'This Is What We Stand For..." Lanhee Chen Talks to A&G

that is remarkable. What are the odds that in each of these categories the number we need, the investment we need would be identical, and then in each category that would be a nice round number, like a hundred billion dollars. That's Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher making the obvious point that if it's a hundred billion, if they're all a hundred billion, obviously you're just picking a number out of thin air. I have a new favorite congressman. That is great and obvious,

but I hadn't anybody else say it. That's terrific. I want to ask about that with our guests, but I got another question first, and I'm very hot to tront about excellent our guests, the most wonderful longhe chan sounds like I want to date them. It's respect, professional respect. He is the David and Diane and Stephy fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution, Director of Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University Lon He how are you, sir?

I am doing well this morning. How are you? Guys? You actually have Dodgers fan on your Twitter like handily, that's how that's how you do. And I saw in the cover of one of your baseball magazines that the Dodgers might be the best team in the history of baseball. I mean, how much hyperbole yesterday? It looks awful. Noh, that happens. I got a hundred and sixty one left to right this ship, so I gotta burn my saddle, and that's literally through our road to borrow to work.

But this, this story has got me very, very angry, and I feel like we've crossed yet another line. So this whole Georgia voting rules thing President Biden got four pinocchios from the Washington Post, among others they could have given out for his various whoppers about this makes Jim Crow look like you megal, there are you cutting off voting at five? Complete lie? Nobody is allowed to have a drink of water? Complete lie? All these kind of things.

Is this does? Does Joe Biden know what he's doing. Have we have we crossed some sort of line now where politicians have figured out, Look, there's too many news sources. Most people are only getting their news from our side. We no longer need to even attempt to be truthful. What is going on? Here's a policy guy explain it

to me. Well, it's a great question, and it speaks to how politicized we are that we look at something like this, that we should be able to sort of sit down and say, Okay, what are the elements of this uh and what does it do and have a

reasonable discussion about it. But that's not what we're looking at the fact, end of this morning, I was just looking at a descriptions of the law and what it would actually do, and looking at one outlet that is considered to be more conservative and then looking at another outlet that's considered to be more liberal. I thought they

were talking about two different pieces of letislation. I mean, it's it's remarkable how differently urnalists, supposed journalists can describe and shade and write based on what their political views are. And you know, it's even worse than politicians to pick up on it. I mean, this notion, for example, that the that the Georgia law. You know, you mentioned the drink of water thing. You know, they say, oh gosh, you can't you know, you can't even give someone a

drink of water. Uh, that's actually not true. The law specifically says that you can make self service water receptacles available to voters waiting a law. What you can't do is give money, gifts, food, or drinks to voters within a hundred and fifty feet of a polling place where twenty five ft of voters that are waiting to vote. In law, which you know, I mean, that kind of

makes sense, right. We have the electioneering anti electioneering laws in California to every state has them, so we just gotta be a little careful about how torqud we get and unfortunately, think our politicians don't help with that. Do you think this is a moment we're passing through in terms of the relationship of the people, the media and the government or is it just going to keep going in this way in this same direction. I realize you don't have a crystal ball, but um, you know, I

think it's gonna continue to get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, because politicians. The incentives they have in many cases are to appeal to two extreams or to appeal to these sort of very hard edged critiques. And we're in an era now where there's a benefit for politicians to double down on on stuff even if they're wrong. They double down right. And we've seen this over and over and over and I don't care what the situation is, right

or left. You know, people are wrong, they just kind of double down and say, no, I'm not wrong, you're wrong, back and forth. Is that's what results in the kind of caustic, difficult environment we have. How would you not be cynical? I mean, I don't want to beat this into the ground. But Jen Saki was asked about it yesterday. So the Washington Post gave President Biden for pinocchios. If you don't know what that means, that means it's a

complete lie. When Joe Biden said they're not voting at five o'clock, you get off work, you can, it's just not true. So they asked Jim Sake about it yesterday, said are you going to back off that or double down? She said, We're not backing off anything. What you know, what lan here we're getting into the weeds of philosophy here a little bit. But I think conservatism is handicapped by the fact that we want to conserve what is good and what has worked in the past, and that

is not served by outright lying, outright slander. Whereas the revolutionary left, they they believe that they're ordained by God or Karl Marx or somebody or to do whatever is necessary. Maybe Abram X Kennedy has given them there they're you know, has annointed them um and so they are willing to slip throats, as it were, and often the guy who

fights dirty winds that troubles me as a conservative. He raised a really good point, which is, even if you think about the word that many liberals used to describe themselves now, which is progressive, you know, sort of hidden, not even hidden. I mean in that word directly is the word progress. And the implication, of course, is that there are some who want to progress and some who don't want to progress, when in fact, I think that

contrast is obviously imatic, it's false. But I do think that there is something about even how we talk about the two sides that's become somewhat loaded. Uh. In our society. Look, I think conservatives the challenge that conservatives have, in my view, is that too often they haven't been willing to stand up and say, this is what we actually stand for. And what troubles me is too often it's here's what

we stand against. And I think it's important that conservatives are willing and able to articulate, like, hey, what is it that you actually want to do, and and look to stand by it. And not everything is going to be popular. Certainly we know how a lot of the mainstream media will respond to it. But by and large, I think you're going to get farther along. You actually stayed affirmatively there's the things we want to do, rather than just standing there and saying, well, we don't like that,

we don't like that. So that is one thing I wish conservatives as a whole would be better. Progressives aren't ashamed of saying they want to have government takeovers of health care or completely uh you know, with the case of the infrastructure bill, you guys were talking about essentially completely push out private sector involvement with a large amount of public sector spending. They have no hesitation to arguing

that's what they want to do so. I do think having at a point of view and being able to stay in affirmatively and strongly is good. Here here we do need to talk about that big infrastructure using my finger quotes here, Um, is that going to pass? Do

you think? Well? You know, look, they're they're gonna do the same thing at the end of the day that they did with that huge two trillion dollar spending package we've already passed, which is they have one more bide the apple using a process called recasciliation, which is Democrats only, So if they wanted to go in that direction, they

could again later this year. Um. Not everything that has been proposed by the President will make it into the final package, but they do have the opportunity to do it if they want. And what's so interesting is it's you can't you can't call this an infrastructure package right because it's it's got so much more stuff in it. But every ride up I see refers to it still

as an infrastructure package, spending package. That's what it is. Well, it's just like everybody referred to the COVID Relief Bill as the COVID relief Bill, even though it including Fox News, which just made me crazy. You. Uh, do you ever eat meet any of Matt Gates's girlfriends? Uh? Fortunately I have not, and at the playground about it on TV,

nor have I've been asked about it on TV. In a somewhat awkward moment for Tucker Carlson, it was as as Tucker said, that was one of the weirdest interviews he's done. It's one of the weirdest interviews I've scene. Oh yeah, how about how about Gates trying to rope it in? You remember, Tucker, that girl well went out and I don't know what you're talking about. Dude, so uncomfortable.

Lon Eachen, David and Diane Stay if you fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution, Lan He's there's so much we could talk about. We don't want to take too much of your time, but we sure look forward to the next time. Thanks. Hollywood for ugly people. Isn't that what they call Washington d C? Although now now it's just Hollywood East because it's more and more

pretty people. They're performers, they're not legislators. They're just Instagram stars or or YouTube sensations are