image missing
Date: 2025-03-06 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027813
Commentary
The Coffee Klatch ... January 4th 2025

Robert Reich, Heather Lofthouse and Michael Lahanas-Calderon
Will Anything Stop Trump?


Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spD92AvCjiY&t=136s
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY

The GOP takeover of Congress ...

The debate over H-1B visas ...

The legacy of Jimmy Carter ...

Peter Burgess
Will Anything Stop Trump? | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Premiered Jan 4, 2025

1M subscribers ... 199,123 views ... 8.8K likes

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich
  • The GOP takeover of Congress.
  • The debate over H-1B visas.
  • The legacy of Jimmy Carter.
On the first Coffee Klatch of 2025, we cover some of the week’s biggest news.

Transcript
  • 0:00
  • and it is the Saturday coffee clutch with Heather loft house and Michael Lans
  • Calderon uh and Heather what do we have what do we have today any news well Happy New Year everyone let's get into
  • it the certification of the presidency the Speaker of the House Elon Musk this is this is the Republican
  • takeover uh that we have all been dreading and it is actually happening it is starting already happy New Year happy
  • New Year Michael happy New Year it's a happy new notwithstanding that's what I say to people happy New Year notwithstanding everything considering
  • all consed Yes um so what about the 119th Congress uh particularly the
  • Senate this coming Monday in two days is January 6th yes what happens on January
  • 6th which is 30 days after the election is the certification of the presidency which will be done by vice president
  • kamla Harris what is the symbolism in contr well this is

  • 1:00
  • first uh certification since the certification of Biden Joe B Biden you
  • remember what happened on that day it went completely smoothly January 6 U and
  • you know the the Constitution and the founders and everybody who cares about this country fundamentally depends on a
  • smooth and peaceful transition of power and what we have got to remember uh and
  • we've got to come because it's so so easy to put it out of our minds is that the last transition of power that is
  • last time January 6 2021 was a day of violence a day of death a day of uh
  • basically an attempted coup uh and the person who was behind that is now about
  • to become president of the United States uh if there's nothing else that out that is outrageous the fact that he was never
  • held accountable and this is and this m day is an aniversary of his lack of

  • 2:03
  • accountability in effect it's scary um well it's scary and it also is a blemish
  • and a and a it is it is something that will historically I don't think American
  • democracy will ever be the same because of it oh of course not I mean we know this but it'll be interesting to see how
  • vice president Harris just shows up and handles her Duty um and oversees what
  • should be done right yes and I think hopefully it'll be very smooth and hopefully uh but will she say anything
  • about what happened last time I doubt it I hope so but God it would be great and
  • this isn't the first time that a vice president has had to oversee or certify their electoral loss right it's only
  • something we care about because of Donald Trump yes exactly but that's that's a huge thing that person
  • is about to become president of the United States that person was never held accountable of course uh and he was
  • never accountable in part because the Democrats had an opportunity to hold him

  • 3:04
  • accountable and they did not right I mean I just can't imagine having to do
  • that but she'll be professional and incredible she just will be but not easy
  • and then next week is the first week of a Republican Senate uh here we go well
  • the sen here here again back to the Constitution the Republicans in the Senate have as much responsibility as
  • the Democrat in the senate for advice and consent with regard to nominations
  • coming from the White House as to who the president the next president wants
  • to run the government advice and consent do you have your pocket Constitution I love when you have that darn it I should
  • bring it every time and what does that mean advice and consent the exactly it means that the confirmation process is
  • not a rubber stamp process uh it means that you know you've got uh people who
  • Donald Trump has already nominated to these very important positions who are

  • 4:06
  • Highly Questionable and if the Republicans in the Senate have had an ounce an ounce of Integrity they would
  • make it very difficult for these people to be to be uh confirmed and they wouldn't be confirmed oh and it's tulsey
  • gabard Pete hedg Seth Cash Patel and Robert F Kennedy Jr those all of those
  • that's right I mean there are many others who are questionable but but those four four are not just
  • questionable they are dangerous they are unqualified uh they I venture to say
  • that in modern history that have never there have never been Nomine nominees who have who are so absolutely ill
  • suited to running the federal government and yet you think they're going to be approved right well I think that Donald
  • Trump is regarding the Senate Republicans right now uh and looking at
  • them and the question hanging over everybody in government as the Republicans take control is is how is

  • 5:06
  • Trump going to react is he going to hold us accountable and that's the irony here
  • because Trump holds people accountable he remembers when people are not loyal
  • uh he rewards loyalty and he punishes disloyalty the man who is not being held
  • accountable by the system holds everybody else accountable now so these
  • four people coming in obscenely not prepared for the job I mean don't have the experience don't
  • have the knowledge don't have the cloud tsey Gabbert because director of of of National Intelligence uh who is who is
  • basically said and agreed with Putin on on everything know and is and is
  • regarded in Russia as a kind of uh as a as a wonderful person because and and
  • her and every Russian newspaper uh talks about how great she is but this so these

  • 6:01
  • are my Daydreams these days will they be so horrendously incapable that they will
  • screw up and that will be a glaring error and then we will learn something and then we will pivot back we will
  • oscillate to back to reality well that's a that's my kind of Daydream too oh good
  • Heather and we'll get to the I think there are there are good things to keep in mind and but how much damage can they
  • do in the meantime I mean Robert F Kennedy Jr uh God forbid we have another
  • pandemic I mean or we have something the equivalent of a pandemic what do we do when he says no there won't be any
  • vaccines Y how do we deal with that or when he says to the FDA you are being
  • defanged and we have all sorts of it was already such an uphill battle too I read
  • that in 2024 only 20% of people who could have gotten the vaccine for covid
  • did and then again it is it is not just him exercising his authority it's

  • 7:06
  • spewing and spreading distrust uh with regard to the public uh and the same
  • thing uh with regard to the you know the others uh who are very very questionable
  • cash Patel for example at the FBI I mean I remember I'm old enough to remember
  • Jay Edgar Hoover at the FBI I mean that was a uh that was a good example or bad
  • example of the FBI out of control uh but cash Patel has said already he's going
  • after the media uh the media that are not loyal to Trump he's going after
  • Trump's other enemies he's he's he's made it very explicit in his books and
  • in his writings and in his uh interviews that he has there's no constraint on him
  • in terms of being a trump loyalist so you think he has the potential to be worse than J G Hoover I will stake my
  • reputation on saying that yes he will be the worst FBI director in history I had

  • 8:03
  • a question because I mean we're talking about this as as if it's a done deal and perhaps it is but I have a lot of folks
  • back home who live in red States who have Republican Senators who they I mean they're the constituents of Republican
  • Senators is there any chance that people could persuade through you know some sort of a mass information or letter
  • campaign I mean what can people at home do to try and stop this well with regards to the nominees uh right now I
  • think there's very very little that be done I mean if uh the media do show for
  • example there was a lot of a lot of stories about Heth Pete Heth uh for the Department of Defense I mean he has a
  • history of alcoholism of sexual abuse uh and harassment uh he headed two veterans
  • groups and he basically both of them uh you know I don't know whether he took
  • the money somebody took the money because they both of them fell apart uh he has a history that is so ludicrously

  • 9:03
  • awful in terms of his character how can he be Secretary of Defense uh and uh
  • when there was one Republican senator uh Joanie Ernst who actually went and and
  • said maybe she's not sure she wants to support him because she personally had
  • been sexually harassed and I think raped when she was in the military uh she was
  • she was uh she she was bullied by the Trump Republicans who threatened to put
  • up somebody against her and primary her uh in the Republican primary I I mean
  • and she's backed down essentially yeah so what what are what are people going
  • to do between now and the next few weeks when these people are going to one by
  • one go through the Senate I have no idea things could happen that we don't anticipate I I think the house in some
  • ways may be more encouraging uh than the Senate because the Democrats have more power in the house obviously

  • 10:04
  • Republicans control both both Chambers but Mike Johnson is hanging on by a small thread and that's very very rare
  • right for those of us who don't follow Congress uh for the last perhaps several decades I mean how many times can you
  • remember that happening that well it happened in 2023 uhhuh but you know but
  • again this is a question the larger question is can Republicans govern and
  • so far far we don't know but they have all three major positions that is the
  • two houses and the presidency and some would say they also have the Supreme Court uh
  • and if this doesn't work I mean we know who to who who to hold responsible and
  • hopefully and hopefully the rest of the country knows who to hold responsible but that is it's important so
  • Donald musk is going to be sworn in oh Elon Elon Trump wait Donald Trump is

  • 11:03
  • going to be sworn in as the 47th president but it's I'm holding on to everything where there's infighting on
  • things where there's I thought I assumed oh Mike Johnson will get in I doubt people will um I don't know is it
  • disrespect go against Trump on this but they did inv vote one so I find that
  • interesting and I'm holding on for little you know shoots of I don't want
  • to say hope but no no no I think it's I think it's reasonable for us to look for
  • those places where Trump's leadership and his power are limited and his influence uh and his influence is very
  • constrained and it's not it's easy to look at this next period and say oh well
  • he's he's going to be ruling and controlling everything we we are sliding into Fascism and authoritarianism and to
  • some extent we are but it's very important to understand that there are limits there are constraints

  • 12:00
  • U and one constraint obviously and ironically is Elon Musk I know how can
  • they govern I mean first of all we just talked about the people that are in the running are haven't shown that they can
  • govern huge groups of people so that's a problem but how can they govern with
  • musk right I mean tweeting behind them and looming over their shoulder we have not had since the first Gilded Age in
  • the United States where the age of the Robert Barons that had exerted extraordinary influence uh over you know
  • President McKinley in the late 19th century uh we have not had individuals
  • who have been this wealthy uh who have had political power and turned their wealth into political power uh Andrew
  • melon would be another one that came to mind uh but Elon Musk is in this second
  • guilded age we're living in the Exemplar the epitome of the Rober Baron who has
  • turned his extraordinary wealth the wealthiest person in the world into political power and brags about it it's

  • 13:06
  • not that they that he's trying to hide it he is enjoying it he is he is over you know he is making his political
  • power uh evident in all kinds of ways oh it's in neon lights there's no subtlety
  • and he he's basically uh become a guest at marago a permanent guest of marago
  • plus his kiddo plus the just the sheer speed that he's able to Comm communicate and put pressure on Republicans you know
  • I mean at least William Randolph Hurst he had a couple hours to print a newspaper right but Elon just has to sit
  • on his couch and send a tweet Elon has uh again sources of of his power are not
  • only the $270 billion he put into the Trump campaign and Trump's willingness
  • to listen to him in maralago but also his 205 or 210 million followers on his
  • own platform X and on top of that his ability to know what everybody is doing

  • 14:04
  • because his satellites can keep track of everyone we don't even talk about that dimension of his power but it's a very
  • important Dimension we have never and yet is unaccountable nobody has ever elected him uh I mean this is the most
  • extraordinary examp Exemplar or example of unaccountable power we have in
  • America today and it gets worse Michael you were talking earlier about his homies it's far right homies around the
  • world tell us more about that yeah I mean I think it it kind of goes hand inand with that Network that he has is
  • global right on Twitter SLX he's you know put pressure on politicians in the UK um in terms of immigration and he's
  • urged his followers to support Nigel farage who runs reform UK which is one of the far-right parties in the UK
  • saying he might donate upwards of $127 million in Germany you know he wrote an oped in favor of the afd alter
  • alternative for Germany a far-right party that has many a Neo-Nazi Scandal uh that is a Neo-Nazi party is it not it

  • 15:07
  • is effectively effectively and I think that I mean the list goes on right you could talk about Italy you could talk
  • about Canada it's he is doing a full broadside in a lot of little ways and
  • growing ways against liberal democracies and he's using his xplatform and his
  • apparent closeness to Trump both as ways of affecting foreign policy right yeah I
  • mean you know it's one thing if you have a powerful American sitting beside you know the United States president but he
  • is essentially making many uh moves in terms of foreign policy toward the
  • extreme right yeah I have a couple other things on my musk my muskrat list musk list muskrat list as you said called him
  • on on substack which I loved one is um this horrible thing that happened in
  • Vegas where someone blew up a cyber truck um killed himself and injured others in front of a Trump Hotel um but

  • 16:07
  • what was so interesting is the head of the Las Vegas Police Department came out and said we have to thank Elon Musk who
  • has been so incredibly helpful and got us all the data from all the charging stations and all the Teslas and all the
  • things and so with his ability to survey um we have gotten data immediately about
  • so much do if I want to know if people who who have Teslas know that when they use a charging station that e Elon Musk
  • has data about where they are and where they're moving to oh yeah there are cameras in the car that you I think you
  • have the option to turn it off but you can have 24 hour the camera will just be looking at you singing your tunes
  • shouting to your kid in the back seat about the Cheerios going everywhere all of it because add that to the satellites
  • I mean he's got three4 of all of the global satellites that are actually
  • running the internet internationally and all the information is that surveillance capitalism that's surveillance

  • 17:02
  • capitalism with a capital S with a capitalism and a Capital C yeah so you put out on your subse SEC this week it
  • was so interesting to watch this on Twitter come up where all of a sudden the news of the day during the news hole
  • that was the holidays where we were all kind of trying to disengage was Trump talking about excuse me whoops musk
  • talking about H1B visas and lots of insighting infighting amongst the Maga
  • you know who's who um and but it was interesting to read your substack where you talked about
  • this and you've talked about H1B visas including when you were Secretary of Labor and on news shows like Dan Rather
  • a 100 years ago tell us you know some people say what do they say they say
  • well I mean this is a question of high skilled immigration largely in the tech sector but not limited to right yes and
  • and musk has been trying to widen the H1B visas to get more uh highly skilled
  • Tech workers uh for years but the irony is that he has fired many of every time

  • 18:05
  • he Slims down every time he goes through Tesla for example he laid off a huge number of Tesla's workers including many
  • H1B visas that he applied for uh so there there is there's hypocrisy in this
  • as well I mean one of the problems with H1B is that you uh a lot of companies
  • big American companies high-tech companies use it as a vehic for getting cheaper high-skilled workers
  • than they could have in the United States if they went simply to their let's say computer programmers uh
  • computer programmers uh would cost them more if they were limited to American
  • Computer programs so they like bus they say come on come on come on over uh it's
  • a way of circumventing uh you know investments in the American Workforce right and I think
  • in today's world it's so black or white it's so binary and it's immigration is

  • 19:01
  • bad or immigration is good now we have put out many videos of why immigration
  • is good for the economy and for society but it's interesting to think about who benefits from when Elon pulls in all
  • these H1B VZ employees before he fires them how where does that go in the
  • economic system right I think that's that's a critical question to ask immigration generally is good but h 1B
  • Visa immigration where you're bringing in skilled workers from abroad it's not
  • particularly good in fact the only people that are benefiting are the big investors the CEOs and Wall Street
  • because it means more profits uh it means less investment in American workers why invest in American workers
  • and their training and education if you can get the foreign workers it means less investment by foreign countries and
  • their own workers because why should they if they're going to Simply go and it's a continuous brain drain uh and uh

  • 20:05
  • it just means that inequality W and this was something that seemed like it was
  • creating cracks in the magga Coalition over the holiday this is kind of why we're talking about this is that you
  • know evidence of more cracks to come do you think on this issue between sort of the tech oligarch wing and the magga
  • populist Wing I think there are going to be more and more issues that these two
  • wings you call them the tech oligarch wing and the Maga populist Wing I think a good
  • good way of of describing they are they are clashing uh Steve Bannon was furious
  • with Elon Musk over this H1B issue but it's just it's much more than that uh
  • it's really we class matters and this is the same thing that Democrats are struggling with in fact Democrats uh
  • really have turned their backs on the working class I think the the Mago Wing is trying to strain uh Elon Musk and all

  • 21:01
  • of the Silicon Valley people that musk is bringing into the administration keep your eye on this it's a very important
  • uh point of contention inside the Trump Administration by the way did you all see in the news that Elon had his own
  • burner account he had his fake Twitter account with this is the rumor with his fake the rumor you're alleged um and so
  • his name was Adrien ditman allegedly ditman or yes ditman okay and allegedly
  • he was running this account to counter things that you know tweets that would
  • make him look bad and then Adrien would come in and say he's a phenomenal father I don't know what you're talking about
  • no one is a better in terms ofal would he retweet adrianne's tweet oh I'm sure
  • well no he probably you say well they've they've interacted supposedly this is I mean this is inside baseball for those
  • of us who are trying to stay off of Twitter as I'm sure many of our audience members are but yeah I mean not and this is not unlike what Donald Trump
  • allegedly Donald Trump for years before he became president in 2016 in fact I think even after that he was calling

  • 22:07
  • newspapers uh in a different voice he tried to disguise his voice to say
  • Donald Trump is right did you get this particular story about him he it's a terrific story and he would he would
  • disguise his voice but a lot of the reporters would eventually catch on that was Donald Trump promoting himself
  • through ostensibly a third party this is influencing The Narrative it seems so much easier to just do a tweet than to
  • actually have to dial on a rotary phone the news do you know what a rotary phone is I do I do but I mean it kind of makes
  • me wonder you like I mean the theme of power is so important in all of the work that you put out and these are
  • extraordinarily powerful men why are they so insecure well I think insec far
  • back in their families are you going to go I could go back maybe 2,000 years
  • maybe 3,000 years insecurity and the lust for power go hand inand but what we

  • 23:00
  • are seeing now is that wealth huge amounts of wealth and power are basically Inseparable and the real
  • definition of power the one that I think is is particularly relevant today is the
  • ability unfortunately to gain even more power and wealth uh and impose harms on
  • other people while you're doing it but never be held accountable for doing so I mean Donald Trump and Elon Musk both are
  • are walking examples but they're also harnessing the information age I mean
  • truth when it comes or falsehoods they move so quickly and it's across the
  • globe and they it feels like they just have you know a saddle on and they are just riding this wave and they are
  • fighting any effort to force truth to
  • force the platforms particularly x uh to
  • moderate uh to you know and this is one of the big issues that separates Europe from the United States right now because

  • 24:02
  • the Europeans say no you you can't just put anything on the internet I mean you
  • you know if you it's the equivalent of of shouting fire in a crowded theater uh
  • we in Europe we have a different standard uh if you're going to try if you're going to create riots uh because
  • you're you're you're filling the Internet with with lies that are dangerous lies we're going to stop you
  • uh but musk and the purists quote unquote the First Amendment Pur they
  • like to they like to use the First Amendment it's not first amendment I mean if it were First Amendment uh we'd
  • have a much more even playing field no they like to use their money and their
  • platforms and their access uh and say no we can put anything we want on the
  • internet which is especially ironic given that musk is using his administrator powers to ban people he doesn't like from X and even in this
  • argument over H1B allegedly demon izing right-wing influencers for disagreeing with them which is you know again the

  • 25:02
  • whole thing is so fundamentally hypocritical I mean look what happened in the fight over the bipartisan uh
  • continuing resolution um you know musk came out against it uh he said uh he
  • blew it up he essentially blew it up uh and so there was we almost the United
  • States government also almost ran out of money uh at the last minute there was a continuing resolution but what was
  • musk's interest well it turns out that in the bipartisan continuing resolution
  • was a restriction on what musk and other big Hightech entrepreneurs could have
  • done with regard to investments in China musk wanted to maintain his investments
  • in terms of SpaceX at Tesla in China and so he blew up that particular continu
  • continuing able to do that I mean he had that much power and that much
  • self-interest together to make it that provision sorry just for our audience that was with a particular focus on uh

  • 26:03
  • Technologies including AI semiconductors and Quantum Computing and faor he wants
  • those technology he wants to be able to sell the Chinese those Technologies to work with the Chinese on those
  • Technologies now put aside the question of whether that's appropriate or not uh
  • but the official policy of the United States is no we don't want China get to
  • get access to those Technologies but what is musk doing he is using his power his influence his platform his money and
  • his closeness to Trump to basically blow up any Congressional approach that might
  • might cost him some money okay Michael and Bob can we please yes think about
  • something a little more upbeat I mean it I don't we don't no I'm just I I want to express to you a a kind of outrage and
  • fury you're doing it beautifully well but it is outrageous I mean why aren why aren't we I mean to have have this
  • person musk Trump is bad enough to have musk who was not even elected uh having

  • 27:04
  • this much power is an is an utter outrage and I know everyone's hoping that they'll have they'll break up well
  • I think I think that they won't they both get something from the other and still too much to have there hasn't been
  • a big enough Rift to justify it may Happ some people say to me oh there's no way
  • that Trump is going to tolerate another big ego next to him but remember this
  • other big ego is the richest person in the world this other big ego has a
  • platform that is gigantic and has uh 205 million followers this other big ego is
  • supportive of trump and put a half a quarter of a billion dollars into the
  • Trump campaign so it's not exactly I know as if Trump can just I think it works for Trump too that elon's kind of
  • you know dorky and he's got his kid on his shoulders he's not like a Sleek guy who's G who he's actually worried about

  • 28:00
  • it feels like he could control him I he doesn't feel threatened I think in some regards he doesn't and I think he wants
  • his money so I think he's kind of enamored of him at the same time that he doesn't feel threatened with him sitting
  • next to him at and I think the other point is that Trump is actually sitting pretty right now he's not facing any
  • consequences he's not facing jail he's not facing trial uh everything has
  • evaporated uh he's now he's making money once again off his pretending he hasn't
  • even become president yet he's already making money off his presidency uh everybody in the world is coming bowing
  • to him and and kissing his ring CEOs All Over America are coming and saying to
  • him and and oh can we can we possibly support your your your inauguration with
  • another million dollars from from our company I mean this is this is what's happening and Trump is getting
  • everything he wants everything he wants but back to so one thing I think that
  • you do on the coffee clutch and we look to you for and in your substacks is you remind us of the long game of the big

  • 29:06
  • picture so I just want a little silver lining so you wrote in a substack that
  • are there are some constraints out there around Trump and then you know his
  • shadow Elon Musk the big constraints I'm looking at are number one we've talked about the Democrats in the house have
  • more power than they've had in in the minority right in in in in living memory
  • it's so close and this is a reminder that elections matter hello mid yes and those those down ballot elections really
  • did help the Democrats and I think that they're looking at 2026 as a way of
  • coming back frankly both in the house and the Senate uh the second thing I want to point out is that Trump cares Mo
  • mostly about uh the stock market uh and it so people when people say to me oh
  • but he's his tariffs uh are going to wreck the economy uh he will not allow

  • 30:04
  • that to happen uh I don't think he's actually serious about the tariffs or that his uh efforts to eliminate or
  • Deport 11 to 20 million people here who don't have their papers uh is going to
  • wreck the economy I don't think it's going to do that if it starts affecting the stock market uh and that's a second
  • reason for not rejoicing but at least understanding that there is a limit a
  • constraint on him uh the third that I keep going back to is historically uh
  • I've mentioned already the Gilded Age and the robber barons of the first Gilded Age starting in
  • 1885 1890 extending through 1920 uh that Gilded Age ended and it ended with a
  • huge backlash uh a reform period uh Teddy Roosevelt antitrust Food and Drug
  • Administration new taxes taxes on the wealthy progressive income taxes estate

  • 31:02
  • taxes uh and then with Franklin D Roosevelt Teddy's fifth cousin uh we had
  • huge amounts of social well really really pathbreaking important uh social regulation I mean
  • everything from Social Security to unemployment insurance to a 40-hour work week um well that was all backlash
  • against the first guilded age and we are now in a second guilded age there will
  • be a backlash because these people are going to overreach we haven't even started the
  • Trump Administration they're already overreaching yeah so and your fourth one
  • that I think if I may add to your list yes please is from the federal courts because I liked that substack you did
  • the federal courts are uh people what they talk about the courts they're only thinking about the Supreme Court the
  • Supreme Court actually takes one fewer than 1% of the cases that are given up

  • 32:02
  • to it that are appealed to the Supreme Court uh the real power is in the federal district courts and the courts
  • of appeals and most of those federal district courts are uh in under the
  • control of uh people who are appointed by democrats judges not I'm not suggesting that judges are political
  • necessarily their values may be influenced by whether Democrats or Republicans appointed them but remember
  • most of those district court judges have been appointed by democrats and half of
  • the appell judges have been appointed by democrats so that's going to be a big constraint because you can imagine so
  • much of what Trump wants to do and is planning to do and the people around him are planning to do the crazies around
  • him are planning to do are going to that's going to be appealed to the federal court system that's where the
  • action is going to be four big reasons not to breathe a sigh of relief but to

  • 33:00
  • at least not panic y well I'm taking a deep breath but I mean I have to ask as
  • somebody who has lived through fewer presidential administrations when was your first president what when were you
  • born in well my first President I guess when I was born it would be it'd be Bill Clinton but I don't really remember
  • anything about Bill Clinton of course you don't was the first oh my God I know no I remember the first President I can
  • remember is George Bush and that's only because somebody put a little George Bush pin on their kid and sent him to to
  • school on the playground uh back in 2004 but you're like my students they don't remember a damn thing you know you can
  • historically but I ask you know is this really the framing that this is not
  • normal framing for how we talk about presidents right constraints and hopes and prayers that the Judiciary and all of these other elements of government
  • will stop their worst instincts necessarily I mean even if that's you know big picture maybe the structure of the Constitution You could argue that
  • but this is something else like Ian you've worked for other presidents you didn't hear people talking about Jimmy

  • 34:01
  • Carter like this no I worked for Jimmy Carter U and uh may he rest in peace uh
  • he was a better president than I think most people gave him credit for at the time um and uh his character and his uh
  • his temperament are in such sharp contrast uh to the character and
  • temperament of the person who was about to take over the white house uh I mean Jimmy Carter was a deeply decent man and
  • uh he uh I mean I didn't come I didn't know him very well I mean I did work for
  • him uh and that meant that I was in meetings where he was there but he was
  • uh and he he did have an instinct for the capillary I mean he he was not tending to look at the large picture all
  • the time he was an engineer uh but he was a good person he was a good person
  • and the president is not just just uh a manager a president is a moral Exemplar

  • 35:02
  • for the nation uh which is one of the reasons why Trump is such a tragedy and
  • he genuinely saw himself that way you told me a story of him that I he was the first he was president when I was born
  • in Atlanta I was born in Atlanta but you don't remember Administration no but I
  • remember um Ronald Reagan big time that's who I remember Jen Z Gen X no yes
  • Gen X I thought you were going to call me a millennial again and I couldn't take it Gen X and gen z i this is I you
  • know you guys are so young oh tell us again about this young Michael you
  • probably don't like it as much as I do um but I just thinking about how he the day he didn't drive up to the White
  • House right what did he do you told me that the other day no he was he he after he was inaugurated after he gave his
  • inauguration speech um he usually presidents are escorted you know Secret
  • Service and drive up the W no he got out of his car and he put his his jacket

  • 36:04
  • over his shoulder and he walked uh he sent his child Amy to a public school uh
  • which again was was at that time I mean presidents don't do that in Washington
  • only three ever have in the only three have done it uh but that was historically a
  • really quite a quite an event he allowed people into the White House I mean he he
  • he was the most populist uh in the sense of in the best sense of the term populist president
  • we've had in a very long time right he wasn't perfect I mean he was no of course not I mean
  • he but you know he was he was he was kicked out of office primarily because
  • of Paul voker do you remember Paul voker remember of Paul voker pauler telling me
  • about pauler exactly Paul voker was was the um head of the Federal Reserve board
  • and uh inflation was double digit it was double- digit inflation because of the

  • 37:03
  • uh OPEC oil embargo uh that had driven Price's way up uh Carter couldn't do
  • anything about that uh and Paul voker said well I'm going to break the back of inflation and he put interest rates up
  • so high that he did break the back of inflation he also plunged the United States into a deep recession and he
  • broke uh the presidency of Jimmy Carter I mean it's it's the same thing that Allen Greenspan essentially did to
  • George HW Bush uh when the Federal Reserve had raised interest rates so
  • high uh that the economy is plunged into recession the incumbent president
  • doesn't have a chance if the incumber president happens to be running for re-election it's the economy stupid it
  • is the economy uh and this is what happened in a way to Joe to Joe Joe
  • Biden yeah so I mean you keep saying how young Michael and I are and I appreciate

  • 38:00
  • that so much um did you know that so as of January 1 right couple days ago the
  • newest generation has started so anyone born is called generation beta gen beta
  • for the next alas are over I want to know who makes these decisions I mean
  • Elon Musk is it no I'm sure some social scientist carefully carefully looking at
  • the Greek alphabet demographers and some such yeah one wondering what should I do after how long is a generation it's I
  • think they're trying to standardize them is around 14 or 15 years now roughly yeah my 12-year-old son is Jen Alpha and
  • now here comes Jen beta I mean I think we should really come on Jen beta we're going to need you I mean there not that
  • many left right of gen beta they not that many yet I mean how many Greek letters do we have oh well I mean are
  • there 20 26 but this is going to be a whole generation to some extent part of gen
  • Alpha as well that's only known Politics as defined by Donald Trump right which is very unusual I know um it's uh well

  • 39:06
  • again in terms of the moral uh effect that president has on a
  • generation or more uh it is a quite apart from all the awful things he's
  • going to try to do uh it is already a blight a severe blight on America and on
  • that upbeat note I think I want to I want to thank both of you Jen X and Jen
  • Z and from a boomer from the Boomers from the Boomers Corner let me just say
  • uh thank you all for joining us this is not going to be an easy time uh you know
  • it and We Know It uh it's going to be a frightening time we're sliding into uh
  • but I hope we've given you a cause for a little bit of more comfort that you may
  • be feeling we'll see you next Saturday [Music]


SITE COUNT Amazing and shiny stats
Copyright © 2005-2021 Peter Burgess. All rights reserved. This material may only be used for limited low profit purposes: e.g. socio-enviro-economic performance analysis, education and training.