FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
The Jeff Poor Show - March 14, 2025
[MUSIC PLAYING] From Bucks Pocket to the shores of Orange Beach, at all points in between, an insider's perspective on Alabama politics. It's The Jeff Poor Show. I don't think Hank done it this way. [MUSIC PLAYING] Good morning. Welcome to the Jeff Poor Show. What a fun talk, 106-5. Happy Friday, Friday, Friday. It's finally Friday. Here on the program, coming up here shortly, Todd Stacey from Alabama, Daily News, are one of our Friday regulars. Also on the program, State Senator Chris Elliot in the 10 o'clock hour. And we're wrapping all up. We've got to cut out of here a half hour early for our retiree basketball. But we'll get my friend, Hunter Johnson, from time 100.9 in Tuscaloosa and talk some sports ball. Sorry to stick to the issues, crowd. It's just felt appropriate today to deviate from the usual plan. So that's coming up on the program. As always, you want to be in touch and be your show host. Text line, 251-343-01-06. So all you've got to do is shoot me a text and we'll respond to whatever it is that is on your mind. I think the big news is to cave from Schumer. People have been telling me that this was going to happen. Well, a couple of people, one of us, which we talked to earlier in the week from Breitbart, my colleague Bradley J. But there was no way the Democrats were going to let a shutdown happen and risk being blamed. It was a damn that they do, darn it, they don't or whatever. So Schumer comes out and since he's voted for it on MSNBC last night, and if he heard the stories about Christian Gillibrand, his new fellow New Yorker, she was angry that they weren't going to go full into full shutdown mode. Full shutdown mode. This is kind of, guys, I talked about this a lot over the last couple of years and kind of waiting for this moment to happen. I think you're seeing some real fractures in the Democratic Party. I mean, they just, they are very, very disciplined, and they stick together and they tend to, like, keep their dirty laundry behind closed doors. But I, I am trying to anticipate here, like, what is, what have we been waiting for here? And how can this hold together for so long? And not have had, like, an internal dust up, like the Republicans seem to be having a, like, a perpetual, chronic basis. I want you to see it in right now. Sorry, it distracted. So then they're showing highlights from a Asheville, North Carolina town hall. Congressman Chuck Edwards, I guess, is now in that seat. No, he's sure seat. Mark Meadows. And this is exactly what this is. Listen to me. If you're out there and you're a member of Congress and you're listening to this on podcast, or you're a staffer and you like to tune into this show, don't let your member do these town halls. Because it's nothing but orchestrated outrage. And the moment you do a town hall and the CNN camera shows up, you're going to be able to see it in, and they're just using you. They're just using you as a propaganda to create a perception that the country is just irate with Trump. Especially in that district. It's not, Asheville is a blue dot in a red district. It's a little bit bigger than a blue dot, but it's, I mean, that is a wildly hippie, grungy place, Asheville, North Carolina. And CNN sent their cameras up there and all it is, it's trying to get pictures of like angry people, angry left wingers to try to convince, at least it's convincing to five people watching CNN. President company included that there's trouble for Trump. There's choppy waters ahead. People don't like this and it's nothing but a, like a manufactured astroturft situation. I don't know, I don't think that they're paying protesters to go to this. I'm not going to go that far, but it's organized. And all you got to do in a congressional district of 600,000 people is find 40 or 50 left wing cooks and packed the room. It's not hard. You don't even have to have me from that district. You can just import them from outside the district. Because most people who are like generally happy with what's going on in the country at the federal level, aren't going to a town hall to express their gripes. Anyway, back to the CR. I expect to close your vote around two is what I'm told. It could go a little late. We could be even having a short shutdown. But what if you don't want to be told is these guys want to get back home to their districts and they don't want to hang out in Washington DC any longer than they have to. So Schumer is going to vote for cloture. The vote, it's the two cute by half. They're going to vote for cloture, but they're not going to vote for the bill, but it'll pass. So the governor's not going to shut down. I think a lot of the base probably wanted to see it shut down. And it's a breakthrough. Let's get text like 2513430106. Also, tariffs, we think the market is pricing in a little bit of risk here because it's not just the tariffs, but the Fed signaling, the labor market goes down. The Fed's not going to come in and cut rates. And it doesn't appear that Trump's going to throw a lifeline to the markets. But if you're watching this, it was kind of funny because three weeks ago, we were told all Trump cared about were his billionaire buddies. And now all he cares about is, I don't know what he cares about, but he's seeking the stock market, which you would think his billionaire buddies would be the ones who felt the brunt of that, what's it going to be? He's either helping his billionaire buddies or he's taking the stock market. See, I had contradictions and conflicting messages here about Trump critics. But that's something you hear from the Beltway media, but I feel like I'm just kind of batting down everything. The mainstream media, I've been saying a few things here at the state level, state education superintendent Eric Mackie, you go love this guys, just out of nowhere. There's a proposal, I guess you're going to hold it over until next month that would raise Mackie's salary, 55%, the salary, the under this proposal would go, it would increase by $135,000 a year. There we go from, but right now he's making 245,000 a year to 380. And that sounds like the light, it is a lot, but the deal is there's two superintendents, Mobile County public schools, Fred Gill makes three, they're 65, a year and Eddie Tyler here, a ball academy shooter, $15,000 a year. So what my understanding was, as far as his salary goes, he wanted to be the highest earning superintendent than the superintendents, some local schools, but whatever do you think he's earning a 55% raise. And so there's, there's eight members of the state school board and there's four conservatives and kind of four and three left-leaning Democrat-ish kind of types, and then there's KIV, or there's seven, each congressional district that he's throwing the governor gives you eight. So the states, it just seems like a, I know, I know times are different now with the value of the dollar, but wow, going up $135,000 a raise for a public employee seems a little, a little much also, 18, 19 news.com, we had the story here. There's a protest in Mobile, yes, over the weekend and it was a pseudo Black Lives Matter protest. They're protesting Donald Trump and Elon Musk. What a, what a novel idea, not much of that going on now, is there so many titties are chanting all lives matter instead of Black Lives Matter and this, or one of the organizing groups put a message out of Facebook saying, Hey, if you say all lives matter, we're gonna ask you not to participate in our protest because all lives matter is a, is a, is offensive. And finally, I kind of stumbled on this and, and before we get to the break here, Pike Road Schools, school, newest school system outside of Montgomery, one of these DEI kind of art project kind of initiatives meant to make us really think hard about civil rights. Well, apparently one of these, there was a, was a young artist is a junior high school where they're making them draw, or they're doing art, I don't know how many were participating, but one of these, artist in training drew a picture of a, a five hood, a Clue Clutch Clan members for this art project, which is, you know, this happened, regrettably it's part of Alabama's history. And I guess this school system posted a bunch of this art on social media. And somebody said, Hey, why is the school system? Why is the Pike Road school system? Posting pictures of hooded KKK members, what's going on here? And they related it and apologized for such a depiction. I have questions about the whole idea of this project to start with, but seems a little, little touchy. Anyway, we talk about that more two, five, one, three, four, three, zero, one, zero, six, as I stepped out of that Cadillac. I said, Mr. Many thanks. He said, you don't have to call me, Mr. Mr. Hold on. Call me. Hi. You said, can you make welcome back to the Jeff four showed up and talk about oh, six five. Thank you for sticking with us on this Friday morning. Two five one three, four three zero one zero six. Todd Stacey, I have every daily news up in the next segment. Lee Todd's got a governor Ivy on this show this evening. I asked this question to some of my friends in the know of kivc's her shadow on the set of Capitol journal. Does that mean there's only six more weeks until signing die on the legislative session? Two five one three four three zero one zero six. What do we got here? Mr. Plot. Sorry, Jeff. Haven't been watching TV. About the 10. Let's see. Let's see with regard to the CR. What about the 10 that voted for the cane man sitcher? Oh, well, so Mr. plot the CR is already passed in the house. And it's now the house has gone home. They've adjourned. They're on their recess and it has to be approved by the Senate, which is kind of smart on the house's part. If you heard very more yesterday, talked about this, they gabbled out and the forces to set it to take it or leave it with what the house has done. Because they're not going to like pass their own budget and then force off order 35 house members to fly back to DC and vote on something else. Are they textured? There's no contradictions or conflicting messages about Trump. The common denominator is they are going to throw anything and everything in him to find out what sticks, but as of late Trump is tough, flawed and nothing sticks. No, there are contradicting messages in the media. I'm sorry. You're wrong. Okay. And they tell us one day that all Trump cares about his billionaires. And then a few days later, they tell us that Trump just wants to take the stock market. Then that is a contradiction. Okay. I'm sorry. That's what is a contradiction. Go look it up in the dictionary. Don't question me on this stuff. Leave it to me. I'll guide you home. I'm not going to do you wrong, at least not intentionally. Michael, the new Trump line is he's just trying to help his billionaire buddies who are shorting the market. Also, is anyone able to get into age with here, talk to him about being the next senator. It will be awesome to have him in the Senate for the next 18 to 24 years. He just sounds like he doesn't want to do it. But look, here's the theory. And I don't know. I mean, I talked to age worth every now and then, but I don't know that this is part of his calculus, but this could be what he's doing. And I got taught more about that in just a moment too. If AIDS or shows any reluctance about running for governor against Tuberville, it's just going to make Tuberville more emboldened to pull the trigger here and run for governor. Age work wants to be governor more than he wants to be senator. So at this stage, and it's very, very early, Mike, he's got, I think age was doing what he's needs to do if he wants to be governor. And Sam Command, he is a state senator from North Alabama. He was all with Dale Jackson yesterday morning. He said, look, what if this happens? And this is what we really need to think about. And I don't know the answer to this question. What if Tuberville runs and he clears the field? clears the deck. No one else has got to run against him because they don't think that they can beat him. And then a court decides that he doesn't have the eligibility to be governor. The rules for being governor and senator are different. You can live in the state one day and run for Senate as governor. You have to be here for have been here for seven years. And that's that's something that could be challenged, I would think, potentially. And then what if we get past qualifying Tuberville's ruled an eligible to run and he wind up with Dean Odo or something? What happens then? It's got to be really vigilant here, I think, about where this hits, but it's nice. It's very early. Well, be right back. This is have a talk about 6 5. You come again. Just what I'm about to make it work without you. You live into my eyes and lie those pretty nights. And pretty soon I'm wondering how I gave you a dark gift. I will show you a dark one oh six five. Thanks for staying with us on this Friday morning. Text line, 2513430106. You need to be in touch with me. Your show host. All you got to do is text me. I believe we got him on the line. Join us now our good friend cap from Capitol Journal. You can watch that tonight. But usually it was a since the third session. What session reserves next week. It's on on a nightly basis. But also he is the publisher of Alabama Daily News. Todd Stacey is with us Todd. Good morning, are you? How are you doing? Well, dude. Well, how's your week off? Not hard. It's been a little slower with the legislature out. They catch up on the few things, but we do have a Capitol Journal episode tonight as you mentioned. And so it is what you know as reporters and everybody that follows the legislature. A little time to catch up on other business and everything. So no complaint here, but they'll be back next week. And I'm sure they'll be ready to go. Before we get into the exciting, the excitement of politics. How you feel about the game here in a little while? I mean, good. Obviously all in the season in a disappointing way with two losses, but sometimes wake up calls are needed. And so, you know, it's I would like to see him not just at least a couple of tournament wins before the big that. But, you know, I feel pretty good about the feeding. And I'm really more worried about telling the players and kind of their their psychological state going into the tournament. You just never know. Last year was obviously pretty disappointing. You're getting bounced in the first round. So hopefully we're ready to go. It sounds like they are. Yeah, just it felt like maybe making that run into conference tournament and then there was a let down after that. But I, you know, one thing you say about that, that hopefully they learn from that experience. We'll get right into it. I am going to have my correct to assume you have Governor Ivy tonight on your program. That's right. We've got the governor. We've got the Attorney General Marshall, and we've got Ag Commissioner Rick Pate. So a really good lineup in terms of timeliness. They all have really, you know, interesting things going on. And so I was really appreciating them making time this week. Yeah, because this is a this is a good time for that. So, a session. I don't know. I was getting I was kind of detecting a little fatigue there toward the end of last week. You know, it just is finally starting to wear on people. But it sounds like next week. Just one kind of middle week before they take another week off is expected to be a slow week. One of the maybe I think I got some sunset, maybe some other things. But the real if there are fireworks to be seen, it won't be until that that like third week from now, right? Yeah. So the house is trying to do sunset. And so I think, yeah, you can expect that. It's just basically a pro form of, you know, kind of normal business. They got to do it. Not sexy, but they got to do it every year. The what we're waiting for to see if there is going to be fireworks, it would be over the House bill 202. That's the police immunity bill. Democrats have a real problem with that. They don't want to. They think it goes too far in terms of offering protections to police officers, you know, whether that's on the criminal side or on the civil side, you know, basically cop gets involved in a shooting. You know, uses their weapon and it gets sued or possibly prosecuted. This bill offers, you know, a couple of steps and protections for that. Do it, you know, give cops immunity from all, you know, officer involved shootings or anything like that. But it gives them an extra layer of protection. The whole point is to make it easier to recruit and retain police officers because we do have a shortage in most cities. The Democrats have a problem with that would, whenever it goes to the Senate press the House, wherever it goes to the Senate, it's going to be a big, you know, debate on the floor. And so, yeah, they may not want to tackle that next week. They may just want to maybe get it through committee and wait until the second half of the session. But that's the one thing that everybody's waiting on this is going to be a kind of a time bomb waiting to happen. Yeah, I would expect that that would be a go along to get along there at all. I guess a lot of the interest time and you're, you're, you're aware. What are you? The Tuberville for governor discussions really, really red hot right now. And he was all at the morning guys earlier, but he's, he's not shying away from the discussion. He's not very committal, but but he's keeping the door open. And I don't know. Like, what do you, what do you seek the, the calculation is there? Yeah, it's really fascinating. And it, it, this came from, you know, think about what, two or four months ago, we would talk about this because it was just kind of a rumor. And we got right about it a little bit on it. That I would all apologize. I'm sure you wrote about it some too, but it was all just kind of speculative and all this. Well, now, you know, people are talking about it on the record, right? He's been asked on the record. He's been, you know, asked on television and things like that. It starts to get kind of real. Plus, there's the fact that 2026 is right around the corner. You know, you can start raising money in May when, when that late May, when the session ends. So it's, it's time to start running for governor. So I don't look at it. I still, as I wrote this week, I'm still kind of skeptical, but this would actually be a thing. I just, to me, it doesn't all line up in my head, just in terms of, you know, what's going on in Washington. You know, he told him he'll step four years in the minority in the Senate, which can be a bummer. And alongside President Biden, he obviously despised. Well, now he's in the majority in the Senate, which is a lot more fun. And he's got the president that he always wanted to be there to support in Donald Trump. They're like, why would you give that up? You know, you finally got what you wanted. Well, I mean, time to be fair. I mean, after the 26th cycle, we don't, we don't know that. I mean, Trump will obviously still be president, but I don't know what the, I mean, the Senate map looks like he could be good for Republicans. That that's a big wild card right there. But I mean, it could be just like you could be a US senator for the those next two years and do nothing but fend off like impeachments from the house, potentially. That's true. That's a very good point. A lot of that will depend on what happens for the next 18 months. But anyway, I just. I just don't. I'm not 100% convinced. I could see him doing it. And that would be super interesting. Obviously for folks like us in the media. That would just be a lot of fun to cover, not just him running, but actually being governor if he would win. So I don't know. We'll see. I mean, I've talked to him about it a couple of times and he seems like, like I said, keeping the door open and that's fine. What's really interesting is the dynamic between him and Ainsworth, right, him and Will Ainsworth, who is running. And I don't think really could be talked out of that. And so that's their friends. They have been friendly for years. Ainsworth was an early and big supporter of total rules when he got into that primary. I mean, just imagine those two running against each other. That would be a real heck of a race. And again, a lot of fun for folks like us to cover. Yeah, I agree with that. I just. It's hard for me to see anybody lay in a global cover reel though. I mean, he took shots from, like, I would argue the most popular. I mean, you look at it. He would have to be a favorite against anybody else. He, including Governor Ainsworth. Oh, absolutely. There's no question that he would be the front runner. And that all of this comes from main recognition, right? They've got pretty much universal name recognition. And if you look at his time in the Senate, like, you know, he's made Democrats mad. He's made some moderates mad, but Republicans, base Republicans, he's not done anything except please them and build support amongst Republicans. And so I think he'd absolutely be the front runner. Now, I will say running for governor is different than running for Senate. They're very, very different jobs. I think people think voters expect different things from a governor versus a U.S. Senator. And so I think he'd have work to do in terms of explaining why, you know, why you wanted to be governor and what you bring to the table. And I think Ainsworth has a really good argument, right? I mean, he's been waiting in the wings for what will be eight years now and, you know, he's been preparing for this for a long time. So I think he might have some good arguments, but he's got that. Ainsworth has some work to do in building that name recognition, right? I mean, just being within a governor doesn't matter all that much. You've got to go out and basically buy it right on with television and radio advertisements. So he had that would be an uphill battle for Ainsworth. It's not unwinnable, right? I mean, that would be a real contest. So it also has the whole residency issue, which, you know, I'd like to do more fleshing out on what exactly, you know, that means in terms of residences in Florida and how that works. So it's not going to be a cakewalk, but I do think he has some built-in advantages. Yeah, the residency stuff keeps coming up and he hasn't, he's been sitting there for a while. He just hasn't put that to rest. And I think that can be like a real hurdle. Sam Command, state senator was on Dale Jackson show and said this like, yeah. It's Tupper mill runs and he clears the field, right? But did you have token opposition, though, you know, not denodal because I know he's declared it for no, but candidates like that. And then is it entirely possible that a judge or something says, no, you're not eligible. You haven't maintained the proper residency. You can't be on the ballot. Right. Did you have a real, I mean, you have a crisis, don't you? Well, yeah. I mean, depending on the timing, Becky did end up with a Democrat winning the governor's rights, which would be just kind of crazy to think about how impossible that has been in the modern era. And so, yeah, that's why there's plenty of time before that. But I mean, I want to push some of this stuff out. I think voters deserve that. And then the Republican party deserves that because you're right. Let's just say he tried along and then, you know, primaries over candidates are locked in, you know, what options would the party have to replace them on the ticket. And I think, you know, he would owe it to the party and to the state to figure all that out before actually jumping in the race. Well, and we went through a little of this during the Roy Moore saga, right? And it didn't happen, but there was talk about taking him off the ballot. And I mean, it was all academic anyway. Doug Jones won that contest, but it's not as easy to just do that as people might think it is. I mean, there are, there are statutory, you know, obligations you got to fulfill. And I think it's too late into it. That because very difficult, I would think. Right, right. That's exactly right. And let's just say that things do get flushed out. There's a problem. Well, the legislature is in question. I can always change the law to see, you know, figure out whatever kind of residency things. Well, I guess if that one, if that were to happen, then you know that we're both within it to win it. And, and I think I think Ainsworth might have an opinion or two about changing the law for residency requirements. Right. Yeah. Well, that would, that would is like, whatever I've had to state out since all anybody wants to talk about really what's going to happen there. And I don't know. Like, you know, we'll, I kind of won't beat this too much, but what do you think it even looks like? I kind of have an idea of what a Will Ainsworth as governor would look like Tommy Tuberville. I mean, it could be anything. Yeah. I mean, look, I worked four years in the governor's office. It was some of the best time, the best job I've ever had. Maybe it's a real special place. It's you can, you know, done right. You can use the governor's office to do a lot of good. And, and we were working with a democratic legislature. It was still a lot of fun. So, I love that position. I really respect it. And I admire people that want to step up and do it. But you're right. It's not like Tuberville has a ton of experience and state government. I mean, aside from kind of, you know, being the coach and involved that way. So it would be a lot of learning. But that's exactly what he did in the U.S. Senate. And look, I do think there is virtue in outsiders running and, you know, kind of being the disruptor and all that kind of stuff. At the same time, I think it would be really important to see what would be governor to surround himself with people who understand state government, how it works. Because you don't want to just burn the place down. There have been a lot of people over the years. There's a lot of good effort in the building what we have. There's certainly things that could be changed and all that. But he would need a team around him and it's certainly a cabinet that was very, very experienced so that they don't get railroaded by the legislature. He saw that a little bit with Bentley. Bentley was an outsider. They came in and he had so little experience and didn't always have a great team. And so the legislature just ran over it. And you would have hoped Tuberville did differently and surrounded himself with strong people. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We eat governors alive in this state. And do you go? I mean, you go back to Big Jim Folsom, probably, but in our recent history, I mean, you know, the Guy Hunt, Don singleman, and Robert Bentley, to name few. But anyway, put that aside. We're really waiting for that. That picture to clear before we really know what happens to our ballot. Sure, right, because, you know, okay, right now we've got a long list of candidates for lieutenant governor and that could even grow depending on what, what happened. And that that list for the governor might shrink to people think, Oh, well, why not just run for Secretary of State? Everybody wants the position themselves. A lot of politicians in the state wants to position themselves to be the next governor or to be next in line whenever the governor comes open. That's the end goal, right? Nobody just wakes up and says, you know, I really want to be president of the Senate. I really want to answer that over the Senate. It's about, about getting the governor's office. So that time again, everybody's kind of lining up position themselves. So it's a lot of fun. Look, every legislative student is on the ballot too. The entire legislature is going to either run for reelection. There might be some retirement people getting challenged. So 2026 for us is really more exciting than a presidential year because the whole state is on the ballot. And so a lot is going to happen in the next, you know, three or four months as candidates are positioning themselves. Todd, folks will check out. You show tonight with the governor and the attorney general. They will set up for your newsletter. I'll have a daily news. Tell what they need to know. That's right. Tonight, Capitol Journal 730 on Alabama Public Television. And yes, you can always sign up for the newsletter. It's easy. It's free. Just go to a l daily news.com. Enter your name and your email and you'll be on the list. Todd, we always appreciate it. We'll talk again soon. All right. Yeah. Be good. All right. We got to get a break. You'll be right back. This is FIT Talk. One of six, five. And I can't get to sleep tonight. I'm barking a lot. So loud. [Music] ♪ Living on the road, my friend ♪ Welcome back to the Jump 4 Showing Up and Talk. One of six, five. Thanks for sticking around on this Friday morning 2513430106. I say you get touched with the program. Are they text here? I hope you're not referring to the bow tie wearing communist Wayne Reynolds as a conservative on the board of education. I maybe conservative is not the proper word, but he is a, he's an impediment to the status quo. He's not going to go along with the education bureaucracy, which is probably closer to communism than Wayne Reynolds. They're a name texture. At least that's my sort of shallow analysis of the Alabama school board, which I don't, I can't figure out what they do because so much education policy is done by the Alabama legislature. And not the school board. There's like a, a micro management of that out of the legislature, which I mean, they had the statutory authority to do that, but it's almost like what's the point of the school board. And they'd texture says, Hi, Jeff, hashtag black mansions matter. That's, uh, that's clever. We can't say all mansions matter, though, do we? Uh, they'd text her to be selfish and 45 years old. I wouldn't mind a recession. I enjoy the stock market crashing by cheap. I think you necessarily need a recession to get stocks low. Now, because of the recession, I know they're kind of interconnected, but I mean, there's a bunch of different things that impact the stock market beyond just the general health of the economy. You do have these, oftentimes, uh, dissidents between the two, just based on the global, what's going around in the globe, et cetera. Let's get a break here. We'll be right back. This is F.M. Talk 10065. From Bucks Pocket to the shores of Orange Beach at all points in between an insider's perspective on Alabama politics. It's the Jeff Porshow. I don't think I ain't done it this way. No. Welcome back to the Jeff Porshow. What up, if we talk 10065? Thank you for staying with us on this Friday, Friday. It's finally Friday. Uh, two, five, one, three, four, three, zero, one, zero, six is the text. We got a ton of text to get to. I thank you for participating in the, the civic process of this program gives me a lot to talk about. I still come on the program in about 30 minutes, our returning champions. They said it or Chris Elliott. Um, one of the must listen to segments of the week for many of our, uh, states, movers and shakers for some reason. Uh, they love to listen to Chris Elliott and talk about his view about the Alabama legislature, even our, our friend and, um, uh, Hale County, the Senate minority leader. Bobby Singleton, who has taken a fancy to listening to this show and to hear me, uh, gripe about how he is abusing the rules of the Alabama state Senate, the filibuster, everything. Because you know, in Alabama, you guys, uh, you, you do your good little deed and you go vote and you give us, uh, you give the grand old party super majorities only to be told, well, guess what, too bad. Because two Democrats are going to tell you when and what gets voted on on the Senate floor in the state of Alabama and democracy and action as they say. But, uh, we're glad to have Bobby Singleton out there, uh, monitoring our art is probably not him, to be honest. But, uh, some of the, uh, some of the apple polishing, uh, tattle tales out there, uh, telling him that he is getting some airtime, uh, on this broadcast. But anyway, uh, we will have him on and then, uh, my friend from Tine 109 in Tuscaloosa, a hundred shots and it will talk some hoops because it just seems appropriate. Uh, at 1130, we're going to break away for Auburn Tiger basketball. They got the Ole Miss Rebels coming up and, uh, it's the SEC tournament. It's March Madness and, uh, I am, uh, that's what I plan on doing around lunchtime today. Well, I juggled my other duties. So you'll want to, uh, make sure that you, uh, stay tuned for that. Uh, blah, blah, blah, we're going to go through some text here. Ricky, why does America give Israel $5 billion every year? It's 1948 plus they get free healthcare and a free education off the tax dollars. Well, and then I don't know what the actual dollar amount, I, I'm sure if you look at the value of what the US, uh, gives to Israel, it probably comes up to something like that. Now, I don't know about their social spending and who knows what, you know, on Musk, won't cover Ricky, but we, I think people in this country, especially Christian Evangelicals who take the, the Old Testament very seriously, Ricky, as I, I'm sure you do understand the importance of the chosen people in Israel. And God's chosen people and understand that that's, that's just what's important in a government for off and by the people. That knows all kinds of like anti-Zionist, you know, you know, this isn't really in America's interest, but I think you can make a case for Israel being in America's interest, probably more than you can a lot of the other countries that we, we give way, especially Ukraine, way more than $5 billion to. It's an ally in a region that is vital to the US economy. If you like driving your, uh, your Vespa scooter around Ricky. I mean, there was an electric, I don't know what, maybe you got an electric, uh, uh, that's your mode of transit, Ricky. But the price of oil is traded on a global market and it's important for us to have a presence in the Middle East now they have other countries that we're allied with, but we're very much aligned with Israel. I'm not 100% aligned, but, you know, it's, it's good to have a friend in the region. At least you can make that case. I don't even make that case necessarily about Ukraine or any other, especially in the Far East. We gotta keep those shipping channels going and, uh, it's just, uh, it's, there's a number of reasons to, to, for me, to justify the US 80 Israel. Uh, Terry, hopefully the next governor won't be a tenfold pot dictator and we'll start the penny bureaucrats. Uh, we're like starting state lawmakers. Well, that's what I kind of hope. And I, I know like, look, we'll, we'll talk about the whole, what's going on in the federal government is a backdrop. It is a administration are doing to happen here in Alabama. That's where the political winds have shifted or whether they like it or not. And you have a governor who's not really, not, not really feeling it. Maybe not even aware of it. That she did pay lip service to Donald Trump, just made a lead to the Department of Education. I mean, at least she's at least rhetorically on the right side. And I would watch real close. I would watch a very close this interview tonight. She's going to do a Todd Stacy. She never says much. But we don't get much governor. We don't get her vision. One time a year on Capitol Journal and the state of the state and she doesn't do press gaggles anymore. She's not available to the public. She'll give her people the little apparatus that work for her. We'll get, and we'll put out some kind of blower plate statement on everything. But we don't know what she's thinking. It ain't a given moment. Not that we had to know play by play, but it should be nice to get more out of her than twice a year. There's no transparency in state government. The bureaucracy runs the show there. I mean, I always tell people this and think about if Alabama had a deep state. I mean, maybe to some degree, it's a Leah, but it's not like law enforcement at the federal level. It's the Alabama Department of Transportation. It's the Department of Corrections. It's the education bureaucracy. Very powerful. With the very powerful teachers union. You want to start thinking about state government, but it's not a reflection of federal government at all in Alabama. The people with power have power in much different ways. And what you'd like to see, because you see, I'll not like playing heavy and advertising and trying to shape public opinion on things. What is the Department of Transportation to federal level? Function is our state Department of Transportation. And the DOT. Now, I don't know how much it's going on now, especially with John Cooper. But I mean, at one time, they pulled road projects in members districts who didn't support the priorities of the governor. It's Bill Holskall, former state senator from Madison County, mid project. They walked off the job because he put up a billboard opposing a tax increase in his district. Which I understand, you know, you go against the governor, you do run that risk. But if the projects already started and the state has identified the need to improve. The need to improve a roadway, then that's where the sort of focus ought to be. And not, well, you're not supporting at least not rhetorically by tax increase plan. So we're going to we're going to punish you. But it's been done. It's been done that like this before in the past. Just needs to be noted that that happens. And some of that needs to be cleaned up. Uh, Jeff Ricky is an anti-Israel butt cloud. Are they textured Genesis 12, three? I will bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you, I will curse. And the people in the surf will be blessed through you. Fire dog is not electric. It's a cold powered car. I have that argument with Tesla owners here all the time. Where do you think that wall out like it's the power from unicorn fart? So we'll know fire dog to point was. We produce. I mean, we produce a lot of oil domestically too, but we produce our electricity. I don't think we import much electricity. I know Canada, I guess, because they were threatening us. But it's not. We're not importing electricity from the Middle East. But we do import oil. It's traded as a global commodity. And it's a supply and demand fluctuate on a global basis. I mean, we will fill it at the gas pump here domestically. And that's sort of my point. I that the what Ricky drives. And it be an electric or oil or whatever. Unicorn farts, as you put it, is tangential to the discussion. Are they texture? Get back to protected serve instead of this tormented harass. That's exactly why coach be a great governor. I assume you told you me not another goal long to get along and see what crap and he said. Nailed it. Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. Are they texture? Is that what happened with the highway? 158 extension to the Mississippi state line? The 158 extension. If I'm not mistaken was BP oil settlement money. Very separate from like what the state that that was a that a 181 in Baltimore County. Are play. They were projects that came to be under a different set of circumstances. I don't know you can apply the Jeff poor deep state theorem. Speaking of Jeff poor theories, I'm going to get to that just a moment to get through this one text. Israel has a $3 billion surplus in their country and America is a $37 trillion debt. To wish to fence to the feds, which Israel owns, Ricky. I mean, Ricky, you're borderline anti-Semitism here, but just for the sake of giving you the benefit of the doubt. I mean, you got to you got to put your your your ethnic biases aside. You're letting all the secrets out at one time. LOL. Well, I don't think they're secrets. There's a worst kept secrets in this state on name texture. 2 5 1 3 4 3 0 1 0 6 will be right back. This is the Jeff poor showed up and talked about 0 6 5. I always will. And on the old town square, under the barbershop pole, they set me up in the chair. [MUSIC PLAYING] Look about to the Jeff poor showed up and talked about 0 6 5. And they text the rights. At least Alabama is as corrupt as Louisiana. What could be one of the richest, which could be one of the richest states of the union is dismal. Well, there's an Alabama and Louisiana. Let me say this is there's a sizable Democratic party presence in, I mean, with New Orleans in Louisiana. And we don't I mean, we got Birmingham here, but they still elect Democrats statewide in Louisiana. So what's what's in the, you know, the Republicans they elect statewide aren't exactly, you know, it's not exactly Ron DeSantis. John Kennedy is real Cassidy or not, you know, Kennedy can be funny at times, but he sees more on the moderate side of the Republican caucus in the Senate. We don't have that excuse here. We ought to have a state that's just like a reflection of our state government. I'd be a reflection of the politics of the state. It's just not. It's not people think it is, I guess, and they assume it is. They operate on an assumption. It doesn't really maybe impact their life directly. But it's a trip hitman said earlier, or maybe no, no, no, it's Dick Brubaker. It's more corporatist. You know, all this talk about jobs and workforce development, that's all like. So the benefit, yeah, there are benefits to the public at large, but it's benefiting big business. It's benefiting the power company, creating more customers, right? It's, it's that kind of mentality. And those are the people on the outsized influence. In Montgomery. Terry DOT saying, well, for this, or you don't get your highway, said it like bribery to me. I bet that's exactly why it goes on. If you voted against Greenfield, Alabama, it's not like they score road projects. I mean, they do score road projects based on merit. But if you live in a district where you go against what the governor's priorities are, your pro the, the, the merit of your road project is moved down the list. Heavy traffic. Congestion is not necessarily the leading, the, the main driver of whatever highway projects this state. Pursues. I mean, look at this veterans bill and who voted, who led no charge with audit on the Senate. And then you look and you see a four lane highway from Gadsden, Alabama, the Cherokee County, Alabama. And it doesn't take much to figure it out. Asking about all these companies of all county of the cities benefited from land developers using illegal immigrants for labor. Why not start charging these companies to send them back to their whole country. All the county cities have been approving. That's not development or using illegal labor and these developments are agreeing to do it. The infrastructure work, such as around about city roads. Well, I, you know, the, the function of deportation is on the federal government. Now, they're looking at doing some of this. It was an April lever. She's a senator from the Birmingham area who wants to put a surcharge on. Wire transfers. And you get it back. If you file income taxes, you can file it as a deduction. But if you're here legally, you're obviously not filing income taxes statewide. And you see, you see, they're trying, they're trying some of this at the state level and they texture. And then. I got a bunch of screenshots of Bible verses. Anyway, uh, the jet port theorem real quick. Is this like, well, I'll save this for. I got Elliot next. I'll say this for after Elliot. About what happened could happen in our politics. If the status quo is allowed to continue in Montgomery, Alabama, well, very fact, this is her from talk about 065. [Music] Hello Kansas, we feel fun, we're living things, we're for your time. We work for the area, we're living. Just to send it all down my line. Hello, we're smirging, you're cold, minor, living things, we're all your time. [Music] We're back to the jet port show. And if I talk about 065, thanks for sticking around on this Friday, Friday, it's finally Friday morning. Text line 2513430106. I can do is text me and I'll respond. I try not to be labor in the responses, but sometimes I get a little long-winded and it's just my inexperience as a radio host. I still come on the program of Fred Hunter Johnson from Tide 100.9 and Tuscaloosa. We'll talk hoops as we head into the SEC tournament to be played this weekend. Speaking of the SEC tournament, he is very kind to move up a little bit. We'll be preempted about an hour from now for Auburn basketball. But our returning champion, State Senator Chris Elliot, joins us on the line. Senator, good morning, how are you? I am doing fine, got to get to priority straight and I think y'all got your straight. Yeah, this politics stuff, it needs to be secondary sometimes. But hey, how's your week off bid? Busy, as you might imagine. I mean, it's one of those things. You're away from your business and you're away from your family and you're away from your constituents. They are all anxious to see you and talk to you and add their two cents about what's going on in person. And so it has certainly been a busy week. Yeah, I mean, I guess the Chattery class doesn't rest on these off weeks. I'll say that. Let's kick it off with this, and this is a story from Laney App yesterday. You're mentioning it in your house counterpart down that way. Francis Holt-Jones, the bill to give the two systems down at the beaches, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, their share of tax revenue. Oh, walk us through that. What do you think that's, you know, is that like something that could really happen? You know, yeah, it needs to happen. I mean, this was a bill that was originally, the people legislations are literally passed in the early '80s, that levied a once in sales tax countywide, a portion of which the portion we're talking about, goes to public education. And, you know, what we've done in Baldwin County is add to two different school systems in Baldwin County. The legislation from the early '80s contemplated only one school system, the Baldwin County Board of Education, because back in '83, that's all there was. And we simply need to update that to really reflect that there's now more than one school system in Baldwin County, and not just the Baldwin County Board of Education. And so I think that's a very simple change to make everyone that is unquestionably the right thing to do. I mean, can you imagine the counter to that, which was you levy a tax countywide, and you only give it to Orange Beach, or you only give it to Gulf Shores, and you don't give any to the rest of the schools in Baldwin County. I mean, that doesn't make any sense. And so we need to do just like what we do so often in Montgomery, which is just a faithless statute to reflect what currently exists. Is the Baldwin County public school system, they're not the superintendent quoted in this story. They're not very keen on this, as one might expect. But, I mean, do you expect that to be a problem? Well, of course, and I'm very disappointed. I think it's a nice way to say that in the stance they've taken. I mean, it is fundamentally unfair to take tax money for education for the children out of these districts, and not allow them to use it for educating children just because you're mad that they left your system. I mean, that's just a small ball. And unfortunately, I think it's going to have big impacts for the school system as a whole. I mean, you're aware, I'm sure, as are others, that there are at least three other cities in Baldwin County that are seeing what's happening in Gulf Shores, seeing what's happening in Orange Beach, as it relates to investment in education, athletic facilities in new schools, and certainly in, you know, just in performance, right, results. And they're interested in their own school system, their city school system. And so I think you'll see that those conversations are already happening and certainly in Fair Hope and in Daphne and in Foley to see if they will do that. So, at some point, whether I have the votes now or not, the votes will be there because those representatives end up doing what I do, which is representing some city schools and some county schools, both of which we want to treat fairly and the kids we want to treat fairly and make sure that they have their share of the tax revenue. It's just absurd to have one system think they should get it all. Well, it's, you know, the discussion, I guess, you just mentioned it, but sort of the, you know, the Baldwin County school system splintering up. And it's remarkable that it's lasted as it is as long as it has. Just with the growth of the county that you haven't seen more municipalities strike out and form their own school systems. And I kind of wonder, like, do you think that's something like, how far away do you think we are from something like that? I don't think we're far away from that at all. And listen, the Baldwin County public school system has done a great job in Baldwin County educating kids and really being a pretty good example of what a county school system can do. And if you go back and rewind here about 10 years or so, they were in big trouble. They were in big trouble with the voters. They were in big trouble with revenue sources, et cetera. And they, in partnership with the county commission, which I served on at the time, really laid out a plan for the future, how they were going to innovate, how they're going to be physically responsible and how they were going to continue to address the needs of a growing Baldwin County. And they've done that well. There have been cities, though, that have, as is their right, decided, no, we want to do this differently. We want to chart our own course, whether that's academically or because they want to put more money in their particular system. And so the county, I think, really laid this plan out, the county school system itself, when it came up with these tax overlay districts, right? And you saw referendums in each one of these areas that said, we want a three mill tax overlay district in Spanish for it. It's our hope and death. We get rovers stale. We want to do that so that our schools have more resources. What I found was people seem to be much more willing to invest their resources in their particular school system and not some big county-wide school system. They want to know it's going to their school. And so that's what you've seen in these city schools is people being much more willing to invest in their school system as opposed to a larger bureaucracy of a county-wide school system. And so, yes, I think you'll see continued efforts at city schools around the county. Yeah, because, you know, they've held that at bay. Well, like I said, a lot longer than I would have anticipated. And what the feeder systems and the taxation there, how long until somebody says, hey, well, why don't we do it here? You know, like, why aren't we just going at it on our own as the beaches have? It's just, it's kind of fascinating that we haven't gotten to that point. Well, I think you're going to get to that point and it is important to note that's not something that the legislature has any involvement in this, right? That is something that is a decision that's made at the city level, either by the city council, in concert with the mayor or through a referendum. However, they decide to handle that. I just think it's important that whatever the future is, we don't have county-wide tax revenue going to just a few schools. And instead, it needs to be split up, you know, to the children involved in county as was originally intended. Well, and it's, you know, we talk about oil-free distribution. I got to think those beach municipalities, they raise a lot of sales tax and they're having to send it out of their system. I mean, that is, it's not just unfair. I mean, there's a, it's robbery. Well, and that's what bothered me about Superintendent Tyler's comment in particular, was that we were taking from the needy children or the children that need it most. And this is not, this is not needs-based. I mean, it is not a Robin Hood approach, guys. I don't know how he can justify that. And so we need it more, therefore, we will take it from you. That doesn't, that's ideologically opposed to where I am, I think. If you're, if you're levying that in your municipality, it's levied in your municipality for the purposes of education, then you ought to be seated for the purposes of educating our kids. And not simply because somebody else needs it more. Otherwise, we'd be sending it to Sumter County by that logic. Yeah, it's just a very hollow argument. And it's not an argument, Senator. I, you know, that doesn't sound very Baldwin County in the tradition of the politics here that you could really get away with. It actually just seems insane to me, but anyway. But that might, that might be why you're seeing some of these city schools wanting to split it off. Yeah, well, I mean, how, you don't think we're that far away, but what is, I mean, is our way to quantify that? Yeah, I think you'll see activity on this within a year in Fair Hope. And I think that you probably will be talking about that in less, you know, less time than that. Let's see, you know, maybe, maybe two years or so into AFNI. And then you have to really look at this from a, you know, county wide scale. Okay. Well, then what are the kid, where do the kids in Barnwell go to school? Okay. If they're outside the city, where do the kids in point clear go to school? If they're outside of the city. And so what, what cities are seeing that says is an opportunity for annexation, right? Then they have a scene that people want, and then they're more interested in annexing in. And so it's a, you know, it's a 3D chest type of situation, but at the end of the day, you know, the argument I'm making is simple. And that is the taxes raised for the kids. That means all the kids involved in county, not just some, regardless of how superintendent dollars, you know, feels they need it. Well, what about some of these schools that are like charter schools and, you know, that are, I mean, obviously would remain under county control, but they've been like geographically placed in places that would probably, they would have to move them. One would think. Well, most of the charter school funding operates, you know, exclusively in local funding and this local funding could, could in would if we change this talk about, you know, public school systems in a municipality, et cetera. And so we don't have any charter schools involved in county in particular, and this is a local piece of legislation. So I think we'll, we'll start that particular issue. Joined by state senator Chris Elliott here on the program. Well, that, that, uh, I can imagine this will be a fight with this, this, taking these sales taxes, but it's, they don't really have a, a cogent argument. So I don't know, I'm eager to hear from the other side on this one. Uh, back to matters statewide. Uh, we, you get back next week. We talked, taught Stacy a little bit about this earlier on to be a relatively subdued week next week for you guys. And then, you know, the week off. And then I think that's when you really start cracking your knuckles and that's when you're going to start to see the, the gray hair start to show the bags under the eyes like that's, you start to see a little bit of that last week. But, you know, three, two, three weeks from now, it'll, it'll get a little more contentious. I assume. Well, I think you're right. And there is, there is some merit in, you know, making sure that the machinery of the legislature, you know, is it works and is oiled and the gears are turning out the things that we need to turn out, right? The sunset bills that need to pass in order for, you know, these entities to continue to exist, right? You, if you simply don't take up the sunset bill, then the entity stops existing altogether. Now, some of them, I might be okay with that on, but it's a great way to shrink government. But all in all, you need to deal with those bills one way or the other. And then of course, we have confirmations, you know, the governor's put for confirmation. So all of these different entities to serve on boards, you know, whether it's the board of trustees at the university down to the, you know, massage therapy board and everybody in between. And so we need to work through those and get some of those out of the way. We're going, we're going to get started on the budgets here. I know the budget chairman have been working on that over the break. And so we'll be working on that. And then I think you are, you know, you're correct. Once we move through all of those things this week in the interim, then it's going to be time to get back to tackling tough issues that we have not gotten to yet. And so whether that's dealing with PDM, whether that's dealing with the conversation between alpha and blue cross. And then of course, you know, Senator Gudger, I think it's wisely, you know, charting a pass, you know, here to how to deal with things and when to deal with things. I think there's an opportunity to deal with some things that maybe our colleagues, you know, the other side of the aisle previously have expressed displeasure with. Oh, well, we won't. In case anybody out there is listening in the Montgomery intelligence, you know, that likes to go tattletale, we won't, we won't get into that too much. But the PBM issue, it looks like that's got real wind in its sails. And I know that there's like some very powerful lobbies that are pushing back. But if you look around the chambers, I don't know that that's really really working for them. No, I mean, look, at the end of the day, we are certainly elected to deal with the issues that are important to our constituents. Right. And sometimes they're broad and sometimes they're narrow. And this is a fairly narrow one. It's impactful across a broad group of people, but it's fairly narrow. And so I think what, again, many that have been negotiating this, I think, you know, the present person is handling this well, is trying to find a sweet spot where we can provide some relief for these pharmacists who are currently having to pay more to purchase the prescription themselves than they are able to sell it for or being reimbursed for is just an untenable business situation. And so what they're trying to do is figure out a way to fix that situation, but without completely upending health insurance costs and prescription drug costs. And so I think it's a very scalpel approach. Obviously, the big PBM folks and the bigger entities in the state would like for things to stay just as they are. And it's much harder to get something done in Montgomery than it is to stop something from getting done. And they may ultimately be successful. But I think what, you know, the path that our leadership in the Senate is starting for us is to try to find something that will find that sweet spot, address the pharmacist, the independent pharmacist's concerns, the community pharmacist's concerns. And then, you know, but not in a way that causes everybody's health insurance to increase. Last one, speaking of health insurance, the Alpha Blue Cross Blue Shield saga, they've been running ads, you know, the opponents of the Alpha Health Plan on the station. But what do you, I don't know, it's hard for me to like find fault. But other than that, I guess he's out the insurance plan, or what he would call health plans, get to operate on a different set of rules than everybody else. That's correct. And that's the big rub, right? I mean, I'm a free market guy and I think you ought to be able to sell what somebody will buy, you know, and if it's health insurance, that's fine. Is it important to realize that what is being discussed and being sold by Alpha is different from what's being sold by Blue Cross Blue Shield yet different? Do I think that some of my constituents, if we approve this, are going to have a rude awakening one day when they find out they do not have the type of coverage that they thought they had when they purchased a cheaper product? Yes, but at the end of the day, I think it is right to allow to get government out of the way so that you can make informed decisions on your own. And if they are court decisions, then they are your court decisions. Right. And so, you know, I'm sorry, but at the end of the day, that's the market. Well, I mean, we're running along here, but I want to get to send. There is a real deficiency there. We want to keep a vibrant ag community in Alabama. But if Jeff Moore or Chris Elliott go out and stake out to be farmers, what do we do for health insurance coverage and, you know, it's cost prohibitive. There's got to be an option on the table and I don't know what that is. Well, look, I sometimes and, you know, and I've done it before I buy a cheaper use truck that's not a space and doesn't get as good a mileage and I do that because that's what I can afford. And I look at this the same way. Senator, we always appreciate having you on. We'll catch up again next week. Thanks for hopping on. Thanks, Jeff, y'all. Great weekend. Stay Senator Chris Elliott there. We got to get a break here. We'll be right back. This is FIT Talk, 1-0-6-5. The first thing I remember knowing. [MUSIC] Welcome back to the Jeff Moore Show at FIT Talk, 1-0-6-5. They just staying with us on this Friday morning real quick for you to break here. Now, we're talking a lot about sort of this intransigence in the Alabama State Senate. You have a couple of Democrat members and you've heard me talk about over and over again and they've even referenced one of them has this program and my gripes. And the Republicans' leadership allows what goes on to go on, but I would just say this is the Republican leadership out there after you're listening. You'll let this continue. You'll let this sort of thing continue where Democrats just steamroll a Republican supermajority. You are going to wind up with some members in the Republican caucus inevitably who are not going to play ball like this. They pretty much weeded out a row of state senators who really stuck together in past quadrenniums to slow everything down on the Republican side. The Phil Williams, our Fred Tripp Pittman, Brubaker to some degree. You're going to get guys like that back in the state Senate and you're going to have that headache. And if you allow this to continue, I'm telling you, don't have to listen to me. That's what's going to happen. You've got to show some leadership here guys. Very fact, this is the Jeff Porchola at the talk 10065. From Bucks Pocket to the shores of Orange Beach at all points in between, an insider's perspective on Alabama politics. It's the Jeff Porchola. I don't think we ain't done it this way. Welcome back to the Jeff Porchola at the talk 10065. Thanks for staying with us on this Friday. This abbreviated hour of the Jeff Porchola coming up here in about 30 minutes. We'll have Auburn Tiger basketball, so I'll be breaking away real quick. I didn't get to do this in the last segment because I was trying to explain something. But coming up on Monday, state representative Jennifer Fiddler will be with us. Dale Jackson from WV&N up in Huntsville in Yellhammer News. And a guest to be determined later as I will probably try to do that later this afternoon. Joy is now. I'd like to have him on from time to time. He takes time from trolling us Auburn fans on social media to be on this radio program. And we're very appreciative of that. But from time, 100.90 does the tide pregame who show you can hear him up there. If you're up there, head it up to game. You need to tune in. It's sometimes it floats around with different signals up there. But Hunter Johnson, who does a really good job with that, joins us now. Hunter, good morning. How are you? Good morning. Doing well. The trolling's been good the last couple of days. It's been a good time. And I appreciate your plug on my show. Appreciate you and your son coming by when you all play basketball up here. You're coming by and checking it out even though it was on the air the entire time. And they could just say hello. But I appreciate you all coming by. No, it's a cool place just to walk around where you do your... Well, you do your remote sometimes. And that part of Tuscaloosa has just really changed in my lifetime. And it's... Definitely. It's a cool spot. It used to be a little bit more out there. It's a little bit more well now. Propped to walk now. I'm making that area down. Safety, you've got to Jack Brown's right there. You're out on that peanut company. I do my show at Grandstand. I'm just a cool cocktail bar nearby. Cool spot. The peanut place is fascinating to me. It's like you get these different... They like flavor the peanuts like chicken wings. And you go in there and eat peanuts and drink beer kind of place. It's a guaranteed money maker. Peanut, what do you want to watch down peanuts with beer? It's like my favorite that they have is the... They have the Mississippi Rose Peanut flavor, which is incredible. Yeah. Well, we walked around, but it's hard to get a four-year-old who want to and buy. He had other ideas. So... I'm sure. He got to see a fun basketball game for his Tigers that day. He did. He's obnoxious, like he was wanting to see Alabama fans cry. And after the game, he's running down that cool concourse that y'all built right there in front of the Coliseum yelling. It's great to be an Auburn Tiger. I don't know where he picked that up from, but... I'm glad I did. Well, he had seen me after that game. He probably would have really, really enjoyed it. So glad he didn't get to see me that day. Well, it was funny. He's like, "Daddy, where are the crying Alabama fans?" I was like this. Yeah. That's not really a thing, son, but didn't dampen any of the spirits. But you got us back last week. You know, and I think Alabama went through its trying time where you do have that sort of fatigue. It's like this every year, Hunter, at least we're watching Auburn, they kind of hit a rut, right? And you can just see the tired. And then they kind of snap out of it. But sometimes, I think like last year, it just came at the wrong time during the tournament. But, you know, the final four years for both of us, you got past that and then you got hot. What do you think? What do you anticipate these next few days with the SEC tournament? Well, for Alabama, I will say that at the beginning of the year, I thought we would split with Auburn. I did not think it would go in the fashion that did. I thought we would get Auburn at home and then we'd lose down there. And coming off of two consecutive losses, the Tennessee and the heartbreaking fashion that it was, then kind of get dominated by Florida, I didn't have real high expectations going into that Auburn game. Just because I thought this team had lost its legs a little bit. I thought that we needed this week of the SEC tournament to kind of get our legs back. So I was kind of surprised to see Alabama really snap out of it down there. And I felt like you saw a team that really like, I don't know that had their legs back, but just really had a lot of motivation going down to Auburn and playing the born team in the country. Not really having anything to play for, others in quad and seating. But I do think that having this week off is going to be really, really good for us. Really, the SEC tournament, Bruce Rose said it earlier this week. The SEC tournament might be tougher to win than the NCAA tournament. Because all these games that you're playing, you're going up against the league, the league team, the league team, the league team. And with Auburn, I think that Auburn kind of hit their right and I could totally see them bouncing out of it and going on a run now. Well, this team scares me the most is Florida right now. They got passed their right like early. They got blown out a couple of times and they beat us at home. But that's when they sort of turned the corner and they became sort of a dominant team, I think they'll go real far this year. They're my pick to win the SEC tournament. But I think that they're just playing when they're playing their best, I don't know if there's many teams in the country that can beat them. I don't know that they're going to bring their best for consecutive games in the NCAA tournament. But I could definitely see them doing it for three or four and making a run to the Elite A final four. I think that they're just really, really good. I think that takes them to a whole other level. And then there's Tennessee and the difference with Tennessee, you don't know what you're going to get. What Tennessee team is going to show? They're very good. Don't get me wrong. And you know, should we win the day? That's who we probably faced on Saturday. But you never know. It's such a wild card. And they just played this good defense. You're always going to get that hard-nosed defensive play from them. It's just a matter of if they're going to score or not. And it gets to Alabama. And I thought Alabama actually played really well going up there. Other than the last 30 seconds of the game, which I think Nate will admit, he blundered those. But Alabama played really well up there. But Tennessee had a pretty good offensive game there. But you also have times where they don't score the basketball enough to be in games. But they are very, very good. I think that Auburn Tennessee matchup in Auburn was a really, really good one earlier this year. I would love to see those two things played yet. Well, look outside the SEC real quick. And you know, it's obviously Duke. But I, you know, I think they're luck maybe running out here. Houston, maybe. Beyond the SEC Hunter, it's hard for me to know like who the cream of the crop is. They just haven't played as difficult a schedule. So you don't really get to get apples apples comparison. Well, who do you see coming out beyond the SEC? Well, when you talk about Duke, the whole Cooper flag injury thing like that. I mean, it's just a huge unknown like how severe that ankle did not look good when it happened. I realized the X-rays were negative. But I mean, a bad ankle frame. I don't know if you've ever sprained your ankle pretty bad. It's tough to come back from. I don't see him being even at full speed next week. I think Houston's really, really good. That's, you know, that's a team that both Alabama and Auburn have beaten this year. You know, two of their half of their losses came to state of Alabama. I still think they are really, really good basketball team. They've always been really good defensively. But this year, offensively, they are much, much better than they have ever been. They're top 10 in offensive efficiency. They are definitely a team that I think it's all just going to depend on the bracket and, you know, what team catches some breaks. Obviously, Alabama caught a couple of breaks last year in getting the worst number one seed in North Carolina and getting to play, you know, Clemson in the Elite Eight. But it's going to depend on how the bracket breaks. But I think Houston would be my, you know, if I had to pick a number of non-SCC team to make the final four, it would definitely be Houston. And I also like Iowa State. I think Iowa State, even though they had already, I believe, lost in the Big 12 tournament, I can definitely see Iowa State making a run as well. They lost to me to have it. They lost to BYU yesterday in a close game. I can see Iowa State making a run. Because a little paper, Iowa State, like really good team, they just, they've underperformed throughout the season. And, you know, like these tournament, it's totally different. And, you know, you just, you get focused, you get locked in. And a team like Iowa State, like you said on paper, it's supposed to be really, really good. It hasn't really preferred. But you put them in a sort of a vacuum in a tournament situation, which is not necessarily true in a conference tournament. They can make a run. Who else you got? Well, you talked about that. I would say Alabama looked like that last year. You had nobody picking Alabama to make a final run last year. The way that Alabama closed out the season, losing in the first game in the SEC tournament, nobody was picking Alabama to go in a run. Well, sometimes teams just flip a switch. And, you know, with Alabama last year, it was defensively. Alabama just decided, after the SEC tournament, that they were going to play good defense. I wish they had decided that earlier this season could have won an SEC title. But they decided they were going to play defense, and they did it. And you never know who that team is going to be. I mean, I think there's, again, Houston is the one that I really did. All right, here's my kind of dark horse deck. And even though they're probably going to be at eight or a non-seed, or probably at eight, then Zaga. In fact, it's probably going to be at eight feet. And I really hope that, like, I mean, if Auburn gets them, and as they're, you know, eight feet, when they're the one feet, that's going to be a tough matchup. I mean, they're like, they're number nine in Bartorbit, which is one of the metrics that I use. Like, it means that they think that they're one of the nots, like the nots best team in the country. I could see Gonzaga as kind of a dark horse to go and run. Let's talk about the SEC tournament in the bracket here. Who needs the of the teams remaining? Who needs that? I guess, obviously, Texas, because they're, you know, but what do you think? Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky seems like another one of those teams that could make them run. You don't know. They're hard to read. I don't think they were up for that game against us a few weeks ago at Rupp. But beyond Texas, you know, teams that are left, the position themselves are the tournament. It looks like Missouri, I guess, too. What do you think there? Well, I think Alabama has something to play for in that. It's going to come down to Alabama Tennessee and Florida for those remaining one feet. And I think two of those three will get it. I think it would take Alabama making a run to the finals in order to get that. As an Alabama fan, I'm kind of hoping that we end up with the two in Houston's bracket, just because that would mean we would play in Indianapolis and not be the one seat out west in San Francisco. It would just be a little bit easier of a trip. But I could see Missouri. You know, I think that Missouri Florida game is going to be great. It's really, really good basketball game. Missouri got them in game four earlier this year. I think there's three games today that are going to be fantastic games. I don't know if the Tennessee game is going to be great. I think Texas after playing on Wednesday and then a double overtime game yesterday against the rival. I just think they're probably going to be spent. I still think they should get in the NCAA tournament. But yeah, I mean Kentucky, I think, has a lot to play for tonight. Obviously, that game last night was a grind for them. It'll be interesting to see how they come out and play tonight. But I think what's great about what we have right now in these final 18, just everybody's pretty much in the NCAA tournament Texas on that bubble. I still think they get in. I don't think you're going to have to have eight really, really good basketball teams left. And it's going to be good basketball today. See the Auburn is the number one seed regardless. But to be the number one overall, they probably at least got to win today. I don't think they did. I don't think they did. I think that even if they were to lose today and also an interesting stat that I don't mean this is a troll. But in both of the years that Bruce has won the SEC title, the regular season at Auburn. Auburn's lost in their first SEC tournament game. In 2018 with Alabama, 2022, it was the Texas A&M. And I think Ole Miss is really, really good and Auburn could lose that basketball game. But it would be to see Auburn win that game. I think that you're definitely assured of the number one seed. But I think there's a number one overall seed, even if they don't get the W to death. Really? I don't know. You may be right. I guess it's just... Who are you going to give it to? You're going to give it to Duke with an injured Cooper flag. I think the injured Cooper flag even makes that even more so. I think it depends on how they do in the ACC tournament. You know, you're right. If Duke builds out between now and Sunday, then I think you could see Auburn remain the number one seed. But there's a chance for Duke if Auburn doesn't win today. Well, no matter what, I think Auburn's still going to be playing in Atlanta because Duke will play. It would prefer to play up in the East region. I think Auburn's going to be in Atlanta no matter what. Yeah, I mean, Auburn fans this year will travel and that'll be almost like a home game situation. Hey, Hunter, we're up against the break. We've got to get out of here. Folks will find you online. How can they do so? You can follow me at Burner L. Johnson. And you can listen to the Toddhoot pre-game show on... Depending on Alabama, baseball's played or not. We're normally on Salvador's 0.9, but if baseball's played, we'll be transferred over to the flagship of our town square media stations. And that is 95-3, the fair. They'll check that out. Alright, we've got to get a break here. We'll be right back. This is the Jeff Moore Show at FIT Talk, 1-0-6-5. Have a riddle, bam. ♪♪♪ I keep a close watch. Welcome back to the Jeff Moore Show at FIT Talk, 1-0-6-5. Thanks for sticking with us. So, what's left of this Friday broadcast? Coming up Monday on the show. State Representative Jennifer Fiddler will be with us also from WVNN in Yallhammer News in Estelle Jackson. We'll talk to him about whatever happens over the weekend. No midday mobile today. Like I said, Auburn Tiger basketball coming up here in just a few minutes. Pregame ought to be underway momentarily. Let's get through some text here and we'll run it up to the break. For last day was my Fiddler. She would be supporting this alpha insurance. Let them all up. She would not be supporting this alpha insurance. Let them all operate the same. But it doesn't address the problem. Like you won't farmers and they got to have health insurance. What do you do then? It's not about the insurance company. This is like a real problem for people who, Obamacare may buying health insurance if it's not employer-based. It's just cost prohibitive. Because people are getting subsidies. And what does that do? It drives up demand which lowers the supply and makes things more expensive. Uh, toothless baby, these policies offer my alpha are good coverage. They're catastrophic. May not cover a $40 doctor visit, but we'll cover major medical. They are sold or sold in the past. Blue cross, blue shield commercials are not accurate about cancer coverage. And I didn't expect that they would be. Uh, Terry says, shut it down. Shut it down. Shut it down. Uh, plus the employer hire legal to the job market will dry up for them. Shane, A.K.A. Poppy here. Uh, just listing and not much talking. I am chasing grandberries. I am grand babies. I do enjoy the show. Michael, I'd say Florida and Auburn, it's a big drop off to Bambi Houston. St. John's in Iowa state. I don't know. I think Alabama, when Sears is on. Right. Nelson in that Auburn game. Like where did he come from? I mean, potential, potential elite eight, final four team again. It just depends on the seating and how that goes. The matchups as Hunter was saying, you know, they, they, they had a, they had kind of an interesting draw last year that led itself to them going to the final four and then finally team mode. Maybe this guy said that Houston had their best offense ever. Was it more yet? What direction? Well, Elijah one there. I don't think he was. I mean, that was, that was some time ago team mode, but a Houston right now. We played them down there very early in the season and they were good. And the game went down to the wire, but I mean, that was what Auburn was really, really clicking. Then they had the, then they played Iowa state to the final basket or down by a big number. Auburn was. I, I don't know, like the thing about those games and the games now, like there is real fatigue. Been to a bunch of games this season by trying to get them to Atlanta. If that's the case for, for, for one of the tournament games or two. But it's a different season. It really is. What Auburn has going forward is kind of got a deep bench. I don't know. That's the case. I saw the Alabama Florida and they just, they just hit their stride at the right time. And they're kind of a dominant team right now. That's my very soft morick analysis of sports ball, but I do watch. I do have opinions on these things. We're still watching. I think I hear it about an hour or so on the politics front. We'll see if the, you know, they vote for closure or to shut down. Watch this real close to everybody right now in, in Democrat world and never Trump world. Just hardcore about caring about the stock market, if they avert a government shutdown, the market's going to go up, mark my word today. All right, guys, it's been a pleasure. I will try to do better on Monday. Sorry, Phyllis. I forgot to say goodbye. This has been the Jeff for show on FM talk, 106 five. [inaudible]