Native lamdpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason Choice Media. Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome home. Everyone. This is Angela Raie. I am your host of Native lamppod, and this is my solo pod. Today. We begin with something that is so very serious and is impacting so many people. And no, it's not a
beef between podcasts hosts. It's something much bigger than that, something that I want to draw your attention to because it may not be knocking at your front door right now, but it might be just around the corner. First, I want to start with what your president had to say about government shutdowns not long ago.
So tell me if you were president.
What would you do.
Well, very simply, you have to get everybody in a room.
You have to be a leader.
The president has to lead here.
The Democrats are going to be blamed.
And the Republicans are going to be blamed.
I actually think the president would be blamed if there is a shutdown. I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States.
He's the one that has to get people together. They're not going to be talking who the head of the House was, the head of the Senate, who's running things in Washington.
So I really think the pressure is on the president.
So we recently appeared on the Breakfast Club, Native Lampard was asked by Leonard whose fault the shutdown was, And I think if we've listened to the words of the president, it's very clear who the buck stops with. I know that the buck didn't stop with the president just in twenty thirteen, or in twenty fourteen, or even in twenty sixteen,
even to this day in twenty twenty five. When your president seeks to become king, seeks to become an authoritarian leader, certainly he can hold the bag for this as well. So while people struggle to figure out how they will make ends meet during a government shutdown that has now lasted more than twenty days, it's very clear that Donald
Trump believed the buck stops with the President. I want to go next to another just harrowing, terrible, awful, heart wrenching experience that families in Tennessee are having.
Let's roll it.
Students with disabilities were just forced off campus, and state officials say it has everything to do with the government shutdown. I'll be honest. When I first got the call, couldn't believe what I was hearing. And then I saw the video and you have all of these students with their parents loading up as if it was moving day. This is the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center in Smyrna, and from my understanding, this is the only state run facility of its kind
here in Tennessee. It's hard to tell from the video, but people who were there that day called and told me that some of these students were in tears. So think about that for a second. These are students with special needs. Some of them have a disability, some of them are visually impaired. This facility was intended to help students learn learn the vocational skills they need to get jobs. The skills they're learning is not just about how to
work a register. It's like they're learning soft skills as well, you know, whether that's just how to talk to people, how to pick up on social cues, that sort of thing. And now they're being told, take your laptop with you, go home, and we'll do some of this learning virtually. And you know, I've never had much experience with, you know, students with special needs, but it feels like that kind
of defeats the purpose. That's where you get some of these parents who reached out and said that they were frustrated. They were shocked that something like this would happen over what's being debated hundreds of miles away the Tennessee Department of Human Services that operates this facility, so that this is something that they had to do because of the
government shutdown. Now, I don't know the exact numbers of how many students this is impacted, but I do know that as you're watching this right now, some of them are still moving out and their parents are trying to find answers. The students are trying to find answers. We're trying to find answers. I sent an email to DHS to ask them, like, how does a state run facility rely so much on federal funding that they have to force students off campus when the government shutdown. Hits still
waiting on an answer for that. There's just a lot of uncertainty because this could last days, this could last weeks, this could last months. This is the third longest government shutdown of its kind in American history, and Republicans and Democrats are deadlocked on trying to pass a budget. Well, while all that's happening, there are unintended consequences that we are watching right now and it's impacting some of the most vulnerable students in Tennessee.
So we are now at day twenty one, and just so we're very clear, the last government shutdown that lasted this long also under Donald Trump, and they are living and voting like and moving like they don't care who this impacts. We're talking about kids with special needs who are being moved out of their housing facility learning particularized skills in Smyrna in Tennessee, and as the reporter said, the only state run facility of its kind in Tennessee.
I want to go next to people who folks on the other side normally say they represent, they respect, they honor, they uphold. Let us take just a quick look at how the military, soldiers in our military and their families are being impacted by the shutdown.
As I take a step aside here, there is quite a bit of military members and their families in line because of this government shutdown. We're in day nine of it. In they're here for a food pantry. There's all sorts of food that is available. And I spoke with some military members, spouses, and I spoke with some department heads here at the as Y m c A on why this is so important. What's the difference in the amount of people that you've seen from today to previously.
So when we first started coming there definitely wasn't this amount of people.
It was a lot, but it wasn't this amount to where it wrapped around the building.
But lately it has been a lot.
Like we were here last week and we were in line for like two hours, And.
In a normal week, we usually run out of food abut one o'clock in the afternoon.
Last week we ran out of food about ten thirty. So, when we take a look at even how our own military is being treated, people who are on the front lines to protect American freedoms or at least what used to be even their families are being put in harm's way.
And I want to be clear, this is a food bank that you heard is being run out of the YMCA, So this isn't even a government response to how they can meet the needs of military professionals soldiers who again are making sure that our freedoms are protected their needs are not being met by the government.
I don't know.
This is a food bank being run by the YMCA, and I think what is particularly alarming in this particular clip is they say that normally they run out of food around the one PM mark. They said just last week the line was so long they round out of food by ten thirty. There's an influx of folks who need this type of support, and gratefully, citizens all over the country are filling the gap, But should they be filling the gap for the military too? Should that be
what's required of us in this moment? Or should Congress do what it's supposed to do, and should the president require that the military families are taken care of. That's certainly what you would see in an ordinary democracy. It's certainly what you would see with elected officials who lead with respect, with dignity, with care, concern and compassion for its citizens, particularly those on the front lines. But that's
not what you're seeing here. Again, it's day twenty one of this government shut down, and there's still a lot more to go. Let's take a quick turn to health care. We've seen the impacts around food and security. We've seen the impacts around education, particularly as it relates to folks who have special needs in the education space. But what about healthcare?
So, folks, this is what the current fight is all about. Nobody wants to shut down, at least I don't. I don't want to shut down. But what I also don't want is for people in Georgia that I represent to lose their health care because it's simply unaffordable. Let me show you what I mean. In twenty twenty five, this family of four in Chatham County, where I grew up, paid five hundred and fifty nine dollars and sixty nine
cents per month for the lowest cost option. That's the lowest cost family for five hundred and fifty nine dollars sixty nine cents a month. Now look at this. Because of Republicans' cuts to healthcare last summer, the same family will have to pay two thousand, one hundred and thirty one dollars sixty five cents for the lowest cost option. You tell me how an ordinary working family in Georgia is supposed to afford that. Republicans did this. Now they
won't reopen the government because they're fighting for this. Well, I'm not fighting for Georgians to have their healthcare premiums quadrupled. I'm fighting to extend their healthcare and to reopen the government. My Republican colleagues ought to join me.
You know, we have been in this healthcare battle since President Obama's first term, and I'm bringing that up because I think it's important to contextualize where we are in the government shutdown fight and what this is really about. They will tell you that the shutdown is about, you know, making sure that folks get the tax cuts they deserve.
They'll tell you that the shutdown is about Democrats who don't see the bigger picture and want to harm government workers and put people in harms way who rely on government benefits. But really, what this is about is a piece of legislation that was passed in July that Donald Trump arrantly called the big Beautiful Bill, Sign Up get into law. After the House and Sidate passed it much objection in the House, but it was passed no less. And part of what happens in that bill is you're
robbing Peter to pay Paul. You give the rich tax breaks and tax cuts, and you instead shift something to break a system that you never liked because it was the first black president who passed the Affordable Care Act. They tried to repeal the bill time after time after time. They took the bill to the Supreme Court. They have tried to dismantle the ACA, or Obamacare as they call it, and so this was their next tricky way to try
to dismantle Obamacare. But what they failed to realize is those state exchanges where I'm from in Seattle, in Washington State, it's called apple Care right in these different state exchanges, places that have made Medicaid more accessible to people who don't make as much money as they ought. You may not call it Obamacare, you may not call it the Affordable Care Act, but these are the state exchanges that
we've relied upon that we're codified in the Affordable Care Act. Now, because they've worked so hard to try to dismantle a key piece of President Obama's legacy, a key piece of legislation, and a key law that has made healthcare access more attainable to American families and to the American people, they work so hard to dismantle that that they will put
you in a position where you are directly in harm's way. Now, for a lot of folks sitting at home watching this podcast and may say, you know what, I don't really need health care like that. I'm healthy, I'm fine, I go to the emergency room. If I need something, I can pay it out of pocket. I have a doctor, I have concierge medicine. Maybe that's where you sit, But there are many more who are sitting at home who
need those state exchanges. All of those black women who were just laid off their jobs, they need these state exchanges. They need to be able to rely on systems like Cobra. That is what is in harm's way. So when Senator Warnock talks about a premium for a family in Georgia going up from five hundred and fifty nine dollars, that's the lowest option available on that state exchange. It went up to twenty one thirty one twenty one hundred dollars
twenty one thirty one and sixty five cents. It's because of the measure that was passed in July, and it needs to be funded through this particular continuing resolution. And that is why the government is shut down. Because if the republic, if the Republicans can't seem to get their moral compass right. The Democrats have an obligation to hold the line for healthcare. No health care, no vote, and that is what Senate Democrats continue to do. It is
being metaled messaging. You got Cabinet secretaries like Christy Noam putting up videos in airports that will allow it throughout the country, saying if your journey through TSA is slower in this airport, it is because of the Democrats' unwillingness to pass a measure that is actually causing you more harm than good. If you can't afford a twenty one hundred dollars payment for your health care, what makes you
think that they should pass that bill? If this is the only thing standing in the way, And mind you, some of these prices are already up. They can change all of this with a simple conscionable vote. They're not willing to do that anyway. Let's go to another healthcare video. This one was really heart rending. It struck me. It was a conversation that Congressman hat Johnson, also out of Georgia, held with a constituent recently and why she realies on the healthcare system as is, but.
Right now through you know I've used the Georgia Access website and I see, you know, I get the federal subsidy. I paid fifty dollars a month for the help of Terrence. But without that subsidy, my premium with skyrocket to twelve hundred and sixty dollars per month. WHOA, that's just an amount I simply cannot afford.
From fifty dollars to twelve hundred and sixty twelve hundred and sixty dollars. Yes, no way that you could afford.
That, No, no way. So my husband is going through cancer treatments right now, so you know we have that expense. He's on Medicare. I'm not yet on Medicare, so I'm in that gap. You know where you made health insurance, not quite to Medicare yet, And you know this affordable health insurance has saved my life for these past few years.
I just cannot imagine what this woman is going through. Earlier, in the conversation with Congressman Johnson, she mentions that she's been unemployed since twenty twenty one. Because of her age,
She's struggling to find employment that is consistent. She's worked part time job after gig after part time job after gig, and she has some pre existing conditions that require a certain type of medicine, a certain type of prescription drug that is also going to skyrocket if Republicans do not come to the table with their president to do the right thing by these people who cannot afford healthcare. To go from a fifty dollars subsidized premium to twelve hundred
and sixty dollars is just irresponsible. It is morally reprehensible this woman is talking about And I'll tell y'all this is where it struck my heart. It struck a chord with me hearing about her husband who was able to be on Medicare because of his age. But it's also battling cancer. Many of you know my mother is also battling cancer. My mom was deeply concerned in the summer and even did a video from chemotherapy treatment about her
concerns given that she's on Medicare. She also has additional supplemental coverage based on the job where she worked for forty years. But my mom was deeply concerned about what would happen to her healthcare, getting letters in the mail every day about what might happen to her cancer treatment and how unaffordable it may become. These are the conversations
we have to have. You may not be sick, but there may be someone in your family, your mother, your father, your uncle, a sibling, right, a neighbor, or you help to support. We do not want to put other human beings in harm's way because we're selfish, or because we refuse to give the other side a win. It is a win for all people, regardless of their political affiliation, their race, their background, their ethnicity, their religion. Right, it is supposed to be accessible for all, and that's the
conversation we should be having. But it isn't just hitting kids in special needs programs. It isn't just hitting military families. This isn't just hitting healthcare exchanges right state based exchanges
that were stood up under Obamacare, undergirden under Obamacare. It is also hitting the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, the folks in the blue uniforms you have to walk past in security, through security at the airport to get to your destination, whether your destination is for vacation, for a funeral, for you know, education.
For your job.
These are the people we have to walk by every day. The fact that this shut down is also impacting them and they also are not being paid, is something that we cannot look away from. We have not seen how detrimental it will become, but it is starting to hit. Let's roll this clip.
It's another busy day at the state's largest economic generator, Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport.
When when the Phillia and then came back.
Here, prompting security screenings by those like Neil Gosman at both ends.
I'm speaking to you as a union officer representing TSA employees, a.
Group dedicated to protecting the nation's transportation systems, established right after the nine to eleven attacks. Are you being paid right now?
No?
Not getting paid now. We got our last paycheck. I guess it was Friday, a week ago, and it was a partial paycheck for everybody because it only paid up through the end of September.
Gosman's done the job at MSP since it existed nearly twenty one years, and says he's seen shutdowns before, but for some of the airport's nearly six hundred blue shirt agents, who come from all walks of life, it's their first.
The morale there is quite varied some of the older folks we're going to tough this out. We're prepared, We're going to do it. And some of the younger folks say, I got student loans to pay.
During twenty nineteen's shutdown, he says, some officers got by with gig jobs.
It was pretty sad. A food bank was set up at the airport for TSA employees that we're running out of food money and gazz cards were handed out.
Weges have since increased, but he hears the food bank is coming back. MSP says that Sunday was the second busiest day of the NEA travel weekend. So we asked some folks who just arrived from another US airport how their travel experience was.
Let's say, he asked us to come early, and we really didn't need.
To, and I was expecting that there'd be some delays and so on and so forth, and yeah, I mean, we breezed right through an experience.
Gosman says they'll continue to strive to provide.
I think it's important that passengers realize TSA folks are doing the best we can under very very unfortunate circumstances.
And here's the thing. For some airports, it hasn't hit just yet, but in many others it is. And let's say that your line isn't longer. Let's say there's no delay at the airport at all. But can you imagine working a job relying on a paycheck and you don't get it. We're now at October twenty first, the last time TSA's officers are what we call tsos. I have a homeland security background, having worked on the Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill. Tsos were last paid at
the end of September. For the end of September. And so what you have to think about, or what I would urge you to think about, is not just how this impacts your travel experience, not just the line that may be long or maybe much shorter. Maybe some of you will decide not to travel at all, but think about the person that can't make that decision about whether or not to go. They have to still go to work.
They've made a decision to protect us, because not showing up to work for a TSO means a potential national security threat. And I'll give you an example. You know MSP, the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, is actually one of the busiest airports in the nation. Them deciding not to show up could result in a really big security issue. Just in Atlanta, at Atlanta Hartsfield yesterday Hartsfield Jackson Airport, there was a major mass shooting averted a man who
was having a mental health crisis. Let's say TSA decides to not have to go to work, and the air fifteen twenty plus rounds that he brought with them at his truck that he pulled right up to the curve, He's able to breeze through security because nobody's there to stop him. That's a national security risk. Homegrown terror, nonetheless, but it's a national security risk. These are the kinds of things that are at stake when the government shuts
down and nobody wants to take responsibility for what is happening. See, violence is not partisan. Whether or not a TSO gets
their paycheck is not partisan either. It shouldn't be, but it's becoming a partisan decision because Republicans are choosing to prefer their tax cuts for their donors over your safety and security at the airport, Over whether or not you get healthcare, over whether or not you can afford groceries, or you can even go to the grocery store, whether or not you can use that check to pay your rent, or pay your mortgage, or pay your child's tuition, or
pay for daycare, or pay for whatever you whatever bill, you have, your light bill, pay for gas. There are people right now who are struggling to pay for gas, and I want to go to one more experience. Maxwell Frost. Congressman Maxwell Frost went to Jacksonville's airport and heard from some AFTI workers. The American Federation of Government Employees also is the labor that protects TSA workers and other airport workers. Let's hear from them.
Hi.
My name is Chris Finley. I'm the local president for AFG five six.
Hi.
I'm Maxana Kelly. I'm women's coordinator for Local five five six, which represents federal workers here in Orlando area.
Hi.
I'm Joseph Gruber. I'm the first vice president of AFGE Local five five six.
Hi.
My name is Fathiana Finley. I am the Fair Practice Coordinator for AFTE Local five five six.
We represent federal employees at the Orlando Airport, Tampa, Jacksonville, pretty much central North Florida. My message to Congress is that the federal employees are tired of being a political pond for arguments. You guys can't settle on. It's time for you guys to come negotiate and do your job.
We are all being affected by the shutdown. My husband and I are both federal employees and we expected to come to work daily at one point. If the shutdown continues, we'll have no money for guests, but we still expect it to come to work, so we'll try to do our best, but the shutdown will have to end.
So and I would like to ask Congress if they could get their act together and stop using us as their bark. If we are expected to come to work and do our jobs, then you should also have to come to work and do your job.
My message to Congress is it's time for you to come to work and do what people elected.
You to do.
You need to stop playing with our livelihood because they'd affect us all.
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans shut down the government because they rather let the government shut down than make sure.
You have health care.
Why all to get billionaires a tax break. And during all of this, our federal workers are suffering, not receiving pay. Many of them expected to go to work or also get fired, but they won't be receiving that paycheck. So let's get together. Let's save healthcare, Let's reopen the government. Tell Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to get their assets to work.
Go to work, and do your job. There are so many people I'm often, you know, not partisan, maddic Democrats for not holding the line. They're doing what they're supposed to do in this moment. The compromise here is untenable. The compromise here would break the economy and break the American people on this issue, especially this issue. The Democrats
in the House and the Senate are right. They should The Republican Party should join them in the House chamber, should join them in the Senate chamber and do the right thing. Make sure that premiums don't go up. People cannot afford this, especially people in your districts for the House, especially people in your states in the Senate, the Republicans who represent the South, Like, are y'all for real? This isn't even this isn't even a question. It's not a debatable point.
I do want to.
Clear up one thing. I mentioned that the AFT folks represented workers federal workers at the Jacksonville Airport. They also represent Orlando in Tampa as well in that video. And I want to close with this. There are all of these people being impacted, but one place where we have historically been able to all come together and agree is
when it's in the best interest of children. And there is a program that is run by the federal government in partnership with the States called WICK Right Women Infinite in Children's Program. This program helps to make food for babies more affordable, more accessible. WICK is also on the line. Let's roll this clip.
So this is for y'all that don't know how much baby milk actually costs and why we need the WI program, which is set to be the funding is.
Set to be cut off next.
Month, just one of these linking days.
Crisis, y'all.
Forty four dollars. This is how much. And do you guys know how long it takes to go through a can of this? Look at this little can. And certain ladies need specific types of milk. This is sixty one dollars for one container. Fifty two dollars, you guys, sixty dollars. This is why we need the with programs. You guys there is no way possible that these women are going to be able to afford this milk.
And here's what we know. In addition to the Women, Infants, and Children's program which will be cut off, SNAP benefits right, SNAP benefits, what people commonly referred to as food stamps, are slated to be cut at the beginning of November, So people who rely on these benefits to feed their families will be cut off the beginning of the same month as Thanksgiving. So I want you to tap into your compassion for those of you who are impacted already. I want you to tap into your courage to tell
your story. We want to hear from you. We want to make sure we're lifting these stories up and holding them in front of the faces of the members of Congress who are refusing to act. And we also need to make sure they get to the President of the United States because while SNAP benefits are about to be cut next month, just next week, really just in ten days, as wick prices are soaring and is getting ready to
be right on the crosshairs as well. In the crosshairs as well as TSA workers continue to go to work not being paid as healthcare premiums rise, Donald Trump is tearing down the entire East wing of the White House and paying for a new ballroom. While all of these things that help people make ends me. The poorest among us, those who are in the cross here is the most those who perform basic services in our community to make
sure that we're good. Those are the people who he's putting in the crosshairs as Christy Noem gets two new planes, right Like, Let's be very clear. You think Donald Trump is going to going to work not getting paid. Let's be very clear about what this is. So please tell your stories. Please let us know how this shutdown is impacting you. Please let us know your fears, your concerns, questions you want us to address. We have so much
to talk about on this show. But most of all, y'all, we don't ever leave a show without a call to action. I urge you to call. I urge you to record that video. I urge you to keep the heat on these folks so they understand what is on the line. We are all we've got. And for those of you who are in communities who are particularly impacted by this shutdown, I ask you to please not turn a blind eye
to your neighbor. Let's lean into support because truly, we are always got and that is what the American way should be. It isn't always what it's been, but that is what it should be. Let's show each other the best of each other, Let's hold each other down during the shutdown, and let's figure out a way to get to the other side of it. Welcome home, y'all, I'll see you on Thursday. Native Lampod is a production of
iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.