encouraged to stay informed and critically assess the actions and rhetoric of political leaders, ensuring support for democratic values and accountability.
Note: This summary is based on the transcript provided and focuses solely on the content-rich segments, omitting advertisements and non-relevant sections as per the podcast guidelines.