The Economy Is Sending Trump a WARNING Republicans Can’t Ignore

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Try for free today at odoo.com slash vox. That's O-D-O-O dot com slash vox. When it's time to scale your business, it's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like, all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha-chings from every channel, right in one spot. And turn real-time reporting into big-time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today. Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Sky Galloway. And I'm Jessica Tarliff. Before we get started, make sure to hit subscribe to support our show. All right, Jess, let's bust into it. Bond markets are flashing a warning. The 10-year Treasury just hit 4.81%, while the 30 remains at levels we haven't seen this persistently for 20 years. And there's plenty of reasons for concern. A $2 trillion deficit. I mean, just. Just to think about this. $5 trillion in receipts. $7 trillion in spending. And potentially billions in tariff-free funds. A Fed that could raise rates to fight inflation. Although, I don't think that's going to happen. So, this all creates a lot of chaos and, quite frankly, a political mess heading into the midterms for the current administration. And economic problems are structural problems that we just don't seem to want to have an adult conversation around. Jess, what do you think about the Republicans? It feels like they're just ignoring the economic signals here. In the interest of continuing to keep Trump in this, what I'll call, induced coma of happiness around everything's fine. Thoughts? You know, I don't know why they haven't taken the opportunity to learn from the Democrats' mistakes in 2024. We spent a lot of time telling people how good they had it. Whether that was, you know, fastest recovery in the G7, which I'm a broken record. Like, that is not a good bumper sticker. They don't actually care for people. They don't actually care how fast your recovery was on a comparative basis. They care about their grocery bill today. It feels like maybe it's actually a human problem more than a mind problem for them. Like, that they can read the numbers, but they can't get themselves to behave like real human beings about this. Where they could actually find the words to talk about people's struggles and find connection with them. Which is why Republicans aren't doing any of these town halls. I understand it's not fun to get pelted with criticism of everything from the war in Iran to healthcare to AI data centers, which we're going to talk a lot about. But it feels like they're not built of the right stuff to be able to meet this moment. And then you have the added anxiety that Donald Trump will probably come after you if you make comments in an even relatively public forum that flies in the face of his narrative. That this is the best economy that America has ever had. So, it does feel like they're on a trajectory for a walloping on November 3rd as a result of how bad things are in the economy. But my anxiety is kicking in. Like, I get a couple days where I feel really good. You know, I get my adrenaline shots. Like, I'm with James Tallarico and I'm like, hell yeah, we're going to win Texas. And then I look at the map and you laugh. Look at what it takes, how much money it takes, the type of persuasion it takes to get people who have a fundamentally negative view of politicians in general and also the Democratic Party, even if it's, you know, trending in a better direction. And I just think, are we going to have proverbial egg on our faces? And I'm not just saying that because I'm wearing yellow today, though it's more Easter than egg, I think. Good clarification there. Just to do interest rates. It's one of those very boring things that has a huge impact on people without them even realizing the impact. So, just kind of a brief explainer, if you will. The government spends more money than it takes in and it has to finance that shortfall. And so, it turns to the bond market and it says, loan us money in exchange, we'll promise to pay it back. And the market says, all right, if I'm going to loan you 100 bucks, you have to pay me more back. And based on the risk that you will be able to pay that back and other opportunities. For me to loan people money determines how much I need you to pay me in order to lend you a hundred dollars. And that's the yield or the interest rate. And because of these structural, I don't know, these structural issues or specifically irresponsible governments all over the world who, because of a democratic process that is sort of short term politicians and the people who elect them want to spend more money and more have more services than pay taxes, which results in. And deficits, which create greater risk that the government borrowing that money is going to be able to potentially not pay it back at some point. So, I want more money for more risk. In addition, and this is a good story, there's more competition for that money because there are so many companies that have such incredible appetites for capital accessing the same investors. The investor says, well, I can loan the government a hundred bucks or I can loan Nvidia a hundred bucks. And, uh, I'm. Going to see who pays me more. Now, the downside is that we are now borrowing money to pay for the interest on money we used to borrow, which can inspire this sort of, uh, upward spiral of inflation. And, uh, effectively what, you know, if you look at economic history, every Fiat currency has failed because eventually the political pressure to borrow more money than you're taking in becomes so great that dollars become meaningless. And then ultimately inflation kicks in and you end up with why. Germany where people are carrying wheelbarrows of cash to pay for a loaf of bread. It's especially interesting now because, I mean, a few things have happened. What people missed in the latest news was that the underlying job market is actually pretty weak. Payrolls fell 23,000 in July against expectations of an increase in 80,000. And unemployment did improve to 4.1%, but it's misleading. The only reason it did that is because people left the labor force. They just gave up. And so it's not really a strong labor market. It's a shrinking denominator dressed up as somewhat good news. And then mortgage rates, which are pegged to the 10-year, which is up 60 basis points since January, are now at about 6.6%, which further cements this problem of these unexploded IEDs called existing mortgages where nobody wants to sell their house. And so as a result, the entrants or people building families looking for a house find a dearth of supply, which, again, further increases the number of people who want to sell their house. Housing prices. So you have an increase in mortgage rates, less supply. And again, that just creates this nitron glycerin of unaffordability. And people, young people feel discouraged. The notion, though, that the Fed is going to increase interest rates because of the demand and to quell inflation, that would be like performing surgery on the hand that writes your check. I mean, that would, if worse were to actually increase interest rates right now, that would be, that would go down as kind of like a profile in courage. I just don't think he's going to do that. He's not going to cut interest rates, but I don't think he's going to, I don't think he's going to raise them. And one of my favorite sayings is that the only adult in the cabinet is the 10-year. And that is, the market is like, you know, it's like that great TikTok of, you know, honey badger don't give a shit. The 10-year doesn't care what the president's priorities are. It just looks at millions of data points and says, you know, I don't care what the points and what institutional investors are demanding to lend the government money. But I do think there's an opening, and I might be kidding myself or deluding myself, but I do think there's an opening for a Democratic candidate to be the adult in the room and outline an actual fiscal plan or structural remedies that attempt to address this deficit. Because it is, it is, you know, the bond market and the deficit don't matter until they do. And it feels as if they are starting to make a difference. And I think that's a good point. Any closing thoughts before we move on to the data center controversy? Well, Prof G, class is in session, if you do say so yourself. No, I wanted to add to that. I worked on the polling team that was trying to help the Simpson-Bowles commission when that existed. And, you know, getting people to care about the boring stuff, which actually does have tremendous implications for their lives, I'd say definitely in the long term, but sometimes even more in the as we're barreling towards these these dates where entitlements become insolvent, right? It used to be something that we kind of talked about amorphously or I'd say, oh, no, what are you talking about 20, 30 years from now? And now you're like a few years away from these kinds of things. And one of our central findings was that it is just not of interest to anybody on the election trail. And there are obviously ways that you can formulate your survey question to get the result that you're looking for on, you know, issues around Medicare for all, for instance. And then when you dig down into it, you see that people actually want to be able to keep their doctors or that they would actually prefer some sort of public-private mashup, which is what Obamacare was supposed to accomplish for us. And the same thing works with bringing down the deficit. But I think the idea that we're going to be getting any cooler heads and, you know, smart talking about what's going on with the bond market or Treasury is now. Almost officially in campaign season, it'll kick off next Tuesday, right? Right after Labor Day is wishful thinking. So there could be some adults in the room, like a Josh Shapiro maybe is going to talk about this loosely. But Democrats have to figure out what are the three things that are actually going to animate people, get them to the polls and then choosing Democrats. And I feel like this conversation is going to be completely lost on them. And early on when we started Raging Moderates, we were actually in person together. So it must have been like really early on. We were going through, you know, all of the ways that these concepts that feel foreign or just kind of meaningless to people actually affect your daily lives, like what you just did with mortgage rates, right? And I think that focusing on bringing our economic realities to life in that sense, you know, talking about your credit card bills, talking about your mortgage rates, talking about your rent, which is a lot of what the progressives are able to do, I think quite well, would be smart in this moment instead of just, you know, railing against how out of touch a Scott Besson or Kevin Hassett or Howard Lutnick looks in an interview. Yeah. And what's interesting or one of the things that struck me in the notes here is that Kalshi has the odds of a hike coming in 2026 at 73 percent. And I don't think Kalshi has ever gotten a rate hike prediction wrong. I think they're batting 100 percent. And so the idea that Warsh would hike. Won't Trump kill him? Yeah, that would be extraordinary. I mean, maybe not actually kill him, but like it'd be pretty early to take that big of a swing against what the president wants for Kevin Warsh. Yeah, but yeah, I agree. I mean, at least theoretically, the notion of a 12 year appointment and you can't be removed by the president is to create an independent Fed, which is key to an economy that runs independently of political pressure. But it would be extraordinary. So we'll we'll see. Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college. That's why she shops at BJ's Wholesale Club, saving up to 25 percent off grocery store prices. Beef jerky, microwave meals, laundry pods, even they can't screw up. Have you met my kids? And with BJ's gas, she gets there for less. They call me the road warrior. This is your home, road warrior mom. Home of the save. Join for just twenty dollars at BJ's dot com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer. 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This Labor Day, save three hundred dollars off your scan when you book at pre-nuvo dot com. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O dot com. Save three hundred dollars now through September 8th at pre-nuvo dot com. Terms and conditions apply. The Trump administration is also doubling down on A.I., particularly the rapid growth of A.I. data centers. About 70 percent of Americans oppose building one in their community, including 48 percent who strongly oppose it. Trump says that communities that are against them are open, quote, want to be backwards and poor, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says concerns about water use are propaganda from U.S. adversaries. So this is just this has become a hot button issue. And what's interesting here is it's one of the few things that has bipartisan support or I would say bipartisan lack of support. This seems to piss off everybody. What is your take on this and how it might impact the elections? Well, I think it's going to be a very big deal in the elections. And I think that Republicans didn't expect that it would be this salient. It kind of feels like a tidal wave, right, that can look kind of innocent. And as it gets closer and closer to the shore, you realize, are we heading into tsunami territory where it is coming up in every single political discussion on the right and the left? If you are holding a town hall, you are going to hear about this. People are protesting outside about it. They are writing to their representatives, calling their offices. They don't want it. And Democrats, save for Abigail Spanberger, who has doubled down. So Virginia has, the most data centers of any state in the country. She said, our economic future depends on meeting the moment when it comes to progress with AI. It's a huge economic boon. I'm going to be careful about it, but I am certainly not invoking a moratorium or like a Josh Shapiro. I really am double using him as a reasonable person who has this, you know, a nuanced take, let's say, which is what I think people want to hear. Like, I hear you. I also don't want to give up what a big plus point it could be for our communities. So we'll go from there. But the fact that Republicans are either fully on board and have Donald Trump saying, you know, you want to be backwards and poor if you don't want to, data centers is not helping any of them. You know, Mike Rogers trying to flip-flop a bit on it, Ken Paxton as well. And Democrats are just running ad after ad after ad with their old statements on it. I was talking to a Republican strategist this morning who said that, he thinks that data centers is the central issue in the Ohio Senate race and that it could deliver it for Sherrod Brown. Because, first of all, not a great candidate on the right with John Husted, but that Brown has been able to be very effective about this. I don't know if you saw this, but it really struck me. So Twitter, now known as X, published a report that they found 200,000 suspected inauthentic accounts and roughly 200 of them from China. Who have been quietly trying to influence the American AI debate, specifically in opposing AI data centers on social media. The posts include content about how AI strains the electricity grid, increases utility prices, and quote, cartoons that depicted data center operators enriching themselves at the public's expense. So when I think about the discourse on data centers, I'm like, check, check, check, check, check. I see all of that in the conversation. And I'm not saying that it is all due to these bots that are out there. I'm not saying that it is all due to these bots that are out there. But it certainly wouldn't be beneath the Chinese or any of our adversaries to think, oh, I could throw a few bots onto American social media, especially knowing how sensitive the algorithm is these days. Like if your eyes stay for a second longer on something, you suddenly can't get away from that topic. It feels like for a week. And I wonder how much of this is our enemies rooting against us, properly harnessing or even tackling what's going on with AI. And people are not falling for it because I know there are real concerns, but are getting more ginned up about it as a result. Oh, look, if you look at some of my social media posts around controversial issues as it relates to the Trump administration, I would estimate somewhere between 50 and 80 percent of the comments are bots. And then the question becomes, well, who has an incentive in creating more arguments and making us feel worse about each other? By the way, we do this. We have a PSYOPs group that spreads propaganda across the territory and populations of our adversaries. They'd be stupid not to be doing this. You can spend two or three billion dollars on an aircraft carrier or you can spend millions to basically divide us internally. It's just I don't think people recognize just how much damage social media has done to our society. But they weaponize these poorest platforms with management teams that are totally focused on engagement and numbers they can publish. The advertisers saying, look at all the engagement and all the activity we have. But there is so much noise in terms of our political opinions or our public policy opinions being shaped by bad actors or at a minimum people who aren't who they say they are. Let's go specifically to the data center debate. I mean, some of the concerns are one power. And when you we just saw that headline inflation around electricity prices, is up 7% versus a consumer price index 2.9. That is a real number. And people have a legitimate concern that if their electricity prices go up and OpenAI and Anthropic go public at $1 and $2 trillion valuations, then effectively an increase in middle-class households' electricity bill is nothing but a transfer of wealth from them to a bunch of, you know, basically white dudes in their 30s. And they're not down for that. They're not down for saying, okay, my air condition, it's going to cost me more to air condition my house such that these guys I've never met can become worth $400 billion, not $300 billion. So the data center debate has kind of become a vessel for frustration around technology and income inequality. The concerns around power consumption and electricity prices are real. I believe the hate to tell Howard, you know, give Howard Lettner any credit, but I do think a lot of the concerns around water usage are overblown. Even if we build all the data centers that are envisioned, which we won't, they would use about three to five percent of the water that golf courses use. And the majority, I believe, or a great number of the data centers being planned, leverage what's called a closed loop system where they basically use the same water, recirculate the water. The environmental concerns, I think, on our case-by-case basis. But what I worry about is that these moratoriums, these blanket moratoriums, which basically say to state and local bureaucrats, you're an idiot. So I'm putting in this kind of blanket crude instrument called a moratorium. And I think this is going to, one, increase and this will be a good thing. The market will demand more guarantees, subsidies around local electricity prices for data centers to offer the local communities. That will be good for the local communities that agree to have them. This, in my opinion, is going to be a transfer of wealth from blue states who are more politically sensitive to these populist movements and put in place these blanket moratoriums that sometimes are not economical to red states that say, come one, come all, we're open for free. And so I think that's going to be a good thing. I think that's going to be a good thing. They can be, quite frankly, accretive to your local economy, and they can be kind of good citizens. And I worry that a lot of that economic growth, when responsibly managed, is just going to see it from blue states to red states. Now, Blutnick blaming all of this on Chinese propaganda is a little bit like, and this goes to what you were saying about the mistake the Democrats made, that when someone's complaining of a fever, you don't say, oh, your fever is Chinese propaganda and refuse to take their temperature. So that's not, that is a tone-deaf move. But I do worry that this is a bit populist and is going to result in a leakage of economic power from blue to red states. Just what we need right before the census totally screws blue states is to have this. I just wanted to add, because I think it's the element that kind of underlies this entire conversation, is that the reaction to data centers is often an emotional one. And people are scared. And this is what happens at moments in history. Where something big is happening. Right? Where transport is going to change. Where technology is going to change. Like, when we got the internet, it was very unsettling for people. And my dad always said to me that it is the number one job of the government to alleviate as much anxiety of the people as possible. I love that. Universal health care. Let's start there. Totally. As some, you know, listen, it's a question of how you do these things in practice. But if you are not signaling to the people. If you are not signaling to the people who, A, pay your salary and sent you to Washington or even your local officials with these very important jobs, that you understand that they are afraid and can deal with that. And that you may not have a solution on day one, but you're working really fucking hard to figure out how these communities can avoid being left behind. Because we saw this. I mean, this is very reminiscent to remember the debate over. What kind of energy the country is going to run on. And there were all of these people worked in coal mines in West Virginia, which totally makes sense that Trump really tapped into that in the first election where he said, I'm going to stop the country from changing too much. And part of that implicitly was some of the racism that the browning of America was a problem. But it's still the same fundamental feeling that I can't hold on fast enough for what's coming and not enough people in leadership. Are standing up and A, recognizing that that's what's going on here. And then also having a decent solution that marries economic progress and technological progress with the realities of being a human being. And knowing that if you walk into traffic, you're going to be scared of the fact that you might be hit by a car or a bus. Or if a data center pops up down the road from you, what are the implications going to be for your employment, your quality of life, and then your children's lives by extension? Yeah, there's this goes through a kind of a broader existential point. And that is, where do you find happiness and purpose and meaning? And I think in the United States, we've equated happiness and purpose and the government's role in that with economic growth. And if you look at the nations that are actually happiest, economic growth and prosperity or wealth is important. But what distinguishes countries in northern Europe from the U.S., where they feel better about their government and generally speaking, their population. And I think that what distinguishes countries from the U.S. is that happiness isn't just a function of the things you can get and have, it's an absence of anxiety from things that can be taken from you. And that is, while they pay higher tax rates and probably think, well, my son is less likely to be a billionaire graduating from the University of Stockholm and from MIT. I know that he's not going to go bankrupt if his wife gets lung cancer. And I think that's a big mistake we make in the U.S. is we equate happiness with happiness. With solely with economic outcomes and with the likelihood that your son might be or your daughter might be a billionaire. And I like what your dad said, that a big role of government is to try and remove as much anxiety and as much fear from the populace as possible. I'd add fame, fame and money. Oh, in America. Like the average person living in Copenhagen isn't thinking, like, how do I become a social media influencer? And, you know. You know, make super quick money and cut all these corners. They're thinking about, you know, a more traditional life maybe by our standards, but one that is going to reap longer term happiness compared to our models. Yeah, I just, I always come back to the same place. The most accretive thing our government could do would be universal child care and some sort of single payer nationalized or socialized medicine. I think that would reduce anxiety more than anything the government can do right now. All right. Speaking of AI. I are sticking with AI. New York City just rolled out the nation's broadest generative AI moratorium in schools, banning student-facing AI tools for a year for 600,000 kids from preschool through the eighth grade. High schoolers will get mandatory AI literacy classes with a limited number of classrooms participating in monitored AI pilot programs. Jess, this feels like a positive step forward for students. Or are we setting them up to be behind once they reach college and ultimately the workforce? I don't think so, or I don't think we have the answer to that yet. I mean, part of this is a lot of classes that are specific to technology and AI. They just come later in life. And we've talked before about the economic gap between who's actually on screens now and who isn't. And it's the wealthier kids or the kids with wealthier parents that are spending more time off screens than not. And this is so welcome as someone whose daughter is about to start. In the public school system here in New York City in kindergarten, I'm thrilled to see this. And I think I told you this, that when we went to the meet and greet and talking to the principal, basically all of the questions from the parents were about screen time and whether tablets could be withheld for as long as humanly possible. There will be also screen time caps. That was, you know, part of the meta settlement, which we didn't get to talk to because you were out last week. But, you know, I guess the least. You could do. I thought it was interesting, though, that teachers are not going to be able to use AI to grade assignments, which I should have assumed was a big problem. But I think that is also a good thing. I think everybody should be having should be using their minds more in all of this. And, you know, I'm not surprised by how many of these tech titans like the Mark Zuckerberg's and Peter Thiel's of the world do this. But they all don't give their kids screens. I mean, Peter Thiel said when he had a three and a half and a five year old. They got an hour and a half a week. I mean, most people that could be a daily consumption or sometimes even morning or evening daily. Well, the amount of times that you just plunk a screen down saying, like, I just need half an hour to get this thing done, especially with work from home that's going on. It happens a lot. And Mark Zuckerberg basically described infinite scroll like what he created and said this. This is bad. It's like, well, why did you? Why did you do this to all of us then? Yeah, I found again going to kind of a large. issue around Mamdani here. Tell me how you feel about Gaza and Israel, and I can tell you how you feel about Mamdani. And I think it's too bad, because there's how someone feels about geopolitical policy or their ideology. And look, when you're the mayor of New York, you're effectively the president of a, you know, a middle power, your views on policy do matter. But I think they matter less than your executive branch responsibilities, and that is, it's an operational position. And where I don't like this reductive thinking around, I'm going to evaluate Mamdani's decisions through the lens of how I feel about his views on geopolitics. I think you get, if you're a critical thinker, you got to go issue by issue. And I think he, I think this is a great policy. Banning students from AI-facing tools with mandatory, well, at the same time, once they get to a certain age, having AI literacy mandates. That strikes me as a coherent, age-graduated policy, not blanket technophobia, like see above the AI data center hysteria. And he deserves credit for it. He's actually, Jesus Christ, at least he's fucking doing something. Tell me what our AI policy is, other than just no regulation. At least he's actually doing something. And I think about this, a lot of someone who studies and talks a lot about technology. This moment that really struck me, and I was really impressed. My then 17-year-old son said, I'm going to meet someone for coffee on Kensington High Street. Do you know a place? And I said, no, just ask AI. And he said, I don't use AI for simple tasks. And I said, why is that? He goes, well, I don't want to outsource my thinking and ability to do these sorts of things. And of course, being the supportive father, I immediately barked at him, don't be so fucking mature. But he's so right. It's like, your kids need to know how to do the laundry. They need to know how to, my dad made me iron a shirt when I was really, before I could even see over an ironing board. He's a, you need to know how to start a lawnmower. You need to, I forced my, I'm giving my 15-year-old driver's license. I'm like, we're going to go to the gas station and I need you to get out and pump gas. Like, you need to know how to do basic shit. So that's what you don't, I'm shocked how incompetent I am around in certain environments. I just don't know how to do shit. And I wish that I had been forced to do more actual stuff. And AI is that. I think it's a great idea to ban screens and AI and force kids to learn how to write on their own and force kids to like go through the hard work. And I think ultimately they end up with these skills to better leverage AI if they don't use it early. And so I think it's, I think this is a really thoughtful policy. I think Mamdani deserves a lot of credit for actually doing something here. So this is, again, the mayor is an operational job. He doesn't make laws. He can influence them, but he doesn't make them. His job is to make sure the subways run on time, the trash gets picked up. I mean, I'm in San Francisco right now and everyone has been talking about, you know, how much better San Francisco has gotten. I think it's still fucking post-apocalyptic. I'm staying, I'm staying. You said you're on market? I'm on mid-market. I took a walk last night with my sister. We went to this great restaurant I hadn't been to in 20 years. I was like, I'm going to go to San Francisco. I'm going to go to San Francisco. I've been 25 for 30 years, called Cafe Zuni. The walk there was nothing short of frightening. Not because I felt physically threatened, but hundreds of homeless people clearly with drug problems and veterans. And I'm like, Jesus Christ. It's just, and I mean, I'm getting off script here. If you talk to any civic official or mayor, they just say the homeless problem just calls on so many intractable issues. So I empathize with how difficult this problem is. But when I think about the wealth being created in San Francisco that has the second most billionaires in the United States behind New York, and I think about the tax revenue they should be collecting, and I think about the fact that I walked down the, you know, the primary avenue here at 8 p.m., and it feels like a post-apocalyptic society. I mean, something is wrong. It is really wild. Anyways, let me circle back. I think Mom Donnie deserves credit for doing something here. And taking a stand around AI. And I do believe that forcing, did they make your kids, I remember I was so impressed. My oldest son, I've been reminiscing a lot about him. There's, I have this wonderful picture of him. He had homework when he was like seven. And his homework was he had to come home and use scissors to cut out shapes because they wanted kids to develop their fine motor skills. And I just thought, God, that's just so brilliant. He sat there at the table, trying to use scissors to try and cut. Because they realized we have to teach kids very basics on their own. Anyways. Good stuff. We've been making a lot of puppets. So we're big in the glue and the scissors phase. I just want to quickly say about San Francisco, though, because I do spend a lot of time with conservatives who are very critical of how these blue cities are run, even if Dan Lurie, you know, has been heralded as making these big changes. People love them. But they call it suicidal empathy that liberals have that leads to, you know, these quality of life problems, not only for the people who are housed and live in these cities, but the people, the homeless people themselves, right? Who, in some cases, get, you know, cordoned off areas where they can go and do drugs, right? Or, you know, you know that there's a prostitution ring. Remember, there was a big case in Los Angeles where there were prostitutes across the street from like a pre-K. And people were just like, you can't, there is no amount of life in Los Angeles. And so, you know, there's a lot of people who are like, you know, liberalism in me to make it okay for my children to be within earshot of streetwalking, essentially. I don't know what the right term, you know, prostitution. So, I think that that is an interesting debate. And you see some folks like Matt Mahan in San Jose who's caught homelessness by a third. And a lot of that had to do with involuntary action, where it said, you actually don't have a choice in this. Like, we're taking you off the street. I mean, the Times Square, what happened here two days ago, a 32-year-old woman on day one back from her maternity leave, stabbed to death by a crazy woman who was known to the police. I look at something like that and your heart breaks, 32, life in front of her, a five-month-old daughter. But you wonder what kind of policies could be enacted or what policies might be on the books that people are not even carrying out that could avoid situations like this. Where someone who is crazy enough to wield a knife and kill someone in Times Square might have been taken off the street. I think this is the soft issue and the vulnerability for Democrats. And that is. 100% crime and policing. Yeah. They have to move, in my opinion, to the center on cultural issues. And that's around everything from homelessness to immigration to crime. And let me touch the third rail here, trans issues. We can't figure out a way to show that we know how to run a city. Supposedly, they spend $70,000, all the different nonprofits spend $70,000 per homeless person here, and yet can't figure out a way to reduce the homeless problem. And I'm, I don't want to call myself a Republican, but I'm very sympathetic to the notion that if I live in San Francisco and I'm paying 14% incremental tax rate, fucking figure it out. My kids should be able to walk around without seeing some homeless person defecating on my corner. I would just be like, I realize the problem is complicated, but other cities have figured it out to pay much less in taxes. And, you know, under the notion somehow, like you said, there's empathy that just results in an expensive but bad quality of life. And I also just want to highlight that there's no simple, I recognize there's no simple solution, but my attitude is, well, Houston figured it out. I mean, what, what, and some, I bet I'm going to hear from a bunch of Houstonites saying the homeless problem is terrible here too, but I don't think it is. I haven't been to Houston in like 20 or 30 years. That's neither here nor there. Well, then maybe let's pick another city as an example. New York. Yeah. Well, and yes, but I mean, going back to, I mean, I remember under Bloomberg where there was a bed for every single homeless person in the city available. The issue was getting people to them. Well, it goes to denying the rights, right? Right. And what equality means. And this was, we're so off topic though. The trans thing does link to the primary in Massachusetts, which we're supposed to talk about next with Ed Markey and Seth Moulton. But you remember the Jordan Neely, Daniel Penny case from the subway here where a crazed, a guy who was on the top 50 list of the most dangerous homeless people in the city, you know, had been in and out of social services and completely tragic background. Like the whole nine yards. But Daniel Penny, who is a veteran, was on the subway, saw how Jordan Neely was threatening all of these people. And he ended up restraining him and killed him in the end. And then he was prosecuted. They were talking about prosecuting him, right? Well, yes, they were. But you have a responsibility. If there is a dead person, you have to have a trial about it. And he was acquitted of these charges and people understood what happened. But it was a real flashpoint and an encapsulation of this issue that we're talking about. That in these deep blue cities, which I, you know, I love and I am so proud to be a New Yorker. It's I am and my ethos and my values, that you can't subjugate everybody else's rights for the rights of one person who clearly needs so much help. And that you are forcing people into a political Sophie's choice that they don't want to make. Like you just said, you know, I'm not a Republican. Like, I don't want to be, I will never be a Republican, but I don't want to be a Republican. I want a high quality of life and for common sense Democrats to be in office. And I think to the Mamdani doing things correctly, I think it is very important that at the same time that he is pushing forward, people see his very progressive policies about, you know, expanding pre-K, 3K, and 4K, and universal childcare and giving parents a night out when they desperately need a date. And a lot of people don't have the kind of money for a babysitter like that. He's also touting drops in crime and standing. standing shoulder to shoulder with Jessica Tisch, who has the full support of the police force here. So there is a way to do this and to not lose your values and your moral compass. And we really need to do it for the sake of these great cities, which are jewels, but also for our electoral prospects. Grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pre-game. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, coach. Home of the Save. 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This Labor Day, save $300 off your scan when you book at prenuvo.com. Save $300 now through September 8th at prenuvo.com. So let's talk a little bit. Let's move to Massachusetts, where sitting Senator Edward Markey successfully fended off a primary challenge. From Representative Seth Maltin. What's interesting, or the flashpoint here, is that Markey is 80 and was first elected to Congress in 1976. So his win kind of defies the pattern of incumbents being ousted by younger challengers. In this instance, I would argue this was more about ideology than age because Markey won by running to the left. I have a lot to say on this, but I'll let you go first, Jess. No, you go. I'm an ageist. I think it's insane that an 80-year-old would be the type of narcissist that decides that he is going to have input into key decisions and represent democratic policies when, according to every actuarial table, there's a one in three chance he's either disabled or dead before the end of his term. And we go through this constant bullshit and chaos again where he doesn't get to show up for votes. We don't know where he is. People start lying. And we spend all this time wondering whether it's politically correct. Biology is not politically correct. Cognitive decline begins at 60. And in the military, as CEOs, pilots, we decide at a certain point, you should not be entrusted with this response. We age-gate on the lower end. A 34-year-old AOC would do a better job, in my opinion, running the country than an 80-year-old Trump right now. But we don't want to let a 34-year-old. My son is 15, and I think he can drive really well. But we've decided, no, he can't. He can't drive. And I get it. And people will point to individual instances of people who are great, whether it's Deng Xiaoping or Nelson Mandela. OK, fine. But there's way more evidence. It's also a more dignified exit for them. You're out. And part of cognitive decline is you don't know what you don't know, and that is you aren't self-aware about your own abilities, as evidenced by, you know, Senator Feinstein, who decided that she should absolutely stay in the Senate. And I go back to this. And I go back to the same thing. If all of a sudden all nations got together and in some sort of rare instance of bilateral cooperation said everyone over the age of 72 has to step down, would the world be a better place if Putin, Netanyahu, Trump, what person over the age of 72 on the global political stage is just adding a lot of value right now? These individuals, we're not talking about an accountant. We're talking about a president. We're talking about someone who may not be as concerned about the deficit, may not be as concerned about climate change, maybe has absolutely no ability to understand, much less use technology. This is we are people are living way, way beyond any initial our our our systems are set up for. And, you know, Markey has now been back to well-funded younger candidates. Yeah. And again, I don't think it brings up age. But. This, I think, was more about ideology. But I think this is a really big issue. I think term limits are, you know, we already accept age based limits everywhere else. Judges, airline pilots, FBI agents, military offers. And we don't call that ageist. We call it prudent risk management and carving out an exception for the most consequential jobs in the world makes no fucking sense. Then the nature of cognitive decline is that these. These 80 year olds themselves are the last people to recognize and see above our president as falling asleep in meetings and hoping that they'll voluntarily decide to step aside, assume self-awareness that itself erodes with age. And so I think this is a really big issue. And again, I always go back to the same thing. People call me an ageist. I had this debate with Bill Maher on his podcast. I'm like, biology is ageist. This has gotten really out of hand. Your thoughts? I agree with all of that and would just add to the mix that. I think Seth Moulton was the problem more than anything about ideology. Yeah, because I think and Ryan Grimm, who was on the podcast the last day of Scott Free August, brought up a really smart point that if Ayanna Pressley, who is very progressive herself, total darling of the left and original squad member. You know, Elizabeth Warren, acolyte, all the things. If she had held her hand up and said, I want to run, that maybe Ed Markey actually would have retired instead of doing this. Or she would have actually won in a primary because people would have said, I can get vaguely the same policies, but in the body of I don't know how old she is, but I think she's in her early 40s now, like an early 40s, bold, progressive woman. And Seth Moulton had not a great image. To the public, he didn't even win his home territory in the North Shore. And I think part of that is just that a more centrist candidate in Massachusetts doesn't make a ton of sense for them. But I think that his kind of moving back and forth on hot button issues, like wanting to be tough, tough on crime and what we were just talking about with crime and policing and immigration. And then he was like abolish ICE or. The fact that he, which I think that he was right in saying that he thinks that trans women and women's sports isn't fair. And he has daughters and he talked about that. And then he got so much pushback that he had to waffle on that. And Markey stood up in the debate and said, yes, I think trans women should be in women's sports. Now, is he on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue? Sure. But on in Massachusetts, I don't think it's that big of a deal for people. I mean, trans issues are very low on the rung of anything that anyone is voting upon. But it's certainly more. In line ideologically with where people are. So I do think a different, frankly, better progressive candidate might have made this different. And I think that should be involved in any analysis or autopsy of what happened in this primary. You know, it'll be interesting to see, like, if AOC does raise her hand and say, I want to run for Senate in in a couple of years. And Schumer will be 76 then, I think, if he just steps aside to avoid. The messiness of that primary. And I think there's a chance Markey would have. Senator Markey's narcissism is going to undermine the ability to pass the laws and create a government and policies that he claims to advocate for. His ego and his narcissism have overridden his loyalty or fidelity to the principles he espouses to. There is a one in three chance that in a Senate that will be very closely divided. He is not going to be able to show up for key votes at some point over the next six years. And to continue to put yourself in these positions of power while not acknowledging the basics of biology is just pure, unfiltered selfishness and narcissism. It infects us. It was Biden. And by the way, it impacts as many Democrats as Republicans. We're actually older. Dems are older. Mitch McConnell is clearly a fucking vegetable. And I don't care how many CNN analysts who are about to become press secretary can come on. I feel stupider with Abby Phillips and lie that, oh, he's doing great. And yet he can't record a 10 second voicemail. I mean, Biden, what the fuck was Biden do? Anyway, as you can tell, I'm a bit triggered by this. It is time for term limits and age limits. A democracy depends upon dynamism and term. Turn over. It infects my industry and higher education. A third of the faculty and I work with one of the finest faculties in the world should be put on a fucking ice flow. And young, young academics can't go into other industries. And students in these institutions that are supposed to be centers of excellence lose all of this incredibly young capital because old people won't fucking go away. You can empathize with them because you lose the ability. No one believes they're going to die. It is. It is instinctive. It's instinctive to not believe you're going to die. Otherwise, you would freak out and not want to go outside. So you don't actually believe you think, oh, you're going to live forever. You can vote on a nuclear arms show. Oh, you'll be able to get down to D.C. for a mandatory vote. You'll be able to defy the odds because you're never going to you're never going to die. No, I should sit around in faculty meetings and make big, bold statements. Despite the fact no one's taking my class and I haven't written relevant research since the Carter administration. because I have tenure. And you end up with, I mean, our elected populace, the average age is 62. The average age of a primary voter, which decides the elections now, is 64. And what do you know, we have no thoughtful conversations around the deficit, around climate change, but don't fuck with Social Security. Anyways, old people, go away. Leave. The biggest infection that ails the world right now is a series of old men who won't leave. Thank you. I just want to say that Ayanna Pressley is actually 52 years old, and I thought that she was my age. She looks incredible. That's it. And I agree. All right. On that note, Jess, we'll leave it there. I'll see you next week. Yeah. See you next week. And with BJ's gas, she's a big fan of BJ's. She gets there for less. Home of the save. Join for just $20 at BJ's.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. 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