Bonus Pod: POTUS to the Dept of Ed "You're FIRED" plus the 'Trump' Card

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz: Bonus Pod - POTUS to the Dept of Ed "You're FIRED" plus the 'Trump' Card

Release Date: March 20, 2025

In this bonus episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz," co-host Ben Ferguson delves into three pivotal stories shaping the American socio-political landscape. Hosted by Senator Ted Cruz and presented by Premiere Networks, the episode offers an incisive analysis of recent presidential actions, economic developments, and immigration policy changes under the Trump administration.

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1. President Trump's Initiative to Dissolve the Department of Education

Timestamp: 02:53

Ben Ferguson opens the discussion by addressing President Donald Trump's landmark decision to close the Department of Education. Citing poor performance metrics, Ferguson elaborates on the administration's rationale:

"If you take a look at our education process and if you look at the charts, they're at number 37, 38, 39 and 40... We're number one in cost per pupil. So it's pretty bad." [02:53]

Ferguson explains that the Trump administration aims to return educational governance to the states, arguing that local control will enhance efficiency and outcomes. He highlights comparisons with successful education systems in countries like Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and China, emphasizing that decentralized control can lead to improved educational standards.

Additionally, the administration is championing school choice, advocating for parents to have the autonomy to select the best educational institutions for their children. The directive to Education Secretary Linda McMahon includes:

"Take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states..." [05:08]

Ferguson underscores the potential transformation this policy could have, urging supporters of school choice to engage with their state officials to advocate for similar measures.

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2. Decline in Gasoline and Egg Prices: A Win for Consumers

Timestamp: 06:32

Transitioning to economic news, Ferguson discusses the significant reduction in both gasoline and egg prices, attributing these declines to strategic measures undertaken by the government. Notably, the average wholesale price of eggs plummeted to $3.10 per dozen, marking a 47% decrease from $6.55 earlier in the year. This drop is linked to the containment efforts against avian influenza, which saw the culling of over 23 million birds in January alone.

Ferguson references the Agricultural Secretary's statements:

"Combating the avian bird flu is not something that we can do overnight... the price of eggs seems to be coming down..." [08:10]

On the energy front, gasoline prices have decreased by 42 cents per gallon over four consecutive weeks, now averaging below $3.00 per gallon in more than two-thirds of gas stations. The administration credits this downturn to enhanced domestic production and a steadfast commitment to energy independence:

"Drill baby, drill... America has more than enough resources to take care of itself and to lower prices for all Americans." [08:47]

Ferguson positions these price drops as tangible benefits of the Trump administration's economic policies, reinforcing the narrative of fulfilling campaign promises to alleviate financial burdens on American families.

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3. Introduction of "Golden Visas" to Address National Debt

Timestamp: 10:34

In the final segment, Ferguson explores President Trump's proposal of Golden Visas—a program requiring a $5 million investment from foreign nationals seeking residency in the United States. Intended as a strategic move to infuse capital into the national economy and reduce federal debt, this initiative has sparked debate.

During a conversation with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, President Trump elaborates on the potential impact:

"At $5 million, you're getting a lot of things, but you're getting $5 million. Let's say we sell a million of them, that's $5 trillion." [11:42]

Ingraham raises concerns about the ethical implications and the vetting process for applicants:

"Why should our citizenship be purchased for any amount of money?... Why should any American kid become a computer?" [12:39]

Trump responds by assuring strict vetting procedures and the capability to revoke visas if necessary:

"They're going to be properly vetted. But you know, when you're talking about a lot of people, I think it's going to be very successful... We give them their money back and we send them out." [13:03]

Ferguson highlights that this policy aims to position foreign investors as contributors to job creation and economic growth, portraying them as "customers" rather than burdens on taxpayers. He also addresses media skepticism, emphasizing the administration's commitment to safeguarding national interests while pursuing innovative financial solutions.

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Conclusion

This episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz" presents a comprehensive examination of President Trump's recent policies aimed at overhauling the Department of Education, reducing consumer costs through strategic economic measures, and introducing Golden Visas to mitigate national debt. Ben Ferguson provides detailed insights and contextual analysis, supported by authoritative quotes and data, making the episode a valuable resource for listeners seeking to understand the implications of these significant governmental actions.

For those interested in the intersection of politics and policy, this bonus pod offers a nuanced perspective on the Trump administration's initiatives and their potential impact on the future of American education, economy, and immigration.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson on Department of Education:
  "Nobody shows up to work. This is why the President's saying it is time to overhaul the system and save Americans a ton of money and give it back to the states." [05:08]

• Donald Trump on Golden Visas:
  "At $5 million, you're getting a lot of things, but you're getting $5 million... That's $5 trillion. We are now a unbelievably successful country, paying down tremendous amounts of debt." [11:42]

• Laura Ingraham's Concern:
  "Why should our citizenship be purchased for any amount of money?... Why should any American kid become a computer?" [12:39]

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This summary is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the episode's key discussions and insights, ensuring that both regular listeners and newcomers can grasp the essential points without accessing the full transcript.

Transcript

[Ryan]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Donald Trump]

Well, the only thing I totally admired about sleepy Joe Biden is the following. He'd go to a beach, he'd lay down in a cot, barely able to get his feet through the sand, and within minutes he's sleeping and you have cameras watching him. I could never do that. I would never be able to sleep like that.

[Ryan]

You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

[Ben Ferguson]

Good Thursday morning, Ben Ferguson with you. It's nice to have you on the 47 Morning Update. And there's three major stories we're dealing with. First up, Donald Trump to sign a major order shutting down the Department of Education. Education. I'll have the details in just a moment. Also, a major win for American consumers with gas and egg prices coming down quickly. What caused it? And will this have an effect on other products? That in a moment. And finally, Donald Trump moves to get rid of, well, major debt issues in this country with the introduction of golden visas. And he explains exactly how to work. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now. It is another promise that Donald Trump made to the American we're gonna get rid of the Department of Education because they're doing a terrible job and they're not actually educating our kids. In fact, we are the lowest ranking in many categories of industrialized nations. And that is why Donald Trump today is going to sign an order to shut down the Department of Education. Now, to be clear, as the left is already fear mongering over this, this doesn't mean that any child in a public school is not gonna be able to go to a school. He's made it clear it is time to hand this responsibility back over to the states so the states can do what is right for the students in their state. The President also said that many of the people that are working at the Department of Education, well, they're not even showing up for work or doing their job at all. Take a listen.

Department of Education, maybe more so than any any other place, has a lot of people that can be cut. They're number one, not showing up to work. Number two, they're not doing a good. And if you take a look at, take a look at our education process and if you look at the charts, because they have numerous charts where they do the top 40, we're at number 37, 38, 39 and 40. And recently they hit, during Biden's last few days, they hit last. So they were number 40. And yet we're number one in cost per pupil. So it's pretty bad. But we have a, we have a dream. And you know what the dream is? We're going to move the Department of Education, we're going to move education into the states so that the states instead of bureaucrats working in Washington so that the states can run education. And you have Norway, you have Denmark, you have Sweden, you have various Finland, you have various countries that do very well. You also have China that does very well in education, which is a pretty big tribute to China, I must say. 1.4 billion and they're in the top 10. And it's pretty amazing. So we can't blame size anymore. You know, normally you'd blame size. It's too big. How can you do it? But China's does it. So we think when you move it back to Iowa and Indiana and all the states that run so well, there's so many, I could name 30, maybe almost 40. Those will be as good as Denmark, those will be as good as Norway. And they'll be as good as any of these. I believe they'll be as good as any. Now then you're going to have 10 that won't be so great. You're going to have five that will not be good at all. But we'll work with them and we'll get them to be good. But what we want to do is always School choice. But we're going to do school choice and we're doing it. But we want education to be moved back where the states run education, where the parents of the children will be running education, where governors that are doing a very good job will be running education, not run. I drive through the city and I see, like, so many buildings, Department of Education, Department of big Buildings, a department, and by the way, they're empty. Nobody shows up to work.

Nobody shows up to work. This is why the President's saying it is time to overhaul the system and save Americans a ton of money and give it back to the states where they can run the system better and have better test scores and test results. Now, you also heard the President talk about school choice. It is something that he is a huge advocate for. Now, the order, I'm being told, from the White House directs the education secretary, Linda McMahon, to, quote, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely. It also mandates that any program or activities receiving remaining Department of Education funds should not advance DEI or gender ideology. The president making it clear this is about educating our kids. Now, get ready to watch many states move like never before to advocate for school choice. And if you're in favor of school choice, now is the time to go to work on your elected officials in your state, because this could totally transform education for countless kids all over America.

[Ryan]

Now, story number two.

[Ben Ferguson]

Donald Trump promised when he was elected that he was going to do everything he could to bring prices that gotten out of control back down for American consumers. For American families, two of the big things that American families need is gas for their cars and eggs to feed their family. Well, we now have some very big news. The average wholesale price per dozen eggs has dropped to $3 and 10 cents. How significant is that? It is down 47% from 6,55 per dozen from January 21st of this year. The White House has now stated. The White House on March 17th announced this drop in egg and gasoline prices, calling it a win for not only the Trump administration's economic agenda, but for the American people that have been hurting for so long now, Egg prices had soared in recent months, reaching an average high of $4.95 per dozen in January. That according to the Department of Labor. And then From January of 2024 to January 2025, egg prices increased by 54%. Now, my primary reason for the skyrocketing prices is the avian influenza avian flu, which has led to the culling of tens of millions of egg laying hens in recent months. This is something that was actually talked about by the USDA Secretary Rollins in a recent interview with, but saying that it was time for someone to take charge since the Biden administration refused to do it.

[Agricultural Secretary]

A long way to go. Listen, combating the avian bird flu is not something that we can do overnight. It is a long term effort. But the Biden administration, this was a major problem that they had two years ago. They talked about it, they wrote some plans about it and then nothing ever happened. So I think that it's really important to know and for your viewers that we are on it, we have a major plan we've rolled out as you mentioned. It's got five different points. But the really piece of at least right now, today, good news is that the price of eggs seem to be coming down and $85 per carton is not insignificant. But we've got a long way to go.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, the U.S. department of Agriculture said last month that more than 23 million birds were culled in January to contain the virus. And that followed more than 18 million in December of 2024 that were put down as well several weeks ago. The USDA also warned that egg prices could jump by more than 40% this year. But as you just heard there from the agricultural secretary, nothing is going to stand in the way of doing everything they can for the prices to continue to come down. So let's move to the other big issue and that is dealing with a nationwide average for gas and that is declined for four straight weeks and down 42 cents from one year ago. The White House pointing to data showing that the average for a gallon of gas is now under $3 at 299 or less at more than two thirds of all gas stations. The Trump administration has faced some blowback in recent days over its economic policies. The left continues to attack, particularly their tariffs and the declines in the Dow Jones Industrial average and nasdaq. But the White House saying we are staying the course, understanding that there is going to be tough days for America to have a major recorrect on pricing and tariffs are going to help us get that done. When it comes to the issue of gasoline, the president is saying drill baby, drill, making it clear that we're not going to be held hostage by the Middle east or any other nation, that America has more than enough resources to take care of itself and to lower prices for all Americans yet again, another promise from the president that egg prices would come down and the gasoline prices will come down, paying off in the first two months in office.

[Ryan]

And here is story number three.

[Ben Ferguson]

One of the core issues the President, United States of America said he believes is his job now is to cut government waste, fraud and abuse and to deal with our out of control federal deficit, which is in the trillions of dollars. Donald Trump is also looking at ways to bring more money into the country. And one way he says we can do it is by having a five million dollar payment to our government for a golden visa. He believes that this is a major opportunity for America to pay down our debt. Now, he was talking with Laura Ingram on Fox News Channel about these visas. And this is what he wanted the American people to know.

[Laura Ingraham]

The golden visa, which you also, you're obviously backing, probably is going to have to go through Congress. We'll see if they actually do that. But $5 million investment from a foreigner coming into the United States. Why should our citizenship be purchased for any amount of money? Especially given the fact that you're America first, given the types of people who have $5 million to throw down for a visa or for a permanent residency.

[Donald Trump]

That's why. Because I'm America first. Because at $5 million, you're getting a lot of things, but you're getting $5 million. Let's say we sell a million of them, that's $5 trillion. We are now a unbelievably successful country, paying down tremendous amounts of debt. It's all going to pay down debt. We're going to have very little debt separate. But if you did, think of it, if you did, $5 million. Now, generally, people that can pay $5 million are going to be job producers, okay? They're going to be successful. They're going to produce jobs. But here's another thing. Apple comes to me, a lot of companies come to me. They say, sir, we just made a deal to hire the number one student at the Wharton School of Finance or at Harvard Business School or anything else, or MIT or Stanford or any of. But they're going to throw them out of the country the day after graduation. They'll buy these.

[Laura Ingraham]

Why should any American kid become a computer?

[Donald Trump]

And by the way, they're going to call it either the gold card. The problem is there's many gold cards. Well, I will tell you what my people want to call it. It'll drive you crazy. It'll drive the left crazy. They want to call it the trump card because the trump card sells much better than the gold card. Everybody has a.

[Laura Ingraham]

So you're not worried about any unsavory people coming in and I'm worried about.

[Donald Trump]

Unsavory, in which case we're going to.

[Laura Ingraham]

They're going to be vaccinated, given the.

[Donald Trump]

Money back and they get out.

[Laura Ingraham]

They'll be properly vetted.

[Donald Trump]

Oh, they're going to be properly vetted. But you know, when you're talking about a lot of people, I think it's going to be very successful. If somebody's wrong, we get, we actually are very, very nice because it makes it a lot easier legally. We give them their money back and we send them out.

[Ben Ferguson]

One thing's for sure, the President, United States of America is looking for new ways to bring actual cash into the United States of America from people overseas. In other words, he's looking at them as customers instead of all the money coming from the American taxpayer. As for the program and the fear mongering, many in the media are doing this. They're saying what if an unsavory person comes in? You just heard the President make it very clear we'll kick him out. Maybe we'll give him a refund and we'll move on.

[Ryan]

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now and for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow. How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step 1 Go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step 2 Collect your welcome bonus. Come to papa. Welcome bonus. Step 3 Play hundreds of casino style games for free. That's a lot of games, all for free. Step 4 Unleash your excitement. Woo hoo. Chumba Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit champacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group void where prohibited by law 21+ terms and conditions apply.

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