Alright, Jesus right, yeah, Scenes of America and Jery.
For One Nation.
And this is wrong.
This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
It's fifteen minutes after six. Good morning, and thanks for waking up with us. It's Tuesday, February the eighteenth. I'm Gary David. Christopher Thompson is where do we put him?
There?
He is right here where I always am, your brother. I'm good good. We made it through Monday.
It wasn't that big a deal. It was just a monday.
I don't know, man, I had a kind of busy Monday. Okay, well, well I'd get home and chill out. But you know that didn't happen.
It didn't.
Oh okay, it was one. It was one of those money.
One of those mondays. I gotcha.
Yeah, yeah, but we made it through it. If you hadn't stepped out yet this morning, it's it's a little chillier this morning. We're below zero in a lot of spots.
Yeah, you'll notice it.
Twenty eight here at the radio ranch and again it's Tyler just mentioned any chance for us here in the Midlands. Okay, maybe maybe northern middles County is an exception, but even that's looking me maybe a little less likely for wintery mix pretty much off the board. But tomorrow's gonna be just a nasty day. I mean, rain and are high here specied to be in the low forties tomorrow. That's as good as it'll get. So yeah, pretty nasty day overall.
But I'll take that over any you know, wintry mix if it includes freezing rain or sleet, and we don't want that obviously. If you want to see some snow, you know, head up towards like Charlotte, places like that. You may see a little bit even your county. But that's seems like that's gonna be about it for this one. But this is the third time this winter that we've
we've talked about the potential from wintery weather around here. True, that's that's unusual, right, I mean maybe we get maybe we get it once, maybe twice, but three times for us to be in this mode is a little strange, seems to me. All Right, I gotta tell you right now that the stack is pretty thin today. Man. Yesterday was a fairly boring day, apparently.
I guess so. Well, it was President's Day.
Not a lot of that's true.
Federal government was off.
State government was off yesterday. But the protesters showed up at the state House protesting, well, not presidents but one president of course. Now I'm reading an article here that says it was a large protest in the state House. You know, depending on your definition of large, organizers say they were protesting the Project twenty twenty five agenda. You know.
Truth of the matter is, there are some things going on right now that are part of that twenty twenty five agenda, Project twenty five agenda, at least they resemble them. But these are common sense things here. Okay, if you're gonna protest common sense, well good luck to you on that one. But there were some who showed up over the state House, as they did, and other state houses across the country and in DC to just you know, Trump's president. We've got a protest. That's what they were
doing yesterday. A whole lot to see right there. You know, a lot being made now of talk over the state House of cutting taxes on boats. When did this become a priority item?
I have no idea.
You just kind of out of nowhere here it comes. Now, it's part of the overall bigger picture of cutting taxes. I get it.
Probably a popular thing with voters considering how many people have votes, especially in this area. Well, I mean think about it between the coast and you know, all the lakes we have. Yes, probably a big deal. So they're thinking about their voters.
Well, that's become kind of a big deal of it. Are how's your wife feeling? By the way, she was down with the flu.
She's better.
Good. We are one of a handful of states atop the nation when it comes to flu. Currently, flu is highest in New York City, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska, So northeast and parts of the South seemed to be a hard hit this time around by the flut. We've had a lot of hospitalizations, so we've had some deaths from it. The experts tell us that colder and drier is what flu seems like.
We've had a lot of that.
Yes, so maybe that would explain it. Hopefully you are healthy and well all right, so pretty quiet around here and pretty quet in DC too. Yeah, with President's Day. Not a whole lot happening yesterday, but still a lot, a lot a lot with Doge Doge and courts and judges and more identification. Hey, it could be President's Day, could be any day, Christmas Day. Elon Musk doesn't take time off. I don't know, just a dude even sleep.
Not sure. He seems to be added twenty four to seven.
How do you do this thing? You know, run a car company, run a you know, a space company. How do you do all that? And you know you would say, well, you know, and social media in your spaill and social media always if you follow Elon Musk, I mean you it's like spam man. If you tell you turn around, there's another post from Musk. But it's transparent. He's telling you what he's doing well exactly. You might say, well, the guy knows how to uh, how to delegate. I
don't think Elon must delegates anything. He doesn't strike me as the type that would be delegating too much. They said he had a pretty small staff working with him. Yeah. Some of the latest news that we'll talk about this morning on the Doze front. Pair of dogs discovered in identification code linking Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly four point seven trillion dollars in payments,
and this budget line oftentimes left blank. Uh. We seem to be getting into a territory here where it's more than just you know, governments spending money on frivolous, wasteful things to where Wait a minute, what's happening to some of this money? Where is it going? Who's profiting from it? Again? These are taxpayer dollars. The Treasury Access symbol an ID code that links a Treasury payment to a budget line, which is standard financial process those posting on X in
the federal government. The tas or task field was optional for about four point seven trillion dollars in payments, often left blank, making traceability almost impossible.
That's not transparent.
That is not transparency right there, No, not at all. Now you've got heads of agencies stepping down, at least acting heads. The Acting Commissioner for the Social Security Administration stepping down from her role as DOGE requests access to social security recipient information. Now does this freak you out? That dose want social security information? The government already has all of it, For all your information anyway.
Well, people's argument is that Elon Musk is not the government and Elon Musk is not elected in it. You know, it's you're not gonna get You're right, this information A is in so many places already, and B you're not going to get anywhere without him having access to everything to see where A where the fat is, and B, as you just pointed out, where money's being hidden away.
Yes, do we have millions in that salescrety database that are listed as between the ages of one hundred and one hundred and fifty nine. Musk says we do. And of course, more troublesome to many is a dose seeking access to taxpayer data at the IRS. Uh so we'll we'll get into some of that today. The head of the FDA's food division resigning after dozens were terminated there,
so all right, we'll get into some dough stuff today. Meantime, well, you know, Republicans control Congress, but they still don't get along. The showdown between the House and Senate. Republicans ramping up as the two well have their contrasting strategies on passing Trump's legislative agenda. Expect some movement in the Senate maybe sometime this week. Boy, it happened again, this time in Canada. You see the Wow Delta flight that landed hard on
a snowy runway and flipped over on its top. Somehow eighty people survived that Eighteen were injured. But everybody surviving that thing, most walking away with not even a scratch.
Yeah, but how's that going to tie up traffic today? I mean, that's that's an airport that A is well traveled, B has all kinds of snow right now, so they're doing their best to dig out and keep the runways clear. Now you've got a plane crash investigation going on.
Yeah, there have been a rash of these. And I think I said, well this because Trump's cutting FAA. Well, yeah, Trump is cutting about four hundred jobs. None of these people, though, are frontline air traffic controllers. And oh, by the way, that was in Canada, not the US f Y. I uh so they ramping up here. Talk's highest profile talks since the war began between Russia and Ukraine. As we're stepping in and stepping up conversations, you're trying to bring
that to an end. And again Trump speaks and people listen and they react NATO's Secretary General now saying European countries have to do much much more to increase defense spending. There you go, all right, did that and more coming up on this the Tuesday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News. Always a pleasure to have you with us. Thanks so much.
You can take us on the go.
We're doing earrings.
With the iHeartRadio app one O three point five FM, five sixty AM w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM dou w VOC.
Six forty three. And it is good to have you with us. Tuesday morning, February the eighteenth, and a chilly start below freezing across the Middlands. We get things underway this morning, all right. So was this a one of the final acts of you know, going after a political
enemy by the Biden administration. Pete Hegzath yesterday the newly minted Pentagon chief accusing the Biden White House of targeting his family with what he called a rushed tax audit, showing a document that says the IRIS claims he owed more than thirty three thousand dollars in taxes writing on X. Of course, the outgoing Biden IRS rushed and audit. The incoming secretary defends total sham. The Party of Norms and Decency strikes again. We will never back down. Well, this
actually isn't that terribly unusual. This happens to a lot of folks as they're going through the vetting and advice and consent process in the sent happened to mcmulvaney that back in twenty seventeen, Trump tabbed him for a White House Budget director, was discovered that he and hadn't paid more than fifteen thousand and payroll taxes for a household employee. Whoops.
He did, of course make it through the confirmation. Richard Blumenthal during the SITATE confirmation hearings with Hegxeth that talked quite a bit about tax returns for HEGSTH while working for two veteran support nonprofit organizations. So this does happen, This is not terribly unusual. But Megsith didn't say whether I actually owed the thirty three thousand ars. Maybe he does, Okay,
he didn't. Maybe that's why he'd say he didn't. Yes, Well, we're speaking of money Apparently they haven't learned yet word that influential, deep pocketed Democrat donors are causing donations to left wing activist groups, citing the party the Democrat Party's failure so far to articulate a new vision. Yeah, they've not articulated a new vision yet. Matter of fact, in some cases, it's it's it's just more of the same.
Did you see that? What was the story? Was it Washington State where Democrats there now are moving to remove the George Washington from the flag in Washington State? But what so he has really no ties to the state. Well then why did you name your state Washington? That that's the kind of ridiculousness. And listen, it's on both sides. Okay, you got who was it? A New York state lawmaker now who has put up a bill to make uh President Trump's birthday a federal holiday. What somebody else wants
to rename a mountain in West Virginia after Trump? Uh, that's just straight. This is this that strikes you as hitted. Here's a Republican who just wants to wants Trump to notice them.
Okay, it's probably got a reelection campaign. He's a little nervous about in two years and thinks, Okay, here's the best way for me to get Trump's attention.
At this point, Nancy May is probably going turn. Why did I think of that first?
Yeah, she's gonna have the Trump to McKinley.
I want to rename the country after Trump.
Yeah, or the Trump to Mount Rushmore. She'll she'll be.
Oh, she'll have something, I'm sure. But again, the Democrat Party, they haven't proven yet and May well not to to donors that they've kind of figured out what went wrong and where they need to change their ways. How ironic is that that the one of the most sensible voices coming from left these days is James Carvell. If the Democrats were to listen to James Carvill, they might have a chance.
Yeah, he's been sidelined at this point, but he's frustrated by what he sees and he was a pretty good political mind in the day.
He was, and quite honestly, probably still is. But you've got I mean big names here. Reid Hoffin, for example, the co founder of LinkedIn. It was Hoffman who funded e Gene Carroll's lawsuit against Trump, indicating he might step back from an array of these resistance groups that have popped up. A spokesman for the billionaire saying that, well, he thinks that the Democrat Party strategy needs to reform, and when it does, he'll be happy to hear their
new ideas of new pictures. But until then, you know, you ain't getting none of my money. And a whole laundry list of left wing activist groups have have had to cut staff in recent months because the money is just drying up. You would think it's February eighteenth, now we're what three months removed from three and a half
months removed from the election. You'd think if there was really a plan and a change of strategy, you'd be hearing about it by now, it would, you know, like everything else right out of the gate, you know, all these ideas, all these things, and then as time wears on, it all kind of goes by the wayside. But there's been nothing. It's been nothing, nothing at all, which is a which is great news if you're a conservative like me. Okay, well, I.
Think it's that and the fact that they're they're just waiting to see all of this pans out. I mean, they can't get in the way of Trump headlines right now. He's Americans with how quickly he's moving. What can Democrats do other than watching? They hope he eventually falls on his face. But right now Americans are saying, please give me more.
Just file lawsuits, get groups to file lawsuits, and get it in front of activist judges. I guess that's about all I can do.
Right now, you're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM and five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
It's fifteen minutes after seven o'clock. Hey, it's good to have you with us on a chilli Tuesday morning. Temperatures below freezing across the Midlands this morning. Get up and you had rolling here on the fifteenth. I checked out the eighteenth day of February eighteenth on fifteen. All right, well, you heard Fox mention it. You heard a Clay and Buck just mention it. We're ramping up here as the US government, the Trump administration, for the highest profile Russian
talk since this Ukrainian invasion began. We talked a bit about this yesterday. It's a change in policy from the Biden administration, which sought to isolate Russia to put you know, sanctions on Russia and you know, arm the Ukrainians and spend spend a lot of money doing that and all to no avail.
But it is the answer to isolate Ukraine.
Well that's that's the that's the other part of this equation right here. Yes, is that the answer? Well, here's what we do know is that attempts by the Biden administration, whatever they were, were unsuccessful. And considering who you're dealing with here in Vladimir Putin, you had to know that was going to be the case. I don't know how this works out, but this is a big change here. Marco Rubio in the Saudi can Capital. Yeah, okay, why are the out as involved? Well, anyway, your guess is
as good as mine. I suppose, of course, you know, I remember and a lot of this whenever you whenever you deal with Russia. You know, the oil comes into the into the equation.
Where there are a lot of moving pieces.
There's a whole lot of moving parts to this, a whole lot. But it started with a conversation between the Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. At some point you got to start talking. Yeah, you're right. The question is is, yeah, what happens to Ukraine in all this? You've got to figure that any negotiation probably is going to wind up with Russia keeping something what they got. But the point is is attempts feeble or otherwise by the Bide administration
didn't work. And it is noteworthy and newsworthy to note that, yeah, this is a change in policy, and there are discussions going on.
How is how is it all right Donald Trump is not going to be president in four years? How does this not embolden Russia to go right back to this tactic again and invade somebody else or take more of Ukraine, you know, the next time around.
That's well, I might argue that as long as a Republican is present in four years of now, chances are greatly diminished.
And the other thing, Yeah, I mean you worry about you know, Zelensky's not going to be sidelined by all this. I mean he's already he's already said he's not going to accept anything where he's not at the table. And you can't blame the guy. I mean, he's been he's been at war trying to hold his country together against you know, if not a superpower of former superpower. I mean, they still have strength, they still have weapons, even if it's Russia's a shell of itself, it's still But.
You're it is amazing that after for all these years, Yeah, that the Ukraine has survived this.
I mean, Russia had to go to North Korea to get re ornaments and reinforcements. So it's but yeah, I mean you can't expect the guy to just sit there and say, Okay, I'll take whatever I get dished out from Russia's talks. So I think he'll have to eventually be included at some point.
Absolutely, absolutely. And the other I mean, this is sending tremors across Europe. Now he's wondering, Okay, if we're dumping Ukraine, what's next? You know, when do we dump Germany? When do we dump Great Britain? When do we dump the rest of our allies? Well, Europe is listening, oh yeah, and they're paying attention, and and something else on a side note to all of that is, uh, well, you know,
here we go again. First four years in office, you know, Trump went after NATO for not you know, coming to the table with what they should be coming to the table with. When it came to, you know, to dollars. And now we've got the news that NATO Secretary and the European countries in the Alliance and Seve agreed to
step up their defense spending. Isn't it amazing? How you know Trump pressured them in his first term, they came to the table and then suddenly Trump's out of the picture and Biden takes over and it's back to their old ways, right and they were allowed to do that right now. Secretary NATO Secretary General says that NATO was spending seven hundred billion more on the European side of NATO than before Trump came into office. The US is
by far the most important ally within NATO. But the US is absolutely right that it is only fair that on the European side of NATO we ramp up spending because we need to do it for our own defense.
Yeah, I mean, they're worried about defending. They are worried that the US is going to turn their backs on them as they as the US is seeming too on Ukraine. I as a conservative, I don't get that strategy, but I know Trump is, you know, this is going to take this America first flag as far as he can take it.
And again this is you know, this is the thing that Trump is very good at. You you never really know exactly what it is that he's hoping to think he get he accomplished. But everything is in negotiation with this guy, right, Everything, You start from an extreme position and you work your way back to something that is palatable for everybody. It doesn't always work, doesn't always turn out,
but again we're seeing. What we're seeing are is a business person once again, back in charge and running the country like it's a business. Sometimes that turns out great and sometimes it doesn't. And obviously in this in this case, no no bigger example of running this country as a business than what do's just doing right now?
True?
Right? I mean, come on, it makes you what if we if we always ran government this way, what a better position we'd be in? And for us as American citizens and taxpayers? How can anybody have a problem with that concept? If you just want to, you know, go ahead and stroke a check to Uncle Sam and say, hey, waste it whatever way you want to, Well, that's your prerogative, go ahead, But you're in the vast minority of people.
This is again, how often have we said it. I mean, government is so inefficient that a business wouldn't survive if it ran its business the way the government runs its business. And so you know, we're again we're seeing business decisions being made, whether whether it's foreign po or government inefficiency.
Well, I mean Trump has attacked all these foreign wars and the old chainey way of doing things, and I get that because that's led to some wasteful spending. But the problem is if you turn your back on your allies, and Russia and China see opportunity and see a vacuum where there's no America anymore. I mean Great Britain and Germany and Italy can spend all they want on NATO, but I doubt they can defend themselves against those two forces, especially if they're together.
Well, and you know what, Trump knows that, they know that they've got to depend on us. So all the ask is to do your fair share when it comes to spending. Hey, we're way over here, man, Okay, we're way over here on the map. Yeah, all right, you're right there again. Why would you think you couldn't you shouldn't be spending your fair share to uh, you know, to to secure your own backyard here. Basically we're in a different neighborhood here. Okay, we're not anyway, We've.
Got strategic assets over there too.
Oh sure we do.
One on three point five FM and five sixty am.
No fuss us fair the information I need that gets me through the day.
W VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five FM and five sixty am Double VOC.
The seven forty four. Good morning, Good to have you here. It's Tuesday, February eighteenth, and again this weather chances of us as todder just mentioned or early mentioned, any significant winter weather this is pretty pretty well pretty much non existent for most of the Midlands, Northern Midlands counties North eygh twenty. Yeah. Maybe maybe see a little bit of mixed stuff, but not a whole lot and not expected
to cause any issues. Okay, But the fact that we're here for the third time now this winter talking about winter weathers was kind of unusual at least the potential for all right, So uh yeah, kids go to.
School, don't stock up on bread and milk please, for the love of God, can't afford the eggs.
So yeah, don't worry about the eggs. If you can find them, grab them. I guess you're one dozen, you're allowed maybe two if you're lucky. Yeah, I don't I shouldn't even go here, but I'm gonna go here anyway. You know, there is a and this is not this is not criticism of of of the church by any stretched imagination. There's a there's a church over election accountment. It's been doing really just God's work here last couple of months and providing shelter for homeless people and they're
really cold. And then they were recently giving giving out eggs, and I see this story, but people were lined up to get free eggs. I thought, you know, okay, if it's toilet paper, you kind of got to have that, right, you know, the pandemic rush on toilet paper. And I like eggs as much as the next person, maybe more so. But I don't have to have an egg. I can do without the egg. Some people would just line up
to get free stuff just because it's free stuff. I guess. Anyway, Sorry I went there, But that particular church is doing a great job and doing what church is supposed to do. Okay, So yesterday we had a Well, this article says a large protest. I might beg the different with that assessment. But you as a folk show up at the state house. It was President's Day, and we talked about this all
across the country. You know, the the activist protest class was going to be out protesting Trump organizers, pushing back against what they call a Project twenty twenty five agenda, and some of the protesters saying that these policies are being reflected at the state level. Well, what is wrong is if nothing else, the whole doge thing is is just overshadowing everything else. Right now, it has gotten everyone's attention. And then you know, talk about a doze in South Carolina.
Do we need that here or not? Well, now people are freaking out here, believe it. I just saw this pop up my timeline over here on x This was an opinion in USA Today. Okay, you don't get more leftists than USA Today opinion. Hate Trump all you want, but federal layoffs may help avert debt death spiral. Okay, yeah, there's Well, for example, it's not just dose, it's not just cutbacks. There's a middle of a state house which has a number of sponsors that would ban DEI policies
and state agencies. What's wrong with that? Uh one? Ad Foster with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Wait a minute, can you put those two words together in the same sentence, socialism and liberation time. The same billionaires and millionaires that run this little state want to make South Carolina their playground on the backs of working people. They working people do just just fine, Okay, people that are willing to go out and work and bust their behinds? Yeah? Are
are Are they? You know? Not where they were a couple of years ago? No, they're not. Well, who's to blame for that? Trump? That's that's a biden thing right there. But that's that's Bidenomics. What are you protesting here for? You should have been protesting in the last four years against the policies of the prior administration. In my humble opinion, they don't have a whole lot to protest. And quite honestly, people that want to protest dosee, you're in the vast minority.
Do you really like just handing over money to be wasted and and we'll get to this in the next hour, just disappear into thin air. Well, that's that's that's the latest here. The dog just found a whole ton of money, and the money with a tea beside it just seemingly vanishing it. Are you? Are you okay with this anyway? So we had our little protest here. I hope you all enjoyed that. And the fight continues.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one O three point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
And the clock's approaching sixteen minutes halfter eight o'clock on a chilly Tuesday morning. Good morning till you. Happy to have you with us. We were discussing this last hour the high level meetings that our government is now embarking upon with the Russians. Just seeing this reports now that separate from discussions on Ukraine, that the Ruskies and US
are discussing future economic cooperation and global energy prices. Patrick Dehan, the gas buddy guy, saying that could be an interesting deal happening that could very much help put downward pressure on global oil prices.
Well, Trump's already suggesting that we cut defense spending in conjunction with Russia and China.
How many nukes do you really need?
Again, it's it's all about efficiency at this point.
Yeah. Well maybe maybe this dose thing goes worldwide. Huh, it's just maybe. Speaking of which Okay, you got And by the way, the Doze page right now online estimated total savings right now fifty five billion dollars, which says a combination of fraud detection, deletion, contract least cancelation, you know, like all those contracts for the political pro wow and so on and so forth, fifty five billion dollars. That's where Doze estimates the current savings are. Yeah, that's got
to be. But how about this one with a T the news that DOZE has discovered in identification code linking US Treasury payments to a budget line item, which outs for nearly four point seven trillion dollars in payments, which was oftentimes left blank. The code is TAS stands for Treasury Access Symbol, again linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item. That's standard, you know process in the
federal government. The task field DOZE post to X was optional for about four point seven trillion in payments and often left blank, making traceability almost impossible, and as of this past Saturday. This is now a required field increasing insight and where money is actually going. Okay, what's this all about? Is this spending for you know these uh, you know these dark programs that you know, nobody seems to know about them, and how much money is going
into these things and such. But I mean that's a when you're talking about a national debt of some thirty almost thirty seven trillion dollars right now, and you're talking about nearly five point trillion going to a budget line and there's sometimes just left blank, we don't really know where that money went. That's a little troublesome. That's it's a lot troublesome.
Kind of remind you of a situation we've been in South Carolina recently, right, Yeah, Yeah, the missing money that wasn't really there. And I mean it shouldn't happen at any level of government, not with taxpayer dollars, much less to the level that you're talking about of the federal I mean, that's.
That that would appear to be nearly five trillion dollars this being going somewhere with no oversight, no traceability, that where's it going? Where is it gone? Now? Again, those right now says they've estimated about fifty five billion in savings. That's a huge leap from fifty five billion to four point seven trillion.
And that's real money that I mean you could, you could do great things with that much money. Everyone in Washington likes to say, well, you know, a million here and a million there, that's not even real money. That's chump change. We don't even worry about that.
That's bnopoly money. Yeah, but this is like a fifth of the national debt right here. People are leaving. The Acting Commissioner for the Social Security Administration stepping down from her role after dose request access to Social Security recipient information.
Hmm okay, I'm not sure you want to die on that hill. I understand. I understand that people and people in charge, thank you, are rightfully concerned about dissemitting this information that they that they hold close. I mean, it's our confidential information. On the other hand, I mean, you're talking about a guy who's gotten permission to weed through government and cut through all the waste.
This is a government agency, now, doze, it's part of the US government.
And he can't do his job unless he's given access to I mean, you got to open the books for him.
Yeah, that's what it's all about. As if any other government agency that ever wanted access to your social security, your eyes information didn't get it, because I'm sure they did. Why is doze any different?
There was a great response to you know, Adam Schiff said yesterday online that Madam shift. He said, Elon Musk is trying to suss out all your all your bank account records. You know, he's gonna he's he's coming to look for all of your stuff. And somebody responded, No, he's coming to look for all your stuff. You're You're the one who makes taxpayer dollars. You're the one who's making taxpayer salary, plus is spending our money. So Elon wants to know where that's going.
Right, Do we really have millions of people in that SOLI security database that would be between the ages of one hundred and one hundred and fifty nine, Well, another must post. According to the Solid Security Database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with a death field set to falls. More than twenty million listed with the age of between one hundred higher, including almost four million aged one hundred and thirty nine.
Is that is that the government just cranking out checks without confirming they're going to.
The right place. Yeah, right, question right?
Or is it it's as we've heard so many times, fraud where you know a grandparent and ann or uncle, even a parent dies and whoever's surviving keeps trying to get that money.
If we have nearly four million people in this country between the age of one hundred and thirty one hundred and thirty nine, then I'm sorry, but the Today Show can't You can't make enough bottles of jars of smuckers.
If we've got that many people living that long, then we don't need our FK Junior.
Right.
Apparently our health isn't as bad as we thought.
We figured it out.
Yeah.
Head of the the Food and Drug Administration rather that the Food Division resigning due to widespread cuts, saying it'll make it challenging to meet the desired change. Is Jim Jones here citing the termination of eighty nine staffers in the Food Division, criticizing the layoffs. A lot of people are talking, especially after that last plane crash that happened yesterday, but this time not in the US and Toronto are crying foul over Trump laying off four hundred people. That
four hundred in the FAA. These are not frontline air traffic controllers, by the way, So just keep that one in mind if you would. You'd like to think that, you know, in a matter of maybe a couple of months or so, Doja's jab will be wrapped up. You get the feeling that that's not going to happen.
We talked about this going into Trump's election. There are a lot of fiefdoms that are going to get trampled on, and it's this isn't the end by far.
Oh No, this is gonna go on for a long long time because for another reasons, there's that much waste and inefficiency in government.
Yeah, and a lot of people are protecting it because it benefits them.
Yes, directly or indirectly, and sometimes directly.
Yes, anywhere, anytime or by one on three point five FMN, five sixty AM w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
It's eight forty and time for our final thoughts here. On the Tuesday, as I mentioned, we came on the other morning, the stock was not that large today. It's a pretty quiet day yesterday, so we've been able to get to most of what we wanted to get to. But a couple of things to mention here, Certainly Number one, if you've got the flu, you're not alone. We've talked about the extreme number of cases the flu seasons that is high. This has been the worst flu season in
fifteen years across the country. We've had a lot of hospitalizations, we've had some deaths.
Here.
We are one of the states that is at the highest activity level. States like New Hampshire and Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City itself, submit Atlantic States, and then in the south South Carolina, Tennessee and are all seeing high levels of the flu. So you're not alone. Hope you feel better soon. Still wondering, well, I didn't have this on the bingo card here coming into the legislative session. But suddenly a lot of talk over the state House
of cutting boat taxes. Now, if I recall correctly from my days as a boat owner, which I'm not anymore, thank goodness, you gotta pay, you pay a tax on the boat and the motor.
I've never owned a boat, so that's news to me.
Yeah, and uh, most boats are taxed at ten and a half percent some counties. Interestingly enough, those along the coast have dropped there it's about six percent. But there's a move afoot to uh to cut boat taxes in half. Now, people who sell boats or this would either more people buy you know, I don't know. Yeah, if you buy a boat you want, you're not buying a boat just because the tax has only got a cut in half. You know, you buy a boat because you want a boat. Yeah,
that's a regardless of the tax. That's a big investment in time and money, as you know, yes, to make so yeah, but I'm sure there are some special interest groups out there who are pretty excited about it. Yeah. Now, unlike some other tax cuts that the Estate houses is considering here, this one, these moneys go directly in the conference of the county. So the counties are upset that, you know, are you going to be cutting their revenues.
But then again, I was out of every you know, one hundred's South counties, how many actually own a boat.
Well, yeah, that's my question. I mean, I'm all for tax cuts, but shouldn't they be cuts that that impact us all?
This one seems awfully hyper focused. Yeah, and yet I don't know what the percentage of the population is it owns boasts, but it's small. You may see them all the time around this area, especially for that election, like I do. Yeah, I'm out near Lake right that area. You're going to see them all the time. But you know, I mean really, but that's become a hot topic for whatever.
And again this is part of a bigger broader discussion on cutting taxes for us and uh, you know, you know, the governor's all in on, you know, trying to try to eliminate income taxes state altogether.
Well, I'm good with tax cuts again, but have they already made all the cuts they can make? And now they're down to you know, who owns the vote?
I don't. I think they've before they got to that one. Just just just skipped over a couple I think. Anyway. Meantime, up on Capitol Hill, well, who didn't see this one coming? Uh, Republicans in the House and Senate they can't agree on on the president's legislative agenda. Here last week, the House Budget Committee, moving forward with a budget resolution for at least one bill is full of Trump's wish list items but publicans have their own version of this thing. Okay,
kind of like here in South Carolina. You know, you've got two parties, and you've got the House and the Senate, and they just never see things out of eye. So well, the House is out of session this week, so don't look for any movement at least for this week. The Senate will be debating it's bet to bring back their budget resolution to the floor sometime later on this week.
I'm not saying I agree with any everything that Donald Trump has suggested, but for these politicians up on Capitol Hill, all you have to do is look at the polls and realize what Americans want right now, and that is for the House and Senate to line now. Maybe, but I mean, they're even Democrats right now who turned on their party during the election, who are saying we're perfectly
happy with what Trump is suggesting so far. So it's hard to believe that the Senate, you know, with a lot of fairly unpopular members right now, are going to be the ones to stand in the way and say, yeah, well wait just a minute, we want to do things a different way. They probably ought to read the tea leaves and say you know what, we'll just go along to get along right now.
Oh yeah, the Senators always feel like they're insulated, right they got six year terms, they got big, massive war chests, you know, and you know, just in DC, we know what DC does. This year it's you know, this party's in power, and next year in favor, and next year it's the other one. I mean, you got that cycle. And it's always that way.
So yes, public opinion will turn on to dine. But right now it's firmly in Trump's corner.
So yes, yes it is.
You would think the Senators would want to fall in line.
And we were talking earlier this morning about how the deep pocketed Democrat donors are withholding their money right now from the party until they get it figured out, you know, so they figure out what went wrong and how to correct the party now, which they haven't done so far. So get a load of this, not at the national level,
but at a state level. Democrats not getting it. A Colorado bill would put doctors, government employees, or morticians in jail now, in jail for not if they accurately record the sex of deceased people who are identified as transgender before they passed. So you know, Jane used to be John, but now called themselves. Jane passed away, and you know, the doctors or the mortician or you know, the funeral home however, lists Jane as a male, because well Jane was a mail. You could go to jail for it.
I don't think Jane slash John cares anymore. Wow, just absolute nuts. And we mentioned this briefly earlier too. Stay lawmakers in Washington introducing a bill that remove George Washington from the state flag. Quite honestly, I didn't even realize Washington was on the Washington state flag. But it makes sense.
I've gotta dial that up. Now, take a look at it.
This bill would create a committee that will design a new state flag that better reflects the diversity and values of all Washingtonians. Well, if you can get him all on one flag, go for it. But that's what I say. Yeah, he's right there in the middle of the seal. Yeah they say that, Well, yeah, he won. That's got very few ties. Yeah, No, you're right, he doesn't have any ties at all. Would you chose to name your state after him? Maybe you should change the name of your state.
I don't know, Wolkington, what was it. Wokington, Wilkington, No, woke Oh yeah, Wokington. Yeah, that'd be a good one. Wokington.
I mean, who turns their back on George Washington?
Washington does? Now we know