Alright, Jesus right, yea America and Jery for regious one nation Ida. 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.
And good morning to you. It's fifteen minutes after six o'clock and we've made it to Thursday at least a more day to go. Here it's the twenty seventh and next to the last day of the month of February. Welcome to it. Yerry David here, Christopher Thompson here, I am here, now are you, sir?
I'm good.
Oh. We came in this morning. Somebody had the heat like on thermonuclear in this studio for here it's fifty one degrees here at the radio. Ranche. Who's got the heat blasting?
Now?
I think it just stays on all the time, and let's we make a move.
So so we were go respond driving an electricity rate. This we are why there's an electricity shortage in South Carolina.
I have turned it off, thank you, and I've turned the AC all.
I felt that immediately. Yeah, it feels good. How are you man? I'm good, beautiful, Yeah, Yeah, it's pretty mild out, very mild out this morning. We're in the fifties and a lot of places upper forties and others, and of wards of what upper seventies today. Yeah, bring that. It's gonna get a little top to turvy here next couple of days. But that's all right, okay, Uh, busy day already here, got a lot to go over, and we'll see how much we can cram into the next two
hours and forty four minutes. So let's start right now, the rundown, the big stories, the hot topics, what we're watching today. Well, what we saw yesterday was what we thought we would see out of the House side of the State House and the you know, the big, the big deal, the big piece of legislation, the private school vouchers. And sure enough, as it looked like they would, the House has passed a bill that is different from the Senate plan. Different in a couple of areas, but the
big one is it's different in the funding. And it's this exact same funding again that they they passed last year they got shot down by the State Supreme Court as being unconstitutional, but this time they're not specifying a funding source and somehow that's supposed to make it all good. Well, that and the make up of the court's a bit different.
So they're rolling the dice, feeling that the if, and this is a big if, if the Senate agrees with them and this becomes legislation, the roll of the dice that the Supreme Court will say, oh, yeah, we're different this time. That's fine, go ahead and do it. Yeah, I have my doubts about that.
That's a big gamble. Yes, it is, and for something that was a high priority going into this legislative session.
Yeah, and of course the first hurdle is, okay, you got to get the Senate. Now, who's wanting to, you know, use lottery dollars to fund this? To go along with us? So we'll get into into the nitty gritty of all that coming up. How about this out of North Charleston where three city council members, along with five other people now accused by the FEDS of being involved in a variety of bribery, kickback, extortion, and money laundering schemes. Three members of North Charleston City Council.
It's like Operation Loss Trust, low country style.
Low country style baby whoa.
They apparently the Feds had wire taps and taped informants and they've got all the goods.
Looks like a slam dunk. Hey, listen it. Typically, this is typically the way it works. The Feds don't announce indictments unless they know they got a slam dunk case. And they got apparently a slam dunk case in this one. Just talking about electricity usage. Merle Smith, the House speaker, writing an op ed of the posting courier, making the case for regulatory This regulatory reform build and says it
will unleash our economic potential in the state. Well, this is something else that is being talked about a lot and needs to be over the state houses. Are our demands for more and more electricity. Brad Sigmund who was slated to go to death, and his choice is the firing squad. He would be the first to be put to death in the state by that method. Ever, he's
scheduled to die next week. His lawyer's saying he's being forced to choose the firing squad because without more information, he thinks he would die of torturous death if he had picked lethal injection. Now, his attorneys also say now that According to the autopsy of Marion Bowman, who was the most recent and put to death by lethal injection, they say the autopsy shows that he well, basically his cause of death was by drowning blood and fluid in his lungs, not by a single dose from a dose
from lethal injection. I see what's happening here. I mean, they're trying to come up with a way to out all this stuff again. They're trying to, you know, make a case that yeah, the lethal and a thing is inhumane. Again. I know that well. In the case of Sigmund, his method of execution for his ex girlfriend's parents was a baseball bat. So I'm sorry, but I don't have a whole lot of empathy.
Here.
A bill that would combat fentanyl induced homicides in our state past by Republicans in the Senate, here in the House, here in the state. Rather, boy, this is a no brainer, right. This bill builds on another piece of legislation which mandates prison time for anyone convicted of trafficking fintanyl in the state. Under this bill, drug dealers who distributed this drug if it leads to death, would face it Finanyl induced homicide charges punishable up to thirty years in prison. Can't imagine
any lawmaker would say no to that, right. Trouble in our schools? Well, this one is a charter school and may have heard the news of a thirty three year old who was an after school director and a substitute teacher charged with eight counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct. This students between the ages of seven and twelve years old, and the principal of the school also arrested. Apparently the charges she well told her superiors but did not alert the authorities. Yeah.
I mean, it's hard to fault her without knowing all the facts. But apparently she told her bosses, and maybe she thought they were going to alert authorities.
I don't know. Since probably, Well, then what about the boss who originally learned the authorities? Was it the bosses?
No parents?
Parents? Yeah? So what about the bosses? Yeah?
Okay, exactly if she told her supervisor, then how come they're not on the hook too.
That's what I'm wondering.
But as the EMO police chief told us, you you've got to tell the law, and you've got to tell DSS anytimes something like this happens.
Yeah, you have that responsibility, and she didn't do it. I'm wondering if she even knew, quite honestly. Well, meantime, a teacher in election and District one arrested by Sledge charges of criminal sexual conduct with a miner and the second degree. Wow, did you hear this one? About the man killed earlier this week entering checking on a relative's property, entering a vacant home.
It was booby trapped, apparently booby trapped thinking law enforcement was coming and m they were going to take down a police officer.
Yeah, instead they killed a thirty four year old by name of Jordan Dovees. Okay, so excuse me for just going immediately to Okay, this sounds fishy, But the news breaking early this morning that Gene Hackman has died ninety five years old. Okay, ninety five, that's a big surprise. But Hackman, his wife, who was sixty three, and their dog found dead inside their Santa Fe, New Mexico home yesterday, yesterday afternoon. Actually the word just breaking in the overnight hours.
Wait a minute, foul play is not suspected, they say, you're not.
You're not linking this to the Epstein report, are you? Is that where you're going?
Oh?
No, I can talk about that. Okay, I dot that you bring it up. No, no, I don't think but hey, I'm sorry, two people and a dog day unless it was, you know, carbon monoxide poisoning. Yeah, it's aside from that, either that or a suicide fact exactly. Yeah, what do you mean, No suspicious play is expected. I think that story will probably change anyway. Shocking news this morning on that front.
Well, maybe it's not suspicious because they already know. Oh, it was either suicide or murder. Suicide one of the two. Yeah, yeah, not suspicious from the outside at least exactly.
Uh.
Trump holding his first cabinet meeting yesterday, and yeah, Elon Musk was there.
He was the first one to speak.
He's the first one to speak. He commanded the room, and a lot of talk about dose. So we'll have the update on that. Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management direct agencies to plan for layoffs by the middle of March. Vladimir Vladimir, Vladimir Vladimir's Lensky in town tomorrow. I expected to sign this minerals deal with Trump and without any kind of security guarantees.
Were we not allowed to say?
Vladimir, Well, that's the other guy. Oh, there's Vladimir Putin and Vladimir's Oh I see, and then there's your different then there's the guy and Harry Potter, who's okay, Baltimore whatever that is? All right? Yeah, I heard to me big called calls Lensky, Vladimir's Olensky, Vladimore's Lensky.
Oh, well, I think I got it wrong while you were out.
Then well you're fired. Sorry, Well we got that. We've got the well, the big beautiful bill passed by the House. It probably won't fly in the Senate. And yeah, you mentioned the Epstein list. Well, now you got Marshall Blackburn, the Republican Senator from Tennessee, saying let's get this thing out there. She says, uh, well, Pam Bondi now says this could happen today, So brace yourselves for that and more coming up on this the Thursday edition at Columbia's Morning is good.
To have you with it traffic and weather when you needed most every ten minutes.
Morning because I need to know what I'm gonna wear in the morning.
On one O three point five FM and 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 w VOC.
Six forty one tired of being woke and going broke. A new survey out from Littler Mendelssohn. They released this yesterday showing the majority of companies out there right now that have diversity, equity and inclusion efforts ongoing are at least considering scaling them back. Just over half. I'm not sure what the other half we're thinking about, but just
over fifty one percent of exec surveyed said that. Well, not necessarily their idea, but at least they're saying that Trump's recent dei related to executive orders will likely result in their businesses scaling back on diversity programs. Of those who said they would consider rolling these initiatives back, sixty one percent, So they were also considering whether not to remove or reduce diversity related languages from their languages. It's
from their websites, proxy statements, and other outward facing communications. Now, what's the big difference here? Well, prior to Trump's inauguration, this same survey showed that only thirty eight percent of respondents said they thought that more companies would start to
roll back these initiatives. So I don't care why you're going to do it, whether it's because you realize it wasn't helpful for you, or you're doing it because, well, you're afraid of a lawsuit, in which more than half of those who said they are considering rolling back or doing so because they're afraid they're gonna get sued, doesn't matter to me.
The only reason you should take on DEI is it because it's going to make you more money.
Exactly.
That's how you run a business.
That's the way. And hey, listen if it's working for you. But I yet, have you heard a story yet of a corporation that went all in on DEI and suddenly they're.
Right right, Yeah, So in that case, my guess is DEI might be profitable. Who knows, but for the average company probably not.
Probably not. Now. David Shipley, whose name you probably don't know. Matter of fact, I'm a bet good money you don't. He was the opinion editor at the Washington Post. He is no longer. He resigned his position yesterday because Jeff Bezos, the Amazon owner who also owns Wappo, announcing a major shift in the op eds you know, the liberal opinion writers and editors, they just can handle it. So what's the big shift here?
The big shift is Bezos is on the outside looking in. Well, Elon Musk is buddy buddy with Trump.
Exactly true. But you know this, this re least, this started even before well I'm trying to remember when it because Bezos has been kind of going this way here for a.
Little while now, talking about not making endorsements during the presidential election.
Yeah, yeah, I mean we could go there. Yeah.
I think he's tired of being on the outside. Yeah, and he realizes that the only way to curry Trump's favor is to be is to not be antagonistic constantly.
Well what Bezos said, uh he wants uh, well, you know, not want. He says, this is the way it's going to be that the paper's opinion section will focus on two things, two pillars. One defending personal liberties, two on free markets. He says that's due to both of those two pillars having been a major part of our country's success story and his and his too. Yes, yeah, yeah, So this is a paradigm shift in this country and thinking of of influential people because now for the longest time,
and it started with Barack Obama. We've been told there is no such thing as American exceptionalism, you know, so we should take a backseat to the rest of the world. You know that we're braggadocious, we're egotistical, We're not as great as we think we are. Well that that opinion, that mindset is changing. Bezo is saying that any criticisms of either of those two pillars, personal liberties or free markets, will show up in the opinion section of the Washington Post.
I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. He says, our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America's success has been freedom of the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical, It minimizes coercion and practical. It drives creativity, invention and prosperity. And David Chipley, the opinion editors couldn't handle that, couldn't handle that. So he's out, and good
riddance to you. And on a different front, BP British Petroleum announcing yesterday they're cutting back on green energy goals instead refocusing on investing in imagine this oil and gas.
I mean, guess wild shot in the dark here. Yeah, okay, it's more profitable for the company to do to take that approach.
You know, I'm gonna guess you're probably right. They're planning to increase their investments in oil and gas by ten billion dollars a year and plan to increase oil production between two point three and two point five million barrels per day by twenty thirty.
It's great to be green if you can, if you make it work, if you can make it work, yeah, but your shareholders want to see green, not b green, and.
That's what the shareholders said, they said. BP says this decision follows recent reports they're facing growing pressure from investors unhappy with their profits. So what it's all about, baby, So it's all about so uh yeah, yeah, if you can find a way to go green and make it profitable for your investors and yourself. Okay, But again, has anybody found a way to yet be able to do that? The day may come one day, but they ain't here yet, and it may be a while four it gets here.
If it ever does, are already, then I'll tell you change. It's change is happening at break net uh fast. What's the phrase, I'm looking for there break next speed, Thank you? I mean it really is. And you know this again that that statement from Jeff Bezos kind of embodies the whole thing. We're tired of Democrats telling us we're not exceptional. We're tired of the left telling us, yeah, the American success story is not a big deal. I don't know
what those people really want. You know, if you want, if you want to be if you go to if you know, go to Europe, fine, be happy. I'll even pitch him to send you. Change is happening.
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 minutes after seven o'clock. Good morning and good to have you with us. It's Thursday, February twenty seventh. I'm Gary David. That is Christopher Thompson. Good morning, sir. Thank you for being you and being there. We appreciate that. Now, I get it. You might be tired of be talking about this, but I just don't. I don't. I don't get it now. I may not be the brightest bull bull matter of fact, I'm not. Or I might be the brightest bull bullet tree that's soon to be cut down.
I don't know. But the House just just to prove this private school voucher our local house or yes, the House here at South Carolina. Yes, and in using well for all essential purposes, the same way to fund this that they know that the State House did last year they got to knock down as being unconstitutional by our state Supreme Court.
And this was a change in philosophy from the way the year started. So I've got to believe they've gotten some kind of a wink and a nod for either the Chief Justice or enough members of the State Supreme Court. But to your point, it doesn't make any sense, you know, even if you know you're going to eventually get it passed through the state Supreme Court, why go through the hassle? Why not pass something something that they've essentially told you
would be constitutional. Instead, they gave you the instructions, do it like this. Find sourcing from another place, yeah, relates, that's not the state coffers.
And that's what the Senate did in their bill. They came up with the idea to use money from the lottery, which is what the House was going to do too. I mean, I thought this was all worked out, and then all of a sudden, the House went off on its own. Well and this, I mean this was like, this was the we got to get this done right away thing. Yeah, I mean, this is all we heard about going into this session. This was the number one priority, finding a way to to fund these vouchers, get them
back out there again. Hmm. Well, and it's not just the funning mechanism where the House build differs from the Senate bill. So let's quickly some of the other things here that are different about these two pieces of legislation. The Senate version, the amount of scholarship, at ninety percent of the average for people funding from state sources according to State paper currently, would be about seventy five hundred dollars.
The House version will be about six thousand. The Senate version would fund for ten thousand students year one fifteen thousand year two. The House version the same for the first two years, but in the years after that it would be limited only by how much money that budget writers set aside for the program, so the number could grow immensely. Okay, Well, those aren't the biggest sticking points in my mind, and aside from the funding, Okay, here's
a big sticking point. Both versions open up the program to families at three hundred percent of federal probably level for the first year and four hundred percent for the second year. But no, I tell them that the Senate version. Wait a minute, wait at that's that's not right? Is it? The Senate version reduced that amount, did it not?
That's what they had talked about at one point?
Huh yeah, at last checked. The House version would be fun. It would fund scholarships to families at a higher income level than with a Senate version. Okay, well, anyway, but again, the big problem that could again doom this for the second straight year is the way it's funded. The Senate moved pretty quickly on this, and why the House is taking more time with it, I'm not really sure. But again,
the Senate says we'll pay for a lottery money. Now I says, now, we're going to use money from a state coffers, but we're not going to specify exactly where those funds are coming from. Now, that seems to be a problem right there and of itself.
If that's not unconstitutional. I'm not sure why it's not.
It almost seems to be worse than the last time to me, and who was it which Democrats said, we're like money, money, money laundering here, and that kind of get that feeling, don't you. Now Again, what we're hearing we heard from budget writers in the House and from some mouse Republicans is that well, yeah, but well John Kittridge is now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and he was he was one of the dissenters in
the Supreme Court ruling last year segments was unconstitutional. So you know, we got the top dog now who last year dissented in this case. So we feel pretty good that the Supreme Court is gonna, you know, say this is okay, yeah, you're you're a good guy. That's a big gamble, man again, a big gamble for a bill that had priority status. Just at this point in time, in my mind, just getting this bill passed and getting to the Governor's desk for signature is going to be
a problem. I cannot, for the life of me see how the Senate is going to say, okay, yeah, well we'll try that again. Maybe they will, I think in all likelihood it's it's it's more likely that maybe the House says, okay, we'll do it your way, Senate, But
either way, it's gonna you know, it's February. It's almost March now, so you got what three months left in this session by and large, you know, for all tents and purposes, I'm gonna make a bet right now, this is going to wind up taking the rest of this session, and we're gonna be sitting here in May, in late May saying okay, is it done yet? Is it done yet? Are we there yet? Okay, Well, we'll see.
This is that roadblock we always run into about this time in the session.
Yeah, it's that one. It seemed like it was a no brainer going in, but it hadn't turned out that way. Now op ed in today's Post and Courage by the House Speaker Merl Smith has nothing to do with that, but to do with well energy, And the headline on the op ed piece is regulatory freedom bill will at least Essa's economic potential. Okay, so this is going back to that bill, and I agree with it. And when I first saw it, I mean you see the first headlines,
You're like, oh, what really? The knock on this bill is it's it's just hands off. Okay, there, they don't care about environmental concerns. It's just hands off.
No.
What this bill and as is Merle Smith points out in this op ed piece, is uh, it's all about ending what do you call the practice of bureaucratic mission creep. Remember this, this bill says, Okay, yeah, if you have concerns about a power plant we want to build, that's fine, to air them, and you should you should have your hearing,
you know, and we'll talk about it. But you can't keep going again and again and again and again and again, year after year after year, holding things up because we can't afford it.
The kind of bureaucratic red tape that Elon Musk is trying to cut it up in Washington too.
Yeah, exactly. As he points out on this off ed, our state leads the nation and population growth. I mean we're we're growing faster than even Florida and Texas. Okay, maybe more people have been on a percentage basis. I mean, we are number one with people coming here. So not only is this an issue for people coming here, but for businesses coming here. You know, businesses aren't going to
relocate or locate in this state. If they've got any qualms, that's well, we're going to be able to have enough energy to run our business or we can have to pay out the nose for it. And it's this other idea now that's floating around that maybe allow us some states to businesses to source their own power, not get it from the local utility, you know, for the menion or the cooperative or whomever. They're doing that in Georgia, I think right where they can do that. That's gonna
be the next thing here. But again, bottom of this is this is a no brainer. Okay, Uh, we don't have any choice. This has to be done. So yeah, unleashing our state's economic potential. Yeah, I agree. You use.
This always happening, and we'll keep you informed and up to date. It's important to stay informed these days more than ever.
On one O three point five FF on 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 w VOC.
The seven forty two. They're saying foul play is not suspected, but they're investigating the death of Gene Hackman. Apparently they found the body of Hackman, his his wife, and their dog. Yeah, yesterdayt their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was about three forty five in the afternoon our time. That news didn't break until after midnight last night, ABC News saying that the Hackman and his wife, a classical pianist, were found dead when police conducted a welfare check after a
neighbor expressed concern about their well being. Again, foul play not suspected, but the exact cause of death not been determined. This is weird.
Well, I mean, if they were concerned, they would they they wouldn't be able to say that what they said about foul play, they would say, well, you know, the community needs to be aware. It sounds like they know it's either a murder suicide.
But doesn't that considered foul play.
Well, then then it probably is just a basic suicide.
Fact.
Wow, maybe there's a note. So both Hackman and his wife and the dog, which she was much younger, she was like sixty five. Yeah, this was his second wife.
Yeah, so yeah, I don't know. I mean, the only way something the farius didn't happen wasn't a carbon monoxide poisoning, for example. That's the other Yeah, could be the only logical explanation. I guess some kind of food poisoning something like that. Yeah, well, okay, so we'll wait to see what we find out about that, all right. If things go off as planned, a week from Friday, a week from tomorrow, Brad Sigmund will we'll go to his death in this time in a method that we have never
used here in South Carolina. That's the firing squad. So each time we have a condemned murderer facing death, the attorneys find new and unique ways to try to get them out of it. We have you around of we're out of excuses here. Soon we have several a lot more people on death row right now. But here's the
latest here. So lawyers now for Sigmund say he's being forced to choose a violent death by firing squad because without more information, he thinks he could die a torturous death if picked, if he picks lethal injection.
Just as we thought it was a stunt. He didn't really want to die by firing squad. He just wanted to make a point, right. I wanted to bring up another legal angle to try to get out of this. Sigmund's attorneys saying that autopsy results from the last man executed by the state, Marion Bowman, showed that the state needed to twice the dose of the lethal injection typically use in other states. And these were court papers filed
yesterday in the State Supreme Court. Now, the autopsy for Richard, who was the first to go to death row back in November, found the same amount of pinnabarbital was used to kill him. Over two doses were given eleven minutes apart.
So the claim for the attorney is that in Bowman's case, the autopsy reveals there was a blood and fluid in his lungs and the cause of death was actually death by drowning, called a torturous Well, that would be a horrible way to die, and there's no way of knowing how that feels unless you're I mean, nobody's ever going to come back and say, well, here's how it felt.
It didn't feel good.
It's But isn't there a way? I mean, don't we have enough sedatives? I mean, if you can put me under for a three hour operation for surgery, can't you put me under deep enough where I'm not going to feel it when you then kill me by whatever method you use, including.
And are are we not sure that that doesn't already happen with Penn and Barbiton. Yeah, I mean you're you're you're out of it.
You're so deeply sedated you don't know.
Yeah, I mean, okay, so you can say the autopsy shows it was blood and fluid in his lungs, right, and he died by drowning. Okay, but was he aware? Yeah? Was he aware of it or not? I can promise you this. His victims were aware of what was going on when they died. I think I don't remember how many victims like Brad Sigmund's victims were very aware of
what was going on. Remember Sigmund beat to death the parents of his ex girlfriends with a baseball bat and went back and forth between rooms, repeatedly striking them with that bat. They know exactly how they died, and we know it was torturous and barbaric and painful, and that their last moments were filled in agony and fear. Okay, Well, so yeah, it was a stunt. You're right, it was
a stunt. Well, I'm gonna choose the firing squad because we're gonna make this legal argument that you know this this is this other method is extremely torturous and we need to know more about it. But in the meantime, let's put this thing on hold. Let's call it off until we can find out more about that method that forced me to choose this method. You want the easy way out, you're victims. You didn't give that to them.
Of course, we got the talk back earlier this week when we were discussing this, saying, you know, we've got all this vetal now that we confiscate, let's use some of that.
Yeah, we got plenty of go around, all right. So uh again, that's uh, that's the argument that we made from the state Supreme Court. Uh. Barring the Supreme Court stepping in, don't expect the governor to uh to announce clemency year. That's not expected. So a week from tomorrow, Brad Sigmund will Low I was gonna say, meet this maker, but probably not.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM on five sixty AM w VOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
Just the interest on the national debt. Now itxceeds the defents apartment spending. We spent a lot on the defest apartment, but we're spending like over trillion dollars on interest. If this continues, the country will become the facto bankrupt.
It is sixteen after eight o'clock. Elon Musk, who is not, I repeat not a member of the cabinet. But there he was yesterday at Trump's first cabinet meeting. Now he didn't have a seat at the table, no, but he spoke first. He stood up over there in the corner over there. Yeah, but he did. He spoke first, and h a lot of attention being being being paid to what he had to say. What he said right there. I mean, that's just the truth.
Yeah, I don't need the editorial comment about how much we spend on defense, but otherwise, yes, it's absolutely true.
So uh yeah, the the Q and A for Musk at the cabinet meeting yesterday.
I mean, you've got all those heavy hitters sitting at that table, everybody that people are interested in that Trump is appointed, from Rubio to Hegsith to Rfki Junior. And here is Elon Musk, who gets the floor first, Well, as we.
Were saying this, this whole dose thing has sucked all the year out of the room. Man. Yeah, there's room for nothing else. And it's hard, it's hard to keep up with it all. Now, yesterday must describing these emails you've been sending out as a pulse check. Okay. He just wants to make sure people are alive and earning their paychecks, and that that's just the lowest denominator bar that you've got to be alive. Okay. He did say that his Steve had made some mistakes.
Which I was glad to hear him say, because that's that's been the major criticism. Oh, he's you know, he's taking a chainsaw to the budget when he needs to be more precise. Well, it's I think he's starting to hone in on that a little bit now. And he admits they've made some early mistakes even with the USA I D when they accidentally cut into bullet program.
Yeah and he yeah, he explained how they had accidentally done that, and when he learned about they restored those canceled contracts. But the President had a lot to say yesterday too about these these cuts. And again, when it comes to you know those Musk emails. We keep getting kind of conflicting stories here, conflicting well takes. Because Trump yesterday warned that a million or more federal employees are now on the bubble because they haven't responded to these emails.
Must him because it is send another one. We just want to give the people the opportunity to send an email. So there'll be a third one, I guess at some point in time now more maybe to the point the Office of Personnel Management OPM has sent out at least directives a memo directing agencies to submit their plans by March thirteenth for what is known as a riff reduction in force, one that would not only lay off employees
but eliminate positions all together. We're going to see a riff and we're going to see some positions get eliminated. How many who knows, but there will. And as we talked about yesterday, remember the big you know, hiring blitz that the federal government went on in the last year of the Biden administration to make those you know, job
numbers look good. There's no doubt. And and again I'm you know, when we talk about this, you know, I feel you know, a little, a little you know, tinge of regret because we have so many federal workers, who who who who live in this and work in this area. My my parents were federal workers, and you know, I think I think that by and large, most of them been doing a very good job, and they're they're conscients that they're working hard. But there are those who aren't.
And there are those who have been sitting at home since COVID and UH have taking been taking advantage of the situation.
And there are positions that in every department that absolutely could be cut. And you know, you hate to say it. I mentioned this the other day. My guess is, you know, if your job isn't really all that important, sure you do, you know how big a contribution you're making.
If you're never getting an email from your boss asking for this or that, for example, or even are you here or are you still alive, your job's probably not warranted. Now, Aside from the jobs thing, here's something else I wanted to mention. The Department of Health and Human Services now has terminated a contract, according to DOJE, a contract with a nonprofit that was paid millions of dollars in taxpayer money each and every month to operate a Texas overflow
facility that's sat empty. It's been empty. According to a social media post, I was saying a former US customer, it was an Immigration Enforcement employee former and well, I'm also an individual who was a Biden transition team member joined an outfit called Family Endeavors back in twenty twenty one, helping this organization secure a sole source HHS contract for overflow housing from license Care facilities. Okay, a sole source contract. Right.
It didn't go up forbid. You didn't try to find the organization to do it for the for the you know, the most efficient amount of money. It was just, hey, it's yours. Okay. That is a result, Family Endeavors cash and portfolio of investments grew from eight point three million dollars in twenty twenty to get a load of this a year later, I'm sorry, three years later, in twenty twenty three, that cash and portfolio of investments went from eight point three million dollars to more than a half
a billion dollars in less than three years. That since March of last year, AHHS has paid eighteen million dollars a month to keep this facility in Pecos, Texas up and running, and it's been sitting empty. That's eighteen million dollars a month for nearly the last year of our money, of our money, that's over two hundred million dollars. And there have been a single soul in the place that
apparently never has been. This is the sort of thing that the government has been just and again this is a sole source contract going to a former Ice agent and member of the Biden transition team from four years ago. You don't think something something stinks about that in high heavens as you know, it does. Okay, this is why those are so important.
And how do you justify that if if you're on the Democrat side and your argue, oh well, Elon Musk wasn't elected and we didn't we didn't want this, well.
Then we might need it one day.
You never know when the news will break, but leave us on and you will.
I think we want to see more details.
Break now.
One O three point five FM and five sixty am doub VOC. 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 eight forty and our final thoughts here on a Thursday morning. Wow, three elected by the people council members of North Charleston along with five other people identify it as associates, which is never a good work. My associates know something, something something going on here. And you got associates. Uh So, three elected council members north of North Charleston accused by the FEDS of being involved in a variety of bribery, kickback, extortion, and money laundering schemes. Wow.
And as you pointed out earlier this morning, once they tried to trot those charges outs, you know, you're done.
Oh you're you're toast. Yeah. The FEDS that they won't just go out on a women say hey, maybe maybe this will maybe this will work out. Now they they're they're they're very patient. They will invent This investigate has been off for quite some time.
With wiretaps and informants that were bugged.
Yeah. The word is is that uh well, several of these folks are already scheduled to play guilty uh tomorrow. Wow. Without getting too deep in the weeds, you're talking about cases in which money changed hands for well, things like what rezoning, embezzlement, of funds belonging to the city by solicity, he said, kickbacks some nonprofits.
Yeah, I mean just greasing the wheel. So you got what you wanted and then in exchange that person would give money back to you, or you would get a grant for someone and they would in return give you personally some of that money that you got the grant for.
So you know, it's like third world country kind of stuff.
You know.
Unfortunately it happens.
A bill to a combat fentanyl and douce homicides in our state's been passed by Republicans over the state House. Did anybody vote against this? Do we know? I well, I haven't looked at the at the rundown, but I'm doubting it. Under this bill, anybody selling fentanyl that leads to the death of some one I could face fentanyl induced homicide charges I'd say felony punishable up to thirty
years in prison. Now, we already have a bill on the books that mandates prison time for anybody convicted of trafficking fitanel the state, but this makes it tougher and imposes a longer prison sentence times on that again, up to thirty years in prison.
Hey, you know, other than marijuana. I mean, is there any drug out there, recreational drug that you can do that you don't have to at least worry a little bit about it being laced with fentanyl.
I'm not just sure you can think about that about marijuana, Tay, it's true. I don't know it was your kid.
Rock did a segment on I think it was on Fox News a couple of weeks ago. When he was talking about it, he ran into a younger person in the country music industry and she asked him. She said, are you holding He said, yeah, yeah, I've changed a little bit. I know I used to be wild, but I don't do that anymore. He said, you can't in this day and age. You can't, can you. You're rolling
the dice every time. Yeah, you inject something or put something in your nose, you are taking a chance that is something other than what you think it is.
It's scary stuff, man, h scary stuff reports. According to Washington Times, the FBI has launched an investigation into an off the book's operation that goes back to before Crossfire Hurricane, an operation that apparently former director James Comey allegedly ordered with the aim of infiltrating Trump's twenty sixteen campaign, according to The Washington Times, looking for a pair of once undercover female employees who are allegedly directed to worm their
way into the Trump camp as honeypots. Really into a presidential campaign now, this coming from a whistleblower report the A Win Trump shortly after Trump announced his bid in June of twenty fifteen, Comy allegedly deployed these two undercover FBI agents to compromise the campaign at senior levels, gaining
access and intelligence. The whistleblower report, suggesting the operation was effectively a phishing expedition, did not appear to be targeting any specific crime, and there was there was no crime going on here. It was just hey, let's see what we can we get out of these people. Wow. And again allegedly this was directed by James Comy. Okay, Marshall Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican senator, now add her to the list of those on Capitol Hill, pushing Pam Bondy to get
the list out. I thought the list gets released today. Well this was yesterday, and then Bondi says, yeah, she thinks probably tomorrow, meaning today. Okay, I think tomorrow, she says, breaking news. Right now, you're going to see some ebscene information being released by my office. What you're going to see hopefully tomorrow. She said this yesterday, so maybe sometime Today's a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information. But it's pretty sick what that
man did. She made these comments on Fox News with Jesse Waters last night. Well, we know that what that man did was more than pretty sick. It was way sick.
Yeah, but it's going to take some effort to weed your way through and realize, Okay, who was actually involved with him versus who just you.
Know, may have been on the same plan. Yeah, if you got on the plane with him, and you know, even if you went to well, I went to that island for example, doesn't mean you actually did anything. Now, it's gonna look like you did, certainly, and chances are probably good that you did, But I mean, actually proving this a whole other thing. But does that even matter at this point.
I mean, it's gonna be guilt by association for anybody on that list exactly.
Uh So, stand by for potential breaking news later today on that mhmm.
That's where it would be good. I guess to have the who is it? Jealan Julane Maxwell yea his former associated You know she's in jail now, but you get her out for a day and let her go through that list and say, art, here's who was guilty. Here, here's who wasn't. She's got nothing to lose at this point.
Absolutely nothing. Okay, So the announcement, you actually have a new book coming out to tell the behind the scenes story about Joe Biden's bid for a second term, and then the lead up to the book the Big T's. It promises to reveal a top level cover up about his health declines. The book is titled Original Sin, President Biden's Decline, It's cover up and his disastrous choice to run again. Could you fit all that on the cover of the book. That's a long title, man.
And who's writing this book?
That's that's the kicker, right, Let's see, it's co written. One is Alex Thompson, who is the correspondent for Axios. The other Jake Tapper of CNN.
So let me write all about a cover up that I wouldn't talk about, that I helped cover up exactly. That's the point, right, you knew this all along, and you were part of the cover up, and now you're going to write a book about the cover Are you going to implicate yourself as long as it makes a buck or two. I guess he doesn't care.
I guess not.
You know, everybody's all in against Biden now, so it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter now. But I mean, you're you're you're admitting here that in this book that you were part of the cover.
Up, unless he's gonna spin some yarn about how he was constantly taunting the executives at CNN saying wait, I know more to the story. No, you can't say that on the air.
Yeah, it's probably the only defense he would have, wasn't it.
That's the president of the United States. There's no way he's got any mental difficulties.
You can't say that, Jake, Yeah, right,