FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
Lt Gov. Will Ainsworth - Jeff Poor Show - Monday 7-08-24
I'm a county jail revival. I'm a bottle and a bottle. I'm a grown-and-stone disciple with a cross across my face I'm a trailer park tornado jagged inches on my halo. Hope to cherry hit go swing low and carry me away This little out of mind damn near Burmese alive No, I know is that mama tried now. I don't know if I Hey, welcome back to the jump for sure to talk where those six five. They stay with us on this Monday Another one of our marquee guest leaders in the state lieutenant governor will angel joins us here in Alabama for the the breakfast they put on Every fourth of july what they call the potato festival they do a parade and they just kind of a old-timey Political events to weigh the speaker described it, but a governor good morning. Are you good morning? Good morning? Good to be here. I've been at the potato festival and the parade with my family Every year they've done it So it's a big hit for the kids we buy a bunch of candy and Get flags and posters and decorate the truck and I let my daughter do the poster She you know writes what she wants to on there for celebrate fourth of july and then get a bunch of candy and I think the boys enjoy trying to try to use their baseball skills and see if they can hit somebody with candy as much as they do Throwing it out, but it's a fun event that's become a tradition And it's a lot of people here, you know, and it's just I think a great thing That's just kind of what make America great and Alabama great It's just you know things like this and how to get breakfast this morning You know with biscuits bacon and then I get ready to go do the parade so we get good healthy breakfast there Yeah, well how you been you know, you were there for the session that was if you got your ceilings back under you now Yeah, no, I think certainly Outside of sessions been great. We've finished up baseball season with the boys I've been working just kind of going across the state to different districts visiting with people and You're hearing a lot of good things from people outside of inflation and what's going on in DC I mean most of people are pretty happy with what we're doing in the state happy with economy happy with us keeping our state conservative And you know for the most part we're pleased with what we did. I mean, I don't think anybody's a hundred percent pleased But but the message I hear from people across the states. They're pretty happy with what's going on in the state They're not that thrilled about what's going on in DC. They think Biden's a joke And I think obviously like, you know, you look at the debate last week Wow, right? I never thought and you know my lifetime that we'd have a president that couldn't articulate just basic Sentences and messages about what he's talking about pretty scary if you think about that and you know take out Republican Democrat Just having a president that cannot communicate clearly, you know, that's bad for America. It shows us where the disconnect is so governor Republicans concerned to see this about him for a while now and it was just like oh, that's just propaganda or it's a Russia or Whatever, it's a you know, I got it's cheap fakes or whatever No, like the country saw something very very I'll say scary. Yeah, no doubt and I think Man, I saw a map and I mean, you know election's still way off But it was wild the number of states that are you know gonna be read which means you know going for Republicans Trump I mean all the swing states and even some that haven't been in play I mean he might lose because I think at the end of the day people it will not they expect and want a president That's competent that can actually do the job that can you know go out and you know access I mean look, you know obviously being commander-in-chiefs a huge deal and making sure we protect America now is Really important. There's a lot of threats out there And if you got somebody doesn't understand what's going on They're not gonna be capable of doing that and I think that's what's going on in the American people is that they're you know They've solved now. There's no hiding it, right? Right? I mean, you know If I was Biden's people they should have just kept them, you know like they've been doing right and you know kept them in the closet Not let them out. It's not let them debate, you know, it's just pouring will age worth or running the body campaign He's at Walter Reed their last Thursday night at it. He's not no where any way. He's near Atlanta, Georgia at that stage Yeah, I know exactly. I mean I think that was a huge mistake But I think the great thing is is it was the right thing for America's just now Americans can see that this guy is not capable of being president period I don't care how they spent it like and so I think that I'm a Republican I'm a Trump fan So I'm excited the fact that I think we're gonna win back the White House But I think you know, there's a lot of people that are moderates that are independents that are just you know I think really worried about what they saw and they should be so I feel good about Taking back DC in the Senate the house and then also the presidency and I think that's gonna be a good thing for America Well, who do you think's right in the country right now in the meantime? I think you've got a lot of people that work for him and special interest, right? I mean, that's pretty scary. I mean think about it. I mean cuz I don't think I was talking to somebody else the other day Get my haircut just you know, obviously when you get a haircut you talk and I was like man I think he's really the worst and these people older than me that I was talking to you and they said well Maybe Carter and they kind of went through and they said no Carter was at least somewhat competent Right president Biden really doesn't even know what's going on which is scary So this is who we voted for this is who you know people voted for and I Don't think they got what they were voting for Yeah, no, not at all. Look, I've got a grandmother that's got some issues with you know dementia, right? And there's a lot of similarities right and it's just like but my grandmother has somebody that helps takes care of her She's not running our country right and I think right the fact that we've got somebody that there's a lot of similarities Sometimes she knows what going on sometimes she doesn't and I just in shock when you go like start watching all these videos there's a pattern and Anyway, I say all that to say I feel I Hate that that's going on with them. I hate that he's our president But I feel really good that he's not gonna be our president going forward. So that's good news Well, how about yourself here now a year ago. I was sitting in this room and this house speaker He endorsed you for governor. There you go. What? Now yeah, when do you expect it? I guess we'll wait till the settles of snowboard recycle And then you're gonna make some decisions about what you're gonna do and the 26. Yeah, so You know right now we're focused on trying to be the most active lieutenant governor the states had and I think so far We lived up to that and then work on solving issues for the people I think it's a problem if you're in an office and you're sitting there trying to run for another So we're just trying to do our job as lieutenant governor. I do a good job Solve issues with military solve issues with small business solid issues with workforce I'm going to London in July to help recruit industry here And that's if the air show for airspace and defense and so just trying to do my job as far as timeline for me November doesn't really do anything with me, right? But so but you roll into next year After Memorial Day, I think it's the Tuesday after Memorial Day Exactly share on the date on that but towards the end of May right 28 29 something like that is when you can That's a year out from the primary which is when you could start, you know raising money So I would think that you know, I'd have to have a decision made by sometime in May, right? You know what I was gonna do if I was gonna run for governor. I can't run for lieutenant governor I'm term-limited, right? That's the only thing I would run for so I would even run for governor or go back to running businesses and you know I could be happy either way. I Think certainly if I did run for governor you look at our record of what we've done fighting taxes keeping our state conservative fighting woke agenda You know certainly we've got a good record to run on and I think we could continue to move our state forward But right now I'm just focused on trying to do my job as lieutenant governor. Well, let's talk about Your role as lieutenant governor What's different than the last lieutenant governor's like you're very more active and you're I mean you got policy The the grocery tax for example, you're you know trying to try to shore up votes and support for that reduction You know, you took the job and made it something that maybe it hadn't been in the past. Yeah, I mean I think you know I think in anything in life, you know, whatever your job is it's what you make it right? And so my thing when I came in is I didn't run for lieutenant governor Just have the title I ran to actually make a difference and move our state forward And I think you know if you think of the things we've let on right, you know cutting taxes We've been we pushed more tax cuts through then in the history of our state school choice historic, right? I mean, I've been out front on that for a long time and we got it done, right? And that's gonna be great for families in our state You look at can you know workforce development? We're finally gonna have a diploma that's gonna help kids that aren't going to two or four Your college that's so common sense, you know, and we should have done this 10 15 20 years ago just to give students a chance and You know having things to you know help families right whether it's tax credit for families trying to have more affordable housing You know, I think you know actually Push them back against, you know, so many people are afraid to speak out, you know I've called John Cooper out for not doing a good job, you know I mean and I'm gonna keep doing that because you know in my opinion. He's we're in North, Alabama he has totally In my opinion disrespected North, Alabama by the lack of infrastructure funding in comparison to the growth we've seen and I don't think he's done a good job. I'll say it again. He needs to be fired, right? I mean he does not do a good job as DOT director continues to neglect major projects and then he sits there and puts priority on projects like 43 in Southwest, Alabama, that's you know fine if you want to do that But it's a horrible idea to do that project without getting federal funding Yeah, it's just a no matching, right? Yeah, I mean and so you know, it's just not wise and so, you know, we're working on a plan right now that we're gonna and You know to make sure that you know 65 gets wide and it can be done right? I talked to President Trump about it when he was in town a year ago and But if you look at it, you know, we can do that over him, you know, probably take eight to ten years From Huntsville to Mobile do it in stretches, you know find out the areas of the state You know, they're most congested and we're working on some of that now So I mean, where do you where do you get the money for something like this? Like do you? Well, we had the money it's an 80/20 match from the feds on the interstate, so, you know, that's my argument down there We could do you know to do? Different estimates I've heard anywhere from ten to fifteen billion dollars to do what I want to do on I-65 Okay, depending on and I think me being in construction business, I could probably negotiate that That we don't really have a good system for that Especially with the state going to this construction management model like with these prisons The construction costs have just gone through the roof and especially with government tries to do construction. Yeah, no exact So I think on I-65 let's just get to the right. How do we get that done, right? So you take that money on what they're spending on 43, right? Which is gonna probably end up being 1.5 billion state money not a dollar of federal money now you let me have that money and draw down use that as a match to draw down 80% 65's done and so my message to the people of Alabama is that a better use of our funds to take that money and draw down 80% right so now you're looking at you know 15 billion dollars being spent on roads Or are we gonna spend a hundred percent on one project and then you know and then bond and use different money? I mean, it's just common sense, right? Anybody would say if you can draw down 80% 43 by the way would qualify for 90% Well, why aren't they pursuing the federal matching then and I know this gets into the governor and John Cooper, but it doesn't make sense does it? Yeah, I think the reason they don't want to is because it takes a little bit longer Having to go through some of the regulations But I'm just saying as a business person and somebody with common sense and basic numbers if you can get somebody to pay for 80 or 90% of it wake up. Well, what are you doing? I mean, what does that what needs to happen to get that matching like? are Is our delegation ready to go work on that like do you once you you know say you are governor day one and you you talk to them Like is it there for the taking our matches there? I mean all we've got to do is just you know apply for it and it's there, right? The federal matches there as long as the program qualifies and it does right the project not the program the project qualifies And so you know the frustrating part is we're not asking for any like, you know, for instance on the bridge They want like a lump sum. We're not asking for that. We're saying hey this project qualifies under what you have for You know DOT regulations or interstate regulations, and we're putting up this amount and then the feds match it and so Anyway, no look 65s and you know eight to ten year project But that I get more text on that than any other thing and it's not just a South Alabama thing It's a North Alabama thing from Coleman to Huntsville. The growth there is huge, right? You go through Birmingham It's a problem, but even like you know, we have eight million visitors a year that come to your part of the world the coast and You know, and I'll say this you talked about North Alabama I'd also make an argument Baldwin County, right is not getting its fair share money the amount of money that they You know, they're building that bridge at the beach, but I'm that's one bridge And then this is my perception of it They used it to force the toll company to the south of the state as leverage That's the best use of taxpayer money highway money. I don't think so. Yeah I mean, I think you know my points this right is always go back to dad and the data says there's eight million people coming to the coast Right, so that's awesome right for tourism and you know I think orange beach girl shores doing a great job But as a state we owe it to those cities in that county to make sure we get people in and out You know effectively and efficiently and then you know that funnels up to 65 and they go north growing up up here If we go around talk to everybody in this room a lot of people they'll save up and they go the beach for a week That's right, right? But it's becoming where normally it's five and a half six hour drive from here to go to Gulf shores orange Beach It's taking people nine ten hours Well, you're it's a Cinderella. It always says this like you have that place right there You know where I'm talking about right before you get to the devil will get you signed between that and clant next it there It where it backs up and you're having traffic jams and children Kelly Based on the checkout time at orange Beach, which is insane, right? Yeah, and so it's just something I think you know that You know we talk about yes the governor question, right? These are things I want to fix right and I think it's lieutenant governor I don't have the ability but I do have the ability to call out people that aren't doing a good job and John Cooper's one of those people well one more thing on that we'll get you out of here on this It's Tommy battle is running for governor. He always thought about 65 and he talked about it like this component of it You don't really hear much, but so 75 at Georgia is kind of there 65, right? and they have it six lane all the way from bow dost all the way to the Chattanooga city limits there and What that did though economically there's investment in all these interstate exits that kind of paid for it a little I mean ultimately the long run by widening 75 it opened it up and You don't really have that same thing with 65 But maybe you could if you did the right thing with it. Yeah, no doubt. I think look I think you know people are now starting to use other roads because of the congestion on 65 if you widen it I think the argument can certainly be made you're gonna get you know more people are gonna use that instead of taking other routes Which means you can have you know from an economic development standpoint the potential for more people to stop at exits gas stations restaurant right, I mean, you know And so like distribution facilities that these big trucks, you know They come in and out and they don't want to go sit and chill to county for an hour and on the distribution side But our poor we have an advantage of most states don't and that's only gonna continue to grow. Um, it's all a Forget article. This has been several months ago But where you know mobile port has the potential for the most growth of any port in the country, right? And so With us deepening that widening that but then also just with the fact that other ports are already at capacity They can't grow and ours can you're gonna see growth there on the container side on the shipment side coming in on the automotive side You know a lot of people don't realize a lot of the automotive stuff goes out of Savannah and We're trying to get that in the mobile. So I think Alabama's prime for growth. We got to keep it conservative We got to keep our taxes low got to continue to do things that help families and You know, we're gonna continuously growth But I think one of the things that we're gonna be foolish on looking back I think is you know if we do not stay ahead of the growth from an infrastructure standpoint It's gonna catch up with us Governor you're very kind of make time for us. So next time we're down our way stop by but Absolutely always good to be on Jeff We'll age work there. We'll be right back. This is the Jeff or show it at the top Oh Oh And don't go right long black train I said claim to father and his holy name and don't go right no that long black train Yeah, watch out brothers for that long black train (upbeat music)