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A
This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. It's Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Lifelock has tips to protect your identity. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication, report phishing and update the software on your devices. And for comprehensive identity protection, let Lifelock alert you to suspicious uses of your personal information. Lifelock also fixes identity theft, guaranteed or your money back. Stay smart, safe and protected with a 30 day free trial at lifelock.com podcasts terms apply.
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B
Morning Zoe. Got donuts?
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C
Jeff Bridges why are you still living above our garage?
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B
Well, I dig the mattress and I.
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D
Want to be in a T Mobile.
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B
Commercial like you teach me so Dana.
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C
Oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly AT T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
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B
Wow, impressive. Let me try T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
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E
Nice.
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C
Jeffrey, you heard them.
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F
T Mobile is the best place to get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.
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B
So what are we having for lunch?
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C
Dude, my work here is done.
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A
The 24 month bill credit is on experience beyond for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 device connection charge credit send and balance due if you pay off earlier Cancel Finance agreement. IPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs $1099.99 and new line minimum $100 plus a month plan without a pay plus taxes and FE mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oakland Speed Test Intelligence data 1H 2025 visit t mobile.com Donald Trump had New York Attorney General Letitia James indicted as his. I wouldn't just call it politicization of the Department of Justice. I would say his destruction of law and order and just complete anarchy is unleashed across this country. This follows James Comey being indicted and having his arraignment held earlier in the week. James Comey, through his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald, said, we don't even know who person one and person three is. As alleged in this indictment. We have no basic information that would normally exist in a federal prosecution. And this is because Lindsay Halligan, who's never been a federal prosecutor before, said now the person put in charge of the Eastern District of Virginia. She was a former beauty pageant contestant turned insurance lawyer who somehow linked up with Donald Trump a few years back. She was his personal lawyer on a few matters. Again, zero trial experience, zero experience as a federal prosecutor. She was the one whose sole Signature was on both the indictments now of James Comey as well as New York Attorney General Leticia James. New York Attorney General Leticia James purports to be charged with two counts, one count of bank fraud, another count of false statements. This is alleged to be in connection with a 2020 purchase where a mortgage was put on a home or a residence or a second home in Norfolk, Virginia. And we know from our prior reporting and the prior reporting of others out there that New York Attorney General Letitia James case was put before the desk of both. Eric Siebert used to be the top federal prosecutor out of the Eastern District of Virginia. He said there were no facts there and no facts to support a prosecution of James Comey. And he was forced out of that office also, most recently, somebody by the name of Elizabeth, you see, who oversees major criminal prosecutions at that nor folk office in the Eastern District of Virginia. She had said that she's not signing her name to this. There's no evidence to support any claims against New York Attorney General Letitia James. So Lindsay Halligan once again goes before the grand jury all by herself. She brings whatever facts she brought in front of the grand jury. We see. We know that she was the only one in that room because we have the indictment and we have. Who requested the indictment, and it was only Lindsay Halligan and the only person who signed it.
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D
And.
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A
And that's where. That's where we're at today. Now, already, James Comey's lawyers have demanded that they get exculpatory evidence turned over. They've already have trial in that case is set for first week of January in 2026. They've already have motions set up for vindictive prosecution, grand jury abuse, outrageous government conduct. Those motions are going to be heard October 20th and October 30th. So we'll have hearings there very soon. The lawyers who showed up come from North Carolina on the Comey case. And they said that they don't have really enough information yet to even really speak intelligibly to the judge, and the judge didn't really care. And setting. We're setting a trial pretty quickly. And now this is being repeated with New York Attorney General Letitia James. Now, New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued a video response about an hour or so ago. Here's what she said in response to being indicted out of the Eastern District of Virginia. Let's play it.
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E
This is nothing more than a continuation of. Of the President's desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing Federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding. All because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General. These charges are baseless, and the President's own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution and at any cost. The President's actions are a grave violation of our constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties. His decision to fire a United States attorney who refused to bring charges against me and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice. I stand strongly behind my office's litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two year investigation based on the facts and evidence, not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court's finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud. I'm a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today, I'm not fearful. I'm fearless. And as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.
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A
A powerful response that I wanted to share at the outset of this video. Let's bring in Brett and Jordi. Brothers, great to see you. So we have Donald Trump, National Guard from other states like Texas, to invade blue states and blue cities like Chicago, Illinois. You have Donald Trump, with this disastrous press conference with his cabinet earlier, saying we're taking Democrat programs away. Those are the ones we're targeting the Democrat government agencies and programs, whatever the hell that means. You've got Donald Trump indicting his political enemies. Authoritarianism. Authoritarianism. Authoritarianism.
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G
Authoritarianism is here. And for a party that, you know, likes to get all upset and angry, and when anybody calls them fascist or authoritarian, they sure do a whole lot of fascist and authoritarian things. And it's undeniable, when you look at what Trump is doing, that that's exactly what this is. I mean, this is completely un American. Nobody who is intellectually honest or trying to be intellectually honest could possibly defend this. It's a very, very dark day in the United States. Has been a dark few months here, at least in the United States. And I know, I already see all the MAGA people. They have their talking points. They go, you said nobody's above the law.
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F
Told you Nobody's above the law, you said.
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G
Oh, but the Biden weaponization.
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A
Shut up.
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G
Biden didn't weaponize crap. If anything, maybe Biden could have even done more to convince people to pursue these charges, to protect the country. But there was a clear separation. Those were cases that were filed by special prosecutors, by state prosecutors. They were filed because Donald Trump actually committed crimes and he did an insurrection against the United States. The cases that were able to actually go to court. Overall, Donald Trump lost all of them because he actually did those various things, including the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that $500 million civil fraud case, which is the reason why Trump is now doing this act of retribution. I mean, these are. These are clear differences. And what Donald Trump is doing here in our streets, what he's doing international, uh, it's just a total violation of everything the United States is supposed to stand for. And the fact that you still see people in the Republican Party continuing to defend this crap every single day, like, shame on you. Anyway, it's good to be here with Jordy and Ben. Good to be here with you. Midas Mighty. Remember, if you're watching this, I know we got a big audience tonight. I'd love to see it. Make sure that you go and add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I'll throw up the QR code for those who know how to use their camera camera on their phone to. This will bring you straight to the podcast for the Midas Touch podcast. Go and check it out. Jordy, what's the latest in your end? How you doing?
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D
I'm excited for today's show. Brett, you bring up such an excellent point. Look, this is what real weaponization of the DOJ looks like, right?
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G
For.
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D
For these magas in the Republican Party who always used to cry foul Biden and the weaponization of the doj. But how could Biden do this? What Donald Trump is doing to Tish James, to Comey. This is really, really dark stuff, and there's no stopping him. Trump, as far as continuing to do this to others who he feel has slighted him in some way. And when you could actually just take a step back and sort of ignore the politics of it all, you quickly realize, like, Tish was doing her job. And so because she was doing her job and did her job well, she turned into a political enemy of Donald Trump. And so now when Donald Trump is president, he gets to turn around and point blame on Letitia James and go after her. Like, this is really Dark and eerie stuff that has absolutely no place in the United States of America.
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A
Ben, you know, look, if this was a meritorious case, then why are you not able to find anybody in the entire office of the Eastern District of Virginia of career prosecutors who would bring the case for a high profile case that can make people's careers in a normal situation, you would have lawyers lining up to be affiliated with the case. Eric Siebert, the guy who Trump fired or pushed out, who was leading the office, was an interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. This guy was a Republican. It's like a lifelong Republican, you know, you think also about like the lawyer who they pushed aside for Alina Haba in New Jersey, a Republican, a lifelong Republican there. You think about the judge Portland, Oregon who ruled against Donald Trump, who Trump and MAGA are basically calling her an insurrectionist, a Trump appointee in 2019. I want to arm you with the data of why this is different and why this is not normal. It's not normal for the President of the United States to send a message on a social media platform that they own referring to the Attorney General Pam Bondi, as Pam. Pam, this is hurting my reputation. I need you to go and prosecute immediately. I immediately. Schiff, Comey and Letitia James from the Wall Street Journal reporting. Donald Trump thought that was a direct message via the Truth Social app. He didn't mean to post it publicly. Well, if you're using that Truth Social DM feature to conduct cabinet level business, first off, all of that should be discoverable, right? One of the things that I think Comey should do, one of the things I think Letitia James should do, issue a subpoena to Truth Social. That's a private platform. It's not Donald Trump acting in his official presidential capacity. Personal account, personal platform, subpoena and the criminal case. See if there's more messages like that as part of the vindictive prosecution discovery or things there. But even if that was a DM or published publicly, saying you have to prosecute my political opponents, then firing all the Republican people at the leadership level in the prosecutorial office and putting in place the only person willing to sign it has never been a federal prosecutor before. Again, take off your Democrat Republican independent hat or whatever. Like, would you want your surgeon to not be a doctor?
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F
Right.
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A
I mean, that's basically the only person willing to perform this operation was the non doctor. Right. The person willing to put their name.
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F
To a very serious felony case was.
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A
Someone who's never been a federal prosecutor before. Who was Trump's personal lawyer and then Trump's special counsel person who was in charge of telling the African American museum him that they have to have less slavery related exhibits because it doesn't make America look good. That was, that was her role at the White House. That's not normal. And, and just view it in those terms alone and you see, that doesn't make sense. Why, why her? Yeah, because none of it makes sense. Trump didn't bring in $17 trillion. There's no tariff bin where this money exists. Okay. Donald Trump claims he solved inflation and grocery prices are down and electricity and energy prices are down when it's the exact opposite. Right now, Trump claims he's reducing health care by 1600%.
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F
It'd be great if you. It'd be great if you did $17 trillion and reduced health care by 1600%.
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G
Wow.
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A
Wouldn't that be amazing? So every time I go to a pharmaceutical company and I buy a drug, I get paid. Basically, they pay me 1600 dol. When I go in, it's not just free, I'm getting paid 1600.
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D
You get your drugs ban, you get your cash. It's a win, win for you.
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A
But just every then he goes, republicans, we're the party of good health care.
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F
Dude, we don't even have a plan. You've been first administration two weeks. Two weeks.
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G
Two weeks.
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F
So, Brett, this is connected to me, to everything.
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A
And I saw somebody posted like, what Trump's done is brought back all of the, like Soviet satellite authoritarian cliches that were exhausting 40 years ago that led to the toppling of these regimes with all of these outrageous types of lies. You know, the type that ultimately 1984 talked about. Much earlier written though, like up is down, left is right. You know, what is truth? You know, all of these things. And it's just, it is a tsunami of disinformation to exhaust people and bend reality while authoritarianism plows over.
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F
We have to frame it.
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A
That's what's happening and we have to call it out.
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G
Yeah. And this isn't a new thing. Right. It's new in the United States. But this happens in autocratic countries around the world. If you were to ask me, you know, a few years ago, what countries is the United States most like? Like, who are our allies? What, like where, where do we have a similar kind of culture, politics, etc. You know, you'd say, I don't know, Canada, the UK like European countries. Like now when you look at the United States, we look like a Russian State. Like, we look like the Soviet Union. We look like Putin's Russia. And that is what we're dealing with right now. A true autocratic regime and a Republican Party who's refusing to rein this individual in. And now these cases are obviously so shoddy. When you read the indictments, they're fighting full of mistakes. It's just a total bush league performance by Lindsey Halligan. As Ben was saying, when Lindsay Halligan went into the court the other day for the arraignment, it was like her first time in the courtroom for the Comey case and Comey's lead attorney. Like, they were like, we don't even know what these charges are. Can you clarify the charges? We haven't even been told to. Person three and person one are in the indictment. We haven't even been told what's in count and count one and in count two. Like, could you actually give the information? Lindsey Halligan? And like Ben said, it's very telling that Lindsey Halligan is like the only person willing actually take these cases. And I expect these cases to, you know, ultimately kind of go away. The Comey case is ridiculous. You know, the Tish James case seems ridiculous on first read. The Tish James case was just assigned to a Biden appointed judge, Jamar Walker in Virginia. So if you want to kind of have a sense of if that holds, where this case may be going, I think that could tell you a little bit. But at the end of the day, it's not even about what happens to these cases eventually. It's about torturing these people. And Donald Trump is going to run this playbook. He's already told you his enemies list. He's had the enemies list out there. But you know that, you know, Adam Schiff will probably be next. He'll probably turn his sights on somebody like Afoni Willis. There's going to be all these people adjacent to Trump's orbit who may have tried to prosecute him in the past or, you know, his political enemies. Donald Trump is going to try to pursue charges against all of these people. And as we've seen, he's willing to remove the people who are unwilling to do so and replace them with lackeys like Lindsey Halligan. And I sure hope and I believe that this will not end well for Lindsey Halligan later on being the hatchet woman who has decided to take on these ridiculous, vindictive, anti American cases like she has.
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D
And can we also just take a quick step back for a second that Donald Trump is conducting what is his official government Business over truth social DMs. Apparently that's almost makes signal gate look like it was nothing with Pete Hegseth. I mean, I mean, it's a clear.
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G
Violation of the presidential records act. Like, it definitely violates like a bunch of laws. That's the thing with this Trump administration, right, Jordy? Like, everything, like, you're like, could you believe that? Like, that alone is like an impeachable offense. And you could go down the list of things Donald Trump does every day.
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D
Impeachable offense. And he does it every single day. So it tires people out, unfortunately. But I know it doesn't tire you out. The listener and the viewer here and rightfully outraged about every one of these things. Truth social DMs. That's how he's conducting his government business. I mean, that is striking. And also, you know, look, Donald Trump is obviously doing all of this to Tish James and Comey because he's a very vindictive person and because truly evil and vile stuff. But don't forget, he's also doing this to distract you from what the Epstein files, right? He's trying again to just throw stuff at the wall. Don't look over here. Everyone stop looking at my connection with Jeffrey Epstein. Donald Trump is saying, don't. We're going to go after Tish James now here, corporate media, run the headlines. Run the headlines. Don't look over here. We're done talking about.
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G
Here's the thing, though. I don't like the distraction argument, though. I'm going to have to push back. I don't like the distraction argument because this is evil. This is bad. This is like we. It's not like I'm distracted from Epstein and I can't do this. This right here is a very big deal that Donald Trump is weaponizing the government. I don't view it as a distraction thing. It's a very big deal that Donald Trump is sending troops into our streets. It's a very big deal that all these things are happening. And so just because he does one horrible thing and then another horrible thing and then another horrible thing, he just does a lot of horrible shit. And it's unfortunate. And we need to be able to keep track of all them. We need to be speaking about all them. And we do hear and the listeners are constantly in touch. But I don't view this as just though he's trying to distract from Epstein, I view this as Donald Trump is now weaponizing the Justice Department the same way Vladimir Putin does. And we need to stay laser Focused on that fact as well.
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D
Yes, absolutely. And I think both can be true at the same time. I think, I think they can both be true, Ben.
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A
I think overall the whole plan of this authoritarian regime is to distract from the truth more than anything for sure. And it is to overwhelm, turn this fire hose of disinformation on, bend reality, exhaust people, and then allow the authoritarianism to just kind of move over the entire country because the information environment is so poor that people are unable to unite and push back and fight back and recognize their power. And people just get overwhelmed and go, ah. Like, you know, sometimes it's a, it's not a great example because of the seriousness with what we're doing, but you ever like have like someone in your life, you don't have to tell me who, whether they're younger or older or whoever, though kid or whoever is so annoying, where it's just like, and you're finally like, fine, fine, I, I, I'll let you do it. Just fine, just okay, well fine. And then what happens to that person? Then they do it again. And like, again, as I said, not the greatest example given the seriousness with which we exhibit. But the authoritarianism just wants to overwhelm you. Destroy a framework that pushes back and holds this type of conduct accountable and remove the normalcy, remove the adult, responsible, mature behavior, remove the humanity and just put everybody into this dystopian crazy, you know, madhouse, if you will. And then within that framework, that's where the authoritarian thrives.
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G
Yeah, they want to overwhelm, right? They want, they want to overwhelm you with so much and so much fake footage and, and these slick Hollywood style videos that they create and all, all the crap that they're throwing at you so that ultimately the kind of layperson who is maybe not super tuned into politics, maybe not watching Midas Touch every day, maybe not super checked in on the news goes, I don't know, there's a lot coming at me. I don't know what's true. I don't know. I don't know. I hear, I hear there are riots in Portland. The whole city's on fire. I guess if they got, if they want, if they need to send in the military to help, like that's not a bad thing, I guess, right? That's the goal. Just totally overwhelm people with the bullshit. And that's why I think mockery is important when these people get mocked. And that's why I think constantly exposing and showing what's actually going on, like for Example, and we'll, we'll probably get to this later in the show, but like Kristi Noem going to Portland, for example, and trying to act all tough and going, oh look, I'm on the mean streets. Let me stare down Antifa. It's all getting crazy. Then she looks down to like a crowd and there's like eight people and a guy in a chicken costume. You're like, these people are just frickin liars and they're terrorizing these cities. I mean, people are walking around these cities right now. They're trying to go about their day. There are like Black Hawk helicopters flying in the sky. There are military walking down the streets, like this is not normal stuff that we are witnessing. And Donald Trump says, I hear it looks like a war zone in this place. And that. Yeah, because you sent the military in and you're flying military helicopters above. Of course it looks like a war zone. You're making it look like a war zone. Everybody else is just dancing, chilling, going to farmers markets, trying to enjoy their day, trying to enjoy their life. Americans at at large are trying to enjoy their life, trying to make sure that they could continue to afford their health care, trying to do basic things. They're trying to live. The average American is just trying to survive in this country. And Donald Trump and these Republicans who have his back are terrorizing and torturing these people. It's just disgusting to me that we are witnessing this every single day. I'm not counting on any of these Republicans to stand up to them, unfortunately. I mean, we should, you know, be pushing them to, but they're just fricking cowards. But this is the country that we have right now. It's certainly not the country I grew up and it's not the country I want to leave to my kids. But hey, that's why we're here, you know, putting up the good fight.
- [25:55]
A
Look, a federal judge in Illinois had to make a ruling today blocking the Trump regime from using force against journalists in Chicago, including the following. They are in. The Trump regime is enjoined from using riot control weapons, including kinetic impact projectiles, compressed air launchers, OC spray, CS gas, CN gas, other chemical irritants and munition launchers. Less lethal shotguns, less lethal specialty impact munitions, controlled noise and light distraction devices, devices, electronic control weapons on members of.
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F
The press, protesters or religious practitioners who.
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A
Are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer. The fact that a judge in the United States of America has to say, basically, you have to stop Doing chemical warfare on reporters who are just there videotaping and photographing and behaving peacefully shows where we are right now in this country. Now, when we return, I want to talk more about that. I want to talk about again. Why are people buying into this, framing that Donald Trump did a peace deal in Gaza?
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F
Okay? He announces fake deals.
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A
All.
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F
Every deal he announces is fake. Can we wait until we see what.
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A
The hell is actually going on first, number one? And number two, can we also recognize the atrocities that have been committed in Gaza? Can we recognize that even today there were more people in Gaza being attacked after Donald Trump said there was, you know, this peace dealing?
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F
Well, the ceasefire technically doesn't start.
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G
Well, even if it technically didn't start.
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F
Until when it would. Whatever that's even supposed to mean, out of good faith. Why would you be shooting people there? What's go. Like, what is going on? And now the AP is reporting that America's sending 200 troops into the area. We're sending American boots into the ground, into Israel, to help support and monitor the Gaza ceasefire, whatever that means. That's what. That's the plan. I didn't see. Was that in the 20 point? That's their plan to send troops there. American boots on the ground? Seriously? That's what we're doing anyway. We'll talk about this and more. A reminder, hit subscribe here.
- [28:23]
A
Let's help us get to 6 million.
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F
And become a member of our YouTube page. You see, it says join. You can gift memberships to as many.
- [28:32]
A
People as you can.
- [28:33]
F
It helps grow this independent media platform. Please, please, if you can become a member, it helps. It helps keep us growing. We're currently beating Fox when it comes to daily views and we're getting out.
- [28:45]
A
The truth while doing it as well. We'll be right back after our first quick break of this.
- [28:53]
D
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- [31:53]
A
We have a lot to discuss. I want to talk about the order soon out of Illinois where a federal judge essentially blocked the Trump regime's deployment of National Guard there, saying this is not the role of the National Guard and very similar to the order we saw in Portland, Oregon. In Illinois the judge, Judge Perry basically said that what the Trump regime is saying about the conditions on the ground do not align with the reality of what is actually taking place on the ground. You are creating a fictional world in other words, and a TRO issuing there in Illinois blocking the Trump regime from its National Guard deployment there. So we'll break that down shortly as well. And of course there'll be coverage throughout the evening on the Midas Touch network and we'll try to bring you as many experts as we can to talk about that. Brett, I want to definitely speak about that in a bit. I did tease this other section that I wanted to talk about. And then we'll, then we'll get there though. You know, Donald Trump announces there's this deal that's a peace deal in Gaza. You know, it's, it's already been leveled to the ground. I mean if you've seen before and after photos, I think I saw a data point that said it would be the equivalent of what like 13 of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki basically in Gaza is basically what occurred there. And so when Donald Trump though, was asked at that disastrous cabinet meeting today, though, I think the key question here, like people are so focused on what he's announcing sometimes and like they're not exercising common sense. And Brett, I think we have this clip from the cabinet meeting where Trump is asked by a reporter, so what is your view of a two state solution? Right. Foundationally in a peace deal, shouldn't we understand is there going to be a free Palestine?
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F
Like shouldn't, you know, end of, end of free Israel? Is that the purpose of the plan, that there can be a Palestine as a free sovereign country and Israel a free sovereign country living next to each other?
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A
Right.
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F
Is, is that the goal? What else are we announcing? Like what, what, what else is this deal supposed to be? If, if not that, okay, I understand the hostages need to be returned. Abso freaking lutely. And it would be an incredibly important and great thing if those hostages were returned to all of the families who have been suffering a great deal so.
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A
Much after what transpired on October 7th.
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F
Absolutely. Now are we doing two state solutions? So basic question, right? What say you, Donald?
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B
Let's play be very much involved in making it, making it as good as possible.
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A
What's your take now on a two state solution? Sir, just to follow up on that, what is your view now on a two state solution for this?
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B
I don't have a view. I'm going to go with what they agree to.
- [35:09]
F
How do you move on from that question? I'm going to just do what they agree to you. This is, wasn't this supposed to be your deal that you want to do the Nobel Peace Prize? Isn't Netanyahu out there posting these weird and I think frankly disrespectful? That's an understatement unhelpful memes of you wearing gold Nobel Peace Prize chains.
- [35:36]
D
So.
- [35:36]
F
So isn't this your deal? So you don't even know, foundationally, if. And this is what I mean before Jordy and Brett about the fire hose of disinformation bending reality, what the hell was this? What are people even talking about? If foundationally, there's not a free Palestine, and foundationally, there's not two sovereign countries living side by side in peace, which has not been able to be achieved for more than half a century, what have you done differently than anybody? What are we awarding? Why are we treating you like a baby that you deserve to be? You've done nothing different than anybody. If anything, you've set things backwards. And now US Troops are going in. What the hell?
- [36:20]
G
It's totally crazy that US Troops are going. I mean, this is. I don't think that was part of the. Part of the deal, but I think, you know, what worries me about Donald Trump's comments there mostly, is that it shows me they haven't thought about the phase two. You know, this is being pitched as phase one of this plan. I want to remind everybody we've been to phase one of these plans before in the past. And I really, you know, there's perhaps nothing more in the world right now that just, like, destroys my soul than what's going on over there from what started over the past, like, two years. The death, the destruction, the complete devastation. What happened on October 7, all of it makes me so incredibly sad, if I'm being just totally candid with everybody, like, incredibly sad to witness what. What happened, what continues to happen there. And I really want all of this to end. I desperately want all the bloodshed to end. But as we speak right now, the bloodshed is still ongoing as we approach this apparent, you know, ceasefire, which I know is still being worked out. But, you know, they're talking about this phase one plan. The thing that scares me is they don't have the phase two plan. They haven't figured that part out. And I understand, you know, they're working through it, they're gonna figure it out. But that's been the part that's always stopped this from being a lasting and durable peace. That was the issue when President Biden went forward with the phase one of the plan back in January. I think it was, like, right before kind of the inauguration when Biden helped with that, you know, with that ceasefire deal. But we know, you know, there are a lot of parties right now that seem to have some sort of handshake agreement here. I mean, we know Trump's announced this. Israel, Hamas, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar. Like, they're all, they're all saying that this is going to happen. I think Israel, like, they still have to vote on it to ensure it happens. You have Netanyahu posting these weird AI memes to try to spike the football before it actually happens and to try to hoist Donald Trump as, you know, someone who should win the Nobel Prize, which gets announced shortly. I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I think it's hard to give the Nobel Prize to somebody who's indiscriminately bombing Boeing boats in the Caribbean, who's sending military helicopters in American cities, who is shooting priests with pepper bullets in American cities, and all the other things that Donald Trump is indicting his political enemies here in the United States of America. I don't think that's the guy you give the Nobel Peace Prize to, I'm gonna say. But, you know, I really, from the bottom of my heart, I do hope they work something out here. I hope that this is it. And, you know, even if it's is just a phase one, I hope that phase one is successful in bringing the hostages back and ending the hostilities, like so. I mean, we'll see what happens. But, you know, one of the issues with that fire hose of lies, as Ben has described, you know, throughout this episode, is that we don't know the truth with any of these deals ever. I mean, Donald Trump has touted deal after deal after deal with all of these various countries on trade and all this other stuff. It's all been bullshit so far. And so it's just really to go into this and to take his word, and I don't take his word on anything like that, as I've said so many times on the show. But that's why I'm looking to seeing what other countries are doing, how they're reacting. But, you know, I think we, we have to see what happens here. You know, I'm willing to keep an open mind because I, more than anything, desperately want to see an end to this conflict. I want to see the hostages come home. I want to see the Palestinian people live in peace, the Israeli people live in peace. I think there are a lot of just innocent people who have been caught up in this just horrifying bloodshed right now. And I hope that they are thinking of how do we make this a lasting and durable peace after we get through this Phase one, say we're able to execute phase one. And that goes well, which I really hope it does. What's phase two? What's the plan, as you were saying, Ben, to ensure that these two groups can live side by side in peace. And I think the President of the United States should have some sense of that or should be pushing for that in some way. By the way, maybe his solution is a one state solution where the Palestinians and Israelis live in one state together and they're going to figure out how to structure the government in a way that's fair. Okay, if that's your policy, I just want to hear what the plan is. I want to know how this is going to last. And I'm not going to pretend like this is an easy issue. But I also don't need people posting AI memes and constantly trying to brag about, give me the Nobel Prize. Give me the Nobel Prize. There are real people's lives on the line here. There are people who have been tortured for years in captivity. And I think it's important that we respect, you know, those people, those families, all the people who have actually been impacted here and really, you know, treat this with the seriousness that this issue requires.
- [41:04]
D
Absolutely. And what terrifies me to your point is they have very clearly not thought of a phase two. And I think that is no more clear than when you actually watch that response from Donald Trump. And I'm going to ask you in one second, Brett, to play that clip again. But I'm going to prompt our video viewers here, look at Donald Trump's face when he's asked that question. It's almost like he's never heard the term two state solution before, which is really actually terrifying when you think of, think of it. Let's play the clip.
- [41:32]
G
Right.
- [41:32]
D
I'm going to comment on, when we.
- [41:33]
B
Come back from it, be very much involved in making it, making it as good as possible.
- [41:38]
A
What's your take now on a two state solution, sir, just to follow up on that, what is your view now on a two state solution for this?
- [41:45]
B
I don't have a view. I'm going to go with what they agree to.
- [41:48]
D
Yeah, look, he's got no idea. He, it's just very like he, he genuinely looks like he has no idea. The question wasn't mumbled. He's looking like a deer in headlights when he's asked that question. And look, I know I give corporate media a hard time. I so desperately want a strong fourth estate in this country. I think it's the foundation, the bedrock of this country is to have a Strong fourth. How do you let that question go, Ben, to your point, how don't you have a follow up to that? It just, it really just blows. You are in that room, you are asking, he is spiking the football in your faces right now.
- [42:21]
G
Report.
- [42:21]
D
I did the. And yet he doesn't have the answers to these questions.
- [42:25]
G
One of the biggest issues I see in this whole scenario also in terms of believing the information we get. And like I said, I'm withholding judgment until we, we see what happens. And I'm truly praying and hoping for the best here. But based on the information we get and just the conflict in general, is that there aren't a lot of parties you could really trust in this all. I mean, who am I supposed to trust here? Donald Trump, Netanyahu, Hamas, Qatar? Like, who are the voices that I'm supposed to be? Oh, this is an authoritative voice who I'm able to trust here. Unfortunately, in this kind of situation, they don't exist. So I think the best we could do is sit back, see what happens, hope for the best, and hope that people are actually working in the interests of peace and security and safety. And I, personally, I hope it works. I, I hope it works out. But you know, here's the thing.
- [43:16]
F
What is the it? What is the it? They haven't even defined what the thing to work out is because Donald Trump doesn't say two state solution. So I don't even know what they're talking about if you ask me.
- [43:33]
A
What do you want to see, Ben?
- [43:35]
F
Do you want to see a two state solution?
- [43:36]
A
Yes.
- [43:37]
F
Do you want to see a free Palestine?
- [43:38]
A
Yes.
- [43:39]
F
What do you want to do about health care? How do you prove Affordable Care act.
- [43:42]
A
There should be universal health care?
- [43:43]
F
You see, it's just plain talk like, and I think we're, I think this.
- [43:48]
A
Whole shutdown situation is also just amplifying.
- [43:53]
F
And Americans are seeing it now also because no matter where you're from, your health care is being ripped away from you. I mean, what person can afford 24 to 30 thousand dollars a year in health care? The ACA subsidies have kept them down where it's still, the prices are high. I mean, paying $8,000 to $10,000 a year, if you're making 60,000, if you're making more than $60,000, that's a lot of fricking money. Making 80,000, a hundred thousand dollars a year, that's a lot of money. But now it's going to be 24 to $30,000. And then Donald Trump's response To this is. Oh, this is a democratic issue. These are democrat things. And I give you the best health care and the, the big beautiful bill has helped you out with your health care. And, and young pregnant women are getting paid more money from Medicaid than are getting paid less money than migrants. What do you mean they're getting paid? No one's getting. What are you talking about? Talking about reimbursements for emergency medical room treatment. I don't breath the. I hope it works out. Presidents and leaders are supposed to define even what the it is. So we have all this fraud, we don't even know the it. And ultimately it's just easy to destroy and rip apart everything. And that's what he seems interested in. I mean, think about this. One of the stories that just, you know, kind of goes under the radar today is the Colombian president Gustavo Petro said that the US military in the Caribbean Sea struck a Colombian fishing boat with Colombian citizens. Not a Venezuelan narco terrorist or whatever the Trump regime saying. And the Trump regime's response is this is baseless. Colombia is an essential strategic partner, but they need to retract the statement immediately. The last boat struck by US military in the Caribbean Sea was Colombian with Colombian citizens. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says a U.S. person familiar with details confirmed to ABC News that at least one of the boats hit by the military in the Caribbean Sea was to believe was believed to be from Colombia. Now if that doesn't anger you because you're like, well that's Colombia and Venezuela, which to me is a ridiculous argument. It seems to be daily war crimes being committed by the United States military violating all rules of engagement and, and laws of war and just laws in general. Killing people, apparently killing Indian Colombian citizens with zero transparency. I also want people to think about this. While the national. While the Texas National Guard was invading Chicago, Texas still did not find all of the dead children from the Guadalupe river flash flood where because of Republican policies, because they say we hate government and all this woke Biden money that was trying to buy emergency systems that we didn't want. Those emergency warning systems, you know, those, those damn woke emergency systems. And also the dereliction by FEMA led by Kristi Noemi, apparently Corey Lewandowski who has whatever that relationship is going on there with her, who hand takes special relationship social relationship to Lee.
- [47:21]
G
Special very special.
- [47:22]
F
So they socialist very special relationship. We then have somebody lead FEMA with no emergency management background. They shut down the call centers. They wouldn't activate urban search and Rescue. 200 people die. Hundreds over 100 people die, close to 200 people, children by the dozens got killed. And just think about how many natural disasters there have been where dozens of people have died, where Trump doesn't even acknowledge the existence of these things. And corporate news. Yeah, you know, Donald Trump says you did a 20 point peace deal. Let's do the headlines because we all need to be first to write the headline.
- [48:02]
A
Right?
- [48:02]
F
To get the clickbait and to get it. Could we take a step back and ask, what if he's not wanting a two state solution? How can it? What's the deal? What's the deal on? Is the deal just to now further totally wipe out Palestine? Is that what they're saying? If that's what they're saying, then say it. Because I think that you're going to put American troops there. That's going to be your position. And you think that's going to lead to long term peace? Or is Donald Trump just going to go, not my problem, not my problem, pass it on all the problems to the next person, and then MAGA and their whole propaganda network then spends the next four years blaming people who try to fix this mess, who fix the chaos that he creates, fix the things that he does which he has no way out of because it's just one Ponzi scheme after another. I mean, you look at the economy right now and everyone's like, well, stock market's doing well. Do you know 80% of the stock market gains in 2025 are only from a handful of companies that are AI related, companies that are basically just doing deals with themselves. They're taking percentages of each other than buying the semiconductor chips from this company that's buying. And they do their own version of those fake announcements every single day. And then the prices surge that. But 80% of the market is being propped up by AI and an adjacent semiconductor, AI related stock. That's not a sustainable model. We have the worst housing market since 1995. We're having what's called farmaged and our farmers are going bankrupt in numbers that have really never been seen before in history. Because of Donald Trump's disastrous trade war, tourism is down in levels that look like great recession depression numbers. Over 20 states right now are currently experiencing recessionary feelings. People are living paycheck to paycheck. Trump's shut down the government because he refuses to extend Affordable Care act subsidies to Americans who rely on it to live. This is the world that, this is the reality of what we're living in. And I just think The American people are saying enough is enough. Enough is enough of this crap. And they're seeing it and they're seeing what Trump's doing every day. I mean, this is what Trump did today. It just goes unnoticed. They're planning to do after the ballroom. They're going to build a triumphal arch. The triumphal arch that Hitler wanted to build in freaking Germania that he never got to build because he lost World War II. Like almost a freaking replica of the triumphal Germania arch was in the White House today. That that's what they're thinking about building. Golden ballrooms, triumphal arches and what the hell? What the hell. And so when I do videos that are all hell breaks loose. What the hell are we looking at right now? What is this? Is this Germania? Is this Hitler's Germania? Because that's what the shore freaking looks like. What else is this? So wake the hell up right now. See what's happening. No Kings. Protests are coming. Peaceful protests. October 18th.
- [51:23]
A
Be there for those peaceful protests.
- [51:26]
F
We've got a lot more to discuss on this episode. We'll take our last quick break of the show. We'll talk more about the shutdown. We'll talk more about what's going on across this country. Please become a member of the YouTube channel if you can by clicking join and you can gift memberships to as many people as you're able.
- [51:43]
A
It helps grow this independent media platform. Take a quick break. We'll be right back.
- [51:52]
D
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- [56:35]
A
You know, I know what's really important on the minds of the American people right now with all of the things that I flag, all of the issues people are dealing with. They really want to see the President of the United States doing this here. Let's play that clip.
- [56:51]
B
Hello, everyone. It's President Donald J. Trump and it's Trump time. Check out this red beauty. It's one of my new watches. Wear it proudly on your wrist and everyone will know exactly what it's for, who it's for, who it represents.
- [57:04]
A
Yeah, he's doing a lot that's real. He's doing watch commercials. They're airing on right wing media networks like Newsmax and others. We are a parody of ourselves. But it's real. And you know, you have that and then, you know, you have a guy like, like Senator Thune, Senate Majority leader guy, who's supposed to be like a serious dude, you know, was, was supposed to be kind of like a moderate guy when he rose through the ranks. So he's asked a very basic question. All right, well, well, what's your game plan on healthcare? Right? I mean, this shutdown's about health care. Trump refusing to extend Affordable Care act credits and ripping away people's Medicaid. So surely you have a plan, right? Listen to what Thune has to say. Play this clip.
- [57:56]
H
I mean, the fundamental problem here is the underlying program which again needs to be reformed. And the president wants to do that. The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable. But you've got Obamacare now embedded for the last 15 years. The Democrats again enhanced these subsidies a few years ago, so there's no income cap on it. And so, yeah, Frankly, I think that's a, these are all conversations that are ripe to be had. And I think the president is more than open to sitting down and working on solutions that would improve quality and affordability for people in this country when it comes to health care. But part of the problem.
- [58:33]
A
Except he's not. Except he's not. We're nine months in. His priorities have been filing frivolous criminal cases against people who he doesn't like, sending masked ICE agents to terrorize cities, deploying the National Guard against Americans in cities and states that he considers Democratic or liberal, imposing tariffs against the world. That's, you know, that's lying about solving wars that he doesn't solve. That's what, what he's done. So what are we, like, what are we talking about here? Okay, well, Donald Trump held the Cabinet meeting. He was asked questions about health care. He says we are the party of good health care.
- [59:15]
F
Okay, then what's your plan? Just stop.
- [59:17]
A
What the hell is your plan then? If you're the party of good health care, then what's your plan? Here's Trump from the Cabinet meeting earlier.
- [59:24]
B
Government at the same funding levels. We're not going to do anything only good for health care. We're really, I think, become the party of good health care. And they keep using health care as a cudgel. I want to try and get everyone thinking about health care. We're the ones that are saving health care.
- [59:42]
D
You're not.
- [59:43]
A
And, but you notice what he does. It's every issue. This is all part of the playbook of propaganda. And it is, you just take whatever issue you're weakest at and you, you just literally say it over and over again. You're the strongest at. We're the party of health care. We're the party of health care. We're the party of health care.
- [60:01]
G
They hate health care.
- [60:02]
A
They hate health care. They hate health care. Now, the hard part about doing that is that most human beings are unable to lie so easily. And you feel guilty or you just, you just can't, you can't bring yourself to do it. But like Trump and MAGA Mike, I mean, these people are just like, they wake up and they, they wake up and they lie. Now, MAGA Mike's nowhere close to being as good of a liar as Donald Trump is. And one of the issues is, is that Maga Mike's kind of been left on his own to kind of message this and be the face of it. And MAGA Mike's been just another wreck and another disaster. But, okay, so if you're the party of health care. Donald. Right, party of health care. Good health care, you said. All right, so tell us, what is it that you're going to be doing? And you can't.
- [60:46]
F
Don't tell me you're going to reduce.
- [60:48]
A
Prescription drug prices 100, 200, 300 and 500%, because that's just not a possibility. Numbers. Numbers don't work the way. So surely that's not your plan, is it? Because there's no details, you're just saying numbers and you're saying numbers that don't actually serve as a way to reduce things. It's, it's just a fake. That means we would be being paid by the prescription drug companies. But play it.
- [61:12]
G
Health care.
- [61:13]
B
We're the ones that are saving health care. In fact, one of the things we're doing is we're going to, to be reducing the cost of medicines by 100%, 200, 300, 500%, and even more than that.
- [61:24]
A
All right, but you're not going to go on and tell me that you brought down the price of groceries and energy because, like, we all know when we leave our homes that, like, groceries are just, I mean, like, totally unaffordable at this point. I mean, after, after you go shopping and you see that grocery bill, do. Do you all feel the pit in your stomach? I mean, so. Sure. So surely that's not where you're. That's not where you're going. And you're not going to say energy prices are down because home energy prices have actually never been higher. Like, they're up, like, 50%, and they're only going to go higher because you're destroying wind and solar energy, which is. Which lowered the prices because you do. Because you have weird things. So you're not going to say that, are you? Because, like, people are suffering. We're in a shutdown. No way you're going to say that right here.
- [62:13]
B
I wouldn't say it's an even trade. While the other side is focused on. On playing games, the Trump administration is focused on creating jobs, bringing down prices, and we've really brought them down a lot. That's the other thing. We're bringing down prices a lot. We're bringing down grocery prices. But the big thing is energy. When you bring down energy, everything comes down. And the energy prices are way down. I see we're down to about $61 now a barrel. And what we're. Gasoline is going to be. I think gasoline is going to be below $2 at some point in the pretty near future, very low. Much lower than it was under Sleepy Joe.
- [62:51]
A
Okay, well, that's not true, but Marjorie Taylor Greene's got your back, right, Donald? She's going to surely support what you just said. And Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to say that prices are going down and everything's so much better and you solved inflation because she always parrots what you say. Marjorie, are you going to say what Donald Trump just said here? Play.
- [63:12]
C
Costs have not come down. I myself can tell you my apartment here in Washington, D.C. the electricity bill is $100 more than it was last year. Because you can look at your own bill and look at cost. Prices have not come down. That is a reality. People's wages have not gone up. That's another reality. And so Americans are continuing, continuing to have a very difficult time.
- [63:36]
A
She always frames it, though, like, with herself. I mean, she was on the right. She's. She's right. What she's saying is accurate. So you gotta give her that right. I mean, she said an accurate statement. There's nothing to fact check. It's true. But she always frames like, my kids healthcare is about to go up or my own personal expenses are gonna go up. But you, you're a congresswoman.
- [63:58]
G
We're a country. That's. If that's what it takes, I'm not gonna.
- [64:03]
D
No, but it's a really good point because they always have to be their main character. Like, they, like it's always somehow only about them. And it only impacts them when it is, you know, when they see it through that lens.
- [64:13]
G
Yeah, you do always see that.
- [64:14]
D
It's gross. It's great. I mean, it's like, no, you, you represent. You have constituents.
- [64:19]
G
I was, I was okay when you were hurting those people, but now it's hurting me. And I want to be clear because I think there are probably a lot of people watching this that are going, oh, I need a shower now. Like, I'm out here agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Tucker Carlson said something that was like, like coherent the other day. Steve Bannon. I agreed with something like, what the heck is going on? I feel dirty. This doesn't make any sense. I want to be clear. You're not agreeing with them. They are agreeing with you. They've come around because they understand how devastating this is going to be to people. They understand how devastating. In Marjorie Taylor Greene's case, I think she understands how devastating it will be to her party as well. Because there's going to be a massive reckoning. A reckoning like we've never seen before, and there probably already will be, but there will be a mass reckoning like we've never seen before electorally, if we see these premiums spike the way that they're set to spike if Republicans refuse to extend these tax credits, because right now, people already cannot afford things as they are now. Imagine like these health care costs when you see these numbers. And we've been compiling the data over here, here at Midas Touch, if you check our social media feeds, every single Republican district we have a graphic for that says what the average premium is right now for a family and what are for a couple, and what it will be if the Republicans refuse to extend these tax credits. And it's like 4 or 5x, like, on average, the ones that we put together. I would say, and I'm not this is just based on what I've been looking at, they go from around $500 a month to around $2,000 a month. I don't know, unless you're like Elon Musk. I don't like, who could afford that? Like, nobody can afford that. And think about if people's costs go up like that. And that's why Marjorie Taylor Greene is like, what the heck are you doing? Because I think deep down, you know, she views herself as a populist. She views herself, you know, as someone, you know, and however she has to frame it, you know, she goes around going like, you know, I hate that Obamacare, but I'm going to have to vote for, you know, these subsidies. It's like, yeah, like, this is our system as it is now. And, you know, I wish there was another plan out there also, by the way, y' all killed the public option back in the day. That was supposed to be an Obamacare. This is the best solution that the country is able to actually, you know, had passed. Donald Trump constantly says, we're going to have a plan. We're going to have a plan. Hey, we made a video now, I don't know, six years ago, eight years ago, I can't even, I guess not that long ago, because we didn't exist then. But in the very beginning of Midas Touch, we made a video showing Donald Trump from the very beginning of his campaign and before back to 2015, saying, I'm going to have a new health care plan. And when did he say it, you all know, because it's become a punchline at this point. In two weeks. In two weeks, it's the best health care plan you're ever going to see. Two weeks, best health care plan. Well, it is now many, many years, more than a decade later, and we still have not seen these plans at all materialize. Because the Republican plan for health care is to strip out all these protections to make it so that the corporations, the insurance companies are the ones who are benefiting, to make it show so people who have preexisting conditions are able to get denied coverage because that's, that's their, if you want to know their plan, that's their plan. The reason they don't put pen to paper is because they know how horrible that is going to look. I know there's certainly a lot of critic and you could levy at the Affordable Care act and obviously our, our private insurance system, which I think is a complete and total disaster. But if you compare what we have now to what we had before the Affordable Care Act, I mean, it's night and day. I mean, to have a preexisting condition before Obamacare and to not be able to get treatment, I mean, it's like pandemonium. It's unbelievable. I like, it's beyond cruel. And you think, how could this country have even done that? So hopefully we have this program. Hopefully we could build on it and try to create a system, perhaps a single payer system, some sort of universal healthcare system that ensures that people could get care, ideally for free, cut out the middleman and actually have a system that works like basically the rest of the world has. Republicans certainly don't have that plan and they just want to destroy everything. But, you know, I think Mag and Mike and I think Trump, I think all them are getting really exposed here. And I think Marjorie Taylor Greene kind of, you know, turning against them here and actually telling the truth for once. I think that's actually very powerful and really exposes just how big of a liar Mike Johnson is. Donald Trump is how they try to distance themselves from what they're actually doing here, which is going to be catastrophic for the American people at large and definitely for their own constituents.
- [68:49]
D
And I think it's that Brett, too. I don't think they're telling the truth because they want to tell the truth. I think to your earlier point, there's a, there's a reckoning that's, that's coming and everyone kind of sees where the wind is blowing at this point with how Trump and Mike Johnson have been just so greatly mishandling all of this. And so come midterms here, people are going to need to be on record as to where they stood the 12 months before. So people are, you know, they're, you're going to start seeing a little bit more and more of this, of folks, you know, planning their flag down and coming out more like a Marjorie Taylor Greene, not because she wants to, but because they might feel that they, they need to. More broadly, as Ben mentioned, Donald Trump held one of these Cabinet meetings today. And I think we've all made the conscious decision here not to play many clips from this Cabinet meeting because, again, it's just a propaganda event. It is really weird, demented King Jong Un, you know, stuff. Level stuff that we're witnessing. And I just want to comment on it because we don't even have to play a clip. But for those political junkies who witnessed it today, it is weird.
- [69:51]
G
Weird.
- [69:52]
D
Don't gas, don't be gaslit by corporate media into, you know, seeing a snippet pop up later this evening or tomorrow and be like, okay, this is what they talked about the Cabinet. Interesting. No, no, no, you're right. It was weird. And it was even weirder than you thought. Just the fact that each one of those folks in the Cabinet has to go down the line and pay compliments to Dear Leader before they could get into whatever agenda point they want to talk about. I mean, it is really Kim Jong Un level stuff. As I said, it's gross. It's bizarre. And don't be gaslit by others around you into thinking any of that that you witnessed on TV today was normal.
- [70:27]
G
And we haven't even gotten into RFK going, autism. I got a new, I got a new theory, folks, for how autism comes. Circumcisions.
- [70:36]
H
Yeah.
- [70:37]
D
I mean, on this episode of Batshit Crazy Cabinet Meeting, I mean, it's great. It's really out of control. You know.
- [70:46]
A
When you see what is happening across the world with war, with the atrocities in Gaza, with the atrocities in Ukraine. Real, real stuff. Okay? These are real people's lives. This is real death taking place. This isn't a movie. It's not a joke. It's not something that, you know that, that, that you can just make up crap with. Then when you talk about the situation that Americans are in now, it's also deadly serious. It's not a, it's not a. There's times to be funny and humor is great and we like to be funny on this show when it comes to governing. Governing. Right. It's like, I like sometimes maybe when going back to the reference of a doctor, a surgeon during the initial consult, if you want to make a joke here or there to lighten the mood in Very difficult times. There's a time and a place for it. But in the middle of the surgery, I'm not looking for a stand up comedy show. I'm not looking for weird behavior and I'm not looking for someone who's not a doctor to be able to perform the procedure. And there are very pivotal moments when a government needs to govern and there needs to, it needs to work. And at a baseline, we need people to behave like grownups and behave like adults. We need adult behavior. That's, to me, the floor. Right. And then above that, maybe we can have responsible adult behavior. And then above that we can have leadership. And then above that we can have good leadership. And then above that we can have, you know, a plus level leadership, which is where the standard that we should set for people who are in these positions of the highest possible power. What we see with Trump and his cabinet is they're not even behaving like adults and grownups. So to view them as just a normal political side in a Democrat versus Republican political framework, to me is just misunderstanding what's happening. The behavior here is infantile. The behavior right here is sick and unwell and it's dangerous and it is authoritarian and it's gross and it's all of these elements. And I think that we're in this government shutdown mode, which is making more Americans pay attention to just the behavior of Donald Trump and Mike Johnson and Senator Thune and these MAGA Republicans. And you could only come to the conclusion that not only are they not behaving like adults, but like, like you hate me. And I'm not just saying me, Ben at Midas Touch, I'm saying, like the American people watching it, like, you, you, you just genuinely don't like me as a human being. Like, that's kind of what it comes down to. Because I'm not one of your billionaire oligarch friends who's doing something for you, so I really don't matter to you. Right. That seems to be what this is all about. You'll rush to pass subsidies for billionaires who don't need to be subsidized because they're billionaires. You'll rush to help them with their tax cuts. You'll rush to help them get their 20th jet because 15 jets don't do it or yachts or whatever. But all I'm saying is, can we just for now, until we have a better solution, can we keep my health care costs at around $7,500 a year versus $25,000 a year? And which is still a lot. And you're telling me, sorry, nothing I can do. You're. You're on your own. You. You are just helping illegal aliens or migrants or transgender people from Peru or whatever.
- [74:44]
G
I think I just want to say, isn't it. Doesn't it say it all? All that tax breaks for the rich, permanent government shutdown, Government employees stop getting paid. Congress people still get paid. Like, I think that tells you it all about how the system is rigged in favor of particular people, in particular of those in power, the wealthy. And if there was a just system, at least when the government shut down, perhaps the people who caused the government shutdown, the politicians in Washington, D.C. perhaps they would not get paid. They would feel some of the pain that the rest of the American people are feeling as a result of their actions.
- [75:24]
A
Agree with you so much. And I just hope what you take out of this episode is not even like. Not that I've even solidified your view of, like, political parties or where you like. I just hope you've been educated with what the reality is and you apply that to the facts and you make the right decisions. That's ultimately the most that I can hope for, and the most that we can hope for at this network is arming you with good data in an otherwise corrosive and diseased information environment that is intended to do that, to cause you harm and to exploit and take advantage of you. So with knowledge is power. Know that you have the power. Know that Trump, in this regime, is scared of you knowing your power. Power and showing your power. And as long as you still have that power and this community has this power. And we show up on no Kings Day on October 18th, and we show what peaceful protests look like when we show what it's like to stand up to an authoritarian regime, to stand up to bullies and say, no, no, we're not. We're not going to do that. That's not who we are. That's not what our constitution is about.
- [76:35]
F
No.
- [76:36]
A
Get away.
- [76:36]
G
Stop.
- [76:37]
A
That's what we have to do. And then we'll fix this together. We'll build this brick by brick together. I promise you we'll be able to do that together. So with that, I thank you all so much. A reminder. Hit subscribe. Please join this YouTube channel as well. Become a member and you can gift memberships to as many people as you can. Other people can't afford membership. So if you can afford a membership, you can gift memberships to people, too. Big way to be helpful to some of the other members in this community. Only if you can, of course, course get out the word about the Midas Touch Network. That helps a lot as well. Thank you everybody so much for watching. We'll see you next time. Hit subscribe Jordy Take it away.
- [77:15]
D
Shout out to the Midas. My day. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack at midasplus. Com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Philipkowski, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus. Com.