I rightesuous, right, Hell yeah, sat America and jery for regious, Yes for nation God, and.
Yes it 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 What heck are you?
Good morning? Welcome man. It's Wednesday, February twenty sixth, just a few days left before we turn it over to March. Wow sixteen after six rolling out, getting up, getting ready. Good to have you on board. I'm Gary, that's Christopher.
Might as well face facts. It's spring.
Oh even if the yeah, what did tell to say? Upper seventies today?
Ye?
How about that?
Man? Yesterday we did a little stuff out in the backyard. I think an was at it all day long yesterday, as a matter of fact, the nice day to enjoy it, fabulous, even had a late lunch on the back deck. It's beautiful man, and more of the same. Yeah, okay, so a little cool down by the end of the weekend. But you know, we're talking about upper fifties, around sixties, so we'll probably have another cold snap in here at some point in time, or it's all said and done.
But you know, seventy, seventy seven, seventy eight. Can we just keep that? That's like San Diego weather, right. I don't want to live in San Diego, but I would take their weather any day of the week. That'd be terrific because before you know, we're gonna be saying, man, so going hot around here. Anyway. I guess they finally got the all the the issues taken care of over
by lex in the medical center. Man. Yesterday though the sewer line break, Oh gosh, that tob what we was talking about yesterday morning when we were on the air, and it was still a shill late yesterday afternoon. Wow. Talked to someone last night who had that what'll she who had taken her her mother over to lecxs and Medical Center yesterday and it was it was so bad it took them fifty five minutes to get out of the parking lot. Wow. So it sounds like all that's
been fun to taking care of it. That was a disaster for folks in that that neck of the woods yesterday. Wow. Okay, rundown big stories hot topics here for this, uh well, next to last to last day, all right, what's March March one is Saturday. Correct, Yes, okay, all right. You know we didn't talk a lot about this story when everybody else was I know, but J. P. Miller, the Myrtle Beach pastor who made international headlines. Really it was his his his wife died. Did you commit suicide? Did
he kill whatever? This is that? You know, that Myrtle Beach story that that went viral. Now, Miller and his father, according to a new lawsuit, allegedly used their positions as religious leaders to mask sexual use, including the rape of a fifteen year old girl that's going to do lawsuit. She alleges she was sexually assaulted twice by Miller. Wow, this is all before the death of Miller's wife generated a lot of headlines. But that church didn't no longer exist.
By the way, this guy can't stay out of the news for all the wrong reasons. We get these allegations in a lawsuit. They had a school board meeting over in lection in District one last night, and amongst the things that happened was, well, this didn't happen. The board did not ban the book Hunger Games in lectionon one schools. A mother had wanted that book banned. She still can appeal this to the state Education Board. I guess we've got a very popular book with kids, very popular movie
series I See with Kids has been out. I guess the first one came out a number of years ago, so you know, it's not like it's something new here.
But I didn't see it. But I didn't either, and I certainly haven't read the book. But it doesn't sound like anything all that controversial of them. The violence, Yeah, a lot of violence in there. Mentions of cannibalism, child sacrifice, one reference to that, underage drinking, and so on and so forth. So this is this is the way it works now though it you know, it takes one parent to bring a complaint, and you've got to at least entertain it. And these aren't books that are on a
reading list. These are just books that are available in the library.
The library or the bookshelf. Yes, well, as the weather turns nice, most people getting outside, and they say newspaper wondering whether or not the DOGE cuts could impact access to places like Congrete National Park? Could park access be curtailed? Says the headline, Well, hadn't happened yet, few.
I wish people would stop seeing these cuts.
For all the negative, negative reasons.
Yet yeah, and people are saying, well, you know, social securities, next medicares.
What if people have been saying that about Republicans forever?
What if it makes social security ultimately more efficient?
If?
What if we wind up being able to pay out more and benefits eventually once we cut through all the waste, yeah, and the fraud.
If well, of course, the the left doesn't want to entertain those thoughts. You're right, it's yeah, that's the whole point though, right, that's the whole point. Grace period being announced by the City of Columbia on these new parking uh uh changes, the the fines and the you know, the park downtown is getting ready to double here these uh well not only just it slots on the street, but in parking garages as well. And the finds are going up as well. It's just you know, well whatever, uh.
We were apparently doing pretty good export business here in the Powermaid state, latest data indicating that nextport sales from South Carolina reaching its highest level since twenty nineteen. Up on Capitol Hill, the House has passed the Republican budget, and this advance is Trump's four and a half trillion dollar tax cuts. Again, these tax cuts have been in effect. They would sunset at the end of this year, but
I know we don't want that to happen. So well, with a push from the President, the Republicans in the House have gotten that done. It It was not easy. Two seventeen, two fifteen was the final vote in needless they all Democrats opposed this. Now this is the this is the blueprint. Now it's going to go back over to the Senate to see if if they can. This is going to be a fight. It's going to continue to be a fight as it always is.
Well, I'll say this, it should be a fight when the deathsit goes up. But we don't know how much we're going to wind up saving from doze yet, So these numbers are preliminary. I guess now, if these numbers look the same way next year, I would hope every Republican would vote no. But you know Trump won in November and he deserves this, and and we don't know how many, how many, how many dollars we're going to save from dose.
Yet, So sixty five billion, a trillion, what is the number right now? Sixty five billion? I think, well, well, we've got that somewhere here in So give this a shot.
But yeah, this is we're gonna have to start drawing the line at some point, at some point and going back to being fiscally conservative like this party used to be.
Yeah, looks like the minerals deal is going to happen. Trump confirming that Vladimir Zelensky will visit the White House this week. Friday looks like to be the date, as there's a tenet of agreement that's been reached to share Ukraine's rare earth minerals. This could be a pivotable step, pivotal, I should say, towards the ending of the Russian war in Ukraine. So there's an agreement in place there. Looks like it's hit a million now a million replies to musks,
what did you do last week? Emails? About a third of federal workers apparently have responded to that email.
We got a Facebook message yesterday from someone who's in the government, yes, and said his bosses told him not to respond. Yeah, so he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either your he's in the military, and so either your you know, you disobey an order, or well, you disobey one order.
Or the other. Well, yeah, we talked about that yesterday. What are you supposed to do? Yeah, Trump proposing fines in prison time for migrants who don't join a registry. Oh, the left is all insensed about this. This is this Actually, this law is already on the books. It has been since nineteen forty. An immigrant registry to catch suspected communists was the reason why it was put on the books in nineteen forty. It's still there. So we dusted often
use this thing, shall we? And it's working. New York City closing more than fifty migrant shelters because they just don't need them. Now, yeah, illegal immigration has been reduced by that much, and it's working. Part two with the uh well, facing down tariffs. Apple says it's going to invest a half a trillion dollars in facilities in the US over the next four years.
You know what I bet happens in New York going back to that previous story, I bet they start saving money.
Saving money. What a concept. Huh wow, we got that. We got more r coming your way on this the Wednesday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News. Thanks for being here.
I'm just saying, if you're a squatter, you have more rights than homeowners.
Shot edity, just saying one On three point five PM and five sixty am w VOC, this is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson. One three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC.
It's six forty good morning, going to have you along. It's Wednesday, February twenty six. Hey, let's say everywhere I look this morning preparing for the show, I couldn't get away from this story because the mainstream media is just outraged over this. And you know, first I thought, this is the story nobody cares about. But then again I thought what made me? You know, really people do because for so long we've I could guess which story this is.
I mean, there's so many of them like this out there. You're not talking about who sits where in the White House pressure room?
Are you?
Not so much who sits where? But who's in the what? When? When the President is traveling on Air Force one or they're in you know, situations where the entire press can't be accommodated. You have what's called the press pool, right, and it's just a small number of organizations thirteen journalists who make up the press pool, and uh, the White House announcing yesterday Caroline Levitt from the podium, the White has it taken over. Who's in that press pool? And
the media is outraged, outraged? Okay, I got two thoughts on this. Number One, Okay, to people who are anti Trump, this is going to this is going to to smell of okay, you know Pravda, right, the government is taking over what what what what information you get?
Wait a minute, They're not saying what information you get or what you have to write or controlling you know. I mean, all they're doing is just simply saying who's in the room and who's not, and who's on the plane and who's not exactly. Okay, So maybe you didn't get the scoop, okay, but you're gonna get it, you know, I mean, you get the Pool report.
You get the Pool Report. Well, so I guess the outrages that, well, they're gonna they're just gonna take you know, Newsmax and Fox and you know, uh Bright Bart and and these people are gonna you know, filter it to the rest of the mainstream media. We're never gonna know what's really going the come on, So how This has worked for for well as long as I know. Is the White House Correspondence Association. You've heard of them. They hold the Big Dinner once a year, right, they have
pick twos in that press pool. And well, of course, you know you had outlets like the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters who were always there. Well, the AP is nowhere right now. As a matter of fact, this you know, beef between the Trump and the Associated Press over the Gulf of America thing. So right now there's there's no AP spot in the press pool at all. So the new plan is to, uh, going forward, you'd have Bloomberg and Reuters that would alternate, you know, back and forth
for for one spot in the pool. At some point I'm guessing the AP get back into whatever. But then the idea is to give again some of these other outlets, you know, the ones really that most people are paying the most attention to these days, you know, not the legacy media, not this the late great RUSHLINGBA always call them the drive by media. But people by and large
are no longer paying attention to those outlets. So this gives other outlets a chance they never have had one because the White House corresponsibition was never never gonna put you know, some blogger or whomever in there. But now the White House will have a chance to do that, and they will make up this pool on a day to day basis, said Levitt yesterday, saying that all journalists, all outlets, all voices, deserve a seat at this highly coveted table. Well, yeah, so the media is very upset
about this. I again, listen, if you're concerned that this is going to lead to a spread of disinformation and misinformation, well look at your record over the past how many years? Okay, well, this is.
A far cry from censorship or this is government control.
We we Hey, listen, are you all trying to make the point that that this will be the government controlling the media, as if that's never happened around here? Come on, Yeah, well they'll make some noise over it. And quite honestly, I'm you know a lot of Americans are gonna either yawn at this or say, yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be one of those two who cares or man about time. This is not going to change the way information flows. This is a status thing, right with the media.
The status thing that the AP always got the seat on the front row right in the middle. What was her name that was there like forever. I think she was like Ellen Thomas. Yeah, one hundred and twenty eight or something. She finally left that seat on the front row. Helen Thomas, always sitting right there, front and center, and.
She had the seniority. She was the one who ended all the press conferences. Thank you, mister president.
Yeah, so the White House has this time for something new, and it's time again even back when I'm trying to remember, did Trump do this in his first term too? Of course, remember in the first term they just stopped having press conferences. But I think even then he started to include you know, some other media outlets. And then you know, when he took over this time, that was like one of that was like the first day Caroline Levitt stood up there and said, yes, we're no longer going to you know,
do things the way you've always done them. We are inviting. Remember they put it out Hey, if you if if you want to cover the White House, here's the email address or here's the link the website to go sign up and tell us who you are and what you do, and yeah, you might get a chance to do it. Well, this just outreached mainstream media. How dare they? You'll want to know why legacy media is dying because you're not
keeping up with the times. It's the same way when Trump won the first time around, and you had, you know, places like the New York Times going hmm, maybe we need to send some reporters out to the you know, the the vast wastelands of Middle America and find out what people are really thinking, why they would do something like elect Donald Trump as president. Well, that whole effort lasted a while, a couple of weeks. If they went right back to doing what they always did, well, okay,
it's time for something new. The American people have spoken. Then here it is. They don't much care for you. That's why you're all going out of business.
By the way, FYI, you're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Tom.
And we appreciate that actiod morning. It is Wednesday, February twenty six, seventeen minutes check that fifteen minutes after the hour of seven O'clockock, what.
We're doing is now we're saying, look, we want to be secured, we want to get that money back. We're helping the country through a very very big problem, a problem like very few people have had. Shouldn't have had this problem because it shouldn't have happened, but it did happen. So we have to straighten it out. But the American taxpayer now is going to get that money back plus.
All right, so that money back. Of course, the money that we have handed over to the Ukrainian government for the last couple of three years, it's been a lot of money. You know, listen, it's it occurs to me that isn't this the way all presidents should operate, you know, I mean, regardless of what the issue is or whether you agree with it or not. But we have just
gotten so used to complacent government. And I'm not just talking about Joe I. But I can remember back in the in the two terms of Barack Obama, where yeah, I have some big things got done, you know, obamacaren such and this that, But it was like you could go sometimes weeks without seeing the face of the president, without him in front of a microphone talking about something. And with Trump it's like, you know, you can't get
away from the guy. I mean, if you stop and think about how many different balls are up in the air right now, it really is phenomenal. And shouldn't it always be that way? I mean, go back to the Bush years.
I mean, I don't think it can always be that way because you always you don't always have the momentum of a a big election win and b your party taking both Houses of Congress. Well, true, I mean that's that's a lot of Trump's momentum right now.
Sure, But I mean something like Russia and Ukraine three years, this has been going on. In three years, it looked like there would be no end in sight. Ever, now whether or not this whole deal comes together remains to be seen.
Yes, is Trump really looking to end it or is he just trying to get mineral rights in Ukraine?
Well, you know, you do whatever it takes, right, and this is this the way to end. The Ukrainian Cabinet is expected to recommend ratifying this. Zelenski is going to be at the White House Friday, Trump confirming that yesterday, and.
That's a smart move on his part. Zelensky knows the last, the last person to see Trump. The last person to put a good word in Trump's ear wins every time.
So he will be at the White House end of the week, and again there's a tenet of agreement.
He'll probably have NATO membership by the end of the weekend.
He may well uh to to to share the rare earth minerals that Ukraine has, and by the way, Russia's got some too, And Trump talked about that, is this the step that will uh will will lead to the end of the war. I don't pretend to understand exactly you know, how all this works. None of us really know. And I'm sure whatever is kind of you know, on the books now it'll change and whatever, and it may not happen. But the point is is that three years of this going on and there was no hope that
this would end anytime soon. One month in office, and at least we're talking about it, at least there's an idea on the table. At least decides are starting to get together here.
As long as that idea doesn't involve telling Russia, hey, it's okay, and well, in fact, next year, next year, invade someplace else and we'll stand on the sideline for a little while and then we'll endorse you again, because that's what this has felt like so far.
Well, this is the this is the this is what's so confusing about Trump because you hear one thing, it looks like it's going one way and boom, next thing. You know, it's this this, this is what happens over here. Instead We've seen it time and time again. Bottom line is this. You know, things are things are happening, things are getting done, and not just on that front word.
Now that the White House has created a registry for immigrants, people in this country illegally will be told to submit their personal information or face fines and potentially prison time. Wall Street Journal seeing a draft regulation document. So any immigrant here in this country illegally, including children fourteen and older, required to submit fingerprints at home addresses to the registry. Now, getting them to do that, it's a whole another thing,
of course, but regardless. Otherwise just maybe the threat will do it, you know, finds them up to five thousand dollars, up to six months in prison, and before you know, the Left goes crazy over this. Well, this is based on a law that's been on the books in this kind of since nineteen forty. It's rarely used, but it's been there all along. Back in nineteen forty. There was an immigrant registry put into place then to catch suspected communists.
So you're just dusting this one off and bringing it back. But yeah, we still again. Even though the polls show the vast majority of American people, including Democrats, support what Trump is doing here when it comes to illegal immigration, you still have you know, some blue city mayors and blue state governors that are resisting this and not all. I don't get it. This leak, by the way, Christ
you know him. Yesterday, DHS secretary saying that her agency has now identified at least some of the individuals who were suspected of sabotaging ICE officials and raids leaking plans of their operations. Oh now hopefully we get names.
I don't care how you feel politically, you're endangering lives the issue when you do that, you.
Get was it in La or San Francisco, La? I think it was where there were posters up dosing isations, their faces, their names, in some cases their phone numbers. Be on the lookout for these people. You're putting people's lives at risk. Pambondi ag warning there would be consequences here for any divulged sensitive information that jeopardizes the lives of our great when amen, men and women in law enforcement, there will be the examples will be made. They will
be made. And again, this is working. We mentioned the Rundown, New York City says they'll soon close more than fifty migrant shelters because the flow of immigrants into the Big Apple has slowed to a trickle. It's working. You've heard the numbers. I mean, we've got days now when there are few than two hundred people trying to cross the border illegally, at least the ones that we are able to lay our eyes on, a far cry from the eleven thousand, sometimes more a day that cross the border
under the Biden administration. Things are happening. Trump is getting the job done. Oh and by the way, getting a job done Part two. Apple announcing plans to invest a half a trillion dollars in this country over the next four years. Hey, you get me to do that. You threatened tariffs. We're talking about the creation of some twenty thousand jobs. This is why this is the whole thing behind this. Get more businesses, to invest in this country,
create more jobs, in this case some twenty thousand. This announcement coming just weeks after Trump imposed a ten percent tariff on all imports from China, most iPhones, including probably when I got in my hand right now in yours two, if you got one, they weren't built here. They were building China. Just getting a job done. Baby. That's what's all about.
Exciting times on the Glenbeck Program.
It's so rare for me to be excited.
It's gonna be very exciting.
One on three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC, this is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Tom on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
Good morning is seven forty two. It's Wednesday, February twenty sixth and over Normo. Well, they'd like you to vote differently than you've been doing things. This is going to all depend on whether or not the state allows us and actually authorizes this. But Hermo Town Council has passed a resolution supporting what's known as instant runoff voting, otherwise known as ranked choice voting. Now, that term ranked choice
voting has some bad connotations. In a lot of places to a lot of people, So they're calling it instant runoff voting instead.
So this is where you vote for more than one person, and one person's your top choice, and the others your second, and third, third.
And so on and so forth. Okay, and I'll get to why that's an issue here in a minute, all right, in my book anyway. Okay, But so an email I got from a better ballot sc says that Irmo, like one hundred and seventeen other municipalities in our state, uses plurality voting. If you get the most votes, even if you don't get a majority, you win. One hundred and fifty other municipalities use the majority runoff system, So you get the most votes, but you don't get the majority,
there's going to be a runoff two weeks later. And they're trying to make the case that by using ranked choice voting, or as they call it, instant runoff voting, the'se been municipalities will spare the expense of having to do a runoff, although apparently IRMO has never done it that way. You just you know, you get the most votes. You didn't get a majority, but you have the most votes you win. That's it. Now. All this is going to hinge on whether or not the state House authorizes this.
There is a bill, a House bill. I don't know what the likelihood of this actually passing is going to be. I don't think it will, but I could be wrong. The email quoting a town councilman as saying, instant run off voting is a common sense upgrade to our elections that taxpayers get a majority winner without adding any cost to the election process, although again they don't do it
that way in ourmo now anyway. So, but also trying to make the case that candidates can run on the their positive vision for the future instead of slinging one of their opponents. I don't know how that changes anything just because you're ranked choice of voting, I'm not sure. I mean, I think we ever go back to the day. Unfortunately, if you'll ring on the positives you'ren't on the positives, you basically don't win anymore. I mean, it's just the way we are.
Yeah, I'm not sure how this changes that.
Yeah, I don't see how that would change that at all. Okay, so yeah, you probably know all this, but yeah, you rank the candidates in all of your preference. Here's my rub with this, and I hate to say it, but it's the truth. Right now, there are way too many voters out there who don't really do what we ought to do, and that is to you know, really investigate the stances of the of the individual candidates. What are they saying, can they be believed? What have they done
in the past. You know, if you're going to hire somebody to work on your home, you're probably doing that. Why aren't we doing that when we're you know, hiring somebody to run our municipality or our state or our country for that matter. But most people don't. I don't know. They both whoever's the last yard sign they saw? Are whoever's getting the most buzz or what have you? Or because they got an RD behind their name. So we have an issue with that right now to begin with.
Now you're wanting people to not just pick one, but two, three or four. Maybe you can make an educated choice on who you like best. But then are you studying all the candidates in the race. Are you able to really effectively rationally in your mind rank them one, two, three, and four?
I I.
Don't think there's there's very many people who can do that. Well, anyway, all this would hinge on the state House passing a House bill that I kind of doubt is tell the truth. I don't even know there was a house build up to authorize ring choice vooting in our state.
As we know, priorities tend to change based on the headlines over there. But I haven't heard anything about this yet.
Yeah, I mean nothing, not a radio silence on that one. Okay, Well, so there you go. Anyway. The interesting note Tatavermo, your counsel would like to do it that way? What do you think about that? And what we see more be in this say yeah, let's do it that way too, thinking here's South Carolina. Probably not too many, but I could be wrong.
You're listening to Columbia's morning news on one oh three point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
Fifteen after eight. Good morning, and good to have you along for this Wednesday morning. It's the twenty sixth of February. We mentioned this in a rundown back on the six o'clock hour. I spend a little more time on it. There was a state the newspaper article that posted yesterday Concrey National Park under scrutiny as Trump cuts jobs, could
park access be curtailed? All right? So the media continuing to focus on the negative here when it comes to a doze and I can you know, raining in spending that just doesn't have to happen, and you know, the the nightly newscast they'd like to focus on such things.
I think NBC did a big spread a couple of nights ago about some parks out west and this and that, and well, I found it interesting that the first person they talked to and maybe the only one here in the article was a Columbia resident who had talked about how concerned he was about these tax cuts and driving down to Congree National Park would even sure it'd be
open or not. And then they go on to say that this gentleman and his wife, who say cuts already affecting parks across the country have come too suddenly then had said that, well, they both voted for Kamala Harris over Trump. So you consider the source, I suppose, But so this is, you know, let's focus on the negative aspect things here, even though one of the numbers too like eighty percent of people in polls. It's a bunch are supportive of this concept. Now, you don't want to
throw out the baby with the bathwater. I get that at but well, the between the first, I guess the second emails from from Elon Musk Political Reporting that about a third of the federal workforce has actually replied to here's here's what I did last week.
And that's the first stage, just getting people to reply, so you at least know they're checking their emails, and then you go through and see what they actually said.
More than a million have done just that. They've replied. Now again, and you mentioned this earlier that we had a comment from a federal employee here, and we have a lot of them are out here in the military, yes, on our Facebook page about Yeah, his bosses are telling me don't reply. So this is this is putting a lot of people between a rock and a hard place. Replied, don't reply When your boss says don't reply, well, what do you do? You don't you don't reply? Right?
Well, then it's going to be up to the managers and or you know, upper echelon officers to protect the people under them if they tell them not to reply, they're gonna have to go to Elon or whoever's over them and say, you know, here's why my department didn't come through.
In particular, in the military, as you all know many of you observed and are serving, there is a chain of command, and you don't buck the chain of command exactly. Okay, maybe in some other you know, civilian roles and other federal agencies, it's not that big of a deal, but the military is sure as heck he has.
And going back to the example you gave at Congree Park, it's Congrey National Park is big as far as the acreage, Yes, it's doesn't seem to be that big an operation.
Yeah, you know, you don't go about the Congre National Park and see, you know, park rangers all over the place.
There are fifteen full time staffers there. They'll go through and see if that's efficient or not. If it is bully for them, they'll keep every one of them. If it's not, though, if DOGE finds that that's not the most efficient use of manpower, then yeah, maybe there are one or two that get cut. And there are many more national parks with a lot more bloated stabs in this one.
Oh yes, now more negative news coming out against this, the Associated Press Dose staffers resign en mass to protest monks, monks, musk slashing of federal government. Well, what they don't say in that headline is these aren't It leads you to believe that these are people that have jumped on board the doze train here and now they're jumping back off
again in protest. Well, the truth of the matter is is these are engineers, data scientists, designers and product managers who were part of an agency that has been melded into doge. Okay, but they don't want to give out away in the headline. They want you to believe that these are people who are like, yeah, I'll join the I'll join the fight, and now after just a couple of weeks, have become disenfranchised and are resigning to protest protests.
The musk slashing not true. Another AP story. Nearly forty percent of contracts canceled by those are expected to produce no savings. Well I don't know, but probably because those contracts have already paid out. Guess what though these kind of contracts have a tendency to roll over. Well, they may not save any money, right, now they may well keep us from spending that money in the future, but
let's not take that into account. Okay, but remember this, and this is something we talked about a lot leading up to the election, and something we haven't talked about much recently, and quite honestly should have. Remember the workforce. And remember while while a growing number of workers in
the private sector that have been laid off. As a matter of fact, last year alone, the layoff rate for non payroll farm jobs or non farm payroll jobs in the private sector was anywhere between one to one point one percent layoffs layoffs. The government worker layoff and discharge rate was about three tenths to four tenths of a percent.
This is according to data from the BLS. In twenty twenty four, private sector employers reported more than seven hundred and fifty thousand jobs cut, the highest sins twenty twenty. How many jobs were cut in the government role a little over thirty eight thousand, seven over seven hundred and fifty in private only thirty eight thousand government.
It just doesn't happen once you especially once you get to a certain level within the government.
Right you just it doesn't It doesn't happen now, not only that, but remember the hiring that went on during the Biden administration, and at the time said that this is just this is just a case of trying to make the overall the top line number look good. There were a lot more people that were well well. Private sector employees were being let employees being laid off. The government was on a hiring spree. They were hiring people left and right, and we wondered, well, gosh, are they needed,
what are they actually doing? Well, this is what DOGE is all about. You hear all these you know, layoffs or impending firings of these probationary workers. There are a lot of them, a lot of them. Why well, because this is the way Joe Biden was trying to pad the numbers as he headed up to at the time was going to be his uh, his his run for
president again. And the administration kept doing that all the way through November, keep hiring to make the top line number look good, because truth of the matter is, most people don't look past the top line. Not to mention, as we talked about ad nauseam leading into the election. While US born workers were losing jobs, non US born workers were gaining jobs. Like crazy. That was the other factor that made that top line number look good. So yeah,
there and everybody knows this. Everybody knows there's excess and waste. And again, trim the fat here, you know, don't don't, don't cut into the muscle. No, but the fat needs to be trimmed.
Listen anytime when I'm going to work. With the iHeartRadio downloaded the app on my phone, I can listen whenever I want one on three point five FM and 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 doub VOC.
Coming up on eight fortyr. Final thoughts here for a Wednesday morning. It seems like I said, usually I don't know. Is about this time of the year you start seeing the ads for performance over at the Cober Center for this Chinese dance group shin Yun, shinyng Chen yu Yun, whichever it is. It's not my cup of tea, but man, they they're very popular. They sell out like crazy.
I never knew that they did or not. All I know is you see the ads everywhere. Yeah, they are including expensive mailers. Oh yeah, Yeah, they spent a lot of money marketing those things. And yeah, I'm pretty sure they sell out on a regular basis round here. I don't know if he'll be back this year or not, because, well, the Chinese Communist Party apparently is up upping their threats against the group.
They perform all across the world. Last Thursday, it was DC at the Kennedy Center. They had to call it off and evacuate the place after an anonymous bomb threat. The company says they've also gotten additional threats in other places of the Netherlands and France. And this is something that they say is the result of the Chinese Communist Party trying to completely shut them down. They've been trying for years. They say, Well, in that case, if they come back, I might have to go just to show
my support. Yeah, it seems like it's usually sometime in the spring they come. I don't made me, don't they plants come here and I don't know anyhow. All right, So they got it done last night, House Republicans with the Big beautiful Bill, the budget Blueprint, four and a half trillion dollars in tax breaks, two trillion in spending cuts. HM although all Democrats were against this, but still we're
spending a lot of money here. But again, part of this is extending the Trump air tax cuts, which would go away otherwise and it was tight as we know, it would be the final tally two seventeen two fifteen. But it's just another step along the way. Here. This is this again. This is the package that that Trump was endorsing. This is the one he wanted to see, the big, beautiful bill. But the Senate has their own ideas. We'll see how it goes. But the House got it
done by the skin of their teeth. Byron Donald's announcing last night on Hannity that he will run for governor of the state of Florida. Yeah, he's a he's a he's a real rags to richest story. You know, he showed up in Florida, he was a teenager and nothing but the bag he had in his hand. And uh, we need we need to hear more stories like that, don't we.
He's he's been the spokesperson for Trump ever since well, I guess before the election, but certainly in the days after the election, he was the guy going on Fox News every day saying every day this is what Trump is going to do when he takes office.
Now, of course, Ronda Santis I would like to see his wife succeed him, right, He's been kind of pushing her for that that role. So this, this, this, may this will get interesting. Of course that Donald's the immediate endorsement of Trump.
Well, keep in mind, Trump's going to be the lame duck by then, DeSantis M. Yeah, because this is the Yeah, may well have more sway by then?
Well well, well, well technically Trump's lame duck right now? Sure, Yeah, this is this this Florida gubernatorial race again next year in twenty twenty six. Yeah, as is ours. And by the way, things have been quiet on the our gubernatorial race front here for the last week or so, saving some power her for next year. Yeah right, keep your wake dry again. This is the hill that so many Democrats are choosing to die on the main House of Representatives,
voting to censure one of their own. Of course, she's not a Democrat. They have censured Representative Laurel Libby happened last night for a recent social post that the main representative put out pointing out that a transgender high school athlete won an All girls well, what should have been an all girls competition, and for that she was censured and will not be allowed to speak on the House floor until she was was an apology, I hope she doesn't.
Was it Maine's governor that got into it with Trump last weekend?
Yes?
Yeah, yes, oh yeah?
So and again, what was her crime? She pointed out that a biological mail won a girls competition, and apparently that's a crime in Maine. Okay, all right. Meanwhile, you've got a judge in Massachusetts just down the road from Maine, upholding a prior ruling. Actually, this was an appeals court, the first Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding a prior judge's ruling dismissing an appeal filed by the parents of a
student in Massachusetts. The school argued that their gender protocols were appropriate to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for their students. This is again one of these schools that kept from the parents that their eleven year old
child was wanting to change genders eleven years old. Now, okay, for a moment, let's if we can ignore what the subject means of all this was and just get back to the simple fact that you know, there's still a lot of places in this country and a lot of a lot of people who believe that a school knows better than a parent no matter what it is. Wow. So a judge rules against the parents in this case, and now the first secret Court of Appeals has upheld.
This at eleven years old, who's even talking about gender unless either the school or the parents are pushing the issue right in this case, it was the school apparently. Yeah, because I don't think you've.
Been that many eleven year olds, you know, at lunchtime at recess discussing, you know, I think I might like to change my gender. No, you're hearing that from these schools. Wow. But again, these are the hills that Democrats are choosing to die.
And it's what lost their election in November.
Yeah, costume election and the polls saying, hey, this is not that's not a popular opinion amongst Americans. Come on, and this will get interesting. Now. I'd always like to say your name, just because I like to say your name. Representative Anna Paulinea Luna, what a great name is putting pressure on Pam Bondi. These are two Floridians. Now, Paulina Luna, the congresswoman from Florida and Pam Bondi, the former Florida A g putting pressure on Bondi to release the Epstein
client list. Now, it was what last week that Bondi said that that list was sitting on her desk right then to review. And Anna Paulinea Luna, who by the way, is sharing a task force on the declassification of federal secrets. So this is not just some random congress person, you know, saying, hey, where there's the list. She actually shairs the task for us for declassifying these secrets. You say, let's get it
out there. Where is it. Let's just put it this way, If for some reason this list never sees the light of day, then we know there are some incredibly influent, influential names on that list, which I think we already figure that there are.
Anyway, Well, the problem is going to be if this list never sees the light of day, the automatic assumption is going to be that Trump themselves.
Exactly that that's the assumption. Yes, but he's going to jump to that conclusion. Is it isn't it all possible that this list is way too dangerous to the country.
I agree, you know, that's what people keep saying about the JFK files.
Which I think is going to be a big disappointment, but I don't think this one will. If it ever does see the light of day here, I can't imagine paying body a week and saying it's on my desk for a review, and you know, a week later it's still I guess on my desk for a review. That argument is going to grow old quickly, and Annapoline Luna call her out on it. Stand by see if we get news on that