The Young Turks - Trump Convinced He'll Get His Wall Funding And ICE Agents Force-Feed Detained Immigrants

Episode Date: February 1, 2019

Trump tweeted that his border wall is "already being built". ICE officials were given the OK to force-feed detainees on a hunger strike over conditions. Get exclusive access to our best content. http://tyt.com/GETACCESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm the Young Church, thank you, Granite, because I'm very excited. Oh my God, we got matching pink. Oh, hello. Oh, my God, I just noticed that. It's so much fun. Okay, but that is not why I'm excited, but we are already having fun. So there's a couple things going on today. Second hour is just for members today because members make this show possible and we need you guys

to be home of progressives and to be independent media for you guys. The good news is we got a ton of shows for you if you're a progressive. It's a progressive Netflix, and so including Rebel Headquarters. So tonight at 8.05 p.m. Eastern, we'll have Joe Sandberg on here. You might know him from his frequent appearances on the Young Turks, one of the founders of Asperation Bank, early investor in Blue Apron, et cetera. It's got an interesting announcement about the 2020 campaign, so bugle up, don't miss that right it here.

So that's a little bit later today. And then of course on Sunday there's a game whose name cannot be mentioned, but we will be covering it. We'll watch it here in the studio, we'll have some fun and bruskees, et cetera. Obviously use us as a second screen, we can't show the game. You watch the game at home and you watch us along with you. In essence, we're all watching it together, so that'll be fun. So one last thing that I'm excited about in terms of programming, John Iderola's damage

report is, is it killing it? Yeah, is he now Killer John? I don't know, Killer Mike was in here earlier. So maybe his 88th nickname will be Killer John. But what he does need is he needs to reach 10,000 followers on Facebook. That's actually really important for long and annoying reasons. So I'm not asking you to do anything, but just follow him on Facebook. It's Facebook.com slash the damage report, TYT.

I know it's long, but it's the damage report, TYT, okay? So if you can go and follow them right now, well, on a second screen, obviously. Okay, so on today's program, Tommy Lauren attacks Ocasor Cortez. And we attack her. We're gonna dunk on her. There will be dunkin. There'll be donuts. We might do an Aleoup.

Oh. I know stuff about basketball. She does. She really does. Okay, so look at her. Look at her doing it. Look at her doing it, okay? And speaking of Dunking, obviously, we'll be doing that on Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell

as well. So let's get started. Actually, before we get started, I also have a little tease for you guys, for the members. I've been wanting to have a lot of fun on the post games lately. Agreed, and I think we have been having fun. We have been having fun. Do you know who Razor Ramon is? He's a wrestler.

Yeah, we're gonna have a discussion about Razor Ramon. We are? Yes, we are. That's kind of awesome. Yeah. I think I had some personal stories too. That's what we do in the post game. It's gonna be good.

Oh, by the way, and if you're like, hey guys, second hours behind the pay wall, I get it, right? Members only, but one, we gotta make sure that this business is sustainable. But number two, you can actually try it for free. So week free trial, t.com slash trial to make that happen. And then you could see last night's old school were people laughing out loud. That's what Twitter says, I don't know, you'll get today's post game, you'll get today's rebel headquarters, you get all that including the second hour. So great time to do it, tyt.com slash trial.

All right, Anna, what's next? All right. Democrats and Republicans in Congress need to reach an agreement over the government spending bill by February 15th. And it appears that they're having a difficult time agreeing on anything. And as a result, it's more likely that Donald Trump will declare a national emergency. in order to secure the funding that he wants for that border wall. Now the funding wouldn't be given to him through Congress, it would be funding that he would

take away from emergency relief projects, money that's been allocated for those projects. Now here's what Trump said via Twitter, Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are wasting their time. Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the desperately needed wall. I've got you covered, wall is already being built, I don't expect much help. Okay, so first let me just note, and I believe this is the second time on the show, that the intelligence assessment just recently came out.

That is an annual report where the intelligence community lists all the threats that the United States needs to look out for, the real, you know, possible imminent dangers. And listed in there, or nowhere listed in there, I should say, was this issue of the border wall. That is not a national emergency. You know it, I know it, the American people know it. And so Trump is doing anything and everything he can to get what he wants and he's willing to declare a national emergency to do just that. Yes, and let's also note that the wall costs $20 to $70 billion, he's asking for $5.7.

So it's all symbolic, it wouldn't fully build a wall, so this just games and shit. Exactly. Now, he also says, he's now moving away from the steel slats, he's more defiant now, more emboldened, I guess. He says, let's just call them walls from now on and stop playing political games, a wall is a wall. Okay, very, very bold. Okay, so let's note for the record that the person who was calling it steel slats was

Donald Trump, he also called it fencing, he also called it whatever you want to call it, okay? So now apparently he's done with those political games. I didn't call him political games, although I did, but he called him political games. So we apparently both agree that it was political games that he was playing when he was calling his steel slats or whatever you want, okay? That's when Nancy Pelosi famously said, maybe we should call it a beaded curtain. So a number of White House officials anonymously spoke to Politico and made it abundantly clear that Trump is in fact drafting the plans for.

declaring a national emergency. The goal is to have a national emergency declaration 100% ready and coordinated should Trump decide to move on it rather than scrambling ex post facto to draw up and justify one. So again, the deadline is February 15th. It does not appear that Democrats and Republicans in Congress have come up with a deal. But when it comes to the issue of declaring a national emergency, there is some division among Republicans, and it would be interesting to see how that plays out.

There's also division between Republicans and Trump on what to call it, because even though you just saw Trump say, we're gonna call it a wall, no more political games. Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republicans in the House now, says, well, it could be a barrier. It doesn't have to be a wall. Okay, they can't get on the same page. To be fair to the Trump administration, preparing ahead of time for the national emergency would be the first time ever that they are actually preparing ahead of time. So I, it's a bad idea to do it.

But if you're gonna do it, you should prepare ahead of time. And so this is unprecedented for them, good news. What day is it today? Today's Thursday. No, I know, but like the date, the actual, I literally don't know what the date, okay, January 31st. Today's January 31st, they need to come up with a deal by February 15th. And the Trump administration is drafting a national emergency declaration today, right? So more than two weeks before, you know, the spending bill negotiations need to come to

some sort of agreement. That's not a national emergency. Yeah. Also, if it's such a national emergency, why didn't you do it two years ago? Okay. So finally we get to the issue of is he also now subverting those negotiations and being counterproductive? The answer to that is, of course. So what he doesn't, I don't know, I guess he doesn't realize it, is that the Democrats

Democrats actually are willing to give him some money for national security and some money for what they're calling border security. So he actually does have some leeway with Democrats. So what did Democrats? They didn't want to do it while there was a government shutdown. And they said that. They said, we might do it later, but we don't want to do it during the government shutdown. So that's an opening.

If I'm Trump, I think, oh, good, I could actually maybe get a win out of this, right? And then they started talking about, well, I mean, maybe it's kind of a smart wall. Hey, they just use the word wall, that's an opening. And I'd want to coordinate with the Republicans in Congress and encourage them to take that opening. Instead, as usual, the knucklehead goes and goes, don't worry about it, okay? He said, they're, quote, wasting their time. And then he went on to say, I've got you covered, wall is already being built.

I don't expect much help. But okay, but you just told the Democrats, hey, don't give anything to the Republicans. because I'm going to do a national emergency anyway, and a national emergency that the Republicans are not backing me on, and that will take two years to go through the courts, so you just took away any incentive the Democrats have to offer concessions, because as usual, you have no idea how to negotiate, and you're not very bright. Well, we'll see how it goes. Yep.

Moving on. A new Associated Press report indicates that a number of people who have been detained by ICE are now being force fed following their decision to engage in a hunger strike. Now they're participating in a hunger strike for obvious reasons. They're angry about the way that they've been treated, and they're also angry about the fact that it seems like they're gonna be imprisoned indefinitely, and they want answers. And so this investigation by the Associated Press found that a lot of these detainees are being force fed, especially if they've gone a long period of time without eating or drinking anything.

At the El Paso Processing Center, detainees have been refusing food for more than 30 days. Nearly 30 detainees, mostly from India and Cuba, have been protesting what they say is rampant verbal abuse and threats of deportation from guards. They're also deeply concerned about being in jail for so long. Look, they're like, we went through the proceedings, the Cubans are talking about, they already passed a lot of the tests, like the credible fear interview that you're supposed to do. Besides which, the Cubans have different rules that apply to them.

They're a special case. So usually if they just make it here, they're like, okay, welcome, okay, we're done with it. You guys have rules that apply to no one else. But in this case, Trump's like, what's their name? Oh, this guy's name is, you know, Rodriguez Calderon? It's like, nah, keep him in detention. So, look, I'm that part, I don't know why technically they're keeping them in attention.

I'm not saying that Trump actually literally ordered in that particular case. But it is unusual, and these are not folks that, you know, are part of any caravan or anything. It's Cuba, India, right? And so it makes sense, this is why they do hunger strikes, which, because when there's no end in sight to their suffering and they want to draw attention. And did you know there was Cuban and Indians who had passed a number of tests already? They were still being detained and that were being mistreated by ice? Well, I didn't know until they started doing the hunger strike. That's the whole point.

So ICE officials have force fed six immigrants through plastic nasal tubes. And if you read the details about how that procedure is done, it's pretty, it's gruesome. Like they lubricate the tube, they shove it through their, you know, their nose and it's It's painful, and it's not consensual. This is based on a judge agreeing that they can be force fed, but the actual people have not consented to this. Medical professionals question the ethics behind this, many of them are against this practice, and so it doesn't matter for ICE, and apparently to a federal judge who approve this.

So I just want to give one or a couple of details about what happens afterwards. you do the force feeding, the detainees then wind up having persistent nosebleeds, understandable, and also vomiting several times throughout the day. So you have to keep on feeding them because the procedure causes vomiting, leading to you having to force feed them even more. And so it's this vicious cycle that happens. And this is arguably the worst part. They then want to further punish them, so they put them in solitary confinement.

Why does a person on a hunger strike who is very weak and frail usually have to be put in solitary confinement? Would they're in danger to others by not eating? Because it's all punitive. And these are people who are seeking, you know, asylum. These are asylum seekers. And I mean, they, when you really think about it, in most cases, right, they're people who are fleeing their own countries for whatever terrifying reason.

And they're looking for safety for themselves, for their family members. And instead, you know, they come to this country and they get the exact opposite of what they're expecting, which is a place of refuge, right? They get a place where they're further tortured violently, everything is very punitive. You're right, why are they put in solitary confinement? It's all punitive. That's the whole point of all of this. Yeah, and so apparently if you go on a hunger strike for four weeks, probably an issue

that I will never confront. So look, these folks are incredibly brave. You know, just I can't imagine being on a hunger strike, let alone for 30 days. But it not only deteriorates your body, but at some point it starts to have effects on your mind as well. And that is compounded when you were put into solitary confinement. So they're almost trying to make the consequences of this even worse and more drastic. So when the idea of abolish ice first came out, and it wasn't just Alexandria Ocasor

Cortez, but she was definitely a huge leader in that. I have to confess that I was slightly skeptical because someone has to do a similar task as ICE. And by the way, in the Polish Ice movement, if you don't know, it's not like people say, it's not the Republican mythology, where all of a sudden we go, oh, well, then open the borders, everybody, come on in, right? And there's no customs or any, of course there's customs. And someone else takes on some of the tasks that ICE is doing without the Gestapo tactics, right?

But I'm now a little less skeptical, because every time you read about ICE, they are doing doing something brutal. So it makes you wonder, this agency, which is fairly new, established less than two decades ago, has a history of brutality. And here we are again. Another case, actually, it's throughout the country, four different detention centers, more brutality and irresponsibility, not being accountable to anyone. So if we have a different organization that has a different mandate, we might be in way better

shaped than we are under this, because they're representing us to the rest of the world. Yes. And that's an ugly face to put on America. So in its reporting, the Associated Press specifically referenced the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and how many of them protested the way that they were being treated through hunger strikes, and they were also forced, force fed. And I bring that up because in that case, I mean, I think that there was a pretty significant portion of the country who understood that that was wrongdoing by the US.

And in this case, we're dealing with asylum seekers. We're not even dealing with suspected terrorists, right? And I feel like this is just another story that's going to get brushed under the rug and everyone moves on with their lives. Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, there's no Trump tweet about it. So it's going to get less attention, but great credit to Associated Press who found the story, He broke the story and shined a light on it. One more thing, the World Medical Association says that doctors should not participate in

force feeding. So part of the point of a hunger strike is to get to a resolution. So either you're going to let the person die or you're going to address their concerns in some way. That is why it's an extreme action and it involves extreme pain for the person doing the hunger strike and extreme risk. That is what motivates the government to respond to it. But if you do the force feeding, it becomes a form of torture and then never gets to a resolution.

And then it goes on indefinitely, which is prolonged torture. That is why the World Medical Association says that doctors should not participate in force feeding. And unfortunately here, the ethics of the doctors are being compromised as they participate in this. Honestly, monstrosity. We gotta take a break, but when we come back, breaking news, it's cold. But are we too soft?

We'll tell you the answer to that question when we return. I've got thoughts. I've got mixed feelings. Oh, a little bit of drums. I want to fight, so okay. I'm in a fighting mood. Okay, we fight when we come back. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-E-Bing the Republic, or UNFTR.

As a Young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-B-The-Republic or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of vulgarity, the UNFTRTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you'd knew about some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational,

aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it, You must not learn what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training or you're uprooting and exposing all the propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime. So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time.

All right, all right, back on a young church. Just a couple comments for you guys. Leon Sadler from the member section says, you have to qualify this. Asylum is a legal means. of migration. I thought we had, but in case we weren't clear about it, thank you, Leon.

That's exactly right. And so that's what they're doing of people who are seeking asylum in the legal way. So, but to also be fair, to ice, anyway, some of them did cross over the border in a place that was not a port of entry. So they're like, technically that's a misdemeanor. And so that's why there's a tiny bit of complication in some of the cases. Okay, on Twitter, that boy's hell on Turlitz, writes in, the Republicans are afraid that Bernie will declare a health care national emergency, obviously if he's president.

And yes, there is a lot of truth to that. They are, in fact, afraid of that. And for example, Republican Senator Ron Jaze said, we're pretty uniformly opposed to an emergency declaration, and they explained it was because if there's a Democratic president, he might do want on climate change or on health care. So you're exactly right. Yeah, I mean, he's making the mistake of thinking that Democrats are going to pull tricky piziki maneuvers like Republicans would, but who knows, maybe?

Look, so if it's a corporate Democrat, they won't do any of that, right? They're like, oh my God, that'll be considered like the press will yell at us and the Republicans will yell at us, and that'll never happen, right? But if it's a progressive, they might. There will be some folks who counsel those folks to do whatever it is that the Republicans did and then some. I like that. Okay.

I don't know who those folks would be, I'm just saying. Nice humble brag. Whether they listen is another story. Anyway, what's next? All right. Much of the country is dealing with the polar vortex. It's extremely cold in multiple states and it's gotten so serious that school districts have decided to take some time off to ensure that people are at home and are safe.

And I'm not exaggerating how serious this is. In fact, an 18-year-old student at the University of Iowa was found frozen to death, which is just terrifying. The temperatures had plunged to around minus 21 degrees with wind chills as low as minus 51 degrees. So a mass of polar air is descending over the Midwestern United States. might hit a low of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. Obviously this is a little outdated, but it did. It was extremely cold on Wednesday and it continues to be so.

When I hear minus 22, minus 21 Iowa, Chicago, etc., I immediately, and I asked the end of this, and they're talking about Winchell, right? And they're like, no, not Winchell, Winchell's minus 51. Crazy. Wow, like I, look, I lived in Northeast, we had Winchell's that were disastrous, in fact, I'll tell you a personal story in the post game about how I got frostbite. So frostbite's no joke, it's totally real, and my face froze.

And so, and now it freezes quicker under cold circumstances. Anyway, fascinating story. TYT.com slash join to become a member, and we'll talk about that in the post game. But I've never seen minus 51 winchill. That's in my lifetime, I think, unheard of. Well, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna help you see it. in this next video.

Whoa. And Fargo, North Dakota, emergency responders braids temperatures hovering around 20 below zero to assist victims in a car crash. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, whiteout conditions are being blamed for a chain reaction of crashes involving at least two dozen vehicles. No one was killed. The Arctic blast also put a stop to public transportation. Amtrak canceled all of its strains at Chicago's Union Station due to the extreme cold.

In the evening, officers took us through the city looking for homeless people to help. The reality of it is is too dangerous for people to be out here in the street. We encountered a man sleeping outside in 20 below weather. He eventually allowed officers to call an ambulance for. I just want to give those officers some credit and the city credit for actually caring enough to do something. I mean, we're in this cycle of really depressing human behavior. And so I gotta be honest, when I saw that I was a little surprised.

Yeah, they're supposed to do that, but I agree with you that wonderful work on their part to rescue that guy. Among others, eight people have already died. Yeah, it's devastating. So now, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin couldn't really understand why it was that people were reacting the way that they've been reacting to how insanely cold it's been. Take a look. By the way, you'll be up late tonight with your kids because there's no school again. It's again, you know, now we cancel school for cold. I mean- It's deep freeze.

This is a serious business. It is, come on now. I mean, there's no ice going with it or any snow. I mean, what happens to America? We're getting soft, Terry. So, look, look, I'm not in the camp of like, this is the most outrageous statement ever. And I'm a little old, too, right? So I'm like, you know, I got, if you watch old school, which is one of our shows for members,

I got a little streak in me of like, ah, it's topping up America. God, come on. I know, it's residue from your Republican days. It's kind of annoying. But it comes up every once in a while. But he's not done. There's more to his comment. Can I give you a little more of Matt Bevin?

And then you can't stand Matt Bevin. So please, but let's go. Let's do it. And I'm being only slightly facetious, but it does concern me a little bit that in America, on this and any number of other fronts, we're sending messages to our young people that if life is hard, you can curl up in the fetal position. somewhere in a warm place and just wait till it stops being hard. And that just isn't reality.

It just isn't. Okay. Why don't you go outside? Go hang out and get a little taste of reality. Yeah. No, of course he's taking it too far. He's Matt Bevin. And so just because you don't want to go out or don't want to send your kids out in

negative 20 degree weather doesn't mean you're curled up in fetal position. It means you're concerned about your kids. So, yeah, of course that goes to. far. And there is a way to balance it, but negative 20 is not the right balance. Right. And so look, I agree when it comes to some young people getting coddled in certain ways. And we've talked about it on the show before.

Usually when the conversation happens, it's in reference to college students who just want to ban certain speakers from coming on their campus to speak because they don't agree with their politics. No, no, that's the real world. You're going to come across people you disagree with every single day. And it might annoy you, but you should get some practice because that is real life. Yeah. Does that ever happen online running across people you don't agree with?

Actually, no, I only come across people I agree with online. Everybody loves me. Oh, yeah, yeah. We've got nothing but love. Okay. Now he got backlash for his comments about people being too soft, about the weather. And so he responded to the backlash in this way, and I thought it was hilarious. Let's go to Graphic 18.

Remember all the outrage from these clowns at the Courier Journal, Harold Leader, and that highly esteemed Titan of Journalism Al Roker when Barack Obama said that this about snow and school cancellations? Yeah, me neither. So what? What is he talking about? Well, he's talking about statements that Barack Obama made back in 2009. In fact, he went all the way back to 2009.

He's like, how can I attack Obama? How can I get Obama involved in this ridiculous situation? So, here's what Obama said, and then I'm gonna give you the reality of what the temperature was really like when he made these comments. My children's school was canceled today. Because of what? Some ice. As my children pointed out in Chicago, school is never canceled.

In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that- You'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So I would agree with Matt Bevin if the temperatures were at least comparable, but they were not. So at that time, the temperature was 27 degrees above zero, not below, it was above zero. Whereas in this case, it's obviously much colder, it's like at least 22 degrees below zero. So that's what we're talking about, which is context.

Well, it depends, right? So if at 27 degrees you're coddling the kids, by the way, to be, even Obama isn't right. If there's ice on the roads, that's why they cancel the schools, right? In fact, okay, I'll tell you another story during the post-game of snow cancellations growing up in New Jersey. And so, God, those were the best days, okay. By the way, t.t.com slash trial gets your free week, so you can check that out for free if you want.

So back to Obama, 27 degrees, and I like Anna's visual guides for you guys. So you know, 27 above zero, whereas it's now 22, below zero, okay? So that's a 49. You know, some people are more visual. That's about a 50 degree difference. So yes, that context definitely matters. And man, the press loved Obama. So he just says like some little thing, they're like, oh, you go ahead, you go.

God, it's so good, right? Trump says it, they're like, well, to me, very, because Trump's a ass. Yeah, and he's always attacking them. But, yeah, I mean, Obama was Chaudet, smooth operator, like all the way. Okay, and going old school on that one, speaking of old school. All right, last thing, he's like, who's this Titan of Journalism about Roker? Well, he's a meteorologist. So, and in fact, arguably the.

most famous and perhaps accomplished meteorologist in America. So in his field, he is a titan of journalism. Okay, and who would know more about the weather? Al Roker, a meteorologist, or Matt Biven, professional clown. By the way, I think there are really people who have that job title, Professional Clown. Oh, I interviewed one. Yeah, he was running for office. It did really well.

He's actually a super smart guy who went to Ivy League school, but he is. A professional clown. Fun. Okay, whereas Donald Trump is an amateur clown. Definitely. Okay. Moving on to some legislation that Mitch McConnell does not like. Democrats in Congress have been pushing for HR1.

Now, there are many components to HR1, but for the purposes of this conversation, we're going to focus on how it would make it easier for Americans to go out there and vote. You know, be part of this democratic process that we're supposed to be applauding. Now, one lawmaker who does not like the proposals in H.R.1 is Mitch McConnell, and he's about to cry and whine about it in just a second. But just to give you some context, H.R.1 includes legislation that makes election day, a holiday for federal employees. It also encourages private business to give employees the day off. There's also another part of this that I want to make sure you're aware of. The bill would allow federal workers, federal workers, six days off, to work at poll.

polling places. So that context is important because it does not mean all federal workers would get six days off for no reason. It would specifically impact those who are going to work at the polls. And if you're a federal government worker participating in democracy and helping others participate in democracy, which seem to be a good part of the job. And in that case, they're getting time off. It's not like it's part of their official duties.

And they're not using it to go to the Bahamas, they're using it to further democracy. So it seems sensible, but not to Mitch because he doesn't want you to vote. Right. So let's hear what Mitch has to say. Their bill would make election day a new paid holiday for government workers and created an additional brand new paid leave benefit for up to six days for any federal bureaucrat who decides they'd like to hang out at the polls during any election. Just what America needs.

Another paid holiday and a bunch of government workers being paid. to go out and work. I assume our folks on, our colleagues on the other side, on their campaigns. This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy? A brand new week, a paid vacation for every federal employee who'd like to hover around while you cast your ballot. Oh, are you worried about people not working enough? Because if you are, we can focus on Congress for a second. From 2001 to 2018, the Senate spent an average of 165 days in session each year. And the House spent an average of 140 days in session. I'll do the math for you.

It's really not complicated. So McConnell's in the Senate, so we'll give them the higher number, the 165. That's 200 days that they don't work. Okay. And then he's like, oh, now they want another federal holiday for government workers. so people can go vote. Dude, you take 200 days off. And then you got the nerve to complain about other people taking one day off for doing

something patriotic and American. And it's so obvious they don't want you to vote. And look, why do they want to make election day a federal holiday? Because, you know, if you ever voted, I know. Look, to me, voting is almost part of my job. I cover politics. I cover news. I care so much about change, but I gotta rush to work.

It's usually a big day, election day here, right? There's a million things to do, and then you're waiting in line. And a lot of people are not as invested as I am in it. They wanna go vote, but then they can't be late to work. They're gonna get fired, they're gonna get punished, et cetera, right? So they don't have to go to work, then everyone can have an equal opportunity to participate. And by the way, if you're wealthier, you have less to worry about. Exactly.

If you're poorer, you have more to worry about, and that would affect poorer people more. And of course, Mitch McConnell doesn't want poor and middle class people to vote. He only wants the rich to vote. Mitch McConnell and Republicans like him, which is mostly every Republican in Congress, they don't believe in democracy. They do not believe in the democratic process. They will fight as aggressively as they need to to make it increasingly difficult for the working class and the middle class to go out there and cast their vote.

And yes, it takes a lot of resources. I mean, the rich don't understand this, they don't see it because they don't have to deal with it. But it does take considerable resources to go out there and vote. And it goes beyond showing up to the polls on election day, waiting in line, for driving wherever the polls are, and voting. It's more than that. You need the resources to do the research.

You need to have good internet connection so you can look up the candidates and know exactly who's telling the truth, who's not telling the truth. is actually a very pricey thing to do when you think about it. Pricy for the middle class and working class. Not so pricey for the wealthy, but for everyone else, it's difficult. And any effort to make it a little easier, just so everyone's voices heard, the Republicans go against it aggressively and try to paint people as if they're lazy and just want another holiday.

Yeah, and to that point, you saw it in the video, he's like, oh, they're just loafing around the voting booths. No, that's not what they're, that's not what the bill says. You know, it is really fun to loaf around the voting. Yeah, that's true. You remember all the loiterers around the voting booths? They're like, oh, you want to go smoke a joint by the voting booth? On which planet, has that ever happened?

So now, I want to give you more context. This is for when Anna says it's almost all the Republicans, you have to understand that that's not any exaggeration. In fact, it's a concerted effort. So I'm going to show you a clip from Paul Weyrick back in 1980, this video is six. So if you're wondering who he is, he is the co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, arguably the largest right-wing think tank that is still massively powerful now, that sets the agenda for the Republicans, and co-founder of Alec, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which

literally writes the bills for corporations and hands them over to politicians. Oftentimes they forget to take the letter head off when they submit it, okay, in the states. So Wyrick is in a lot of ways the godfather of the right wing in this country. And listen what he said in 1980. But go-goo syndrome, good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people.

They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down. There you have it, and that's exactly why you've seen the Republican Party fight against voting from then till now. For decade after decade, they have tried to do everything in their power to make sure that as little people as possible vote. And then finally, McConnell's thought that, oh my God, having government workers not show

up to work is outrageous. He just helped Trump shut down the government and furloughed workers for 35 days. Which is literally a record. Yeah. No, what's amazing about Mitch McConnell is he has no concern about hypocrisy. Just does not have a shame bone in his body, so he'll block Merrick Garland for over a year. And if you block, you know, if you want to question a right wing Supreme Court nominee for past the week, he's like, oh my God, this is record-breaking obstruction.

How could they hold up a nominee like this? And people take him seriously, no, he's the biggest political hack, arguably of my lifetime, He has no conscience. I'm not, look, Trump is way dumber. Trump is arguably has more issues with morality, although McConnell will give him a run. But as far as defending corruption, money in politics, and by the way, that's another problem that he has with the bill. He's like, well, this would allow some public financing, which would mean that all the power

wouldn't be in the hands of private interests. And I want private interests to control me and the other politicians. I don't want them working for the public. I want them working for the Koch brothers and the Mercer's and the Adelson's, et cetera. And by the way, Republicans, that's another giant hypocrisy of Mitch McConnell and the Republicans. I thought you said you were so worried about George Soros putting money into politics and buying off politicians. So great, this bill allows you to do some public financing, which lets you go around Soros

or the Koch brothers. And all of a sudden, Mitch McConnell is like, hey, I don't worry about Soros, is totally fine, Totally fine. Cokes are fine. No public financing! Otherwise, McConnell loses all his power. In real elections where a lot of people vote and anyone can run, Mitch McConnell will have no power at all because Mitch McConnell's power base, and what he's good at is sucking up

to the richest people in the country and doing their bidding. He's a poor little water boy. And so that's why he goes and just does what he's told to do, lie at a moment's notice, try to make sure that we have as little democracy in this country as possible. Herman Kane is back in the news. If you don't remember him, I'm gonna remind you, and he is being considered for an insane position. Unbelievable.

I couldn't believe, when I read the headline, I was like, no, really? Our super producer, Dan Evans, pitched the story in our production meeting today, and my reaction was, what? Like, I freaked out, I couldn't believe it. I can't wait to tell you guys more about the story. Come right back. At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our data.

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available, ExpressVPN. And if you go to ExpressVPN.com slash TYT, you can get three extra months for free with this exclusive link just for TYT fans. That's EX-P-R-E-S-V-P-N. dot com slash t yt check it out today we hope you're enjoying this free clip from the young turks if you want to get the whole show and more exclusive content while supporting independent media become a member at t yt dot com slash join today in the meantime enjoy this free second all right back on the young turks uh sasha ray writes it in the member's section but anna they do they do work sent in the house the session isn't work for that them, calling their donors and meeting them is their real work where they spend the rest

of the time on. That's true, I know that. They work the phones, those other 200 days, begging for money from rich people. No, I know, I know, but like, hold. So, but they're supposed to be working for us, right? So what they do when they're not working for us is not considered work. So like, when I'm working out, I'm working, I'm not enjoying it, it's work. But I don't like hit you up and say, yo, jank, after I put in a 12 hour.

day, then I went to the gym and I worked another hour and a half, pay me for it. Like, get out of here, come on. Yeah, well. And I never go to the gym for an hour and a half, slash, I haven't gone to the gym in a really, really long time. Slash, that would be a hilarious conversation. That would be quite fruitless. Okay, anyway, Dre Michelle writes in on the member section.

Bevan takes a helicopter around Kentucky. We live close to the state capital and he flies over our house regularly. We moon him, not the most mature behavior, but it does bring us joy. Oh, you're my kind of people. Well, I guess if I haven't seen your ass, power to you. Anyway, Eddie O'Donnell on Twitter says, I think Mark Thompson could give Al Roker a run for his money as a meteorologist and being the most well-known. That's right, Eddie, okay, great point.

By the way, check out the edge with Mark Thompson. That's his podcast, okay? And word burn Steinem says, want to go smoke? Are Smoker joined by the voting booth? Maybe that's what happened in 2016. That's a good point. Except some people get smarter when they're under the influence. Interesting.

Okay. So, good word burn there, if you will. All right. I like that. So, let's go to the story. Okay. Donald Trump is considering Herman Kane for the Federal Reserve. Reserve.

And I'm not even kidding. Now, Herman Kane is a complicated guy. Actually, he's not that complicated. He's not qualified to be in the Federal Reserve. I was like, where you go with that, ain't it? It's not much. Look, there is a little twist here, I hear you on that. But I mean, it was stunning to see that they were considering for that position.

We're gonna show you some fun videos featuring Herman Kane. But for those of you who might not be familiar with him, he was a CEO of a major pizza company and then served as an executive for a bunch of other companies, he's a corporate guy. And he ran for president back in 2012, but then he pulled out of the race after there were some sexual harassment and infidelity accusations against him. Now with that said, here is the current story about what Trump is considering. There are two seats on the Fed board, they're vacant, but nominating Herman Kane raises the prospect of a Senate confirmation hearing focused on the sexual harassment and infidelity

accusations that ended his presidential campaign. Now when he was running, one of the things that he was well known for was his economic policy, tax policy known as 999, I'm not kidding. Here he is talking about it. My 999 plan is a bold solution. It starts with throw out the current tax code and pass the 9% business flat tax, the 9% personal income tax and a 9% national sales tax. This is the most important part. It eliminates or replaces corporate income tax, personal income tax, capital gains tax, as well as the estate tax. Then it treats

all businesses the same. And the people who are paying only payroll tax, 15.3, that 15.3, they don't have to pay. Now they only have to pay that 9%. Okay. So I don't know if he was trying to trigger the right wing by going nine, nine, nine, and get them all excited and lathered up. But that's a preposterous plan. Yeah. So it would have absolutely bankrupted the country. And by the way, it would have been terribly regressive.

So if you're, everybody pays a sales tax and it's a much bigger percentage of your income if you're poor or middle class. So if you cut taxes for income and corporations, all the way down to 9% will have no money for the federal government. And it'd be a giant gift to the rich, they'll say, but no, we're gonna get more money from the poor in the middle class by raising the sales tax. So it was a horrific and nonsensical economic plan. And it was also, I mean, it would kill small businesses, because think about it, he even

said it in that proposal that it would treat all businesses the same, but all businesses are not the same, right? So a 9% flat tax for Amazon is not that big of a deal, right? In fact, they'd be saving a lot of money in taxes. Percentage-wise, it wouldn't hurt them. But if you are a brand new business, a small business, it would impact you a lot more. All businesses are not the same. Now, I'm not saying that, hey, let's lower taxes to 9% for small businesses and, you know,

it just doesn't make sense to treat all businesses the same. That's the point that I'm trying to make. Yeah, look, it would give a bigger competitive advantage to businesses that are near monopolies anyway. Right. But look, we got a hilarious video on Libya for you in a second. But I do want to give you a little bit of complication here. So, Herman Kane is a mystery to me.

I think that there's some chance that on some issues he might be bright, but just playing a dumb guy to appeal to Republicans. Oh, come on. No, I don't know, he was the CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He graduated from Morales College. He's got a master's degree from Purdue. He worked at Coke, Pillsbury. He actually was the head, led the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.

So those are some pretty good qualifications, right? On the other hand, the 999 plan was hilarious and ridiculous. He said that if you were going to elect him that you'd get the herminator experience. Come on. Okay. Whatever, I mean, he's having fun, maybe we're being too hard on him on that. Okay, he would have herminated the economy, but- Okay, so, but wait, wait, wait, then there's Libya.

Let's go to the video. So you agreed with President Obama on Libya or not? Okay, Libya. President Obama supported the Uprising, the Uprising. Correct. President Obama called for the removal of Gaddafi. Just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say, yes, I agreed. I know I didn't agree. I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason.

No, that's a different one. I got to go back, see, I got to go back, see, I got all this stuff twirling around in my head. No, you don't. Yeah, apparently you don't. Libya. I love the way you moved the chair. He's like, huh, Libya. No, no, no, wait, that's not the right one.

He's trying to figure out which Middle Eastern country or African country, et cetera, and to talk about. Anyway, so that was wonderfully embarrassing. But shockingly, it turns out that from 92 to 96, he served as director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that. He was also deputy chairman and then chairman. So, but if you're thinking, well, I don't know, okay, he doesn't know Libya, but maybe

he knows, you know what his proposal was during the presidential campaign other than nine, nine, nine. It was to return to the gold standard. Oh, come on. No, come on. We're not having this conversation. They're trying to put them up for the Federal Reserve Board. No, this is madness. Look, this is, maybe this is, no, it isn't maybe.

It's definitely me being biased, so I want to be honest with the audience. I don't trust anyone that Trump would even consider for these vacant seats in the Federal Reserve. And it's specifically because of what Trump has said on the record about the behavior of the Federal Reserve. So the Federal Reserve has been very incrementally raising interest rates, which it should do. I mean, banks since the economic crash have been getting free money from the government. And so inflation is obviously an issue.

So the Federal Reserve comes in and very carefully and in a very calculated way has been incrementally increasing the interest rates. Okay, Trump hates that because the stock market is so finicky that the second the interest rate goes up a little bit, the market goes down. But it's super temporary. And Trump knows that everything in his presidential career is a house of cards, and he keeps referencing how well the stock market is doing. So once the stock market suffers a little bit, he freaks out.

He almost wanted to fire Jerome Powell, who's the head of the Federal Reserve. So my point is, he just wants people who are going to do his bidding. Because for Trump, the Federal Reserve is part of his giant vanity project. Yeah, and it's also part of a Republican plan. goes back all the way to Richard Nixon, and they've even found memos about it where they say that, hey, look, when we're in office, just inflate the economy because we want to do as well as we possibly can't spend more, cut taxes, and ease up on interest rates with the Fed. And then when the Democrats are in office, yell at them about the deficit, so they make

the mistake of raising taxes, not spending as much, and having the Federal Reserve act responsibly. So Trump is actually in a long line of Republicans here where he says, I don't care if it's good for the long term. In fact, he recently said when they asked him about some economic issue and how it might be devastating later, he said, well, I'm not going to be in office. He's unbelievable. So to your concern about why is he picking Herman Kane? Well, we have the answer. Kane in September co-founded a pro-Trump super PAC called America Fighting Backpack. And its state of purposes was, quote, we must protect Donald Trump.

Oh, come on. A couple of months ago, Cain does that, Trump sees it and goes, what do I care if he knows a federal reserve or has any kind of idea on how to run the economy? His job is to protect Donald Trump. He's going to be loyal to me. He's fighting backpack. That's right. Okay.

So, but Trump would not have answered Libya that way, okay. No, Trump actually did get a question about Libya, and you know how he answered it? It's not important, let's move on. I'm not even kidding, because that's what Trump does, and he's really good at it. Whereas Herman Kane is like, oh my God, oh, this is disastrous, what am I going to do? Like you can see the panic, right? And it's really a pleasure to watch, whereas Trump is like, it's not important, let's move on.

Yeah, well, the good news is that position does require Senate confirmation. So when they ask you about the Federal Reserve, you'll get to see him go, federal Reserve, Federal Reserve. We're talking about the Federal Reserve, right? I want to make sure I get it right. But the Senate will confirm him immediately. No, well, the Senate, yeah, actually. Yeah.

Oh, what a disaster. Here's what I would say to the Senate on whether they should confirm him. Nine, nine, nine. All right, we are gonna take a break. I want to remind you all that the next hour is four hour members, but there's good Good news. If you're not a member, you can try out membership by going to t-y-t.com slash trial. And then if you decide, you know what, I know I'm gonna like it, I want to join.

Go to t-y-t.com slash join, become a member. That's right. So I want to tell you what's coming up in the second hour though. Tommy Lauren attacks Casier-Cortez. We attack back. Donald Trump's pastor speaks out on whether he's gone to church. Oh, you're gonna love that story. Republicans cry about how Roger Stone got arrested.

We're gonna show you a juxtaposition to how African Americans in this country are treated. And one last random note here, guys, we're on in local stations across the country, okay? So including New York, Washington, Philly, and Boston. So check us out there, find us on the dial. In New York is WR and N and in Washington is WMDE. Now for politics, those are very important markets. So if you're in Washington, D.C., or New York, but also in Philly and Boston, go find those channels and ask your local you know, bars, restaurants, anywhere where you go and there's a TV, tell them to turn it to

WMD in Washington and WRNN in New York. And let's spread out the message a little bit more. So, as Anna pointed out, t-y-t.com slash trial to get a free membership for a week to try it out, and now our two is going to be just for members. And, oh, super last thing, we're going to come back live for everyone at 8.05 p.m. Eastern rebel headquarters with an important, very interesting announcement about the 2020 presidential campaign. So don't miss that. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to 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, Jank Huger, and I'll see you soon.