Cut taxes even if the deficit increases. Look at this 60% overall. Say cut those taxes, baby. What about Republicans? You know, they're the ones who are supposedly so concerned over the deficit, but even there, 74% say cut taxes even if the deficit increases. [00:00:19] That's amazing. Most Americans are not worried about the deficit. And honestly, who can blame them? Because the deficit hasn't really hurt us too much yet. Now, yet is an interesting way of putting it. Of course, Moody's just recently came out and lowered America's [00:00:39] Triple-A credit rating, meaning that they have less confidence that the United States government will pay its debts. They're worried that there's a higher risk that the U.S. Could default on its debt. That's pretty terrifying. Now, to be fair, this is the third time [00:00:58] the US credit rating has dropped and the past two times it was mostly symbolic. It didn't end up being a disaster. I believe 2011 was the previous, more recent time that our credit rating was lowered, but it doesn't really inspire confidence. [00:01:18] Moody's did this in response to Trump's big, beautiful bill. They're worried that because of how much debt it will add to the ballooning U.S. Debt, which is at $36 trillion, it's going to make it more and more expensive for the United States to service its debt. [00:01:35] Last year, we paid close to $1 trillion to do so. That's a problem, and it's not something that most Americans are feeling yet. But it could balloon to a point where they're going to feel it. So with that in mind, look, they're not worried about the deficit because what's [00:01:53] hurting them in the immediate environment is, the fact that they don't have a lot of money in their pockets. This economy is crushing a lot of Americans. And they want they want a little bit of relief. So the idea of paying a little less in taxes is exciting for Americans. [00:02:10] And so I want to get into that. So, here's how Americans felt like 30 years ago. Americans might have felt a little differently. So Harry Enten decided to delve into that polling from last December that showed how voters want the tax cuts, regardless of how it impacts the deficit. [00:02:28] And that is a massive change from how Americans felt about the deficit only 30 years ago. All right. So things do change. And here's what I mean. Cut taxes even at the deficit increases. Now, you know, it's that 60% we spoke about. But back in 1996, the real last time where there really was a movement to bring [00:02:47] that deficit down, bring that debt down, it was just 23% who said cut taxes even if the deficit increases. So we've clearly seen a tripling, far more than doubling of the percentage of Americans who say that we should cut those taxes, even if the deficit increases. [00:03:04] And that's where we're standing right now. Basically, amongst the American public. Who says 996 instead of 1996? Harry Enten does. Look, I think Harry Enten does a great job with broadcasting, and I love that he delves into these polls and shows like the historical context, [00:03:23] because, yeah, things have changed. I suspect that things have changed because Americans are feeling more crushed by the economy today than they did in the past. I and look, this is all speculation. I don't have evidence to back what I'm about to say up, but just based on my own [00:03:39] personal feelings lately about taxes. Look, no one likes to pay taxes like everyone would like to keep more of their money in their pockets, obviously. However, I'm also very much open to paying more in taxes. [00:03:54] If the money specifically goes towards social programs, that improves the lives of my fellow Americans. I want to improve this country. I want the lives of Americans to be better. Now, if there is a program, it's detailed. You know it's going to be well run. [00:04:13] You know that there isn't a grift associated with it where nonprofits are going to leech off that money and pad their own pockets with it. I'm all for it. But where where have our taxes been going? Really? I'm happy that there's a specific line in my pay stub [00:04:31] that shows how much of my paycheck went specifically to Social Security. Love Social Security. It's a great universal program. We need to increase that cap on taxing income so Social Security can remain solvent. [00:04:48] But Social Security, great. Medicaid? Great. But a lot of our tax dollars go toward pork barrel spending that I ain't got any interest in, that the American people ain't got any interest in. But those programs or those little pork barrel things like keep getting funded. [00:05:07] We keep seeing our money go toward defense contractors, weapons manufacturers, you know, the Pentagon, which can't pass a single audit, not one. They haven't passed a single audit, guys. And then compounding this issue for me personally, is living in the state [00:05:26] of California, where we pay the highest taxes, highest tax state in LA. It's the highest tax city in the highest tax state. And our governor, Gavin Newsom just announced we have a $12 billion budget deficit. [00:05:43] And unlike the federal government, states actually have to balance the budget. They have no other choice. How is the highest tax state facing a $12 billion budget deficit? You want to know what Gavin Newsom wants to do. [00:06:00] He's going to get the state Medicaid program. This is his proposal. If you are so poor that you qualify for the state Medicaid program known as Medi-Cal, he wants the recipients to pay a $100 a month premium. [00:06:19] You mismanaged the state's resources, and you're going to take it out on the poorest people in the state. Just absolute scumbag. So look, Americans would like to keep more of their money, likely because it [00:06:35] will help them with their own finances, of course, but also because they look at the government, they see where their money is going, and they're not happy by it. They're not happy about it. And I don't blame them. Who can? Who can blame them? Americans keep paying more and more in taxes. They see their quality of life diminish. Who can blame them? [00:06:53] Now, obviously here I'm talking about working class Americans when it comes to corporations. When it comes to the wealthiest among us, they get to enjoy all sorts of little tax breaks and deductions that ordinary working class people don't get to enjoy. [00:07:08] And I think it's unfair that if we're going to pay taxes, oftentimes they pay a far smaller percentage of their income in federal taxes compared to working class Americans. That unfairness needs to something needs to be done about that. [00:07:24] Now, obviously, you have lawmakers heeding the warning that fear mongering about the deficit is not going to play well with the American people. So I want to give you a sense of how their messaging and what their priorities happen to be. [00:07:40] So while Republicans want to cut Medicaid to lower the deficit, Bernie Sanders doesn't. This is what he wrote on X. There are 85 million Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. So embarrassing that that's the case. Republicans want to make a bad situation worse by slashing Medicaid in order to [00:07:58] give massive tax breaks to billionaires. Wrong. We should do what other major countries do and guarantee health care for all. Now look, there were various analyzes done in regard to Medicare for all when Bernie Sanders was running for president. [00:08:15] And I remember when a libertarian think tank came out with their analysis and it showed that a Medicare for all system was actually going to save like $2 trillion in ten years. So, I mean, we pay more than any other developed country [00:08:31] for our health care, and we get less. We have a higher percentage of our population that is underinsured or uninsured. Hakeem Jeffries didn't go nearly as far, but still honed in on the issue of Medicaid cuts, saying Donald Trump is on the hill to demand that House Republicans [00:08:49] end Medicaid as we know it in America. They can all get lost. Oh, yeah. You really you really showed him. Now, look, there are other reports. I want to be fair here indicating that Trump told Republicans in the House, don't f around with Medicaid. [00:09:06] We'll see what ends up happening, right? I don't know who to believe, especially when it's anonymous sources telling reporters that that's what Trump is saying behind the scenes. We also heard that Biden was pressuring Israel to do a cease fire, and that turned out to be complete and utter lies. [00:09:23] So I'll believe it when I see it. However, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton think that messaging is a dud as well. Why? Well, let's take a look. There's kind of been so much posturing. If they're going to slash this, they're going to slash this until people feel it. [00:09:40] I feel like it can kind of feel like empty noise from the. I agree 150%. And if you're Democrats, I think you have to be careful here because from Republicans, I would argue we could frame this as if you're an able bodied person, should that person go out and work? Most people would say, well, hell yeah, they should work. [00:09:56] We're not saying that if you don't make enough beyond a certain threshold, that you shouldn't still be able to tap into a safety net. Got millions of people are going to lose benefits. - They can lean on that. - They can. But I just don't know how effective that's going to be when the average person is saying, I'm working my butt off. Everybody else should also be out there working. [00:10:12] You know? That statement from Shermichael Singleton is pretty accurate, actually, right? I think that there's a lot of resentment right now among working class Americans who are barely getting by. And unfortunately, there's a lot of propaganda out there [00:10:28] that makes it appear as though people are getting paid to be lazy bums and not work. It's important to know what the reality is, though, because that resentment, unfortunately comes from a place of being misinformed. You know, of course you're always going to have bad people take advantage. [00:10:46] And but the important thing is you have to take a step back and look at what the trends are. Is this a wide scale issue when it comes to Medicaid recipients? And the fact of the matter is, it's not. Now, unfortunately, more than 60% of voters, including 47% of Democrats, [00:11:04] support the idea of a work requirement in order to receive Medicaid. Work requirements are significantly more popular than straight up cuts to Medicaid, which is good, right? I mean, it's not good that people are like, look, I'm not [00:11:20] against work requirements necessarily. I'm against the idea that Medicaid recipients are all like lazy bums who don't want to work and are taking advantage of the system. Like, I find that so offensive, especially because of what I know [00:11:36] and what the data shows. And Americans are really hard working people. Generally speaking. Americans want to feel they have a purpose in life. They don't want to sit around and do nothing all day. Yes, you're going to find examples of people who do fall under that category. [00:11:52] But I'm talking about generally Americans want to, you know, have a purpose in life. So let's get to the work environment. Work work requirements and how they fare compared to straight up cuts to Medicaid. So just 17% of respondents said they supported cuts to Medicaid, 40% said [00:12:13] they wanted to keep spending unchanged, and 42% said they would like it increased. So that might be due to misconceptions about the program. That's why I get irritated by this conversation or this whole debate, because guess what? A majority, 62% of the public incorrectly [00:12:31] believe that most working age adults on Medicaid are unemployed, but they're not. So like about 40, I'm sorry, 64% of Medicaid recipients are either working full time jobs or part time jobs. [00:12:47] The rest of the individuals who are not working are either going to school, or they are caretakers for elderly or elderly family members or individuals who have fallen ill in their family. So the way that the work requirements are currently being proposed for [00:13:06] this reconciliation reconciliation bill. You work, what, 40 hours? I believe it was for the whole month. And you would qualify for Medicaid. Well, nothing would change. The only thing that would change if the bill passes with those work requirements, [00:13:22] is that there would be extra paperwork for recipients to have to file to get approved for Medicaid, and some people might have difficulty with that paperwork. Some people might have a difficult time navigating. However, their state sets up the bureaucracy in order to carry [00:13:38] out that program in order to check to make sure they're working. And if it's too difficult, it might serve as an obstacle between them and getting the health care that they're entitled to and that health care that they need. And that is what happens technically or typically, I should say some states, [00:13:55] by the way, don't want to do the work requirements because guess what? You have to prop up a bureaucratic system to process applications and do the checks to make sure these people are working, and that cost tens of millions of dollars in Georgia cost $40 million, [00:14:11] according to one analysis. So it ends up actually costing more in taxpayer money to do this work requirement program than not. So let's get to seven years ago, where the state of Arkansas tried to implement Medicaid work requirements. [00:14:28] And here's how it turned out. The state used the requirements to remove 18,000 adults from the Medicaid rolls in just four months. Yet subsequent studies found that it had no positive employment effect. And when you take a look at who received Medicaid in 2022, [00:14:47] let's take a look at that. Look at that. 46% were either children or 65 years old and up, meaning they were elderly. Of the remaining 54%, only 6% were not working long term. [00:15:02] That's just 3% of all Medicaid recipients. So that was an analysis that was done using Census Bureau information back in 2022. We'll see how this whole bill ends up, but it's definitely not going [00:15:19] to balance the budget, that's for sure. But on top of that, I think what's being targeted by the Republican Party kind of shows you what their priorities are. I mean, there are definitely areas where we can save a lot of money. Maybe we stop, you know, funding foreign wars. [00:15:35] That's one possibility. Maybe we allow our Medicaid Medicare system to negotiate pharmaceutical drug prices so American taxpayers aren't getting fleeced on pharmaceutical drugs. But notice how those are the areas that are totally being neglected [00:15:52] when it comes to balancing the budget. Nickel and diming the American people on health care programs is pretty sick, but that's what they're focusing on. And Americans don't care about the deficit. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets its wings. [00:16:07] Totally not true, but it does keep you updated on our live shows.