Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 04-22-25_TUESDAY_7AM

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

04-22-25_TUESDAY_7AM

The Bill Meyer Show podcast is sponsored by Clouser Drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for over 50 years. Find out more about them at www.clouserdrilling.com. Here's Bill Meyer. So glad you're waking up here. It's 11 minutes after 7. Leah Voopmer joins me and she's a former pediatric nurse practitioner and Wisconsin state senator. So you are a lawmaker too.

You've seen both sides of the, shall we say, lawmaking and the medical world. Is that the case, Leah? Welcome to the show. Good to have you on. Thank you so much, Bill. Yes, I wear a few hats as well as being the running state government affairs for the National Taxpayers Union, the oldest taxpayer advocacy group in the country. So I get to combine all of those previous experiences into my current role and I love what I do. in the country. So I get to combine all of those previous experiences and into my current role and I love what I do. Thanks for coming on.

Okay, well, we need about 400 of you here in the state of Oregon because there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of taxpayer advocates going on here because we're just looked at as donkeys to be milked or just mules to be worked to death, I think, in the state of Oregon. I feel sorry for you I really do it but I appreciate the fact that you are a voice of common sense.

Trying our best here. Leah I wanted to talk with you about about the 340B situation here and it was a bill that the state legislature in Oregon passed and you guys at National Taxpayer Union are paying attention to this because it matters, but it was done supposedly to lower prescription drug prices, right? And that's always very popular. You hear about that. Hey, you're going to make my drugs cheaper. Hooray! But somehow it doesn't work out that way. Can you explain what 340B was supposed to happen, what expanding it might do,

and what's really happened so far? What do you say? Well, great question. The 340B program, I know it's a crazy name. People say, what the heck is 340B? It is actually a federal program which was designed exactly as you said to help low income and uninsured patients

and to give them access to affordable medication. you said, to help low income and uninsured patients and to give them access to affordable medication. A lot of things that happen in the legislature start with good intentions, but then suddenly there are cracks in the system that people will take advantage of. And in the case of the 340B program, it's really morphed into a revenue generator

for hospitals and for large pharmacy chains. Okay, so how would something that would reduce the price of drugs actually end up getting more money into the pharmacy chains and the hospitals? It sounds like that wouldn't be right. Not that I don't want them to have money because everybody has to be able to make a profit. I get that. Well, what happens is that the entities are buying drugs at a steep discount and they're getting them from the pharmaceutical manufacturers. And then what they do is they turn around and they

bill patients and taxpayers for the full price. And then guess what they do? They pocket the rest. And then guess what they do? They pocket the rest. And this is where it's become very problematic. And because of the federal program, it's really the fix has to occur at the federal level, but states are jumping in thinking, okay, we can try to fix this. The problem is what they're doing is cementing in all the worst parts of the federal program and allowing for this process to occur in even more pharmacies. And ultimately it's going to hurt those that require the help of the helping hand of government.

I mean, you and I, being in that we believe in smaller government, we still believe there is a role for government for certain things. And this was an honorable role and goal for government help. But unfortunately, it has been abused. And what states need to do is, first of all, defer to their federal counterparts and have them fix it. But there are some things that they could do in terms of requiring more transparency in a program which has completely gone has run amok and is not transparent at all. I wanted to ask you Leah, is there any connection because I spoke with a guest last week, maybe it

was a couple of weeks ago, about a real challenge for small local oriented pharmacies that were being driven out of business by pharmacy benefit managers and the PBMs that seem to be going on. Is there any connection with that and this particular problem or racket as I'm starting to think that it that it looks like here this 340 B problem? Is there any connection between the two? Absolutely, there is. Because PBMs are also part of the revenue generating club. It's not just hospitals and chain pharmacies. It is the pharmacy benefit managers. And there are definitely things that states could do to reform the PBMs. Again, it was a great idea. It was meant to provide

medications to all people at a lower cost, but unfortunately even with PBMs, there's been a lack of transparency and they become middlemen in a highly profitable program scheme. Yeah, well the middlemen have been getting rich in something which was supposed to be reducing the cost of pharmaceutical drugs that people are using and I don't know if if you've noticed but there doesn't seem to be anything going down On these prices these days. What do you think? No, they're not and this is an area where you know states could step in and this should Be a bipartisan effort. Let's let's face it should be a bipartisan effort. Let's face it. So our Democratic counterparts want to make sure that there's access to health care for the most vulnerable. Republicans are always concerned about

making sure that there's transparency and that the taxpayers' dollars are being used properly. This should be a marriage of the two sides moving forward and trying to protect the best parts of a program, but also protect taxpayers and patients. I mean, it's ridiculous how this program has been gone off the rails. And we have examples in other states. In North Carolina, 340B hospitals were charging cancer patients five times the cost of their medication. At the same time, they were building state health plans and taxpayers.

So the taxpayers are getting the full cost, but no one's getting the benefit. In Utah, the 340B mandate was projected to cost the state nearly $2 million in lost drug rebates. So think about that when it comes to your state employees and your state employee health care plan. And, well, I even look at, we have a county which does its own health plan when it comes to its local employees too. So I would imagine this affects all that kind of stuff. So

now the drug manufacturers in these 340b worlds are supposed to offer a steep discount on medications. I would imagine that these are probably some of the most common, the most common drugs, right? Where is it all of them? Well, there's usually a formulary when it comes to state programs. Okay. But they are offering the discounts, but the discounts aren't being realized, and that's where the problem is. And so what we really need to see is more accountability. Now when you say accountability, does that mean then that the hospital shouldn't be able to take the discount drug and then mark it up five times again? Right, they should be reporting how much revenue they earn from the program and how that money is spent. You know, it's very

clear that the program that was meant to help people who are needy, it's not happening. And most of the 340 drugs, I think in Oregon it's almost 50% of the 340 drugs, I think in Oregon, it's almost 50% of the 340B pharmacies aren't even in low income areas. They're in affluent parts of your state. So this program that was meant for the needy is clearly not reaching the people that need the program the most. We can go on and talking about different things

that could be done, but certainly transparency and requiring that the 340B discount be passed to the uninsured or to cash paying patients. Okay what about... No requirement. Okay now there's no requirement for that to happen. Now this is my mother is you know I'm just going to give you my personal example because I'm involved in in the purchasing and paying for her drugs when I when I take care of my mother, mother's elderly. And so she's at a community health center, like a clinic, local health clinic. Would that be an example of those 340B kind of places where they're supposed to pass on

steep discounts to the people? Very likely. With not knowing the exact specifics, my guess is that it is correct. Okay. And a bill that's currently going through the legislature is just going to make it more likely that this is going to happen in more pharmacies. And so it just means that there's going to be less of an opportunity for those savings to be passed on because more of the players, there will be more players who will be taking advantage of the discount instead of passing them on. And that's the real travesty. That's the real travesty. And the former nurse myself,

who took care of the neediest of needy people in my hometown of Milwaukee with God said, it really pains me to see that a program that was meant to help these people is really has gone off the rails and is pocketing people that have plenty of money and aren't using that money in the proper fashion. All right. Now, does this mean, and I'm sorry if I'm asking kind of weird questions because the rates are not transparent, does that mean that we have people of means, let's say you go to Costco pharmacy, are they getting 340B discounts? Do you know? Very likely.

I mean, very likely. The big chains are oftentimes a part of the eligible program. Okay. But yeah, we're getting discounts to go to relatively wealthy or at least reasonably well-off clientele, right? That's right. It's very unfortunate and something has to be done. The biggest fix has to happen in Washington, and Bill, you and I both know those fixes are hard to come by. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't stop trying to do some things at the state level. And certainly, the lawmakers in your state could be setting up a program for transparency, reporting what is actually going on, sharing that information with their federal counterparts so that at the federal level,

and there is a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington that is better working on it. And I'm a big believer in states creating all the reforms. I'm a big believer in federalism and that the both- Yeah, except if you lived in Oregon, no, if you lived in Oregon, you would just want, you would want a very strong, smart federal government, because I don't know if anything's going to make Oregon... That's true. Okay, sorry,

stand corrected. I'm just having fun with you here, Leah. I'm having fun with you, Leah. We got to laugh at the absurdity of it sometimes, okay? Absolutely. All right. No, no, I get that. You want to try to let the states do what the states can do best. Now, is there a bill number that they're working on in Oregon? There's like 3,000 bills that these people have shoved through this time around. It's just astounding. Senate Bill 533 is the 340B contract pharmacy mandate, which will actually codify or put into your own state statutes all the bad parts of a federal program. So your listeners want to call their lawmakers and say, do not support Senate Bill 533. Instead, let's create some accountability and transparency in this federal program.

Well, I'm going to invite State Senator Noah Robinson on and find out what the status of this and get him to flush this out and make him aware of this also. And put him in touch with me. I'd be happy to give him more information as well. And make sure that your listeners check us out at ntu.org. We have a wealth of information not only about this issue but a variety of federal issues as well. I appreciate that.

What is the other big hot issue besides this 340B since the 340B thing is coming up here in the state of Oregon? Well, in Oregon, I can't speak specifically to what is going on. Oh no, we're doomed here. We're doomed here. I'm just talking about nationwide, okay? In terms of other issues, obviously the whole world is looking at what's going to happen with the TCGA, whether or not those tax cuts by the first Trump administration will be extended and certainly a lot of conversation around that and things that state lawmakers can do even in Oregon. There are things that your state lawmakers could do if they would be so smart and to

realize that right now, you know, in the state of Oregon, you're using what's called rolling conformity, which means you're aligning your tax code with the federal tax law changes. So, when federal provisions expire, that means Oregon's tax code is going to do the same unless state legislatures intervene. So, that's something else that could be done. I know there is a bill, House Bill 2092, which is going to propose temporarily disconnecting from automatically aligning with the federal

tax law for 2025. So that's another bill you should ask your next guest will be on. Okay, I sure will. I really appreciate this information, Leah. Leah Vuchmer is a former pediatric nurse practitioner, Wisconsin state senator. So you've been part of watching the sausage being made. It's not always tasty, is it? Absolutely. Okay. Thanks so much, Bill.

Appreciate the time. All right, thank you. Senior vice president of state affairs, national taxpayer union. Thank you so much, Leah. Good talk. Thank you. Bye bye. Bye now.

725, this is KMED. You know what I liked about for good things. Talk about it with Ro Gardner. Saturdays 10 to noon. Sunday morning Encore at 9 on KMED, sponsored by Grange Co-op. Welcome to the Bill Meyer Show on 1063 KMED. Give Bill a call at 541-770-5633. That's 770-KMED. Gosh, it could be a water pick. In fact, I bought one there from Dr. Steve. He has a nice little kiosk there that you can just go there and buy, even if you are not a patient, and he'll sell it to you at cost. Just wants to keep your teeth healthy, all right? CentralPointFamilyDentistry.com.

It's right next door to the Mazatlan Mexican restaurant, Freeman Way in Central Point, all right? Linda ended up writing me, this is my sweetie. My sweetie wrote me last night about this, Bill, this is when Vance met with the Pope the other day, the day before he died, and it made me think about the order of love that you were talking about. I would bet you that Vance read those philosophies. And this is what Vance ended up saying, in a strongly worded letter to the US Catholic

bishops, the Pope appeared to counter remarks made by Vice President J.D. Vance, who had recently converted to Catholicism, that after he suggested that Americans should take care of families, communities, and the country before caring about others. The Pope said, Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups," the pontiff wrote, worrying about personal, community, or national identity apart from these considerations. That was an astounding statement by the late pope, essentially saying that don't worry about your own family, don't worry about your community, don't worry about your own nuclear family here, Don't worry about your own nuclear family here. Worry about the others instead.

That's astounding. And that's another example of why I'm not going to miss this Pope. Okay? JD Vance was correct. Everybody has to prioritize. Everyone has to prioritize. And really, so many people from the left have been in love and are in love with the wrong people and concern most about the wrong people.

Hmm. Bill, this is an anonymous email here. Bill, Kaiser Pacific Source looking to buy all of Asante's Southern Oregon hospitals. They have tied all of them up for a year. I'm hearing about this. This is apparently an insider here. They have tied up all of them for about a year to check out the books, etc. before they decide. I'm surprised by this because of the huge lawsuits coming their way in Rogue Valley. Well, you know, it could be one of those things, anonymous emailer, where there will just be a particular discount for Asante if this is true. I mean, I've heard these kind of rumors too that they...

Of course, everything's up for sale. Just depends on for the right side. Everything's always for sale, right? Just for the right price. We know that. And perhaps what Kaiser or Pacific Source would be doing is looking for a serious discount on the Asante group, given the liability issues that they might have to take on. Or maybe they would have to settle that outside or before a sale would occur. So there's all sorts of things.

Now Betty writes me from Grants Pass and says, Bill, you were nervous about having eye shots. Well, April 1st, Dr. Wang did a vitrectomy surgery for me in Ashland, and he has done many shots on me for a number of years, every six months. I'm now on a two to three year shot process. It's working better than accepted. I'm sorry, Betty. The thought of someone sticking a needle in my eye, I just I cannot handle that. I don't want to go there. I just don't want to go there. All right. Hey it was tax day the other day butch says hey Bill while I was working in Panama I paid a flat 13.75 percent tax automatically every payday no IRS no April 15th deadline no ded deductions, pretty simple. Oh, here's another little interesting bit of news that was given to me by someone apparently in the know.

Security measures have been implemented at Medford City Hall. A metal detector and security personnel will be stationed at the southeast entrance. That will be the only public entry. All others will be employees only. Please plan for a few extra minutes to gain entry to City Hall. So don't take your pocket knives if you're going into City Hall any longer. This was a memo from the planning director. Okay, alright. And finally, Mark writes me from Grants Pass. Bill, camps were ordered and cleaned. Many non-profit have plans. We'll see if they can pull it off.

What I see is the City Council has given Grants Pass City a buffer of time and provided an ordered camper situation, safe and sanitary. It's not an easy task to provide a buffer of time, the courts, the drug addicts. My observation is that the Grants Pass City Council has done a great job. My observation is the Grants Pass public safety has been fair, caring, and firm onward. Mark, I appreciate your writing from Grants Pass. Really do. Granny ends up writing me, Bill, we were talking about oil changes and things. Bill, I took my Toyota truck in for an oil change to the shop I've gone to for many years.

They handed me a paper with some lines and numbers on it and said I needed a new battery for 200 bucks. I said I've had no problems with the battery and I would take it to where I bought it. Well, I did. The battery was absolutely fine. Got no explanation when I called as to why they said I needed a new battery. Now I wonder if I should find another car repair shop. Yeah, I'd be a little suspicious too. I think, Granny, what they call that, the development of trust issues. Now's your day. This is the Bill Myers Show, 733. Siskiyou Pump Service and Rotary Drills will continue until Saturday.

Bill London, KMED. 735, Disgruntled Jay is here. It's not Conspiracy Theory Thursday, Jay, but I'll let you flow to conspiracy involving the late pope. Okay. It is pebble in the boot. It is pebble in the boot. It is pebble in the boot. So you're thinking that, if I understand correctly, that when

the pope ended up losing half a lung, that he was replaced by a double. Is that the basic of where you're going on this one? Exactly what I'm saying. Okay. And so when JD Vance met the Pope the other day, he was meeting the double, the body double, not the real Pope, right? That's what you're thinking. That's what I'm saying. Okay. So, what was the purpose of the body double, do you think? So, he can make a grandiose exit, okay? Christ rose on the third day, the Pope died on a third day. Got it, got it.

You know, that's a great theory. You see the reverse? Yes, I do. The inversion of Easter Sunday. I got to tell you, that's interesting. That's an interesting theory, Jay. Thanks for making it, okay? Yes, sir.

Have a good day. I love that. If you're remodeling service not provided by Dish, you're not going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. You're going to be able to do it. theory Jay thanks for making it okay yes sir you have a good day I love that if

you're remodeling service not provided by Dish hi I'm Riley with Rotary Drilling Company and I'm on KMED 738 I appreciate you being here former state senator Herman Barrett sugar we talk politics every week kind of the lay of the land how you doing Herman welcome back good to have you on I'm doing great Bill how are you I'm doing great, Bill. How are you? I'm doing okay, other than the fact that that things are crazy and And I get depressed every time I look at what's going on in the state legislature. Is it just me or do you kind of ignore it too?

Well, you know, I I guess I'm so numb to it that I don't know if I would say I get depressed But I am baffled by the continuing stupid decision. Oh, stupid decision is anything in particular that stands out at you as particularly egregious? Well, you know, I mean, the Second Amendment thing, it's what 114 and everything is just, you know, it's a stick in your eye by the Democrats. I mean, they just don't care. They don't care. I honestly think, Herman, that there's something darker than just the don't care. I think they honestly, I think Democrats in Oregon are honestly scared of the Second Amendment community because they know that they're pushing and they're pushing and they're pushing. Democrats in Oregon are honestly scared of the Second Amendment community because they

know that they're pushing and they're pushing and they're pushing. And I'm not so convinced that they're not convinced that people may come after them because no one's immune from political violence, as we well know, even Elon Musk and his supporters, you know, that kind of thing. Well, I think their motive is money. When you look at the last gubernatorial election, Tina Cotec got most of her, $30 million she raised, but most of it came from outside the state of Oregon. Yeah, she's not being supported by her own state there. No, and I think the Democrats are worried about the Bloomberg money. If they don't do these things,

that money is going to get turned off. Oh, that's what you mean by worried about the money. In other words, you either do the disarming of your people or else you're not going to get your money to run for office. Okay. Exactly. And, you know, it would be a different story if the money raised by CoTec came from the state of Oregon, then that would tell you, you know, that people in the state of Oregon are willing to financially give for these policies. But that's not what's going on. That's the money outside. And I think, I think, you know, those people out there that have a lot of money that are trying to change the United States they go hey Oregon's low

the low-hanging fruit they got four point three million people they don't have a lot of people yeah you can buy us off relatively cheap to get an agenda moved right yeah and and so that's what I think is going on. All right. Now you were talking to me though about how difficult it is to run for office or the rules that make it difficult in many cases to attract the best candidates here in the state of Oregon, not just in the state legislature, but really even for local and county positions, things like that. What is it about Oregon's laws that make it so difficult in your view?

Well, you know, it's a constant harassment. I mean, you got... it depends what party you're... you know, being a Republican in Oregon is more difficult than being a Democrat in Oregon. Democrat in Oregon, you just got to get in line with all the Democrats and march along. And you'll be pretty much left alone. Okay. Yeah. But you know, you've seen me over the years, you know, I have to deal with the fake news all the time, constant onslaught, and then, you know, the ethics complaints. When I was a leader in the Senate when we came back you know that was the most successful two years the Republicans have in combating bad legislation and probably the history of Oregon I you know I you can brag okay

you're allowed to brag a little bit about that because I would agree I would agree with you okay it wasn't just cap and trade. It was gun bills. It was all kinds. There were hundreds of bills we killed. But it also took Republicans being united and having a spine and doing it and truly walking out. That was not easy. But back to the Ethics Commission, after that I had all kinds of ethics complaints and you've got to You've got to address them. I mean, I think it was 20 some ethics complaints I had and they were bogus I had to hire an attorney

I had to raise money for a legal defense fund and all of that is a pain and let me tell you defense fund and all of that is a pain and let me tell you but at the end at the end we won everything everything was dismissed but it took days out of my life and time out of my life that I had to commit because I had no other choice well that same thing has happened when I came down here to Josephine County. You know, we I didn't have as many. I think Commissioner West had a record 20 some ethics complaints. And of course, it appears then that state ethics law is then used as a cudgel just to beat the political opposition about the head. That's kind of where I think you're getting to with the way the State Ethics

Commission is run. Ethics Commission was made to with the way the State Ethics Commission is run. Right. And the Ethics Commission was made up of, when we created that Ethics Commission, it was made up of four Republicans and four Democrats. Okay, so it split 50-50. That sounds like it's pretty good. No problem. What happened? The Republican caucuses got to pick their four, the Democrat caucuses got to pick their for. Okay. And it was fine. But then when Tina Cotec came in, she threw another member in there that she appoints. Oh, I did not know that. Oh, what an...so isn't this fascinating? So the Scott Stoddards of the world are then able to say, oh look at all of these ethics commissions that have been filed, or these complaints that have been filed against these rascally Republicans, these evil, nasty Republicans. Oh my goodness. And the thumb is on the scale to go after the Republican every time,

because now that Governor Kotec put her member on the board on top of the four Democrats. Wow. but her member on the board on top of the four Democrats. Wow. Well, and you know what's even worse is you have to address these. You have to. And I've had four or five, no, seven. I think it's seven. They've all been dismissed.

I have two more this, I'm even out of office and I'm still dealing with this crap. And you know, I'll just read you some of how stupid these complaints are. This one was submitted by JJ Schofield who used to be the former human resource director. And now he doesn't he work for Jackson County now? He's the human resource director. And he's the one that's been filing the lion's share of these on Commissioner West and myself. So in his complaint, J.J. Schofield alleges that John West and Andreas Flick conducted a serial meeting prior to

a board meeting on November 6, 2024. He doesn't say where the meeting was held. He doesn't say which day it was held, which time it was held, is there any witnesses. He just feels, he just thinks that there had to be one, but he can't point to it. This will be dismissed. In fact, it's already, the investigator already recommended it being dismissed, but we still got the ethics board on Friday. And so this is the kind of stuff you have to deal with all the time. It's just an onslaught of BS. Is there any penalty for making a false ethics claim. No! Same with bully complaints. So you can, so then

this is something that sounds like it is now a pretty a pretty common then political tactic then. People don't like a board, people don't like a rep, and so we file ethics complaints and we just fabricate it and then of course it gets reported in the mainstream media. Oh look at all there's 20 ethics charges against this particular person and then it gets brought up. I can't recall the courier ever printing that they were dismissed. They always print when they're filed but they never print when they're dismissed. Oh, Scott, come on. We love you, babe.

You know, if you're going to print the fact that they were charged, print the dismissal too, okay? Right. And, you know, look at poor Congressman, well, I shouldn't say poor Congressman Pence, but Congressman Pence. He's trying to have town hall meetings. They're piping people in from other parts of the state. They disrupt the meeting. They yell and scream and shout and everything. He can't even have

a conversation with his constituents. They did the same thing with Greg Walden. When I was the minority leader, I used to go help Greg out and go to town halls with him. Yeah, I remember the gray pony hair liberals from Ashland came to one of his meetings at North Meffert High. I remember that. And they just screamed. All they did was scream. Yeah. And so now we can't even have a town hall. All right. Now, is that true though? Herman, let me ask you, can't you run a town hall that says if you get disruptive, you're thrown out? Let me ask you, can't you run a town hall that says if you get disruptive, you're thrown out?

Yeah, but that just disrupts everything. It takes time and it's just, that's just what's going on in this country right now. The Democrat party, in my opinion, has lost their way and has lost their mind. And I think you can see that with Trump getting elected. I mean, face it, Trump got elected primarily of the border issues, but yet the Democrats are still doubling down on the border issue. This is the part I can't believe that we have these senators and reps that are going down, you know, to talk to these. Well, this is going back to, and I don't know if you've been listening over the last few days, but I've been talking about the order of love. Have you been hearing that, you know, the Catholic philosophies, things like that?

Yes. Yeah. Yes. And, you know, and that really is indicative that the Democrats are truly in love with the wrong people, people who are not the priority. It's like they have, well, as they talk about the danger in the order of love is that you have a pathology of altruism, you know, you are just generous with everybody else's money to a fault

and with their attention and with their concern. And I don't know, do you think that might be effective though in the midterm elections coming up with Trump? What do you think? Well, I think that the Democrats are losing ground, but I don't understand it. They keep doubling down, especially the border issue and immigration, of course. Yeah, we need violent illegal alien equity here in Oregon, right? We need to have as many violent people here as possible to take care of our people. And they're still, you know, they're still pushing the wedge issue of abortion.

That's worked for them for decades. They're for legalized drugs. How's that working out for you? And I've told, I've gotten in the face of some Democrats when I was in the Senate, and I said, have you ever had a conversation with a parent who has lost their child to overdose? They just stare at you. Look at DEI. What a stupid thing to promote. So hey, an airline pilot, instead of picking the person who passed with the highest score

on his flight test, no, we're going to pick somebody because of their gender or their color or whatever. Really? Really? I mean, this is like a race to the bottom. Well, it's almost like we're not going to be able to survive this competency crises unless some redirection happens soon.

And I think that's what the Trump administration is attempting to do. It's not always elegantly done. It's sometimes a little ugly, a little clunky, but it needs to be done, right? Well, the homeless issue is the latest. It really is the latest. Don't let anybody fool you, Bill. The homeless issue is the latest. It really is the latest. Don't let anybody fool you, Bill.

The homeless issue is a wedge issue, and they are not trying to solve homeless. They are trying to divide the people. That's what they're doing with the homeless issue. And the same with the crime, soft on crime. It's another one. You know, you look at the platform of the Republicans, you look at the platforms of the Democrats, and look at the contrast, and that's just a short list. I'm sure you and I could sit down over lunch and make a list a lot longer.

All right. Well, let me think about this then. If they're using homeless as a wedge issue, is that going to be successful? Because it would strike me that even progressives want a peaceful, well thought out neighborhood. And they would also really probably prefer drug addicts to be humanely dealt with. And when I say dealt with, to get off the drugs, wouldn't you think? No, I disagree with you. You disagree with me? Oh, okay. mainly dealt with and when I say dealt with, to get off the drugs, wouldn't you think? No, I disagree with you. You disagree with me? Oh, okay.

Yeah, well, I'm just, I'm going to point to the north, to Portland. The people in Portland keep voting for this crap. They keep voting for these people and this crap every time. Well, I haven't voted for this crap down here and we're still getting it. No, no, but this is more of a conservative district. But look at Portland. They've ruined Portland. Look at the businesses that are left.

So you know, Dutch brothers left Oregon. They left Oregon. And I guess in the top 10 businesses in the state of Oregon, they left it. And when I talked to the folks at Dutch Brothers, they said, the most surprising thing about this is when we announced we were thinking of leaving, nobody contacted them to say, well, what can we do to help you stay in Oregon? It's a half a billion dollars a year or more. Not one person, nobody. Now you're speaking of not one in government. Nobody in government looked at it.

Yeah, nobody in government. Yeah. Hmm. Did they think that maybe they wouldn't leave? No. And when they asked me, why do you think nobody contacted us? And I said, they don't care. Well, aren't they supposed to care when they run out of money? Look at, they know they're running out of money. I know they know they're running out of money right now. They even know.

What are they supposed to do? Tax this. We want a tire tax. We want 20 cents on a gallon. We want to feel the kicker And never in and and when you look at the statistics of where Oregon is and in Economic success were almost to the bottom. I think we're 47 And they don't care. They don't care all they care about we need money to stay in control and

People keep voting for them, Bill. Well, not down here, but it's getting close in some of these districts. Jackson County is almost a purple county. I know. I know it is. I know it is. And you look at the South County, that's been the, you know, the big canker sore politically, you know, that sort of thing. or sore politically, that sort of thing. I wish there was a happy way to put a little cherry and some whipped cream on top of this thing here. So the attacks are going to keep coming and what you're really telling us then is that be prepared for additional buckling down then here in the state of Oregon. And less money. I heard you a little bit ago on the radio talking about how many Oregonians are working

two jobs or both people in the household have to work and everything. That's why! What we just talked about is why. Hopefully people will start connecting that with the political realities of what they've enabled. Okay? I don't think so because the Democrats keep them energized by all these crazy policies like DEI and homeless and all of this stuff. It's a great distraction.

Well I'm hoping that we grow up, okay? How about that, Herman? Let us pray then. We'll pray here and our nightly prayers here. Let's pray for Oregon to adult. Oregon needs to adult. There we go, we'll use that millennial take. Okay?

All right. All right. Thanks, Herman. Thank you, Bill. Former state Senator Herman Barrett Shigger, 755. You need a water well project done right. Quickly, efficiently, and precise. The Bill Meyers Show on 1063 KMED.

758, a couple minutes before eight o'clock. and precise. progressive friends are freaking out about and it's not that smart to keep stoking this fear. I bolded the sentence that makes me roll my eyes. I can't believe people are being asked to prove that they are alive unless they are 115 years old or older. I'd love to see one of those letters. No one has to prove what they say. They just spew forth what they have heard and is fabricated. This is what's being spread on next door folks and it's it's not particularly great. Someone posting, 7,000 employees fired with no cause, 2,000 more employees are quitting field office jobs. Look on the social security website and try to make an appointment or call your local office. The fears are that the cuts will stop your monthly check from going out on time. Which is silly given that those checks are written automatically folks, okay?

They're written by machine, not by someone punching a button. But anyway, people are also being sent letters to come in and prove that they are alive before any more benefits will be paid. The problem is that there are not enough appointments available. Checks were on time this month but not guaranteed next month. Pay attention, I shouldn't have to school you on what Trump is doing. He tells you himself. Now it's not true, okay? So I'll tell you this, that it is not true. But that is a standard playbook. You get everybody scared and wound up over Social Security and Medicare. Nothing has

changed. Nothing new under the sun in this particular case, okay? After news, after the Kim Commando digital update, City Councilor Nick Card from the City of Medford is in the studio. By the way, which ward are you again? Ward 4. Ward 4, okay. I never keep track of the wards. I still think I'm in ward 3. I just don't know. No one does. It's totally fine. All right. We're going to be talking about the proposal then from the Eugene Emeralds, right? Yes. Do we play ball or not? We'll talk about that coming up.