The Young Turks - Homeland Insecurity

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

A guy at Trump’s speech yesterday complained that socialist policies of Democrats are ruining America, but his medical expenses are being paid by the government and he also has his VA benefits. The Republicans support for the United Auto Workers (U.A.W.) is a big lol. The DHS looks to combat illicit drugs inside and out of the United States through targeted strategy. The Senate voted down an amendment to create an Office of the Lead Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance. The Pentagon’s budget is so bloated that it needs AI to manage it. HOSTS: Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. One of the hardest parts of getting older is feeling like something's off in your body, but not knowing exactly what. It's not just aging. It's often your hormones, too.

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A survey found 86% of women lost weight, 77% saw an improved mood, and 100% felt like themselves again. Start your next chapter feeling balanced and in control. For a limited time, get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com with code next chapter at checkout. Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self back naturally. Welcome to TYT. I'm your host, Anna Casparian. Usually we do this on Wednesdays, but with jank, you know, gallivanting around the country. doing his book tour. We switched the schedule up a little bit. So the first hour today will be my solo first hour that I usually do on Wednesdays. In the second hour, Wazni Lombre will be joining me to cover a whole host of topics, including what Donald Trump had to say about, well, Mark Millie's

leadership as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but also what was going on behind the scenes in regard to a potential hot war with China. And Millie's role in trying to essentially, calm things down to prevent that from happening. Really incredible story based on a profile that was written on Millie in the Atlantic. In the first hour, we're going to talk a little bit about the Department of Homeland Security and what they plan to do in response to the devastating number of opioid overdose deaths within the United States and how they're trying to essentially tackle the problem internationally as well. Also, the consequences of the bloated Pentagon budget have now led to the deployment

of AI technology in order to figure out what they can and can't do with the money that's been appropriated to them. And later, my very favorite story of the day, I have to admit, we'll be in the bonus episode for our members. We're going to talk about why I think that Trump not only should give up on his career in politics, but how he should really lean into the one area where I think he shines the most as an insult comic. Okay, so t-y-t.com slash join to become a member. We're going to show you a lot of fun videos so I can make my case and you don't want to miss it. Again, t-y-t.com slash join to become a member.

You can also click on that join button if you're watching us on YouTube. And as always, you can also share our stream if you're watching us live. It's an easy way and free way to help support the show and the work that we're doing here. All right, without further ado, let's get to our first story. Trump, chances are he could be watching us right now from his plane. What message do you have to President Trump right now as he comes to this event? I want a picture with you, sir. You are just, you know what?

God sent him down here. I promise you. He's working for God. Big, big thing in my world. There's a big picture at play here. Donald Trump is a gift from God, according to one Trump rally goer. in Iowa. Look, that might sound absolutely insane to most people, but it's worth understanding why she feels this way. Luckily, she provided some insight into what she's actually looking

for from politicians and the government. Unfortunately, Donald Trump ain't going to give it to her. What is Trump under his policies? How did it benefit your life? Are you working, you retired? I mean, I'm disabled. I have a broken plate in my back. And it really bummed me because during COVID, I was supposed to get my third surgery and have it fixed. And when the doctor, a very big specialist, went to fix it, he said, where's your Medicaid? So what do you mean? Where's my Medicaid? Well, they took by Medicaid. So I'm coming up here hoping I can get my surgery done. Look, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, what she's sharing is heartbreaking. And I think it resonates with countless other

Americans due to our broken health care system. And while we don't know why she lost her Medicaid, what we do know is that despite her thoughts on how helpful Trump is on the issue of health care, he actually did everything he could to weaken the program and make it less accessible to Americans. Let me show you the receipts. The Trump administration issued guidance in January of 2020, inviting states to seek demonstration projects known as waivers that would radically overhaul Medicaid coverage for adults. Under the guidance, states could apply for waivers that would convert their Medicaid programs for adults into a form of block grant with capped federal funding and new authorities to cut coverage and benefits.

States with block grant waivers could deny coverage for prescription drugs, allow states to impose higher co-payments on people in poverty, and even waive standards for managed care plans, which many states use to provide Medicaid coverage. And this is one of the situations in which a broken and ineffective Congress actually worked in our favor because they failed to move that. legislation forward. However, the Trump administration also gave states unprecedented authority to require people in poverty to pay premiums for their

health coverage. In Wisconsin, for example, the Trump administration in October of 2018 approved a proposal that lets the state take coverage away from people with incomes below the poverty line if they don't pay monthly premiums. Those with incomes as low as 50% of the poverty line, about $500 per month for an adult without dependents, can lose Medicaid for up to six months if they don't pay premiums. He also tried to implement stricter work requirements for Medicaid recipients, which was blocked by the courts. But the Trump fan we heard from earlier isn't alone in wanting more government involvement in our health care system. Public polling

shows that programs like Medicaid are in fact extremely popular. And I got to be honest, I was surprised about this as well. I knew that Medicare was popular, didn't expect this in regard to Medicaid. So a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found in March that three-fourths of the public say they have an either very favorable or somewhat favorable view of the program. Even when you break down support based on political party, 89% of Democrats, 75% of independents, and 65% of Republicans view the program favorably. I mean, just listen to this gentleman who attended Trump's speech this week.

He claimed that the socialist policies of Democrats are ruining America. But then he said this. Everything, the cost of everything is way too high. And insurance, medical insurance as well. Well, fortunately, I'm on Medicare, so that helps out a lot right there. And I'm a veteran, so I've got my VA benefits, so. Just consider the fact that when Donald Trump is attacking Ron DeSantis, oftentimes he attacks Ron DeSantis for wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.

See, Trump understands how popular these programs are, which is likely the reason why his supporters are under the impression that he wants to protect rather than cut these programs. And look, I get the urge is to dunk on the man that we just watched for not realizing that these government programs are the very programs that the Republican Party essentially wants to cut funding to. However, I think the real culprit is how the media filter bubbles propagandize and mislead Americans about these issues. Trump spews economic popular. mediaist messaging that he has no intention of actually fulfilling, and conservative media outlets provide cover for the lies.

And it didn't start with Trump either. It's always a little weird when you see these kinds of signs and they've been used for decades. This sign, for instance, says keep government out of my Medicare. You see it at protests, and again, signs like these have been around for decades. But look, I've found way more success and calmly conversing with conservatives about these issues, rather than trying to correct them or give them the impression that I'm lecturing to them, I just engage in good faith, I just engage in a good faith exchange. And while we might not agree at all in the end, that's okay.

But guess what, despite how politicized and tribal everything has become, we're all ordinary people who experience the same crap and in a lot of cases want the same things. So we're all experiencing the flaws in our political system and suffering from the consequences of elected leaders who fall short. If someone is misled or misinformed and many of us, by the way, are on various issues. Having these conversations from a place of kindness and understanding can really make a difference. In fact, it could maybe even cut through the media filter bubbles and the corporate media's, you know, misrepresentation of various issues. At this point with how things work, I really think that's the only hope we have in getting

through to one another. Again, addressing each other from a place of kindness, a place of understanding. And instead of trying to correct people or dunk on people, what if we just have conversations with people that we think we disagree with? And I say think we disagree with, because when you really cut through the BS, I mean, when it comes to the bread and butter issues, poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans, ordinary people, agree on a lot of these policy proposals, agree on a lot of these government programs, do not want to cut these government programs. Trump, again, realizes that, which is why he campaigns with an economic populist message. But I think it's really, really important to avoid cutting off ties with some of our friends or family members who have kind of bought into the hype in the right wing.

And instead, again, have these conversations from a place of good faith, a place of understanding. Because if we don't, all we're going to deal with is an increasingly polarized country where a huge population of Americans who actually agree on a lot become increasingly divided. We got to find ways to avoid that from happening, or at least happening more than it already has. Let's move on to our next story. This is one of my favorite stories because it kind of cuts through more of the BS that you're likely hearing from Republicans? I spit on corporations. They are, they are woke and and they are abusive of labor at the same time. So you're not going to get any defense for me or any conservative of big corporations.

I can't stand them. The Republican Party has desperately tried to reinvent and rebrand them. as populists looking to take on the very corporations whose greed has driven economic inequality in America. But when push comes to shove, they show us exactly who they are. After all, the GOP has consistently served as the party that cheerleads, corporate welfare, mergers and acquisitions, anti-labor deregulation, and corporate tax cuts. In fact, thanks to the ongoing UAW strike, conservative politicians are showing just how popular. they really are, by openly taking sides against the workers.

We'll start with Donald Trump, who loves to run on populist rhetoric, but basically said that he's on his side when asked whether he supports the workers or the big three automakers. My question for you, Mr. President, whose side are you on in this? I'm on the side of making our country great. The auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership. and their leadership should endorse Trump. Their leadership, meaning the union leadership, should endorse Trump. Because that's the most important thing in the world.

Like we're having a conversation about the tens of millions of dollars that the CEOs for the big three are making, whereas the actual workers have seen their wages stagnate, have basically engaged in all sorts of concessions after the economic collapse in order to help these, companies survive. But no, no, no, the most important thing here is Donald Trump. It's amazing. Meanwhile, Republican, senator, and presidential candidate, Tim Scott, chastised American workers by arguing that they don't know how to work hard anymore.

He'd also want to take action against the striking workers. Now, if you can bear it, I know that his tone puts people to sleep. But just listen closely to what he has to say here. We're seeing the UAW fight for more benefits and less hours working, more pay and fewer days on the job. It's a disconnect from work, and we have to find a way to encourage and inspire people to go back to work. The problem breaking game was a great example when federal boys decided there were a strike. He said, you strike, you're fired. Simple concept to me.

Now, just keep in mind that you're hearing those statements from a United States senator who works maybe six months out of the year and has provided government health care. So you want to talk about benefits and pay? Come on. Now, former Vice President Mike Pence licked GM CEO Mary Barr's boots like the dog he is when Jake Tapper asked if her pay, which top $29 million in 2021, was fair. I just want to make sure I get an answer from you. Is that okay? Do you think that's fair? Well, I think that ought to be left to the shareholders of that company. I'm somebody that believes in free enterprise. Free enterprise. I mean, look, they're telling you exactly what they actually think. And I appreciate that. I like that a lot more than what we started this segment with, which was Dennis Prager pretending as if he wants to hold corporations accountable. I mean, for their

wokeness, not for their business practices and essentially hoarding all the wealth for the executive team, while the very individuals who are doing the hard work and generating the revenue and profits see their wages stagnate. Now, last but definitely not least, Nikki Haley proudly referred to herself as a union buster when asked about the strike. When you have the most pro-union president and he touts that he is emboldening the unions, this is what you get. And I'll tell you who pays for it is the taxpayers. In South Carolina as governor. I mean, we were building planes with Boeing. We were building more BMWs than any place in the world. I recruited Mercedes-Benz. I recruited Volvo. We had five international tire

companies, but I was a union buster. I didn't want to bring in companies that were unionized simply because I didn't want to have that change the environment in our state. Proud self-described union buster Nikki Haley. Now look, to be fair, Nikki Haley has always been a loyalist to the corporate wing of the Republican Party. But she hasn't spoken out against the faux economic populism that's been growing within the party. In reality, regardless of the rhetoric Republican politicians use while campaigning, they're never serious about tackling the corporate greed that most constituents are in fact concerned about. That includes Republican voters. And to be sure, Americans across the political aisle are increasingly in

by how difficult it is to make ends meet. That's why there's so much support for the United Auto Workers and their ongoing strike. Gallup found that 75% of Americans side with UAW members compared to just 19% who side with the auto companies. And Americans are also strongly supportive of unions overall. A Gallup poll from last month found that labor unions continue to enjoy high support in the United States with 67% of Americans approving of them. The 67% of Americans who approve of labor unions today is down slightly from 71% a year ago, but marks the fifth straight year this reading

has exceeded its long-term average of 62%. So while Republicans tell you who they are, either through their words or through their actions, you should believe them. Take Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirki's examples. They both went one step further than just opposing the UAW strike. Let's watch Shapiro first. When it comes to the auto manufacturers, they're all getting their lunch eaten by Tesla, which is a non-union shop. It is amazing how we can keep relearning the same lessons over and over and over again. All the adults who suggest that it's unions that made American life so wonderful during the 1950s, 1960s, it was the union job, the union job, where you sat there for

10 hours a day doing riveting or whatever. And neglect the fact that a lot of those jobs, you know, now is you sitting in an air-conditioned office doing another kind of job and that your grandfather who had to sit out there in the factory doing the riveting would kill for your job right now? Put that aside. The fact is that the real reason America boomed during the 1950s is because every other place on earth was on fire during the 1940s. Now, just keep in mind, you know, it's amazing that he mentioned that the current auto worker have jobs that their parents and their grandparents would have dreamed about, which just is not true. In fact, back in the day, unionized auto workers had secured income that allowed

them to live the American dream. That was the golden economic era of America, where simply being a factory worker at one of the big three allowed for you to purchase a home, provide for a family. You don't even need a dual income household in order to make ends meet. So the idea that people from that generation would look at the jobs of today and think to themselves, God, I really, I really wish I'd be overworked and underpaid. It's just laughable to say the least. And don't you think workers deserve a seat at the table to be able to negotiate not only their pay, but their working conditions, how they're treated by their employers? Look, and that's pretty bad, where you just watch was pretty bad, but sadly for Shapiro, Charlie Kirkout did him.

I'm willing to say, you know what? I'm willing to strike a deal so that people in their 20s are going to get next to nothing for future social security if it means we can balance the budget. Now, I totally understand if I were to say that about people in their 50s right now, there would be a revolt at our studio. Of all the issues that if I were to even touch, even allude to saying that a 1% adjustment of Social Security or Medicare, it would be a riot. For future retirees, people under the age of 45, we should absolutely raise the retirement age. I'm going to say something very provocative. I'm not a fan of retirement.

I don't think retirement is biblical. I think that if you retire, you should always be doing something. Not to say that you can't slow down, but you should be helping people, part-time work. I don't care how biblical you think retirement is. We live in a country that actually supports the idea of a separation of church and state. But other than that, look, it's real easy for someone who literally sits his ass down and talks to a camera all day to say that we should raise the retirement age. But keep in mind that age discrimination is a big problem. So if you're a 50 year old who gets laid off from your job, how difficult is it to get hired someplace else?

And let's say you end up getting hired, but you're working a job that actually requires manual labor. You really want people to work till they're 75 freaking years old doing that kind of work. It's just untenable for some. And the idea that we have to work like crazy, pay into the system, and then stop. Do you know how fast you were going? I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Buy your tickets now and get a free chili dog. Chili dog, not included.

The naked guide, tickets on sale now, August 1st. Get told, oh, sorry, you can't retire until you're basically close to death is ridiculous. But Republicans, please continue, please continue to tell Americans just what you think about their living conditions, how much they get paid, how much they get treated by their employees, employers. I'm sure it will bode real well for your party. And one final thing for Charlie Kirk, understand that he is an avid supporter of Donald Trump, who really postures as someone who believes in protecting social security.

Now if Charlie Kirk really thought that Donald Trump wanted to protect social security, you think he'd be an avid supporter of his? Could it be that Charlie Kirk is fully aware that Donald Trump talks a big game on the campaign trail? But behind the scenes has no problem gutting the very social safety net programs that the vast majority of Americans favor. Just something to think about. For now, though, we're going to take a brief break. When we come back, I'm going to share a story regarding the opioid crisis in America

and what the Department of Homeland Security plans to do about it. Welcome back to the show. I'm your host, Anna Kasparian. I'm going to read a quick comment from Octo Squitties in our Twitch community. If you're not part of our Twitch community and you're curious about it, you can become a part of that community by going to Twitch.tv slash TiT. So Octosquitty says leftists seem to think that scolding others and telling people they're dumb is a good strategy for growing their numbers. How is that worked out? Not well. I don't think that works that well. And look, I don't want to be too harsh or judgmental, even though I feel the frustration that maybe you're feeling because I know that I've engaged in that behavior in the past and

I'm trying to do better. But I do think that having that scolding approach really does drive people away. And in reality, you want people to listen and be understanding to your message and what you're trying to accomplish. The best way to do that is to be open-minded and good faith when conversing with people who have some questions or might even have some beliefs that you disagree with. So thank you for writing in. Thank you to everyone who has an open mind and is willing to engage people who disagree with them. I really do think that these conversations are important, even though they're incredibly difficult to have sometimes. All right, let's move on to our next story. For the first time in U.S. history, you're more likely to die of an opioid overdose than in a

car crash. The National Safety Council has confirmed those odds saying the crisis is getting worse because fentanyl is so widely available. The Department of Homeland Security has announced its new strategy for combating the explosion in opioid overdose deaths, which have been ripping through the country for several years now. Illegal and synthetic fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans between ages 18 to 49 years old, with fatal overdoses surging a stunning 94% between 2019 and 2021. Now look, you're watching the impact synthetic opioids have had in cities like San Francisco. But the city isn't alone in grappling with this epidemic.

In 2021 alone, these overdoses killed over 100,000 Americans, translating to more than 270 deaths per day. These are our fellow Americans, okay, illicit street drugs now claim more lives than car accidents, gun violence, or suicides. So how did we get here? And what's the right response to this increasingly deadly epidemic? It all started with the overprescription of pain medication, something we've covered deeply on the show, detailed reports on this with pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma, for instance, encouraging doctors to dole out scripts while misleading healthcare providers and patients about how

addictive the drugs really were. As it became more evident that patients were getting hooked on prescription opioids like OxyContin, the Obama administration decided to act by restricting and regulating painkillers, prosecuting the pharmaceutical companies behind them, and investigating the pill mills that filled the prescriptions. For instance, in 2014, the drug enforcement administration reclassified medications combined with hydrocodone to a more dangerous class of controlled substances, which made it more difficult to prescribe for longer periods of time. In 2016, the CDC issued landmark guidelines for prescribing opioids that recommended 90 milligrams of morphine or their equivalent as a daily ceiling for opioid use against pain.

Doctors grew reluctant to prescribe opioids, frustrated pain patients had trouble filling orders. By the end of 2019, 39 states had enacted laws and regulations limiting the prescribing or dispensing of opioids. Now, that effort seemed to work in regard to opioid prescriptions. Between 2006 and 2012, companies distributed more than 72 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills. A subsequent release accounted for an additional 24 billion pills in 2013 and 2014. Data collected by the DEA reveals that the number of prescription hydrocodone and oxycodone pills peaked in 2011 at 12.8 billion pills and then dropped to fewer than 7.1 billion by 2019. Shipments of potent 80 milligram oxycodone pills dropped 92% in 2019 from their peak. a decade earlier. So by 2022, the volume of per capita prescription opioid use fell for the

11th straight year to levels not seen since 2000. But as some of you already know, sometimes well-intentioned policy has unintended consequences. In this case, the unintended consequences were the start of an even deadlier drug epidemic. Today, the opioid crisis has morphed into the use of synthetic fentanyl made with precursor chemicals from China, manufactured by drug cartels in Mexico, and smuggled into the United States to devastating effect. The trend began with heroin, and look, what's really important to keep in mind is that even in the early 2010s, as hydrocodone and oxy were still being overprescribed, users were already turning to the street drug because it offered the same euphoric feeling at a fraction of the price.

But when fentanyl hit the streets, there was an even cheaper option available and the restrictions on prescriptions had already begun. That's when overdoses really exploded. Just take a look at this chart, which helps illustrate the dramatic increase in fentanyl-related deaths beginning in about 2014. By 2022, there were 5,978 heroin-related deaths. deaths and 15,331 prescription painkiller overdose fatalities. But the overwhelming number of drug overdose deaths came from fentanyl, claiming the lives of

74,881 people in the country. And this isn't just one year. So what exactly is the government doing about this? What's the response? Well, in response to the ever increasing numbers of overdose deaths, the Department of Homeland Security has announced. what they call a targeted strategy to combat illicit drugs. Their plan is outlined in a report titled strategy for combating illicit opioids and lists

four main goals. Primary elements of the strategy include reducing the international supply of illicit opioids, reducing the supply of opioids in the United States, attacking the enablers of the drug trafficking organizations, and working with the private sector to better stop drugs from getting into the United States. Now, the DHS report highlights their international efforts to address organized crime groups and the supply chains for illicit drugs. As mentioned earlier, most illicit opioids sold in the United States are made with precursor

chemicals originating in China that are then transported through a network of land and sea routes to Mexico and Central America. Eventually, criminal organizations in Mexico synthesized the chemicals into illicit opioids, and meth, and then sell them in the black market. Criminal organizations in China have an interest in both making and laundering money, right? So they also want to get that cash out of China, and that contributes heavily to the causes and origins of the fentanyl crisis in the states. A U.S. Treasury official tells NBC News that Chinese criminal organizations are operating

in the U.S. and now working with Mexican cartels by helping them launder money made from meth, fentanyl and other drugs. They do so by loaning out the cartels dollars to unsuspecting Chinese people living in America. These criminal organizations are then repaid in Chinese currency back in China and the money launderers buy Chinese products and have them shipped to Mexico, where they're sold and give that money in pesos back to the cartels. In the end, no money actually crosses international borders and the Treasury Department says the dirty dollars are quote disappearing into thin air. The DEA says instead of products like the clothes and appliances that were once widely available here in LA's wholesale district, the products money launderers are sending from China to Mexico are deadly. Guess which product is very available in China that's not available here at all. Precursor chemicals.

Now Homeland Security investigators within DHS have established relationships with partner countries. plan to build cases against transnational crime organizations based on the seizure of chemicals in the supply chain. The point is to basically prevent the synthesis of illicit opioids while gathering evidence needed for criminal prosecution. As the report notes, these operational expansions must be paired with appropriate bilateral and multilateral engagement. Homeland Security investigators will strengthen its relationship with the World Customs Organizations, and seek to leverage WCO enforcement capabilities to illuminate and target precursor chemical shipments, shippers, and brokers linked to illicit opioid synthesis. The reach of Homeland Security investigators is pretty vast, and they've been assigned to

91 offices in 54 countries, including, by the way, China and Mexico. In fact, the fact that China seems to be cooperating with the United States, on this is pretty good news. According to the report put out by DHS, this strategy is already beginning to work. So in fiscal year of 2022, HSI narcotics enforcement efforts resulted in 11,612 arrests as well as the seizure

of 28,689 pounds of opioids, including 20,981 pounds of fentanyl and over 210 million in illicit proceeds. Now, domestically, the plan is to work with federal, state, local, and tribal partners to tackle the crisis. DHS will increase the number of homeland security investigations task forces, basically designed specifically to target the drug traffickers. DHS will also use cyber forensics to better target drug traffickers who cross the border and have a presence online. Now, based on DHS's detailed report on this, their entire focus is on international crime rings and domestic drug traffickers. There's absolutely no mention of criminalizing those who have fallen victim to addiction, and I think that is absolutely the correct approach.

Domestic policy, which would need to be passed by Congress, and that's not a good sign, but nonetheless, should focus on heavily funding drug rehabilitation facilities. which are far too expensive and out of reach for most people. And while simply using drugs or simply being in possession of drugs shouldn't be treated as a crime, committing another crime while on or in possession of drugs should lead to prosecution. This used to serve as intervention for addicts in need of monitor detox. Because of the pendulum essentially swinging away from the ill-conceived drug war and toward a more, loose, you know, hands off approach, those struggling with addiction are never compelled to get clean. If convicted of committing a crime, individuals should not be sentenced to prison,

but mandatory inpatient drug rehabilitation instead. The drug war didn't work and had devastating consequences for some, but the live and let live approach ain't working either, because clearly more people are dying every year. Something has got to change. And I think targeting the origins of these illicit drugs and their traffickers is a good idea. All right, we got to take a break when we come back. We've got more news for you, including some fascinating details about the bloated military budget and how that has led to the use of AI technology just to make sense of it. Come right back.

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Pure socialism is social ownership without market prices, values and costs, full coercion. Okay, but I want you to also think, I don't agree with that obviously, but I want you to consider what coercion actually looks like in modern society, where if you fall victim to a terrible illness or an injury or for some reason you are unable to work, you're unable to provide for yourself, think about what that means. I mean, we're all coerced to work if we want to live decent lives, have sheltered. have food on our tables. I would consider that. And I would also consider that, look, all the workers are asking for, if that's what you're referring to with this comment,

is a seat at the table and a fair distribution of the riches that have been generated through their hard work. And I think that if you genuinely believe in a free market, well, the workers are part of that free market. They should be able to negotiate their working conditions, conditions and their pay. Why should it only be the executives and the shareholders who make those decisions? And obviously, they have a vested interest in cutting benefits and pay for the very individuals who are putting in the hard work to generate that revenue in the first

place. So just something to think about. But as always, I always appreciate your comments. Thank you for writing in. Let's get to our next story. Yesterday, Senator Rand Paul announced that he would not support any government funding proposal that includes aid for Ukraine. Now, his 10-minute speech detailed his issues with the money that we've sent to Ukraine so far. But look, we're going to focus on one issue in particular. Let's watch. We lack effective oversight mechanisms to ensure that the hard-earned American tax dollars don't fall prey to. waste, fraud, and abuse. For over a year now, I have been asking for a special inspector

general to make sure they're not stealing our money. When that has come before a vote in the Senate, the majority party in here says, no, we just want to spend the money. We don't care. Some Republicans have gone along with this as well, and they have voted against an inspector General. I actually found his 10-minute speech pretty fascinating, so I recommend you watch it in its entirety. But today we're going to explain what the position of a special inspector general would entail, how multiple senators have actually tried and failed to pass legislation on this issue, and how Rand Paul actually voted against making one despite his fiery comments.

So first things first, what is the office of the Special Inspector General? and what would it do exactly? Well, the office would consist of a few dozen officials who would conduct inspections and audits of the military and non-military aid were sending to Ukraine. Now, the office would then publish its findings in a quarterly report to Congress so they can be sure that the money that we're sending to Ukraine is being used in the ways that we intended it for.

There's precedent for such an office, by the way, because we already had one, we had a special inspector general for Afghanistan named John Sopco. He actually made some pretty unsettling discoveries through the audits he conducted. Sopco, who has been special inspector general for Afghanistan since 2012, found that at least 19 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds sent to Afghanistan was lost to waste, fraud and abuse from 2002 to 2020. It could have been much more than that, given that Sopko's office only combed through $63 billion of the $134 billion the United States appropriated for reconstruction during that

period. That's billion with a B. Now, whether you're in favor of or against aid to Ukraine, it seems like common sense that American people should know if the money were providing too. help them defend themselves against Russia's invasion is being spent responsibly. But the Biden administration is insisting that there is already oversight of the funds. The White House has said it agrees. Oversight is critical and pointed to Ukraine aid oversight already underway by existing inspectors general for the Pentagon, State Department, and the U.S.

agency for international development. Now, that's a common argument against the creation of a special inspector general for Ukraine. But the Pentagon can't even oversee its own affairs, let alone the money that's being sent to Ukraine. Just last November, the Pentagon announced that it failed its fifth consecutive audit. It was unable to account for 61% of its $3.5 trillion in assets. That's why several Republican senators have pushed for a special inspector general for Ukraine. But all of them have failed. First up to bat was Senator Josh Hawley.

In March of this year, he tried to pass a standalone bill with the help of Senator J.D. Vance that would have established an inspector general. Holly also tried to attach an amendment to a broader bill that would have done the same thing. But the standalone bill did not go anywhere, and the amendment was voted down. Later, in July of this year, a group of senators tried once more to create an office of Special Inspector General for Ukraine. The members of that group were Josh Hawley, James Rich, Roger Wicker, John Kennedy, yes, that John Kennedy.

I'm going to give you the blowjob of your life, then I want you inside of me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just, I had to do it. Anyway, that proposal failed to. It was voted down 26 to 68. And one of the senators who voted against that bill was, oh yeah, that's right, Rand Paul. But why would he vote down that proposal and then complain about the lack of an inspector general? Paul claims to want John Sopko's office to take the reins on Ukraine aid oversight, Whereas the bill would have created a new office of Inspector General that's separate from

Sopko's office. President Biden would have been able to choose who led the new office, and it looks like that was a sticking point for Paul. That may seem like a minor issue, but it's ultimately irrelevant because look, the bill wouldn't have even passed whether Paul supported it or not. American politicians have made valid arguments both for and against spending, a sense additional aid to Ukraine. It's undeniable that Russia is committing horrible atrocities in Ukraine, and we did sign

ourselves up for helping out the country when it agreed to get rid of its nuclear weapons. But on the other hand, the aid to Ukraine has not been paired with efforts toward negotiating peace talks or at least encouraging them. And there are plenty of issues in our own country that we could have used that money for. But look, regardless of all of that, regardless of where you stand. And look, I do think that it makes sense to support Ukraine. I don't think it makes sense to renege on our promises and commitments to the country. Regardless though, it shouldn't be controversial to make sure that the aid is being spent responsibly.

It's also highly concerning that the mainstream media has mostly refused to cover this story. Other than a few odd articles from Fox News and Politico on the issue, corporate media has been way too quiet on the Senate proposal. The failure of our politicians and our media to push for oversight of the aid to Ukraine suggest that there is, in fact, something nefarious going on. We're no cheerleaders for Putin or his illegal invasion. But we also don't want to find out 20 years from now that, like the money we spent or sent to Afghanistan, a sizable chunk of the aid to Ukraine was wasted or abused. If we're sending money to Ukraine, let's make sure we're doing it right.

We've got one more military-related story that I think you should know about. So we talked about potential abuse when it comes to the money we're sending to Ukraine. But what about the abuse of the money that we're sending to the Pentagon? Now, by now we've all seen the unsettling videos of artificial intelligence being used to impersonate celebrities and politicians. But now the Pentagon is using AI to grapple with the ever-growing defense budget and the restrictions that come along with it. According to a new intercept report by Ken Clippenstein, thanks to its bloat and political rambling, wrangling, the annual Department of Defense Budget legislation includes hundreds of revisions and limitations telling the Pentagon what it can and cannot do.

To make sense of all those provisions, the Pentagon created an AI program codenamed game changer. So the defense intelligence agency claims that if you were to read through all of the defense department's policies, it would be the equivalent of reading war and peace over 100 times. And that book is just shy of 1,300 pages. So game changer, that AI technology, was created to help Department of Defense officials more easily navigate that massive glut of policies. Sadly, the Pentagon definitely needs the help. Julia Glendhill, an analyst at the Project on Government Oversight Center for Defense

Information, put it well when she said that the fact that the Pentagon developed an AI program to navigate its own policies should be a stark wake-up call for lawmakers who throw more money at the department than it even asks for nearly every year. It's surprising though, the DOD couldn't adequately account for 61% of its $3.5 trillion in assets in the most recent audit. And despite the Pentagon's extremely irresponsible spending, Congress keeps on approving bloated military budgets. Here's a graph showing how the U.S. military budget has increased from 1976 to 2019.

In 1976, it was just $315 billion, but by 2019, it had more than doubled to $716 billion. At the moment, the proposed military budget for 2024 is $826 billion. We're quickly approaching a trillion dollars a year for the defense budget. Just let that sink in for a minute. Now, that's subject to change, though, thanks to the Republicans feud in the House of Representatives. So here's another graph that compares U.S. defense spending in 2022 to the next 10 highest spenders. And as you can see, those countries spent $849 billion when you just basically put them all together. But the United States had them all beat with $877 billion. And here's

the best part. We, the American taxpayers, are the ones stuck footing the bill. The Institute for Policy Studies National Priorities Project found that on average, American taxpayers contributed $1,087 to Pentagon contractors compared with just $270 for K-12 education. The top military contractor, Lockheed Martin, received $106 from the average taxpayer, while just $6 went to funding renewable energy. And according to analysis, the average 22 U.S. taxpayer paid $74 for nuclear weapons and just $43 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave $298 to the top five military contractors, and just $19 for mental health and substance abuse.

That's why it's so infuriating that the Pentagon needs a dedicated AI to sort out its finances. all we really know about the money is that much of it is going straight to defense contractors who legally bribed the very politicians who keep raising the defense budget through their annual appropriations bills. It's a vicious cycle that siphons money from all of us and makes a handful of defense contractors even richer. So I'm going to think about while we go to break. When we come back, Wazni Lombre will join me for the second hour.

which is going to be fantastic. You don't want to miss it. We'll see you there. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen ad-free, access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts

at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Janke Huger, and I'll see you soon.