Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Power Plays: Layoffs, Impeachment, and Strategic Shifts

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Write About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over 6 years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping necks and cashing checks? Well, it starts Write About Now. What's up guys? Welcome to Right About Now. It is August 24th, 2024. It's our weekly business news of the week.

Starting point is 00:00:32 Joined by two of my favorite people we've got here in studio. Brianna Hall. Hey, guys. And of course, my Kimisabe, my good buddy, Chris Hansen. What's up? What's up? What's up, Brianna? What's up, Brian? Hey, living the dream.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Hey, the show must go on. I've been a little under the weather. The team's been, Brianna's been rocking it. Sarger's been rocking it. The team's, like, keeping things afloat while I'm down and out. But, hey, I made it back for the end of the week here. Holding down the point. It's going around, apparently.

Starting point is 00:01:06 I know. Stomach bug, flu. Yeah, flu yeah whatever it is no stomach bug just all kind of i don't know headache and just a little tired and all that stuff but feels good i binge watched outer range if you're listening uh you know you get into i don't i don't watch too much tv anymore don't have time but kids work jobs boating it's about all i can fit in and uh so if i really got into it out of range watched first two seasons binged through it over two days and now it's canceled i'm like of course so if you're listening and you've watched that show i bet you liked it because like the ratings were like really high but but it's, but it was clearly very well produced. Beautiful. Felt like Yellowstone,

Starting point is 00:01:47 but the sci-fi edge. But, but I was like, when I was watching, I was like, this was not cheap to film. And sure enough, they said it was like,

Starting point is 00:01:54 it did well, but cost too much to make. And I get into something, you know? So anyway, highly recommended here on right about now, outer range. So Yellowstone with a twist. How's the week been,

Starting point is 00:02:08 Chris? We're cranking. We're cranking down here in Miami. We're good. Yep. I like it. I like it. Brianna, how are we today? We're great. We're loving Greenville. Yeah, I'll move down. Congratulations to Brianna. She's a next time, another time homeowner here in G Vegas. I am. I'm super excited to be here. And now I'm a local. Local. Yes.

Starting point is 00:02:37 She got on that California exit train to old South Carolina. Kakalaki. Have you heard that? Southern. Kakalaki, South Carolina. Therealaki. Have you heard that? Southern, Southern, South Carolina. There's so many things. G Vegas,

Starting point is 00:02:50 South Kakalaki. I've been sending my family Southern business titles. Cause I, on my driving, you know, around, I see things like squirrel towing. I'm like,

Starting point is 00:03:00 Oh yeah. Got to have some scroll towing. It's better than a different kind of towing, but, you know. Chris, what's happening in Miami this week? Nothing, man. It's freaking summer. It's just raining every afternoon. It's hot, steamy.

Starting point is 00:03:22 Yeah. Hot and steamy. I like it. Hot and steamy. I like it. Hot and steamy. The Democratic Convention's been this week. And you know what? A guy that's going to come on the show here in a few weeks, Ryan Steumann, made a good point to me yesterday.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And he's like, you wouldn't know it the last few weeks. I stay out of politics more than I'm in it. But, you know, sort of made my feelings known, which just could take some of this been happening. But in general, he said, you know what? You know why the Democrats are having a better convention than the Republicans did? He said, because they don't talk about anything important. They just get into emotions. Everything's about feeling. He's like, you know, Stevie Wonder gets up there and says absolutely nothing, but it's so like emotional driven. He's like, he's like, I know why all the women vote Democratic. He's like, and I know why a lot of the men now vote Democratic because they're all betas anyway. And he's like, but he's being serious. He's like making a point. It's like, I think they've probably done a better job than

Starting point is 00:04:22 Republicans. The Republicans get up there and talk about all the facts, the percentage and the data and all this stuff that we know and that we're talking about. But the Democrats get there and talk about all this stuff, emotional and energy and and vibes and like all this stuff. And he's like, they're probably having a better convention, like because they know how to make people feel something, even if it's fake. And I was like, he made a good it it pained me to acknowledge that he was right i mean it does seem that way a little bit it's like oprah winfrey gets up there and you know you got hollywood you have it's hollywood it is hollywood even my i was talking about family they kind of even said the same thing they're like it just seems so overly produced you know yeah you're right you're right it's all emotion not much on the data and the numbers and

Starting point is 00:05:12 the policy it's a lot of sizzle and not a lot of steak but sizzle sells sometimes until you have to live with what you bought you know you like the way it looked you like the way it smelled but then when you take a bite of it, it tastes like, it's like, but, but some people get enamored by the, the outer coating.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Right. Have you watched any of it? Shiny object. My thought process is that the DNC is, you know, doing so well because all the people there are not at work. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And that's why the RNC, you know, doing so well because all the people there are not at work. Yeah, right. Yeah. And that's why the RNC, you know, all of the people who are Republican are at work doing their jobs. That's why we care about the data. Yeah. Well, we're going to care

Starting point is 00:05:57 about something if these prices don't come down and inflation doesn't come down, you know, more consecutively. And it is still quite a mystery to me, the coronation of Kamala and Tim Balls, I mean, Walls. Like, it's just, I just don't understand the popularity of it. But because even if we were doing a popularity contest, they just would not be the most popular people. Did you see Tim Walz's son? There was a video of him crying, pointing at his dad and being like,

Starting point is 00:06:31 that's my dad. That's my dad. Well, you know, it was, it was very emotional. Hollywood. Emotional.

Starting point is 00:06:39 Hollywood. Yes, it was very emotional. Yeah, they do Hollywood well. So, uh, but in the real news,

Starting point is 00:06:44 GM lays off a thousand salaried software and services employees. It says they're laying off 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and service division following a review to streamline operations. They also include roughly 600 jobs at General Motors Tech Campus near Detroit. Job cuts represent about 1.3% of the company's global salaried workforce. So layoffs at multiple places. Cisco's laying off 7% of its workforce. Intel cutting 15,000 jobs. Paramount reducing U.S. workforce by 15%.

Starting point is 00:07:23 MasterCard laying off 3%. Sonos cutting 6% of jobs. So that's a lot of jobs. So they saw, I did see where there was a recorrection of like 800,000 jobs or something. I mean, adding a zero. But I think if we add in what I just said there, it's close to 800000. So all these job losses, how is that going to be positive at the end of the day? Well, I mean, what I would say is if you look at Biden's former campaign and everything that he says, he talks all about all of the jobs that he created and how great the economy is doing.

Starting point is 00:08:02 But then if you look at these articles, that's not the case. No. And a lot of those jobs were just jobs added back that were lost during COVID. And now we're turning back to sort of reality. So, you know, I'm waiting for the glimmer of good data that makes me go, I was wrong about what Biden and Kamala are doing. I'll eat that. I'll eat that. I'll eat that soup.

Starting point is 00:08:27 I'll drink that soup, you know, humble pie, whatever you want to call it. But so far, none of the data is supporting that. It's just, we're just happy. Pride, policies, don't matter. Just popularity. Chris, what do you think, buddy? Yeah, it's not a good sign. And I think this is a lot of industry.

Starting point is 00:08:48 And I also think AI is playing a part in this. I think it's something that's happening almost regardless of administration. I think this is going to start happening. I specifically remember the Biden administration, you know, bringing back factory jobs and blue collar. Like that was especially Detroit, right? That was, i feel like one of their big battlegrounds i mean i remember they had a rally there with like 100 jeeps because they had some deal with jeep and auto manufacturing so these numbers definitely don't reflect a

Starting point is 00:09:15 positive for for anyone in that industry so uh dude it's just more negative data data right like i would love to see positive numbers no matter who's the administration in power, but this is not good. It's not a good thing at all. No, I'm waiting for it. I mean, and you would think the way they control the media that if there was good numbers,

Starting point is 00:09:38 they'd be putting them out there, but they're not coming in. And so, and I agree with you on the AI front. I mean, AI is going to have an impact. It is having an impact. And some of these companies are getting leaner because they were kind of fat and happy. So that's going to happen.

Starting point is 00:09:52 Sure. But it's just more like if we're going to market all these jobs, like you said, Chris, that we're adding back, then let's just be specific about the impact that we're really having versus what we're selling. And that's really sort of what the premise here is overall. Let's get past the politics, the slogans, all this stuff and get down to the raw data. You know, like where are we adding jobs? Where are we lowing interest rates? What's bringing costs down? Let's stop fighting one of the one of our biggest industries, oil and gas, you know, for the new green steel deal.

Starting point is 00:10:28 Excuse me. A little for you to slip and like really get behind what it takes to make moving the economy forward. And so I don't know. I think the news is going to be a little muddy, say the least before it gets better um yeah you know it's not really business news but i saw this these impeachable offenses from from biden you know pretty much uh selling access and some china stuff i mean it's mean, it's a lot. And I don't want to go down to all these theories and all this. It's just when you go back to like all the stuff that happened with his son and the laptop and all that stuff that was all peddled as fake news and all peddled as not real.

Starting point is 00:11:21 And then 94% of it ended up being exactly what what they said it was and it's like but then when they peddled the collusion of russia with trump 94 of it ended up being wrong and so it's just like you know donald trump jr posted this graphic and it's like, you know, 94% of the coverage by mainstream historic media, ABC, CBS, NBC for Kamala has been positive. And 89% of it for Trump and the Republican committee or convention has been negative. convention has been negative. It's like, you're all, if you are on the right, if you're whatever, whatever one is that you're fighting all this media and all these dollars and all these eyeballs that are getting painted a picture. And it's just, it's never been. And I don't know, like, I think about this stuff a lot now, you know, maybe you're listening and, you know, I'm in my mid 40s now. And like, is it always been this way? And I just am old enough now that I'm paying attention to it, you know, and I own businesses and all that. Or is it really just gotten this bad to where mainstream media is so far on one side or the other? I don't know the answer to that. Maybe we've been tainted our entire lives by the media, but it just seems like it's just gotten worse and worse and worse. Is that a forever

Starting point is 00:12:52 thing? I guess some people would tell you the media has always been liberal. I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Because right now we're like, oh, the world is so weird and it's crazy. And I wonder that too. Was there a time in my parents' life that they felt they were in, you know, this divisiveness and stuff like that? I mean, I definitely think it's a weird time. It feels very Hunger Game-ish almost. Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think, I mean, I don't think it was ever this bad years and years ago, you know, when it was, I mean, I think the most controversial thing that we had was Bush. Was it Bush versus Obama? Yeah. Gay marriage.

Starting point is 00:13:46 of the computers and everybody having you know phones and access so i think that there is something to be said for like over connectedness we're so connected we've never been meant to be this connected before and we're so connected that everybody takes everything that they see online as fact and whether it's right-sided or left-sided so i think you really have to follow some independent journalism you really have to be interested in unbiased coverage. You really have to take, you know, an open mind with both sides to kind of find the middle ground to be, you know, not crazy radical either way. Yeah. And that's where I like struggle to find the data points and not the sizzle. It's just, I'm not going to like, my beliefs just don't align with, you know, making non-normal things normal. And with, you know, the direction of the economy overall is just not positive.

Starting point is 00:14:46 you know the direction of the economy overall is just not positive and this sort of fight against capitalism and over regulation and so i watched this video that um it's like phil donahue passed away this week like the original talk show you know host and he had a guy on who he was questioning because phil donahue leaned left. And the guy, and I forget his name, so I apologize. But anyway, go look at my stories. Or maybe I'll repost it or like save it or something. But he was talking about like all the facts that supported, like if you go look at, you know, everyone wants to, you know, fight capitalism.

Starting point is 00:15:23 But it's been proven to be like the only method with which true growth happens. Because no matter what, people are individually greedy. And it's like, if you think comet Sovietism is good for the economy, then you're fooling yourself because it's like it doesn't generate jobs. The only way to generate growth is for there to be an open market and there to be capitalism and less regulation. Because we get out because you don't get lazy, you don't get complacent, you're not relying on this stuff. So that enough innovation shines through smart people, driven people, the, you know, Elon Musk or whoever, the revolutionary people are allowed to shine that then bring

Starting point is 00:16:14 thousands and thousands of jobs and opportunities. Because if you collapse all of that and you try to make it, you know, everything even do all this. Then you stall innovation and ideas that generate and springboard growth. And I was like, this guy like described it better than anyone I'd ever heard. You know, because you don't have anything. If you have everyone stalled and not like allowed to sort of bring ideas and be motivated by sort of that own self-interest to start. is and be motivated by sort of that own self-interest to start. But that own self-interest creates compounding effects of positive things once it's unleashed. I don't know, it's fascinating. I'm right there with you. I mean, I'm sitting here thinking of my medical business, the laboratory, right? And I think, all right, the government's in control of pretty much

Starting point is 00:17:03 what we get paid from the insurance companies or Medicare. They cut rates every year. And any doctor will tell you this, that it's becoming less and less profitable to be a physician and practice medicine, which to a degree is going to drive you less to work harder. Right. But I look at our instance. We do lab testing, specialized lab testing. If our rates weren't getting cut and we had more profit, we could do more research and development. We could look into new technologies, new tests that can help people, cancer testing, genetic testing, all these things. Because the government is

Starting point is 00:17:33 cutting our pay or raising taxes, we're less innovative. We can't explore that stuff because it's more about just keeping the business running. That's where I think, and Ryan, you can relate this with your marketing company, or we could talk about this with vacay, you know, vacay. It's like, okay, gas is more. So shipping costs more. So therefore we have to raise what you're paying for our product more. I mean, everything, just that example, right? For our gummies.

Starting point is 00:17:57 All right. Well, even to get the raw materials that requires that being transported. I really think you have to break it down to people to fully understand how this all connects. Yeah. You know, it's like really, and, and for guys like you and I, real business guys were, of course, I've always been more conservative, maybe libertarian, but definitely pro-business because I know how many employees do you have, dude? Like to real question, how many, what are you 15 probably or something across the world we have probably more than 17 18 20 total people that work for the company um right and in in the u.s roughly 10 you know so it's like half and half but it's like so and growing every day

Starting point is 00:18:42 we have a couple offers out as we speak so but, but yeah, and, but I'll say this. And I mean, I have my teams in the room. They know this. I'll say it. We started the agency. I've been in the agency business 20 plus years and started the agency seven, we're seven and a half years old.

Starting point is 00:19:03 I looked back at some of the data. So, you know, I could hire sort of an entry-level person in marketing that may or may not have a degree, but was qualified in something, you know, $30,000 to $35,000, you know, around there for starting salary. Well, now everyone wants $45,000 or $50,000 and they're pretty much getting it. And I look at what I'm charging the clients, what they're willing to pay, what they have the budget to pay for. And it is not like it might have gone up 2 percent, maybe. And in a lot of cases, like it's gone down. Like the clients aren't willing to pay more for the services.

Starting point is 00:19:43 But yet my my costs are up 15%, 20%. So our margins are just down, period. Because the first thing that your client is going to do is drop their marketing budget when cash flow is not coming in. I would say that's probably the number one thing people look to cut when business is slow. But like you said, your editors, your graphics people, they're not charging less because of inflation.

Starting point is 00:20:08 They got to charge more because their rents are higher. And I want to pay them more because I know what it costs to live. And so I'm happy to pay it. But at the same time, but I go, we're just making less money. I mean, you know, it's just less margin, period. And sometimes we don't make money, but we keep the engine going. And so, you know, all in all it's good, but it's like, but I'm not charging. I'm not able to charge clients more for the services that we do than I was seven years ago, uh, for the most part. And some of those things have evolved, but

Starting point is 00:20:42 everything else costs more. All the supplies, everything we use, the software, everything's gone up. The cost of labor's gone up. But my fees, and I kind of said this last week indirectly, but talking about more specifically, all the outs have gone up. And the ins are about the same. Same. And the ends are about the same, you know, it's about 15% up on the outs and like two or 3% up on the ends. So you can do the math, you know, from there. I think it's industry wide too.

Starting point is 00:21:22 Like, I don't think it's, you know, I think it's worldwide because I had this same experience in California. I ran a business out there. You have to keep increasing the salaries of your employees to keep them happy. In California, we had an issue where they made it this year in 2024 to where any fast food worker minimum wage was $20 an hour. So if you were paying over $20 an hour owning a business thinking like, wow, I'm doing good. I'm paying these people $5, $6 an hour more than minimum wage. Well, now all of a sudden they can get paid $20 an hour to go work at McDonald's or Starbucks or any of those. And so it became, you know, now that you have to pay 30 or $40 an hour to get good people and get them to stay and to work hard. And so, you know, as a small business owner and having a ton of business owner friends in different industries, I think everybody's feeling it. Construction, marketing.

Starting point is 00:22:12 Yeah. I mean, yeah. Cause you can't compete with the corporations. Yeah. And I think everybody's, I mean like everybody thinks, well, it just assumes that we've been able to charge more, you know, like our, like I'm sure even some of my employees that, you know, you know, like, Oh, I was surely charging more than what it was. Not in most cases. No. What I could charge some clients three or four grand or 30 grand, you know, like whatever it was, it's not magically six or seven now. And now 40, 50, 60 grand. No, I'm looking at, I'm like looking at some of the proposals and I'm like,

Starting point is 00:22:48 I'm not, we're not making revenue might be higher, but margins are way lower. I think inflation is just killing every industry, you know, nationwide. Yeah. I mean, but it's just reality. And then they, you know, they talk about cap and prices, then all this stupid shit like that's going to work. You know, and grocery stores margins are like 1.8%. So they're not making any money. I mean, yeah, Kroger makes, you know, $3 billion, whatever, in revenues.

Starting point is 00:23:19 But they make 1.8% on that. So, I mean, it's a volume game for them. You got to open 400 stores to make any kind of real money. And so, because their costs are just that high. It's not like their margins have tripled. I mean, there's some industries that are, you know, the chip makers and like some of that stuff. Yeah, they're making their margins. They're banking.

Starting point is 00:23:38 But some of the everyday goods that we're talking about, the cost of, it's not like the corporations are making more money. Because that's what the Democrats and a lot of, they'll paint that picture that, you know, corporate greed. And there is some of that some places, but it's not where- Yeah, from their donors. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then I think about, okay,

Starting point is 00:24:03 Kamala's raised more money, supposedly than anyone in history. Allegedly. Allegedly. And maybe she think about, okay, Kamala's raised more money, supposedly, than anyone in history. Allegedly. Allegedly. And maybe she has. But I'm just like, can we just put all that towards, you know, a charity or something? Because when she loses, won't it just be wasted dollars? What will impact on the economy with that $1 billion that she's going to get donated to her campaign have had towards something positive?

Starting point is 00:24:27 Anyway, I digress. It'll be really interesting. You know, this episode releases on Friday, but a little RFK Jr. news coming today. So if you're listening, you might have already heard it. Will that shift the election? Yes. Yeah, I believe so.

Starting point is 00:24:50 I think there's a lot of people that were, I mean, was he, was he going to win? No, but I think he had a substantial voter base. He has a big following. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:24:58 He's got a big camp behind him. I think. Yeah. I think that, I don't know. I love RFK Jr. I definitely follow his politics. I follow, I think that, I don't know, I love RFK Jr. I definitely follow his politics. I follow, I think like I like him as a person and what I see with him online.

Starting point is 00:25:12 And so, you know, it's exciting for me. I follow a lot of independent journalism that covers him and his family. And, you know, he has ravens. So if you follow him on social media, he like has these two ravens that he has like trained. So anyways, I digress. But I think it will. I think it'll shift the election. What do you think, Chris? he's more of a legacy politician, right? His name has weight. People like my family, right? Like your older generation feel safe with him.

Starting point is 00:25:47 I think it'll sway. I definitely think because he's been big on, you know, the medical stuff, the vaccine schedules, you know, he was part of a documentary, I want to say like 10 years ago, talking about, you know, pharma and vaccines and whatnot. So I think that also gives him a lot of weight now where he was kind of ahead of the game with that whole thing, you know, kind of preaching from the rooftops about us needing to take a look at that

Starting point is 00:26:15 and pharma's control in our U S politics. So I think good advocate. And I say that because a lot of people critiqued how Trump handled the, the vaccine rollout and whatnot. So I think you're going to get a lot of people critiqued how Trump handled the vaccine rollout and whatnot. So I think you're going to get a lot of people from maybe that camp that if he gives them the green light, then they're like, all right. And I agree with it. I mean, I like RFK. You know, he's a little bit more balanced probably than Trump, but he could not have won.

Starting point is 00:26:42 Definitely couldn't have won. No. We're going to win. Wouldn't get a win. But I like a lot of his policies. And I believe him. For sure. So, I mean, so he'll be potentially endorsing Trump. Well, I can tell you who I'm absolutely endorsing,

Starting point is 00:26:55 and that's Brandon Bills, the official merchandise sponsor of Right About Now and Ryan Alford. Look, I mean, I'm not even wearing it today, but it would all match. I mean, look, look at this thing. I got the green shirt on. We got the green logo. It's all about branding. It's all about alignment. And I'm in alignment. And I officially approve this message, which is you need to get your brand on the Branded Bills gear, sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts. And of course, you come and you stay for the hats. The official merchandise

Starting point is 00:27:26 sponsor of Right About Now, go to brandedbills.com, click that custom button, and let me tell you, you'll thank us for it. You'll approve this message as well because you will get your brand on the most premium hats, hoodies, and t-shirts in the country. And we love them as the official sponsor of right about now. And I approve this message. Just telling you, love me some Brandon bills. The, uh, yeah, it'll be, uh, interesting how it all plays out. I do think if they, it was, it's well played because you know, like with the convention, like it'll brunt a little bit of the momentum coming out. So if it happens today, good timing, because, you know, it just seems like everything kind of get the media attention that's been behind the DNC. So we'll be fascinating. And look, I'm just telling you, if you want the economy to improve,

Starting point is 00:28:26 Trump, Varkey Jr., and Musk, these are the people you want thinking and operating about the business and the economy. These are smart, intellectual people that understand how business works. And our world is a lot more than business, but at the end of the day, it takes economy to fund the military,

Starting point is 00:28:44 to fund all these other things so a corporation yeah america's a corporation i like it blows my mind to think you're gonna have a government prosecutor be in charge of balancing a budget i don't know if anyone knows lawyers or i've met plenty of public defenders and prosecutors they're good at what they do, but they're not business people. Like, it's crazy to me. America is a business. We're importing, exporting goods. It's all about dollars and cents to have someone who's never balanced a checkbook of even a small business is insane. Completely insane. Agreed. And that's all I have to say about that. Yeah. I mean, I just, I don't get it.

Starting point is 00:29:25 I just won't ever get it until I hear, I don't know, specifics out of their mouth. You're not emotional enough to get it, right? I'm not emotional enough to get it, I guess. You're not biting on the emotional brainwashing in PSYOP. That's really what it is. Yes, exactly right. The PSYOP called Hollywood. It is Hollywood. It's total Hollywood show is what it feels like, exactly right. The high up, the high up called Hollywood. It is, it is Hollywood.

Starting point is 00:29:45 It's total Hollywood show is what it feels like, you know. But being someone, you know, men are kind of this way anyway, you know, black and white. Brown and I have this conversation. I'll be like, just say it. Just tell me. Just speak straight. Just speak straight. You know, the side talk, I just can't.

Starting point is 00:30:04 Like, just tell me like it is. Like, don't, you know. My wife will, like, beat around the bush or something. I'm like, just say it, honey. Like, you know, like, say it. Don't spray it. And it's all that with their party. It's like, I'm not a very emotional guy anyway.

Starting point is 00:30:19 So, like, just, you're not going to get me with this sappy stuff. You got to get me with, hit me with the facts, the policies. What you going to do? It's like a high school pep rally. Yes, it is. It is on a national scale. For the art and drama kids. Yeah, with $12 billion behind it.

Starting point is 00:30:38 And with some explicit content. Yeah. And it's funny. All this stuff's going on. We talk about all this stuff and then potentially every person in the U S is social security number got leaked this week. We almost missed that. Even in this news discussion,

Starting point is 00:30:53 you know, no, no big deal. Like comforting, comforting, but that's what it's back to, you know, the sizzle and the steak where we,

Starting point is 00:31:00 even we've been talking about a lot of the sizzle, but the steak of like some of the stuff that's happening yeah okay no big deal and uh chris i'm gonna let you talk to you the conspiracy theory on that my thoughts on that yeah the minute i saw this news article pop up 200 million whatever it was right social security numbers hacked i'm like what easier way to get everybody on a new system right we know they're working on the central bank digital currency system, the social credit system, which is already implemented in China. Call me crazy to talk about this, but this is real.

Starting point is 00:31:32 You can research this. I just think it's the typical, like, create the problem, present the solution. Okay, everyone's things hacked, everyone's freaked out. Now we have a new ID system tied to your digital currency and your social credit, et cetera. That's what I think this is ushering in. Yeah. What do you think about that?

Starting point is 00:31:52 Time will tell. I love a good conspiracy. I really do. Hey, that's what I'm here for, guys. I mean, I think it's, you know, it's kind of fishy. It's weird that it's happening right now, you know, in a couple months away from the election. And I also think, you know, we have been in this kind of like touch and go place with social security for a long time. People say social security is

Starting point is 00:32:16 going to run out at some point. You know, it's not going to be there when our kids need it, yada, yada, yada. So to Chris's point, what is this ushering in? Is this ushering in a new digital currency? Is this ushering in some kind of like way to monitor and monitor spending? I mean, as you guys know, right, like we've gotten things in place on Venmo and Cash App and whatever else. So you can't even buy, you know, a couch on Facebook marketplace without paying the government anymore. So it is what it is. You can't purchase anything without it being tracked and traced now. Yeah. I mean, and then being fed to a marketing company that's going to target you with ads, you know, everything is so intertwined now. Yeah. So I'd be really interested to see six months from now what

Starting point is 00:33:02 happens with this breach. And also now I'm going to go check my credit report yeah uh business insider released the 10 worst states to live in i did admit uh one of them that's on here south carolina baby of course but greenville itself is a gem, right? Yes. It says each state's affordability, economy, education, and health, quality of life, and safety. Number 10 was Arizona. Number nine, we won't get into each one. Number nine on the list was Oregon.

Starting point is 00:33:48 Eight was South Carolina. It says, if you're looking for a state with a low cost of living, affordable housing, and property taxes, South Carolina was ranked 10th. Makes it an attractive spot. It says, however, you may want to turn elsewhere if you're a parent in a good school district. Quality education and health care are high on your priority list. So it's more the education. Tell that to your wife, right? Yeah, I know.

Starting point is 00:34:11 Exactly. I don't think she'd like that opinion. She doesn't like that. It's principle. Yeah, I know. Number seven, Oklahoma. Number six, Mississippi. They're all falling in the south, right? Nevada.

Starting point is 00:34:26 Number five, worst states. Number four, Alaska. Most live in Alaska anyway, right? Number three, Arkansas. These are all in the southern belt, aren't they? Number two, New Mexico.

Starting point is 00:34:42 Okay, well, that would make sense. Number these are all lined up. Who do you think last? Number one. California. No. It's following that belt that I was on in the South. Louisiana.

Starting point is 00:34:57 Number one. Yeah. So you got Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi all in there. Yeah. And then South Carolina. Who wrote this article? Business Insider. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:35:12 California should be number one. California should be number one. I agree. I don't see people fleeing New Mexico like they are California. It said this about South Carolina. One reason the state does poorly in health care is it's home to many rural areas with limited access to health care. It's true. I mean, you drive through South Carolina.

Starting point is 00:35:30 I mean, you're going through some rural areas. I mean, like there's barely a gas station, much less a doctor's office. I would like them to note on that article the reason that health care is so bad because our food is so delicious. Exactly. Because, yeah, you don't need it when you're eating healthy. It would be interesting to rank Greenville

Starting point is 00:35:53 outside of this and maybe like Charleston. You know, Greenville and Charleston would be complete anomalies probably to this. Because they're amongst the fastest growing cities in America, small cities growing in America. So, um, yeah, it was kind of a. Greenville is its own thing. I mean, I'm in a Facebook group, multiple, but one of them is, um, conservative girls who moved from California to South Carolina. And there's no joke.

Starting point is 00:36:21 and there's no joke. It's quite a title. There's like 250 women in this group who moved from California to Greenville County. I'm going to invite my sister to that group and recruit her back to the East Coast. Get her out of Cali and back in the South. Yeah, no kidding. I'll send her an invite.

Starting point is 00:36:42 Lastly today, it's kind of scary if you're a Disney Plus customer. So a couple was eating, I guess, a restaurant in a Disney theme park and had an allergic reaction to the meal and she ended up passing away. And supposedly, allegedly, because they had signed a Disney Plus agreement saying that they would, in their arbitration or not, sue Disney at all in any way, shape or form. That was the argument that Disney was come back with. It looks like it's going to get thrown out. But anyone that's a Disney Plus customer and you've signed that agreement, don't go thinking you can sue Disney if something like really tragic were to happen on their property or otherwise.

Starting point is 00:37:31 You know, I don't like litigious stuff and I don't like overregulation, but this feels like a leap. You know, like a lawyer shoving yet one more thing in the T's and C's on something and hoping it just covers the blanket of everything. What do you think? I mean, dude, it's not like Disney can't write a check, you know? No, I know. It seems like a bad PR play more than anything, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

Starting point is 00:38:03 Just like, write the check. You know? Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Just like right to check. The lady was also a doctor, I believe. And, you know, it's just really interesting to think that they can, you know, throw those under the terms and conditions and then not, you know, be held accountable for a mistake that cost her her life. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:38:22 And, you know, read those terms and conditions. Like page 46, we told you, you can never sue us. Next time you want to stream Star Wars and conditions like page 46. We told you, you can never sue us. So we're going to stream star Wars. Be careful. Yeah. I feel like we're going to get to this stage where like, there's going to be terms and conditions. Like when,

Starting point is 00:38:33 like when you become a friend, like, like if I friend you, like here's the T's and C's and you just sign. If you're going to be my friend, like you will not leak anything to social media. You will not talk bad about me behind my back. I mean, I'm for this.

Starting point is 00:38:48 If I accidentally poison you, I wouldn't have you over to my dinner. Tell you what I didn't mean to, and you will not sue me. Like, lawyers would just love that, right? It's like, oh, Jesus. Anyway. Ooh, an interesting tidbit about lawyers following that, that I think is relevant, Oh, Jesus. Anyway. There are words that lawyers, I'm sorry, not lawyers, that realtors are no longer allowed to use when advertising their services or posting a video or posting a reel or doing social media marketing. Included on the words they're not allowed to use are the word bonus. So they can't advertise a bonus room or a bonus space.

Starting point is 00:39:42 They can't use the word bonus. They can't use the word bonus. They can't use the word offer. Okay. So if you want to make an offer on a house, you can't use that word. And then what was another one was like, give us a proposal. They can't use commission

Starting point is 00:39:57 and they can't use buyer's agent or seller's agent. Jeez, bro. This is what they do to the medical industry too. I'm not even some huge realtor fan, but that's just crazy. Like talk about over-regulation. Regulate.

Starting point is 00:40:12 Regulators. All regulation does is take more money out of your pockets. What's that, Gene Wayne? What was the name of him? Regulators. Nate and Nate Dog. Nate Dog. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:40:24 Warren G. Warren G, Warren G, Nate dog. Uh, any final thoughts, Brianna? Um, have a great week,

Starting point is 00:40:32 everybody. There you go, Christopher. Coming into September, hit the ground running. End of the year is coming soon. There you go. Policies over popularity,

Starting point is 00:40:42 people. You don't find us. Ryanisright.com find the highlight clips all the links to the content links to social media links to our sponsors go support them that's how this works you support them they support us we support you it's a cycle chris burby hansen on instagram i'm at ryan alford we'll see you next time on Right About Now. This has been Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit RyanIsRight.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities.

Starting point is 00:41:15 Thanks for listening.

Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Power Plays: Layoffs, Impeachment, and Strategic Shifts

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