← Verdict with Ted Cruz
Verdict with Ted Cruz
Huge, Transformative Victory: Invest America 401k Accounts for Every Newborn Child in America
00:48:43
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- [00:00]
A
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
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B
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, and Senator, this is one of those shows and I just want to tell everybody, please take this show and share it wherever you can on social media, because this is one of those shows that could have a massive impact on this country, dealing with a really important issue and a idea that is becoming very close to reality that could fundamentally change this country for every single child that's born.
- [00:37]
C
Well, Ben, that is exactly right. This week was a momentous week. It was a momentous week in Washington and in the country. So this week, the House Ways and Means Committee, which is the tax writing committee in the House, rolled out their reconciliation bill. And I will tell you, in that bill, there were four major victories of bills that I've introduced that I'm leading on that are all included in the House reconciliation bill. Number one, they included my legislation on no tax on tips. No tax on tips is a president, is a promise President Trump made. It is a powerful policy that benefits every waiter and waitress and taxicab driver and bartender and barber and hairstylist and nail salon beautician, everyone who operates on tips. It is a policy that benefits the working men and women of America. And the Republican Party is a blue collar party. So that is in the bill. Number two, I've been leading the fight to open up significant electromagnetic spectrum to auction to the private sector. 600 MHz of spectrum. When we do that, that will produce billions of dollars of new investment and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. That is in the House bill. They they've taken my pipeline language included in there. Number three, school choice. The House included a version of my school choice bill that is scholarship tax credits for contributions for scholarship granting organizations in the state that if it is passed, will be the most significant federal school choice legislation ever passed in history. And Monday's podcast, if you didn't listen to Monday's podcast, I did a deep dive on that idea. I thought it was going to come this week. And so I laid out how we had the opportunity to win the most significant victory for school choice of our lifetimes. The House included it. That's a huge victory. But the fourth, which is going to be the topic of this podcast, is legislation I've introduced called Invest America. Invest America is basically 401ks for kids. It is creating investment accounts for kids and it is seeding it with $1,000 and allowing contributions to let every newborn child in America accumulate resources. We're going to break that down because that is in the House bill. They call it the MAGA account. But it is my statutory language. And I got to say, when we enact that language, President Trump enthusiastically supports it. When we enact that language, it is going to have a profound impact on this country, not just this year or next year, but 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. I'm really excited. We're going to explain to you all about what that proposal is and how it's going to make a difference in your family, for your kids.
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B
Yeah, it's awesome. And it's something that, again, I'll say it, make sure you listen to the show and share it even with people that don't traditionally listen to political podcasts because this is not really that political. It's actually about the future of this country and could have a huge impact on every child that is born. I want to talk to you for just a moment though about what's happening right now in Israel. Do you know, just like here in the US Israel has their own Independence Day. In case you missed it this year, Israel's Independence Day was a few days ago on May 1. But for the people of Israel, freedom is nothing more than a daily struggle just to survive. There is no real peace, only terror, no joy, just suffering. The Israeli government recognizes the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews for ongoing help to make sure the elderly, the sick, the wounded soldiers and the impoverished families don't fall through the cracks. And that is where your gift to the Fellowship today will provide life saving aid, medicine, hearty meals, safety and comfort. I believe that when you bless the people of Israel, we unlock God's blessings in our own lives as well. So show your support for Israel's independence by making a life saving gift today. You can call to make your gift 888488 IFCJ. That's 888-488-4325. You can also go online to IFCJ.org that's IFCJ.org all right. So Senator, let's talk about the Invest America this idea. It is something you've actually been working on for quite some time. Plus you have a special guest joining us to explain it as well.
- [05:26]
C
Well, I'm very proud to welcome to Verdict, Brad Gerstner. Brad is a major Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He runs a hedge fund, Altimeter Capital, in Silicon Valley. He's been incredibly successful and he's become a really good friend over the past year. And he is calling in and joining Verdict from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. So he is there with the President, with David Sachs. He is on the trip. And I will tell you, when we talked about the four victories in the House Bill, the victory of Invest America, I don't think there is any person who has worked harder to make this a reality than Brad has. And I met Brad a little over a year ago. He and I have been working together on this since April of last year. And he has been working to build the business coalition behind Invest America and bringing together major CEOs, business leaders that see the incredible power of 401ks for every newborn in America. And so Brad from Riyadh on the other side of the planet. And it is, by the way, right now Ben and I are doing this. It is 11:26pm in D.C. it is 6:26 in the morning in Riyadh. And so he got up to join us. Brad, welcome to Verdict.
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A
Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me, Ben. Good to connect. And Senator, wow, just watching the launch of Invest America under your leadership today, the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith, the Speaker of the House. It's an exciting day and I can tell you it's also an incredibly exciting day. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the US Is back on its front foot, as you said. I'm traveling with David Sachs, who is spreading the accelerationists gospel of artificial intelligence. We want the world running on us, compute, on us AI. And so it's been a, it's been a really encouraging trip, but I'm thrilled to be here, thrilled to be on the Verdict because Invest America, I think could change the country.
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C
Yeah, look, I fully agree and I will say to our listeners, David Sachs is another incredibly successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He's been someone I've known for a long time. He's, he's one of the hosts of the all in podcast, which is incredibly successful. And Brad runs in that circle as well. And David is serving in the White House right now as the President's Chief advisor on artificial intelligence and chief advisor on cryptocurrency. And so he's doing a great job. And he and Brad are traveling to the Middle east. And just today they announced what, a trillion dollars in new investments in the United States. And so it's really potent. But let's do a deep dive into Invest America. Now. I'll tell you, Ben, do you know how I got to know Brad?
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B
How is that?
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C
So last spring I'm sitting at a poker table in Vegas. It's about one in the morning.
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B
I'm already in on this story.
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C
And I'm every.
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Every good story starts with the poker table.
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B
That's right. At 1:00am in Vegas.
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A
Yes.
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C
And every. Every year I do a fundraiser in Vegas where we play poker. It's great fun. We usually play till 3 or 4 in the morning. And we get, typically, a number of poker pros who come and join us and play. And so last year, I was playing with, among others, Phil Hellmuth, who is one of the greatest poker players to ever live. If Phil were on, he would say he is the greatest poker player to ever live. And, and Brad, you know, that's true.
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But 100% the world's greatest.
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C
He's got a good argument. He's got. He has got 15 bracelets. He's a World Series champion. And we're talking, and we're sitting there talking and playing. And I played with Phil a number of times. And he says, hey, do you know Brad Gerstner? I said, no, no, no idea. Who is he? And he said, all right, you got to know him. He's a great guy. He's like driving this, this great program to like, have every. Every baby and every child in America invested the stock market. I said, that's interesting. I want to know more about that. Phil pull out his phone and texted Brad and me connected us on, on sell that night at one in the morning, and we began working together starting in spring of last year.
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B
That's incredible. That's. That is how a friendship grows. And let me guess, that's how you guys both got in on this. Hey, what a brilliant idea to allow every kid in America that's got a Social Security number to be able to start investing in essence the day they're born. Understand that they have a chance to have a nest egg when they grow older. I've got three boys, Senator. This is something I think about. It's two things. I think about college, I think about saving for school, and I think about them having something to start out their lives with. And that's the essence of what you guys are trying to pull off here.
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C
So let me describe the vision of it, and then I want Brad to tell the story because he really did the shoe leather to make this work. But the vision of it, and it is included in the House Ways and Means draft right now, is that every newborn child in America will have an investment account created automatically opened for them and seeded with $1,000. $1,000 that comes from the government to start it. That's important to get it going. But even more important is that every one of those accounts, you can contribute up to $5,000 a year to those accounts in a tax advantaged way. And that money can come from friends, it can come from family, and it can come from your parents or relatives, employers. And I think that's a really big, we're talking about how that's a big accelerator and you can accumulate in a tax advantaged way. And there are two massive advantages for this. Number one, every child in America begins to experience the benefits of compound growth. And these accounts, by the way, they're not savings accounts, these are investment accounts that are invested in either ETFs or mutual funds that are invested in the s and P500. So it makes every newborn child an investor in the American stock market. That enables them. And look, as you know well, as our listeners know well, compound growth, the miracle of compound growth, is one of the great miracles of the world. And if you get people investing for a long time, starting at birth, you can get incredible numbers. So Ben, let me ask you this. You have a newborn child born this year, thousand dollars comes in to seed it, and through friends and family or an employer, $5,000 a year gets invested for the first 18 years of their life. If you assume 7% growth, which has been the historical average for the stock market, what do you think that 18 year old has at on his 18th birthday?
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B
I'm going to go with hundreds of.
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C
Thousands, if not over a million $170,000. $170,000. And by the way, this is not for a rich kid. This is every baby in America. If you're contributing all along, what do you think they have if they continue doing that until age 35, what is it? $700,000.
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B
There you go.
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C
Now that is transformational. But I'll tell you, that's not what Brad said that sold me on this. So Brad, when he talked to me about this, I said, all right, tell me your idea. And he pitched it. Here was the argument he made. I'm going to let him make it in about 30 seconds. But the argument he made is he said, look, young people, roughly half of them say they believe in socialism. They don't believe in capitalism. The real power of this is you're making every child in America a capitalist. You're giving them a stake in the American free enterprise system. You're giving them ownership. So you could have a 1012 year old kid pull out an app on his or her phone and say, wait a second, I own $100 worth of Apple stock. I own 50 bucks worth of Boeing I own 75 bucks worth of, worth of McDonald's. And when they go in and buy a Big Mac, they're like, wait a second, I'm not just a customer, I'm a stockholder. I'm an owner of this company. And I think that is profoundly powerful. And Brad, I want to give you credit because you have been a relentless evangelist. You have devoted thousands, if not tens of thousands of hours to this and this vision of I believe in it, but, but, but I would not have been sold on this idea had, had you not put in so much shoe leather and built such a strong business coalition behind it.
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A
Well, you described it incredibly well. And the reason I think we have such incredible support, incredible support in the business community. These are the world's, you know, greatest CEOs, you know, Jensen Huang at Nvidia, Rene Haas at Arm and Michael Dell and, and software cats that, you know at Oracle and Hitman and iheartmedia and, and Lisa sue at A and B, you know, Ryan McInerney at Visa or Bill McDermott at, you know, ServiceNow, Dara Kasha Shahi at Uber, and the list goes on. And notice, you know, on these CEOs, it's not a partisan issue and we have incredible bipartisan support as well on Capitol Hill, because every parent wants a better life for their kid, right? I grew up in rural Indiana. My dad was a first time entrepreneur and in 1978, in the Rust Belt, starting an auto parts manufacturing business with double digit inflation, double digit interest rates. We lost the house, we lost everything. So I understand profoundly what it feels like to finally be in the game, to finally own something. But for every parent who wants a better life for their kid, whether they're in rural Texas, whether they're in inner city Trenton, whether they're in, you know, rural Indiana, I'm talking every town, every main street in America, those kids will have a shot. They have skin in the game. The most powerful economy in the world is the American economy. For 75 years, the S&P 500 has compounded at 10.2%. And what has Warren Buffett told us? Start with a really small snowball, but a really long hill. And the longest hill you can possibly imagine is starting at birth. Almost every American today misses the first 25 years of compounding. That's nearly one third of your life. By starting these kids off early, we give every kid a shot. We unlock all of that human potential and the financial literacy, the hope and optimism and their opportunity to participate in the system is going to skyrocket. It's sad that less than half of kids under the age of 40 or folks under the age of 40 have a positive view of capitalism. Yeah, they're left out. They're not capitalists, they're not owners. So it's easier for them to feel like the system is rigged against them. This is going to change that by aligning everybody with our capitalist free enterprise principles.
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C
So let me ask a quick question. Brad, you mentioned your dad. You guys lost your home when you were a kid, so I did too. How old were you when that happened? I was in sixth grade, so I was in high school. And my parents were small business owners in Houston. And in the 80s, oil collapsed and my parents went bankrupt and we lost our business, we lost our home. I didn't realize you and I have been friends a long time, but we haven't talked about this, that we both went through the experience. It's a traumatic experience when you lose your home through financial stress and it makes an impact on a kid, whether sixth grade or for me it was 11th grade. But you never forget it.
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A
Well, I say in life you're either running away from something or running towards something. And to me it planted a seed. And that seed was that I didn't want my family to feel the pain that I was feeling at that point in my life. And you know, as a kid I. My life I thought, I thought was pretty good. But I felt bad for my dad, I felt bad for my mom because I saw them struggling. And so I know, you know, later in life, talking to mom, she's now turning 89 next or turning 90 here next week. Amazing, beautiful woman. But you know, she felt the guilt of not being able to provide, not knowing whether her child was going to have a better tomorrow. And you know, she is such a supporter of this idea because she said it would have taken so much pressure off her just knowing that her kids were going to have a shot. And so I think everybody deserves, you know, you and I have talked about this. See this with 1000 bucks in the S&P 500 and then get out of the way and let the magic of the private sector do its thing. We're going to have a thousand to one contribution by parents, you know, and we've done the study that it's not just rich parents who save for their kids. Here's a little known fact. You know, the reason poorer folks don't save as much is because of course they don't have savings accounts. This is going to disproportionately benefit the people who are least likely to participate in the market. And who is that? Right. Those are the people who are the lowest, bottom 50% of the economy today. Because it's hard to open up a custodial account for your child. Almost nobody does it. But if you start them off with an account and you make it really easy for these parents to Venmo in 20 bucks a week or 30 bucks a week, Right. To give up their Starbucks in order that their kid might be able to save a little bit more money. What we've learned is that cohorts of poorer families save at about the rate that the cohorts from wealthier families, if they have an account. And we're going to make it super easy for those parents to contribute.
- [19:44]
B
My dad was a police officer. I grew up. I would say lower middle class would be a fair way of putting it, but there was several times where we, you know, things got really, really tight, and my dad just put his head down and went to work as a police officer. And I remember thinking, if he only was able to at a younger age, start investing, especially even thinking about college. We knew that we were on our own. I mean, I knew that if I want to go to college, I better be either good at education, having great grades, or at a sport. It was made very clear to me. But I can't imagine how.
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C
By the way, Brad, Ben went to Ole Miss on a. On a tennis scholarship. So that's how he went to college.
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B
No, and I knew that. I knew that the pressure to get out was, if I'm going to go to college, I have to do. These are my only two options because there was no savings account, there was no college fund. There was nothing. And I look now as a father with three kids, and I sit there.
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C
Which kid did you forget? Ben.
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B
I know, right? One of the twins, right? Whichever one's my favorite.
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C
Today, I'm going to get you in trouble. Because whoever it is, he's going to listen and be like, dad, what about me?
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B
Exactly.
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A
And.
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B
And. But I sit there and I look at my dad and I'm. And I feel bad now because I'm like, I know he just put his head down and he made whatever he could make. Being a police officer, this could have been transformative, I think, for the pressure that you just mentioned. It seems overwhelming to set up an account. It seems overwhelming to start it. And so many parents just assume I don't have enough money to do it. So I'm not even going to be embarrassed and go in and Try to set up an account with a hundred dollars or fifty dollars to start that nest egg. This could be transforming. And parents that are just wanting their kids to have a better life, the number one thing that holds them back is the worry or the embarrassment that they're not walking in with enough money to start it.
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A
100% then. Well said. They call it in economics the cold start problem. Right? The cold start problem is I don't know how or I'm embarrassed or I don't have the time. Remember, lots of parents are working one or two jobs. You know, they not only do they not know how, it takes time, right, to set these things up, they're complex. And then you run into questions and then how do you fund it? And you know, you have to have that next nest egg to get started. So it will unlock that power. But let me talk about two other areas. We're going to get incredible private sector participation. So we now have companies representing ten millions of employees. And I mentioned a lot of them, you know, but literally from Uber to Goldman Sachs, from T Mobile to iHeartMedia, from AMD to the Southern companies, you know, an energy company. And we're just getting started, right? Wait until the president and folks on Capitol Hill and all these CEOs, wait until we have this, this set up. And we're going to ask every company in America to participate in this and it's going to become a feature of their corporate benefit program. And they're going to match and what we've asked them to do by joining the CEO council, they've committed to two things. Number one, that they, that they agree to do what they can to help get this passed. They think it's a great idea. But number two, they've all made a commitment to contribute to the count the accounts of the kids of their employees at a level of participation that makes sense for their company. And so I just had, you know, over here we're talking. Some people heard me talking about it yesterday, another couple companies, you know, set up. I was, you know, I was on Charlie Kirk last night and Charlie said, we're going to do this for our employees. And so, you know, I think that once people know about this, we're going to have broad based participation. And when they start adding $1,000 at birth or $2,000 in that in those first few years, you're going to double and triple those amounts that Ted was talking about through the power of compounding. So whatever number you get to starting at age 0, by age 18, if you start with twice the amount or three times the amount, it just skyrockets. But so that's corporations. But we're also going to have some other big announcements. We have philanthropists in this country. These are folks who, you know, may have millions of dollars, may have billions of dollars, may have hundreds of billions of dollars who've committed to. To adding dollars to the accounts of these kids. So we're going to make it really easy for philanthropy. Remember, we have $20 trillion of wealth transfer that's going to occur in this country over the next 15 years, you know, as the baby boomers retire, move on, et cetera. And many of these people want to give away this money during their lifetime. But if you're Michael Dell and you have over $100 billion, you simply can't give it away through charity fast enough. This gives you a financial infrastructure, right, in order to match. So Michael might say, I'm going to contribute to this 501c3 and match. For every kid in the state of Texas, or maybe every kid in the country, or maybe just every kid in the state of Texas whose family earns under $150,000, he's going to give $5,000 to each of those kids. So we're going to unlock the power of philanthropy for Invest America. And then finally, I'll drop this out there. I think you're going to see incredible experimentation at the state and local and church level. Right. This is going to. I've had states reach out to me, folks running for governor reach out to me. And you're going to be hearing some announcements where they say, in order to attract people to our state, we're going to launch them at birth. We'll take some of our tax revenue, you know, from alcohol and cigarettes, we'll take some of the, you know, that revenue, and we'll put it into account for a kid who's born in this state. And better yet, we may make, you know, in a bonus account if they graduate from high school in the state, because not only do we want to attract people, but we want to keep them here. And so listen, there's going to be a million entrepreneurial flowers that bloom on top of this. And all of it gets back to this fundamental fact. We have too few people who participate in the upside of America. 70% of people have no skin in the game. They'll never have an account during their entire lifetime. That compounds. We're going to change all that. And the senators leadership has been absolutely crucial in order to make it happen.
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C
So, Ben, let me ask you something?
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B
Yeah.
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C
Are you excited listening to this?
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B
I am, because I am. No, I am. And I think this is something that we've been missing. You know, you remember when I was working with the Bush administration, it was on Social Security reform because it was just a Ponzi scheme, in essence, where I was like, what are we doing? How are we not giving people more with investing? And this is one of those things that for me is about financial freedom. And it allows people a chance to succeed in the greatest country in the world and do it in a way that is just so smart. And I can't imagine what this is going to do for single moms, for people that are working nine to five jobs, two jobs, working hourly jobs. They say now I feel like even I can give my kids a better life. Because that's ultimately, I think, what every parent wants. They want to give their chance, their kid a chance to a better life than they live. And this is an example of starting literally at day one of their birth, saying, we've got you a nest egg now. Let's go and build on it.
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C
So, Ben, one of the things Brad was describing that has me really excited is the accelerator that is built into it. So seeding every account with $1,000 is valuable. By the way, there are 3.7 million babies born every year. And so $1,000 for 3.7 million babies at $3.7 billion a year, that means this will cost $37 billion over 10 years. This is a 4 to 5 trillion dollars tax cut. So $37 billion is a relatively small piece. But you want to talk about how it transforms America, that seed money is important. Even more important is simply creating the account. As Brad noticed, you know, two thirds of Americans will not have an investment account, will not be invested in the market. And we're creating a world where every child, every single child, from gazillionaire kids to a homeless kid on the street, suddenly has an account invested. The market that is transformative. But then the accelerator. So what Brad has worked for several years is he's brought together world class CEOs, some of the most prominent CEOs in the country. He mentioned Michael Dell. That was not theoretical. Michael is. Michael is a good friend of mine. He's a Texan, incredible entrepreneur, worth over $100 billion. Michael is the chairman of the CEO Council for Invest America. So Michael is leaning in hard. He's committed Dell Computers. When this passes, Dell will help fund the accounts for the kids of their employees. That's powerful. But as Brad Said also Michael is quite interested on the philanthropic side in supporting not just the accounts for the children of his employees, but more broadly having a bigger impact. I think we will see. Think for a second, Ben, about 401 s. Remember when we were kids, 401 s didn't exist.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Now just about every job at a big company, it's part of the plan. It's part of the plan. And the employer matches 401k contributions, makes their own contributions. It's a really attractive employee benefit. And what I like about this is the accelerator component that I think you will end up having real wealth creation that changes. Look, an 18 year old kid who's got a single mom who's not coming from money, who's living in a rough environment, who suddenly got a couple of hundred thousand dollars invested in the stock market, that changes their whole life. This is, this is life changing.
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B
And well, this, this also seems, I go back to the trickle down effect and you know, it's like 401ks. You remember when it was your grandparents and your parents when you go to get your first job, your first real job, like do they have a 401k? It's not the 21 to 23 year old that's asking that question, it's the parents and grandparents. I remember when I got my first job. Do they match? What do they match? They have a 401k. Imagine if you get that started in the mindset at age literally zero, that can transform an entire nation.
- [30:47]
C
So Brad, let me ask you something. How did you get involved in this to begin with? Because you were passionate in working on this. I got involved with you about a year ago, but you were passionate, involved in this long before that. What was the kernel of the idea that started this?
- [31:02]
A
Well, you know, you'll appreciate the Senator as a dad yourself, but you know, I have two boys, Lincoln and Jack, and they're 16 and 14. And one of the things we talk about a lot when we sit around the dinner table is when we see problems, don't complain about them. Right. Have a bias to action. Have a bias to action. Do something about it. Don't just sit around and complain. And so coming out of COVID I was showing them the investment accounts I set up when they were born.
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C
Yep.
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A
And we're talking about the power of compounding. And we were showing, they were talking about the stocks that they owned and I could see their excitement and they said, dad, when are we going to be able to, you know, have some control over what we're Investing in, we want to learn more, will you set up a Robinhood account for us, etc. And then we started talking about the wealth gap and we started, you know, my son Lincoln brought me something, you know, that was a headline and it said 93% of stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans.
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C
Yeah.
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A
And he said, dad, I feel like, you know, I'm glad you set this up for me when I was a kid, but I kind of feel guilty, like why can't everybody, you know, have this, this, you know, same benefit? And, and I said, you know, we got to fix this. And so he said to me, what are you going to do about it? And I turned to him and I said, no, what are we going to do about it? And we made a commitment as a family that we're going to do something about this.
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C
Yep.
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A
And you know, it's been, been one of the best parts of the journey. We set up a 501C3 called Invest America. And we literally, you know, just started, you know, making the calls and it was lining up like minded thinkers in the private sector and lining up like minded folks in Washington. And you and I have talked about this. You know, I had the good fortune when I was returning from studying overseas in 1990, 91 to show up in Washington and go work for the late and great senator from Indiana, Richard Lugar. Lugar was a Rhodes scholar, he was a mayor of Indianapolis, became a long serving senator, credible senator, and at the time he was working on denuclearizing the nuclear stockpiles coming out of the Cold War with Sam Nunn. And let's just say later in life I went on to have some success. And when I saw the senator in those later years, he said to me, you know, don't waste it. You know, remember those days, Remember those runs around the wall in the mall in Washington and make sure you do something that matters. And so as a family, we want to do something that matters. And I will say in the House, in the Senate, you know, you know, in the White House and in a broad bipartisan way. And that was something that was really important to me. We've had incredible support. And I said, I've never seen an idea with a better product market fit. Everybody I talked to in the private sector in Washington was intrigued by the idea. And but I remember we were speaking with then Speaker McCarthy in the House, Lincoln was in the meeting with me, we had an incredible meeting with the speaker and we walked out and I said to him, as we're Looking at the rotunda in the House, I said, every single good idea in America has started with a conversation just like that, right? As an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, nothing happened in Silicon Valley, right? Not Google, not OpenAI, not Facebook, right? Without a conversation on the back of a napkin that starts as an idea. And so I had started a few companies in Valley, I knew something about starting things. And we just got started and the snowball started rolling. And here we are three and a half years later, and I think we're on the precipice, your great leadership, the great leadership in the House and the White House of making this happen. And I agree with you. I think we're going to look back in 10 or 20 years and this, this is going to be a massive legacy of this moment.
- [35:17]
B
You just said a word a moment ago by the word, and it's become a bad word now and is bipartisan. It like, never happens anymore. So I'm going to ask both of you this. Is there a chance that this can be such a great idea that it is, in fact bipartisan and that Democrats and Republicans can work together like they used to 20, 30 years ago, when there are nonpartisan ideas that are just great ideas that are great for all Americans? And this one, by the way, I would actually argue, would skew more to helping those that are poor in this.
- [35:48]
C
Country than anyone else, unquestionably. And I'll give you some positive signs on this one. There are significant overlaps between this idea and, and an idea that Cory Booker had called baby bonds. And his idea was to create bonds and create a savings account for every baby born in America. And when he was running for president, he campaigned on that. And Cory's a friend of mine, Brad knows Cory well. I will say this is different from Cory's baby bonds because I was not a supporter of just the baby bonds of an investment account that is accruing interest. What really sold me on this was making a generation of capitalists was the fact that this money is not just a savings account, which is easy for Democrats to support, but rather it is investing in the equity markets. It is making children owners of the major companies in America. And that, to me, was really exciting. That being said, I think there's a good chance that we will get Democrats to support this. I'll say Dick Durbin, who is the Democrat whip and very liberal senator, although I've served with him on Judiciary Committee for 13 years. Dick Durbin, in a press story today, actually praised this idea and his comment about me that Dick is wicked smart. But what he said about me is he said, well, a stop clock is right twice a day. And I actually ran into Dick in the hallway and I said, dick, you praised me in the press. He said, it must have been a mistake. And I reminded him of the quote and he laughed and I said, dick, it's a good thing you're retiring. They might primary you in the Democrat primary for saying something nice about me. But it's. And I'll tell you, there was another Democrat senator, a freshman who was newly elected, who came and approached me and said, I really like this idea. This is interesting. And I said, well, look, so no Democrat is gonna vote for the reconciliation bill. That's gonna be a pure party line bill. So the actual bill that passes this, no Democrat will vote for. But what I told this Democrat freshman, I said, well, co sponsor my Invest America bill so you can make clear you support it. I think we've got a decent chance of getting Democrats on board. Brad did a good job of talking to them. And I will tell you a couple of things. So Brad was describing all the time and energy he put in. And he said quite modestly, he said, well, I've had some success in business. Ben, let me be clear. Brad is a billionaire. Like, he's got a crap ton of money and he could sit back and play golf all day long and never need to work again. And he'd be fine and his kids would be fine and his grandkids would be fine, but he's not doing that. A, he's got a ton of energy, but he has poured so much time and energy and money. So I will tell you, the way this got done is he was relentless. He was talking to everybody in the House. Why is this in the House bill? Because Brad was talking repeatedly to Jason Smith, the chairman of Ways and Means. He was talking repeatedly to Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House. By the way, I was too. I was talking to both of them. They're both good friends. He was talking repeatedly to me and other senators. I sat down with Brad this week with Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Finance Committee, who's drafting the tax portion of the reconciliation in the Senate. He's been talking in the White House to Kevin Hassett, who runs the National Economic Council, over and over and over again, he's been talking to the President. It has been that relentless. And by the way, President Trump weighed in directly with the speaker of the House and said, I like this idea, included. How did this idea get like a lot of the Press is shocked. Why is this in the House Bill? A big part of the reason is the president weighed in and said, I really like this idea. And so the House included it. That wouldn't have happened without Brad's efforts and my efforts making the case to the House, to the Senate, and to the White House. And I think we will get this done and it will have an impact when all three of us are dead and buried. This will still be having a profound impact.
- [39:50]
B
So for people that are listening, and this is when I get genuinely excited and they say, all right, I want to support this, what do they do? Is this one of those where you say, call your congressperson, regardless of party, call your senator? I mean, it sounds like the White House is on board, so you don't have to call them. But what is it that the American people need to do to help this get across the finish line as well?
- [40:10]
C
So I've got an answer to that, and I want Brad to chime in on this also. But I'd say, speak out. Use your voice and say, this is a great idea. And I like this. And Brad today was texting. So he and I started the morning early this morning, I did an interview on Squawk Box on cnbc, which I love doing. And Brad called in from Riyadh, by the way, you might think, okay, billionaire Silicon Valley investor in Saudi Arabia calling in to cnbc. Squawk Box. This is highfalutin. This is fancy schmancy. Brad sent me the picture of him. He was literally standing there holding his laptop in the air, like filming it on a zoom. It was as low tech as can be. And we did the interview together. But I want to tell you two things on this, because this is the answer to what you can do. One, when I finished that interview, and also when I finished the interview with Larry Kudlow, which I did this afternoon. This is so cool. In both instances, the cameraman who was filming us, like, the squatty. I haven't told you this, Brad. At the end of Squawk, the cameraman said, wow, I have a daughter who's a senior in high school. I'd love for her to have $170,000. And like, the cameraman on Kudlow said basically the same thing. I mean, it was. You want to talk about a message that resonates, people think, wait, this could really help my kid? And that was cool. But on the question of what you can do, and I'm so Brad, today at 11:36am he texted me, how are you tackling the Quote, this is socialism retort. And so there are some people online who are saying, I've seen that, by.
- [41:53]
B
The way, people are coming after you in the White House saying, this is socialism, straight up. So let's respond to that.
- [41:59]
C
Okay, So I texted him back, I'm just going to read you my text. I said, yep, it's the opposite of socialism. The definition of socialism is government ownership or control of the means of production or distribution. This is ownership and control by millions of citizens. It is making them capitalists. Online, people use, quote, socialism as a shorthand for any government spending or tax credits. But obviously, some is good and some is bad. And so I will say what, I will encourage our listeners to just speak out and say, look, helping people, creating a vehicle for our children to invest, to accumulate wealth, to transform their lives, to have resources, to get an education, to buy a house, to start a business, to climb the economic ladder much faster, that is incredibly worthwhile. And creating people who are capitalists and invested in the free market system that is, if anything, more valuable. And so I think adding your voices. And by the way, for some of the critics, they're quieted by the fact that President Trump enthusiastically supports this, but it is really transformative. Brad, what do you think about that? I kind of went on a rant.
- [43:15]
A
No, well said. Number one, I would say on Twitter or X, follow it at InvestAmerica24. So it's just add Invest America24. And what we're going to do there, like we've been doing for three years, we're just going to continue to post the updates so people can stay informed. Right. Secondly, as the senator said, weigh in. You know, use your voice. Use your voice in your social networks, direct people to follow it. We're building the movement, and the movement's going to last well beyond just getting the legislation passed. Remember, when we pass the legislation now, the Treasury Department is going to set up these accounts. And so, you know, we're going to integrate this into the financial literacy across the country. There are already 30 states that require financial literacy in high school. But think about this. It's hard to learn about financial literacy when your parents don't own anything. When you don't own anything and you have no prospect of owning anything. Now they're going to say, get out your phone, open up your Invest America account. We're going to talk about how you got $25,000 in that account, what it means to own a little bit of Nvidia or Berkshire Hathaway, how compounding works, how Stocks work, what voting rights in these companies mean. So, like, this is going to be a movement that lasts well beyond, you know, just getting the legislation, but certainly weigh in. And yeah, I want to underscore, Senator that. You know, the senator's leadership has been incredible here. But what will make this big and beautiful is by building a giant tent. I will tell you this. I have had former Democratic presidents, I have had lots of members of the Democratic Party in the Senate, in the House and across America tell me what a great idea this is. They can't wait until this happens for the benefit of their kids. Because I want to return to this fundamental principle. If you're a parent, if you've experienced having a child, you know, you would give the shirt off your back to your child. There's nothing parents want more than a better shot for their kid than the shot that they had. And this is the way that we do it. It unleashes economic mobility. It unleashes human potential. It aligns everybody with the Democratic remarket free enterprise principles which has made this country so great. You know, here I am in Saudi Arabia today. I'm looking out the window of my hotel, and I will tell you, while it's a very wealthy nation, the wealth is not equally distributed, Right? One of the powers of America is we have the greatest economic mobility in the world. But for too long, over the course of the last 30 years, we've had a concentration that, because the stock market has been the thing that's compounded all the value. And less than. Less than 3% of the market is owned by the bottom 60% of people. We're going to turn that on its head by getting everybody into the game. And so every rural town in Texas, Senator, where you have folks who want to vote for you, it doesn't matter. The color, the race doesn't matter. If you're working one or two jobs, you. You're going to have a lot more hope for your kid, and you're going to have an account that you can contribute to that future. So that's how I would weigh in, you know, and I hope people have an open mind. I think they will. You know, you mentioned Social Security, and obviously that's a sacred promise got to be met. And this is something totally different. But, you know, if I asked you guys, most Americans would have no idea whether that was passed by a Republican or a Democrat. Most Americans would have no idea about the political debates. Most Americans would have no idea, you know, how many votes it got in favor of it. Were they Republican votes or were they Democrat votes? Right. What people remember is doing something that helps America come together on Team America. Something that unites us, not divides us, right? Something that uplifts families around the country. And I can't think of anything more powerful than the power of Invest America accounts for all these kids. Board. You know, I'll leave you with this. 2026 is the 250th anniversary of this great American experiment, right? And the three folks on this, on the Zoom or on this podcast are living testaments, right? Our parents struggled, two of us had. Parents go bankrupt, right? And this country has been unbelievably good to us. We can unlock that power for millions and millions and millions more kids. And this is one of the ways we can do it. Lots of great ideas out there, but you know, we got work to do to get this passed. So I'm going to be back in Washington working with the senator, building that broad coalition, making sure that we get it done. And you know, and just can't thank you enough for your support.
- [48:13]
B
Well, they're listening. We're to follow you guys on X and I'm going to say it again at Invest America 24. At Invest America 24, don't forget we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you are. Share this episode. This is one of those that's really can make a difference in the future of this country. So make sure you do that and again, follow what they're doing in at Invest America 24 on X you can see a lot more about this and share videos as well in the center and I will see you back here in a couple of days.
- [48:51]
D
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- [49:19]
A
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.