Loading summary
Transcript39 lines
- [00:00]
Idris Calhoun
The phrase that Congress is the world's best nursing home, I think sadly has more and more evidence with every passing year.
- [00:17]
Jane Coaston
I'm Jane Coston and this is what a day the show wondering how much thought U.S. trade Representative Jamison Greer put into this comparison he made on Fox Business today.
- [00:26]
Guest Commentator
Think about Abraham Lincoln. He was against slavery, he was for tariffs.
- [00:29]
Jane Coaston
President Trump similarly, he's for tariffs and
- [00:32]
Idris Calhoun
he is against forced labor.
- [00:34]
Jane Coaston
Next question. Representative Greer, can you name, like three other presidents. On today's show, we talk about the mystery of Senator Mitch McConnell and how Congress is too damn old with Atlantic staff writer Idris Calhoun. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today. Thursday, July 9th
- [00:54]
Graham Platner
we are suspending campaign operations. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. We're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.
- [01:15]
Jane Coaston
I feel like that's not why Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner announced Wednesday that he will withdraw from the race days after a bombshell allegation of sexual assault. Platner has denied the allegation. In an 11 minute, 15 second selfie video posted to Twitter, Platner lashed out at Democratic leaders, claiming he had no time to address the allegations, quote, before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury and executioner. He also said the process to replace him needs to be, quote, open, transparent and Democratic. The Maine Democratic Party has voted to hold a convention to pick Platner's replacement, and many Mainers are already throwing their hats in the ring. According to state election law, Platner has until 5pm Eastern July 13 to formally file a withdrawal in writing, and the party has until July 27 to choose a replacement. According to Axios, Platner plans to wait until right before that deadline. How generous of him. The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle east, which makes me feel like we're somehow not on our way to signing that peace deal we were promised. The two countries have been trading attacks since early Wednesday, after the Pentagon said Tehran struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. But Thursday's strikes appeared bigger all around, with siren sounding at least three times in Bahrain and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar. An Iranian official accused the US of launching an airstrike targeting the area around Iran's sole nuclear power plant and Other explosions were reported elsewhere in the country during the afternoon. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to confuse with his mixed messaging, saying both of these ceasefire is over. But also he's not sure if we're back at war. Hmm. FBI Director and MMA enthusiast Kash Patel is facing new criticism for his taxpayer funded lifestyle from Democrats and a powerful Republican. Maryland Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin and Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin announced a new investigation into Patel's alleged misuse of taxpayer funds today. That investigation follows reports of a letter to Patel from Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley from back in May in which Grassley asked about the purchase of a fleet of specially armored BMWs and his use of FBI jets for private vacations. In a statement, Raskin and Durbin also alleged that Patel demanded special outings on official and taxpayer funded trips like helicopter tours in East Asia. And they said that Patel reportedly demoted FBI personnel in Belgium, quote, after they failed to ensure he was adequately entertained during official travel. Which is all so surprising from the man who allegedly gave his girlfriend a FBI SWAT detail and is currently suing a magazine for reporting on his drinking habits.
- [04:04]
Guest Commentator
Today, Davey Hearn pled not guilty because he is not guilty. If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the reflecting pool, every American is at risk. And every American should be alarmed about
- [04:31]
Jane Coaston
this prosecution because, yes, someone is being charged with a felony for touching the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn pleaded not guilty today to the charge that he deliberately damaged Trump's beloved reflecting pool. As you know, Trump spent millions renovating the pool ahead of the country's 250th birthday. These renovations involved painting the pool blue. The coating started to peel within days of the project's completion. Oh, and the pool no longer reflects. Hearn was arrested in June after he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant. He said he let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker. He is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage, which seems like more of an issue of how much exactly did this cost than anything else. And he's not the only one. D.C. u.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said authorities have made six other misdemeanor arrests related to the reflecting pool. Good luck with those convictions. And that's the news. Let's talk about Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell. Mostly. Is he alive? Normally, this would be a wild question to ask about a sitting member of the U.S. senate. But since McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 after being found unconscious at his Washington home, not One person, not even President Trump, seems to know what exactly is going on. Here's Indiana Representative Marlon Stutzman, who was asked about McConnell on NewsNation. Do you know that he's alive?
- [05:59]
Idris Calhoun
I don't. You know, just the things that I've heard and seen from some friends is that he's obviously not doing well, but don't know if he's alive or has passed away.
- [06:09]
Jane Coaston
Now, numerous conservative figures claim to have spoken to McConnell, but again, is Mitch McConnell alive should not be an open question. McConnell, one of the most powerful Republican figures in political history, is 84 years old. Over the last few years, he's had a number of health issues, including freezing episodes during press conferences. And while he's not running for reelection, his murky health status is not that uncommon for our very old Congress. So what does that do to our politics and our country? To find out, I spoke to Idris Kaloon. He's a staff writer at the Atlantic who wrote about the incredible power of older Americans. Idris, welcome to what a day.
- [06:50]
Idris Calhoun
Thanks for having me.
- [06:51]
Jane Coaston
So nobody knows what's happening with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, other than that he's in the hospital. People have been trying to get information about his condition to pretty much no avail. What do you make of the weird shroud of secrecy around the senator's health?
- [07:06]
Idris Calhoun
Yeah, I mean, clearly, if they had evidence that he was doing well and actually participating in lengthy conversations about matters of state, I think that they would have released that information. So my assumption, based on the fact that there's no information that's coming out, is that things are not going so well. And it's generally not a good sign when you hear nothing about a politician, particularly after we have a report that they've been in cardiac arrest, which is what's happened with McConnell.
- [07:29]
Jane Coaston
So we're gonna get into this. But Congress is old. They just are. But how common is it for a senator or representative to be literally un. To carry out their duties for health reasons? And everybody's like, this is fine.
- [07:42]
Idris Calhoun
It's incredibly common, incredibly bipartisan. Maybe the one bipartisan thing that we have left. Dianne Feinstein was allowed to remain in Congress for a while when it became clear for months that she was unable to really perform her duties. Eleanor Holmes Norton has also receded as well. There was Congressman, Congresswoman, I believe, who was checked into a memory care facility while also simultaneously serving in Congress. So this is incredibly common phrase, that Congress is the world's best nursing home, I think, sadly, has more and more evidence with every passing year is this new?
- [08:19]
Jane Coaston
I'm aware that people are living longer and what it means to be 75 is different than when LBJ died at 64. But I don't remember this kind of thing happening 20 years ago. When I first was thinking and following
- [08:35]
Idris Calhoun
politics, there were people like Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd who got close to 100 in the Senate. But my sense is like yours, that it was not quite as common. I think if you plot just the average age of the U.S. senate over time you see that it's gotten older and older as well. And the fact that we've made strides in cancer treatment, healthcare, et cetera means that the thing that we haven't made as many strides on are dementia, Alzheimer's, these kinds of things. And so we have this kind of perverse system where politically they're growing incentives to remain in Congress. You get more seniority, you get better committee placements, and it's great. You get a staff, all of these kinds of things. And incumbency is such a great advantage in terms of your ability to get reelected. So there's really no incentive to move unless you are voluntarily going to do that. And a lot of people clearly on both parties, find it very, very hard to move on.
- [09:29]
Jane Coaston
We'll get back to my conversation with Idris in a moment to talk about what the Gerontocracy is doing to our politics. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Zebiotics. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is until I found Pre Alcohol Zebiotics. Pre Alcohol Probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by a PhD scientist to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Every time I have pre alcohol before drinks, I notice a difference. The next day Even after a night out, I can confidently plan on working out without worry. July is packed with barbecues, fireworks, lake weekends and late nights with friends. Keep the good times rolling into the next day. Drink pre alcohol before you go out and wake up ready for whatever Sunday brings. Remember to head to zebiotics.com wad and use the code WAD at checkout for 15% off WADoday is brought to you by Oneskin. You've heard me talk about Oneskin before and whether you're someone who tries every new skincare product that hits the market or or you've been using the same one or two things for years, at some point most of us realize our skin just isn't keeping up the way it used to. That's what One Skin changed for me. It didn't just make my existing routine better, it actually works differently than anything else I've tried. As we age, some skin cells stop functioning the way they should. Longevity scientists call them zombie cells, and that's what's actually driving those visible signs of aging, the fine lines and dullness that creeps in over time. And One Skin's OS1 peptide was specifically engineered to address this. So you're getting everything you expect from great skincare with OS1 doing something most skincare was never built to do. And with summer here, that matters even more because up to 80% of visible skin aging starts with sun exposure. But OneSkin's new limited edition summer bundles have you covered. It's their skincare and SPF essentials paired together. So the OS 1 peptide is helping to reverse the visible effects of UV aging. While you're getting SPF protection from new damage. It's a complete system to summer proof your skin, so make sure to check these out before they're gone. I've loved Wonskin's moisturizer. It's the best I've used. And this isn't just my experience. OneSkin's results are backed by four peer reviewed clinical studies, over 10,000 five star reviews and they've been recognized by Bloomberg as a leader in skin longevity. You really don't need a complicated routine to get healthier, younger looking skin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, Oneskin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now. And as you age for a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code WAD at OneSkin co. WAD. That's 15% off OneSkin co with code WAD. After your purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you.
- [12:39]
Grainger Advertiser
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [13:09]
Grainger Advertiser 2
When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [13:38]
Jane Coaston
Let's get back to my conversation with Idris Cullen. What gets me is that every cycle we hear voters say that they want young and fresh candidates, but in reality, they keep electing the same people long after they start qualifying for AARP membership. Chuck Grassley won reelection back in 2022 at 89 years old. Why does this keep happening?
- [14:04]
Idris Calhoun
It's a really good question. People like incumbents as much as they say that they don't. It's a bit like, you know, in polling when you ask people, what do you think about education? Oh, it's terrible. What do you think about your kids school? It's not that bad. What do you think about health care in America? It's pretty terrible. What do you think about your health insurance? It's not that bad. I think that there's something similar that happens to politicians in the abstract. People think, okay, well, we want to vote the bums out, we don't like them. But you think about your local politician, whether it's Susan Collins, Chuck Grassley, politicians in small states that have established kind of long ties to the community. And there it goes. Well, you know, he's not so bad. I'll vote for him. I think something like that is going on here as well.
- [14:47]
Jane Coaston
I think we also have, and you wrote about this, older voters are wealthier and they vote more often. So is there kind of this feedback loop where you have politicians who are just kind of serving older generations because they're the ones with money and influence and the older Generations are then reelecting those politicians.
- [15:09]
Idris Calhoun
They definitely play an outsized role in primary elections, and they play a big role in the campaign donation system. So the median campaign donor is 68. I believe the median primary voter is quite old as well, in their 60s. And in a lot of ways, politics is geared around service to older voters. That's why Social Security and Medicare are treated as untouchable entitlements. And I think one of the genius moves that Donald Trump has made, and he made it back in 2016, 2015, was to say that Republicans are no longer going to be the party about reforming those programs. That was a play for older voters. It was successful at the time. And I think that particularly in the early stages of campaigning, before the general election, the early money game, the primary game, really taking a stance against the aarp, taking a stance that's seen as disfavorable to older voters, definitely pays a political penalty.
- [16:03]
Jane Coaston
Is this part of the reason, in your view, that young people are struggling right now, that our government is built to serve older people?
- [16:10]
Idris Calhoun
So it's a complicated question because America is simultaneously a place that has problems, economic problems, a lot of economic discontent. But if you look at the living standards, they're very high. They're higher than they've ever been. If you look at actually individual earnings for people by generation, you see that Gen Z is earning more than millennials, who earn more than Gen X, who earn more than baby boomers. So why doesn't it feel that way if the economists and the my spreadsheets and these kinds of things show the opposite? And I think that there's an argument that we're much more generous to elderly Americans than younger people. That's indisputably true. Social Security is a very generous entitlement. At the very, very maximum, it could be $100,000 per couple. Compare that to what we spend for children to alleviate child poverty. Obviously, much less. I think the disconnect that a lot of people feel is due to basically the cost of housing, the cost of things that are regulation constrained. So I think that people look at the system and they say, yeah, I might be making more in real dollar terms than my predecessors, but also a house is four times as expensive. And that's where I think the blame game of what went wrong with previous generations, where it all gets a bit more complicated.
- [17:31]
Jane Coaston
Your piece looks at the US as somewhat of a gerontocracy. What does that mean for the long term for the U.S. do we have historical examples of other developed nations that became gerontocracies, because we're not alone. A lot of developed democracies are getting older and older and older.
- [17:53]
Idris Calhoun
So there are a lot of contemporary similarities. I mean, Europe has very, very similar dynamics as we do, where we had a baby boom and now the baby boom is getting older.
- [18:03]
Guest Commentator
And.
- [18:04]
Idris Calhoun
And we have pension systems that were also a lot of things happened in the last hundred years. People started living longer, they started having fewer kids. We set up these welfare states. Great. And now we are at a point where fertility is low, people are living longer, health costs are high, and there are demands made by voters to keep these systems generous and arguably more generous than they have been before. And so what we see in America is replicated in the uk. In the uk they have something called the triple lock, which is an amount that the annual benefits for elderly residents are increased, and basically it is the highest of inflation or wages or a number. And so basically it's always mechanically going to be higher than inflation. And France has a similar kind of debate about every time there's an attempt to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, there are a lot of protests. And one thing that's also happening, that's causing these commitments to be made, these commitments that are consuming a greater share of gdp, that if you extrapolate and look at the actuarial tables for 10 years from now, there's no mathematical way that this is possible to continue to give one reason that governments aren't really changing anything right now is that older voters are a bigger share of the electorate just mechanically. And so the cost of going against these programs is too high for any politicians play. That's true in America with the change that Trump made to the Republican Party. It's true in the uk. So Nigel Farage might be willing to be iconoclastic about so many things. He's not willing to touch the triple lock. Andy Burnham, the incoming Prime Minister, we assume, is not going to touch the triple lock. No one wants to touch it. Right, because it's just a loser. And that dynamic, that political dynamic, is replicated in basically every country that's going through this right now.
- [19:56]
Jane Coaston
So to that point, if older people hold the most power and money, and they're holding onto that power and money, and they're using that power and money to keep each other in power, and no one wants to go against them, how do we change this? Because to your point, it can't last and it doesn't feel good for the future of the country.
- [20:14]
Idris Calhoun
I mean, the way of all things is that there will be a transition at some point, right? So there will be a transition of power to younger people in time. Like the heir to Donald Trump is going to be someone like J.D. vance, and there will be a transition in terms of wealth going on to people. So there's a kind of argument of like, just wait for it to happen. It'll happen. There are others who have more radical ideas, ideas about literally reducing the weight of the elderly vote, mechanically increasing the weight of the young vote. It's provocative, but I don't subscribe to that idea. But there are more neutral grounds that are, I think, more palatable. But one thing is that the rise of the elderly as a share of the populations also corresponded with an increase in their share of the wealth of this country. To an astonishing degree, more and more dollars are held by older people and if you just tax income at higher rates, you will reduce that inequality in wealth terms. Political inequality I think is much harder to deal with because there's one person, one vote. But you can imagine taxation scheme that actually equalizes the playing field. And then I think they're also if the root of discontent is young people's inability to access housing and other constraints, there are things you can do to increase the accessibility of housing that I think don't require a kind of generational warfare settlement in order to get to, but would be beneficial to the young and also for the elderly.
- [21:49]
Jane Coaston
Idris, thank you so much for joining me.
- [21:52]
Idris Calhoun
Thanks for having me.
- [21:54]
Jane Coaston
That was my conversation with Idris Calung, staff writer at the Atlantic. Before we go, with the Supreme Court term over, it's time to look back on the wreckage, the hypocrisy, the racism and the sheer stupidity. And who better than Crooked's favorite trio of badass constitutional law professors to break it all down? Stay informed about the far right agenda and the real life implications of their Supreme Court successes for millions of Americans. Listen to Strict Scrutiny every Monday wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, Leave a review. Learn more about Count Binface, who is actually running for actual parliament in the actual UK and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, I'm not just about Count Binface, the alter ego of a British comedian who has repeatedly run for office with such policy suggestions as make ice cream cheaper like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe@crooked.com subscribe I'm Jane Coston and what's his biggest advantage in his race against right wing reform. UK leader Nigel Farage. In his words, I'm not Nigel Farage. What a Date is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Kaitlyn Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
- [23:23]
Stacey Abrams
In moments like these, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and even easier to feel powerless. But we are neither. I'm Stacey Abrams and on my podcast, Assembly Required, I take on each executive action, legislative battle and breaking news moment by asking three questions. What's really happening? What can we do about it? And how do we keep going together? This is a space for clarity, strategy and hope rooted in action, not denial. New episodes of Assembly Required Drop Tuesdays. Tune in wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube.
- [24:03]
Grainger Advertiser
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.