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on especially mark red and green Amazon boxes. No person necessary called five six, two three, one four four sticks zero three for complete details. We got a new favorite around here, David Harsani, because we've we've like quoted liberally from a couple of his articles recently liberally on different topics. The other day, it was his going through the different kind of fake fact checking that I really enjoyed. That was a terrific David Harsani is the senior editor of
The Federalist. He's also the author of a new book which I am looking forward to reading, First Freedom Ride through America's enduring history with the gun. David, how are you, sir? Thanks for having me again. Oh, it's our pleasure. That peace Jack just referenced was absolutely great. I appreciate it. How fact checking is just completely degenerated. Happy Valentine's Day,
but will stop it, so thank you very much. Yeah, I've never I've never felt Mr Harsani's skull, but I don't think he's such a soft end that he wants to talk about that. So hey, listen, it's funny. And scanning the many many headlines this morning, I've become aware that more and more people on the left, more and more pro environmental quote unquote, people are are saying to AOC and the Green New Dealers, hey, thanks for making us look like idiots. So so the criticism is starting
to come from those quarters as well. Well. I think what they really mean is why were you so honest about what we want to do in the long run? Right? Um, you jumped the gun here, you know. Um, obviously they don't want to tell you what they you know, the things that they want to engage and to get this project if there is done. But the fact is that
AOC is right. If you if you want to eliminate fossil fuels in ten years, you're gonna have to do something author of terror, and you're gonna have to tell people how to live their lives are gonna have to coerce them, and you're gonna have to get rid of the energy datus. That's the only way to do it. Otherwise you're not being serious. And when you say that you're not going to use any nuclear energy, you're probably
not being very serious anyway. Well, so do you think they believe that we're trying to figure out what's going on here in and a lot of our theory is that it was simple. Is similar to Trump going around saying We're gonna build a giant wall in Mexico. Is gonna pay for it? And very few people Trump. I mean, I listened to that, and I thought, Mexico is not gonna pay for the wall. But but I understood that he is. He cared about this issue more than most
people have in the past. Is that what AOC is trying to do just go so far over the top. She's the leader of this issue because they can't actually believe this stuff. It's hard for it's hard to believe that they actually believe or they actually believe that we can do that stuff. But I think that their belief socialistic or even environmentalistic beliefs are kind of like how people believe in religion. I'm not saying religion is not true.
I'm saying that you have to have some kind of blind faith to do it, and that you just assume that because you believe these things so strongly that anything can be done. You know that that that your faith
can do anything, inclusion getting rid of all our energy sources. Well, my opinion on this sort of thing is usually there's a coalition of different sorts of people, including the true believers, the the dewey eyed pie in the sky twenty something bartenders of the world who actually believe that that we can eliminate all fossil fuels in a very very short time just because they have no patience for actually doing mathematics.
And then you have the strivers who think, okay, that's a little out there, but you know, I'm in favor of the stuff generally speaking, so what the heck I'll be I'll go along. That's your Amy Klobuchars, who knows better, you know, um. But then then there are the cynics who understand, Okay, this is a great political hammer I can hit my opponents in the forehead with, and if I'm al Gore, I can make sillions of dollars based
the duly eid dopes of the world. And so I just think those people come together and that's how you get a political movement going yeah, no, I think you're right. And the populism in the sense is telling people what they want to hear. There's no way Kamala Harris thinks we're going to get rid of all our fossil fuels and ten years, I don't believe that. You believe that,
And and there are others. But there's one other group, by the way, is like Nancy Pelosi, who immediately realized this was going to be politically problematic and sort of ripped it. She knows that some of this sounds completely crazy. What I think happened was all these coalitions came together against Trump, you know, the sort of more stride you
were about it, the more popular you've got. And then one day we had to hear what these people, you know, the ideas these people are, and then you're like, oh my god, they're crazy, you know. And um, I think that that Democrats are gonna have to work that out. What other interesting angle of this to me is um and and Trump did this by tweeting he could bypass the Republican Party or a lot of the power brokers and and reach people and and get his own power base.
And AOC has done that. Also, we're into a new era. Now you don't have to wait your turn to get on the right committees and wait till the party is behind you to become a star. AOC being in Congress for a couple of months has had the conversation dominating
UM story for for a couple of weeks. Now. Yeah, and I would say that she's actually, at least from my point of view, a likable person who touches on certain things that are actually people views as problems, you know, with you know, the same sort of things actually the Trump did about how you know, the system is rigged and it's unfair for a lot of people and so on. So I don't think we should underestimate her. She's obviously
she has she has a great reach. But um, I think that what happens is within the Democratic Party there are people who have been around a long time and they understand and in the end, you have to make something work for the American people or they turn on you. And Trump has sort of done that. You know, AOC
is long far away from from really getting anything done yet. Yeah, but she's not the last person that's going to figure out that that the you know, social media fall bowing in in Twitter or however you're going to go about it. That's that's the way politics is gonna work, and isn't Populism is gonna go into like hyper speed. Now it's in hyper speed. Also, I just want to say, I mean,
it's not just her. She was sort of you know, they put on the cover of fashion magazines and put her in CNN all the time, and a lot of people lifted her up as a sort of spokesman for for this move for spokesperson for this movement. So she she had some help. And obviously that has to do with her. You know that how hot she is. We think, we think two thirds of her popularities are being hot. I think if she was a short, fat, bald guy with exactly the same ideas, the same theory, except there's
Bernie Sanders. Why is he so good? Point point? Why don't you shut up over there? Uh? That was sexist, what I said, Yes, it was. It was horrifying and the antibald David Harsani is the senior editor for the General don't believe it's sexist to say that someone's attractive. I mean, it doesn't. That just seems like a compliment to me. So yeah, I agree with both of you, guys.
I think we're entering what's going to be an incredibly parapatetic, frantic giant personality coming to the fore and commanding all of our attention and mobilizing the marchers. And three weeks later, said Chris rock said in a Day Gone to date. Right, but well, I guess we'll live through it. Hey, David, listen, because we're stubborn and and bitter and boring. We won't let people forget that the one existential threat against the United States of America is our own irresponsible spending in
our national debt. Any thoughts on the debt passing twenty two mill alright, I'm sorry trillion? Um please? Yeah, it's it's horrified. I mean, it's out of control. No one is serious about it. No one's ever been really serious about it. Um. No one wants to do the work. And obviously the work of trying to stop that trend is to let you do things that healthy economy grow and also reform, reform, social Security, medicare you know, and welfare program. Nobody on either side. Nobody on either side.
When Rand Paul brought it up on the debate, Stay Your Chris Christie touched on it, nobody care. Theoretically, everyone's into it until you touch something they want and uh, government basically touches, you know, people in some way, so they don't want to cut their own spending. Um, it's just it's at one point it will be a disaster. The one did anything about it. One of my favorite quotes is I think it was from a Mark steinbook. If if something can't continue, it will end. I mean
it seems very childlike, but it is true. He can't continue like this to what's going to end. So how about we think about what that's gonna look. Lease, you're boring me. No voter wants to hear that. You're you're at a party in the nineties and everybody's doing blow and you're standing up and saying cocaine it's bad for your health, and I don't think we should buy anymore.
I mean, you just shut up. Yeah, I mean, the disaster is always far off, and then people sort of the debt is a far more serious problem than climate change, in my opinion at least, and we do nothing about it. We don't even pretend anymore to want to do anything about it. Every reprogram that people, even Trump in some sense, and every program that liberals want, will cost trillions of more dollars. And and there's no way to pay for it, because no one's going to raise taxes on most people,
even if you raise taxes on the rich. It's just that it's a piddling a man compared to what you're spending. There's so many things I'd like to ask you about. We got to bring this up because we've talked about it so much this week. The most depressing thing we've seen in the news this week. We're on from angry to depressing. This is the proof that democracy will not work.
That so many people that liked the Trump's big tax cut now because the refunds are smaller, are turning on Trump because they don't understand the difference between tax rates and refunds. That is proof that democracy will not work, is it not? It is? I once wrote a book against democracy. Democracy is that disaster people are terrible. Um, But here's the thing we now, Harris actually tweets out right.
Maybe yeah, we're screwed. But you know, um, in the end, people don't feel a tax if they are not writing, you know, if they're not getting refund checks, which is the problem of the taxation system, where everyone should write out a check to begin with, and then they'd understand what was going on. Are you a fair tax guy, David? If you could waive your magic wand and just completely reform the utter nightmare that is the United States tax code,
which way would you go? Um? I probably just I'd probably just want to maybe a slightly progressive, straightforward taxation cutting most most uh, most of the study. You know, the postcard thing that Ted Cruz was for. I'm fine with that. I mean, listen, it's still out. It's an outlandish to believe that we're ever going to reform the tax system that I don't even you know, I don't even know if I'm for the fair tax anymore. I remember not loving it for certain reasons, but I don't
exactly remember why. Well, you know, we've said many times that if you were to propose the current tax system, um, the response would be negative. I mean, how could it be anything? But it is. It is theft. It is ray Pine. It is bizarre, it is mobbed up, it's it's a hundred kinds of bad, and yet every proposal to do anything serious about it is graded with oh, no, we better not that might have a downside, which again is another example of why democracy. Yeah, I mean, who
you know, it's it's it's it's racketeering. Basically, you're you know, you're paying yourself and then you're proposing more policies that bring in more money or spend more money, and you have there's no responsibility to balance it out. I mean, I'm not for a balanced budget amendment for a few reasons, but the idea that you don't even have to worry about balancing anything out, it's crazy. No one lives their
lives like that. Final topic, because I know you're writing about it, is Mitch McConnell's maneuver to get a vote on the Green New Deal. Um, it's it's snark delicious. I have a feeling I know exactly what he's doing. But what's his point? His point is that he wants these guys, you know, he this is a show bill to begin with. The bill is you know, the resolution itself on the Green New Deal so why not vote
on it? Um, you know, he's pouncing on them by allowing them to vote, He's seizing on their actual beliefs to make them look bad at etcetera, etcetera. Um, it's just an assertion of intent. It's a resolution. Why wouldn't they want to vote on it? It makes zero sense. I mean obviously I know where they don't because of the AOC fact sheet, But um, I think it's a great move and let them vote on it. And uh, you know what's been done before Democrats due to it's not new in d C. But I mean why not?
Well yeah, and it's funny they responsible from the left at McConnell's a cynic and this is a maneuver and everything. Having a vote on what we're proposing, I mean, do you think itself as a resolution? Right? So it's not even like a bill that's percolating or something. It's just the resolution thing that you want to move forward on this idea. Why wouldn't they want to vote to move
forward on the idea that they put forward? They filed this resolution themselves, well, right, well, because they understand it's completely ridiculous, but they're afraid of that outer ten percent of the coalition that's madly in love with the whole things. So, by the way, presidential candidates who are in the Senate have endorsed it, why shouldn't they be able to vote on it? In for real? It doesn't make any sense. David Arsani, senior editor of the Federalist new book First Freedom,
or Ride through America's Enduring History with the Gun. David, it's always fun. Thanks a million for spending a couple of minutes anytime. Thanks for having me when the weather outside is frightful. The Hunte Santa Fe is what's the word delightful because it's got available eight track all wheel drive to make being out together better. Enter for your chance to win the newly redesigned Santa Fect packed with all the jingle bells and whistles you need to go
dash into the snow together. To enter, visit Amazon dot com splash hunting or scan the QR code on especially mark red and green Amazon boxes. No person necessary. Called five six two three one four four six zero three for complete details.