The MeidasTouch Podcast - Democratic Governors Roll Out Roadmaps for Success

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the powerful speech by Illinois Democratic Governor Pritzker and Meiselas interviews Ofirah Yheskel, senior strategist at the Democratic Governors Association. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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words and speeches, but through their actions. Democratic governors are showing that you can have a balanced budget, a fiscally responsible state, while making sure that the government delivers for the people, protects the people, stands up for the people, and isn't used to intimidate, bully, threaten, and harass the people. You see, government should be a tool, call me old fashioned for this one, to actually help people and not be a tool to help the billionaires and decamillionaires gain unfair advantages to get richer and screw over and torture the rest of us. Now, Democratic Governor Pritzker from Illinois, I think has been a great example of how you have a fiscally responsible budget, how you stand up for the people in your state,

how you forcefully push back against Trumpism. I want to share with you a speech that he just gave where he brought the house down, where he talks about the budget that he has introduced, that he is running in Illinois. And he has contrasted that with the abomination that is the disastrous Trump MAGA budget bill. Let me show you this clip. So, continues our investments in quality childcare, modernizing roads and bridges, and expanding MAGA budget bill. Let me show you this clip. on tax cuts for their wealthy friends, while the Republicans in Congress are voting to gut health care and food assistance for working parents, for seniors, and children. The Trump slump is affecting the entire nation. Our neighbors in Iowa are dipping into their rainy day fund,

and Indiana is making major cuts to higher education and health care. While the Trump administration goes on Fox News lying about being fiscally responsible, Illinois is showing a better way, balancing the budget while maintaining the programs that most people rely on. With rising gas prices across the nation and Trump tariffs taking a bite out of everyone's wallets. Our General Assembly and I are working together to make life more affordable for working families. Here's another incredible clip from that speech by Governor Pritzker. Let's play it. Politically, and he's all about the politics.

And so I think what he's done in California has really hurt him politically, and so I don't think he'll do it in other places, but we know that ICE is coming once again in force to cities across the country, and so we expect to see them in Chicago. I don't know exactly how big the force will be, but I do know that he has used other law enforcement, along with ICE, to carry out his, you know, ill-conceived mission to go after people who frankly are paying taxes and they're law-abiding and they've been here for many, many years. I think those are the wrong people to go after. We ought to go after the violent criminals. We ought to... people who get convicted of violent crimes, who are are undocumented should be thrown out of this country. They should be taken out of Illinois and they should be thrown out of the country. That is not what they're doing.

Here's another incredible speech, another clip from that incredible speech by Pritzker. Let's play it. After decades of budget mismanagement, we are doing the hard work of crafting balanced budgets year after year. This year, that task was made harder by the turbulent national economic conditions and unstable federal funds flow caused by the chaos and ineptitude of the Trump administration.

Despite that, the budget maintains core investments for Illinois' families without raising their taxes. In a year when revenues are expected to increase by 3.5%, we reigned in our discretionary spending to a less than 1% increase. If you compare Illinois' budgets to Trump's budgets during my time in office, Illinois' budgets have grown at a rate. and P. and Moody's and Fitch taking us back to a level ratings. Our pension funded ratio is now improving every year. And we're now seeing a lot of the same numbers and the same numbers are increasing. And we're seeing a lot of the same numbers and the same numbers are increasing.

And we're seeing a lot of the same numbers and the same numbers are increasing. And we're seeing a lot of the same numbers and Moody's and Fitch taking us back to A level ratings. Our pension funded ratio is now improving every year and the rainy day fund is at record highs. Illinois's progress is real and the financial bond houses have noticed. When it comes to responsible fiscal stewardship we're not resting on our laurels though. This budget addresses the tier two pension social security safe harbor fix which will now begin in FY 26. For a third time since I took office, we are funding above the required

pension payment to create a $75 million reserve fund for the expected costs associated with maintaining the Social Security wage base. With this fix going into effect, we're protecting our taxpayers and state workers from future shortfalls that could cost the state much more. I'm joined by Ofer E. Eskel, Senior Strategist at the Democratic Governors Association. Ofer, I just was showing some clips there of Governor Pritzker, and I could show a lot of other Democratic Governors giving similar speeches about their budgets, but emphasizing fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets, no deficits, while investing in healthcare, while focusing

on people's pensions, while focusing on actually improving people's lives, what a concept that that's what democratic governors are focused on, huh? Well, we like to say the DGA, democratic governors get stuff done, and I think Governor Pritzker is a great example of that. And you left this off Ben, off the very long list of stuff that he covered. But I think the credit rating of Illinois has gone up several times over

as he's been governor because he's been a good steward of the economy there. And it's not just balancing budgets, it's also creating jobs. And I think I could go down the list. I like to call Josh Shapiro, Job Shapiro, because of all the big announcements he's got in Pennsylvania. But they really are focused on these kitchen table issues and how they can deliver for people, whether that's funding your schools or fixing your roads

or making sure that you have a good quality job and staying in your state makes sense. So Democratic governors really do get stuff done. And I think right now we're feeling that who your governor is, is never a matter of more. And that's just a case in point. Right, I mean, I think it's also a difference of, are you performing your job for the people?

Are you performing your job for the cameras or for Donald Trump? And what you see in all of these red states, it is this performative, MAGA cosplay ritual. You know, it reminds me of, you know, kind of playing, like playing dress up and, you know, you know, they all go to their kind of MAGA festival and they all, you know, pledge allegiance to Donald Trump

and all right, what's our new MAGA catchphrase today? And it's just to me, so divorced from what's going on in the ground. So talk to us though about performing for the people and actually delivering and what that kind of, I think generalizations you can make about the messages coming from Democratic governors across the country. Well, I think why we have so many Democratic governors this time is because they're in their communities and they're hearing from the people they serve

about what's on their minds and then they're taking action to fix that. And I think it's a shame really when you see it come down to party lines speaking up about what's right and this Republican bill in the Senate right now that would gut Medicaid and hurt SNAP, something that hurts every governor in this country, not just Democratic governors and Republican ones, seems like it's kind of splitting down party lines and we've had Democratic governors on our side stand up in unison and say, hey, this doesn't work, we can't backfill these cuts,

it's gonna really hurt people in our states, but Republican governors stay mute. And I think that's a great example of the contrast here. Not to get ahead of you, Ben, but I think that's what's on the line for these two governor's races that we have this year in Virginia and New Jersey, where both of the Republican candidates are also a cut of the same cloth, seem really reluctant to have any daylight between them and the Trump administration, even when it will hurt the states that they're in. And I think

electing an executive like Abigail Spindberger in Virginia or Mikey Sherrill in New Jersey, who will fight for what's right, but also continue focusing on these kitchen table issues that we're hearing time and time again are what's on voters' minds, and frankly, what Trump said he would deliver on day one and seems to be backing off that promise. Let's talk about that.

A lot of people are focusing on midterms, or at least their minds, and these midterms couldn't come any sooner, but we've got big governor's races right now. You mentioned Virginia and New Jersey. Talk about the candidates there and talk about why people really need to start focusing on this right now. Well, we like to say there's no such thing as off years of the DGA, but we do have two off year governor's races this year, Virginia and New Jersey. And some reporters like to

look at them as kind of an indicator of how people are feeling about what's going on in the country. And I think Virginia is a really great example for us to flip a state from red to blue. Glenn Young is the governor there now. But we feel really good about the campaign that Abigail Spanberger is running. She's our, we're officially in the general election there.

The whole ticket set. And they're currently together in unity talking about how they're going to deliver for Virginians on a bus tour that they're on and talking about, again, these kitchen table issues and Abigail Spanberger's laser focused on that, has rolled out an affordability plan that would lower costs on healthcare, housing, energy.

And on the other side of the coin in New Jersey, Mikey Sherrill is officially our candidate in the general election there. Really looking forward to her facing off with Jack Cittarelli, he's a two-time loser and we think she'll make him a three-time loser. But she's a former Navy helicopter pilot. She currently is a member of Congress

and people might remember that she flipped a traditionally red district in New Jersey from red to blue. And she has a real record of delivering on these kitchen table issues. Again, she's fought to lower prescription drug costs. She's created jobs. She's focused on infrastructure, but she's also been a fighter for fundamental freedoms like abortion rights. So I think that's a really strong match up in the general election. Looking forward to keeping New Jersey blue. And if we do that with Mikey Sherrill, we'll also have the opportunity to make some history. We have the first time in, I think, 60 years that we've elected a Democrat in Trenin for three consecutive terms. So if folks watching now are looking for something to do and channel their energy into, these two off-year

governor's races are a really big one that can send a message about where we are as a party and that we're really heading on offense into the midterms we'll have 36 governor's races on our very big map. VRIC the sign behind you it says text dem govs to 30201 tell us about that what can people do they watch this they want to get involved. You want to get involved text that dem govsbevs to 30201, it's the easiest way to get involved with the Democratic Governors Association and the many, many campaigns that we have, the two this year, like I said, but the 36 next year,

where we have an opportunity to do a lot, reelect a lot of the incumbents that I'm sure people watching know and love, to really hold onto some seats where we've got some Democratic governors who are term-limited, and then to go on offense and really play some ball in places that people might not expect, like Georgia, and to potentially flip Nevada.

So a lot of opportunity this year and next, and if you're looking to get involved and find a place to channel your energy, these Gov races are the ones. So text demgovs to 30201. We'd love to have you. I have a feeling you're about to get a lot of text messages or theory, yes.

Well, senior strategist at the Democratic Governors Association. Thank you so much. Thanks Ben. The truth is more important than ever. Check out our new Truth Over Lies collection at store.mitustouch.com. All 100% USA Union made.