The MeidasTouch Podcast - Make Joe Manchin Irrelevant with Christy Smith

Episode Date: December 21, 2021

On today's episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, we sit down with Christy Smith! Christy Smith previously served in the CA State Assembly and is running for Congress in California's 27th district against Republican Rep. Mike Garcia. During the interview, we discuss the need for real gun reform, abortion rights, voting rights and why Christy Smith is the clear cut choice to represent CA’s 27th. The remainder of the episode, the brothers dive into the latest news around Build Back Better and how Joe Manchin continues to disappoint not only his constituents, but the entire country. We then close the episode discussing Trump’s latest lawsuit he filed against NY AG Letitia James as well as the uptick in Omicron Covid cases across the world. If you enjoyed today's, episode please be sure to rate, review and subscribe! As always, thank YOU for listening. DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS: BETTER HELP: betterhelp.com/MEIDAS WONDERY: Listen to BUSINESS WARS: CHRISTMAS MOVIE WARS on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Gro delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees,

exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Welcome to the Midas Touch Podcast, Ben, Brett, and Jordy. Brett, why are you cracking up on the beginning of the episode? Yeah, what's going on? Why are you laughing? You never know where Ben's going to be broadcasting. Where in the world is Ben? Is Ben going to be in a stairwell? Is Ben going to be out in a... Ben, where are you? Okay, so my...

Who's sponsoring the podcast today? Is it sponsored by stairwells or is it sponsored by someone else? So I normally record the podcast from the home kind of living room area, which is the backgrounds that I decorate. Yeah. There's just people walking in the background. Incredible decorations, by the way, fan favorite decorations. Favorite decorations.

But my internet went down and my power went down today. And so I had to make a game time decision as we're recording this of where I do the recording. I knew there was a bagel store about a mile down the road in a town over because our whole town had power down. So I went to the bagel store, set this up and so far so good.

There's a lot of people around me. I could kind of tilt it for everyone to see actually where I am for those watching. I'm not just going to let you slide with that. You are the most frustratingly dumbest, smartest person I've ever fucking met. Go explain your thesis there, Jordy,

because there's nothing I could have done to control the power. I think I should get complimented. I work like three jobs. That's why. You're gritty. You're gritty. It's a compliment.

I complimented you. You shouldn't be offended. That was a compliment, Jordy? Yes, you shouldn't be offended. Correct. Ben, you are the dumbest person. That was a compliment. I was complimenting you. Dumbest, smartest person I've ever met. I appreciate it. My 2022 New Year's resolution is going to be, I got a win back favor from the Midas. I don't know what's happened over the past few weeks. I don't know if it was me recording in Miami when I was there, but I've just been noticing, I've said it time and time again, I've started to go down in the polls. I got it. Maybe I need a brand consultant to try to figure out how to rejuvenate the Ben brand.

Cause I was always a steady number two. It was always like Jordy would win the polls at like 55% because of Jordy. And then I'd usually come in at 25, 30, Brett would come in at like 11, you know, and there was always really funny to me that Brett would always be at the bottom of the ball when he clearly works the hardest was always like just a funny concept. But now Brett's a steady two and I'm a three and I don't know what accounts for it. Slow and steady wins the race, Ben. Slow and steady wins the race. I've just been putting in the work. I've been putting in the hours and that's what you got. I love it. I felt like I was about to sing the rock song there. Put in the work,

put in the hours. The world is ours. I didn't even know that was a rock song until everyone's looking at me like, what are you doing? It's still funny that I'm pumped up. I didn't even know that was the rock song until I saw it on TikTok. Do the rock rap in the middle of the bagel place for everybody. Right. I got to be careful not to get kicked out of this one like I did in Miami when I recorded from a stairwell. But anyway, we have a great podcast for everybody today.

We have Christy Smith, former member of the California Assembly. She is running against Mike Garcia in 2020 in the general election. This was after Congresswoman Katie Hill gave up her seat. There was the special election that took place between Garcia and Christy Smith. Garcia won that. But then in the general election in November of 2020, Christy Smith fell short by just three hundred and thirty three votes. Her opponent, Mike Garcia, was pro insurrection. Literally, I think he's an insurrectionist. I need you to find me three hundred and thirty four votes for Christy Smith. Garcia is an insurrectionist. On January 6th, he tweeted seventeen seventy six. I remember. Yeah, he was encouraging the insurrection while it was

actually taking place. He's also not just for banning abortions, criminalizing abortions, putting women in childbearing persons and locking them up in jail for basically life sentences in prison is what this psychotic Mike Garcia believes. He's also against contraception. We're going to talk to Christy Smith about this real sicko who she's running against, who needs to be removed from office and probably put in a mental institution, right? Anyway, Brett, Jody, how are you doing otherwise? I don't know how I'm supposed to go on from there, except we could talk about some other sickos out there because I'm sure by now everybody has heard the Joe Manchin news. Joe Manchin goes on Fox News Sunday

yesterday in order to just torpedo the Build Back Better Act. He goes on and he basically said that he is not even leaning no, just that it's a no. He's done, he tried, and he can't get there. He explained that he cannot tell what he's been doing at the bagel store. Can I tell you, I just have, that's a dog in the background. Let me tell you, I just have the, why I'm laughing. I just want to say I have the best girlfriend partner in the world in Sochi and everyone knows Midas Sochi, but I just want to show everybody who's watching how supportive Midas Sochi is of the Midas Touch podcast. Wow.

That's some real support right there. It looks like she's like producing it she's a producer today she's totally what is what is she doing over there that's that that's real dedication right there absolutely tell our listeners what's going on over there so she's you know in in uh solidarity with me working from here she's working from here as well she helped uh, uh, I, she helped get me one tea and I finished it. And then she's, I said, Hey, can you get, can you get me one more tea? And then she was like, I'm not your assistant. What are you talking

about? I can get me one more tea while I'm doing this. Anyway, sorry, Brett to interrupt you. All right. Well, let's listen to what Joe Manchin had to say on Fox news Sunday, and then we'll discuss it after. Well, Brett, you know, this is a mammoth piece of legislation. And I had my reservations from the beginning when I heard about it five and a half months ago. And I've been working diligently every day and every minute of every day. I've been working on this meeting with whether it be the president, President Biden, whether it be Majority Leader Schumer and his staff, whether it be with Nancy Pelosi, all of my colleagues, I mean, from all different spectrums of the political spectrum, if you will, from the right to the left, I've done everything humanly possible. And you know, my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns and where I'm at right now,

the inflation that I was concerned about, it's not transitory. It's real. It's harming every West Virginian. It's making it almost difficult for them to continue to go to their jobs, the cost of gasoline, the to their jobs, the cost of gasoline, the cost of groceries, the cost of utility bills. All of these things are hitting in every aspect of their life. And you start looking and then you have the debt that we're carrying at $29 trillion. You have also the geopolitical unrest that we have. You have the COVID variant. And that is wreaking havoc again. People are concerned. I've been with my family. I know everyone's concerned. So when you have these

things coming at you the way they are right now, I've always said this, Brett, if I can't go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can't vote for it. And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. And then also on that same appearance, he was asked about whether he was in favor of changing the filibuster rules for voting rights. And he said he isn't. Maybe play that clip as well. And then let's break down Joe Manchin's real, just complete betrayal. There's another push for voting rights and changing the filibuster in some way to get voting rights reform through.

Are you open to changing either the rules or the structure of the filibuster to do that? Well, first of all, voting, just voting is the bedrock of democracy. We should all be concerned about that bread. It shouldn't be Democrat or Republican. As an American, and the democracy and the freedoms we enjoy, it becomes because we have an open process of electing our officials and believing and making sure it's secured. So we should be working on that together.

And next of all, if you can make the Senate work better, the rules are something we've changed over the years. 232 years there's been rule changes, but there's never been a change with a filibuster, the rights of the minority. And I made no commitments or promises on that. I am working on trying to make the Senate work better, bringing bills to the floor, amending them, having debates, understanding, being transparent to the public. So the sixty vote threshold stays.

You're in the seat of former Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia. The 60 vote threshold stays under what you're proposing, maybe some exemptions or reforms. Is that what I'm hearing? What you're hearing is basically, can we work on the rules that make this Senate work rather than the deadlock that we have right now? Everyone thinks that end all, do all is basically in the filibuster. It's basically in how we operate and proceed every day of the Senate, which we're not doing. That's what needs to be changed. What do you think? Because this sent

shockwaves yesterday through the country when we heard these statements. And we had already talked about last podcast that it was clear that the administration was shifting over to voting rights because it seemed like Manchin wasn't budging on this Build Back Better issue. But it seems like Manchin took it even a step further. First off, going on Fox News in the first place to me is like the ultimate betrayal. And I think right there, it shows you that the guy's not acting in good faith. I mean, if you're acting in good faith, you have all your discussions in private. You go on the news to give people updates, but you don't drop a bomb like that on Fox News, on the media in general, but on Fox News of all channels and

totally blindside the White House who you've been working with for months. And in all the statements that we've seen from Manchin now over the past 24 hours that have come out in West Virginia Radio this morning and in other reports about conversations he had in private with some other senators and people on the Hill. It seems like Manchin has just been stringing Democrats along this whole time with no real intention of ever voting for this bill. And he also has a lot of just extremely twisted views on policies of this bill that would actually extremely help West Virginians like the child tax credit. A report came out today that he basically said he doesn't trust West Virginians to spend the child tax credit in a good way. He thinks that West Virginians would just take that money and

they would just spend it on drugs, is what the report said. This is how he views his constituents. And I guess when you live your life trying to upend the system, trying to take advantage of the system, when you're earning over a half a million dollars a year on just stock dividends and your daughter is the one price gouging insulin that people need and things like that, that's the real inflation. I guess when you live your life like that, you expect that other people are also going to behave in a completely unethical way. But these are things that West Virginians need perhaps more than anybody else in this country.

And if Manchin has to do explaining about anything, he's going to have to go back to his state and he's going to have to explain to him why they're not getting child tax credits, why they're not getting universal pre-K, why they're not getting any of the benefits from this Build Back Better bill, which they all desperately need and want. I mean, by- Let's take a look at this Build Back Better and the absurdity of Manchin's position by the numbers. West Virginia, where Manchin's a senator of, is 50th in childcare. They are 50th in public health. They are 45th in education. They are 50th in infrastructure. They are 48th in employment. You don't want to be the worst. The 50th means bad. That is the worst of all 50 states. That means they're the worst in childcare. Then there's the number 350,000. That's how many families with kids in West Virginia are going to miss out on the child tax credit payments next month because of their own senator.

Let's talk more about the numbers. The original $3.5 trillion Build Back Better had 56% support. That's a plus 22% support among Republicans in West Virginia. Republicans. So this was supported bipartisan in the state. And then even the most recent polls, the data for progress poll shows significant, overwhelming support for the Build Back Better bill. But guess here's another number, 1.5 million. That's Joe Manchin received more than 1.5 million from corporations opposed to Build Back Better bill. And that amount is likely to grow over the coming weeks, which seems to be,

Brett, to be a little bit of pay to delay politics going on here. And then I'll give you this final number. You love this numbers. I'm just throwing out numbers right now. Ben, the numbers guy today. Then Joe Manchin represents 0.5% of the entire U.S. population. So it's less than a percentage, half a percent of the entire U.S. population. But he is killing Build Back Better, which is supported by 70 percent of Americans. You know what? Let me just keep doing numbers.

Let me keep spitting numbers for the podcast. Are you ready? Keep spitting numbers. Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast, its entire forecast for U.S. economic growth after Senator Joe Manchin said this weekend that he won't support the $2 trillion tax and spending plan that's at the heart of President Biden's economic agenda. Citing Manchin's no vote on Build Back Better, Goldman Sachs downgraded the entire GDP forecast for our country for the first quarter from 3% to 2%, and the second quarter trimmed from 3.5% to 3%, the third quarter from 3% to 2.75%. This one man torpedoing the economy for what? For what?

To not help his constituents? I mean, it's maddening. And Ben Jordy, his comments about this bill were all about, I don't think our economy is in good enough shape. I think we have too much debt. I think inflation is a problem. And this bill is designed literally to help those issues. Like all these Nobel experts, 17 of them, these Nobel laureates have said that the Build Back Better bill will actually ease inflationary concerns in the long term and not do much to affect inflation one way or another in the short term. So that right there is a total blatant lie by

Manchin. We talk about the debt. This is the guy, first off, the bill is paid for. Second off, the bill that he just voted on a few days before making the statement, the Defense Authorization Act, was $768 billion for a single year, for one year. And this is the, what is it, $1.75 trillion over 10 years, which is a fraction of the amount that he just had no problem getting rid of the filibuster for and adding $768 billion to the debt for. So Manchin's a hypocrite. I mean, at the end of the day, I think the guy is so just in bed with his donors on everything. He doesn't care about the people of West Virginia. He tries to act like this middle of the road. Well, I acted in good faith and I guess it just didn't work out. One thing, I have the perfect analogy for who Joe Manchin is at the heart of hearts, just to break it down for you. Joe Manchin is like every deadbeat dad portrayed in a movie.

Like he'll show up when it's convenient for him. But if it's important to you, you can guarantee that he'll let you down every single time. I'll, I guess, add to that, which is I don't think that's a perfect analogy. I'll add to this. You know, Joe, the issue that I have with Joe Manchin is at the end of the day, it doesn't all come down to Joe Manchin and Jordy. I'm not sure if you made this comment on the other podcast or just speaking to me and Brett. It all kind of mixes at this point. But if the Democrats didn't win Georgia and Democrats didn't take the majority, would we have even known Joe Manchin was basically a wolf in sheep's

clothing or, you know, or that he held these positions or would he pretend, oh, it's just the Republicans going this way. So that's just kind of one thing. But at the end of the day, what we have to do is make Manchin irrelevant because it is just Manchin as one person. Here's a good thing about Manchin still being a Democrat, which is important that he's a Democrat. Biden's appointed and confirmed his 40th federal judge without Manchin being a Democrat. That doesn't happen for all the people who listen to Legal AF are the podcast I do with Michael Popock. You know how important it is to have fair minded pro-democracy judges on the federal bench and not Trump judges. And if Manchin becomes a Republican or an independent, you're going to have Mitch McConnell be able to do

all of the bullshit that he does there. But here's the overall problem, though, I think with Manchin is that he was a bad faith actor in this negotiation. He constantly switched the benchmarks. He lied in the negotiations and said he supported these compromises. He went to the White House and said he agreed to these things. We believed collectively as Democrats that we were still negotiating someone who we could actually negotiate with. And that if we trim down a $3.5 trillion plan to a $1.7 trillion plan and took out all of these things because he asked that we were negotiating in good faith. And finally, when we took out all of the

things that he said, he's like, yeah, I can't support the bill. I just negotiated down. And by the way, let me tell you also the evolution or the de-evolution of Joe Manchin. So I just pulled up an article from Business Insider. This article is from January 19th, 2021. The headline, Senator Joe Manchin calls for up to $4 trillion in infrastructure spending as Democrats are poised to control Congress. So Joe Manchin starts off the year calling for $4 trillion in infrastructure spending. Now, all of a sudden, he requires it to be cut down, extreme compromises made,

$1.75 trillion, really gets just about everything he wants, then at the end of the day, pulls the plug on it. I mean, there's no other reason for this other than that other people are pulling the strings behind Joe Manchin, that Joe Manchin really, he's kind of like, I got mine, what does anybody else need yours? I mean, I got my Maserati, I got my yacht, I'm chilling, I'm happy. And that's the thing that Joe Manchin is kind of banking on right now. He's taking it to the bank. And it's incredibly frustrating and disheartening because people need these programs. And I don't want to give a pass to the 50 Republican senators who we don't even give any scrutiny to, to pass on this thing. I mean, throughout this whole process, we talk about Joe Manchin, Joe Manchin, Joe Manchin, Joe Manchin,

but there are 50 senators who we don't even count on at all to even take common sense steps to negotiate and to create bills and to join us on bills that will help the American people. And that actually ends up benefiting Republicans because we completely ignore them. We let Joe Manchin and this Democratic infighting happen. And then Republicans go, oh, well, they're a mess. Why don't you come vote for us? Well, we're not a mess like they're a mess. And then people buy into that shit, which is the most frustrating part of it all, that you could sit on the sidelines, not do anything. And then you get rewarded for your inaction. You get rewarded for your obstruction. So it's not just Manchin. We got to be clear. It's the 50 Republican senators who refused and constantly refused to help the American people. But let me bash on Joe Manchin

some more because I'm not done yet. Manchin's made this fight like all about him as well. Like he's interpreting like the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and just pro-democracy folks who want to pass this legislation like it's like it's a knock on him. And I mean that because he went on his talk radio show today and he was talking about how he's from West Virginia and he's not going to buckle to what people are saying about him and he's not going to cave on his beliefs. But this has nothing to do with you, Joe Manchin, as a person. We don't care about you. We care about passing this bill for the betterment of society at large. So stop making this like it's the Democratic wing versus you solely, because that's not what this issue is.

This issue is us trying to work with you. And we have worked with you in good faith. And just because you've now reacted in bad faith doesn't take anything away from us. And here's something I think we all need to do. Everybody take a deep breath. End of the year. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. I do think this is devastating for a lot of families who are going to be relying on child tax credits and the benefits of this bill. But I don't think

this is the end of the world. And I don't think this is the end of the road for Build Back Better. How would you guys proceed at this point? What would you guys do to try to get this over the finish line? I'm sure there is a piece of legislation. So one of the things that Ben, I know you suggested a few weeks back, was why don't we break this thing up into a million little pieces and then have each person vote on, okay, insulin, okay, childcare, just take it one by one. The issue with that, of course, is that we need to package this up in a way that so the bill gets through via reconciliation. And in order to get a bill through reconciliation,

I think Democrats have, you get two stabs at that per year to pass a bill via reconciliation. And in order to get a bill through reconciliation, I think Democrats have, you get two stabs at that per year to pass a bill via reconciliation. And so you can't just break this bill up and it also needs to have a budgetary focus. So that is kind of a great idea. I love the idea, but that's out of the question. So what else do you do? I think you, in my opinion, I think you need to just pare down the bill, get to the core of what we want to do. And I actually saw some interesting, some people float some interesting theories about how to move ahead. I think one of the issues, and this is something that Joe Manchin expressed, and I just want to be clear, I don't trust Joe Manchin. I don't think he's a good faith actor, but this is something that he has expressed. Talking filibuster? No, something that people have suggested is that a lot of the programs that are in Build Back Better

are temporary programs. So it's a tax credit that lasts for a year. A lot of the programs are built in it like that. So what I've seen some people floating, and I think this is an interesting concept, is we're going to have to make some hard decisions. Let's decide what our most important priorities are, and let's try to make those programs permanent instead of making them having to, you have to reauthorize the programs every year or two, make them durable, take that money, but turn it into durable programs. Instead of picking 11 things from your wishlist, let's pick four or five and make it so that those programs last a really long time. I thought that was one interesting way that we could possibly move forward. But I mean, what do you guys think? So, yeah, I like

that. I think, though, procedurally, a way to reform the filibuster, as much as I think we all want to abolish the filibuster, is to turn the current filibuster into a talking filibuster, so that if anyone actually wants to invoke the filibuster rule, they have to actually stand on the Senate floor and continue to speak and speak and speak and speak and speak to block it. And then when you basically compare and contrast that to these important pieces of legislation like child tax credits, and you see people speaking like Kevin McCarthy when he was a maniac that night. Yeah, exactly. And I think that at least exposes the people who are invoking the filibuster that they have to actually

have accountability. Now, that doesn't structurally change the outcome, but I think it's at least a step in the right direction from a structural standpoint. Jordy, I know you love Wondery Business Wars, and this podcast is brought to you by Wondery Business Wars. I got a little concerned. I thought you were going to take my read and I was going to be pissed. All right, Ben, this is how it's done. Christmas. Tis the season to deck the halls and exchange presents with loved ones. But over the past 10 years, a new tradition has emerged. Binge watching low budget made for TV holiday movies. And the battle to get the highest rated Christmas movies gets more intense every year.

The newest season of the Business Wars podcast from Wondery dives into competition between Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix. While their films may be full of goodwill and cheer, the war for ratings is downright hostile. Listen to Business Wars, Christmas Movie Wars on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Shorty with the ash and cream. You're really, really good at it, Shorty. I mean- I practice. I practice that one.

I think regardless of what the poll is, you'd probably still win it amongst the brothers, but you are an exceptional- And Shorty could be bad at ad reads and he'd still be voted number one because that's how much Shorty is just adored by the Midas Mighty. Discover the magic of Bad MGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck. Pull up a seat and check out a wide variety of table games with a live dealer. From roulette to blackjack, watch as a dealer hosts your table game and live chat with them throughout your experience to feel like you're actually at the casino.

The excitement doesn't stop there. With over 3,000 games to choose from, including fan favorites like Cash Eruption, UFC Gold Blitz, and more, make deposits instantly to jump in on the fun and make same-day withdrawals if you win. Download the BetMGM Ontario app today. You don't want to miss out.

Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Before we go to our guest, you know, I just want to say about all the mansion stuff. I just want to reiterate Jory's point, which is let's make Manchin irrelevant. I mean, if we back out now and if we're like, all right, well, you know, this one Democrat and these 50 Republicans are fucking us over. So what we're going to do now is we're not

going to vote or we're going to vote Republican. I mean, you're just going to have more of this happen in the future. But if we get Democrats like Conor Lamb in the Senate, if we get Democrats like Tim Ryan or Val Demings in the Senate, then all of a sudden it becomes Joe Manchin, who? Like, who cares about Joe Manchin? Like, that guy, the guy from West Virginia? The guy from West Virginia? Yeah. Who gives a shit? Yeah. Guess what? If you don't like Joe Manchin, all those other Republicans are Joe Manchin and 10 times worse than him. So they're the real ones who are the issue. You know, it's just that Joe Manchin has the D before his name.

He's a Democrat. And we should want to make sure that Manchin remains a Democrat because I can't stress enough how important it is for the judiciary to have federal judges who are normal, law abiding, pro-democracy people. Speaking of unapologetically pro-democratic running against, I think, a self-professed authoritarian fascist supporter in Mike Garcia. I don't think Mike Garcia hides that aspect. Like, that's just who he is. He is a bad, bad human being. This was the California 25th congressional district with redistricting. It is now the 27th congressional district,

but let's bring in Christy Smith. We are joined by Christy Smith, former California State Assembly member, but right now is running in what was the California 25th congressional district with the redistricting should be the 27th congressional district against Mike Garcia. Listeners and viewers of the Midas Touch podcast will know that this was also Congresswoman Katie Hill's seat that she had before the special election. And in the last general election, Christy Smith in the race against Mike Garcia fell short by just three hundred and thirty three votes. And we want to talk with her today about the race and and what she stands for. So welcome to the podcast. Thanks, guys. Great to be here. Great having you. So let's just get into this race right away. We've talked about Mike Garcia, who's been supportive of the

insurrection. He's been with Trump on virtually, you know, every issue. When it really comes down to it, what is this race going into, you know, 2022 really about for voters in the 27th district? We have a region of Los Angeles County that was hard hit like the rest of the country with COVID. So we have people still trying to recover from that tailspin of either short-term or long-term permanent job loss, fighting to keep housing, keep a roof over their head during the worst of the crisis. And so here, like the rest of the country, this is still very much about economic recovery and

making sure that we continue to deal with COVID in an evidence-based way that keeps people as safe and healthy as possible. And I'm running against a guy who has just stood in absolute opposition to all of that, has voted against every single measure that the Biden administration has put out to help us all recover, continues to kind of poo-poo public health guidance, kind of gives a wink and a nod to, oh yeah, I'll have a mask on, but 90% of the time has it down below his nose, you know, isn't so sure about vaccine mandates. In fact, at one point was threatening local school board members that they leaned into supporting Governor Newsom's mandate. So this is not somebody who is thinking or working with my community's best interests at heart, and it's time for him to go. I mean, literally on every single issue that matters,

it's not hyperbole. You know, this Garcia, he's against literally everything that matters to people in the district yet. And there are people like Garcia in other areas as well. Like, but how do you connect that to the actual voters, you know, to be like, like to me, it should just be undisputed. If I'm a voter, I'm like, wait a minute, I see what this guy's doing. Every issue he votes against me. Why do I keep voting for him? Like how do you connect that message though with the voter and just say, look at this guy, he he's he's against you yeah no absolutely I mean I think plenty of

bandwidth there for us when we when we really are into the general election campaign and talking about all of the wrong and the bad votes that he's he's taken um one of the things I'm going to do differently though is you know fingers crossed will be to just have direct town. You know, I think the traditional old school classic kind of stand side by side and get 30 seconds each to answer a really complex question in front of voters when we know that most of the GOP now just has their polished lie ready to go and they spit it out and then they kick it over to you and you're like, supposed to defend some major policy initiative in an amount of time, and with a limited explanation that people just don't get. And I would rather be talking directly to voters. And that's all of the really important voters in my

district, not just the Democrats, which we have more of now in this new map, but we also have a sizable amount, 29% of independent swing voters here. I want to hear what's on their mind. I want to answer their questions and GOP too. I mean, there've got to be at least 333 people at this point in this district who have buyer's remorse over the way this guy has voted. And it's a matter of allowing them to have access to me, allowing us to have real conversations while at the same time in a really thorough campaign, pointing out just how bad he is from the country, starting with, you know, as being part of the insurrection, which we now know was a failed coup based on evidence.

And the entire GOP continues to, you know, completely deny that. So there's plenty to stand on. It's going to be a matter of which ones we pick to hold them accountable for. But really, for me, it's the votes that he has taken against the people in this district that matter the most. Now, we talk about presidential elections have massive consequences. And really nowhere is that felt more than with the composition of the Supreme Court. There was oral arguments recently in the Mississippi Dobbs case, which based on the questions that the judges were asking, based on the composition of really a 6-3 radical right controlled Supreme Court, definitely a 5-4 radical. Roberts

leans conservative, but we'll see where he sides. It appears Roe v. Wade is going to be overturned, or perhaps the best result, and it's horrible to even say that outcome of the case, is that abortion's being abandoned after 15 weeks. One of the things that you've stood for is that, you know, this is important to let voters know, and we need to explain to them the consequences of a decision like that and to be unapologetically pro-choice in the election. And so can you speak to why you think that's important to run on that issue? And you think that's going to resonate with voters? Absolutely. This district, again, like the rest of the country, our polling shows that well over 70% support access to abortion as defined in the Roe decision. So at a critical time like this,

where the economic circumstance, particularly of women who were more impacted by COVID than men, because largely they were the ones stepping out of the workforce to take care of young children who couldn't be physically present in preschool or in K-12 education. At a time like that to say now is when we're going to completely roll back women's ability to determine their reproductive destiny is absurd. But we know this is a mission that insidiously the extreme right has been on for a long time, you know, and their justification will be, well, it's about sanctity of life. Well, I call BS on that because we were talking about the sanctity of life, especially during the COVID crisis, we would be talking about getting shots in everybody's arms. You'd

see the entire GOP standing up for that. You would see them standing up for food support and getting a roof over everybody's head and maternal health care and a universal health care system. So really what it comes down to is control. It's about a flexing of that muscle, a flexing of the fact, as you pointed out, that there has been this extreme right takeover of our Supreme Court, which I've never seen in my lifetime as politicized as it is now, thanks to Mitch McConnell and his maneuvers and complete defiance of the rules of the Senate or manipulation of the rules of the Senate to get a couple of these nominees on there. So, and I think the American public is sick of that. They're sick of the abuse of our institutions and they are sickened by the idea that we are going to roll back decades of progress on an important issue like this. So it's going to be an issue that resonates particularly. And again, I'm hoping this court doesn't go that far. I'm hoping that Roe stays

intact. But every indication, as you said, based on the arguments given during Dobbs and the questions that were asked, they're looking for ways to go there and roll it back to the state. So we will definitely be talking about it in this race, especially because I'm running against an opponent whose first act on getting to Congress was to sign the discharge position, a petition on the, what was it called? Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Again, one of these like draconian things based on complete Republican hyperbole about late-term abortions that don't occur nearly as often as they think that they do. And usually they're for very good reason. But, you know, he's he's part of that move that is really about controlling women,

controlling our options and grandstanding on a political issue that has nothing to do with the real challenges that we're facing right now. And do you think that could just be messaged, though, very clearly? And one of the things the Republicans do is they make up these issues, but have these incredible fear tactics behind it. Why can't a Democrat, you know, basically just say to female voters and childbearing person voters that that guy, Mike Garcia, that man, he wants to lock you up for your right to choose. He wants to lock up your doctor. He wants the government to get into your private decisions and he wants to lock you up and just run on that like message. He wants to put you in jail for being a woman. Yeah. No,

I don't disagree. Like, look, there's this whole debate right now about whether Democrats have a messaging problem. And I want to say a couple of things about that. Yeah. If we're doing, you know, a mailer that's going to somebody's house or a 30 second spot, we're definitely going to refine that messaging. And it's going to be a short, quick punch like that. But we can't fall into the trap of minimizing some of these significant and important issues into a 10 second soundbite, because it's simply because it's what the GOP does, right? Because they are diminishing and demeaning Americans when they do that. Americans are much more thoughtful than the GOP gives them credit for.

And we need to stick to that and realize that it's important for us to keep discussing all of these issues, whether it's social justice or race or abortion access, as we do. And we know that. Democrats campaign in paragraphs and the GOP campaigns in slogans. But we diminish all of our capacity to have these brighter, smarter, more conversations when we sloganize everything. So it's definitely got its space in the campaign environment. And in a lot of ways, especially now, we need to, as Democrats, be more punchy about it. But we also need to be thoughtful about allowing people into the bigger conversation and not demeaning their intelligence in the process. I think one of the things that separates you as a candidate is that you've decided to make this a centerpiece of your campaign. I mean, why do you think abortion access? Why do you think it still seems like a little bit of taboo for a lot of Democrats to really say, this is our issue. sexuality in this country. And it pours over in this issue. And when we're talking about anything in the LGBTQ plus rights arena, it's because we just have that level of discomfort.

So that's one thing. But it's important for me, because I'm the mother of two young women, I have daughters in their 20s. But I grew up with a mom who saw friends go through dangerous, what were then called and will be called again, back alley abortions in her lifetime. As a woman, I've held the hand of a friend who gave up a child for badly for her, and she had medical complications because she didn't get it from a provider, you know, that was keeping her safe. And all of that speaks to our greater need to protect and defend the right as granted under Roe to keep women safe. As I said in the speech at the Women's March this year, I will be damned if I nearly died having my own daughters, only to see them be rolled back to second class citizens who can't make their those decisions for themselves. And so, you know, in my own life with my first daughter,

she was born very preterm, under really strenuous medical circumstances, I had a clamp C that caused me to have seizures, she had to be delivered to save my life because my blood pressure was so high. And so a few years later, when I was unexpectedly pregnant, was using birth control, but ended up pregnant, I really had to make that very hard decision about whether to continue with a pregnancy, putting my own life at risk and potentially leaving my oldest daughter without a mom. Now, ultimately, I decided with the help of some really great healthcare providers to, you know, take that second pregnancy to term, but I am the only person who should have been there to make that decision along with the help of my medical providers, my partner, when practicable,

and that's not always practicable for women, and whatever my faith is and my beliefs as a person who could have children. So it is not only very personal to me, but any person that you talk to will say they've had some experience. Like everyone knows someone who knows someone has been through it themselves, knows a story. We have sex in this country. People get pregnant. It happens. And we need to stop treating it as if it's about morality or anything other than the conditions under which people in this country get pregnant and have to face this really tough decision. And Christy, I encourage all of our listeners and viewers to go to your Twitter feed and watch your

ad in which you tell that harrowing story about your pregnancies. It's really incredibly powerful because I think it really does inform a lot of your beliefs on this issue. And I think, you know, it's irrefutable once you hear how passionate that that was to you, you know, why you're in this fight. I mean, your opponent is also he's not just anti-abortion. It seems like he's anti-birth control, which is also just a mind blowing thing. I mean, he co-sponsored legislation to ban abortion. He co-sponsored legislation. And that also includes the ban of some contraception that he was doing. I mean, that to me is just on, and looking at the rest of what happens in the civilized Western world with access to health care, how are we still having this conversation in this country? And you look at the bill sponsors on a lot of these very draconian bills that the GOP has put forward, you know, lists the names of the members, and it's always Mr. So-and so, Mr. So and so, Mr. So and so, Mr. So and so, you will see a few women scattered in there. But, you know, I tell you what, and some of these guys, frankly, if they could take a basic anatomy and physiology test and pass on how it all works, then they might have a better option having a seat at the table and having that be meaningful. But fundamentally, again, this is about control of women. And there is no medical

decision in a man's life that the government would deem worthy of them making a decision about. This fundamentally goes back to what feminists have been saying for decades. This is about control of women and their sexual freedom and their freedom to participate in the economy based on the fact that they can't make their own reproductive health care choices. That's really where the GOP is. And we're on that very slippery slope. So, yes, if they are successful in getting Roe overturned next, they're coming for birth control. Then they're coming for gay rights and it will go on and on and on. And you can't forget, voting rights is lumped in there too. All of these are conversations about power and control and not about what's doing what's right for the majority of this country.

Let's talk about voting rights. Voting rights is a hot button issue. Maybe we should first back up just a second and let's talk about Build Back Better, because I think these two tie into each other just a little bit. What did you make of Joe Manchin's statements on Fox News yesterday about Build. I think that just speaks volumes about where we are with Senator Manchin at this moment. I don't think he was working in good faith with the White House on negotiating for this bill. Comments that are coming out that his colleagues are talking about today where he worries that the child tax credit will be used by people to buy drugs, and there should be some working component attached to it. Yeah, it's a tax credit. So you're talking about people who are already working. They're just working poor. Right. And that bill had already just the tax credit part had pulled three million American children out of poverty. And as someone who comes to education and sees in real terms what poverty can do to a child's educational options. I'm just I'm I am

furious, furious with him. You know, people have argued, well, if he leaves the party, then he moves to the Republican side or caucuses with the Republicans, then Mitch McConnell is in control. Well, is Mitch McConnell really going to be doing anything different than the obstruction he's doing right now? You know, I'm just it's it's very, very frustrating. And why aren't we asking the big question in democratic terms about what does it mean when one guy elected from West Virginia by two hundred ninety thousand people can pull the rug out from under the millions and millions of people who voted for Joe Biden and his agenda? That's that is a bigger question that we need to be asking and talking about, you know, and same with voting rights, all tied up in that is this notion that you have this very small handful of

people acting against the will and the best interests of the American people when there is broad bipartisan support amongst voters for protecting voting rights. Because I tell you what, it doesn't only take away the right of a Democratic voter, when you limit access to the ballot box, when you limit the ability to get a vote by mail ballot, there's Republicans who are going to be swept up in that too. So yeah, we're just we're at a really tough moment right now with unfortunately, a lot of people in DC who are woefully out of touch with their districts and with this country. And it's shameful. And if you had to pick one, and because, you know, we have to kind of prioritize legislation now, would you say, let's keep fighting for Build Back Better? Or would you say,

I'll speed ahead, voting rights is number one, name of the game? I would say voting rights is next. And then we got to step back in to Build Back Better. We don't have the luxury right now as a party to not be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. We've got to do both. Both are equally important, but I would say voting rights headed into 2022 and 2024, looking at what the GOP is signaling they want to do in the next two cycles. We cannot afford to marginalize any voter in this country. Everybody's access has to be protected. So that's first and foremost, but we've got to get back to Build Back Better because as I said, most Americans

are still suffering from the devastating economic impacts of COVID. And if we don't put a floor under them, they're going to be in really bad shape and that's unacceptable. And Christy, shifting gears here a little bit, we have a gun violence and frankly, a gun control problem in this country. I mean, recently on TikTok, there were credible threats made around like a national school, national shoot up the school day, like something crazy like that, that the media picked up on luckily. But like, what can we do about this? Because as a mother yourself, this is scary. We have a younger sister who's in high school. These are scary times for kids in school.

Yeah. So I was, prior to being in the state legislature here, I was on a school board for almost a decade. And so kind of saw post Sandy Hook, the first generation of kids who unfortunately had to take part in active shooter drills. And it is devastating to see a five-year-old, someone who's, it's their first time in elementary school. And one of the first things they do within their first few months of school is learn how to run and protect themselves in the event that a bad guy comes on campus with a gun. Not that long ago. And some beautiful young local people whose lives were lost. The shooter had a ghost gun. It is another area we've got to deal with. And our local high school students are still dealing with the impact of this. But between Sandy Hook and Parkland and the hundreds and hundreds of other mass casualty events, and let's call them what they are.

These are not, you know, we euphemistically say school shooting or mall shooting. These are mass casualty events happening in our country, and we are choosing to live like this because of a long-term now misinterpretation of the Second Amendment, which clearly says in it, well-regulated militia. None of these people were part of a well-regulated militia. They are part of a lawless run amok system where too many people have access to guns freely and guns that are weapons meant to inflict mass casualty. So we have to do something about it. I think moms in particular you see are pretty darn fed up. Kids through March for Our Lives and other organizations are pretty fed up, but it is the money and the resources

of groups like the NRA and gun manufacturers that have to be brought to heel. Now, one of the things I've always said is, well, you want to impact things politically in a very meaningful way, then you've got to change the balance of the scales. And usually that's financially, I would like to see us be at a point where people have to have liability insurance to own a gun. Because that changes the financial equation for everybody in the country. So it would mean you'd have to be checked, you'd have to be licensed, you'd have to pay for the privilege and the responsibility of owning a gun, which there is absolutely a Second Amendment right there, but not without significant responsibility. And that's where we have failed to act,

is in enforcing what that responsibility looks like. And the rest of the world looks at us and thinks, Mike, what is going on in the United States? You know, when we end up on watch lists of other countries saying, don't travel there, it's a bit much right now. We are making, we are consciously making that decision. I don't want to see any more generations of kids grow up in a country where active shooter training just becomes part of the norm of their education. There's something really sick about that. And it's time we start talking about it like that. I mean, how sick is it also when you see those photographs with the Christmas photos with the members of Congress holding the machine guns with their kids holding, you know, the AR-15s?

I mean, it's sickening to see that. One of the messages that we want to spread is like we want kids to be holding books. You know, we want kids to be, you know, doing things that kids do, not holding, you know, weapons of mass casualty of mass casualty in front of Christmas trees. Absolutely. And all of that imagery, I guess, speaks to the base of those individuals who are doing it and what they really believe in. But they've also got to recognize that when they're putting those symbols out there, they're really saying they're okay with mass casualty events. They're okay with schools being shot up and synagogues and churches and marches and protests. This is the space that we're in and these people are okay with that. And, you know, very often you hear about the GOP ties, you know, to the religious movement and to the right. Well, I grew up in church

and the God I believe in isn't okay with that. So we need to start having that conversation in a real and a meaningful way and solving some of this. How important is this next election cycle as far as gun control for the next 50, 100 years in this country? Incredibly important because it determines what kind of country we're going to live in. You know, and it's interesting, you know, the GOP terminology is always about take our country back, back, back, back, back, back. Well, back, back to what really? And on, on the other side, on,

on the more liberal progressive and democratic side, I think we're talking about going forward. And so the fact that some of us want to live in a country where guns are not part of our daily lives, where violence is not such a threat, that means we have to take action on it and push back against that notion. And again, this isn't a left-right issue. When it comes to gun violence and in public places, that shooter doesn't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, your target. And then finally, Christy, what do you say to everybody who the naysayers out there?

It's a midterm election. You have the Democrats control the White House. And we all know in midterm elections what that means. Woe is me. Pity us. You know, we tell people here, you don't get it. The GQP, we call them the GQP, with the Matt Gaetz's, the Marjorie Taylor Greene's, the Mike Garcia's, that's out of touch with America. We could win this 2022 with candidates like you. So what do you say to

those people? And maybe I'll refine a little bit. What do you say to those three hundred and thirty three people in the last election this time around? Yeah. Mike Garcia hasn't voted in your best interest. And here's all the things that he's done to make your life harder or worse and get in the way of you recovering from this covid crisis where he wants to take away your rights and is part of that extreme. And I don't believe, I mean, we have a lot of people here still in this district who are members of the Republican Party and people I've worked with on the school board and in the community and nonprofit groups. And these are just good, honest, decent, slightly more conservative people. But this is what we're seeing now isn't your grandpa's republican

party um this is an extremism and a beginning of a march towards authoritarianism and fascism that we haven't seen here um and a recall of some specters of the past you know white supremacy and some of the things that are getting tied into that movement which aren't good for all of america um and the thing that i say and you know especially where we're losing our 18 to 35 year old voters, and we're more likely to lose them in a midterm right now is they were all born and all children yet to come will be born into an America that has greater challenges, and is far more diverse than anything that I was born into. But we are not giving them the toolkit to be successful in that. And that's where we've got to step up right now. So that means protecting voting rights,

shoring up our liberal democratic institutions and tackling some of these big issues that have been besting us for decades. Whether it's reproductive freedom or gun control, all of these things have been on the agenda for a long time and we've paid them lip service. And now it's time to really roll up our sleeves and do the hard work. Christy Smith, where can our listeners and viewers go to support your campaign? Christy4Congress.org. Website is up. We're working every day really hard. So we welcome people from all over the country, whether it's with a few bucks, if you can chip in, but volunteers, we were really proud of the fact that in the last cycle, we had people phone banking for us from as far away as Massachusetts, all the way across to Hawaii.

So we want to do that again. We want a big national effort aimed at flipping the seat, which will be because of that 333 vote gap will be probably the most flippable seat in the country. And we welcome everyone to join in. Christy Smith running for what will be the 27th congressional district in California. Thank you so much for joining us on the Midas Touch podcast. And thank you for putting up with the fact that I'm recording this from the corner of an Einstein Brothers table with people all around me and people walking in the background. So I appreciate your indulgence. I appreciate it, gents. Thank you so much. Have a great day. Thank you. Thanks. You too. I have any types of issues, I go to BetterHelp. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you

with your own licensed professional therapist. You'll be matched with a therapist in under 48 hours. It's not a crisis line. It's not self-help. It is professional therapy done securely online. There is a broad range of expertise available, which may not be locally available in many areas. This service is available for clients worldwide. You can log on to your account anytime and send a message to your therapist. You'll get timely and thoughtful responses. Plus, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions

so you won't ever have to sit in uncomfortable waiting rooms as with traditional therapy. BetterHelp is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy and free to change therapists if needed. It's more affordable than traditional offline therapy, and financial aid is available. BetterHelp wants you to start living a happier life when? Today. Visit their website and read their testimonials that are posted daily at www.betterhelp.com slash reviews. I know that those testimonials pretty much mirror my

incredible experience with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash Midas. That's better H-E-L-P and join over 2 million people, including myself, who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. In fact, so many people have been using BetterHelp that they are recruiting additional therapists in all 50 states. Special offer for Midas Touch listeners, get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com slash Midas. That's BetterHelp. com slash Midas. Brett, the walls seem to be closing on Trump and gang. Truly a gang. He's truly a thug. He's the definition of a gangster and no doubt about it.

And, you know, you know, breaking news today. You always know when Trump's desperate when he starts suing people. You have the Mark Meadows approach where Mark Meadows sued the January 6th committee right before all those documents basically came out that basically conclusively proved the aiding and abetting of an insurrection by Trump and Meadows and the inner circle and people who are also aiding and abetting in Congress and on Fox News. And so today, Trump sued Letitia James, who's investigating. And we'll talk more about that on the Midas Touch Legal AF podcast. Can we just go back through this man's weekend for a second? Because I think the context of it

also over the past few days paints a picture. It paints a picture, Ben, of those walls closing in. Paint it, Picasso. Paint it in. Paint it, Picasso. Paint it in. Paint it, Picasso. So we get one of these deranged Trump statements, the 18th, I believe it was. And he goes, all Democrats want to do is put people in jail. They're vicious, violent, radical left thugs. They are destroying people's lives, which is the only thing that they're good at. They're letting thugs and murderers into our country. Their DAs, AGs, and damn law enforcement are out of control. And then he goes on to rant about the January 6th committee. So Trump does that. I think it's important to note in the

statement, Trump is like a hit dog. As they say, a hit dog will holler. And there is a reason why Trump released this statement saying that, starting it off by saying all Democrats want to do is put people in jail. And then a couple sentences later, beginning with their DAs, AGs, and damn law enforcement are out of control, comparing it to a communist country. So I think that's important right there. Then we get the same day, we get David K. Johnsonston. David K. Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, and he predicts that Trump will soon be indicted for racketeering. Now, we've all learned by now, and I hope you've all learned by now, do not get your hopes up over Twitter hype like this. Do not, because you're just going to disappoint yourself. You're going to be like, don't do it. Don't do it. It's going to happen today. Why didn't it happen? They said it was going to happen. But nevertheless, I think we, I think what he is right about is that we are on a path to that.

Then today, Monday, we go, you know, just a couple of days after this happens. And Ben, like you said, Trump suing a New York suing Tish James for their investigation into him. And Ben, I don't think this is a thing. Is this a thing? Could you sue people who are investigating you for crimes? Could you just say- You've done it all the time. I don't think this is a thing. And a lot of people are saying, oh, this is how he's working the system. It's just another delay tactic. It's just going to push the can down the road. Ben A., is this a delay tactic? Does this do anything to delay? And does this lawsuit have any merit whatsoever? It will do nothing to delay anything. It will go in front of a judge who will laugh at it. It's a sanctionable lawsuit. There's no basis or merit to it. The sole reason that he did it

is so that he can issue a press release to say that he's filing a lawsuit and all of the criminal prosecutions are retaliation because he filed a lawsuit. And so he can raise money, period. It's not going to slow down a single thing. It's going to be subject to a very basic motion to dismiss. There's like there's no to a very basic motion to dismiss. There's no cause of action here whatsoever, period. And then Tish James responded today. She fired back saying that Trump doesn't get to dictate where they will answer for their actions. She says it's frivolous, it shows desperation, and it will not work. She's right.

Tish James is not going to be stopping the investigation. It's right. She's right. It's a perfect statement. It's not going to be stopping the investigation. It's not even a delay tactic. So anybody who thinks it's a delay tactic, it's not a delay tactic. He can't delay anything. They're not going to stop the investigation. But I think it's clearer than ever that the walls are closing in on Trump. And I say this as somebody who never once thought during the Mueller investigation that Trump was in any legal trouble. That entire time, I never once thought it would lead to anything because Trump had control over the government, he had control over the DOJ, and he had control over the entire messaging apparatus also around that. And we saw that with Bill Barr, how Bill Barr manipulated the Mueller report before it was ever released to the public. We don't have that now. And now I think Trump is trying the

same tactics that he tried when he was president of the United States, but he doesn't have the power of the presidency. So I think he's in for a world of hurt. To me, if you're looking at me, and I'm not just saying this, I don't think it's a matter of if the guy gets indicted. I think it's a matter of when the guy gets indicted. They're not doing this to get while in Weisselberg. They're not doing this to arrest Alan Weisselberg. That's not what all this is for. All the legalese that Liz Cheney's using in the January 6th select committee, she's not doing that to get the leader of the Proud Boys. They're gunning for Trump. They're coming for Trump because they know he's criminally culpable and he will be held accountable for these actions. He will be indicted. I mean, you could mark my words. I'm so confident. I'm so incredibly confident that the guy will get

indicted. I don't know what happens after that, but I would bet a lot of money that this guy does get indicted, whether it's in New York or by the DOJ. I think the walls are closing in. I think he's in a whole lot of legal trouble. And I'm not even hesitant at it, even a little bit, not even a little bit. Let's bet. Let's bet. Let's bet.

Let's bet. Let's bet. Me and you, not money. What do you want to do? My brother bet right now. I mean, we're all rooting for the same bet to win. Let's bet. Let's bet. Let's bet. Me and you, not money. What do you want to do? Live brother bet right now. I bet literally. We're all rooting for the same bet to win. No, absolutely. Are you going to bet against it? Because I'd literally bet anything for it. I mean, it's a short, I think it's a short. Jordy, where do you want to come in on the bet, Jordy?

Let's bet a tattoo. It's not betting a tattoo. I said, what? Not telling you. I'm not saying what actual item you want to bet or whether we're betting a tattoo. I said what? Not telling you. I'm not saying what actual item you want to bet. No, we're betting a tattoo. Let's bet a tattoo. If it's not by next election, by 2024. Get a tattoo, regardless of anything. When do you think, though? Okay, tell me the parameters.

The bet's not even for you. The bet's for Brett, Mr. Confident Brett over here. I think Jordy just wants to get a tattoo is what this really is. I do kind of really want to get one. You can get the tattoo without betting me. Yeah, just get a tattoo. Here's what it comes down to, Brett, and we break this down on Legal AF. We go into tons and tons of legal analysis. Again, everybody should listen to Legal AF. But what a lot of this comes down to is all of the courts saying to Trump, you're no longer the president. There aren't rules that protect former presidents.

You are a civilian now. Those executive privilege, all that bullshit that you tried to cloak yourself in, which was debatable in the first place, you're not the president anymore. So those rules don't apply to you, period, full stop. That's what the analysis comes down to. And again, I agree completely with Tish James here. It really shows and reeks of desperation. And finally, I think we should close the show by reminding everybody to get a booster. I think it's really, really important that everybody not just be vaccinated, but get the booster. Here's the data by the CDC. And on the Midas Touch podcast for Democrats, for democracy-loving people, we care about data.

That's an important factor for us. And life, people living. People living is important. Let me give you stats. Amongst the unvaccinated, there's 451 cases per 100,000 people. Amongst the vaccinated, there's 134 cases per 100,000 people. And for those vaccinated and boosted, there are 48 cases per 100,000 people. Let's talk about deaths, which is another important statistic amongst the unvaccinated. This is a startlingly high number. There is 6.1 deaths per 100,000 people for the unvaccinated.

There's 0.5 deaths, 0.5, less than one, 0.5 deaths per 100,000 for vaccinated. And amongst the boosted, that reduces to 0.1 deaths per 100,000. And I think you can almost pose the question like this. If there were, if you were in a group of 100,000 people, would you do this? I mean, Jordy, I mean, think about like this. And then I want to play this incredible video from what's his name? Tom Hartman about his Tom Hartman from his rebuke to someone who talked about being unvaccinated. But let me tell you this. Would you go to a sports stadium? Okay.

Would you go to a game? A hundred thousand people show up at a sports stadium where you knew that six people were going to die at that game. Would you go to that sports stadium? And you think that's incredible perspective. Would you go to the stadium and say, here, six people are going to die. I'm going to go and watch the game. And they ask, well, could that person be my kid? Yeah. That person could be your kid. I'll guarantee you six people are going to die today. Could that be my brother? Yeah. Could that be my wife? Yeah.

Could that be my cousin? Yeah. It could be any of you, but you know, but that worries you. There's 97, there's 90, whatever it is, 99,000, whatever, 900 and other people who aren't going to die. But yeah, a lot of you are going to get sick and six of you are going to die. I just think you have to almost frame it like that. Who are taking those chances? How are we as a government, as a society, as a democratic, freedom loving people who love who love to help people live OK with six deaths out of 100000? That's not a small number. Do you want to play the Tom Hartman clip? Yeah, we got to play the Hartman clip. I mean, I watched this last night. I saw it on TikTok and I was like, Brett, this is incredible.

Brett's like, yeah, it's already going viral. You're out of touch already, Ben, with it. Can you play this clip? Hey, Tom. I was listening to you for the last hour or so. I heard survival of the fittest. You know, some of us choose not to vaccinate. You're nuts, Nicholas. Because we work very hard about staying fit, eating healthy, and our natural immune system.

So, Nicholas, if you're so healthy, would you have unprotected sex with somebody who has syphilis or gonorrhea? You're missing the point. No, I'm not missing the point. They're contagious diseases. Would you have unprotected sex with somebody who has syphilis and gonorrhea and not worry about it because you're so healthy? No, I wouldn't do that. Okay, then why would you expose yourself to COVID without having some protection? Because the protection is my natural immunity. No, it's not. Tell that to 800,000 dead Americans.

Nicholas, this is a stupid conversation, and I'm not going to continue it. Tom Hartman right there. That analogy is probably better than my going to a football stadium where six people are going to die. But the point is the same, which is why are we minimizing the life of people? And why do we think that the government shouldn't be wanting to create safe conditions for people, whether that's with vaccines. And remember, the vaccine mandate that Biden has relates to healthcare workers. The one that all the Republicans go crazy about is about vaccinate or test. It's not even a vaccine mandate that they have. They hate testing. They hate wearing masks. They're against the vaccine and they want to affirmatively spread the disease.

It is really sick, you know, literally and figuratively what these people want to do. They're pro COVID and we need to come together and say enough is enough. You know, enough is enough. And so anyway, I appreciate everyone's indulging me to be recording at a corner of a bagel shop. It's a bit cold. So I do look forward to leaving this corner. How could it be cold? What's the weather by you right now? You're in Los Angeles. How cold is it? I mean, it's really freezing right here. Give me the temperature. Give me the temperature so our audience can shame you. So right now in Los Angeles, it is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Shave, shave, shave.

This is why this is, Ben, just so you know, this exactly this example right here is why people have shifted more to Team Brett and Team Jordy in the more recent months. Thank you, everybody, for listening to the Midas Touch podcast. Special thanks to our guest, Christy Smith, a real incredible candidate. And there's a real opportunity there for Democrats to pick up a seat there. So everybody can listen to Christy Smith about where you can support her and her candidacy. And special thanks to our sponsors, Wondry Business Wars and BetterHelp. Definitely check out Wondry Business Wars and go to betterhelp.com slash Midas. Thank you so much

for listening to this Midas Touch podcast. We will see you next time. Ben, Brett, and Jordy, fighting for democracy, signing off. Shout out to the Midas Midas!