I Vomited In Your Backseat

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong, Joe Getty.

Arm Strong and Jetty I know he Armstrong and Getty.

I've got a sore throat and a couple other symptoms I won't mention. And as Joe mentioned, there's a quindemic going on.

We're getting a lot of quinn depends who you ask.

We're getting a lot of text from people have also been quite sick with either RSV whatever that is, monkey pox. Nobody's texted that has monkey pox, but that's going around bird flu, covid, regular flu. And then there's one other one going is there, I don't know. Oh, they have the biggest tuberculosis outbreak in the Midwest they've had in like a century or something.

Then you got your measles among mostly illegal immigrants, and the AP says I should never use that term unvaccinated people as well breaking out and a certain you know, it's not a huge percentage, but a certain percentage kids die of the measles.

It's not just you know.

Red spots, hmmm, extremely high fever, problems with the brain.

Terrible.

Anyway, coming up, I on the economy, a couple of really interesting stories about you know, dollars and cents and that sort of thing. Now, Michael, I'm gonna challenge you. You remember when that was hot. Instead of saying, hey, this is something you gotta do, I'm going to challenge Michael to come up with some theme music for I on the Economy. That's not the same damn music you always play. I want a good Then you got like twenty minutes, almost half an hour to come.

Up with it. All right, I'll come up with something.

All right, Now, we need five things you accomplished last week to justify your employment.

Yeah, that too by noon. Oh so I thought I'm working on mine. I haven't come up with number three yet. I've got two solid ones, and I'm thinking I'm thinking hard. William Laugines Fox News unleashed this report Friday after our show. I liked it so well I reached out to the Fellows to chop it up and have it for you.

It's not like it's plowing.

New ground, but the facts are with our worth reconsidering yet again surrounding the so called bullet train in California.

It is.

Among the greatest thefts of money, particularly taxpayer money.

Perhaps in the history of humankind.

Definitely could be. That's not hyperbole, that actually could be.

When the pharaohs of old said, you know, I'm gonna be dead soon, and I need a gigantic tomb. How big like thirty feet mister pharaoh. No, no, no, like five hundred feet tall, twice as wide, and we're going to have people from all over the world slave away. And you all got to get more granite than anybody's ever seen in their lives, and you got to build me a monument that was a smaller theft of you know,

This is the biggest boondogo in the United States. California knows it.

You know it.

So does President Trump, which is why he has called for this audit, which could effectively kill the bullet Trained. And it's also why this is how the LA Union station looked like yesterday. Protesters, many union workers who depend on that federal lifeline, turned out to throw tomatoes and hackle Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

If you want to go protest somewhere.

If you want to shout at someone, go to the governor's mansion, Go talk to Democrats in the legislature who have brought us this crappy project.

You notice it was not would be rail riders protested because they're so excited about the bullet. No, it was people profiting from it, and only people profiting from it.

Next clip.

Seventeen years and sixteen billion dollars later, the project has yet delay a single foot of rail.

It was sold to voters.

In two thousand and eight is a low cost, environmentally friendly way to get from LA to San Francisco in.

Under three hours.

Even then, the claim was wildly misleading or a lie, depending on who you believe.

This is a failed project.

It is a complete waste of money for California taxpayers and federal taxpayers.

We want to say no to a king and yes to high speed rail.

This is something that will help people for generations, will help take vehicles off their own and help people have.

More options to get around California.

By the way, I just for my birthday, I traveled to LA from northern California, like so many people do. It took fifty minutes. It was quite cheap and very handy. It's called Southwest Airlines three hours. Why would I ever want to take a three hour train ride to LA if I can fly there fifty minutes.

Maybe take in the beautiful scenery along Eye five if you've driven ever driven I five between San Francisco and La Hugh anyway, Ah. In a transparent maneuver, which we talked about last week, the rail Authority and their union buddies put out a study that said a majority of America of California still support the high speed rail last week, and Jack despaired over that. I think it is clearly an example of and this is how it goes, which is why you have to be at least a little

Are you in favor of that? Against it.

They worded the question in such a rosy manners to get the result they wanted, just before the Feds stepped in and said, hey, this is a pilot crappen, a huge theft.

We're not financing it.

Are you in favor of supporting high speed rail which will save the planet and your child's life, or are you a bad person?

Whichard?

Do you want your children to die of black lung from the climate change?

Next clip?

So far, our federal taxpayers dumped about three billion into the project, with another four million promised by but not already spent from President Biden. How this audit could provide President Trump the legal authority to claw that money back.

We're going to look at whether California High Speed Rail has actually complied with the agreements that they've signed with the federal government. And we can't just say we're going to give money and then not hold states accountable to how they spend that money.

A minimum of seven billion dollars of Californians in the other states taxpayers money being squandered on them.

Was that this is what gives the energy to doge and should four billion dollars Biden promised to give to an already stupid, obviously wasteful program, four billion dollars of people's taxpayer money from all around the country.

Nobody will.

I mean, they'll never be a train anyway. But even if there were a train, none of these people's tax dollars, These people are never gonna ride the dang thing.

I can't quit just to hand out the money.

Nobody's been ever to come up with a reason, Like we're just talking about why you would ride the thing? What are you gonna decide? You know what, today's day, I'm gonna spend three hours getting to La or San Francisco instead of the.

Fifty minutes that would take me to fly right right.

And it's a perpetual money printing machine too, because you got the environmental groups who can fundraise off. They're gonna put the track through the sacred habitat of the San joa Quen rat mouse. And then you've got all of the attorneys who are gonna sue over all the phony environmental claims and the rest of it. And we're not doing enough for this and that and the other. The point is to hand out the money.

The Sanjuacin rat mouse needs to be protected, Yes, I wish we would all catch on. I've only got on in the last couple of years. The spending is the point that needs to be on T shirts everywhere. The spending is the point. They don't care if it actually accomplishes anything. They just need to get it, you know, allotted. If I'm Joe Biden and you asked me to be honest, I would.

Say that care.

But before he was completely senile, he'd say, yeah, the money's here March for the bullet train, but I don't care if they use it to preserve Pelican habitat, or build windmills or a library for BIPOC people.

I don't care. The point is to hand out the money last clip.

So the train is decades behind scheduling, about one hundred billion short. Governor Newsom wants to finish the Central Valley lag Even that needs another twenty billion, and without federal help, that's unlikely. Many say any money federal or state should be better spent on wildlife or wildfire prevention and water storage than.

Trained in nowhere or any light lighting it on fire, yeah, or buying everybody in California pair of genes, or again, practically anything. I'm good by the way I need to get rid of clothes and I'm buy more.

That's funny. Uh to have time for this before we take a break chair? Why not?

The UN had their big vote on this. It's the three year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, one of the worst aggressions, if not the worst aggression by a major country since World War Two. The UN has adopted Ukraine's resolution condemning Russian aggression, so that's good, and demanding the immediate withdrawal of Putin's forces. But the US join Russia, North Korea, Belarus, and Hungry and opposing in the resolution.

Trump thinks he can strike a real deal with lad Putin.

These are meaningless. I mean, it's a meaningless debating society, and these are meaningless things.

But it's that's something.

The United States sided with Russia and North Korea, Belarus and Hungary and being against saying something is clear cut obviously true, as Russia's the bad guy here and they ought to get out.

Yeah, yeah, I just Trump would say, why would I antagonize the guy We're about to go into negotiations I just think he's wrong. Is trying to negotiate with an alligator. You're not going to buy favor or intimidate or woo or anything.

I understand the logic to a certain extent of sure. Look, your view of voting on the other side is right, But what is it going to do in terms of ending this war?

Is it going to make it more likely or less likely to end it? Right? Yeah, that is his argument. We'll see how this turns out. Man. That is something more in the way. Bad attention on how to merge onto the highway.

So you're going to be a dude at least the speed limit, not crawling under speed limit, not making other people break bad at tension.

Did that no issues?

You step on it, speed limit five ten above speed limit. You merge with no issues whatsoever. Stop holding up traffic. Mind your damn business in the right lane. Very simple, folks.

Well worn topic. But what is the thinking of the people that enter the freeway so slowly?

I'm being cautious and safe.

To be cautious and safe, that means going slowly, simple as that.

Right, Even though you were doing the most dangerous thing anybody on the road's doing. You you just rupped the likelihood of you dying in a fiery crash.

By a lot, but at an end innocence as well. Yes. Uh. The interesting thing to me is how often I'll have that happen.

Like I'm behind them getting on the on ramp and they're going like forty five and okay, first off effort I get I you know, check my mirror and get around them and go let but then they'll pass me. I'm going like eighty miles nor they're going driving faster than me. So they're more than willing to drive fast.

They just don't.

They can't enter quickly. Now I know someone, and I just wonder how many people are like this. I know someone why, like a lot who just finds it too like taxing on the car. They feel like it's too you know, it's too much demanding of their vehicle to like hit the gas and speed up like like that.

Mm. They need to drive with me and my big giant engine.

That's the fun Partah.

Well. Anyway, speaking of driving, so I took probably I don't know, maybe a dozen lyft rides in LA, although I had been told this maybe this is a northern California, say I don't know where it is where you live. But I was told I had a problem with Uber, and somebody said, you use Uber, you gotta use Lyft. Lift is target, Uber as Walmart, and so I started using Lyft. Well, I had some bad experiences with Lyft in Los Angeles and somebody told me, no, it's the

So okay, But anyway, I had a couple of really weird experiences with Lyft, who were.

Like the people driving just had no idea to get to the where I'm going, And I had to get out my phone and look up away myself and start telling them how to get there, which was just weird.

I've never had to do that ever. Got they got an app and I couldn't read it or something.

I don't know how many times I circled my hotel. I was in no hurry, so I just circling it started going. I finally like said, uh, okay, or I just can't figure out how to get there, he said in a very thick Spanish accent. So I got out my phone. I turn left here, turn left here, turn right again. Okay, you can drop me off there. But I mean, I don't know if he's a good driver on the rest of his life. But got this notice before one driver picked me up. Your lift driver is deaf?

Out and responded with, got this notice.

Oh sure, I'll just pick up sign language real quick while I'm standing here on the corner.

No problem.

But it brought me a bunch of hate from people, uh who believe I was being really like coarse and non sympathetic to our disabled countryman by not learning it. Oh would that really be too much to learn a little sign language for someone who's deaf?

Wow?

How about to say hello, I wave with a smile on face and to say thank you I give him a thumbs up with a smile on my phone. Or how about we I don't interact at all, which is my first favorite go to a proposal of marriage and or a threat.

No, it's universally understood.

Well, So aside from the hate for me being so lacking and compassionate for our deaf friends that I wouldn't learn sign language real quick. Well, I'm standing there with my bags on the corner. I don't pick up a foreign language, which it is real quick. Uh, A number of people texted. Now that's what the people do who can't speak English, so that they don't get out. It is not being able to speak English. It's very common in l Yeah, yeah, I took this job. I don't

Many layers to modern life. I swear, oh no, no, you don't understand that this is going on. That and here in LA is posed everywhere else. And then the driver is going to claim to be Armenian because Armenians, of course have no thumbs, and if you have no thumbs, you don't have to turn right. Oh, this is too much.

I would assume that it's a requirement to drive lift or uber you speak English, right, because how else can your passengers say no, drop me off here, or I've changed my mind. I'd rather go to blah blah blah if you can't talk to the person, or I vomited in your back seat exactly, But if the but if what we're going for here is some sort of agreement where there's no chit chat. Sign me up. I'm all day long, Pedro. I'm with you. Let's so you don't talk to me. I don't talk to you. We're all happy.

I don't care if you're deaf or Guatemalan or Armenian and umbless.

We're both happy here. Drop me off, just drive all city.

Yeah, drop me off someone near near my hotel, within walking distance, and we'll call it good.

It's the big one that says help not it right there?

Oh that's right. You can't understand me, never mind right, wow, if.

You don't lie on the economy coming up in a moment or two.

Joe's I'm the economy.

I've got an interesting nugget too about a consumer spending that we'll get to.

Uh what was I going to say? I must say, I don't know. I've flip it out of my head.

Anyway, if you missed a segment or now, you can get the podcast Armstrong and get you on demand.

We do four hours every day. I mean, it's ridiculous, it's too much. I'm being held without against my will. Yes, stay tuned if you can.

The economy stuff is actually really interesting, in thought provoking.

Armstrong and Getty.

I'm not going to talk about it today, but the topic that's about to take over our lives for those of us who follow the news is the whole tax thing, that bill that you got to get to like in the next couple of weeks. There's a couple of giant bills that are going to be proposed in the next couple of weeks that are going to dominate the political conversation for like the next six months.

Probably now.

If you're listening a while ago, you heard me challenge Michaelangelow to come up with a good theme song.

Jack.

The tax bill might be in a future edition of I on the Economy like that.

I'm Kent Brockman. That's good. Ten out of ten.

The money, yes, that's oh wow.

It's turned harsh there, but I don't mind it. This sounds like your local news in like nineteen ninety.

Eight seven dollars.

Hip it up a little bit and it's hi on the Galloway.

I'm Joe Ketty.

Oh that's beautiful. Just tightened it up and when they will be right in the sweet spot. So a couple of stories I found very very interesting.

Uh.

First of all, the weird weird housing market we're in, which everybody knows no matter whether you're in a house, hoping to buy a house, hoping to sell a house, renting, what have you. A nice piece by Alicia Finley in the Wall Street Journal White of housing prices keep climbing despite higher interest rates.

Well, the Biden and it's been confusing to me.

Oh yeah, Well, the Biden administration did some real activist stuff that was Obama esque and did not really get much attention. The federal government has allowed barwers to take out much bigger mortgages they than they can really afford to prevent foreclosures. That's bailing them out when they missed payments.

A higher than that.

So that sort of borrower is risky obviously, because they might not be able to make payments if their income drops or expenses rise, or you know, they blow all four tires or whatever. You as the home client prices climbed, the FHA, the Federal Housing Administration ensured more loans to financially stretch borrows with as little as three and a half percent down. Now, this was the Obama time, no skin off lenders backs if the bar was defaulted, since

Anyway, So listen to this, though. This is where it gets crazy to me.

There might be a giant collapse again where prices drop.

Those all are on the sidelines. That could never happen. Jack, We're kind of getting there.

But in two thousand and seven, thirty five percent of new FAJA borrowers had deckted income ratios above forty three percent thirty five percent. By last year, fifty four percent did more than half wow, and his housing prices and inflation surged, borrowers became more stretched. The FAA kept ensuring mortgages to borrowers who were increasingly leveraged. About sixty four percent of FHA barers last year exceeded the forty three

It's high right now. And Biden administration's gone now.

But the house of cards they built could collapse if Trump officials dare to end some of these programs, because they're the only thing keeping people in their houses and paying their loan.

Home prices are so ridiculously high.

Though soft to happen, Oh, I know, I know it's got to burble down, but it just remember politicians don't care if they are presiding over the road to ruin if they are out of office when the ruin happens, they don't care anyway. Foreclosures would inevitably decrease, which cause home prices to fall sharply in lower income neighborhoods with more FAHA mortgages. More borrowers would then fall underwater, balloting tax payer losses. The homes might also become more affordable.

What a mess. Who will get blamed not the folks who inflated the bubble?

Alisha points out, She's absolutely right, and I thought this was really interesting and really easy to understand. They mentioned that many Americans are pinching pennies, high prices, stubborn inflation, but the well off are spending with abandon the top percent ten percent of earners top ten percent, which is households making around two hundred and fifty thousand or more per year. As we always point out, and for some reason,

You're living inn Oaki. You're living a good life. You're living a fine life.

If you're in Coonhauller, Kentucky, you're rich as hell. Anyway, the top ten percent of earners are splurging on everything from vacations to designer handbags. Bullied by big gains in stocks, real estate, and assets. The top ten percent now account for fifty percent of all spending, a record in data going back to nineteen eighty nine when Moody's Analystics first started looking at this.

Sup this.

This doesn't sound good. That just doesn't seem like on the face of it, it could be good. Two thirds of consumer spa or two.

Half what half half of consumer spending is ten percent of population going to quote a different statistic.

Okay, two thirds of the economy is consumer spending, and yeah, half of that is just the top ten percent.

That ain't correct. That is not good. That is a setup for disaster.

Three decades ago, the top percent was about thirty six percent of spending. So it's up by almost half, not quite up by forty percent as a percentage.

I would like to see the next quintile or however they would break it down, because I keep talking all the time about you know, you see these statistics are how many people are paycheck to paycheck, and how much credit people have maxed out credit cards and all these different things.

But you know, you go to Vegas. Yeah, you fly on a plane, you go to a restaurant.

It seems like people are spending like crazy. So if if you got half of the consumer spending as that top ten percent, I wonder what the next ten percent of people account for?

All bet a lot.

Picturing Bernie Sanders yelling top ten percent as who the demon eyes gets bigger and bigger as we've predicted.

But in other words, I'm I'm wondering if like the top twenty five percent income account for like ninety five percent of consumer spending.

I'll bet you're right. I'll bet you your DAYMN close to right.

All this means that economic growth is unusually reliant on rich Americans to continue to spend. Mark Zandi, Chief Economistic mood is estimating that spending by the top ten percent alone accounted for almost one third of gross domestic product between September of twenty three and September of twenty four. High earners increase their spending by twelve percent. Spending by working class middle class households meanwhile dropped over the same period.

Here's a little of what you're asking for. The bottom eighty.

Percent of earners spent twenty five percent more than they did four years earlier, barely outpacing price increases of twenty one percent over that period. So in real dollars, they only increase by four percent. The top ten percent percent spent fifty eight percent more. I realized, there's a hell of a lot of numbers if you don't have them in print in front of you. But again, so the bottom eighty percent really outpaced inflation only by four percent.

I find this a fascinating topic, and I was thinking about it a lot on Friday, since I was in LA for my birthday and I was on Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, really expensive area. Stuff like that. Look at it, stuff not buying, And how many things that are purchased in America don't need to be purchased at all, or even in things you do need to purchase, you could purchase a much cheaper version and be fine. Yeah, cars, you know, almost always you could. You could be perfectly

I gained so much weight over my birthday week. I'm really grateful, grateful for elastic products. Anyway.

Yeah, it's all very top heavy.

I wonder what well I was gonna say, I wonder what percentage of the GDP is based on status symbol purchases.

But right.

To a certain extent, does that even mean? I mean, like I have a nice car. I have a really nice car. It's also super zoomy and capable. It's an suv and it's fun to drive. I don't need that car. Clearly, is that a status symbol or what I mean? A bunch of people are employed making them and selling them and servicing them. Yeah, I don't know.

Oh, it's all very very top heavy, though.

It reminds me of do you remember it was probably I don't know, six months ago when somebody finally said out loud. Hey, you know how the S and P uh five hundred or the Nasdaq or whatever. You know how that's up eighty percent.

It's just five stocks out of like a couple hundred.

Just fine, right, unless you were those stocks, if you unless you were in those stocks, it didn't change your situation that much.

Or in an index fund, which which helps obviously.

But like the American economy is robust and growing, look at the S and P five hundred.

I will never refer to the Dow again.

The TAO is more idiotic than it's ever been as a measure of anything.

Never look at the TAO because of the fashier lamb that it's dominated so much by Nvidia and Apple and that sort of stuff.

No, No, the opposite the TAO is it would take too long to explain, but the way it's weighted, what it's composed of as a measure of the economy is stupid.

It's not a measure of anything.

I hate to sound like bird Bernie Sanders, but a lot of that kind of talk that you get the measures are for the ultra rich and investors.

They're using measures that matter to them but don't matter to lots and lots and lots of the rest of us.

Yeah, well that's true, I would argue in the case of the Dow, that's not true. The Wall Street Journal editorial board is like, can we stop talking about the Dow? It's dumb anyway. Ah, But I'm reminded the same top heaviness. If, for instance, Taiwan gets invaded and we can't get chips in the numbers that we need, Uh, there's gonna be a global depression.

That's almost certain.

Because we're so relying on certain sectors and a certain you know, percentage of the population to do all the consumer spending.

I feel like we're getting close to Glenn beck territory here, where he would write on the chalkboard and then start crying but how awful things are.

I feel like we're having We're into that territory right now. Yeah. Yeah, I've been poor before. I really don't want to be, but I'm not. I mean, I'm miles away from Bertie Sanders.

But like watching the most conspicuous of conspicuous consumption right in La, I mean, second only to maybe do Bai. I mean, it's just like it's hard to not come away from that and think why does this exist? It shouldn't exist. Shouldn't it just be condemned by everyone?

I mean, just like.

What is it?

Yeah?

Yeah, I see your point.

I mean like virtually every great religion philosophy has cautioned us against materialism and over luxury and the rest of it. But what are you gonna do with the money? I mean, if I'm in a business that you know whatever. I invested in Apple and it paid off like crazy, and now I got buttloads of money.

What am I supposed to do? I didn't, by the way, And I don't.

Buy a handbag with a certain name on it. That's just like any other handbag. But this one costs five thousand dollars.

I shan't be doing that. We will finish strong. Next, are you not going to comply with it state federal laws?

Well we are the federal law. Well you better do it. You better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't. And by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports. So you better comply because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding. See every state. Good, I'll see you and could I look forward to that. That should be a really easy one.

Wow. See, that's the first time I've heard that.

That's Trump arguing with the governor of Maine who wants to continue to let dudes play in women's sports, despite the fact that The New York Times has a poll out today saying eighty percent of Americans that includes two thirds of Democrats, think transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women's sports. So it's not even close.

No, Okay, go ahead, stand up for an issue that teens worth of percentages of Americans believe in.

As perverse as it is, I.

Know, the headline I saw the most was main governor tells Trump, I'll see you in court.

Yeah. Well, Trump said, yeah, okay, I'll see you in court too. Sounds great. Yeah, I know, I know.

How long is this madness gonna last? Keeping in mind, they have like the whole of the educational structure in this country.

Yeah, well, I became aware of a school where every teacher is wearing a lanyard with their pronouns on it.

Whatever, beautiful, Jackie Clark, GISs time stop, Jack and Joe live God go and if they don't give can they'll be back tomorrow.

Here's your Oas for final thoughts, Joe Getty, let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap things up for the day.

There is our technical director, Michael Angelom, Michael laid us Off, removed.

Lent from my sharpened a pencil, gave a coworker a nasty frown, watched a Great British baking show during hour or two, and finally cut my string cheese into five equal pieces.

These are the five things I did on my job today. Excellent. I think you've justified your employment.

Elon Musk is going to heave you out of this place. Katie Greener esteemed Newswoman. As a final thought, Katie.

Yes, my final thought is I got a lot of entertainment out of Jack on Twitter this weekend, and I just there's a lot of people wondering if you got the vest.

No, I did not find that vest. What the hell is that? That vest made a real statement. My statement was I'm a dope. Uh No, it's funny. Jack. A final thought, well.

It's some company that Target carries. It was the same company that made that onesie denim thing, remember that I wore last year?

Whatever that was. It was like the shortest onesie What is that company? Who's that for? To the I have a lot of Target clientele that need that stuff. Very odd.

My final thought is, is the only status symbol I want is hiding away? Leave me alone. I don't have to deal with you people, not you people in general. The ability to disappear, that's all I ask. I don't need that watch, or that those leather pants or that handbag. Lord knows, I'm a myron. Why your status symbol is being a misanthrope? Yeah, exactly, Like just to give me a cabin in the woods. Okay, I'm poor now, I just can I take a walk in the woods.

I'm happy.

Speaking of being poor, That fixed into my story for the One More Thing podcast, which we'll record here soon. Armstrong in Geeddy wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

So if we haven't done enough, so many people, thanks, so a little time go to armstrong in geeddy dot com.

Great hotlingks, drop us a.

Note, mail bag at armstrong in geddy dot com, pick up some swag, Subscribe to the dang old podcasts. What the link is right there at armstrong in geeddy dot com.

God, there's so many developing stories to stay on this week Ukraine, Doge and many others see you tomorrow, God bless them.

I'm Strong and Getty. I think your star spangled at so good.

All better off, We're all better off, we're all better off, and we're working together.

And everyone knows this thing. Yeah, no, Joe, let's go with it.

Is it possible to leave Trump out of this and just discuss the fact that Europe needs to get stronger and.

To be able to defend itself? Does Spain even have a gun?

On that?

I note MS Strong and Getty