This Week Unfiltered | 05.08.25

Summary

Truth in the Barrel - Episode Summary: This Week Unfiltered | 05.08.25

Hosts: Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman
Release Date: May 9, 2025

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1. Donald Trump's Military Parades and Reduction of Generals (04:03 - 11:11)

Amy and Denver dive into former President Donald Trump's controversial plans for the U.S. military. Trump proposed organizing large military parades, including a grand event to celebrate his birthday, which has sparked significant debate.

• Amy McGrath criticizes the allocation of resources, stating, “...we're spending what, tens of millions, maybe $100 million?... It's un-American” (05:37).

• Denver Riggleman underscores the impracticality and potential risks of such parades: “...people being tackled because they're getting in the way of a military parade. I think that would be some of the worst images we have coming out of the Capitol” (12:14).

Furthermore, the discussion shifts to Pete Hegseth’s proposal to reduce the number of generals and admirals by 20%, aiming to allocate more resources towards active-duty soldiers. Both hosts express skepticism about the feasibility and effectiveness of this plan.

• Amy McGrath points out the lack of substantial cost savings: “Is it going to save money? It's not going to save money. You're cutting what, a dozen generals?... it doesn't make any sense” (08:19).

• Denver Riggleman adds, “...Pete Hegseth couldn't be a part of [the up-or-out system] because he couldn't get promoted” (10:00).

2. Proposed $800 Billion Cuts to Medicaid (16:46 - 32:28)

The hosts tackle the Trump administration's proposal to slash $880 billion from Medicaid, highlighting the program's pivotal role in supporting vulnerable populations.

• Amy McGrath emphasizes Medicaid's significance: “40% of children in The United States are covered with their healthcare coverage by Medicaid” (19:20).

• Denver Riggleman shares personal insights and legislative perspectives: “I was on Medicaid when I was going through the University of Virginia... My wife and I were on Medicaid” (17:12).

They debunk the administration's claims that Medicaid cuts are necessary for economic reasons, arguing instead that such reductions would devastate underprivileged communities and overburden hospitals.

• Amy McGrath critiques the narrative: “The truth is recruiting is going up... It's mostly a function of the economy and that's the facts” (14:51).

• Denver Riggleman discusses the broader economic impact: “...there is a cascading effect of bad that happens when those people have to go to hospitals... It's exponential” (30:24).

The conversation also addresses misconceptions about Medicaid, such as the belief that recipients are predominantly unemployed, by presenting data that contradicts these claims.

3. Air Traffic Controllers and Newark Airport Crisis (32:28 - 36:02)

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the Newark airport incident where radio and radar contact was lost due to equipment failure and personnel shortages.

• Denver Riggleman attributes the failure to poor management and inadequate staffing: “...awful management with Sean Duffy and an incompetent administration that fired FAA individuals” (33:24).

• Amy McGrath counters by highlighting Republican opposition to FAA funding: “...they actually have the FAA, their equipment, their personnel. There's a Republican, in my opinion, sort of war on public servants...” (36:02).

Both hosts agree that the lack of investment in essential federal agencies like the FAA has led to critical infrastructure failures, stressing the need for better support and funding.

4. Reopening Alcatraz as a Federal Prison (36:02 - 37:30)

The hosts discuss Donald Trump's announcement to reopen Alcatraz Island as a high-security prison.

• Amy McGrath expresses disbelief: “...refurbish that and make that a prison again, it's just... dumb” (37:05).

• Denver Riggleman jokes about the impracticality and potential corruption: “...they'd have to put in new sewers... complete graft” (37:02).

They unanimously agree that the proposal lacks necessity and practicality, pointing out the significant costs and logistical challenges involved.

5. Trump's Statements on the Constitution (37:30 - 42:19)

Amy brings up a troubling statement by Trump regarding the Constitution, where he ambiguously responded to a question about due process.

• Amy McGrath highlights the concern: “...he swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, he said... I don't know” (38:24).

• Denver Riggleman speculates on Trump’s motivations: “...a messaging tactic in some ways to a base that doesn't understand the Constitution...” (39:31).

The discussion underscores fears that Trump’s leadership may disregard constitutional principles, potentially endangering democratic norms.

6. India-Pakistan Nuclear Tensions (42:19 - 42:21)

The episode briefly touches on escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following a terrorist attack in Kashmir.

• Amy McGrath describes the gravity: “...two nuclear-armed countries going at it. What do you think, Dan?” (40:28).

• Denver Riggleman warns of the potential for nuclear conflict and regional instability: “...two nuclear powers that might... come to blows” (41:57).

Both hosts express deep concern over the possibility of nuclear escalation, emphasizing the need for diplomatic intervention.

7. US Government's Directive to Stockholm on DEI Programs (42:19 - 44:51)

The hosts examine the U.S. government's order to Stockholm to terminate its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within ten days.

• Amy McGrath clarifies the legal framework: “...under federal law, immigrants who lack legal status, they are not eligible for federal Medicaid benefits” (28:07).

• Denver Riggleman criticizes the overreach: “...national sovereignty... these are allied governments” (44:25).

They argue that this directive undermines international autonomy and reflects a broader Republican agenda to dismantle DEI initiatives, raising concerns about the long-term repercussions on global relations.

8. Closing Cheers and Positive Notes (44:51 - 47:10)

To conclude on an uplifting note, Amy and Denver offer "cheers" to notable individuals:

• Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, for defending his country's integrity against Trump's overtures.

• North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, for her legitimate re-election victory amidst baseless lawsuits alleging election fraud.

Both hosts commend these figures for their resilience and commitment to truth, reinforcing the podcast's dedication to celebrating integrity and combating conspiracy theories.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Amy McGrath: “...we're spending what, tens of millions, maybe $100 million?... It's un-American” (05:37).

• Denver Riggleman: “...people being tackled because they're getting in the way of a military parade...” (12:14).

• Amy McGrath: “40% of children in The United States are covered with their healthcare coverage by Medicaid” (19:20).

• Denver Riggleman: “I was on Medicaid when I was going through the University of Virginia... My wife and I were on Medicaid” (17:12).

• Denver Riggleman: “...complete graft” (37:02).

• Amy McGrath: “...he swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, he said... I don't know” (38:24).

• Denver Riggleman: “...two nuclear powers that might... come to blows” (41:57).

• Amy McGrath: “...national sovereignty... these are allied governments” (44:25).

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Conclusion

In this episode of Truth in the Barrel, Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman provide a thorough and critical analysis of current political and social issues, from military expenditures and healthcare reforms to international conflicts and governmental overreach. Their discussions are enriched with personal insights, factual data, and passionate arguments, making the episode a compelling listen for those interested in unfiltered political commentary.

For more insights and in-depth discussions, visit www.TruthintheBarrel.com.

Transcript

[Denver Riggleman]

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[Amy McRa]

Today we're taking an unfiltered look at Donald Trump's plans for our military. Will having more parades and fewer generals keep us safe in the dangerous world we have? Also, can the administration truly make America healthy again by cutting $800 billion from Medicaid? Plus, there's trouble over the skies of Newark. Alcatraz is poised to return, and the president doesn't know if he has to follow the Constitution. This is truth in the barrel. I'm Amy McRa along with my co host, Denver Riggleman from Dubai. How's Dubai, Denver?

[Denver Riggleman]

Dubai is warm and sandy, but I tell you, the people are great. I was just in Abu Dhabi. Today I'm back in Dubai. So thank you, Amy, for your patience with me broadcasting from the United Arab Emirates about what's going on. So I really appreciate that.

[Amy McRa]

Well, Denver, you are the international man of mystery. So you're pretty much all over the place and it's great to do this show with you. We have an exciting announcement. We're so excited to announce our new weekly live show which is happening starting on June 10th. It's called Cask Us Anything. And it's going to be the most distilled version of truth in the barrel. It's just Denver and I talking about the news of the day, answering your questions, and of course, having a lot of fun with whiskey. So please join us on Tuesday, June 10th from 7:30 to 8:30 Eastern Time. Can't wait.

[Denver Riggleman]

You know what it is, Amy? It's like the whiskey thief. When you put it in the barrel and draw it out, it still has the char in it. It tastes so good, but you still got that black char from the barrel. That is what it's going to be like on Cask Us Anything. But if you want to be protected from this dangerous world, as Amy said, and you want to see all this incredible stuff that we're doing, you have to subscribe. So you got to go to your favorite podcast, you got to download us or you got to subscribe on YouTube. You better be following us on the socials or even on true social media. So in order to get this incredible content to see two beautiful people in action, you got to go out there and subscribe. So you better go do it now.

[Amy McRa]

Yeah. And if you want to participate in that live show, you're going to have to do it on YouTube because that's how it works, at least initially on the chat function there. So stay tuned. In June, we're coming at you live. Now, let's talk whiskey. That is very important. Okay, so today I am drinking one of my faves. This is Andean black corn whiskey, Denver. It's from Lima, Peru. It is. Don Michael is the. Is the distillery. I love it. I love the taste of it. It's the water comes from 10,000ft up in the Andes mountains, and it's this purple black corn that they use to make the whiskey. And I just love it. That's why I wanted to highlight it. It's one of my favorites. Top five, I would say. Don Michael, Andean black corn whiskey. Cheers to that.

[Denver Riggleman]

I wish I was in a place where I could do the bourbon thing or the whiskey thing with you, Amy. And by the way, if the whiskey from Peru is anything like its people, it's going to be beautiful and awesome.

[Amy McRa]

Yeah, it's great.

[Denver Riggleman]

Yeah. Because I love Peru.

[Amy McRa]

All right, let's get on to this week's news. And you know, you need to stick around, everyone to the end of because there's going to be more whiskey drinking, at least on my part, while we celebrate some bright spots throughout the week. And we'll do that at the end of each show. But first things first. Trump, of course, is Denver is constitutionally the commander in chief of our military. This is true. He's officially that. But, you know, he sees our military as his toy. He sees our military as is. He's the owner of it. And I think what he's doing with the military right now shows you that. I mean, here's the first one, this military parade that he wants to have on his birthday. Okay, let me just, let me just kick it over to you to get your thoughts on this before I.

[Denver Riggleman]

Before you, before you go off, Amy. Well, first of all, to have somebody who constitutionally is a commander, commander in chief is true, but we also have somebody who's constitutionally challenged. So I think that's part of the thing that makes me very angry. But the fact that we're having a parade like that thrown for Kim Jong un or thrown for Putin or thrown for G is completely out of bounds of what we believe as Americans, we don't have dictators. But the fact that he's using resources, military resources to do this, when we're at a time where Doge is cutting all this federal funding, Amy, and all of a sudden we're spending, what, tens of millions, maybe $100 million?

[Amy McRa]

Well, right now it says, right now they're saying 45 million, up to 117 million to roll these tanks down the streets of Washington, DC, these 90 heavy vehicles, 6,500 troops to do this parade for Donald Trump's birthday. I don't know. You're right. It's un American. It's not something we do. Okay. And here's the thing that other people need to know. Not only the cost of this. People that think that the, you and I were in the military. When do we march in the military? When, when do we, like, actually march in parades? You march when you're, like, going through boot camp, right? Or you're at, at, at the, the academies, you march.

[Denver Riggleman]

Right.

[Amy McRa]

Once you get into your job. We typically don't want to march as part of our jobs anymore. And to, to have this parade with 6,000 troops, people need to know that's just an enormous amount of, of time. And, you know, you're taking people out of their jobs. You're, you're, you know, having to pay for their temporary duty. It's kind of a pain in the ass, frankly, to march in one of these things.

[Denver Riggleman]

How about DC's infrastructure, Amy? I don't, I don't know. Some of those roads. I don't know if you want tanks going down D.C. roads. I. What's going to happen? They're going to blow off sewer lids, hitting people. I mean, what's going to happen up. I, I mean, it's just so ludicrous. It's hard to get your arms around that. We're in America where you have idiots that want to parade in their honor. A military parade, it's just so ludicrous. It is anti American. Amy, I'm with you. I don't even know what to say about it. It's so ludicrous. I don't know. I don't, I don't know if I had the proper words to convey how ridiculous it is.

[Amy McRa]

It is ridiculous. Here's the good news. There's going to be a sort of counter protest during this parade. So that's kind of good. We just don't do this in America. That's the bottom line. Here's the other thing, Pete Hegseth, our wonderful Secretary of Defense super qualified, right. He wants now a 20% reduction in generals and admirals. He said, quote, we won World War II with seven four star generals and today we have 44 of them. So let's, he said let's have less generals and more GIs. I don't know. Before, before I get into that, what are your thoughts?

[Denver Riggleman]

First of all, I mean, so which generals are he cut cutting? Amy, what are the metrics to say that we have too many generals? I'd like to see that. He also said something sort of ridiculous. Didn't he say that it would actually we'd have more manpower if we got rid of the generals?

[Amy McRa]

Right.

[Denver Riggleman]

Okay.

[Amy McRa]

It's ridiculous.

[Denver Riggleman]

It's ludicrous. So first of all, let's look at the DoD combined budget which is north of 800 billion. When you're talking about getting rid of 20% of generals, say that it's only 44. That's the 20% is he talking about And I don't know, is it one to four star? Is it specific generals and specific commands? If you actually knew how the military worked? That's a very difficult thing to say if you're cutting 20% of generals across the board. Did you forget we have new commands? We have Space Force. Space Force adds a specific amount of generals. So okay, that's pretty interesting. How about with the number of bases since World War II? Bases have actually expanded. So now we're looking at a geographic expansion that takes more base commanders and more squadron commanders. If you're Air Force or in the army, there's more companies, there's more battalions, there's more platoons, there's more 5th army or 10th Army. You just keep going on and on. So I don't know he's going to cut again. It's just a statement without metrics based on a person who still doesn't know how to use signal. So I'm not quite sure if we should take them seriously. But if they do it arbitrarily, I'm wondering if those generals are actually anti Trump generals.

[Amy McRa]

The truth is, Denver, During World War II we had nine five star generals and 13 four star generals and admirals. This doesn't make any sense. And the other thing about it is if you want to go back to World War II, hey, hey, you know, the Air Force was a part of the Army. Are we, we going to go back to that? Okay, I mean here's the thing. A lot of people don't even care about this. But, but if you look at what Hegseth is saying here. I don't understand the reasoning behind it. If he's thinking that it's going to save money, it's not going to save money. You're cutting what, a dozen generals? That's like nothing in terms of money. Is it going to fix the bureaucracy of the Pentagon? You know, I worked in the Pentagon. I got to tell you, when you take generals away, the bureaucracy is still there. I actually think it's going to get worse. Why? Because people are used to having decisions made at a certain level. So if you take some of those generals away now, those decisions still need to be made. They just need to be made by other generals, which is going to slow things down. You're just giving more people more work to do. It doesn't make any sense. And here's the last thing I'll say about this. The, the military, as you know, Denver is an up or out system. And so you want to keep good people. How do you keep good people? You keep good people by promoting them. So to me, having 44, four stars is, is a good thing because you're able to keep people for, for 25, 30, 35, 40 years who know what they're doing. Okay? We don't want to just get rid of them. It's an upper out system that frankly, Pete Hegseth couldn't be a part of because he couldn't get promoted.

[Denver Riggleman]

Ma' am, you said something. First of all, nine five star generals. That's 11 four star generals plus a brigadier general, number one. Number two. I'm just going by total stars. If you're talking about 12 generals, what's their total salary? Plus basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, city, lived off base. You're talking about, let's even talk fringe and medical. 3 to $3.5 million. So. Per year, by the way. Per year, Amy. So three to three and a half million dollars. Say it's all general. Say it's. Oh my God, amy. Say it's $10 million a year. That's still only 10% of the projected cost of the parade that Donald Trump wants to fill in his honor. So what are we talking about here? So now we're Talking about between 3 and 10% of the total cost, getting rid of those generals. Right? So here's the thing. Just don't have the parade and you, and you've, and you've cut your cost. You've done it, Mike. That's why we're so genius. Here's the other thing. Back to the parade. You know what scares me is a picture of somebody standing in front of a tank like Tiananmen Square.

[Amy McRa]

Yeah.

[Denver Riggleman]

What scares me is people being tackled because they're getting in the way of a military parade. I think that would be some of the worst images we have coming out of the Capitol. So any. So we have so much incompetence, crazy narcissism and psychopathy. Right. That's going on right now in the United states government, the DoD. So anyway, I just. It's insane.

[Amy McRa]

Well, it's insane. Before we move on from this topic though, there's, there's a, something I want to touch on because I'm still hearing it a lot among the conservative friends and circles that I'm am, you know, involved in. And I am involved in some. It's the recruitment piece. So this notion that Pete Heath has and the Trump administration have said, look, the recruitment, the numbers are way up because of us. It's because of Donald Trump being strong. And we're getting out all the WOKE stuff from the military and that's why the recruiting is up. Here's the truth, guys, and this is what this show is all about. It's about the truth. The truth is recruiting is going up. It has been going up at the same rate for the last year. It's mostly a function of the economy and that's the facts. It really doesn't have anything to do with Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth or WOKE or any of that stuff. All right. And the other thing that people need to know and I think is really important is all of this stuff about recruiting could be meaningless. If you look at the fact that a quarter of the United States Army's first term enlistees right now, at least in the last two to three years, Denver aren't making the cut, meaning they're leaving. They're not finishing their four year enlistments a quarter. And why is that? Well, maybe it's because we're, you know, we're, we're, we're lowering the standards for people going in in order to meet those, those recruiting numbers to get that, those numbers up. We're, we're allowing more folks with criminal records, for example, in, you know, that a very small percentage of, of Americans even qualify or eligible to serve because of health and you know, weight restrictions and that sort of thing. So this is a real problem and I just, them taking credit for the, for the higher recruiting numbers is just a bunch of bullshit.

[Denver Riggleman]

It is. I don't know what I can add to this except this when you're talking about a quarter of army recruits not making it through, part of that could be physical fitness standards. But I have another truth bomb. I would like people to go look at statistics of how many of those individuals that don't make it are men. You know, one of the, I think the burrs you've had in your saddle a long time is this ridiculousness on dei. And as I'm listening to you talk and you're a stellar, decorated career, Amy, my wonder is total. I bet you a lot of that 25% are men that couldn't hack it, couldn't hack the standards, and are out. And I would love to see those statistics. But as far as gross numbers, that's why this DEI argument is ridiculous. That's why the lies about why they're enlisting is ridiculous. We know it is a function of the economy. All of us in the military know enlistment goes up when there's more fear about the economy because they want a stable paycheck, they want to get health benefits. How do I know this? In 1992, I enlisted in the United States Air Force, Amy, because I needed health benefits. My wife was pregnant. I needed to do something with my life. That's really largely why people enlist. And again, that's why I love the show right there. That's all I got to add in. You already crushed that.

[Amy McRa]

Well, the last thing I'll say, and I know I said that before, I just have to stand up a little bit for troops in the last 10 years who happen to be trans because they're getting kicked out right now, and they have been serving honorably, you know, and have been making the cut. And so for Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration to kick them out, and it's just, to me, it's wrong and it's not what our country should be doing, but we can move on.

[Denver Riggleman]

I agree. No, I agree.

[Amy McRa]

So the Republicans and Donald Trump want to slash Medicaid. $880 billion is what they want to cut from Medicaid. This is a really, really important issue that I think a lot of people are not focused on enough. But I want to turn it over to you and just say, hey, tell our listeners what. What is Medicaid?

[Denver Riggleman]

Okay, first of all, Medicaid is something that most districts rely on when you're talking about individuals who need help, kids, they're below a certain level of income, and they need assistance for certain medical activities, whether they be checkups, whether they be pregnancies, women's health, all of that. And Amy, you're like, well, Denver, why would you be so knowledgeable on how Medicaid works? Right? And first of all, I was in Congress. People say that, but you know what, I'm going to raise my hand. Amy. My wife and I were on Medicaid when I was going through the University of Virginia. I was on grant money for ROTC scholarship. That grant money was $150 a month. In order to get through college. I had to bounce at a local bar because you can see with my physique, people were terrified because I was, I was sort of like a smaller version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, just strong, good looking, you know, very handsome. But the other thing too is I.

[Amy McRa]

Also had to hard to picture, hard to picture.

[Denver Riggleman]

Well, and you know what, I'll send you some of my younger pictures. But you know, and the other thing too though is with, I put in doors for Heckinger. So, Amy, if you ever need an entry door or sliding door, I'm your guy. Or even a storm door. But we made about, with all that, I made about 4 to 500amonth. I can only work certain hours. And in order to have our child, we had to be on Medicaid. So I, I, I don't think people understand that so many red rural districts are Medicaid dependent. As you know, I know that with the fifth district of Virginia, many of those are actually reliant on Medicaid or the aca. So I think it's sort of incredible to me that we're looking at an $880 billion cut on Medicaid. But we have seen a little bit of pushback. Amy, I don't know if you saw this. Congressman Don Bacon from Nebraska, who is a friend of mine, is saying he's not voting for this, which could really throw this into a turmoil because now he said there's about another two dozen Republicans that are secretly against this. Now what that translates to, who knows? Amy? But again, Medicaid is for underprivileged individuals. You know, some of them income challenged that need the type of medical assistance or aid and specific health activities that they couldn't otherwise afford or have the insurance for.

[Amy McRa]

Yeah. And in Denver, you know, there are 64 current House Republicans that represent districts that have a higher than average Medicaid enrollment number. So that's real. That may be why some of these guys are finally stepping up.

[Denver Riggleman]

You're scared.

[Amy McRa]

But, but here's some facts that people need to know about Medicaid. 40% of children in The United States are covered with their healthcare coverage by Medicaid. 80%, 80% of children below the poverty line are covered by Medicaid. One in four adults with disabilities, 70% of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. Special needs kids, kids with mental illness. And how is it funded? It's funded by the states and the federal government. The federal government funds about two thirds of Medicaid. The states cover about one third. But the states, as you know, Denver, administer it. And the states can decide who gets it and who's covered and who's not covered. And so that's why you see the different, different states have different variables in terms of coverage. You also see differences in the states because some states, frankly, have more people who are in need of that kind of coverage. So for example, Virginia, where Your state is 17% of the population, has their health coverage by Medicaid. In my state In Kentucky, it's 28%. 28%. So, and that is also a function of what states expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. So some, not all states did that. And so, you know, when we're talking about cutting Medicaid, we're talking about cutting the very coverage for the most vulnerable people in our country. Children, people with mental illness, people with disabilities, seniors. That's who we're talking about. And you just mentioned rural hospitals. We have hospitals in Kentucky in counties where the hospital is the primary economic engine.

[Denver Riggleman]

That is correct.

[Amy McRa]

So if you cut that, you're not only cutting health care to people that need it, you're cutting all the, all of the jobs associated with providing that health care.

[Denver Riggleman]

How much truth and facts?

[Amy McRa]

People don't think about that. Enough.

[Denver Riggleman]

I don't know if there's enough truth in facts that we can throw out on this show. Here's the thing. Virginia's 5th district, before it was redistricted, seven out of the 17 federally funded health centers were. In my district. There's 11 congressional districts. Amy, think about that stat. Also, if you look at Cook PVI, the political voting index, the more you get an R plus in a lot of these districts, R plus 7 to R plus 10, and you go into R plus 20, there's a direct correlation between that at times between Medicaid or federal assistance to the actual Republican population or how big that PBI is. So when I. The thing about common sense, about facts and truth, which you're spitting like fire, and we like to do this on here, is that a real Republican who was brought up to be against Medicare, to be against this type of federal funding, which, that's how Republicans were brought up, right, Amy? No, we don't want federal funding. Right. That's a tax thing. We're not here for that. That's not how it works. The hell with the aca, the heck with Medicaid funding. Do you know what Republicans, when they open their eyes, do you know when they're actually for Medicaid funding? When they go to their district, when they talk to the people that are sick, the ones that are dying, the ones that rely on fairly funded health centers, but also hospitals, because if they don't have that hospital, they frickin die. And that's why you see Republicans like Don Bacon, it's like, wait a minute, I won by two points in my district. Can't take Medicaid away.

[Amy McRa]

Well, and here's another thing. It's not only just hospitals, but it's home health care. You know, we've kind of made a push in this country to go away from institutions on some of this stuff to providing health care for, you know, mentally and disabled folks in the home. And this was helping that. The other thing that is interesting to me, the Republicans, we talked about this in a previous show, so go back and listen, is this idea of, oh, these Republicans want, Trump wants women to have more babies. Okay, so how do we, how do we incentivize women to have more baby? Let's give them a $5,000 check per baby. That's an incentive, right? Denver, 41% of births in America are paid for by Medicaid. So you're cutting Medicaid. Do you know how much it costs for the average hospital stay for a birth of a child in this country?

[Denver Riggleman]

Can I make a guess?

[Amy McRa]

Yeah, guess.

[Denver Riggleman]

Let me make a guess. 115,000?

[Amy McRa]

No, not quite that much. That's a lot. 18,000. 18,800. But still, that's 18,000.

[Denver Riggleman]

Let me have another guess. 18,000.

[Amy McRa]

My point is this. You're trying to hand women a $5,000 check to have a baby and then you want to cut their health coverage. How much is that? That's not going to jive there. It doesn't make any sense.

[Denver Riggleman]

The other thing too, Amy, right. If they're under a certain poverty line, right. Or you have a special needs child that cost balloons over the life of that child. That's what Medicaid is for. So now you're looking at an exponential cost increase after your $5,000. You know you're running a baby mill, right? Like a puppy mill, right? You're like, I'm just gonna get. I don't. I'm gonna get $5,000 a baby. The issue is, if you have any issues financially and you don't have Medicaid, I. It's an exponential cost factor. Yeah, exponential.

[Amy McRa]

And the other thing is most Americans do not want to cut Medicaid. Only 19% of Americans think that Medicaid should be cut. And I. I don't know how you feel I'd be interested in your. Your thoughts on this, Denver. I'm somebody who actually thinks we ought to expand coverage you get. Because you know what Medicaid doesn't cover? Doesn't cover dentistry.

[Denver Riggleman]

Nope.

[Amy McRa]

It doesn't cover psych, psychiatric care. These are really important things.

[Denver Riggleman]

Part of what my company does is health tech. We're building technologies in order to streamline insurance verification and claim adjudication to help outcomes for patients and doctors. We're using some very complex tech, which seems like a very simple notion. When I was in Congress, I sponsored an act called the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act. Elsa, I was accused of being a communist. What Elsa did was it provided dental coverage to kids with congenital diseases or were dying. It was not covered. So when you're talking about dental coverage and how important it is, I remember, you know, there's about 100 kids around me with parents, and they were in tears as they were trying to push. We finally got elsa through the 1 16th. We almost had it. I turned that bill over and it got passed in the 1/17. And even today, parents and their children send me pictures. Sorry, you a little emotional. I think that, you know, as I've become a little bit more mature in my age, Amy, as you can tell, you know, it's almost. When I ran for Congress, I was like, there's no way we should have government health care on any level. Not even understanding that there's already government health care with Medicaid, Medicare. Right. We already have that. Amy. I think I have absolutely evolved in the notion that we need private and government options. I think we need to expand our footprint, our healthcare footprint. I think if we do that, it actually provides more of an economic base of healthy individuals who could be more productive for society. But there's another thing. If we take away that it's about care and compassion in the richest country in the world. I think as I've gotten older and I've seen the issues not only in Congress, but in my own district, with my own family, I think there's empathy that can be combined with responsible maintenance of these programs and Responsible funding. So that's where I'm at now.

[Amy McRa]

No, and that, that's really well said. There's, there's another, there's a lot of myths about Medicaid. There, there's one other that I wanted to touch on and get your thoughts on. And this is from, this is a quote from Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican you probably know from Texas. Okay. On social media, quote. And he's talking about undocumented immigrants. Medicaid is meant for American citizens who need it most, seniors, children, pregnant women, and the disabled. But liberal states are finding ways to game the system and make taxpayers cover health care for illegal immigrants. Okay? So I just want to break that down a little bit so that our listeners know under federal law, immigrants who lack legal status, they are not eligible for federal Medicaid benefits. In other words, no federal money can go to anyone who is an illegal immigrant. Undocumented immigrant. There are 14 states that, on their own, remember, states fund Medicare of one third of Medicare. So states do have a role here. 14 states have decided that they will expand coverage, they will pay for it to non citizen immigrant children. Okay. And seven states have said that they will expand coverage to some adults regardless of immigration status. So my point in bringing that up is the states have, y' all, everybody wants states rights. Everybody wants the states to do their own thing. But then Rep. Crenshaw is so upset that, that these states decide on their own to pay for children to get health coverage. I, I don't know. I, I think it's, they, it's, they're, it's perfectly within their purview to do that. They're paying for it. Right.

[Denver Riggleman]

I think that when you're talking about individuals that take Medicaid, I don't think the states understand or the people in their states understand how wide ranging the authorities are for states to spend that money to fill in gaps within Medicaid. That's why Virginia eventually accepted that money because. And Amy, I don't think people realize when you're talking in the hundreds of billions or tens of billions of Medicaid aid, that money is well spent for individuals that are in bad shape. You know, and I don't remember, I know Virginia did. I remember if Kentucky took the money.

[Amy McRa]

Kentucky has expanded Medicaid.

[Denver Riggleman]

Yeah, expanded Medicaid. So I remember expansion of Medicaid. As you remember, that was a huge, like I told you before in the show, it was a huge political issue. And everybody in the GOP was like, you can't do it or you're not going to get elected. Expanding Medicaid is evil. It's awful. It shouldn't be on the taxpayers. People don't understand that there's a cascading effect if health care is limited at the beginning, like you said. Amy, I'm just sort of piggybacking off your point. If it's limited at the beginning, there is a cascading effect of bad that happens when those people have to go to hospitals and things like that. It's exponential. I just don't, I don't think people grasp that. It's already there. It's already being done. And if you're talking about an $880 billion cut, that is going to, that is going to put so much pressure on the health system, even down the road, outside of even the initial issues that happen with that. Yeah.

[Amy McRa]

And we can't forget why they want to cut these things so bad. It's to pay for their tax cuts for, you know, the richest among us. You're literally taking health care away from children, people who are disabled, seniors, the most vulnerable in our country. I just. The other myth that we may or may not have time to get into is this work myth. You know, the people on Medicaid just, they don't, they don't work. And if they, it discourages people from working. I don't know if you have stories or background on that. I. That's not to say that there aren't. That. That isn't a possibility for a very small portion of people. But the data shows that 8 out of 10 Medicare recipients are in working families. 8 out of 10. And the other, the other two are mostly either students, ill, sick or caregivers. So to me, it's that. That is not a good analysis of Medicaid as to why we should cut this program.

[Denver Riggleman]

It isn't. And, you know, it's funny, again, if I was running for office right now on the GOP ticket, I couldn't even say any of the things that we're talking about, Amy, any of the true statistics, any of those facts. I just have to say the 880 billion needs to go away because we need to cut the deficit. When we're looking at, you know, equal and awesome spending, and I say awesome, not like it's great, like just incredibly, just a massive amount of spending on defense. Right. And when you're looking again, people need to listen to our old shows about the deficit and the debt and what that does. Right. So there you go.

[Amy McRa]

So now it's time for quick Shots this week, air traffic controllers and the Newark region. Newark airport lost radio and radar contact with planes due to an equipment failure. They've had personnel shortages. So they basically shut things down. Denver, how did it get to this?

[Denver Riggleman]

You have awful management with Sean Duffy and a incompetent administration that fired FAA individuals don't understand technology or how modernization works. When you have actual reality TV show hosts that are in charge, you might get these kind of issues like having the Kardashians run dhs. So I think that's where we're at right now. I think you have a Sean Duffy, you have idiots that cut their staff. We don't have the funding to actually support it because we had Elon Musk and doge, some weird 20 year old kids with weird name and weird handles behind their names. And then you have Sean Duffy, a reality show host by the way, was on the financial committee with me, Financial Services Committee with me. I think again, it's that when you have that many factors going into decision making, you have fantasy idiocy and ignorance. I think when you put those three things together, you have issues like that.

[Amy McRa]

The thing about Sean Duffy is he actually voted against more funding for the FAA in 2019. In addition, the infrastructure law that Biden and Democrats passed passed despite 200 Republicans voting against it. For years they have voted against infrastructure and, and against funding the faa, their equipment, their personnel. There's a Republican, in my opinion, sort of war on public servants and the federal government for many, many years. And to turn around and say, oh, this is the Democrats fault after, and you said it, after Doge fired 400 workers at the FAA. These weren't just like, you know, desk workers. These were the, the, the men and women who maintain the radar systems. These are the men and women who, who do aviation safety. They fired them only to have to rehire them back. Look, if you, if you're an air traffic controller, and I'll never forget this, when I, when I was a pilot and a young flight student going and, and learning how to fly, they took us up to one of the ATC towers to see how it all works. Is a tough job, Denver. It is a tough, stressful job and they're not paid enough. They continually get frankly on, in my opinion, by mostly Republican lawmakers who lump them into this sort of federal bureaucracy of, of, of people that somehow they disrespect. And to me, this is a system that we absolutely have to invest in. It should have been done years ago and it was frankly held up by guys Like Sean Duffy.

[Denver Riggleman]

Why the truth get in the way of a good story, Amy?

[Amy McRa]

Yeah.

[Denver Riggleman]

Or a dumbass story. Yes, ma' am.

[Amy McRa]

Already we are going. Did you know we are going to bring back Alcatraz? Now, Donald Trump, on a social media feed, announced that he's directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, dhs, the FBI, to reopen and rebuild Alcatraz to house America's most ruthless and violent offenders. We're going to make America great again by doing this. What do you say to that then?

[Denver Riggleman]

Dumb.

[Amy McRa]

Dumb. Have you ever been there? To Alcatraz?

[Denver Riggleman]

No, I haven't. You know, I haven't been arrested yet, Amy, but I'm looking to just so I can get to Alcatraz. No, I've never been there. It's just. It's so dumb. It reminds me of the Clint Eastwood movie, right? Where Escape from Alcatraz or Escaping to Alcatraz. But you know what we could use that money for? I wonder how much it would take to refurbish Alcatraz. It'd be the tens of millions, right?

[Amy McRa]

Oh.

[Denver Riggleman]

You know, they'd have to put in new sewers, you know, I would think.

[Amy McRa]

Right.

[Denver Riggleman]

There's all kinds of stuff that you would have to do in order to get that done. Plus, his friends would be doing it, I'm sure. It'd be a sole source contract, one of his contracting buddies. So it'd be complete graft. Did Doge approve this? Maybe we should call Elon. So, but here's what I think. I think it's. I'm going to try to come up with a really good term for this. I think it's dumb.

[Amy McRa]

Well, again, it's a. It's a solution without a problem. Right. I mean, do it. Do our federal prison systems that they're in disrepair. We need a new one. I mean, it's dumb. I have been there. I just went there last summer. By the way, it's a national park. It was closed down as a prison in the early 1960s. It's my, my son loved going there. It was really cool. There's a lot of history there. But to refurbish that and make that a prison again, it's just, as you said, dumb. Okay, moving on. Trump doesn't know if he needs to uphold the Constitution. Right. Even though he swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, he said in an interview this past week, he was asked if he agreed that every person in the United States is entitled to due process. And this is what he said, quote, I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know, really.

[Denver Riggleman]

Okay. You get to a point where you wonder if he's being deliberately obtuse, if he has mental issues, if his IQ has already always been that low, or honestly and cynically, he's talking to his base. Because when you look at some of the interviews that are going on with MAGA Trump supporters and something that I've been warning about for a long time, they don't seem to care about the Constitution as long as Trump wills it or as long as he says it. So, Amy, there is a little part of me the other three things could absolutely be true. Deliberately obtuse, right? Low iq, mentally deranged. But I do also believe it's a messaging tactic in some ways to a base that doesn't understand the Constitution anyway. And when you hear some of the interviews, like you just have to get all immigrants out or, you know, a lot of them want to use the military. They want to suspend basic rights, constitutional rights to do this, I think it scares me that there's voters who actually support those statements from Donald Trump.

[Amy McRa]

Okay, India and Pakistan, this is a really dangerous situation going on right now on the other side of the world. Not the other side of the world for you, but the other side of the world for me. A few weeks ago, non state actors that were potentially supported by the Pakistani government had a terrorist attack on Indian civilians in the Kashmir, killed 28 civilians, and India vowed to respond. They did respond. They lobbed missiles into Pakistan in areas of Pakistan that had not been previously ever attacked by India. Is a very scary situation right now. We don't have a great, we don't even have ambassadors to these countries at the moment with our current administration. But these are two nuclear armed countries going at it. What do you think, Dan?

[Denver Riggleman]

We warned them. People need to go back and look at the nuclear proliferation show. They need to look at our interviews. They need to subscribe to YouTube. You need to go look at what we just talked about with an impact stand being nuclear power. You need to look. So when you have something that, and I'm going to be very blunt right when you talk about the definition. So why is India really mad? You had Muslims killing mostly non Muslims, so you automatically have this religious conflict, this cultural conflict. But India and Pakistan haven't been friends for a long time. And when you look at the disputed territories in Kashmir, that's something that we've always worried about, Amy, even the military, 20 years ago, right. I Mean, that's something that's always bothered the United States. But also, we had to learn about the India Pakistan conflict for a few reasons. Number one, we always thought it could go kinetic. We always were worried about the fact that we had two nuclear powers that might. I think they might have over 300 nuclear warheads between the two of them could actually come to blows. And then you have to worry about the geopolitical sort of escalation or cascading effect towards who supports India, who supports Pakistan, and what that does to state actors and how they respond in other terrorist organizations around the globe. Amy. That's what I think. This worries me. I've always been worried about it. But it's so odd that we just had this discussion a couple of weeks ago, and here we are talking about two nuclear powers after we talked about nuclear issues. Just. And proliferation, not what, two weeks ago. Amy that's what I think.

[Amy McRa]

Yeah. And you have two leaders, one of Pakistan and one of India, that. That are nationalistic, that do not want to back down. They do not want to back down. They do not want to be seen as weak. And that is a recipe for escalation. And we haven't really seen two nuclear powers go at it this way before. So I'm very worried.

[Denver Riggleman]

Yes, I am, too. And.

[Amy McRa]

All right, you know, last.

[Denver Riggleman]

Okay, let's go. Let's go.

[Amy McRa]

Last thing here. The US government has ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to end its diversity, inclusivity and equality programs within its DEI programs within 10 days. So U.S. government, U.S. embassies sent a letter to the city of Stockholm saying, end your programs. Seriously. So the city authorities there in Stockholm have. Have said, this is bizarre. They won't be complying. But when I looked into this. Did you know this then? Since February of this year, US embassies around the world have been sending letters to foreign contractors making similar demands. So basically, our government is now going around the world and saying, look, anyone that is purchasing goods from where the US government is purchasing goods from you. And even if you're a foreign country or a foreign city, you have to comply with our executive order.

[Denver Riggleman]

Like, seriously, first of all, just talk about national sovereignty, the fact that they don't really work for us. I mean, all other countries and governments. But here's the thing that would make me laugh. I'll say, okay, you're telling me that I have to stop Di Dei stuff. Who the hell have you hired? RFK Jr. Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Mike Waltz already Fired. Right. All these other. Wait a second. You have hired the least competent, lowest IQ individuals in the world and you're telling us who to hire and how to do business? You're hiring these idiots and we're trying to tell people what to do and I just don't know. Again, I've said this before. You almost lack the words for the hubris and the lack of respect of our country's government towards other governments that have been our allies. And I think the long lasting effects last for decades.

[Amy McRa]

Look, Republicans used to be this party of like, let's not get involved in commerce, let's not have government dictate economies. And, and that's like communist type of stuff. But now we're trying to like force other countries to go along with our own directives. I mean, this is just.

[Denver Riggleman]

Anti Democratic, anti common sense. Yes.

[Amy McRa]

Okay, let's move on to Cheers because we want to end on a good note and there have been some good notes this week. The first one is, and we're gonna have a double shot today. Double shot. Cheers. The first one is to Prime Minister of Canada.

[Denver Riggleman]

Yes.

[Amy McRa]

Mark Carney. Right. For defending the integrity of his country and telling Donald Trump to that. That Canada was not for sale. Cheers to him.

[Denver Riggleman]

That's a Fox Trot Oscar right there if people want to phonetically think what that means.

[Amy McRa]

All right, the second one is a cheers to North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs for not only finally legitimately winning reelection of her seat back in November, but also withstanding and beating back the absurd amount of baseless lawsuits from her opponent that alleged that the election was stolen. So finally, all the 2024 elections are, are settled. Congratulations to that justice in North Carolina.

[Denver Riggleman]

Cheers to everybody who fights back against conspiracy theories stupid stop the steel bullshit. I appreciate people like that, Amy.

[Amy McRa]

Well, it's a great show.

[Denver Riggleman]

Oh my God. You know what though, Amy? You know people aren't going to be able to listen to this show unless they subscribe. And if they're not going to subscribe, I'm not really happy with. So when we do our live show, you better subscribe because if you want to see this awesomeness live or you want to hear us on all these incredible shows, you need to download your favorite podcast, make sure truth in the bearers, right. The top truth in the barrel. Or you need to subscribe on YouTube. And by the way, when we do live, right, there's that, that comments that back and forth on YouTube, but you better follow us on the social media channels, all of them on X on Blue sky and on Truth Social. So go get them, Amy. This is the best show ever. Thank you. And it's so great to see you here from Dubai.

[Amy McRa]

Awesome. Great to be with you. Thanks for being a part of this, Denver, all the way from Dubai. If you're a listener, we want to see you in the chat for all of our shows. And we can't wait to start our live show and in June. Till next time, see you, Denver. See you everyone.

[Denver Riggleman]

See ya. Cheers. Ugh.

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