The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Jon Stewart Tackles Harris & Trump's Debate and What This Means for the Election | Steve Ballmer

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Jon Stewart goes live after the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Filled with face-offs over abortion access, border control, and for some reason eating cats? Jon breaks down what this all means for the election. Plus, former Microsoft CEO, LA Clippers owner, and founder of USAFacts Steve Ballmer discusses why he launched his website, USAFacts, as a nonpartisan resource for people to understand the scope, context, and efficacy of the government’s spending. They also talk about the ways in which democracy and capitalism influence each other, and how that relationship might need more checks and balances, especially when it comes to healthcare and labor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Survivor 47 is here, which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official survivor podcast on fire. And this season we are joined by fan favorite and Survivor 46 runner-up, Charlie, Charlie, I'm excited to do this together. Thanks, Jeff. So excited to be here, and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47. Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast starting September 18th, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, and actually five special reports. The Daily Show presents Indecision 2024.

The first presidential debate again. Now with 50% less, old man. Here's your host, John Stewart. Hello! Welcome to the Daily Show! My name is John Stewart. The second presidential debate has just wrapped up. We are live, well technically, uh, technically I guess this is the second presidential debate. The first presidential debate of this matchup, I can't wait to see who the winner will take on next. I think. Well, come to you live, ladies and gentlemen. The stakes couldn't be higher,

as we all try and figure out who will be the next president of Paul Winnev-Miaz Gank. It's an exciting night for citizens of that esteemed nation. As the rest of us watch with great interest from the neighboring country of no one gives a shit a stand. By the way, if you have any friends in Paul-Winev, Miasgank. Can you see if they can do anything about congestion pricing? If you... All right, forget it.

But so far, it seems like this presidential race is going to be a tight one. The election, now a dead heat. Separated by razor-thin margins. Neck and neck. It feels like a jump-all race and hand grenades, it's a coin flip. The tightest race in a generation. As tight as it can get. As tight as a ti, as tieat is a too tight bathing suit in a too long car ride home from the beach. That seems very tight. It's as tight as a teenage boy's pants during a Sydney Sweeney film festival.

It's tighter than Sidney Sweeney's scheduling windows given how busy she is with projects and in demand as a producer to say nothing of the... Anyway, she's very talent. Of course, with an election this tight, it is important to build out a more diverse coalition. And recently, Donald Trump has picked up the unexpected support of former Democrats, RFK Jr. and Tulsa Gabber, and might even have picked up one of Jeffrey Epstein's most esteemed former lawyers. I am no longer a Democrat. I am no longer a Democrat. I am no longer a member of the Democratic Party.

This was not my party. I just felt appalled when I watched the Democratic National Convention. I can't associate myself with the party itself. No, wait. Don't go. Oh, you're no longer the Democratic Party, Alan Dershwitz? Well, guess what? Democrats don't want you anyway, because the Democratic Party has standards, okay? We don't mean- Last week, former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Vice President Harris. Would you excuse me once in a minute? I don't know what came over me.

Anyway, going into the debate, one thing was clear. I'm sorry, you know what, Dick Cheney, can you meet me over by camera one? Fuck off. Fuck off. Seriously. Fuck off. You came this close to destroying the entire world. We were this close. Closer than a teenage boy's pants. No! I'm not going to have any fun with this.

And by the way, who in God's name is that endorsement going to sway? Well I like the Democrats' policy on child tax credits, but are they bombing enough Middle Eastern countries? There's still some building standing. Someone should really do something. A... I'm fine, it's fine. Seriously though, fuck that guy. Now obviously, oh, please.

What an erudite take-down. Obviously, oh, please. What an erudite take down. What an erudite takedown. Obviously each candidate was going to have their goals and strategies. For Kamala Harris, it was going to be quite a needle to thread. She really wants to make sure that Americans know her back story, walk away understanding her policy stances to make sure she needles Donald Trump, gets him to lash out,

expose the flaws that she sees in him. stays calm, be ready for all attacks. She's got like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a their. to be. to be. to be. to be. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the to. the flaws that she sees in him, stays calm, be ready for all attacks. She's got like two minutes. Is there anything else? There are some people who are worried that she might be over-preparing. Really? After doing all that? You know, Trump was encouraged to take a simpler approach.

They expect some goading remarks from Harris. They have stressed to him over and over again. Do not respond. If you're going to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to they. to they. to they. to thia, thia, thoomk, like like like like like like, thiolkiolkiolk, like like like like like like like like like their like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, their like, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi.a.a.au. thi.oooan. th. thiau.au. thiau. thoooooooomoomorrow, thi. to him over and over again. Do not respond. If you're going to respond at all, to use facial expressions, not to actually go out there and say anything. But here's what you do, Mr. former president. If Kamala says something that surprises you, you just go, and if Kamala says something that surprises you, you just go, and if Kamala says something that makes you angry, you just go, and if Kamala says something that makes you feel sexy time, you go,

oh yeah. Oh yeah. So those were the goals. Both candidates have now entered the arena. Biden and Trump did not greet each other. And Kamala, oh wait, she's going, she went for the handshake, ladies and gentlemen. What an incredible display of the awkward tension that happens when your son is dating a biracial girl and you meet her parents for the first time. Do I...

I'm beautiful. Good. Good. Good. to. to. the the . The first question is always asked by the most handsome person in a 10 to 15 mile radius. When it comes to the economy, do you believe Americans are better off than they were four years

ago? Oh, first, yowza. Second. Answer the question, Mr. Vice President. I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy. Second, answer the question, Mr. Vice President. I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy. My plan is to give a $50,000 tax deduction to start up small businesses. I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000.

Holy shit, we're one question in, we're all millionaires! Oh my God! Donald, your response to the question is the economy better now than it was four years ago? We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums. They're dangerous, they're at the highest level of criminality, they are taking over the towns, they're taking over buildings, their their their their violently in violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently violently.. violently violently violently violently. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. tho. their their their their their their their their their their their their the highest level of criminality. They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently. Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say,

after surviving the PTSD of the last presidential debate, how unbelievably refreshing it is to go back to the same old, nobody's gonna answer any fucking questions. This is unbelievable! We're back! America is back! Yeah! You ask him a question?

They just turn the tide and answer whatever they want to answer. And now that we're returning to the cliches, the standards of American political theater, I think it's only fair if someone would do the honors of the first baseless ad hominem. She's a Marxist. Everybody knows she's a Marxist. Her father's a Marxist professor in economics and he taught her well but when you look at what she's done to our country, oh shit! She's about to be like, mother fucker let's just do this. I'm gonna... I'm gonna, boom, boom.

She's about to, a Marxist, she's about to open up a can of ass capital on Donald Trump. Lindsay Davis, you better change the subject before the fingers on Kamala's hand, unite. I want to turn to the issue of abortion. Oh boy. I'm not superstitious but this is where the wheels fell off for Biden. He was asked about

abortion and he somehow spun it into why are immigrants raping people? And he ended with a classic phrase, we'll never forget and that's when we finally beat Medicare. They're feeling it too, ladies and gentlemen. As before, President Trump, you have the first crack at answering why you killed Roe v. Wade. We've gotten what everybody wanted. Democrats, Republicans, and everybody else, and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the states and the states are voting and I did something that nobody thought was possible. John Stewart from the I was watching this live Times

Pickion. What you just said yeah that's actually insanely false the majority of people wanted it you know what Kamal Harris Harris can you address this with a bit more eloquence? I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot.

She didn't want that. Holy shit. She crashed that. This is like, this is like, this is like, what? This is like one of those Groundhog Day movies where you get to go back and fix the bad way that something happened earlier to the good way. And then you learn Italian and the piano and then you get sad and then despondent and then you learn how to love yourself.

Anyway Trump will now finally have to answer to his abortion policy. You know what it reminds me of when they said they're going to get student loans terminated and it ended up being a total catastrophe. Ah, you don't have an answer to? Student loan smoke bomb! But we're settling into a rhythm here. Nice back and forth, I gotta give it to Trump. He's sticking to his guns and he's not letting Kamal Harris get under his skin. I I I th th th th th th th th th th. I th th th. I th. I th th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. thoom thoom thoom. thoom. tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- tho-s tho-s tho-s th. tho-s thu-s thu-s th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi-s thi-s to theeeeanananananneeananneeananneed to-s to-s thoanananananneeanneed theananneed thea thi thi to Trump. He's sticking to his guns and he's not letting Kamala Harris get under his skin. I actually think she's not going to be able to needle him.

I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies. He will talk about windmills cause cancer and what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. Oh shit. He's just gonna start taking it off his earrings. I'll be like, that's it, motherfucker, let's go! Folks, the eagle has landed. She has attacked what is Donald Trump's most cherished family member, his rally crowds. Donald, remember your training? The question is about why you killed the bipartisan immigration bill. You don't need to think about the up.

First time we respond to the rallies. She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. Son of the bitch! People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. Our country is being lost. We're a failing nation. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the pets. They're eating the pets pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is the pets is being the pets is being the pets is being the the the theats. the the the the the the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.

What the fuck just happened? Because these unbelievable rallies, people don't leave them, they're eating dogs! The Springfield, the immigrants are eating people's dogs! Which reminds me, if I may, for just a quick moment. A quick reminder of all the pet owners out there. Always remember to leash your dogs. It's an important way to keep your dogs from fighting other dogs or being hit by a car or being eaten by your immigrant neighbors. Oh, I'm sorry. Also, fuck off Dick Janie.

Oh, but I'm sorry. You were saying? I just want to clarify here. You're bringing up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to clarify here you bring up Springfield, Ohio and ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. All this people on

television. Let me just say here, this is the people on television say my dog was taken and used for food so maybe he said that and maybe that's used for food. So maybe he said that and maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager. I'm not taking this from television. I'm taking it from the city manager. But the people are television saying the job was eaten by the people that went there. Again the Springfield city manager says there's no evidence of that. Having spent some time in Springfield myself, I believe I know what's happening here. I believe Trump himself may be becoming one of Springfield's most famous residents, and I believe we have some footage.

It's right and being old. No one listens to you. Someone ate my dog! Someone ate my dog! And finally, no debate with the former president would be complete without addressing the president, former president's closing number of the Trump show's first term. Mr. President, on January 6th, you told your supporters to march to the Capitol. You said you would be right there with them. Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day? It wasn't done by me, it was done by others.

It would have never happened if Nancy Pelosi and the mayor of Washington did their jobs. I wasn't responsible for security. Nancy Pelosi was responsible. She didn't do her job. I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech. I showed up for a speech. You spent two months riling up your base that our country had literally been stolen from

them through fraudulent means. That you could never even get a whiff of in a court of law and let yourself just abuse them. You pressed on, you abused their trust. You showed up for a speech. You fucking tweeted, join me on January 6th. It will be wild. But suddenly now, I was just a hired magician to the Bar Mitzvah. I didn't do anything.

I showed up with a hat and a rabbit, and then the whole party, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know if this debate's going to change anything. I really don't. People are awfully set in the manner that they view these proceedings. What I think is a home run answer for one candidate, someone else views as a dodge or a lie or any of those other things. In some ways, it doesn't matter what they say anymore. But one thing will always be true and it is the

quality of the former president, I respect the least. Whenever he is cornered and forced to face even the smallest of consequences for his own mendacity and scheming, he reverts to the greatest refuge of scoundrels as Shaggy would say, it wasn't me! I did nothing wrong, I just showed up. They're the ones who went crazy. This man who constantly professes to be your champion, who says they're gonna have to go through him to get to you

will always, when the boat is going down, be the first end of the lifeboats, because in that moment he will always say the same thing. I didn't know anything about it. I was just told to show up for a cruise even though everybody knows he was the fucking captain of the ship. In any other country that lack of accountability, in any other country, that lack of accountability would be disqualifying. In any other country that lack of accountability would be disqualifying. But in this country it means the race is tighter than a In any other country, that lack of accountability would be disqualifying. But in this country, it means the race is tighter than a...

Would you excuse me for just one second? We'll be right back after this. Steve Bowman, everyone. Look at this, Steve Obama there, that's all the way. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same

way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread the bread the bread the bread to the bread to to the to to to the the to to the to to the to the the to to the you. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You you you you. You. You. You you. You'll you you you you you you you you you you you you you. You'll you. You'll you. You'll you. You' you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to be the ti. te. te. te. te. te. the te. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, what it's the show? I have a quick bit of breaking news.

If you'll excuse me, I just, I have some breaking news. I've just been handed this bulletin, breaking news. So we talked a little bit earlier about, you know, these debates, do they even mean anything? Apparently, they did move the needle enough for one undecided voter. A Miss Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris. That's what happened. So, you know what this means? Taylor Swift and I were watching TV at the same program at that second.

Damn it! Damn it! My guest tonight. My guest tonight is the former CEO of Microsoft. He owns the Los Angeles Clippers and is the founder of USA Facts. Please welcome to the program Mr. Steve Bomer. Come on. Good to be here. So nice to see you.

Good to be here. Now, a young man advised, so a storied career. You're one of the first employees at Microsoft. You become a CEO of Microsoft. You own the Los Angeles Clippers. You have this dream life that, as a kid you probably never even thought those the heights. You tho thigh. Toes those own the Los Angeles Clippers. You have this dream life that as a kid you probably never even thought those were the heights that you might be able to attain. And in that moment, you turn your attention to creating a fact website. Exactly.

I retire from Microsoft. Yes. Except to dive deep dark into government numbers. Seriously. It feels like an anti-midlife crisis. It feels like a man who's decided, well I'm just going to give up. Well, my wife kind of got after me to start helping with the family philanthropy. And I kept saying, no, no, no, no, government takes care of all those things. And she said, you're coming with me, and I snuck in the back and said, but I'm going to look up the numbers. And you did look up the numbers. And so what you've done is, and it's a phenomenal site.

And I make jokes, but it is so necessary in this world to provide the data from reputable sources. How do you even, how do you decide what to put in there? How do you decide what are the reperto sources? We have a guy here, Adam Choddakoff, and Chod's we trust. He is a researcher, extraordinary. He is the one kind of a thing. Is that how you operate it or is this an algorithm? How is this done? No, it's, we started with the concept that said, let's look at government in its totality, because if you look at little

pieces, boom, I grab a number and I can make it sound large, I can make it sound small. So let's put things in context, let's put them in in in in in in in them in them in them in them in their government their government their tha in context their government their government their government their government their government their government their government in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in government, in government, in government, in, in government, in, in government, in, in government, in, in government, in, in government, in government, in, in government, in, in government, in, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, in context, let's put them in context with history, let's only use government numbers. We go to 100 different government databases, and then we said, what does government do? We turned to the prologue of the preamble to the Constitution. It lays out four missions. We took everything government spends money on. Boom.

How much are we spending? And what kind of outcomes are we getting? Because government's not like a lot like a business. So that, so that to me is the crucial aspect. You know, when Democrats talk about we need to tax billionaires more, no offense. And when we need to do these things, I think the one place where it falls short is, I don't think people feel that more money is necessarily the answer, but maybe efficacy. The way we're, it's not like we don't spend money on anti-poverty.

It just, the efficacy might not be there. Did you discover programs that seemed to be really effective and other areas where that money seems to be squandered? What were some of the data points that you found that gave you a clear picture? Let me start with 86% of all federal, I can talk separate about state and local spending, but 86% of all federal spending is in a few simple areas. Okay, let's go. Number one, paying our debts.

Got to pay the interest on our debt. How much goes to the debt? I've seen breakdown of taxes. I've heard that the third largest or second largest portion of our tax money goes to pay down the interest on the debt. It's creeping up there. It's only number five right now. We go Social Securities number one. Okay. Medicare number two. Okay. So two things that we pay into but don't get till we're older. Correct. the the the the the the to. to. the the to. the to. the the the to. to. the's. thea. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. thax. thax. thax. thax. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. thea. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to get till we're older. Correct. Okay. Correct. What's number three? Number three is the military? Okay. Medicaid is four. Medicaid is four. Okay. Medi-a-dead is four. Okay. Medicaid is five. Okay. Let me see if I forgot anything. You know what? So let's let's stop right there because I think... Stop right there because there's no inefficiency so far. Well, so I would disagree with that.

Okay. Go ahead. So if I'm thinking about this country and I'm looking out into the audience and I'm saying so what is the tension's the squeeze. It's people that had some college debt, but now they're in their 40s or 50s, and just as they're clearing out all those things and getting into a decent earning place, their kids are getting ready to go to college and the cost of that have exploded. And just as that's happening, their parents, who they thought were going to be fine with their Social Security and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their Medicare and their... And their parents who they thought were going to be fine with their Social Security and their Medicare and all those other things are now needing real elder care and assisted living

care. So now all the equity that they have built up over that time is now dissipating between those two groups. So child care, health care, elder care, all those things. The first six tronches of where our tax money goes doesn't seem like it's spent efficiently on relieving that pressure on families. Now that might be the wrong way to look at it. Let me push back. Let me push back. Let me push back. I give you, well not you, you can give me, I'm 68, you give me a Social Security check. I take money from you. You take money for me. It's just my premise. Okay, fine.

Probably a good one. Your premise is fine. Probably a good premise. Anyway, a family gets a social security check. Right. That's going to help that senior who may need care, may need this, may need that, may need something else. But designed mostly by the government because they thought we would all be dead by 65. Like we've all out, we've lived much longer than the government thought we would.

The promise, yeah, the promise of FDR days, we've outlived it. Nobody's quite sure what to do about it. We do know that people are doing less of their own elder care. More of that's getting paid for, more ofir elder care is paid for by whatever equity they had left so they can't leave anything to their kids they mortgage their house or they go through those things where they converted into liquidity and and they use that money hopefully and it's there till they pass it's a little bit of whack a moll though We can increase taxes, we can borrow more money, right, or we

can live with the kind of spending profile we have today. I mean, something gives in that equation. And me personally, I will confess, nonpartisan view for USA Facts, we just give you the data, you make up your own mind. I'm a businessman. Balancing the budget seems good to me. And so I look at it and said simple. We probably need some more taxes. Probably. And we probably need less spending, probably. Less spending or more efficient spending? Is it a question of are we using, for instance, so Mark Cuban was on and you guys I'm sure go to the billionaires brunch. Which by the way I never understood,

why do they do that at Waffle House? It feels like you could get a better, well forget it. It's billionaires basketball lunch in that case. Billionaires basketball lunch. So he finds out that these pharmaceutical benefit managers are jacking up and hiking all these pharmaceutical prices. The government is not really allowed to negotiate with them, so he creates this business in which he does that.

Is too much of our money that we spend on poverty programs or elder programs going through these middlemen that are enriching themselves, even the ACA, right? You think about Obamacare, what it really is, is a boon for insurance companies. To jump into another marketplace where the government says, well, we'll keep this same inefficient system where you get to deny care when you want to and the pricing isn't transparent and it's not really a free market system because health care isn't a free market system. And we're just going to subsidize that insurance policy. It doesn't really change the dynamic of how health care is given. Isn't that inefficient?

Yes, and you put it- Son of a bitch! Yeah, son of a bitch. You put in it a little bit of context. Okay. It's inefficient. But if I tell you, it's less than 1% of total health care spending in the US, less than 1%, you can say it's inefficient, I won't disagree with you, I can say it's 1%. And so even if we

crushed the issue you're talking about down to nothing. Okay. Down to absolute nothing, we still have a problem with health care spending. Right. We still are, the need to deliver health care. But isn't some of the problem we have with health care spending because the largest tranch of customers are unable to really negotiate effectively because it's not, we have a for-profit health care system when you can't comparison shop for heart attack doctors. You basically get driven to wherever is closest.

There's three people basically who ensure almost everybody. 92% of Americans are not sure. But let's just talk about who are the to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the largest. the the the the the the the the the the the tre tre. the largest the largest tre. tre. tre. tre. tre. their their their their tr. the largest the largest the largest tr. the largest the largest tr. the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the largest the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. C. C. C. C. trea. trea. trea. trea. tra. tra. tra. tra. trea. tra. trea. trea. trea. trea.'s three people basically who insure almost everybody. 92% of Americans are not sure. But let's just talk about who are the three are. Medicare, where they can negotiate some things, but not others. For example, prescription benefits, except for the new caveats. Medicaid, where government negotiates really hard.

I'm really impressed by what the government negotiates on behalf of the Medicaid patient. And then private insurance for private insurance companies and they're grinders baby. You know they're delivering health care 6,000 dollars a person. Now they're younger. Medicaid, the most vulnerable people in our population, 10,000 dollars a person, harder to take care of, and then seniors $16,000 to your Medicare. Who do you think is most satisfied with their care in those three tronches? Private insurance, no question. Private insurance, I mean, again, I don't have data from the U.S. government, but I'm going to guess private insurance. Is there any quamp in your mind of, you know, they say that the biggest, their is medical bankruptcy. Is there any reason in your mind that a country like ours with the wealth

that we have should ever have a situation where people who are sick. So they might be more satisfied, but is it at the cost of the percentage of them that will go bankrupt because there's no government backstop on it? Well, do I think it's a good thing? No. I don't think anybody should go bankrupt for their health. I don't. Now, how do we get from where we are to there? Yes.

It is important. I have no prescription for that. But to solve that problem, what other changes are we going to make? What are the things that we going tha tha tha thanananan, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks,. But to solve that problem, what other changes are we going to make? What are the things that we're going to give up? What are the things that we're going to get? It seems like a much smaller fix to fix that problem than to try to reinvent the health care system again. When health care. We have problems in our health care system, but the inefficiency, I think right now, tends to be, if you just compare us to Europe, we do about twice as many procedures as they

do in Europe, and our medical professionals get paid about twice as much as European medical professionals. So doesn't that sound like it's a system incentivized to that? It is. And it is, and it is, and it is, absolutely. Except Medicaid. Right, so they don't do twice as many. Except Medicaid, because Medicaid is essentially, it's on an HMO model, and things get negotiated differently. Do you think that a public option, you know, the one that everybody shouts is the

death of it all, is the thing that blows up the system? Because in some ways I always look at it like, what do I think think? Like, I love the fact that we're a checks and balances system, right? And it seems like within the government, there is, OK, judicial, congressional, executive, and they're all pushing and pulling. They weren't expecting the kind of partisan battles that we get, but we get them. But it does seem like corporate power, transnational, multinational, corporate power also needs a check and a balance because capitalism is at its heart like destructive. There's collateral, it

generates wealth but it's destructive. Why do we fight so hard against the government being a proper check on that against that exploitation, whether it be in the medical field or in the college education field or any of those against that exploitation, whether it be in the medical field or in the college education field or any of those other things. It seems like in European countries, I'm not saying it's a panacea, they pay more money, but they seem to get the services that connect more directly with their lives, sort of back to the earlier conversation that we were having. I think if you read these tronches out to a European social democrat, whatever, they would

think, well that's crazy, you haven't gotten anything. You haven't gotten any child care, you haven't gotten any of the things, you haven't gotten free education. Why is it that we have so much trouble, we generate so much wealth? Why do we distribute it so inefficiently it would seem? Well, let me give a perspective. Please. I think the Twin Towers of America are democracy and capitalism. Okay. I really believe that wholeheartedly.

I don't want to tell you how that story ends, but go ahead. Good point. No, but you're killing me here. You're killing me here, you're killing me here. It's tomorrow for fuck sake. Jesus! What are you doing in me? Oh, hey, I'm in New York. I'm sorry, I apologize.

What do you think I'm doing all day tomorrow? All right, God. Let me go back to pillars. Yes, pillars. I want to go back to pillars. Pillars, pillars. Thank you. Much better.

Capitalism is the predictable one, actually. Really? That's interesting. You give capitalism a set of rules, people are going to compete, they're going to try to make as much money as they can, and that's what's going to happen. It's predictable. But you don't think it's by its nature exploitative though, like the monopolies, the rigging of this system, that seems all built into. I'm going to get to the second. Oh, I'm sorry.

Democracy. for government. Okay. Government needs to then train this highly predictable tool to do what society wants it to do. That's the role of democracy is to, in some, not, it is a role of democracy, is to inform where you want to point this highly predictable capitalist motive. And look, if the world needs more regulations, put them in. But you're going to get... I don't know if it's more regulation, but it certainly needs to be something that helps protect us against capitalism's baser instinct. In some respect. Just let me give a base

instinct. Okay. Let's say my base instinct is to, uh, I want to destroy the habitat of a set of birds by building. Okay. Okay. Let's say my base instinct is to, I want to destroy the habitat of a set of birds by building a windmill. Okay, let's say that's, that's the topic. Can I just say something very quickly? Yeah. You bastard. Why, you, you son of a bitch! Okay, Mr. Democracy, let's take it on. The birds? Yes. The capitalist is going to try to get that windmill built.

Sure. If you want it built, capitalists will get it built. If you want to protect the birds, the capitalists will stop trying to build that windmill. I talk to a guy who's actually trying to build one of the largest wind farms in the world. I'm going to give you a different example. Give me a different example. Capitalists want to find the cheapest labor they can possibly find. So they offshore all the jobs in manufacturing and all these other things to Vietnam and Bangladesh and India and China and places where worker protections don't exist, undercutting American workers and the democratic system fails its own workers and not only allows it, encourages it and then decides, well you're doing so well on labor costs, why

don't we cut your taxes as well. So that's in my mind, I view it as the pendulum has swung completely and we are at the mercy of those instincts. And democracy is failing in whatever its directive is. It doesn't sound to me like democracy. It sounds to me like capitalism points democracy. I'll speak now as a former CEO. Capitalism responds.

Maybe look, people are generally good people. They'll respond to, you give us an incentive, we'll go do it. You give us a regulation, we're going to obey it. That's what, that's what happens. It really is all right to the 99%. Geez, you won't let me get anywhere here! I give you 2008. But no, I understand.

So, all I'm saying is, if somebody, let's take your labor, labor cost issue. Perfectly good issue. Yes, businesses are going to try to reduce labor costs. If you don't want those jobs to move, then government needs to put a tax or an incentive, they're sort of kissing cousins, if you will, to keep the jobs on shore. And about, and take the consequences though. But then we're competing for their love. What about this? They get the benefit of our stability, of our capital, of all the things that make us a free market stable democracy

and they have no responsibility. They get all of the infrastructure and none of the toll. And that's the part that I don't understand. You know, we have states competing with each other for who can fuck over workers the best. You know when everybody talks about globalization and you you know, Mexico and India are stealing our jobs, well, South Carolina is stealing them from New York. So they're all competing to see who can give the sweetest deal. And that feels like where the balance is off, where the pendulum has to swing. I personally have no problem with government providing more direction to capitalism.

I don't. But then there sometimes are untoward consequences. Let's just take the offshoring. Sure, sure. Okay, let's just say whatever the policy is it gets more jobs on short at higher wages. Prices will go up. And as long as that trade-off is the trade-off that people want, less buying power, but more people have higher paying jobs, how that actually shakes

out for the American, I'm not an economist, I'm not going to make predictions, but there is a trade-off on most of these decisions. Is there a possibility though that there's a renegotiation of what normal is in terms of profit margin and in terms of capitalization and in terms of corporatization and in terms of taxation. Is there a new normal that can be achieved? You know, we saw it in the pandemic where of course there were supply chain crunches and that drove up prices, but there's no question that a lot of companies took advantage of a difficult moment to set a new bar of expectation for people. And now that the supply chain has eased, that expectation still exists.

Since the start of the pandemic, CPI price index is up about 19%. Right. Okay? We still have inflation. Those prices are not going to come back down. They're just going to grow more slowly. Wages were up 21%. Right. Wages were actually up more than prices. Right. And so if you take a look at it, the buying power, it's not much, but the buying power of Americans increased slightly.

So nobody likes inflation, it's too disorienting, etc. But it wasn't a net negative trade. It feels bad. People feel bad. I know that. Do you think though that as complex as inflation is and all the different avenues that go into it, do you think a portion of it at least, because I listen to some of those earnings calls in the pandemic and people are like, we're killing it? Our profits have never been higher and everybody's like, yay. So isn't that a part of it? Then I would say, if I was to make a suggestion,

go increase corporate income taxes. Just increase corporate income taxes. That reduces profit. I just don't know if it's politically viable. You don't want the business,that reduces profit. I just don't know I just don't know if it's it's you don't want the business regulating individual decisions just just my point of view right bad do you want you want to take my profits as a company think there is a transaction to be had between government and corporate leaders where they come to an understanding that it's a more symbiotic relationship and not an exploitative relationship. The invisible hand so to speak of Adam Smith. Yes.

There is no master planning. You can't say be nice. But we're not free market. There is though. There's subsidies and there's regulations. There are rules. There are rules and I love that. I love... There's some regulations if I'm running a company, am I like or not like. We just built an arena for our basketball team. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. their their their their their in their. So their in their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. So their. So their. their. their. their. their. So their. So their. So their. So their. So their. So. their. their. So. their. th. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. th. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. that. I love, look, there's some regulations if I'm running a company, am I like or not like. We just built an arena for our basketball team. Why? We had to have our own home so we can beat the Knicks when they come to town. Let me just explain very quickly. That was... Putch it!

No, I, it makes sense. Put you at! No, it makes sense. Listen, man, it's an incredibly complex conversation, and I really do appreciate your patience with me on it and all that. It's just, I think the frustrations have been with, what I love about your site, and let's bring it back to that, is that you've brought together all the data and context necessary to have these conversations. Because these conversations feel like they don't occur.

All that occurs on the news is, how do you think that's going to play in Wisconsin? Like nobody seems to want to get into the weeds on what you're talking about. Well, that's what we're trying to do. We have very conscious, nonpartisan, here's the data, we're going to make it digestible for you, we're not going to try to tell funny stories, we're not going to make forecasts about the future. Right.

There's a quote that's very motivating to me as we started this thing from James Madison. You go all the way back to the sounding the country. to a farce. He said something like a popular government, without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. And as I sit here and I observe lots in American politics, I believe that. And our side is trying to combat that by making popular information available to our populace. We make videos. And who's the star of the videos? Steve Ballard.

I was going to say something real quick. Not for nothing. You live in Los Angeles. You couldn't grab Hanks. Come on. Throw them out there to give some facts. It's a fabulous site. And you're doing great work there and I so appreciate you coming on and giving us such interesting perspective on on business and government and regulation and

all those different things. It's really helpful so thank you for doing that. Check out USAFax. Mr. Steve Barber and you're not going to beat our Knicks. We'll be right back every day. Let me tell you something. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting you'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that

they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Hey everybody, that is our show for tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow night. Jordan Klepper returns for the rest of the week.

Here it is, your moment is all. If we can come up with a plan that's going to cost our people, our population, less money, and be better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it. But until then, I'd run it as good as it can be run. So just to yes or no, you still do not have a plan. I have concepts of a plan. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts.

Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Fairount Plus. Survivor 47 is here which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official survivor podcast on fire and this season we are joined by fan favorite and survivor. to their thrown to the to bring you a brand new season of the only official survivor podcast. And this season we are joined by fan favorite and survivor 46 runner-up Charlie Davis to bring you even further inside the action Charlie I'm excited to do this together. Thanks Jeff so excited to be here and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47. Listen to on fire the official survivor podcast starting September 18th wherever you get your podcast.