Sound On: Fed Goes Big, WH Targets Big Oil, Inflation

pay people more. It okay, can I tell you something? Work is like the Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The biggest interest rate hikes since Welcome to the fastest hour in politics. As the Federal Reserve goes for seventy five it actually happened, and the White House goes for broke with big oil herging companies to

produce more or else. We're gonna talk about the pressure on prices and politics today in Washington and ahead with you and rally from bed A Partners, someone who is actually moving money on all of this news today. His

perspective is straight ahead. Our panel today, Bloomberg Politics contributor, Democratic analyst Genie Chanzano, along with Morgan Ortega's former treasury analyst in the Obama years and spokesperson for the State Department in the Trump administration, and later a conversation with the man in charge of implementing the infrastructure law, Mitch Landrew, the former governor of make that mayor of New Orleans, about rebuilding the country in the age of inflation is

the biggest hike in almost thirty years of FED Chair J. Powell says, they are on it. We at the FED understand the hardship that high inflation is causing. We're strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, and we're moving expeditiously to do so. We have both the tools we need and the resolve that it will take to restore price stability on behalf of American families and businesses. Not that you should expect seventy five basis points sever time, which

was made clear it could be fifty. It is pretty unusual. And the FED action comes the same day the White House sends letters to about a half dozen major oil companies. Letters in the mail, I think ex and Chevron, BP marathons so on. There were seven in total, the letters

telling them that their unprecedented profit margins are unacceptable. The President of the United States calling for immediate action, his words, immediate action to improve capacity, saying the administration is prepared to use emergency authorities defense production acts to boost refinery output. I'm assuming it's defense production. There's been a lot for

the markets to absorb here today, all of this. Of course, Washington, whether it's the Fed or the White House, trying to get its arms around prices, and we seek insights now from you and Rally, co founder and managing partner at b d A partners back with us today on sound on you and welcome back. Are you as happy as the market seems to be with seventy five basis points? Well, Joe,

it's good to be back, thank you. You know, the market always wants predictability, The market wants calm and stability, and you're right, we've seen a lot of uncertainty over the last few weeks. Today felt like a relatively reassuring day, So yes, I'm happy like the market is okay that this may be followed by another seventy five although pale today seemed to feel like it was uh as unusual as it seems to be here that we might get

fifty basis points. I think that that gets the question is, though, do you see the FED front loading? No, having you know, spent some time in the Oval office with Joe Biden that you know this is this is pressure time. Yeah, I think that. I think that's exactly right. The FED is trying to frontload it. Um, we may see seventy five again in in July, probably fifty or twenty five in the final three meetings of the year, so probably

another one and three quarters per cent. Again, the market is expecting this now, and I think, of course it falls hardest on on the poorer parts of the society. But as far as investors are concerned, we've got a relatively clear path towards what we hope will be a soft landing. Um. I don't think it's it's quite as simple as I'm saying, but that's what what we're looking for. Well,

it would be awfully nice. Do you feel like the market, now that we've seen this sort of sigh of relief starts building in a bottom here is the investors look at the dot plots, people start calling the peak for inflation one more time. Yeah, I think, I think. Um, of course we're hoping for for an improvement after some pretty steep falls. Um, there's a there's an extra worry,

which is the coming quantitative tightening by the Fed. Um. You know, there's a huge, huge balance sheet which has more than doubled in in size to nine trillion dollars over the last couple of years. That's a bloated balance sheet which which the FED has to deal with. So there's still a lot of a lot of room for the FED to make mistakes overall. Again, I think and believe that the FED was was slow to move on inflation,

but they seem to be getting their arms around it now. Uh, it remains to be seen whether whether that optimism is misplaced. Really fascinating a question and answer in the news conference today, the news conference with j Powell, of course, when Bloomberg's Mike McKee shows up. This is why they should go to Mike for the first question. I don't know why that doesn't happen at all of these things, but I want you to listen to the question and answer. I'm sure you already saw this, and it has to do

with headline versus core inflation. And exactly what the FED thinks it has the ability to impact. Remembering that the White House is constantly deferring to the Fed. If you have an issue here with you know, whether it's oil prices, food prices, that's their job the FED that the White House doing what it can, but it's really the Fed's job to manage this trend. So it it speaks to the answer that Powell gives our colleague Mike McKie, Are

you targeting headline inflation now or core inflation? In other words, how far would you chase oil prices if they keep going up, if that's going to be the component that drives expectations? Would you risk recession for a headline rate if the core rate is holding steady or starting to go down. So we're responsible for inflation in the law, and inflation means headline inflation, So that's our ultimate goal.

We of course like all central banks to look very very carefully at core inflation because it is it's a much better predictor, and it's much it's it's a much better predictor where inflation is going, and it's also more relevant to our tools. As I mentioned, the parts that don't go into core are mostly outside the scope of our tools, so we look at that. But you know, it's the current situation is particularly difficult because of what

I mentioned about expectations. We we we we can't affect really, I mean, the energy prices are set by global commodity prices, and most of food, not all of it, but most food prices are are pretty heavily influenced by global commodity prices to also other things, so we can't really have

much of an effect. All right, Sorry for the long answer there, you and but what he just said is, you know, we can't affect oil, can affect food, so we're focusing on everything else here in the core, right, And I appreciate the value of having that core number and understanding longer term trends. But the White House keeps saying the big problems are oil and food. So what are we talking about here? Well, look, I think I think again the Biden administration is going to is already

taking a lot of heat for inflation. Um, the public doesn't like it, and thoughts are probably gonna react pretty harshly against the Biden administration. But I think the President did the right thing today using his bully pulpit uh to the extent he can to try to encourage oil companies to do the right thing. Remember, oil companies are making very very high profits through this period, but unfortunately

refinery capacity is pretty much tapped out. So you know, anything that the oil companies due to increase um investment, that will take a while to come through. I don't think President Biden or Power or anybody else can can solve the Ukraine problem. And we're going to definitely have a global grain grain issue, and that touches both of these. Yeah, that's all that's that's your energy and there's your food.

So while the FED is hiking interest rates and potentially slowing us into a recession, these prices may not even react, is that I think? I think they will react, of course, that's the concern. And you know, we've all been maybe spoilt by by prices that have been very low to rise, very slow to rise over the last few years until until the last twelve months. Um. I don't think the neither the FED nor the President and click their fingers

and solve everything. I think they're taking the right actions, and gradually, for sure, expectations are going to abate and we're headed in the right direction. That's that's the best we can say. I just saw an incredible story across the Bloomberg terminal. A FED triggered recession threatens Biden's White House survival. Rate hikes to counter inflation lift the risk of a downturn to seventy two percent. You and in Bloomberg's economic models, seventy two Does that sound like reality?

Is that your expectation? Yes, I think we I think I'm afraid to say, I think we'll have a recession next year. Hopefully it'll be a pretty soft recession, a short recession, and growth will growth will will return. The fundamentals of the economy are generally good, but it's very, very hard to come out of the pandemic we've been through with war and other problems without a recession. At some point, we're still uncharted here, right. This is obviously

recovering from a pandemic we haven't done in a century. Uh, certainly not on this scale. We've never just shut off the economy before, and we've never done it at a time of war, at least considering the market implications we have now when it comes to energy. So, how can you possibly forecast anything at this point, and how do you make a bet on any of this? Well, I think I think, Look, the labor market is tight. Uh, consumers are still spending money more on services and on

goods at the moment. You know, part of this is a is anecdotal, But if you sit on an airplane as I have done in the last week, or if you visit restaurants around the country, you'll see activity. Consumer activity is still reasonably good. So I think you know, this is an extraordinarily resilient economy. I think it's been reasonably well managed on the whole. I think the FED was, as I say, late to react to inflation, but I think the prognosis is not so bad. So why not

start buying? Or are you I'm gradually starting to buy? Um, I'm licking, licking, licking my wounds from recent falls, but gradually starting to buy again. What is it? Something other than energy out of curiosity? Are you? Are you just looking for individual companies that have been unfairly abused over the last few weeks to to To be honest, I think bigger companies are better, uh, you know, have stronger balance sheets, better better position to weather. UM. The volatile markets.

I think you know what what happens in these rock during these times of ructions is the biggest stronger companies tend to acquire. The weaker companies will see certainly see consolidation. I think consumer services will be stronger than consumer goods. I think financial services will do. Okay, there it is from you, and really I love this. Great to talk to you again from b DA Partners. You and thank you. We assemble our panel. Next on sound on, This is Bloomberg.

You're listening to Bloomberg you Sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The headline on the terminal, Biden tells US oil refiners record profits not exceptable. I mentioned the letters. There were seven of them, seven big oil refiners. The President wants to get busy, suggesting that in the age of unprecedented profit margins at a time of ward is the patriotic thing to do to put more money back

in the ground instead of sending it to shareholders. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre was asked about it's a day and exactly what the letters were all about. So this is basically a bit of a hey, we want, we want you to act. It's time to act. We have done our part with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the one the one million a day for the next six months, and so we need them to act. So that's where we are. We want it comes to solutions, which is

why we say we want to have that conversation. And well we'll see where it goes from there. If there's something the presidents consider it to compel them or consequence in that. I don't have anything right now to to preview as to what would come What would come next? That's the question. What happens if they just sit on their hands or just keep their money in their pocket.

As we assemble the panel here with the full Court press, the Federal Reserve hiking interest rate seventy five basis points, the White House Senate out letters to big oil, and we have Bloomberg Politics contributor and Democratic analyst Genie Shenzana with us today along with Morgan Ortega's former Treasury analyst in the Obama administration, spokesperson for the State Department in the Trump administration. It's great to have both of you with us. Genie, are you impressed with this? I won't

say hold of government approach. Maybe hole of administration approach is a better way to talk about it. Seventy five bases points and some nasty grams to big oil. Yeah, you know, I have so much to say following that interview, which I thought was so fascinating. And you know, I do think the FED is is doing what it can

to tap down on the excess money. But I think the question you played that Mike asked is so critically important because the question now for the Biden administration in this oil letter speaks to it is on the supply side. And you know, you hear you hear the FED chair saying, you know, there's not a lot we can do about that.

You hear the Biden administration blaming people, including the oil executives, and yet there are a lot of things people are saying they need to do on the supply side that they haven't done, like the tariffs on the Chinese tariffs, for instance. So you know, that is a big, big question I think for the Biden administration, what are you going to do on that? And you know, from the perspective of these oil executives, on the one hand, we

increase production, you claim that we're destroying the planet. On the other hand, you claim if we have it down, we're not. So you know, you have the politics here at play and the blame game. Big question. I think if that even works with the American public at this point, because people don't pay too much attention to who he's blaming. They're paying, They're paying attention to what we're paying at

the pump. This is a big meeting coming, Morgan. The President said the federal government will open talks with the National Petroleum Council, which represents the industry, calling on companies to give the Energy Department an explanation as to why they have cut capacity, which happened in many cases before this aministration, and then what could be done Let's to get it back up to speed, knowing it's going to

take a while. Um Morgan, at what point are Republicans not going to be able to accuse the White House of doing nothing? Uh after potentially when a Republican in the White House. But you know, I'm asking that in reverse. Here is there is Joe Biden doing everything he can or do you see other levers he should be pulling? No?

I think that listen. Lindsay Graham and his debate with Bernie Sanders and Boston a couple of days ago said at best, you know, uh, he said that President Biden and his team went to war on American energy and the victims are the American people. At the pump um and and President Biden made it very clear. I mean all the videos have been making the internet on Twitter over the last few months of President Biden during the campaign trail, you know, promising to end the fossil fil

industry in the United States. Listen, my former boss, Mike Pompeo, I think phrase this well. He said, every administration has a guiding principle that guides all of their policies, right, policies, right, everything that they do. For for for Pompeio, for President Trump, that was his America First principle, meaning and every decision that every department made what was best for Americans. And for President Biden his team, that guiding principle is climate change.

I think plenty of people think that's a noble goal. But what that that that overriding theme of climate change being the guiding principle of the Biden administration has unfortunately, um just come into a harsh reality as we're seeing today of American energy prices. But you're as when we talk about energy and oil, obviously you're speaking to to that equation. But my goodness, we have across the board inflation on a global level. So that's that's clearly beyond

the policies of this White House. Yeah, I just don't I think what you're saying is a is a nuanced argument that's hard to make to the American people. Again, we're just I'm just talking to politics of it, you know right now, it's hard to make that to the American people because you know, they are feeling to and they check out at the grocery store and when they go to the pump, And I just think that from a from a political perspective, making the argument uh to

go out and blame the blame the oil companies. Listen, that's definitely going to resonate with a certain part of the President's base. But if we're fighting over you know, the I live in Nashville, Tennessee, So if you're fighting over my friends, you know, suburban moms, I just don't think blaming the oil companies is a winning message. People. Actually, they're going to have a big meeting here. He's been

accused of not engaging with the oil companies. Does that help the narrative and does it help to say, invoke the Defense Production Act to get more oil out of the ground. Yeah, I mean the president has to do everything he can, and I give the White House credit for getting out there. They are, you know, doing what they can. But you know the reality of this for any president, I mean, put Joe Biden aside, is you are very much like Bob the Builder. Without many tools

on your belt, There's very little you can do. I say that having had two boys, but um, you know, there's very little you can do. And so they're doing what they can. People want him to do more. He'll take the blame at the mid term for it, but is it deserved. Probably not. I don't know. Genie and Morgan are with us. That's why it was we try to figure this out. We're gonna stick with the panel. Next, in turn to the primaries. Yeah, it was primary day

yesterday and some good storylines. Next, this is Bloomberg broadcasting live from our nation's capital. Bloomberg to New York, Bloomberg eleven Frio to Boston, Bloomberg one O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the Country, Serious, x M General one and around the globe, the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Sound

On with Joe Matthew. So a split decision for the Trump retribution tour in South Carolina last night and the first Republican member of Congress losing a seat after voting to impeach the former president. We'll get into the results from primary night next with our panel. So we were asking at this time yesterday if it was possible for a Republican member of Congress in the House, specifically who voted to impeach Donald Trump, could possibly survive a primary.

The answer so far is no. The first last night, South Carolina Congressman Tom Rice lost his primary, which we discussed again this time yesterday to Russell Fry. Remember the Trump endorsed candidate who created that ad with the Joker and Satan in a therapy session with Tom rights, Well, this is why he's a narcissist, and he's driven by attention and he's driven by revenge. I took an oath to protect the consultation, and I did it then and I would do it again. Tomorrow and I won't likely

have a chance. Tom Rice right there speaking with ABC News on the eve of the election, didn't win the primary, and it was not even close. It's like a twenty five point spread. But a different story for Nancy Mace, also in South Carolina, and as I was reminded today

on Twitter, these are very different districts congressional districts. But the Republican congresswoman who didn't vote to impeach Donald Trump but did criticize him in the wake of January six and was facing a Trump and Doors candidate, she survived, known by many outside of South Carolina as the Republican who proposed legalizing marijuana. We talked to her about that earlier this year. Right here on sound On, Let's reassemble

the panel for more Bloomberg Politics contributors. Genie Chan say No. Morgan Ortegas is with us today as well, former State Department spokesperson in the Trump administration. It's great to have both of you this day, after Genie your thoughts on South Carolina. These were two different races, but the Trump retribution on Tom Rice was unmistakable. With a twenty five loss,

that's significant. It was as show lacking, as they say, and you know, some of us thought, and myself included, this could possibly go to a runoff, and not at all. Fry really really did extremely well because the joker wasn't that it was the joker that changed everything. But I do think you're the people you were speaking with on Twitter or right. The districts are critically important. We can't forget Nancy Mace's district includes Charleston, much more moderate there.

And also, of course the tone of their campaigns. Nancy Mace, she said she agreed with Trump and any things she was critical of him, but she didn't take him on directly. Tom Rice was on I think it was MSNBC the other day saying that, you know, it was a badge of honor to vote against the president, you know, very defiant. Morgan, what's your read on these two races. The vote to impeach was obviously, uh, the undoing of Tom Rice, But Nancy Mace was was under fire and and managed to

find herself out of trouble. She did, and I think Genie's had to talk about the tone. I mean, she was very complimentary if Trump said she would support him in twenty four if he ran agreed with his agenda. She ran a very different campaign, and I think it's an interesting window and how the twenty four presidential election will be conducted. Um, if President Trump decides not to run, I think the people that you will see at the top, you know, you will be like, none of these guys

that we're going to run yet. But let's just say it's the Santist or Pompeo or or others. They're gonna be running close to Trump, whereas maybe the Chris Christie's or you know, the you know, the governor of Maryland. You know, those people that will run away from Trump. I think there's a very big start contrast and how that would play in a primary. But I will say, if I could just say, the one thing that Republicans are really animated about, uh, the is the race in Texas.

Myra Flores is the first Mexican born um American to to be elected to Congress as a Republican. You know, I totally get the media. Everybody's talking about what happened. The Trump back candidates are not. I will tell you what we're Publicans around the country are doing. And on fact that the class Americans right right and Hispanic working class Americans in general. You remember that Myra's husband, um I met her before. She's fantastic. Her husband is a

border patrol agent. We know that this community, the Hispanic American community, especially in Texas and Arizona, they actually care about the border. They care about the gas and cost of groceries, just like every other Americans. Sure, this is, of course, though temporary, right, this is this is a short term. We're we're the special election. What does it mean, Jennie, for the for the real election that will follow. Well,

I agree with Morgan. I wrote down political tsunami, political earthquake, a demographic one. I mean this seat has been democratic, as you mentioned, for a hundred years. This is big news out of Texas. So of course this district now goes away with a special election to finish it. That's the last election for this district. It's been redistricted. But I think the larger, the larger implications here are not as much in this case actually for Joe Biden. But

the Demock had a party as a whole. It's long been stated, maybe not as publicly, that they have had a tendency to lump in people of color, Hispanics, Latinos and so on and appeal to them in sort of a a coherent way, and that has proven not to be successful, and this is one of the cases in which it was an utter failure. Democrats didn't even spend a lot until the last eight days of this, taking

it for granted, and it was a big win. We'll have to see what happens when they redo this, but it was a big win for Republicans in that district. Morgan ortegas your take on Nevada where the Trump brand is still apparently quite powerful. Adam Laxalt beat Sam Brown by almost twenty points, and those two candidates spent the better part of the campaign trying to outmag at each other. We lost, Morgan RD Vegas. Stay with me, Jeanie, because

this is also pretty important here. Senator Katherine Cortez Mastro, the Democrat, is considered one of the most at risk in the Senate. That's right, Morgan is probab run out to Nevada to work on these races is probably what she's doing. But you know, this is going to be one of the races to watch. And of course Adam Laxall, he was endorsed not only by Trump, but by Mitch McConnell, he is some of the Republicans feel very strongly about can take on Cortez Mastow, Democrats feeling like it's a

seat they could possibly hold. But the numbers aren't hard thirty approval for Biden there. The economy post COVID, they're still trying to recover. It's a one industry town, as we famously know, so really really tough for them out there. And so, you know, one other story from Nevada is, of course you've got a series of election deniers out there who have won and potentially the Republican if you win Secretary of State in Nevada and now Florida, both

election deniers. So Morgan was mentioning, imagine counting the votes in Florida and Arizona with those two at the helm if indeed that turn, if we can just get Morgan in for one set, we only have thirty seconds, Morgan, But I understand you are still there is Senator Catherine Cortes mass though in big trouble. I think so. I think I think Jennie's right there. But listen to what most Republicans are saying behind the scenes. We feel very good about the House. We think the Senator raisers edge

right as it always is invigorated by Texas. I get it, Morgan. Thank you for being here in Genie. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Remember Infrastructure Week, Remember it actually happened from President Biden signed the bill in the law one point two trillion dollars. It was the biggest deal in Washington at the time, bipartisan and unprecedented and well now it's being implemented in a very different environment than when

it passed. Historically high inflation, expensive oil and gas, continued shortages of building materials. Dealing with all of this is the job of Mitch Landrew, the former mayor of New Orleans, now in charge of putting the infrastructure law into place, and he's with us now in studio. Should I should I call you? Mr? Mayor? Thank you? Put every mayor I've ever known who went on to have a bigger job, ambassador, Congress whatever. I still love being called mayor. That's what

they all said. You still feel the hundred because you're you're the boss, but you're on the ground and you're responsible and uh, and it's hot and it's fast. And now you're on the other side of the equation, on the federal government side talking to mayors. It's that conversation. Well, it's a good conversation. I mean, I know, I know a lot of these folks, and I know how they think, and I know what their challenges are and um um have a profound respect for the for the immediacy of

their work. When you're the mayor, you might and might not have security, depending on what city you're in. But no matter what, you're on the ground, and so whatever it is that you say or whatever you in your city council indicated is gonna happen usually happens like the next day. It's not like a year from now. So when you need something, and when you need something, you call the mayor. And by the way, the mid you know, takes out their own garbage and they go to the

grocery store and they go to the ballpark. So people, your constituents who know you are not shy of coming up to you, even in mass and saying listen, I know you're praying, but but I can I can I grab you for a second finish let me just let me just finish this out, father, and then I'll get to you. Um. You know, so you have that, but it's an immediacy and you proct him into the people and it's a it's a joyful, exhilarating thing, but it's

also very painful because you go to the funerals. You know people who are who are killed are um, you know, changes that happened in your city. You're there all the time. Or if there's a catastrophic event, you're actually part of the people who get hit by the hurricane or the flood or an electrical outage. So you're living in real time. Um, and you can't escape. But it's a it was It's really great. I really enjoyed it. Well, So this is

why Joe Biden wanted you for this job. You're traveling the country talking to local policymakers, mayors, governors, uh, people in local government who are going to decide where all of this money goes. You're about to unleash from the process of unleashing a trillion plus dollars, it's never happened before on infrastructure. When that bill was first signed, that money was worth a little bit more now we're talking

about this against the backdrop of inflation. Are you concerned about having less buying power as these projects begin, Well, the inflation is the President's number one priority. I mean, everybody knows American citizens who are get up every day have to go to work. We're about getting their kids to and from school safely. Unfortunately, um and just trying to make ends meet know that inflation is a real challenge. But they also know that we're living in a very

difficult time. I mean, for God's sakes, we've come out of two and a half years of just intense turmoil, from the potential insurrection to the changes of the new presidency into um, you know all Macron just really taking a lot of lives, about loved ones and people working from home, and into this incredible war that Putin has put on the shoulders of the world by trying to invade Ukraine and challenge freedom all over the world, which

is straining gas prices. And most people don't know this, but both Russia and the Ukraine together produced about of the world's weak Yeah, that's why the bread, that's why you don't have you don't have access to the things that we have and then China, UM, which we bought a lot of stuff from, basically has shut down a number of different times, and so they don't have the kind of goods that people want to buy. And so when you don't have a lot of goods and people

want a lot of stuff, you're in the construction business. Essentially, you need oil, you need a lot of stuff that we're so I am clearly clearly inflation concerns the President for its impact on everyday Americans, but on everything that everybody is trying to build, the cost of it will go up. And that is true, except that this infrastructure plan is not a UM recovery plan in the sense that you put money in somebody's pocket today and you

want them to spend it today. We're building bridges, and we're building roads, and we're building airports, and even on our best day when we go on as fast as we possibly can, this is a long term plan to five seven tents, so as the economy gets itself back on its feet over time through whatever pain that we're

gonna have to go through together UM. And the President is trying to ease this pain every day by getting Congress to lower prices and calling on oil companies to do the right thing, that it won't have the kind of impact um over the long term as it as it would for example today, Sure, got it. Uh. The other major challenge has been the labor market, which is as tight as it's ever been. Words told, you need to hire a lot of people or someone is to do all of these jobs. Difficult is that going to

be in this environment? Well, I'll tell you it's. Um. There are lots of problems that people can have in their life. One of them is that no jobs and there's no work, and there's no food and nobody can eat. That's one problem. We had that problem before. This problem is we have more jobs we need, right, and we need people. That's a that's a problem that that that creates lots of opportunities, and you have to see it that way. And so it's just all about a problem

so everybody in America. The whole point of it was to help put people in America back to work and to build things in a way that prepare us to win the twenty one century, no matter who's competing against us on the world stage. You know, by the way, notwithstanding inflation and gas prices, which the President is working

on every day because of the President's policies. Almost every economist agrees that we're in a better position financially to weather this storm than any country in the world because you know, inflacing, the gas prices are high everywhere, so this is just asn't in the United States. But the President would remind everybody that since he's been in office, would created eight point seven million jobs. That's more in the first eighteen months and any president than anybody can remember,

the unemployment rate is at three. It also means you gotta pay people more. It also, can I tell you something works like that? The President likes that to the more wages you pay, the better you know people can can can can invest in themselves and their families. However, it creates a challenge, and the challenges how do you keep It's about balancing common sense. It's about going from a red hot economy to a stable economy so that things don't fall off the other side. And it's just

not overly easy. It's not like turning off a light switch. The president is going to continue to use the power its president to make sure that we get things to the to the middle class, and to build things from what he says, the bottom up in the middle out not trickle down because it never trickles down. It never

trickles down. So the President put the money, his money where his mouth is on this bill, and it's gonna improve people's lives, it's gonna make it safer, it's gonna give us more tools, laying high speed internet, for example, so that everybody has access to knowledge. In case people didn't understand the importance of this after COVID, they surely do. Of trying to work from home without internet, you just

can't play in in a modern economy. You can't you can't do agribusiness, you can't um uh, you can't do telemedicine, you can't do precision agriculture. You can't build entrepreneurship from maybe wanting to live in a rural area and then have some kind of work experience in the in the urban area of vice versa. So you speed internet. It is an absolute utility and a necessity. And and it really is about equality too, and laying having a level

playing field so everybody in the country can participate. You got that, and then there's money in here to build a clean energy economy. Everybody now knows what the price of gas as high as it is. We gotta get out of being dependent on other folks, and so we have to build other sources of energy, which we're aggressively doing so that we can help with climate but also just lower the costs on American people. And we and we're working hard to get there, and I think we will.

You help to rebuild one of the greatest cities in the world. As the mayor of New Orleans following Katrina, you have institutional knowledge having been through that that I'm guessing no one else in Washington has. What do you what do you see that they don't. I love my city so much. I love the people of New Orleans.

They have so much heart and so much soul, and and we're so thankful, by the way, to the people of America for reaching down and helping us and out the arcas our You know, we had eighteen hundred people would killed in Katrina and two hundred fifty thousand homes got destroyed. The whole world came to help us, and

you know, we're forever gradeful for that. But in the middle of that catastrophic event, it caused us to really kind of get our act together, and so thinking about who we were and what we wanted to build back, and we didn't really want to build it back like it was now. We wanted to maintain our essence. We wanted to maintain our authenticity. We wanted to maintain our

specialness as a and the culture of the city. But we also knew that we had been a little bit outdated, Like the buildings were old and tired, the roads weren't built the right way. Maybe the transportation systems could have been built for the twenty one century. The schools should be twenty one century learning center. So we had a chance to build back the way we should have had we gotten it right the first time. So interestingly enough, the President says, I want to build back better too.

So I just don't want to go build roads and bridges like we used to. But if I'm putting buses on the street, I want the buses to have batteries in and so when a kid gets out of the bus, he doesn't have to suck exhaust and have asthma. The man makes kind of perfect sense, right. If if we don't want to depend on on on Russia or other folks for oil, why don't we why don't we decrease eye dependence on oil and moved to the electrification of

the economy, so also had to organize a massive building. Well, what happened was I learned that that when it works well, and it can work well, the federal, state and local governments and partnership with the private sector, the not for profit and the faith based all have to be at the same table, pulling in the same direction. I'll call it one team, one fight, one voice. And so it's like hurting cats, you know, it's like just my grandma would say, elbow grace. I mean, you gotta work it.

You gotta set the system up right, and then you have to work the system because human beings are imperfect and they weren't always doing it. But if you're gonna win a super Bowl and you call a play, you gotta make sure everybody's running the same play and they're doing it the way you're supposed to, and then you execute it and then you win. But if if you're pulling in the wrong direction of people not following the same play, you've got no chance. Even if you have

even even if the strategy is a good strategy. So you've gotta have the players. You've gotta have the system, you gotta have the strategy, you have the execution, and then you just gotta do it, and you gotta keep doing it and keep getting better until you get, you know, really good at it and you build something strong and good that can last the ages. And that's what we're trying to do. Mitch Landrew, I can't wait to come by one by Boss is listening. I can't wait to

come and meet you at Gallax was for lunch. You can show me what you're doing with that highway and the Tremaine and everything else. We can need some gumbo. We're gonna have a good time and some VENs and sign me up, Mr Mayor. I'm so easy to get you through my stock. Thanks to the former mayor Mitch Landrew with us talking infrastructure in the throes of inflation here on the fastest hour in politics. Thanks to our panel as well, Andy you and Rally for being with

us on sound On. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomber