Showdown
Showdown Episode 116 8-1-24
(gentle guitar music) - Welcome to Showdown, I'm Mark Casein. And today is Thursday, August 1st. And we have a guest. And this is state representative, Ashley Aunty. And Ashley, I am so happy to have you here today. And I just have to say that I'm assuming you're probably a very happy person anyway. You've got a smile on your face and you've had it on there since we got on here. But I'm guessing that since you are a Democrat, that that smile is probably a little bit more because all across the country, Democrats are smiling, right? - Absolutely. No, I've had a smile plastered from ear to ear since Biden stepped down and Kamala announced that she was stepping in. I think that we've all seen a renewed fervor for democracy on our side of the aisle and I am thrilled to just be part of that excitement. - Yeah, and I talk to a lot of people on both sides, talk to the Republicans too. And even though they try to have like that smile, yeah, okay? But it's not so easy right now. They're not there. - No, it's tough. It's tough, I'm hearing from my friends on the other side of the aisle right now that there's some concern and things have really felt turned on their head for a lot of people in this country. I think that we all sort of thought that the country was going in one direction for a while and we've been stopped in our tracks and everything's changed and now we're all trying to regroup. And for some of us, that's huge, exciting news. And for others, I think that they're a little bit more scared that their party's really in for it this November. - Yeah, and I do think so. And I've actually been saying that anyway, but I also thought after the speech, I'm sorry, the debate, I did think this is exactly where it was going to go. And I also thought, and we'll see how this works out, that Governor Shapiro would be the pick. Mainly because we need Pennsylvania. - Yeah, no, that's absolutely, I think, top of everyone's mind, especially because we know this election's gonna be won by a few hundred thousand voters and a few swing states, probably. And that is one of the most important things, I think that Vice President Harris is going to consider when she chooses her vice presidential pick. Of course, there are a ton of names being thrown around right now, but it sounds like it's being narrowed down pretty quickly. - Yeah, and her first event for next week, starting on Tuesday, is actually gonna be in Philadelphia, so it sort of seems like maybe. - Hearing Shapiro has canceled some long-held plans this weekend, so that is, it's kind of starting to sound that way, we'll see. - Right, and besides going for Pennsylvania, Shapiro is a very number one powerful speaker, and number two, a highly respected political person throughout Pennsylvania and around the country where people know him, because he's not just, you know, pounding on Democratic Party points, he's just really a good person, which obviously is what we need. - Absolutely, and I think that, you know, the ticket has to consider a lot of things, but it's important to really hone in on someone who's gonna be able to really help do the job in the executive capacity that it needed to be, so that's why we see so many governors on that list, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if she chooses a governor. - Yeah, are you familiar here in St. Louis? I mean, I would think that, you know, like the Riverfront Times, right? - Right. - Okay, so you know Ray Hartman? Okay, so Ray, you may know, I guess you, sounds like you do, is running for Congress here in the second congressional district. - I didn't read that. - Yeah. - And so first of all, well-known name. Clearly, you know, somebody who's very progressive, but not, to his way of speaking these days, not exceptionally progressive, a good friend of mine for a long time, and we've been talking about, you know, where this is going to go for him, and before the decision from Joe Biden, he thought he had a chance, but now I think he's got an amazing chance, and partly because of women, what do you think? - I see that, I really do. I think that there's, like I said, a renewed fervor. I think that we're seeing a level of excitement with voters that we haven't, I haven't seen personally in politics since 2008, which is when I really first got involved with Barack Obama's campaign. And, you know, I think that there are going to be seats in play this cycle that really surprised people. And I'm excited about that. I think that is the case for congressional seats and for Senate seats, but I also feel that way about state house seats and state Senate seats here in Missouri. I think there's a lot more opportunity than people are acknowledging, and I'm really excited to see that come to fruition in the next few months. - Yeah, and that's what I was going to get to next anyway, which is, of course, that you're the minority whip. And so first of all, tell us what the minority whip does. - So in the Democratic caucus, the minority whip is mostly responsible for two big things. One is supporting leadership, just full stop, just making sure that you're part of leadership and you're in the room and you're helping where you can. That's what I brought to the table, at least. And then the second one is making sure that our leadership team has our finger on the pulse of where our caucus lies on any given issue. So we see whip positions portrayed in the media as someone who goes in strong arms, people into a position one way or another. And that's really not how it's treated in our caucus. Under Crystal's leadership, she has never told anyone in our caucus how to vote. So what she just needs is the information. We need to know how many folks we can bring to the table in a negotiation with the majority party, and we need to know where our power lies and what kind of coalitions we need to build to either pass something or stop something in that building. So it's up to the whip to really make sure that we know how many votes we can bring to the table. - Sure. And when you talk about, we've obviously said something about being excited about Kamala and you mentioned 2008. And I understand that everybody sort of has this context where they look back to Barack Obama becoming president. That's a big deal, it was. There's no question about it. But I have to say that having the extra opportunity in my life to have been here when John Kennedy was elected, okay, it was only 11 years old, but still, okay, you know, I was there. And I will say that a generation was inspired in ways by John Kennedy that nothing compares to in this country. And I have to say that in a lot of respects, I think that Kamala Harris has the potential, especially with what we've seen so far of being just like that. - I agree. I think her candidacy in and of itself, obviously is groundbreaking, but for so many other reasons, she's risen to the moment, right? So I think that one of the things that I've really honed in on in the last few weeks is how she has become a personality in the same way Trump has been a personality on the other side of the aisle, right? It's almost like as soon as Biden dropped out and Harris announced she was stepping in, Democrats paused and said, we understand the assignment. And we all coalesced behind her and we are all collectively lifting her up. And what we're doing is creating this organic content online, which is huge as my background is in marketing. So I'm always looking at what people are doing online, digital media and all of that. And it is organic. The groundswell of excitement is so exciting to watch. And like I said, it's about creating a personality. And we've done that as a party with VP Harris and I think we're gonna continue to do that for the next 97 days, 98 days until the election. - Right, 97. - And one of the things too is that if you're a Republican, you can look at this and say, well, it's really not what they say. The problem is you can deny that there's all this enthusiasm, but you can't change the fact that there's all this enthusiasm. - Sure, absolutely. And if you get on Instagram or TikTok or Facebook Reels right now, you're gonna see algorithms pushing Kamala Harris content. And this is all, like I said, all organic content that people are coming up with because they're excited. This is not the kind of content that was happening organically when Biden was our candidate. And for all the reasons, we're grateful that he did what he's done for the last four years and stepped up for this country when we needed him most. I am so excited to see this renewed excitement because it's much needed. - Yeah, sort of another very interesting shift in all of this is something that we all know happened today. And that is suddenly there are all these people from Russia who are coming back to the United States and not only are they coming back having been put in jail and convicted and all of that, but there were six countries at least that Joe Biden pulled together in order to make this deal. And the head of Germany says, "I did this because of Joe Biden." So all this talk about what's wrong with Joe Biden turns out he really is as good as a lot of us have thought anyway. He just doesn't have that speech ability anymore. And that's where Kamala comes in and she's just the other side of that coin because she can really tell that story in a great way. - Is that, I mean, besides it's inspiring, everybody, what on your side in Jeff City, what's the conversation about this? What are people saying? - You know, I think that people, of course, first and foremost, like I said, are just so grateful that Joe Biden did what he has done for this country for as long as he's done it. And I think that, you know, looking at his career in the Senate before he even was the vice president and in the White House and then the president, he had a storied career of reaching across the aisle and building bridges and getting things done for America in a way that I think people really underestimated because when he got into the White House, he proved that he knew exactly how to work things through Capitol Hill to make sure that Congress delivered on his agenda. And he got it done, not only that, but like you said, we're seeing what he can do on an international stage, how he can build coalitions to actually bring people home, that's incredible. That's incredible. And so that legacy is really, I think, forefront in people's minds. And I think that watching him pass the torch to VP Harris is just one more reason that we can throw a ton of respect behind Joe Biden's name. - Yeah. One of the things about talking with you is obviously, you've got a leadership position in the Democratic Party, here in Missouri, which a minute ago looked like nobody was in the party and all of a sudden, it looks like you're King Kong. But we'll see in 97 days, but I predict that it's King Kong. So here's the thing. I have a lot of people who ask, and some are already doing it, but other people are asking, what can I do to support the party? How can I volunteer? So what would you tell people? I mean, you are in the end, so how can people go about connecting here in Missouri in order to help the party because they wanna do it? They wanna volunteer? - Absolutely. So there are so many ways to do it, honestly. And it kinda depends on where you want your focus to be, right? So of course, we can throw all our support behind Kamala Harris here in Missouri, and we're doing that as a delegate at the DNC. Today, I turned in my pledge card, so I have pledged my support for Kamala Harris. But what we can do here, obviously, we need to vote, right? One of the things about Missouri that is, I continue to tell people is that we're not necessarily as deep red as people think we are, we just don't vote. We have a lot more Democrats out there, they're just not showing up to vote. So if we can get people to the polls this November and really show the kind of force that Democrats are in this state, I think that we're gonna surprise some folks with our turnout. And I think that having abortion on the ballot in November is going to be a huge push in that direction as well. So on the statewide level, the Missouri Democratic Party has, obviously, we are supporting Kamala Harris and they are working with candidates from the top of the ballot all the way down to make sure Democrats get elected. But what my focus is, is with the Missouri House Democratic Caucus. As someone in leadership, I am really proud of the fact that my leader, Crystal Quaid, has done so much work over the last six years building a bench in Missouri where there really was none when she got elected in 2018, or 2016, sorry. And so for the last eight years, she's been building the House Democratic Campaign Committee up to where it is today. And this year, we have recruited 83% of House seats are being challenged this year. And that's a record for Missouri Democrats. And so one of the things that I suggest people do is go to mohousedems.com. That is how you can find State House candidates running in your district. Because the truth of the matter is, is that it's a real long shot for Kamala Harris to win Missouri, right? We can get out and vote and we can do a lot of things, but it's probably a long shot for her to carry the state. But what's not a long shot is flipping House seats and ending the super majority. That is really where we can do some work this year. So finding State House candidates near you is going to be the best opportunity to get involved in my opinion this year. - Sure. And I know that there aren't a lot of people out there who have ever heard of Stuart Seimington or Thomas Eagleton. But you know, there used to be Democrats that came from Missouri. And so, you know, it's not impossible to flip the state. I mean, like you say, it's way out of line with anything that anybody imagined before Kamala Harris, but you know, once you get one of these as they like to say waves going, you just don't know. And as you pointed out perfectly, women are such an important part. I think they're an important part in all the country. But in Missouri, there's a ballot issue which is going to drive women to the polls in the same way that we've seen in places like Kansas. You know, and you know, if you can win in Kansas and you can win in Ohio, you know, you can win. - Absolutely. And you know, I grew up in Kansas. I grew up on the other side of the state line. So I, when that ballot initiative was going, or when that ballot question was going on in Kansas, from my side of the state, I'm just a hop skip and a jump away from Kansas here in Platte County. So I was watching so closely. And what I saw is people, it wasn't a Democrat or a Republican issue at all. It was about freedom. - Sure. - It was about whether or not the government can tell you what to do in your exam room. And the message is resounding. It's very clear how people feel. And I'm really excited that this is going to be happening in Missouri this year. 'Cause what we're going to see, it hasn't happened yet, but we're going to see an enormous campaign being stood up in Missouri, probably bigger than what happened in Kansas if I'm being honest. And there's going to be a lot of excitement. There's going to be a lot of volunteer opportunities. There are going to be chances to call voters and write postcards and knock on doors. And that really excites me because that is going to be a big piece of the puzzle that we need to make sure candidates like me and candidates, you know, in the state house and who are trying to flip seats in the state Senate have an even stronger leg up come November. - Yeah. And I understand that abortion is the issue, although it's not like, for example, you know, Donald yesterday saying that the Black Journalists Association talking about, you know, Democrats, you know, killing their kids after they're born. So, you know, how they even say things like that, it's just ridiculous. But it's more nonsensical with this wave of support going on. And the other thing is this. And here's what, you know, I really try to put on everybody. So I'm going to throw it on you too. And I'm sure you know this, but there are a lot of people out here. Here's the word abortion and it does upset them, you know, just does some people. And here's the thing, it's not about abortion. It's about thousands and thousands of women who let's say are pregnant and want to have children. And let's say at 20 weeks, their water breaks and they're in trouble. And they go to the emergency room and the doctors say, somebody's going to accuse me of doing an abortion. So I can't take care of you. And you end up with people in serious trouble medically. And anybody that wants this either for themselves or for their kids, they have to be nuts. - I agree, I agree. I think that, you know, when people take time to actually understand the issue around abortion, people do understand that every pregnancy is different, every body is different. So making one law that affects every single pregnancy that happens in a state is absurd on its face. But it's also insulting to the women who have had challenging pregnancies, who have lost pregnancies, who desperately want to be a parent, but their bodies for whatever reason, it's not happening, right? And so we hear horror stories, we've heard horror stories since the Dobs decision came down in Missouri. I saw another article today of a woman who's suing KU Med here in Kansas City for the treatment she did not receive when she miscarried. And one of the things, I knock a lot of doors here in Flat County to win my race. And one of the things, I had a really fascinating conversation with a woman a few weeks ago, who looked at me and with fear, but also an insane amount of just empathy and kindness, she looked at me, my eye and said, representative, you've heard these stories and I've heard these stories because they've happened to our friends and our mothers and our aunts and our cousins. But I'm afraid that the men still don't hear our stories and that's why they haven't come along with us. That's why they're not here yet. We have to keep telling our stories. And she was so impassioned and she's right. Women hear these stories every single day, but it's not just about women, it's about families. It's about the men who want these children too. It's about the doctors who want to provide care and it's about communities who want to have the freedom to live, how they need to live and receive the care they need to receive. - Yeah, unfortunately, as upbeat as I am about all these other things that are going on, I don't think the men are really going to hear it. I think that they're, even though they're married, yeah, and they've got daughters, sure, but honestly, they're in a little bit of another world. And maybe eventually, but I do think that certainly women, black voters and young people, that's a winning combination. And any men that you can bring along, hey, that's great too. - Absolutely, hey, white men for Harris or white dudes for Harris the other day, right? Like that's a showing. They raised money, they showed up and listen, this coalition does not work without men, it just doesn't. And I'm so grateful for the voices that continue to lift up women's stories around this issue because we've got to keep talking about it, we've got to keep sharing because the more empathy that exists in the world for folks who are going through this, the easier these policy decisions will be. - Yeah, a lot of people, aside from what we've been talking about, they worry about inflation, we hear that all the time. What do you hear out there talking to people? I know you're knocking doors, which is the way you have to win elections, that's a necessity. And aside from those doors, where you are in Jeff City, in Kansas City, what are you hearing about the feelings about inflation? - I think that the feelings around inflation, I haven't heard it on doors as much this cycle as I expected to, if I'm being honest. People have been far more concerned about extremism in our state. Interestingly, I've heard a lot more about the border this year than I have about inflation. But what I do hear about inflation, what I hear is people being frustrated with costs for all sorts of things, and not just the increase in pricing, but frustration around how to deal with these medical bills or how to deal with feeling like they've been preyed upon with a loan or a credit card or something else. And I will say, I do represent a relatively affluent area compared to many districts in the state. And so that might be a reason. I'm not hearing it personally as much on doors this year. - You mentioned the border. And I keep hearing all of these very bizarre ads which are unique to Missouri because they come from this guy, Lincoln Huff. I mean, what's his story? He's got, first of all, I always say, I mean, the lieutenant governor doesn't do anything anyway. He certainly doesn't do anything having to do with the border. What's this not? What's wild is he's not the nut in the race. (laughing) - Okay. - He's the reasonable one. But as we know here in Missouri, and I use that word very loosely of course, but here in Missouri, if you wanna win a Republican primary, you've gotta run to the right of your opponents. And that's just how it works. So we see folks like Mike Kehoe and Lincoln Huff trying to run to the right of their opponents when most folks who know them in Jeff City understand that they are not the most conservative person in that race. Unfortunately, the national news media has grabbed onto this idea of a border crisis and it's being plastered all over, especially conservative news outlets. And so that's what I hear on doors. I actually, I was appointed this year to an interim commission, a special interim commission on illegal immigrant crimes that the speaker put together. We actually just had two hearings this week in Springfield and Joplin. And it's been a really interesting piece of the puzzle to me as I knock on doors and I hear about concerns over the border and then I go into communities and hear what the repercussions of that look like across Missouri. - Yeah. And one of the things about Missouri that maybe somebody has noticed, I don't know, it's possible they didn't, but our southern border is not in Mexico. I mean Missouri is a little bit north of the border, but okay, so they haven't figured out that part yet, but you mentioned crime among immigrants. And actually on my website, which is talkstl.net, there is a place where I have all these articles and one of them is on border crime. Crime among immigrants, which I try to explain to people, which they don't, they find they can't hear sometimes. Crime among people who come from these other countries is absolutely the lowest of any crime that we have in the United States. - Right. - It's just the people who come from these other countries, I mean sure you can find somebody that committed a crime, sure, no question, but the overall crime level is very low. - It's very low, and frankly what we do see in the data, and not in the data just anecdotally because there is no data, is that immigrants are far less likely to report being victimized in our state and in our country for fear of not having the correct documentation for the language barriers, or simply for the fact that they came from a country where there was not a good relationship with law enforcement and they just simply don't feel comfortable. We actually heard, one of the things I do appreciate about this committee that I'm on is that Representative Lane Roberts is the chair and he's done a great job from the moment this committee started of making sure that we are not just focusing on crimes committed by illegal immigrants, but also on crimes committed on immigrants in our state. We want to know how are folks being taken advantage of? Yesterday we heard from someone talking about labor exploitation. We've heard about human trafficking so far. We've heard of scams, real estate scams, people have been victims of, and a lot of this has to do with language barriers and people taking advantage of folks who are here and kind of scared. And so it's been a really interesting kind of turn. I think that the existence of the committee really concerned a lot of people in the name of the committee is very concerning and misleading. But I think that the work we're doing in there is actually, it has the potential to be effective. We'll see. - We'll see. And let me, you know, finish by saying that, you know, I happen to be both a teacher, high school seniors, they learn government in my classes. Some people think it's communism, but that's a joke and another story. But anyway, you know, really great kids. And someday you may find yourself over on this side of the state. And I love to bring representatives and leaders into the classroom to talk with these young people. They're very smart. And in fact, a big group of them will be in Jeff City with Missouri youth in government during this year. And so maybe we'll have a chance to look you up along the way as well. - That would be great. Yeah, oh, please do, please do. It's one of the best parts of this job is talking to young people about what we do because getting people civically engaged early is so crucial to a functioning democracy down the road. - Absolutely. Listen, representative Ashley Ani, right? - Yes, that's right. - Okay, good. I wanna thank you very much for being here with us. And we'll catch you again soon. - Thank you so much for having me. - Okay. So we're gonna go do a little business here real quick and then we're going to check in with Jim Modlan and see what the Republican Donald Trump world is thinking. And we wanna make sure that Jim is okay, that he's not too depressed right now. I wanna make sure that he's feeling all right because we care about everybody. Hi, Jim, how are you? - Good, how are you doing, buddy? - I'm good. So we're gonna just do a little business, you can sit back for a second, we're gonna sell a few things and then I'll be with you in one second. - Sounds good. - Okay, so first of all, I wanna mention the great restaurant here in Chesterfield Valley and that is, see, is there a sign up there? No, okay. There it is, Wenties, and Wenties is at 18,000 Chesterfield Airport Road and that is in Chesterfield Valley and they've got great food, they've got everything from wings to hamburgers, cheeseburgers, patty melts. The smoke meats are really great, everybody loves the smoke meats. They've got salads, they've got great drinks and when I say great drinks, their iced tea is fabulous 'cause I'm not really a drinker but I definitely love their iced tea, it really is excellent. And on top of all of that, they've got baby back ribs and onion rings which I really do love. And all of that is at Wenties, 18,000 Chesterfield Airport Road and on top of that, if you go to Defiance, Missouri, you're gonna get the same great food because there's another Wenties in Defiance, 29, 99, South Highway 94 and so two great places, same great food, it's Wenties, check them out. I always say, you know, Ben and his wife have really built a heck of a set of restaurants, just a great environment to eat and excellent food, Wenties. Now, if you're looking for jewelry, you wanna go to 4506 and that's Hampton in St. Louis and that's Jules on Hampton. And they've got in that store, which is actually a pretty big store, it's a little bigger than what you think when you walk into the outside but it's filled with cases and cases all throughout the store of jewelry that they've got for sale, which some of it they've bought from people because they buy and sell jewelry and coins and they're very good as far as pricing and I can tell you that when you take a look at what they've got for sale, they're really very creative in terms of designing jewelry and they'll design what you want, they'll design something creative if you ask them to do it on their own, they just, they're great. Al and AJ just run a super business, they're very nice people, everybody loves them and all you have to do is go to 4506 Hampton and you will get everything at Jules on Hampton and don't forget, if your watch is broken, they fix watches. Jules on Hampton. And finally, one of my favorites of all time is the St. Louis suit company where I get all my men's clothing and of course, in 2024, it's the best of all worlds because I can dress in a suit, which you're looking at me right now and it looks all fine. Of course, I also wear nice new jeans and chucks, I've got my chucks. So, you know, that's just where it is today and it was so funny because I walked into one of the elevators at WashU the other day and somebody walked in right next to me and said, "Are you a weatherman?" Because as you know, one of the weatherman dresses just like this, it's very fashionable and I like to be with fashion. That's the St. Louis suit company and they are at the corner of Forsyth and Central in Clayton and one of the other great things about them, aside from the suits, aside from the fact that right now they've got overcoats that are very nicely priced, nobody wants one because it's so hot outside, but that's the whole point. Buy it when no one wants it and you're gonna pay a better price. Okay, so all that's good but they also are very famous for helping you to get married. They'll get you married in wedding attire that is all the best because they're famous for it and that is the St. Louis suit company in Clayton. Okay, so we're done with all that, all the capitalism, so now we can go to communism. Is that right, Jim? No, no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Okay, so I gather that your compadres couldn't make it today, but that's okay. That's all right. So the problem's been next week, we'll have both of them. No, that's terrific, we love you. And you are a Trump supporter, right? Absolutely. Okay, now, do you have a smile on your face this week? I do. You do, tell us why. I just got off the air here just a minute ago with the minority whip in Jefferson City who was all smiles because the Democratic party is on fire with enthusiasm because of Kamala Harris. So how does it look on the other side? They just got rid of Joe. I think that's what they're all excited about. I don't think Kamala Harris, once the newness of all this wears off is gonna do, I don't think she's gonna do any better to be honest with you. I think you'll start seeing the numbers go in the opposite direction. So what did you think today when Joe Biden accomplished something just incredible? And that is four people coming back from Russia who have been in jail and obviously Evan Gerskovich from the Wall Street Journal and Paul Whalen a famous marine who was over there and a couple of other American citizens who are Russians or one of them's an American citizen and one has a green card, but all four of them just came back and this was an incredible accomplishment and it was all done by Joe Biden. What do you think? Is that impress you? I mean, do we really know if it was done by Joe Biden? Well, who else was it done by? I mean, I don't know enough about it. Actually, I did hear what you're talking about. I caught it briefly. I've been busy most in the morning. Sure. But I don't know enough on it to comment about it. Okay, well, let me also add why you're doing your research after you get off the air, the head of Germany said today that the reason he went along with this deal is because they needed this guy out of the German prison to go back to Russia. They needed to get him because that's what Russia really wanted. This guy, he's a killer. And the Germans have had him locked up and the head of Germany said that he would have never let this guy out except for he did it for Joe Biden. How's that sound? (laughs) You know what, I honestly don't know. I hear it, so he let a killer go back to Russia. That was similar to the situation when we got the basketball player back, wasn't it? Yes, very similar, yeah. Yeah, we let a guy go. There was a known arms dealer, I believe. Yeah, bad guy, but not as bad as the guy in Germany. Yeah, the guy in Germany was really horrible. And to be fair, let me tell you what else was said today. You know, Donald said, said I could have got that guy back without giving up anything. And Joe Biden responded when asked the question by some reporters at a news conference. He said, let me throw back to Donald that he was the president of the United States. Why didn't he do it? It's about this guy in Germany. Yeah, no, why didn't he get everybody back out of Russia without giving up a killer? Because Donald's saying he could have done it without any help whatsoever. He could have just walked in and done it. He has already said he could do it on day one. Well, that's over now because Joe Biden has done it. You know, I'm teasing you a little bit, but at the same time, I'm wondering, does any of this start to bother you that Donald is sort of maybe talking a little crazy? No, I don't think Donald Trump's crazy by any means. I think he talks a big talk and he always has it who he is. But I mean, he backed up most of it when he was president. I mean, the stuff, let's face it, we had no new wars when he was president. He won over and negotiated what, two or three peace treaties? Was actually up for Nobel Prize, peace prize a couple of different times. Well, I think that was what he said, but... Well, I mean, it was factual. I don't think the committee said that that was, that's all right, but go ahead. But anyway, yeah, I mean, here, he talks a big talk. He always have, that's the thing about him. He either loved it or you ate it. And in all honesty, I'm somewhere in the middle. You know, I liked the guy for, I was thinking about this today. You know, you look back at 2017 through 2021, look at the economy, look at it the last three years. Look at this country, the last three years, three and a half years. And you can't possibly tell me, you'd prefer these last three and a half years to back then, can you? Well, and that's the amazing thing on our side. Yeah. We think it's actually better. Wow. We think, yeah, in that, I mean, it's just, it's, you know, like they say sometimes on MSNBC, it's Earth One and Earth Two. We're just looking at it from a different side. Our morning show here completely agrees with you. You know, I come in here and say these things and their eyes are rolling. Not bad. Yeah. Okay, I'll tell you, I want you to look at something and let's throw up this chart on inflation that I gave you if you can do that, Joe. There we go. So are you able to see that chart? Yes. Okay. So this is a chart that goes back of 50 little, no, actually, I think 60 years. And I'm trying to get that out of my, there we go. Okay, I got it out of my sight. Something you didn't see. But anyway, so okay, that chart goes back 60 years and you can see that there were some big spikes in inflation and of course, one of them we all know was in the 1980s and you can see that there was sort of a double whammy in the 1980s followed each time by recessions and here we are and you can see that big spike that we had here following COVID and look where inflation is now. That's sky, huh? No, no, look where it is on the end of the chart. It's all the way back down to the lowest it's been. Now this is a little different than the number you normally think about. This is, it's say, if you read on the chart, it says consumer prices for durable goods, okay? So this is big money items that people are buying, everything from cars to refrigerators to everything. And you can see that right here where we are currently, I mean, we're down as far to the bottom as we have been at any time in the last 60 years. I mean, you see that, right? - No, I see that on your chart, yeah. - Okay, there you go. Okay, so you can take my chart off now, Joe. I just wanted to show it. So, you know, because a lot of times we get into these arguments about what's true and what's not true and I mean, that's just what's true. The fact is that there is a giant downturn in our commodity markets, and I know you know a little bit about markets, and our commodity markets are way down. And in fact, one of the things that's at an all time low is the price of lumber, which has obviously a lot to do with building homes. So I'm just saying things are not as clear as some of the statements that are made by number one people in general. And certainly, not as clear as what Donald says, 'cause Donald says that we're out of control. But I think you saw on that chart that we're far from out of control. - So when you talk about lumber being at being solo right now, when did that happen? - Recently, you know, the last six months. - Well, I was gonna say, because I got a friend that owns a roofing business, another friend that owns a construction business. And they've been talking these last three years about how lumber's gotten ridiculous. - It was way up. - Everything is. - You're right. - Did you happen to watch that thing that was going around the internet? I did some research on it. I got it on my thing. I'll send it to you later. - Sure. - The guy that did, I guess you buy most of his stuff to your Walmart. And you might know what I'm talking about. If you go into your Walmart account and you do these, like my wife orders a lot for pickup. And he had an order in his basket from 2000, and 2020 or the beginning of 2021. - Sure. - And it was $120 worth of stuff. And it was right after they had just come out about what department, but with the Democrats. And he said that it was groceries were only up 20%. So in $100, it would be $120 now. This guy did the exact same order. It was $120 then, and it was over $400. The exact same order. He ordered the same items again. And so how can that be 20% of makes no sense? - Well, first of all, I'd love to see it. Okay, you know, if you've got it, send it to me. - I will. - Because I'd love to see it. I do the shopping at the grocery store in my family. - Good to know. - And I can tell you that I see, and then everybody here in the morning show goes crazy when I say this, only the tiniest difference in the prices, let's say over the last four years and where we are today. But let me give you an example of something that can confuse you, or I'm not, I don't mean you, but anybody, as an example, if you go to CVS pharmacy, and you may know the ACT mouthwash, it's heavily fluoride mouthwash, and yeah. So, okay, it's very popular. My dentist, yesterday, went to the dentist, had my teeth cleaned, and they said, are you using your ACT? Yes, I am, relax, okay. So, okay, it's a big thing. So, a big giant bottle at the CVS, at Target down the street here from our studio, is $6.50, and, you know, two, three years ago, you could have gotten the same thing for about $5.75. Okay, it's up a little bit, not much, but, you know, 20% over several years. But listen to this, Jim, this is what's crazy. If you go to the CVS that's right down the street in Creve Corps, that is a standalone, and it's not in Target, that same mouthwash is $9.50. So, I will grant you that you can find a company that, within its own company, they're doing crazy things. That's gouging people, because you can go to the CVS down the street here and get it for $6.50, and, by the way, you can get it for $6.75 over at Deerburgs, or Snooks, but it's only at the CVS, the standalone, where they're selling it for $9.50. So, that's one thing, you gotta be careful. Another thing, the cereal that I eat, which is very popular, is right now, five and a quarter, and for a box, and I can tell you that three, four years ago, five years ago, is five, five and a quarter. Now, you know, so, there are a lot of things that are far more reasonable. And then, again, you might be able to find some things like that crazy mouthwash deal, where the price is out of control, and, on the other hand, you don't wanna blame that on any political person, because if CVS is doing that in one store, and they're doing something different in another store, they're saying wrong with CVS. It's not a political decision, right? - Yeah. - Yeah, so, I mean, it's a little complicated. Now, the Federal Reserve, they certainly monitor inflation, and they say that overall, which is their favorite index of inflation, they say it's back down to two and a half percent per year. It was up to nine very briefly, and now it's a two and a half. Now, of course, there are some price rises that occurred during that period of time that aren't going back, because you know the stores, once they raise the price, they don't wanna ever bring them back down again, right? - Yeah. - Yeah, so that's true. However, the overall inflation right now is sitting around two and a half percent, and the Fed is keeping their interest rates up in order to try to get it that down just a little bit more down towards two percent, and there are absolutely consequences of this. Some of those consequences are that at some point, people may start losing some jobs. The Federal Reserve said that yesterday. They haven't seen it yet, but it may start to happen at some point, because that's what happens when interest rates are high. So, let me ask you this. Do you think the Federal Reserve is a good idea or not? - Man, what is the Federal Reserve right now? What is the actual set reserve? - The shortest term rate is sitting at five to five and a quarter. - Five and a five and a quarter. - Yeah. - It was up to what? Seven and a half. - No, no, no, that's the highest it's been. It's been sitting at five, five and a quarter. Mortgage rates, on the other hand, did get up to over eight percent. They're now sitting around seven. So, they're still high, sure. - Yeah, no, they're definitely high, that's for sure. - But no, of course, but the Fed is doing it intentionally. Do you think, 'cause I talked to a lot of people on your side who think that the Federal Reserve should be eliminated? And in fact, you know, Project 2025, which Donald says he never heard of before, but actually he ordered it. They say on page 731 to 739, they want to get rid of the Fed. (chuckles) I mean, how do, this is a regular person. I mean, how do you feel about that? Do you think Donald's on track there, or no? - If he's got a plan, I'm telling you right now, what I've read of Project 2025, I like most of it. - Okay. - I think it's an absolute great plan. From what happened this last, and obviously we're on a show here where I know most of your listeners, obviously, are Democrats. - Well, that's not totally true, by the way. No, but okay, okay. - Anyway, from what's happened these last three years with immigration and, you know, with inflation and everything else that's gone on, the gas prices out of this world. It's almost $4 a gallon of Illinois where I live. It was $1.89 right towards end of Trump's term. I mean, things like that when you got seven kids and four kids at home, especially groceries, I know you say there's not much difference, but I beg to differ because she does these orders and I pick up groceries, stuff that, you know, we would have spent, you know, $200 and got a week's worth of groceries four years ago. Now $200 gets us a few days. I mean, it's not any day different. And, you know, a box of cereal, which we get the family back, now is about $6 for most of the brands, like Crave and stuff like that, which used to be like $3.99. It's one-up dramatically. Now, you know, you're picking out a few different things and there are some things that haven't won up as much. I'm sure somewhere you could find something to one down, but, you know, look at, look at what eggs for a while. Eggs were just outrageous. - They were, they came down. - They've gotten more reasonable. - Yeah. - They're still hiring what they were, but there you got it more reasonable. But I just think that something drastic has to be done to turn around the mess that Biden has created and the left in general. I mean, look at the, I know they said, I've heard 10,000, I've heard 20,000, all these undocumented illegals that come in the country that are all over the place. We talked about 10 million in Chicago last week where the black Americans have started a group in Chicago that they say they're gonna vote for Trump because of all that money that they just gave millions to illegals that aren't even citizens instead of helping out some of those neighborhoods. And, you know, there's, I know you've got to know what I'm talking about. It was all over the news a few weeks ago. - Well, that's part of the Earth One Earth Two story because it's all over the right-wing news, but the left-wing news says it's fake. I'm just telling you, you know. - Here, I watched the stories and the interviews and I don't watch Fox, just, you know. - Yeah, that's all right. - Yeah. - But anyway, I mean-- - Well, what did you think, yes, 'cause you're talking about that black vote, that's gonna be an interesting one. Donald says it's gonna be about 25% this year and I say he's gonna get five. Now, we're gonna find out 97 days exactly what he gets, although unfortunately we may be arguing over the election because I think after he gets trounced, he's gonna say it was rigged. But putting that aside for the moment, what did you think about yesterday with the black women at the Black Journalism Association event? Did you catch that? - Oh, you talking about where he was talking about Kamala Harris? - Yeah. - And said that she's not black. - He said that among other things, right? - Here's one thing, she's not black. But secondly, when he said it, it was the wrong time to say it. (laughing) - I don't think so. - No, I mean, he did a, he screws up all the time. I mean, one thing being a, not just a Republican, but being a Trump supporter is you got, what you understand is we believe fully that he can turn this country around. That's why we're so adamant about getting him back in the White House. But we know 97 days as a Trump supporter is like three or 400 days to most people because we know that in the next 97 days, he's capable of doing more bad to himself than he is good. And I know you know what I'm talking about. - Sure, I know very well. Just because of his life. - I watched him yesterday. - Because he says stuff, he says stupid stuff. He says it all the time. Sometimes he says stuff, just, I mean, you're never, you're never left wondering what the guys think and that's for sure. But he says stuff that he should never say. And you know that his whole crew's got to be thinking just cringing, you know, shaking their head thinking, how do we get this guy to stop saying some of this stuff at the times that he says it? I'm not gonna sit here and stick up for him for that. He does say stupid stuff. And my only concern is I don't believe for a second she can beat him in this election. But if she were to beat him, I truly believed that, I mean, he's the only one, he's his own worst enemy. He's the only one that can knock himself down far enough to lose to her. That's my full belief. - Yeah, and, you know, we're almost at the end here. How about the cat lady thing, which seems to be just totally out of control. I mean, Donald supports it. JD Vance is doubling and tripling down on it. You're a guy out there that's got a giant family and you love your family. You know, how do you feel about him saying what he has about people who don't have children? - I'll be straight up with you. I don't know that whole story. I've caught that briefly recently. I thought it was something that JD Vance said. - It is, yeah. - It is. - He's defending it, but yeah, JD Vance said it. - Yeah. - All right, I would, again, I would have to get, I would have to do a little more research on that and get back with you on it. I don't know. I was shocked that he bit JD Vance. I do like JD Vance because he's a veteran. That's one thing I really like about him. You know, he is young, he's inexperienced. But I don't know. I mean, like I said, I'd have to get back when you're there on that one. - Okay, well listen, one of the things as you and anybody else that's watching can see is that you can be on Earth one and Earth two and you can still get along fine, no problems. You know, we talk about it. Yeah, if we're on different planets, we just are. But we can talk about it. And Jim, I appreciate you and I'm looking forward to next week for the whole group, but we love you. And for WENTies and for the St. Louis Suit Company and for Jules on Hampton, I'm Mark Casen with Jim Modlan today. This is Showdown. Good night.