I'm Josh Hammer and this is the Josh Hammer Show. Hope you had a great weekend, and welcome back to what is surely going to be yet another chaotic news week, Because if there's any other option in these days, is if there is any alternative to adjust a totally helter skelter news cycle, and if item on repeat on any given day ending and why certainly Monday, January twelfth, this
is no exception to that. The big story that we are tracking, and there are numerous of them, We're s certainly still paying attention to the fallout of the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week. When it comes to these anti ice uprisings now that are happening not just any twin cities, but out in the nexus and ground zero of the Antifa movement that is Portland, Oregon. Perhaps come into a city near you, we shall see.
We're keeping our eyes on that and other stories. But the number one story today is all of the protests, all of the uprisings, all of the general uproar over in Iran to wit. To be clear, this is among the most serious uprisings by the Iranian people since this horrific theocratic Islamist regime came into power four and a half plus decades ago. It is at least at least the biggest uprising since two thousand and nine, the so
called Green Revolution. The thing about the Iranian people is there's there's so much to say about it, but this terrible regime in Iran, and they are the number of the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, which you've probably heard many times, and it happens to be true. They sponsored terrorist oranizations all throughout the world, not just in the Middle East when it comes to Hasbolah, the Huthis and all these various other Shiites and times even
Sunni islam proxies. They also fund jihad all across the world. Iran was behind the bombing in Buenos Aires and the mid nineteen nineties at the Jewish enter that killed nearly one hundred people. They tried to pull up the Saudi ambassador to the United States and Washington, d C. In twenty twelve. They are behind one hundreds and hundred of US armed service members debts via ied roadside bombs back during the Iran or the Iraq counter insurgency. So it
is a horrific, horrific regime. But one of the things that has always let off the page, being one of the most important details here when it comes to the debates and controversy over the Iranian future, is that this regime is a terrible, terrible fit for the Iranian people. Iran, prior to the Islamist takeover in nineteen seventy nine was
a generally secular state. Now it is the spiritual home of Shiite Islam, which is a minority sect of Islam when you look at global Islam, Sunni Islam being spiritually based there in Saudi Arabia. But Iran prior to nineteen seventy nine was not exactly a Jeffersonian democracy, was not exactly a Montescovian tripartite separation of powers. You know, federalist papers, James Madison Federals fifty one, ambition must be made to counter emission. No, no, no, no, I mean, that's not what
was happening. It was very much pretty authoritarian and pretty jack Boots like, but it was still generally Western Ish aligned at the time. The pre Islamist Iranian Shah government had generally sound relations with Israel, with the United States and with large parts of the West. So in the past four and a half decades, every swapten you have an uprising, whether it's whether it's over economic conditions, that's
actually what sparks this current uprising. Sometimes you have an uprising when it comes to the insane Islamist dress code, in other words, the he job in the burka. That's what we saw a few years ago in the summer turned into autumn of twenty twenty two, where there were national protests and lots of women burning their he job, burning their burkas, some of them and up being tragically incarcerated and indeed outright executed by the regime for the
defiance of the Islamist dress code. It seemingly is a different thing all the time. And when you listen to the chants of the running people, the number one thing that you hear throughout all these videos, all these images, you hear a lot of them say, care about us, care about your people, the Iranian people, Stop spending money on all these terrorist proxies overseas. Stop shipping money to Hesbala or Tobashar al san Syria back before he was
dethroned by al Shara. In the current Sunni government there in Damascus, focus on the Iranian people. There's a tremendous water shortage in Iran. It's been a massive drought. The currency is inflating to the point where it is now approaching near hyperinflation levels. Oil petroleum, which is the number one industry there, or at least in theory it should be, is being heavily sanctioned due to all of their support
for terrorism. The Iranian people deserve better than this government, and fundamentally is in the United States of America's interest that this regime go the way of the Dodo Bird. As we've explained many times that that does not mean that it is the role of the United States to send in the hundred first Airborne and in Team America world police style start to liberate Tehran, to liberate all of Iran in the name of the Rainbow flag or Globo Homo or any of these other things, or frankly
even deliberated in the name of Jeffersonian Madisonian democracy. No, that's not our role, but is absolutely our role. It is absolutely our role to support the Iranian people. Now, President Trump, very very interestingly, just this past weekend started to admit that his previous announced red line when it comes to the Iranian regime cracking down and indeed annihilating and just massacring dissidents, he started to renounce to this read his red line either it's getting really close to
being crossed or has actually been crossed. Now, the numbers are very very difficult to get a firm, reliable estmen of because last week is what Iran does when they start cracking down and shooting people. They turned off all the phone lines, They turned off all the internet in the entire country. So very very difficult to start to
get reliable numbers. We know from a US based group called the Human Rights Activists in Iran, they estimate that at least four hundred ninety six protesters have been killed. I've seen some images of mass body bags outside the hospitals there. At least one Eyewinness reporter was able to
get through an anonymous source. Again, you can't give your name or else you will be executed, so that when she had to go to the hospital because of her injuries there that said, you just saw piles and piles and piles of dead bodies, body bags. The estimates that I've seen so the unofficial ones that I've seen some others report as well, including Mike Duran of the Hudson Institute, who was very well versed in will source in these matters.
The estimate that that I've been getting is upwards potentially two thousand upwards are potentially two thousand running distance will been slaughtered. Thus far, at least forty eight Iranian security ier GC or regime jack boots. They have been killed as well, at at least ten six hundred people have been arrested. It's just chaos. It's absolute chaos. Iran International which is an international TV organization that essentially tried to speak on behalf of the Iranian diaspora of those who
oppose this terrible Islamist regime. Roan International reporting that despite the blackout inside of Roan, it can confirm that just last night that just on Sunday evening, Iranians in more than twenty provinces went to the streets. This is all in response to the calls to action from the exiled
Crown Prince. So prior to the Islamist theocracy taking over for nineteen seventy nine, it was ruled by the shot and it is the exiled Crown Prince raised a Palafi who has been living in Maryland in the United States for most of his adult life. There he has really been egging on a lot of this from Afar, calling for Iranians to take to the streets. The most important thing that you must understand about this is the following
when the Iranian people go to the streets. And I've seen estimates that a million to two million different Iranians have taken to the streets over the course of these past now two and a half veering on three weeks. They are a million to two million Iranians, many of
whom have actually engaged in firefights with the Iranian security forces. Folks, not to put too fine a point on it, but the men who signed the Declaration Independence in seventeen seventy six, I'm not comparing a run to the United States in anyway. I'm just saying that the men back then when they signed that declaration, they knew that they were putting it
all on the line. They offered their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor to use the precise verbiage of Jefferson's declaration in seventeen seventy six, they knew that if the Red Coats, if King George the Third, then if they were to find them, they would be dead. Bringing out the gallows, they will be dead. That's the exact same situation for the Iranan people. They are putting it
all in the line, all in the line. So there's been a lot of folks on the hard isolationists left and right who've been trying to say this is all WHI in dupisteria. It's a neocn syop. It's a masad Zionas syop, to which I say, screw you, screw you and the horse that you came in on the runing. People are literally risking their lives to try to end this cancer that is afflicted not just the Middle East but the entire world for four and a half decades. And you have the hutzpa to call this a syop.
What is wrong with you?
Now?
What exactly? Again, American voment looks like there. Well, Donald Trump did issue something of a red line, and he's starting to acknowledge here that this red line might have been crossed. Again, I'm not saying I personally would not have advised him to actually make the red line threat. By the way, in my aview stationmships should be carried out more secretly, clandestinely. But he did offer something of
a red line for what it's worth there. So in any event, here was Donald Tromp on Air Force One over the weekend speaking on situation in Iran.
This seemed to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be kill. These are violent, if you call them leaders, I don't know if their leaders are just they ruled through violence. But we're looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options. We'll make a determination. But some of the protesters were killed through the stampeding. I mean, you know, there's so many of them, and so we're shot. Are
we getting a full report? I'm getting an hourly report, and we're going to make a determination.
So Trump was indeed briefed on possible military options over the weekend. Apparently he is being briefed again tomorrow. That will be Tuesday the thirteenth. Again. Iran International who reported earlier that these uprightings are happening at least twenty proncs throughout the country. They also are the ones who are corroborating the more than two thousand people indeed have been
killed amidst the crackdown. Mike Duran of Hudson Institute, the think tanker, who is very well sourced from a running distance there. I mentioned him earlier. He was tweeting over the weekend. He said that telegram channels are circulating horrific videos from Iran showing rows of bodies and makeshift and more facilities. Again, folks, this is a slaughter. It is an absolute slaughter. What's happening in Ron. I would not recommend that Donald Trump make the red line threat, but
he did. He said numerous times that if the regime starts massacring as people, then the United States will get involved. I hate to say, if that's exactly what's happening, something's going to have to happen. This is why you should be cautious about making redline threats, because when you do it and then they actually call your bluff, you can't let them bluff. You have to act. What exactly that
looks like in practice? Well, we will have some thoughts for you on the other side of this commercial break. Josh Hammer hosting here the Josh Hammer Show on Salem News Channel. On Newsweek's YouTube page. You neverwhere that you get your podcasts. Hope you had a great weekend, folks. Again, there's so much to get to in the news. On the other side of this break, we'll talk about possible options for Donald Trump in Iran and lots of other stories to get to. I'm Josh or Stable us of
the break. We'll be right back. Welcome back. So if you believe any sense of the numbers that we're getting here, it seems that Donald Trump does have to act again. We can have the date over whether or not it's good to issue redline threats in the first place. I'm pretty skeptical of them for this very reason. But if they call your bluff, you gotta act. So what does that look like? At a bare minimum, At a bare minimum, some serious cyber attacks seem to be a very good idea.
As our guest Rich Goldberg was talking about this past week, tried to get at the Iranian Central Bank think about the stucksnet virus. This virus to make some of the Iran and nuclear reactors basically have a mini meltown of sorts. It was largely viewed as being done by Israel. During the aubamministration about fifteen years ago, give her a take.
And also at this point, again, since you've offered the redline already, you probably ought to strongly consider additional military action as well, whether it's against Iran's and nuclear facilities, against their ballistic missile programs. There at this point, if the Ayatola can be reliably found, and that's very difficult to use and done, but if you can get a clean shot of the Ayatola come iny while the regime is on the brink like this, you probably take that shot.
At this point. That's not something that I say lightly. Again, when it comes to toppling a regime, whether it's from the Iranian people or potentially with assistance from Donald Trump given his red line, you never know what's going to happen next. This is why America has a very sordid history when it comes to regime change, including in the Middle East, but Iranie it really is in many ways fundamentally different. Given this infamous mismatch between the Islamist regime
and the historically more Western minded Iranian people. It's an America's interest that this horrific, horrific regime fall, and at this point, Donald Trump's I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. His hands to an extent definitely are tied. We'll see exactly what it looks like, but definitely we're paying attention to this on an hour by hour basis. Donald Trump will be briefed tomorrow again on the latest
in case he has not already acted by them. Meanwhile, any Semitism tragically continues just to be a genuine scourge, a genuine scourge all across the American political spectrum, in all across American life. There were a couple of events over the past few days that we probably ought to discuss. The first episode happened in Queens, in Queens, New York, the home borough of President Donald J. Trump, And this
happens this past Thursday evening. Now, the notion that there was going to be a protest outside of a yeshiva, which is a religious Jewish education in Queens. The notion that there's going to be a protest outside this synagogue yeshiva was actually telegraphed. It was known very well in advance that there was going to be this horrific protest from a lot of rabid Hama supporting freaks. And sure enough,
that's actually exactly what happened. A group called Palestinian Assembly for Liberation organized this rally outside Young Israel, which is a fairly prominent Orthodox synagogue. They're in the Borough of Creems, and these so called protesters gathered and among other things that they started chanting, they said, we support Hamas here,
we support Tamas here. Hmm. Maybe, just maybe, if you are going to a synagogue where there are Jews and you are trying to prevent their entrance into the house of worship in clear defiance of the Face Act, the Clinton era statute from nine ninety four that criminalized at a federal level, efforts to do exactly that the bidodminstruation weaponize a statue to prosecute pro life grannies praying outside abortion clinics. What it actually meant, the Face Acts was
to prevent this. We saw a very similar thing, by the way, in Los Angeles in the summer of twenty twenty four, where he had quote unquote Palastinian protesters aka pro g Ghati kafia clad freaks preventing Jews from going into house worship. Literally, why the Face Act was written. So they're here in Queens this this past Thursday and Zormamdanni took about twenty four hours to respond and then finally finally press for comby Plitigo on Frea f Nune says, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that was the word wrong choice. I saw some headline that New York City Jewish leaders are now concerned by Zormandanni. Oh yeah, now that the guy who literally couldn't condemn globalizing defodiph for his life. Now you're concerned, Really, what is wrong with you?
You know?
I did an event in New York, speaking of New York a couple of years ago, with Michael moynihan, a very funny libertarian of the Fifth Column podcast, and a not particularly funny woman by the name of Katherine Rample. Katherine Rampole is kind of the worst stereotype of what a liberal Jewish political commentator might might think like and what she how she might approach the world. So Kathy Rample was on ms now, the rebranded MSNBC, and had
a very on point, steritable comments. Here was Kathy Rample on ms now.
We don't know what the motive is, we should say, I mean, I know what it looks like certainly, and as a Jewish person myself, you know, I can use my imagination for what might have gone on here. I think one of the scariest things is that, like if this was a hate crime, as it certainly looks to be, we don't necessarily know which side the hate crime came from.
Which is a new thing. Right, you know, we're as Jews you're used to in this country fielding some hatred from the far right, but we're seeing some of it from the far left as well, and it can feel very lonely, like you don't really have a lot of allies who who care about keeping you safe. So it's upsetting.
Okay, So rample there. And I'm as now talking about the other of two terrible antisemitic incidents that's happened in
the Nine States in recent days. I actually just learned about this other one on a Sunday apparently in the early, very early pre dawn hours on Saturday morning aka Shabat the Jewish Sabbath in Jackson, Mississippi, the capitol and largest city in Mississippi in the Magnolia States, the largest synagogue of the entire state, Beth Israel, which has which has a bit of a history actually of these sort of things.
In fact, in nineteen sixty seven, the synagogue was also torched in an act of arson by the ku Klux Klan, given the rabbi's outspoken support of civil rights at the time. So yet again there was there was a horrific arsen attack in Jack's, Mississippi at the largest synagogue in the
entire state. Many holy books, tourist scrolls, so the Jews Holy Book, the Torah, the Bible, many of them tragically burned, although interestingly, there was one tourist scroll that actually survived the Holocaust, that was actually in a glass safe that managed to survive unscathed. Make of that what you will, but multiple, multiple terrible acts of anti Semitism happening in
the United States over over the past few days. Now, Zoria and Mam Donnie, Zora and Mamdanni for what it's worth, as I mentioned, kind of sort of condemned what happened in Queen's own backyard. Took it too him a very long time to do. So lets let's go ahead and watch this. This here was Zormam Donnie. This could be brought to us courtesy of art.
What do you think of those protests? What do you think of those protesters that said we support hamas here in Queen.
I think that that language is wrong. I think that language has no place in New York City. Okay, so again your words mean nothing, mister mayor like literally nothing.
Like dude literally spent half of his first day as mayor on New Year's Day, after getting sworn in, you know, after that whole bone chilling or wheeling in the frigidity of individualism and the warmth of collectivism, after that horrific speech, he signed his slew of executive orders, multiple of them literally multiple targeted at the Jewish community when it comes to trying to strip additional anti antisemitism protections there. So I mean, Zormam, Donnie, you can you can take your
faux concern. You can shove it where the sun don't shine, because you are full of some of the largest crap in this entire Western hemisphere. But it actually was not just Zoram, Memdannie. Interestingly, over the weekend, it's not lost many of us that tons of prominent Democrats Tiss James, Alexandroo, Cosio Cortez, Chuck Schumer, Kathy Hockel, Kristen gillibrand Ma'm donnie.
As I mentioned there, centator Jackie Roseen and many others had deeply clearly coordinated messaging when it comes to condemning the Hamas so called protests in Queens. Alexandro Cosio Chords has, for instance, the girl who literally in her first year as Congress back in twenty nineteen, had the hutzba to compare ice detention centers to concentration camps. Yeah, that girl, the girl who has literally no selftwares whatsoever when it
comes to Jewish related issues. She said this quote. Hey, so marching into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and leading with a chance saying we support Hamas is a disgusting ninety sement to do. Pretty basic. So what is this? I mean, what are the Democrats doing here? Again? This is so clearly coronated Tiss James Hamasa terrorist organization. We do not support terrorists, Chuck Schumer. Let's be clear, Hamas terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Jews. Blah blah blah blah.
Obviously that's correct, But what is the motive? What are Democrats getting out here? Why are they now only now season on what happens at the Queen's synagogue this past week in New York City. What is the goal? Well, I think I have a pretty idea of what they're getting out here. I'll explain on the other side of this break. I'm Josh Hammer. Stay with us, we'll be right back.
Welcome back. So before the break, you're talking about this clearly coronated messaging by prominent elected Democrats of the weekend where they're all condemning, condemning to the nines, condemning as loud as you can possibly shout these horrific pro hamas protesters trying to disrupt Jews in violation of the Face Act potentially of ninet ninety four of actually entering a house of warship. By the way, the event was apparently not even a religious event. It was an event about
possibly buying real estate in Israel. I'm pretty sure that you're allowed to buy real estate in foreign countries if you're an American there, And in fact, Tucker Carlson might know a thing or two about that, given the fact that fairly recently at the Doha Forum he told the amer Qatar that he was going to try to buy some property in Doha, Qatar. Why, asked Tucker, Because I'm an American and that's my right. Okay, so it's your right, but it's not the Jews rights by property as well.
I mean to get that out of here. It's also stupid. But why are the Democrats doing this? Why are they now all coronating on their secret slack channels or their secret WhatsApp bat's chats, whatever it is there. Why are they coordinating? To me, the answer is obvious. They smell blood. They smell blood because they look. They look at the other side. They look at the right, and they see that the right is trying to fight off a lot
of demons at this time. They see that Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly had a grand yucket Up podcast conversation this past week where they lavished praise upon Holocaust denying freak self emitted fan of Hitler and Stall and Nick Fuents. Maybe they saw that Tuger Carls himself, unfortunately, was actually
at the White House this past Friday. I don't know who invited him, but he was at that lunch with Donald Trump and the various American oil executives, the CEOs, big dogs about energy and oil extraction in Venezuela, and in a post Maduro world. So the left, which has never ever exert a single muscle trying to condemn jew hatred, trying to rein in their anti Western civilization, pro Islamist shock troop grassroots. They've done nothing. Now they're pouncing on
this because they see an opportunity. They smell blood. They're trying to get donor money. But that donor money is from Jews or from file Semitic Christians, Christian Zionist, etc. They want their donor money. It's a midterm yar and Democrats want the house back, want the center back. That's all this is about. But if I'm right, and I'm pretty sure i am, then that really should raise some
obvious questions. Namely, if you are not condemning the rots on the right, and you're on the right, then what exactly are you doing? Holding morality aside for a second there, holding morality and basic human deity aside. This is what you are a betting. You are a betting Democrats making a cynical, wholly and persuasive and deeply cynical attempt to try to get voters and get donors back to their side, the very voters and donors who maybe maybe maybe might
have been inclined to continue their right word step. I mean Kathin Rample, who were playing before the break on MS NOW talking about how apparently she's just just waking up to left through any semintism. Where have you been? Where have you been? Are you kidding me? This really
starting ernest under Barack Obama. It totally went to the next level during the by administration, in the post October seven, twenty twenty three world in particular, But a lot of this starts with Barack Obama, the first leftist ideolog the first intellectual left wing creature of the American Academy, a post Frankfurt School, post cultural Marxism takeover of the Academy presidents. It really started back then during the Obama minstration. The left has been losing the plot on this for a
very very, very long time. Don't give them any ability, even if it's a wholy unpersuasive one, to try to claim the moral high ground. Don't allow it to happen, Folks. You have to police your own side. We don't enjoy it, but we have to do it because only when the right is not flirting with Nazis and Nazi of betters only when they are all shunted aside, can this be
a politically viable movement? You know, in many ways, much of this so called wolk right stuff, I don't particularly love that name, but it's really the label that stuck. So it is what it is. A lot of this so called wolk right stuff, as a friend put to me recently, is really the rights version of defund the police. You might think it's edgy, you might think it's scratches, a transgressive itch. You might feel cool about yourself texting your group chats. Oh the JQ if you don't know,
the JQ is good for you. That's short for the Jewish question, a phrase that was very popular in Nazierra. A journey. I might ed you and I think it's cool to be doing this stuff is political poison for the American people. And congratuate freakinglations. You have now allowed Alexandro Kasio Cortes, Chuck Schumer tiss, James Kathy Hokeel, and the rest of the Democrat clambrigate to putatively purportedly condemned Hamas.
And you're gonna have some people that might scamper back to their side because apparently they think incorrectly, but they still think that maybe, just maybe the Dems the side that is actually capable of condemning any Semitism. Again, it's not true, it's absolutely not true. But why in the world would you let them play that game? It just
makes no sense whatsoever. By the way, in related news, some large media waves happening just this past week as well when it comes to US Israel relations related to what we were just talking about. There so an interview that came out with The Economist, the well known British economic and political journal. It came out just this past Friday.
Prim Miss Natanyahu said that during his recent trip to marrow Lago to meet with President Donald Trump, the topic of US foreign aid to Israel came up in conversation, and apparently in this interview with the Economist, Nattinnahu said that during his trip to mar Lago and Netziaho apparently told Trump that Israel quote very deeply appreciates the military aid that America has given over the years, but we've come of age, meaning Israel's come of age, and we've
developed incredible capacity and their economy which will reach certainly certainly within a decade, will reach about a trillion dollars. It's not a huge economy, it's not a small economy. So I want to taper off military aid within the next ten years. So Natiyaho apparently announcing formally. He's hinted this many times, but apparently this is his first formal announcement that he contends to wean Israel off American foreign aid, to which I just clap my hands and say, bravo.
I've only been calling for this month for my entire adult lifetime. I've been saying this for well over a decade since I first started forming political opinions. When it comes to foreign affairs, it should be fairly obvious. It should be fairly obvious that although it is a short term boost, a short term boost for both for both countries. By the way, you know this, This three to four billion dollars an hour nual aid of the US gust Israelis, by the way, is a total drop in the bucket
of the budget. It's a total nothing burger in the budget. Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, but foreign a in general is a very small amount of the budget. But it should be pretty obvious that it ends up being a long term detriment for both countries. It's a short term boost for sure, the short term boost for the United States because that money virtually ends up all coming back to the United States. The money comes with strings attached and comes up coming back being
spent primarily on defense contractors, adding jobstca there. And then for Israel, it's obviously a boost because they get the money, they have weapons that are there. But in the long term it's harmful to both sides. It's harmful to the United States for two reasons. One because it ends up being something of an act of cronyism, of crony capitalism, to use a somewhat outmoded but nonetheless is still descriptive term.
It's crony capitalism where you then have tax payer dollars essentially padding the bottom line of defense contractors like Boeing and North of Grumming. And it it's also it's also just another expense, foreign aid, another expense. Is it a huge part of the budget, No, but it's definitely part of the budget For Israel, the long term costs comes slightly more subtly, at the very cost of their own independence.
At the very cost you might argue of Zionism itself, just the simple notion that the Jews should be sovereign in their ancestral homeland. For every hostile president like Joe Biden that you empower to try to say, oh, you can't do this, or else I'm going to take the aid away, you are undermining your own independence. If you are a true nationalist, and I am a nationalist, I believe in a world of independent nation states. I hate globalism,
hate it. If you're a nationalist, you should be deeply, deeply skeptical of all foreign aid arrangements, certainly including but not limited to US IS relate. I'm not saying cut it off overnight. But what I am saying is that this is a very very very good thing. The nets Yahoo is starting to come around to. I look forward to seeing some more in the way of details as to exactly what he means by this and how it's actually gonna be imprinted. I don't have all the answers there.
Hopefully we get more on that soon, but big, big news for now. Stay with us with the break, folks, I'm Josh Hammer. We'll be right back. Welcome back. As were saying before the break, foreign eight is not a huge part of the federal budget in general. Look, there are a lot of folks who obsess over the question of foreign eight. Many of them are obsessed with Jews. Some of them just are not. Foreign aid in general
is a tidy part of the federal budget. And it's true that Israel is the large recipient, Egypt is the second largest. I happen to be skeptic for what it's worth of all of it, for numerous reasons. One is again just just basic reasons of fiscal solvency. This country runs in trillion dollar deficits these days, seemingly year in
year out. That's not good. It is deeply immoral to try to enslave future generations, our children generation, in our children's children generation, to try to enslave them to the soft slavery and soft tyranny of indebtedness. It's immoral. It's deeply wrong. Also, when you start having these gargantuan deficits every year, mere interest rates on the debt will start to become one of, if not the single largest line item of the federal budget. It just doesn't make any sense.
So again, cutting foreign ad is not going to solve our fiscal woes, right, it's only going to have to happen when it comes to social security and medicare. We discussed a little bit with uvoll Levin that just this past week here on the show. These entilent programs are the things that are making America go bankrupt and unless than until those two things are solved, unfortunately, America is looking at a pretty serious fiscal cliff, probably within the
next six to ten years. But foreign aid, while a small portion of it, doesn't help, I mean should we certainly should still be trying to ferret out and to root out waste fraud abuse wherever we have it. And the notion of waste and abuse gets to the other issue with foreign aid. The other issue is that where you look at where this goes, Israel's not really a great example because they are a functioning democracy, but a lot of the other countries where American foreign aid goes
I mean the kleptocracy. I mean, take a random country in Africa or Asia or whatever. Do you think that your hard earned taxpayer dollars in foreign aate to that country is actually going to help the poor people of that country. You're actually going to help provide clothing and food and shelter for the folks in Sub Saharan Africa, for instance. Maybe you are to an extent, I mean, surely there are some instances where US foreign aid does
end up finding its intented recipients. Maybe there are sometimes even in the Russi of Ukraine war, this terrible war the past few years. MAYI there are sometimes where that foreign aid is indeed going to find its way to a family that has lost a young man who served as country and was gonne down by a Russian plane. Maybe it's going to provide shelter for elderly people, Holocaust survivors, whatever. Maybe, but it's more often than not going to end up
in the hands of well connected government bureaucrats. It will end up in the coffers of individuals organizations where it does not belong. Foreign eight is not a particularly good idea in the first place, in theory. In theory, it could be an interesting tool of very soft diplomacy. Emphasis is on theory because in practice it does end up being of dubious efficacy at best and profoundly count productive at worse. So I have at a long time skeptic
of foreign aid. On the specific question of USA to Israel, which is basically basically the entire reason that the organization A pack exists to get this massive a package every year. I have been shouting into the ABYSS for again for over a decade, saying, not a great idea, frankly for either country. Can we find a way to wind this down. In fact, in my book Over my Shoulder, Israel and Civilization, I called for exactly this, for this bilateral aid arrangement
to be bound down. The problem has been twofold. The problem has been American defense contractors. There's reason. There's a reason, for instance, that politicians like Lindsey Graham have historically been among the largest boosters of this annual aid package because his state, South Carolina is home to massive, massive defense
contract or infrastructure. So that's been the one hindrance. The other hindrance has been on the Israeli side, and they're feeling like they just can't do it, They just can't separate from the teat of their outlly and be independent.
But they really ought to, They really ought to, and defense contractors frankly don't need any more taxpayer largest so very so frankly, when it comes to the four and a conversation, and we will certainly continue to keep tabs on it as we learn more over the next few weeks, next few months, and so forth. One final story that I did want touch on before the end of today's show.
So just yesterday we learned that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Chairman Jerome Palell aka Jerry Pal as he is typically known Jerry Pal, saying that the DOJ under turning General Pam Bondi, has served the Federal Reserve with subpoenas and has apparently threatened it with a criminal indictment.
This was over Chairman Pal's testimony this past summer. So this great big ballroom in the eastern of the White House is not the only major renovation, only major act of construction happening near the National Mall in Washington State. The Federal Reserve, which very prominently sits there right on the National Mall as well. The Federal Reserve is having huge,
huge renovations to their building as well. I actually was just in DC about a month ago for the White House Honka Party, and I saw some of as myself firsthand, just walking around the town with my wife, and apparently the allegation here The subpoenas relate to Cheerum Powell's testimony this in June this past June before the Senate Banking Committee, where Cheerum Palell said regarding the Fed's two and a half billion dollar renovation of two office buildings that he
basically criticized this as excessive. So apparently now they're potentially indicting him. I don't, to be honest if you do exactly know exactly what this would look like when it comes to in Diamond there. I presume that it would be perjury or something close to perjury. But you know, frankly, I mean, maybe not the best use of the administration's capacities. At this time. I saw Center Roger Marshall of Kansas alerts they saying something very similar. Again, if he purge himself,
that's then he purn himself. I mean, I happened to think perjury is terrible. I think that Jim Comey all but as surely persua himself. In twenty twenty one, within the five year statute limitations, we'll see if that Comy indictment can possibly be resuscraated after a judge threw it out. The dj is currently appealing that dismissal. We'll keep tabs in very close for you here on the Josh Hammer Show. When it comes to Jerry Pale again, if he purged himself,
she prosecuted. If not, then they should be prosecuted. But the relevant point to me is more about the response. I care less about the actual indictment than the response, which is very talent. In response, Jerry Palell immediately went full Federal Reserve independence. He said, quote, the threat of criminal charge a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president.
He's getting here at this point that the FED is independent. How many times we heard this? The FED is independent. It's an independent central bank. It's not part of the executive branch, it's not part of Congress. And I saw some other Republican elected officials. I saw Tom Tillis of North Carolina, who's about as useless a member of the Republican Caucus and the Senate as it gets. Tom Tillis echoing the exact same talking points. The independent in central
bank there, this threatens the independence. Till Us actually went way further than Roger Marshall. Till Us apparently said that he is actually now going to hold up all of his own votes for Donald Trump's Federal Reserve Board of Governors, apparently unless until this subpoena, this indictment whatever it is, of Jerry Palell is dropped, which is totally ludicrous, folks. The relevant point is this, there's no such thing as an independent agency. Ah, it means you want to pull
my hair out? How many times must be remind all of the would be armchair constitutional scholars of this most rudimentary point. Now there is a case pendem from the Spreme Court right now, Trump versus Slaughter. It's not about the FED. It's about the FTC, the Felt Trade Commission. By the constitutionality or lack thereof, of a so called independent agency will that applied to the FED when they
rule on it. It's expected that the Slaughter case is going to probably rule against independ agencies as it should, as it definitely should. The ES Central Bank historically has been viewed as something of an exception to the rule. ES central banks historically are given greater leeway for historical reason. They'll go back to the bank the United say's blah blah blah. I don't care. I do not care, folks. When it comes to structural constitutionalism, the following truism holds
the test of time. You're in an article on the Congress, you're in article to the Executive Branch, or you're in article three to the Judiciary. There's no fourth option. Door one, door two, door three, no door. Where's the FED? I don't know. It probably should be hard of the executive branch of the Congress, though, So enough of this garbage independent Federal Reserve talking point. I hate it. It means you want to pull my hero out. It's constitutional illiteracy.
One oh one is an indictment justified. I don't know. I'm not on the case. What I do know is that the independent FED rebuke is garbage, and it should stay garbage and should be dismissed easily by the Supreme Court in the Slaughter case. Hope you enjoyed, say show. We'll be right back tomorrow. I'm Josh Hammer. Have a good evening. The Josh Hamber Show is a member of the Trust Project