Lovett or Leave It - OK, GameStop!

Episode Date: January 30, 2021

Biden signs up a storm. A Republican congresswoman believes forest fires are started by Jewish space lasers. And GameStop finally fulfills its destiny in the war between reddit and hedge funds - with a LOT of Tubmans at stake. Alice Wetterlund joins to break down the week's news. Brian Beutler looks at the debate over how to pass relief through Congress. And Yoni Lotan takes on his greatest role yet as... the filibuster.

Welcome to Love It or Leave It, Vaxxed to the Future. 12 o'clock, inauguration day Lady Gaga is wearing the marking jade Oh, maybe it's just some kind of big old dove Whatever it is, that's the power of loving We're all here for Biden, it's a dream Science and basic human decency Kamala and Doug And Dr. Jill too The power of loving

Made it come true Bounty's happening Now he's free Say the things he needs to on TV. He's cool and he's confident that the vaccine might just save your life. That's the power of love. That's the power of love. Boucher's happy. Now he's free. That's the power of love.

That's the power of love. That's the power of love. Can you feel it? That song. That song was by Allie and Craig Johnston. Thank you so much for that absurd, absurd, absurd song. And I don't know what to do now, now that we've heard it. If you want to send a Vax to the Future theme song,

you can send it to leaveitatcrooked.com and maybe we'll use yours. Before we get to the show, this week on With Friends Like These, Ana was joined by a friend of the pod, Rebecca Traister. It's a great conversation. So check that out. New episodes are out every Friday and you can subscribe to With Friends Like These Thank you. first, she's a comedian and actress, and she has a new show called Resident Alien, which premiered this week on SyFy. Please welcome back returning champion, Alice Wetterlin. Good to see you.

Hi, John. Thanks so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. How are you? You know, normally you do something to not just be normal at the top, and that was just sort of like such a- What are you talking about? All right. Well, well i had to do something i had to be audio though because you never know sorry to disappoint you john just but even when you did just you laugh so silently and i just feel like as a comedian coming on your show it's always frustrated me because I'm like, the listeners don't know he's losing it, but he's so polite and he moves away from the mic when he laughs. First of all, the mic picks it up. These are great microphones. All right. And in the podcast, people know that I'm laughing. All right. They know I'm moving off the mic because I can't

contain myself. By the way. Tell us in the comments. They're laughing too. All right. We're all laughing. Okay. So don't worry about that. So excited to see you here, John. How are you? Let's get into it. What a week. On Tuesday, President Biden announced the purchase of 200 million additional coronavirus vaccine doses. If you thought it was bad that the U.S. had only administered 21 million of the 400 million doses it's ordered, this is great news. Now it's 21 million out of 600 million. That's exciting. You is great news. Now it's 21 million out of 600 million. That's exciting. You know, I think a markup of a good joke

is like to have to do adding and subtracting in the... If your audience is like, has to take out a whiteboard like Katie Porter, you know you've got them. Let me tell you why this joke is funny. It's about percentages, all right? Bernie should be telling it. You see, the denominator is getting bigger, but the numerator remains unchanged.

Now the percentage has gone up by 2%. Great. That's perfect. There is a clip of Bernie on the Today Show in like 1980 something, like early 80s. It's Phil Donahue. It's like Jane Pauly's phil donahue it's like jane polly throws to phil donahue and it's great because it's practically like an alien has landed because they're because donahue's like get this he's a socialist and um i went up to this beautiful country of vermont

beautiful country up there beautiful land but then when they went to bernie the reason i bring this up forgot halfway through why I brought it up now I'm remembering I do think that he has come with age to more and more embody the Brooklyn Jewishness of his voice it's almost like

as your body ages what it made me realize is like maybe my great grandmother didn't have as thick of an accent when she was younger. That it's like something about growing older as a Jewish person. You slowly get more like this. Yeah. And this happens to your body.

It like calcifies in your bones. Because it's not a it's not a Hilaria Baldwin situation. The accent was there. But it's just deeper. It's thicker now. The percentages, how you say, how you say. How do you say cucumber? How do you say cucumber?

Cucumber. What's this? It's a cucumber. You don't say. All right, great. This week, new coronavirus. What a topic to be laughing into. New coronavirus. What a topic to be laughing into. New coronavirus.

Pandemic. It's a pandemic fact. Look, it's a pandemic. Cases have fallen 35% over the past three weeks, the most sharp and sustained decline throughout the entire outbreak. It feels good that we can finally stop faking the numbers to beat Trump. Truly was exhausting when we all know this thing is just the common flu. We almost got caught when we went to Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta, the jig was up. Speaking of Hilaria Baldwin, your pronunciation of Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta. It's delicious. Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta.

Lifestyles of the rich and corrupted. You know what Trump said people should inject? Robin bleach. That's an ad lib, and I love it. That's a jerk. Hey, take a yacht ride to the end of that joke. You'll have

the time of your life. This week's Stock for the Companyestop soared over 200 after reddit users decided to pump money into the company to punish hedge funds that bet money that the company would fail lots of folks made a lot of money but when they tried to sell the stock back to gamestop they were only offered 15 of store credit oh what a shame that's a reddit insider joke then on th morning, the stock trading app Robinhood announced that they would limit trading on GameStop and AMC shares. And everyone from Ted Cruz to AOC hated it. As far as bets on where Unity was going to come from, I don't think

anybody thought it would be edgelord finance subreddit. But that's what would bring them together. Now, AOC tweeted that what was happening with Robin Hood was unacceptable. Then Ted Cruz tweeted, fully agree. And then AOC tweeted back, and this is real, I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there is common ground, but you almost had me murdered three weeks ago, so you can sit this one out. Happy to work with almost anyone GOP that aren't trying to get me killed. In the meantime, if you want to help, you can resign.

So that's a no, Ted, from AOC. Yes, exactly. So, Alice, it feels to me as though Ted Cruz has not seen any prestige TV because you can't foment an insurrection that threatens the lives of other cast members and then immediately try to create an unlikely pairing. You have to let that simmer for at least a season or two. A season. Show some growth as a character and then create a situation in which AOC has no choice but to work with Ted Cruz. And then for a few minutes halfway through the episode, AOC wonders if Ted Cruz has changed.

And then at some point it becomes clear that he has not changed. He is still the same repellent schmuck he always was. And that's the end of the bottle episode. And that's him. That's it. It's just. What? We've seen it.

Have we not seen? We've seen it a thousand times. This has been done. We could write it ourselves. You did. Also, if you want to form an unlikely pairing in politics, just follow the example set forth by Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. They're doing it. Before our eyes.

It's perfect. They're doing it. It's already a show. How about Joe Manchin, Chastin Buttigieg? Oh, my God. What are those two going to talk about? This clown crew. What are they going to talk about, huh?

That's a great. I'd like to see that Pine Barrens, you know, two of them stuck in the New Jersey woods. Doug, Jill, Chastin, Cabin in the Woods go. You know what I mean? Jim Jordan. Add Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan.

Stay up all night. What do they have to be awake for? You know what I mean? Egg hunt? Who cares? In California, Gavin Newsom canceled his stay-at-home order for the state, despite the fact that many ICUs are still at capacity, facing criticism about mixed messages and capricious decision making, Kim said to John Jr., who listened for a while and then was like, can we just

stop talking about him for five minutes? Because this doesn't sound like you're over him. I know you say you don't like him, but you're constantly bringing him up. And I should note, Alice, that while I quoted Don Jr. and Kim at normal volume, you should know that in reality, they were shouting at each other at the top of their lungs

while I Want to Know What Love Is and Newsmax both played at the exact same time at full volume. Screaming. Just screaming. That's a joke you, like, I know you're not over him! Just like across a kitchen with a too big island.

While Don Jr. is sitting for a portrait and looking at different graphic designs for his various political opportunities, just licking his gums, you know? Ooh, yeah, that's a painting. Meanwhile, Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan is in the works, hoping to bring relief to many... Hee hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha.

Hee hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, no. Alice. Hee hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, my gosh. It's me, the filibuster. Oh, no. It's the. It's me, the filibuster. Oh, no.

That's never going to happen. Love it. Oh, no. Alice, I'm so sorry. But the filibuster. Much worse than I imagined anything could be. This is the filibuster. And I'm so sorry.

But it seems that based on recent news, the filibuster continues. Okay, that's enough. It is I, the filibuster continues. Okay, that's enough. It is I, the filibuster. Okay. You see, Kristen Sinema said that I could stop you right here. You see, she summoned me by tapping her knee-high boots three times. Yee-haw, ha-ha, ha-ha. Yee-haw, ha-ha, ha-ha. Hey, filibuster, look, I get that due to the fact that several Democrats continue to see some reason for you to exist.

You get to exist. But I don't understand why you're really interrupting Alice and I. You understand here. Yeah. I have been around since the 1800s. And I wasn't created by the founding fathers to protect the rights of the minority party. Okay. No.

Everybody knows. That was a joke. I was created by mistake. Like penicillin. What? Yeah. Like penicillin. I'm a slinky too.

Oh my God. Oh, really? No, we're learning something. Exactly. Philip. See? Philip Buster. Call me Phil.

Call me Phil. Please. Mr. Buster, if I may. Why do you get off on interrupting why do you want to stop things from moving forward all the time you understand i'm a way of life i'm a way of life the filibustering is not just in the senate it's everywhere it's everywhere when your dad wants to talk about the neighbor's lawn instead of his emotions that's filibustering that's filibustering that's what that's right i exist because the world is a terrible place i mean

racists used me to stop civil rights that's evil yeah hey did you know that the senate leaders have been trying to get rid of me since the 1840s. I did. But their attempts keep getting filibustered. Imagine filibustering a filibuster. You know what's funny? I didn't know what it was going to be like to meet you, Mr. Filibuster. I'm amazed by the conflicting pathos, the self-hate that you brought to this. That's the unexpected twist of this character to me, of understanding what you're really like. Oh, there's

good inside everyone. I just haven't received love. The filibuster just needs love. The filibuster just needs love. Mr. Buster, what do you say to the allegations that you're like this because you didn't get the

audition to be the Mucinex guy? I don't. We're not here to talk about, we're not here to talk about that, okay? Okay, no, I am not, okay, you're filibustering me. I take reclaiming my time, reclaiming my time. How does it taste? Listen, filibusting makes me feel good. And that's the bottom line.

That's why you like to do it? I love to do it. No one can kill me, baby. Not Schumer, not Pelosi, not salt and baking soda and some elbow grease. Poor Axe. Yeah. Yeah. You can't kill me.

Oh, Hark, what's that? Someone's trying to improve our broken health care system. I have to go filibust. Filibust away. Oh, well. And there to go filibuster. Filibuster away. Oh, well. And there goes the filibuster. Alice, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You gotta secure these Zoom. That is horrible. I don't know how it got in here. I don't know how it got in here. That's a problem. I'm really sorry. We'll just try to keep moving forward, okay? Okay. We'll try to keep moving forward. In other news. I wrote a joke about the

filibuster if you want to segue so like the phil the filibuster maybe it was made by accident but it's been used as a racist tool to stop civil rights progression it is a racist thing that exists and everybody knows it and they use it as that but but every time they defend it it's always like oh it's to keep balance in the senate it's it's a it's a tool for to increase debate and it's like everybody knows that's not true it's like the same as the confederate flag like it's about our heritage it's not it's like that's like if you go and catch a predator and the guy comes out and he's like, I was just downloading kiddie porn to check my Wi-Fi speed. It's like the cat's out of the bag.

Wow. OK, that's what it's like. Hire me. That's the. You know where we're going? Then we got there. And that's where we went. Yes.

Dominion Voting Systems is suing Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 billion for his role in spreading baseless conspiracy theories that the company helped Joe Biden steal the election. According to Dominion's lawsuit, Rudy Giuliani not only knowingly peddled falsehoods about the election, he also cashed in on those lies by hawking gold coins, supplements, and cigars on his podcast. Here's what I don't understand, okay? How did Rudy Giuliani not do a better job of cashing in on being America's mayor so he wouldn't have to do this shit? Like speaking gigs, board seats. What happened? I thought we lived in an oligarchy. I thought that everybody cashed in on their service. The guy was on the cover of Time magazine.

He got to be America's mayor. He was on SNL. They made a movie about his life. How did he not keep any of these movies? It doesn't go to fancy salons. We know that because his head leaks. It didn't go to high-end prostitutes because he tried to take off his pants for Borat. So he's had a couple divorces, but Donahanover, he divorced Donahanover while he was the mayor. I remember that because he announced it at a press conference, but didn't tell her beforehand. So she had to call a press

conference and say, I just heard I'm very sad. So that's just a bit of New York history for anybody who is about my age and remembers that as a kid, because it was wild. And Donna Hanover looked genuinely shocked and sad in a deeply authentic way, in a way that I couldn't handle when I saw it. The point is, how much money did Judith Mason get? What happened to the money, Rudy? Why are you running around? Rudy Giuliani, he is debasing himself in a way that it's not just somebody who wants more. It's somebody who's afraid of having nothing. It's like he's not running like he's trying to go somewhere. He's hustling like he's being chased. You know what I mean? Yeah, he could have gone down so differently.

And you're right. Well, power corrupts, right? So that's probably part of it. Famously so. Like, look at Saruman. Yeah, classic example of power. I mean, everybody brings that up. Yeah, perfect example.

It's crazy. It's like he really overshot by so much. It's like everybody expects old rich people to get more conservative as they get older, but not crazy. It just doesn't make. Not hawking gold coins level. Like. You just don't have all the information.

Mario villain. He should just be richer. Maybe it's like power corrupts exponentially when combined with incest. Less pithy. True. Less pithy. But sometimes truth is complicated. Yeah, it's true. The truth is complicated. Yeah. On Sunday, Portland Mayor Tom Wheeler pepper sprayed a maskless man who accosted him on the street with a video camera. You are one foot away from me. You're not 16 away. Oh my God. assless man who accosted him on the street with a video camera. It's very chill is the only thing I would say about that.

It's shockingly chill. Anyway, after this year, pepper spraying someone will be called a Portland handshake from this point forward. Oh God, imagine the bespoke cocktails. Somebody in Portland is going to find a way to put pepper spray in a drink if they already haven't. It must have already happened.

Portland listeners, write in. I love saying that. Think about it. Think about how to make it work. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly liked Facebook posts that advocated the killing of prominent Democrats in 2018 and 2019. And she supported the view that school shootings are false flags, meaning that they are faked to allow the government to take away guns. And videos have been circulating of her harassing Parkland victims while they lobbied Congress. How did Republicans respond? By putting her on the education committee. Wild. Nancy Pelosi, not mincing words, said this. What I'm concerned about is the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.

What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing? I don't really have a joke. I just like it when Nancy Pelosi calls Kevin McCarthy stupid. Oh, just she just got locked and loaded. Nancy Pelosi, just a disdainful grandma. Imagine Nancy Pelosi being your mother in law. Oof. Tough.

You don't want to deal with it. I don't want to see that. But they put Marjorie Taylor Greene on the education committee. This is the Republicans. They're like, well, look, she likes kids. She's often taking an interest

in kids. Following these kids around. She's re-educating these kids about their experience having been shot, which they weren't because it was a deep fake. It's so sick.

Makes total sense. Man, that woman sucks so much. Obviously she sucks because of her politics, which I strongly disagree with personally. I just have a really, I just different views on politics. Different views. Different political views.

There's this sort of like cocky smirk that she has, this kind of arrogance of like, you're trying to tell me a laser beam from space didn't cause the campfire oh my god you're gonna try to convince me of that it's like one of the daily podcasts has trump supporters on and they're like joe biden's not the president that's not how i roll and you're like you can't use this 2004 slang because it isn't for you. And when you use it, you make my blood boil and not like you own the libs too hard. This censored mask. Are you kidding? It's like she is Marjorie Taylor Greene

fell as a gift from the gods to like push it. And I'm not an accelerationist, but like this woman is such a clown. Oh, my God. I also think, too, it's like, you know, Josh Hawley is supposed to be like sophisticated, sophisticated. But, like, Josh Hawley writing op-eds about being censored is exactly the same thing as her wearing a mask that says censored while speaking into a microphone. It's on television. What? What? We see you. We see it.

If you can read this mask, it's not true. They're trying to change the meaning of the word censored. I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene is like Sarah Palin was like, hold my beer. Sarah Palin says to Marjorie Taylor Greene, like, hold my beer. And Marjorie Taylor Greene is like, I'll drink this, but a Jew didn't make it, right? Because I'm also anti-Semitic. That's actually a big part of my thing that is not getting enough coverage. It's part of my thing.

It's a big part of my thing. Hi, I'm Marjorie Taylor Greene. I'm also super anti-Semitic, and it's not getting enough coverage as part of my thing. Not because of all the other wacky shit going on, but it's a huge part of my entire personality. It's kind of my main thing. People invite me over for it. You were in character. Just for people. She was still in character. Right. Alice was. Alice was. I disagree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Don't like her politics. Alice is back. Alice is back. That's Alice now. Alice was. I disagree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Don't like her politics. Alice is back. Personally. Alice is back. That's Alice now.

The real me. In better news, for the second week in a row, the Biden administration issued a number of executive orders to reverse Trump-era policies and tackle the various overlapping crises facing the country. There have been so many orders, it's hard to keep track. So we wanted to quiz you, Alice, and see if you could tell us what's a real Biden accomplishment from the last two weeks and which is a fake one. Are you ready?

Okay, I'm ready. Adding a ticking sound emotionally. President Biden signed an executive order rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change. Very true. Correct. President Biden signed an executive order rejoining the Iran nuclear deal. Deep fake. Not yet.

Hasn't done it. Not yet. President Biden issued a proclamation ending the ban on U.S. entry from majority Muslim countries. Oh, that's real Biden stuff right there. You bet. President Biden signed an executive order requiring mask wearing on federal property. That's true.

Correct. President Biden released new regulatory guidelines that will raise the legal smoking age to 25. I call malarkey. Correct. I call malarkey. Joe Biden made an official proclamation that defines the necessary and sufficient characteristics of Delaware-style pizza. Did he sneak it in? No, he didn't sneak it in. He didn't sneak it in. Sneak it in. Delaware-style pizza. What is it? Oh, is that still in there? I don't know. Does it exist? Ah, let's put it

through. President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline. Very true. Correct. President Biden signed an executive order that will permit USPS to provide certain banking services such as personal checking accounts. Did he? Please say yes. He did? Make my day. Oh, make my day, John Lovett. I know. I know.

Oh, I really wanted that one. Sneak it in, Kamala. Sneak it in the pile. There was a Dr. Seuss book called The King on Stilts and his job was just signing things all day and then he got kind of sad because someone took his stilts

and so he didn't sign things and then the birds chewed at the bark that caused the flood I like the idea of major sneaking in an executive order like exec order, order.

More wet food. No dry food. Major. Love major. Executive order. Love major. President Biden ordered that America stop funding

the construction of the border wall. Oh, yes. Correct. No malarkey there. President Biden strengthened and reaffirmed the DACA program. Yes. President Biden issued a proclamation rejoining the United Nations. Did we leave the United Nations? No, but it's sad that you're not

totally sure. President Biden pardoned his dog Major for shitting under the Resolute desk. Come on! Come on, Major, pardon! He's like, it's not time yet. That was Eric's voice, by the way.

He didn't do that because they're still analyzing the shit to make sure it's actually Major's and not Don Jr.' President Biden mandated mask wearing on all interstate public transit including airlines yes president biden reversed the trans military ban yes president biden ordered the attorney general to not renew any federal contracts we have with private prisons no no he did he did oh oh guess who's gonna party tonight cheese plate style for some reason wow charcuterie

for some reason that could be a charcuterie. Oh, yeah. You got to do it. I sometimes make a cheese plate, but it's just cut up pieces of whatever, like sliced pepper jack to be cube size. And then I'll grab any loose mixed nuts, put it on the plate, and then honey. And I'll be like. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then whoever's in the house with you, you know, you come up to them. Maybe they're just minding their own business. You come up and you go, tonight's pepper jack is coming with a, and then you describe it that way and make sure the pizzas are small. This cheddar comes from the Tillamook region of Spain. It's a mountainous region of Spain, Wisconsin, probably Florida. And these nuts, these are supplied to us from a farm called Pepperidge. It's great.

And finally, President Biden signed an executive order banning novelty hats that look like the Make America Great Again hat, but actually says something like Make America Science Again. Oh, yeah. He didn't, but that's a great idea. Good pitch. And we didn't even include most of them, which include funding to house the homeless population, anti-discrimination, reaffirming tribal sovereignty,

a reevaluation of housing policy, an increase in unemployment insurance, veterans debt relief, and lots more about the COVID response as well and how much he's gotten done so quickly. And think of what we could get done with the help of a democratic congress that not again filibuster makes me feel good oh my busting makes me feel good are you like

the guy and her the lady and her where you're simultaneously stopping legislation right now but you're also in our chat. Cause like I thought you had something else. Filla busting is the movie her. It's sitting through the movie her. That's what I am. Yeah. I'll never get back that filibuster in two hours.

I really, I really, exactly. I really want to make filibusting makes me feel good. That's like a catchphrase. That's a catchphrase. Like awesome sauce. Yeah.

That's your awesome sauce. Everybody's saying it. Filla busting makes me feel good.'s like a catchphrase that's like awesome sauce yeah that's your awesome sauce everybody's saying it filibusting makes me feel good or should i say that's how i roll i'm about to filibust a nut yeah i even know that i'm cool i'm cool with that that's gross hey it's better than whatever the mucinex booger says. Well, I see the commitment. Fuck that booger. Filibuster. Phil. One thing I don't understand is for a long time in our history, actually, you weren't around that often. You're pretty rare.

And then all of a sudden, hundreds of times, you're popping up all the time. What does it feel like to become all of a sudden something that's historically quite rare to someone that's around all the time? Yeah, no, it's awesome. I love being around people. I love being around people. I love telling them my thoughts. Yeah, I love telling them how I think about Breaking Bad and how and I love talking about, you know, I just love I love the scenes that aren't the sex scenes in Bridgerton. You know, I just love wasting people's time. And it's so nice to be relevant because you know what? Yeah, when you go to get a recipe online, you're the 14 paragraphs about that person's children before you get to the recipe.

Bingo. Now you're getting it. That's right. What are some other facts about you, Mr. Filibuster? Oh, well, did you know that because the budget

is excluded, it only takes 51 votes to cut taxes for billionaires or cut Social Security, but you need 60 votes to raise the minimum wage or protect the right to vote?

Huh? Did you know that? I didn't. That's why Republicans didn't have to get rid of me to pass their agenda. That's what Republicans didn't have to get rid of me to pass their agenda. That's what I was wondering about. Wow, that was a specific fact from you.

Oh, I got plenty. I got plenty. What else do I have here? What else is new? What else? I'm taking out my moleskin and I'm checking. What else? What else?

What else? What are some comedic facts about you? Sometimes I fuck up bills just to feel something. I'm worried about you. Are you lonely? I'm so lonely. It's always the loudest people who are the loneliest. Yeah, I found that.

Is that true? Is that your experience? Tears of a clown. The tears of a clown. Well, filibuster, I just want you to know something, all right? Your time of riding high is almost at an end because we're going to get Jon Tester, and we're going to get Kirsten Sinema,

and we're going to get Joe Manchin, and we're going to get them together, and we're going to send you packing. No! You'll never! Yeah, that's right. We will. No! It's time for you, that's right. We will.

No! It's time for you to retire, Mr. Buster. You better pick out a plot on Mar-a-Lago. No. No, you'll never get rid of me. You'll never get rid of me. Hey, guess what? What? When we come back and interview with Brian Butler.

What? You can't introduce segments? He's doing segues. Get out of here, filibuster. Get out of here. You get out of here, filibuster. Get out of here. You get out of here. Filibuster makes me feel good. I really like how when you talk to him and ask him questions, he's like, does that Michael

Barbaro thing? He's like. That was so funny. Oh, what a nightmare. Can't believe you did this to me. Alice Wetterlin, so good to see you. What a delight. Thank you so much for having me

and please watch my show. I'm so sorry that the filibuster kept interrupting. Really, really sad that that person can just go and disrupt things, slow things down, stop progress willy-nilly. But everybody check out Resident Alien. Please check out Resident Alien on SyFy. You can watch it online for free.

They won't make you sign up for cable. They won't filibuster your watching experience. It's a really great show that I worked on very hard, and I never do that, so I'm proud of it. So please check it out. When we come back, well, the filibuster already told you what happens when we come back. We're back with Brian Boiler.

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. He is the editor-in-chief here at Crooked and host of the show Rubicon. Please welcome Brian Boiler. Good to see you. Good to see you, too. So episode two, season two of Rubicon is out right now. I really urge

everybody to check it out. It's a show about the conversations Democrats are having about the best way to use the power we have won that we fought so hard to win. And so I want to just start, I want to talk about Biden. I want to talk about Congress. Let's start with Biden. We are recording this after two weeks of a fast moving series of executive orders meant to undo some of the worst damage of the Trump administration. Biden came out with a $1.9 trillion rescue package that included raising the minimum wage, $1,400 to get the checks up to $2,000, unemployment benefits, $350 billion for state and local aid, something Democrats have said we needed for a long time. How do you feel about how Joe Biden and the Biden administration has come out of the gate? I think that where Biden can act alone, everything's going very well. I mean, and it's not really a surprise, I don't think, because his team is filled with people who have very recent experience running the government.

And it's what they've devoted their lives to. So we're lucky in a sense, for many reasons, I guess, that Trump didn't get an extra four years. But Democrats, including many of the people in the Biden administration, were only out of government for four years. And I think you can kind of see that the muscle memory is still there. They didn't lose any time because they knew what they were doing. And then they also had the added benefit that Trump was a fairly lazy president and did a lot of things unilaterally, which made them fairly easy to undo. On the relief front, there has been this debate going this week, basically, what is the most likely and quickest way to get as much relief and help to as much people and places in need? There are basically, I think, you know,

three paths. One is budget reconciliation, which would be a budget bill that only requires 51 votes, but is a process that has some complications. There is regular order where you would require 60 votes and you would have to get 10 Republicans to go along. And then there's the combo approach, which has been floated a lot today as we're recording this, which basically says, okay, you want to get $1.9 trillion of relief out into the world. Senate Republicans, you can maybe get 10 who would go along with at most half of that, probably less. But you could do that quickly with them, get that money out the door with them, show that you're open to bipartisan compromise, and then pass the rest

through budget reconciliation. What do you think about the three different approaches? So the way I sort of would think about it, if I were Biden or Chuck Schumer, and I think the way both of them do think about it, and they've been saying this very publicly, is that they want the need in the country, and I think also their political need to improve people's economic fortunes and get the public health crisis under control, to determine the process. And so 10 days in, the fact that they're still engaged in bipartisan negotiations that we think are very likely to fail is not necessarily an omen of things to come, that everything is going to get bogged down in bad faith negotiations with Republicans who just want to drag things out and shrink things. billion bill just around Christmas time. And vaccines are just getting distributed out into the states that there's maybe a little bit of window to try your hand at something, at least

make a good faith attempt to get Republican buy into these plans. But at some point, that's going to run out. And you need to make sure that not only do you have enough vaccine to get into people's arm, but you have the infrastructure in place to deliver it in a way that isn't completely chaotic or just unpleasant for people to do it so that it discourages them from getting vaccinated and makes them think that, you know, the government under Biden is failing. You don't want to pass too little aid so that the economy doesn't recover quickly, assuming we get the virus under control. One of the provisions in Biden's bill, which I think is great, is it's called automatic stabilizers. It's meant to increase the amount of unemployment insurance that flows out to people automatically

when the economy is in tough shape, and then to scale that back down only when the economy is healthy so that Biden doesn't have to keep going back to Congress to get more bills passed, to get more aid out to people. I think if you add that all up, it shows that they understand that what the country needs is really what's going to ultimately drive the strategy that they adopt. The White House came out Thursday and said that they're not interested in splitting up his relief bill. I think that that's good mostly as a sign that they are saying they are not going to let this get bogged down in Senate process that will cause things to be delayed and to be shrunk in a way that isn't helpful. In theory, if you could do it that way, you know, pass a minimum wage increase or something like that through regular order and then pass some other things to reconciliation, it all ends up the same in the final analysis as long as the provisions are good.

But the provisions have to be good and the process can't be used to dilute them. Provisions are good, but the provisions have to be good and the process can't be used to dilute them. The White House has to say they only want to do one package because if they say they're going to do two packages, you immediately lower the amount that you could possibly get out of the Republicans. Right. Like if you say we're going to split this in half, all of a sudden you're negotiating with Republicans over half. If you say this is the bill, is there any hope that you get that number up? And then whatever you put through reconciliation, you don't call it the other half of this thing. But it is the other half of this thing. Is there any I mean, I'm just I'm just thinking about how this is actually playing out in terms of a negotiation. I think that's what they're worried about. What I mean is that if you decide that you're going to like agree to pass what Republicans will pass and then pass the rest of reconciliation and it adds up to a good package. OK, that's fine. But I think that they have made the correct analysis that that's not likely to be how

it plays out if they go down that route. And then what do you think? So this is maybe two in the weeds, but I'm interested in it. So minimum wage. So the way budget reconciliation works, and this is what the filibuster can't stop. It is a process that allows budget related laws to pass with 51 votes in the Senate as opposed to 60. But there are all these other rules.

There's amendments that everybody's allowed to put forward. There's limits on what you can do. It has to impact the budget. Do you think that you can get a minimum wage increase through budget reconciliation by calling it an offset for some other spending in the bill? What do you think right now about that? I think you could make a good faith argument and back it up that a minimum wage increase meets the weird rules of reconciliation,

right? It has to be principally about the budget. Well, if you increase the minimum wage, you both increase tax revenues because people's wages go up, and you reduce spending because people's need for social programs goes down. So you do have like a very direct impact on the federal budget, particularly the parts of the federal budget that are permanent. And that's what reconciliation is meant to deal with. That being said, I think the conventional wisdom for a long time has been that since it's really a regulation and it's not itself a tax increase or a reduction or increase in spending, that it isn't really a budget

change. It's not something that you change in the budget line. It's a rule that you impose on businesses. The parliamentarian of the Senate, who is the person who kind of makes the final call, might not agree with the argument. And we can't bribe that person. We can't send that person votes. You can fire that person. You can fire that person. You could overrule that person. I think the dirty little secret of reconciliation is that if Democrats wanted to use it as a full end run around the filibuster, they could. But in practice, both Democrats and Republicans have kind of treated reconciliation as like, OK, we get one shot to avoid the filibuster, but we're going to stick to the. Respect it. We're going to respect it. Yeah, to the strict rules, make sure it's budgetary, it doesn't touch Social Security.

They haven't in practice really gone too far out of the confines of the rules itself. And so far, I haven't seen any sign that Democrats want to, but I think they could, and I think that they could make pretty good arguments for it. And in a way that allows them to. But I think they could, and I think that they could make pretty good arguments for it. And in a way that allows them to say they're preserving the filibuster. So actually that brings us to this topic. So let's talk about what we do about the filibuster. Brian, I'm very sorry. It's me, the filibuster.

Brian, the filibuster has been interrupting us all for this entire episode. Look, I know you're in the middle of a very important conversation, but Brian, what are your thoughts on Bean Dad? Oh, no. Oh, no. This is what the filibuster does. It comes in, and it tries to slow our progress, make it unable for us to have a conversation.

Was it a teaching moment? Bean Dad was the caliber guy? It was not a have a conversation. Was it a teaching moment? It was not a teaching moment. It was not a teaching moment, filibuster. Shame on you, filibuster. Look, you'll never get rid of me. I'm the filibuster. I've been around since forever. I'm like, you know

all those songs on albums that aren't the hit song? That's me! You know Batman Forever. Yeah. It's like, nope. Nobody wants to listen to that weird U2 song. People want.

We want Seal. We want Seal. We want Seal. God damn it. Not me, baby. I want all those other songs. What are some other things that you like? Filibuster?

Let me see. Oh, I'm every company Ryan Reynolds has invested in. You know. That's surprising. You know, it's just like, why? Like, what do you need? What do you need? What do you think about Ian Somerhalder's whiskey?

I mean, it's perfect. It's like, why? Also, Ian Somerhalder in general. He's a filibuster. He's a filibuster. He's a filibuster. Hey, do you know I hid under Chuck Schumer's bed for six days? What?

Did you know that? I just hid under his bed bed and I didn't do anything I enjoyed him not knowing I was there that's how twisted I am I'm like every joker combined well listen this is the last time I'm going to deal with you today filibuster

listen we are going to find a way to get out of the promise Kirsten Sinema made Joe Manchin's open and amenable. We're going to minimize you at the very least. Hey, how about this, filibuster? What if we require the Republicans actually stand up and talk? None of these

culture motions. That'll be the day. That'll be the day. Get out of here. Get out of here. Remarkable. Anyway, Brian, here's where we were at. Back to the conversation. So I actually did want to talk to you about the filibuster.

So, you know, we just had this strange week where basically Mitch McConnell used the filibuster to try to extract a promise that the Democrats wouldn't get rid of the filibuster. And at the beginning of the week, I think a lot of people were saying, oh, Mitch overplayed his hand, Mitch overplayed his hand. And then by the end of the week, Joe Manchin basically promised not to get rid of the filibuster, eliminate it. You can parse it. There's some space. But Joe Manchin seems to have at least affirmed that he would like to keep the filibuster in place. Sinema went even further, saying she's not even open to eliminating the filibuster. What do you make of those concessions? And how does that change the filibuster debate in Congress going forward? To me, I think two things are important. One is that Mitch McConnell isn't really acting like he got much out of this, right? If he had gotten what he was asking for,

which was essentially like a vote on saying, we're not going to eliminate the filibuster this year. But who gives a shit? It's that's just as well because it's the same thing. It says we won't get rid of the filibuster is just what we have, which is a rule that says we won't get rid of the filibuster unless 51 people say so. I think if 51 people vote to say they won't get rid of the filibuster, the chance that they're going to renege on the basis of future events is lower than two people saying, I'm not open to changing my mind about it now, right? That's basically all you got. And then Mitch McConnell is out there saying,

if you guys kill the filibuster, I'm going to make your lives hell. Which is like, well, if you really thought that you had an ironclad promise that it wasn't going to happen, you wouldn't be out there acting worried that it might. So I don't think he thinks that this story is over. And I think that that's good. And I think he's right to worry.

The fact that in the face of a threat, which was basically, unless you let me say which pieces of Biden's agenda are good to go or not, I'm not going to let you take over the Senate after you won the election. The fact that the answer that wasn't immediately like we are going to nuke the filibuster immediately. It's tough to swallow because that's basically saying like I'm going to mount a coup through the legislature. Come on. He said, look, he's using what he's got. He knows that Joe Manchin, Sinema, Tester, they don't want to do it on an organizing resolution. They don't want to do it. They don't want to be the ones to kill it. That's Mitch McConnell basically daring them and

knowing that Schumer doesn't have the votes. Schumer would love to kill it on the organizing resolution. A lot of Democrats would. They don't have the votes. The reason I found the fact that they wouldn't do it on this sort of basic question of like Joe Manchin was going to surrender his chairmanship to Mitch McConnell. So if that wasn't enough to convince Joe Manchin that Republicans aren't going to use the filibuster power in a constructive way, then it's going to take a lot of pressure, I think a lot of time, a lot of repeated evidence that basic popular simple things like the minimum wage increase are going to fail before you might get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to change their minds. And if and when they do, I think that what you were hinting at earlier is correct, that you're not going to see them get rid of the filibuster altogether, but they'll establish a new precedent in the Senate to either lower the number of votes it takes to end debate

or to make, if somebody's going to say, you know, I don't want to vote up or down on this, they have to hold the floor. And as soon as they stop holding the floor, then you get to your final vote. There's something in that neighborhood. What I took away from the last week's shenanigans is that it's going to be a slow burn. And I think Chuck Schumer would be wise to set up a whole lot of votes for Republicans to filibuster so that Manchin and Sinema feel like, OK, like he's right. They're not using the filibuster to construct events or just trying to stop us from doing anything. We've got to do something about it. Right. I mean, it seems like, look, you know, Manchin is not up for four more

years. You know, Sinema is not up for four years. She's in a state that's turning more and more blue. They don't want to do it. They have to want to. They have to actually think it's the right thing to do. It doesn't, it has to be a mix of pressure, but it does seem like, especially with Manchin, that he's like a panda you got to coax out, you know?

I think Biden would have to get involved. And I think at some level, it hasn't dawned on everybody in the Senate, even people who are more amenable to abolishing the filibuster because they just want to legislate, that refusing to abolish the filibuster while maintaining membership in the one party that is like the last bastion of hope for American democracy is a position that is incongruous, right? And it's going to end poorly at some point. I don't know if it'll be in 2022 or 2024 or after that. But if the people who, you know, do the work to turn out the vote, their votes count, they win the election, nothing changes. Meanwhile, the other party in state legislatures is out there making it harder to vote, you know, just responding to their defeats by trying to win by cheating, eventually that's going to unravel

itself. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, maybe an appeal to their own sense that they will have a harder time winning elections if they don't do what it takes to make voting fair. And you can't do that without getting rid of the filibuster. I mean, if all they're thinking about in terms of making this calculation is what effect it's going to have on their reelectability several years down the line, that seems like a pretty straightforward way to make the case to them. Like there's the principle of the majority gets to govern. And there's also the like, do you want your voters to be able to cast ballots for you easily? Maybe somewhere in there, they'll get a sense of more is on the line than just like whether there'll be blowback in Arizona because of ads Mitch McConnell runs or whatever.

Yeah, it does seem to we have to make a policy argument about basically like a system where there is no cause and effect between vote and outcome is one that has rewarded cynicism. It's rewarded a sense that nothing matters. It is rewarded the kind of politics that led to somebody like Trump. Like, yeah, if Republicans gain full control and there's no filibuster, there's more damage that they can do. But let's not bet on a quarter of our program. Let's not bet on a third of our program.

Let's bet on our program, our ability to use our program to win. So I think it's the substance. You know, if you abolish the filibuster, what are you going to pass? What are the details of those bills? That's important. They should be good laws and they should help people. And that will feed the cause of helping Democrats continue to win elections so that this authoritarian party doesn't get rewarded with more power.

But the question of like whether they govern at all is going to matter almost as much that the people who put in all the work over the last four years, including the people who listen to this show and are supporters of crooked media, if they come to see that all that work cannot be transmitted into the ability for decent people to govern, then what is their incentive to get involved in the next election and the election after that? And that's really ultimately what I worry about. Less is every program that they pass going to be super popular, implemented well, thus redound to their political benefit in two, four, six or eight years. And just do people get the sense that when they vote for the party that they support, that the party that they support will get to govern? Yeah, to get their fingers in it, you know?

Yeah, yeah. Brian Boiler, it's good to talk to you. Thank you for being here. So sorry about Phil a buster. Really inappropriate interruption. Everybody check out Rubicon season two. It's awesome. It's a great way into some of these conversations and the intro left debates that are defining how Democrats fight moving forward. He talked to Fash Akira, who was Bernie's campaign manager and who worked on The Hill. The new episode has Chris Hayes. They're

both worth listening to. Check it out. Thanks, Joe. Thanks to Brian Boitler for joining us. When we come back, I play a game about Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. This week, the Biden administration pushed the Treasury to find ways to speed up Harriet Tubman's debut on the $20 bill. pushed the Treasury to find ways to speed up Harriet Tubman's debut on the $20 bill. It was stymied by the Trump administration that did not want to replace Andrew Jackson

because someone told Trump that Andrew Jackson was like him. So the Biden administration is trying to find a way to move this process along much more quickly and get around what the Trump people did, which means that the goal is to have Harriet Tubman sneak around some racists, which is historically fitting in some sense. Obviously, this is long overdue, but we were talking about Harriet Tubman and how much of her history is reduced to the Underground Railroad, but she did so many incredible things. So we want to play a game where we quiz a listener about Harriet Tubman in a game we're calling Harriet the Spy. Joining us, we have Elizabeth.

Hi, Elizabeth. Hi, how are you? What part of the country are you in right now? I am in Boise, Idaho. Boise, Idaho. How's it going in Boise? Oh, you know, it's going fine. What temperature was the high today? Oh, you know, it's going fine. What temperature was the high today?

Oh, it's actually, it is warm. I was just outside wearing just a blazer. Okay. So that was, it is nice. The weather is nice in Boise. All right. All right. How long have you been in Boise?

I've been in Boise for five years. Um, but I've lived in Idaho my whole life. So moved from the tiny town to the big city. You a Democrat? I am a Democrat. How's that going? Me and my dad were the two Democrats in my hometown. Oh, really? Yeah.

How's that been going lately? Well, right now in Idaho, the Republicans are fighting the Republicans. Did you expand Medicaid in Idaho? Didn't you, didn't that happen? Yes, it did happen. Didn't you vote on it? Wasn't there a, wasn't there a? Yes, it did. How about that? Didn't you vote on it? It wasn't there. Wasn't there a, uh, there was a, I know I voted yes on it. Yeah. Yeah,

it did pass. I feel like there was some stop in the implementation. Yes. Well, it did pass. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, Elizabeth, here's how this works. I'm going to read a fact about Harriet Tubman and you have to tell us if it is real or fake. Are you ready? I'm ready. Emotionally pretend there's a clicking time. That just sort of adds an energy. All right. Harriet Tubman was a spy for the Union Army. She gathered intelligence from a network of riverboat pilots

and current and former enslaved people and provided Union commanders with information about the Confederate Army's positions and defenses. True. Yes. Harriet was such a good soldier for the cause, John Brown, the militant abolitionist famous for his failed attempt to seize the armory

at Harper's Ferry, used to address her as General Tubman. That sounds false. Is it true? No, it's true. It was true. It was true. You can't say it sounds false.

Is it true? That's dodging, all right? I know what you're doing. No, that was dodging. That was incorrect. Harriet Tubman also found the time to establish a restaurant chain, Underground Railroad Sandwiches.

That's false. Later renamed Subway Sandwiches. That's false. Later renamed Subway Sandwiches. That one is false. I know that one. So sorry. So sorry. In 1863, Harriet Tubman led 300 black soldiers up the Combahee River. By cover of night, they burned down four plantations and six mills, destroying and looting millions of dollars worth of property and liberating nearly 800 enslaved people, all without suffering a single casualty. True. True. Harriet Tubman was a sniper. I think that's true. No, it was false. Is it false? During raids, Tubman would outmaneuver slave patrols by heading south, deeper into slaveholding territory. Her pursuers always

went north, expecting the fugitives to take the shortest route to freedom. True. True. Harriet invented the first true smoke bomb in order to distract and confuse her pursuers. True. False. In 1860, Harriet Tubman performed her first public rescue of a fugitive enslaved person. Tubman, then 34, disguised herself as an old woman to get past the man guarding the courtroom. False. That's true. An eyewitness said of Tubman's rescue of Charles Nall,

she was repeatedly beaten over the head with police clubs, but she never for a moment released her hold and she struggled with the officers until they were literally worn out with their exertions and Nall was separated from them. True. Correct. When Nall was recaptured, Tubman rallied a mob of nearly 400 abolitionists to storm the judge's office. They rescued Nall once again and put him on the first wagon out of town. True. True? That sounds cool. Is it false? It does, but it's a misconception.

It's a misconception. Also cool, but false. Yeah, false. Harriet Tubman once famously said, it would be a little strange if one day there was a well-intentioned movement to make me the face of US currency, seeing as how America's wealth was built on a system of oppression

that I devoted my life to resisting. Still, I think I'd be a better choice than Andrew fucking Jackson. False. Correct. In Hodel, Harriet Tubman planned and executed 19 raids and enormous bounty was placed on her head, but she was never captured.

True. Union soldiers who served in the Civil War were entitled to $25 a month pension. But despite Harriet Tubman's service as a spy and a scout, she was only granted $20 a month, as in the same amount per month as the banknote that might soon bear her likeness. Oh, I bet that's true. It's true. It's true.

Elizabeth, you've won the game, Harriet, a spy. Thank you. Thank you for playing. Thank you for calling in from Boise, Idaho. You're welcome. I learned so little about Harriet Tubman in elementary school, so I think I did good because I live in Idaho. How are those history books up there, huh? I think they're okay. Good news is my Democrat dad is a history teacher. Better than it could have been. I do know that Harriet Tubman died on March 10th because that's my birthday.

So I retained that. Way to go, Elizabeth. Way to go. You organizing up there in Boise? Yeah, I'm actually I am a government employee. So I do fight in the good fight. Well, thanks for playing, Elizabeth. When we come back, we'll end it on a high note.

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back because we all need it this week. Here it is, this week's high note. Hi, Love It. My name's Debra, and my highlight of the week is I just completed my first shift at the county vaccination site. And my highlight of the week is I just completed my first shift at the county vaccination site. I am an out-of-work performer in Orange County, California.

And because I am a friend of the pod, I was an election worker this year. Used the tools from Crooked Media. It was great. It was an amazing experience. Everybody should try working in an election at least once in their life. Because I was an election worker, I got the call to come work at the county vaccination distribution site. And I would not have had that opportunity if I was not a friend of the pod and wasn't listening to you guys. And I want to thank you for putting me in that position. And I'm super excited to be part of this really monumental vaccination distribution. So thank you and hope to see

you at the improv soon. I love it. This is Hannah from Maryland once again. And my high note for the week is that I got into grad school. I am just so excited. I know that everything is really terrible right now, but I am so excited to know that I am actually going to be going forward and studying public policy

and figuring out what I can do to, you know, most effectively implement progressive change in the long run and truly be taking this step forward. A lot of the organizing that I have done over the past year has been such a great experience, but it has definitely stemmed from a sense of obligation that ending the Trump presidency and mitigating the harm really took priority over everything else. And it is so exciting and just so incredible to know that I am doing something that, yes, is still for the greater good, but that I am going to grad school because I want to and not because I feel like I have to. It's really a feeling that just goes beyond words, and I'm just overwhelmed. So thank you so much for letting me express that, and thank you for all that you do. Bye.

Hi, John. My name is Jillian. I'm an ICU nurse in Cleveland, Ohio. I just want to call to say that my high note this week was getting to spend a couple extra hours this week getting COVID-19 vaccines. I know not everybody wants one, but it's really exciting to see people who actually do and want to help get rid of this because it is exhausting. Thanks. Hi, I love it. My name is Carrie and I'm from Kansas City, Missouri. And something that gave me hope this week is that as a traveling

teacher of band, of kids that don't wear masks 100% of the time because we play instruments, I was able to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and I've just been amazed that I have not caught COVID through this time of being even on a hybrid schedule, but around individuals who don't wear their masks 100% of the time. So that gave me hope, and Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs gave me hope. So let's hope they go beat Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. Thanks. Hi, this is Julie from Molokai. I'm 70 years old,

and my daughter, who lives in Santa Monica, turned me on to listening to you guys, and it is great. Thank you for the information. Thank you for the lab. Thanks for keeping everything going and helping everybody to have a Democratic Senate. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Aloha. Thanks, everybody who submitted a high note this week. If you want to leave us a message about something that gave you hope, you can call us at 323-521-9455. Thank you to Alice Wetterlin. Thank you to Yoni, the filibuster Lotan, Brian Boitler, and everybody who called in. There are 647 days until the 2022 midterm elections. Have a great weekend. Love It or Leave It is a Crooked Media production. It is written and produced by me,

John Lovett, Elisa Gutierrez, Lee Eisenberg, our head writer, and the person whose gender reveal party started the fire, Travis Helwig, Jocelyn Kaufman, Pallavi Gunalan and Peter Miller are the writers. Our assistant producer is Sydney Rapp. Bill Lance is our editor and Kyle Seglin is our sound engineer. Our theme song is written and performed by Sure Sure. Thanks to our designers, Jesse McClain and Jamie Skeel, for creating and running all of our visuals,

which you can't see because this is a podcast, and to our digital producers, Nar Melkonian and Milo Kim, for filming and editing video each week so you can.