Douglas Holtz-Eakin joins Allen Jackson to discuss current events.
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Allen Jackson NOW | Allen Jackson: Jobs Report | Allen Jackson Now | April 7, 2026
- Well, good evening and welcome to nashville.
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- I'm alan jackson.
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- Whether you're spending or saving this spring
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- Or some of both.
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- It obviously helps to have at least as much coming in
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- As you have going out.
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- That's just common sense.
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- But with the invention of credit cards and low interest car
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- Loans, balloon mortgages,
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- And a whole collection of student loans,
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- We tend to reach higher than we can sometimes afford.
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- Who among us hasn't admired the 65 inch tv and surround sound?
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- Or maybe that new patio furniture for the spring?
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- Well, that seems like the right thing at the time.
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- But a year later, when you're still paying off
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- The loan and the interest, well,
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- The joy of that impulse has long since faded.
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- America has always been about aspiration and success,
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- But wages don't always keep up with inflation.
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- Without question, the state of the nation's economy.
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- What is top of mind?
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- And while the majority of us support
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- The president neutralizing iran, it doesn't change
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- The concerns that most folks have about making ends meet.
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- President trump is well aware it is working
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- Hard to let everyone know that there will be a strong rebound
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- Once the action in iran has settled down.
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- Listen to how the treasury secretary describes it.
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- This is temporary.
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- We will move beyond this,
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- And we will come out on the other side,
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- And the growth will be better and our security will be real,
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- Not illusory,
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- Which all makes sense, because every time the president
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- Has even hinted at a successful end of the war,
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- The financial and oil markets,
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- They show an immediate improvement.
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- You know,
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- I appreciate the leadership we've seen
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- From this administration on behalf of the american people,
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- Even though there's this unrelenting resistance
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- And hatred coming from all sides.
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- They pressed forward with the goal of serving their country.
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- The leadership of president trump,
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- Marco rubio and pete hegseth, and what they've demonstrated.
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- This should be comforting to all of us.
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- They got american and israeli hostages
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- Released, an accomplishment that the previous administration
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- They just couldn't get done.
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- I recently had the honor of going to the white house
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- To attend an easter lunch gathering with president trump,
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- Along with other pastors and christian leaders.
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- Many of trump's cabinet members were there as well. vice
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- President jd vance, secretary rollins, secretary mullins.
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- They were all there.
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- But my takeaway from the meeting
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- Was that they're normal people.
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- They felt just like us.
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- They had jobs, careers, payrolls and real consequences
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- Before politics.
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- A lot of them know what it means
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- To sign
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- The front of the paycheck,
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- And not just cash one from taxpayers.
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- They didn't spend 30 years learning
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- How to become a career politician.
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- They spent years learning how to solve problems.
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- This isn't a cabinet built in the back halls of washington.
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- It's built from the real world.
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- You know,
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- I recently went to the sec college basketball tournament
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- When i watched those games and saw the elite athletes
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- Performing at a high level.
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- I came away thinking, they're not normal, they're unicorns.
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- They're well over six feet tall. they're nimble.
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- It seemed to me like they could jump over the moon.
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- Well, they have a set of gifts, talents and abilities
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- That are really not normal.
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- They're not typical amongst the broader population.
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- It's rare.
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- On the other hand, those people that i was
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- With in the white house, they felt like normal people
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- That had been given a good measure of authority,
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- And they've used the authority given to them
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- To do extraordinary things on behalf of the american people.
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- You may be wondering what president trump is like.
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- Well, it seemed to me
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- He's the same at the state of the union
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- Or at a global summit as he is behind closed doors.
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- He doesn't have a different speech
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- For congressional members or the media
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- When he's with them, but then have a different message
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- When he's with everyday americans.
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- It's remarkable to watch for someone
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- Whose character is
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- Broadly impugned,
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- With criticism coming from both sides of the aisle, the media,
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- Even those inside and outside the church.
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- I admire the willingness of president trump
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- And his administration to do difficult things.
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- You know, politics is typically framed as doing what's popular
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- Because they want the vote.
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- They will pander
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- In order to remain popular and stay in their position.
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- Well, from my point of view,
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- The members of this administration,
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- They're not traditional politicians.
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- They're not using their authority
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- For personal gain or personal comfort and convenience.
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- They're using the authority that's been given to them to
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- Serve the people.
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- I also had a sobering takeaway from the white house meeting.
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- I was concerned, in fact, to be honest,
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- I was embarrassed for the church.
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- We have a greater authority than any politician does.
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- Yet we spend our authority
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- On personal comfort and convenience,
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- Praying that our kids will make it
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- Into their little league team,
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- Or that our headache would go away,
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- Or that we could drive a better car.
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- We've got to be aware of the greater authority
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- We have as children of god,
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- As ambassadors for the eternal kingdom of god.
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- Just imagine what would happen
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- If we used that authority and began to pray
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- About the destiny of our communities where we live
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- And the schools
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- Where our children go and the nations of the world.
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- Why shouldn't we be praying that this time next easter,
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- That they'd be able to worship jesus publicly in iran
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- And cuba, in gaza and in venezuela?
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- You know, as christians,
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- We've been guilty
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- Of using the invitation into the eternal kingdom of god
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- For our personal comfort and convenience.
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- Folks, we have to change.
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- We have to imagine that we're here to impact our world.
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- It's going to be difficult.
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- There's going to be pushback.
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- We should expect the resistance to come with that.
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- But we must persevere because as christ followers,
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- We still have an assignment to be salt and light.
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- There are good things ahead and there are opportunities.
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- So let's be fully engaged in doing his work.
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- Everywhere we go, no matter what.
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- With all that on the table, in a moment, we'll hear
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- From the former director of the congressional budget
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- Office, doug holtz-eakin.
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- Now he's the president of the american action forum.
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- I'll be right back.
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- I'll be right back.
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- I know it's hard to predict the future
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- Direction of the economy with so many moving parts,
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- But there are people who know
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- How to interpret the current data
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- Well enough to guide the rest of us.
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- One of the best is doug holtz-eakin.
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- He's the president of the american action forum
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- And the former director of the congressional budget office.
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- Welcome back, doug.
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- You know, it's so hard to figure out
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- If things are getting better or getting worse,
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- Given how political everything has become.
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- But the most recent jobs report
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- Surprised everyone with very good news.
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- 178,000 jobs added last month, which was double or triple
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- What was expected.
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- Please begin
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- By telling us where you think things are right now.
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- Let me say a little bit about that jobs report,
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- Because it's my sworn duty as an economist
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- To bring the dark cloud for every silver lining.
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- 178 is a great number, but,
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- That that report looks a lot like recent reports that relied
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- Heavily on the health sector,
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- Which produces about 90,000 of those jobs,
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- Half of them got a little help
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- From construction and transportation.
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- But it's not broad based, jobs growth.
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- That's sort of, the lesson there.
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- The other lesson is
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- That jobs is probably not the bellwether
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- Of the economy anymore.
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- We used to always wait for the jobs
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- Report to see how we're doing.
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- So it's more important to take a look
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- At the unemployment rate, which is still at 4.3%, and
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- Look at wage growth, which is about 2.5%.
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- An annual rate, has been as high as three and a half recently.
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- So, when you hear these labor numbers coming out,
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- Don't focus so much on that jobs number anymore.
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- It's it's not really telling us very much.
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- Well, before the war with iran started, it was the economy
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- On a better trajectory than it had been.
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- We had had really rapid growth in the third quarter
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- Of last year, 4.4%.
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- It dipped to literally 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
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- Part of that is the government shutdown.
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- So it's probably closer to something like, 2%.
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- But it would have been slowing down in the wild cards in,
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- In the outlook.
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- Where would the household sector be able to continue to spend.
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- And that's that was the one open question.
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- We've seen good spending flatline in the fourth quarter
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- And would businesses continue to invest at the pace
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- They had
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- And get the productivity that we were
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- We were seeing out of those investments?
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- So far we've gotten the right answer to both of those.
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- We got,
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- Pretty good
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- Retail sales report, and we'll see if that translates
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- Into a good quarter of spending.
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- We've had pretty strong investment
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- And orders for new capital goods.
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- So that's good news for the outlook.
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- Estimates for the first quarter is going to
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- Still come in relatively slow, 1.3%.
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- But that's the third wild card,
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- Which is the hostilities in iran,
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- Which have been in a bit of a headwind to the economy.
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- One of the benefits that's going to kick in this spring is
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- The bigger irs refunds and lower taxes for a lot of people.
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- Are there signs of that money
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- Showing up in consumer confidence yet?
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- The sentiment numbers have stayed pretty strong.
- 00:09:04.570 --> 00:09:08.073
- You know, a lot of people worry that, you know, with the,
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- Hostilities price of gas going up, all the bad news
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- That you hear, that the consumers might head south.
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- No sign of that.
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- They still remain relatively optimistic
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- About the near-term outlook.
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- The cash is showing up.
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- We can see that in the irs data.
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- Getting a couple of hundred bucks back.
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- More than that in years past.
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- And, all evidence is people will spend it.
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- So, i don't see, doom and gloom
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- Forecast where somehow we're going to run into a recession.
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- Given what we know now,
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- We're going to grow a little more slowly than we
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- Otherwise might have grown,
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- And it'll pick up as the year goes on.
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- Well, the gross domestic
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- Product was on a strong track prior to the start of the war.
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- What sort of growth do you think the country
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- Will have by the end of the year?
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- I think we'll be back to something that looks like 3%.
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- I thought we'd average 3% for the year, but now i think,
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- There'll be a slower start because of the war.
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- And but what we'll pick up
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- In the second half and see a strong finish in 2026.
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- I'm curious, do you have any details on
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- Whether the interest
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- Deduction for cars
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- Made in america is helping consumers in the automakers,
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- Especially given the high cost of new vehicles?
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- I don't think that's big enough
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- To swing the decision, to be honest.
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- You still have interest rates that are relatively high,
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- Concerns about inflation
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- That are going to keep them relatively high.
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- And, you know, the sticker shock
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- Is the price of the car itself, so that that deduction helps,
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- But it's not big enough to reall
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- Well, following up on the
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- Dodge effort from last year,
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- You were the director of the congressional budget office.
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- Have you seen any noticeable savings
- 00:10:46.905 --> 00:10:48.774
- From the excess spending that team uncovered?
- 00:10:48.774 --> 00:10:52.478
- Those uncovered, some,
- 00:10:52.945 --> 00:10:54.813
- Some spending that can be cut out.
- 00:10:54.813 --> 00:10:56.849
- And they did something that looks like a couple hundred
- 00:10:56.849 --> 00:10:59.985
- Billion dollars.
- 00:10:59.985 --> 00:11:01.487
- Never the 2 trillion that mr.
- 00:11:01.487 --> 00:11:03.522
- Musk, predicted.
- 00:11:03.522 --> 00:11:05.758
- I think the bigger missed by by those was
- 00:11:05.758 --> 00:11:08.961
- We really didn't get the overhaul of the government's,
- 00:11:08.961 --> 00:11:12.731
- Information systems, the, the capacity to be
- 00:11:12.731 --> 00:11:16.101
- More efficient in 21st century, the operation of the agencies.
- 00:11:16.101 --> 00:11:19.805
- I'd sure like to see that happen.
- 00:11:19.805 --> 00:11:21.540
- That that's long, long, long overdue.
- 00:11:21.540 --> 00:11:24.877
- You know, was a great idea.
- 00:11:24.877 --> 00:11:26.678
- Probably not executed to 100%.
- 00:11:26.678 --> 00:11:28.614
- And and there's still room for improvement.
- 00:11:28.614 --> 00:11:31.216
- Well, doug,
- 00:11:31.550 --> 00:11:32.518
- Listening to you, it seems to me that you think
- 00:11:32.518 --> 00:11:33.819
- The snapshots of the economy are all pretty positive.
- 00:11:33.819 --> 00:11:36.789
- Do you think the news is good enough
- 00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:38.056
- To have a positive impact on the midterm elections?
- 00:11:38.056 --> 00:11:41.360
- That's a that's a great question.
- 00:11:42.094 --> 00:11:44.329
- That the news we haven't talked about is inflation.
- 00:11:44.329 --> 00:11:46.698
- And i think
- 00:11:46.698 --> 00:11:47.800
- Inflation's going to be the single biggest economic,
- 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:51.103
- Consideration.
- 00:11:51.436 --> 00:11:52.938
- There are two kinds of inflation that people care about.
- 00:11:52.938 --> 00:11:55.107
- One is just the shelter
- 00:11:55.107 --> 00:11:58.377
- Food, gas, the sort of core spending items.
- 00:11:58.377 --> 00:12:01.814
- And the gas price story is a bad one.
- 00:12:01.814 --> 00:12:04.783
- Bad news for for republicans and for the president.
- 00:12:04.783 --> 00:12:08.654
- They're hoping that'll reverse by november.
- 00:12:08.654 --> 00:12:10.189
- We'll see.
- 00:12:10.189 --> 00:12:11.390
- The more general inflation issue is that,
- 00:12:11.390 --> 00:12:14.927
- Inflation is not back at 2%.
- 00:12:14.927 --> 00:12:16.995
- Inflation was back to three and now is going north
- 00:12:16.995 --> 00:12:20.399
- Instead of south.
- 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.533
- We're going to get two reports, this week.
- 00:12:21.533 --> 00:12:24.603
- Worth keeping an eye on it.
- 00:12:24.603 --> 00:12:25.671
- The one we get on thursday
- 00:12:25.671 --> 00:12:27.706
- Will be, a report on the trends in inflation prior to the war.
- 00:12:27.706 --> 00:12:31.877
- That's the so-called personal consumption
- 00:12:31.877 --> 00:12:34.379
- Expenditure price index, the fed's preferred measure.
- 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:36.915
- On friday, we'll get the commercial cpi.
- 00:12:36.915 --> 00:12:39.585
- That's going to include march data.
- 00:12:39.585 --> 00:12:40.853
- So it'll be our
- 00:12:40.853 --> 00:12:42.020
- First reading on inflation after the hostilities began.
- 00:12:42.020 --> 00:12:45.257
- And or all expectations are
- 00:12:45.257 --> 00:12:47.826
- That's going to be a very hot number.
- 00:12:47.826 --> 00:12:49.127
- Something that's going up
- 00:12:49.127 --> 00:12:50.062
- Like a full percentage point in one month.
- 00:12:50.062 --> 00:12:52.030
- So a 12% annual rate.
- 00:12:52.030 --> 00:12:53.765
- So be ready for that.
- 00:12:53.765 --> 00:12:55.334
- Well, doug, we need to take a short break.
- 00:12:56.201 --> 00:12:57.736
- Would you stay for another segment?
- 00:12:57.736 --> 00:12:59.705
- Absolutely. in the break.
- 00:12:59.705 --> 00:13:01.573
- You can all log on to aj now.com.
- 00:13:01.573 --> 00:13:03.775
- You can send me an email by clicking
- 00:13:03.775 --> 00:13:05.344
- Right there on the upper right.
- 00:13:05.344 --> 00:13:07.012
- I'll be right back.
- 00:13:07.012 --> 00:13:15.000
- I'll be right back.
- 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.549
- We're back
- 00:13:20.849 --> 00:13:21.783
- Now with the president of the american action
- 00:13:21.783 --> 00:13:23.352
- Forum, doug holtz-eakin.
- 00:13:23.352 --> 00:13:25.287
- President trump made
- 00:13:25.287 --> 00:13:26.288
- That multi-country overseas trip last year,
- 00:13:26.288 --> 00:13:29.291
- And he came back with several commitments
- 00:13:29.291 --> 00:13:30.993
- To invest trillions of dollars here at home factories,
- 00:13:30.993 --> 00:13:34.062
- More jobs, a bigger tax base for the states that housed them.
- 00:13:34.062 --> 00:13:37.399
- Listen to what he said.
- 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.334
- We're determined to have the best technology,
- 00:13:39.334 --> 00:13:42.638
- The brightest minds, the greatest businesses,
- 00:13:42.638 --> 00:13:44.940
- And the strongest economic
- 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:46.375
- And security partnerships of any nation anywhere in the world.
- 00:13:46.375 --> 00:13:50.445
- We're doing really well with building factories
- 00:13:50.445 --> 00:13:52.714
- All over america, the biggest in the world.
- 00:13:52.714 --> 00:13:55.517
- And in america. we don't fear the future.
- 00:13:55.517 --> 00:13:57.519
- We invent the future.
- 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:59.021
- Do you think that having a businessman as president
- 00:14:00.055 --> 00:14:02.491
- Who knows how to get the nation's
- 00:14:02.491 --> 00:14:03.759
- Finances in order, is working
- 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.460
- Better than strictly politicians trying to do it?
- 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:09.164
- Well, i certainly think that we had to do some
- 00:14:09.164 --> 00:14:11.333
- Do better than we've been doing.
- 00:14:11.333 --> 00:14:13.302
- You know, we got some great commitments
- 00:14:13.302 --> 00:14:15.237
- For investments in the united states.
- 00:14:15.237 --> 00:14:17.506
- A lot of them were put in doubt
- 00:14:17.506 --> 00:14:18.840
- By the supreme court ruling on the tariffs,
- 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:20.742
- But they seem to have, circled around and gotten those
- 00:14:20.742 --> 00:14:24.546
- Those commitments firmed back up.
- 00:14:24.546 --> 00:14:25.814
- So, as the years unfold, those those are important,
- 00:14:25.814 --> 00:14:29.618
- Technologies that we created here in the united states.
- 00:14:29.618 --> 00:14:32.354
- That's one of the things
- 00:14:32.354 --> 00:14:33.422
- The united states does better than anyone else.
- 00:14:33.422 --> 00:14:35.023
- When when asked, like, what's unique about the u.s.?
- 00:14:35.023 --> 00:14:37.659
- I always tell the world, we invent things
- 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:39.428
- And we grow things.
- 00:14:39.428 --> 00:14:40.162
- We have unparalleled,
- 00:14:40.162 --> 00:14:41.763
- Farm sector, unparalleled innovative sector.
- 00:14:41.763 --> 00:14:44.366
- So, this firms that up.
- 00:14:44.366 --> 00:14:46.468
- I'd say the the wild card is literally the nation's finances.
- 00:14:46.468 --> 00:14:49.438
- Or we still have too much debt.
- 00:14:49.438 --> 00:14:51.640
- We still are running very large deficits, and and we haven't
- 00:14:51.640 --> 00:14:54.943
- We haven't come to terms with that yet.
- 00:14:54.943 --> 00:14:56.311
- That's the last item on the agenda.
- 00:14:56.311 --> 00:14:58.947
- Well, the
- 00:14:59.247 --> 00:15:00.449
- President has had to lower his initial tariff increases.
- 00:15:00.449 --> 00:15:02.617
- But my question is, are
- 00:15:02.617 --> 00:15:03.752
- They still helping american businesses
- 00:15:03.752 --> 00:15:05.454
- That were being undercut with cheap imports
- 00:15:05.454 --> 00:15:07.756
- And proving useful to consumers here?
- 00:15:07.756 --> 00:15:10.959
- I'd say they're a mixed.
- 00:15:11.493 --> 00:15:12.394
- They're a mixed bag.
- 00:15:12.394 --> 00:15:13.295
- To be honest, the they're helping,
- 00:15:13.295 --> 00:15:16.264
- The those affected industries where you get some tariff
- 00:15:16.264 --> 00:15:18.734
- Protection from, people who are selling below costs
- 00:15:18.734 --> 00:15:21.870
- And using, forced labor in some cases.
- 00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:24.873
- But if you're a manufacturer
- 00:15:24.873 --> 00:15:26.274
- In the us and you're paying more for steel,
- 00:15:26.274 --> 00:15:28.076
- That's the bad news story for you.
- 00:15:28.076 --> 00:15:29.344
- And for some consumers, it's just higher prices.
- 00:15:29.344 --> 00:15:31.713
- And no one likes higher prices.
- 00:15:31.713 --> 00:15:32.948
- So you're going to see some winners and losers out of,
- 00:15:32.948 --> 00:15:35.717
- The tariffs, just like you see
- 00:15:35.717 --> 00:15:37.285
- Winners and losers out of almost every, tax policy.
- 00:15:37.285 --> 00:15:40.022
- I've got a question about government spending.
- 00:15:40.989 --> 00:15:43.058
- You know, for years we heard complaints
- 00:15:43.058 --> 00:15:44.493
- About how we spend money to go into space, into the moon.
- 00:15:44.493 --> 00:15:47.662
- Yeah.
- 00:15:47.662 --> 00:15:48.563
- After a long run of doing very little,
- 00:15:48.563 --> 00:15:49.698
- President trump fired things up again.
- 00:15:49.698 --> 00:15:51.433
- And the entire country is watching
- 00:15:51.433 --> 00:15:52.667
- America circle the moon.
- 00:15:52.667 --> 00:15:53.835
- Now for all the complaints.
- 00:15:53.835 --> 00:15:55.771
- Only 3/10 of 1% of the federal budget is spent on nasa.
- 00:15:55.771 --> 00:15:59.641
- But i think about the fraud
- 00:15:59.641 --> 00:16:00.709
- And the type of ways that the doj's group found.
- 00:16:00.709 --> 00:16:02.677
- It seems like the nasa funding is money very well spent.
- 00:16:02.677 --> 00:16:06.248
- What are your thoughts on that?
- 00:16:06.248 --> 00:16:08.583
- So when the founders and, created the united states, they,
- 00:16:08.583 --> 00:16:12.154
- They really put in the annual decisions of congress,
- 00:16:12.154 --> 00:16:14.756
- The place where we do basic research, infrastructure,
- 00:16:14.756 --> 00:16:17.692
- Education, innovation and national security.
- 00:16:17.692 --> 00:16:20.796
- And and those are the places that are least
- 00:16:20.796 --> 00:16:24.232
- Well funded in the budget that over time,
- 00:16:24.232 --> 00:16:26.802
- The big spending programs social security, medicare,
- 00:16:26.802 --> 00:16:29.671
- Medicaid, affordable care, accident down
- 00:16:29.671 --> 00:16:31.540
- That list have crowded out those kinds of spending.
- 00:16:31.540 --> 00:16:34.776
- And the waste, is a drag on everything.
- 00:16:34.776 --> 00:16:37.379
- So, you know,
- 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:38.513
- If i could wave a magic wand at the federal budget,
- 00:16:38.513 --> 00:16:41.349
- I'd get our fiscal house
- 00:16:41.349 --> 00:16:42.551
- In order by having the revenues matched.
- 00:16:42.551 --> 00:16:44.252
- The spending gets the spending control under the spending
- 00:16:44.252 --> 00:16:47.622
- Under better control.
- 00:16:47.622 --> 00:16:48.623
- But i'd also balance it out better.
- 00:16:48.623 --> 00:16:50.258
- So we are spending on
- 00:16:50.258 --> 00:16:51.693
- The infrastructure and the innovation,
- 00:16:51.693 --> 00:16:53.728
- More than we are right now.
- 00:16:53.728 --> 00:16:55.864
- Although you've mentioned our spending and our enormous debt.
- 00:16:55.864 --> 00:16:59.101
- Let's step out of your policy.
- 00:16:59.101 --> 00:17:00.569
- I mean, your evaluation role, and you can create some policy.
- 00:17:00.569 --> 00:17:04.239
- How do we deal with that debt, given our reluctance to touch
- 00:17:04.239 --> 00:17:08.176
- Welfare and social security and some of those sacred buckets?
- 00:17:08.176 --> 00:17:13.148
- I think the reality is we're
- 00:17:13.748 --> 00:17:15.183
- Going to touch social security, but to name one,
- 00:17:15.183 --> 00:17:18.286
- The social security trust fund goes bankrupt in six years.
- 00:17:18.286 --> 00:17:21.123
- Inevitably, people getting older,
- 00:17:21.123 --> 00:17:22.824
- One year at a time, just like they used to.
- 00:17:22.824 --> 00:17:24.960
- And so when that happens, there's a 25%
- 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.296
- Across the board cut in social security benefits.
- 00:17:28.296 --> 00:17:30.365
- I don't think you or i or anyone would like to see that happen.
- 00:17:30.365 --> 00:17:33.635
- So there will be a social security reform
- 00:17:33.635 --> 00:17:35.570
- And there should be, because right now, if you're 55,
- 00:17:35.570 --> 00:17:39.641
- In ten years, you want to retire,
- 00:17:39.641 --> 00:17:41.343
- You don't know what you're going to get,
- 00:17:41.343 --> 00:17:42.544
- Because we don't know how what the fix is going to look like.
- 00:17:42.544 --> 00:17:45.013
- So it is incumbent upon current and future congresses
- 00:17:45.013 --> 00:17:48.316
- Presidents to take social security
- 00:17:48.316 --> 00:17:50.385
- And make it solvent for the future.
- 00:17:50.385 --> 00:17:52.120
- And in doing so,
- 00:17:52.120 --> 00:17:53.455
- You can do some things like means tested more aggressively.
- 00:17:53.455 --> 00:17:57.025
- Social security was meant to be insurance
- 00:17:57.025 --> 00:17:58.827
- Against outliving your economic resources.
- 00:17:58.827 --> 00:18:01.029
- I think we can all name a few americans
- 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:02.864
- Who are unlikely to outlive their economic resources.
- 00:18:02.864 --> 00:18:05.267
- Maybe they shouldn't get a social security check.
- 00:18:05.267 --> 00:18:07.569
- So if we just got serious about targeting it more effectively,
- 00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:11.306
- I think we can get the spending under control,
- 00:18:11.306 --> 00:18:13.141
- Including social security,
- 00:18:13.141 --> 00:18:14.609
- And make a real run at getting the debt under control.
- 00:18:14.609 --> 00:18:17.846
- So if we could limit the fraud,
- 00:18:17.846 --> 00:18:19.681
- Have the courage to deal with social security,
- 00:18:19.681 --> 00:18:21.483
- We could get a better trajectory.
- 00:18:21.483 --> 00:18:23.318
- No question.
- 00:18:23.318 --> 00:18:24.819
- Half of the spending in the next
- 00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:25.854
- Ten years is social security and medicare.
- 00:18:25.854 --> 00:18:27.689
- And of those two social screws, the easiest to fix is it's
- 00:18:27.689 --> 00:18:31.026
- Just money in. money out.
- 00:18:31.026 --> 00:18:32.661
- Health care is always harder.
- 00:18:32.661 --> 00:18:34.229
- We're going to work on medicare as well.
- 00:18:34.229 --> 00:18:36.264
- But that's less dramatic changes.
- 00:18:36.264 --> 00:18:37.599
- That's that's steady, continual attempts
- 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:39.901
- To improve the quality of health care in the united states.
- 00:18:39.901 --> 00:18:42.871
- Well, doug, thank you for covering
- 00:18:43.638 --> 00:18:45.006
- So many different issues for us today.
- 00:18:45.006 --> 00:18:47.309
- We'd love to have you back.
- 00:18:47.309 --> 00:18:48.543
- Once things settle down a bit after this iran fight is over.
- 00:18:48.543 --> 00:18:51.947
- Well, let's let's hope that soon.
- 00:18:51.947 --> 00:18:53.515
- I'd love to be back any time.
- 00:18:53.515 --> 00:18:55.016
- Let a little moment your emails.
- 00:18:55.016 --> 00:18:56.718
- The inbox is full again
- 00:18:56.718 --> 00:18:58.353
- And i'll be answering your good questions.
- 00:18:58.353 --> 00:19:00.855
- I'll be right back.
- 00:19:00.855 --> 00:19:07.999
- I'll be right back.
- 00:19:07.999 --> 00:19:13.235
- Thank you for taking the time to send your emails there.
- 00:19:14.369 --> 00:19:16.638
- Always a highlight.
- 00:19:16.638 --> 00:19:18.206
- Nina from the bronx wrote i'm terrified
- 00:19:18.206 --> 00:19:21.042
- By the mark of the beast causing refusers of it to die.
- 00:19:21.042 --> 00:19:24.079
- A quick or a slow, agonizing death.
- 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:26.915
- And they have no way to pay for
- 00:19:26.915 --> 00:19:28.216
- Food, water, electricity, medicine
- 00:19:28.216 --> 00:19:30.118
- And hospitalization, rent, mortgage, fuel, pet food, etc..
- 00:19:30.118 --> 00:19:34.256
- Basic necessities of physical life.
- 00:19:34.256 --> 00:19:37.025
- I'm distressed by no mention in the bible
- 00:19:37.025 --> 00:19:38.827
- Of how we who refuse the mark will survive.
- 00:19:38.827 --> 00:19:41.730
- And i do pray we believers will be caught up in the air.
- 00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:44.332
- Dead or alive with jesus before this overwhelming devastation
- 00:19:44.332 --> 00:19:48.103
- Of suffering and death might occur.
- 00:19:48.103 --> 00:19:50.572
- Well, nina, i think i have good news.
- 00:19:51.373 --> 00:19:53.908
- You know, i trust the same lord that watches over us
- 00:19:53.908 --> 00:19:56.344
- Today to watch over us in the future.
- 00:19:56.344 --> 00:19:59.848
- Our provision and care from god is not dependent
- 00:19:59.848 --> 00:20:04.219
- Upon all the other things happening in the earth.
- 00:20:04.219 --> 00:20:06.888
- What are the scriptural portions?
- 00:20:06.888 --> 00:20:08.623
- It's most helpful to me is jeremiah.
- 00:20:08.623 --> 00:20:10.692
- He was the prophet in jerusalem,
- 00:20:10.692 --> 00:20:12.827
- And he's telling the people that they're going
- 00:20:12.827 --> 00:20:14.429
- To be destroyed, that the babylonians are coming
- 00:20:14.429 --> 00:20:16.331
- And there's nothing they can do.
- 00:20:16.331 --> 00:20:18.166
- And jeremiah has to live through that.
- 00:20:18.166 --> 00:20:19.768
- He has to live through the resentment of his message.
- 00:20:19.768 --> 00:20:21.803
- It wasn't well received,
- 00:20:21.803 --> 00:20:23.538
- But even when the babylonians arrived, god cared for jeremiah.
- 00:20:23.538 --> 00:20:27.475
- He made provision for him, for his future.
- 00:20:27.475 --> 00:20:29.811
- And i'm quite confident
- 00:20:29.811 --> 00:20:31.513
- That whatever's coming on the earth and whatever
- 00:20:31.513 --> 00:20:33.581
- God's timeline for the end of the age,
- 00:20:33.581 --> 00:20:35.717
- That he'll watch over you, even in the bronx.
- 00:20:35.717 --> 00:20:38.620
- God is faithful.
- 00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:40.722
- Judy, be from california.
- 00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:42.824
- You said the email from the gentleman
- 00:20:42.824 --> 00:20:44.125
- Who said he's always been asked for id
- 00:20:44.125 --> 00:20:45.894
- To vote
- 00:20:45.894 --> 00:20:47.128
- Must not live in this crazy but beautiful state of california.
- 00:20:47.128 --> 00:20:49.698
- I'm an 80 year old native.
- 00:20:49.698 --> 00:20:50.832
- I voted for years and i've never been asked.
- 00:20:50.832 --> 00:20:53.268
- I've also registered voters
- 00:20:53.268 --> 00:20:54.769
- In our local mall and never required id.
- 00:20:54.769 --> 00:20:57.172
- I believe it's time.
- 00:20:57.172 --> 00:20:58.573
- God bless you, pastor.
- 00:20:58.573 --> 00:21:00.342
- Well, judy, i couldn't agree more.
- 00:21:00.342 --> 00:21:01.976
- If we need an id to buy an airplane ticket.
- 00:21:01.976 --> 00:21:04.746
- We need an i.d.
- 00:21:04.746 --> 00:21:06.214
- For so many things.
- 00:21:06.214 --> 00:21:07.549
- I think asking for an id to vote is just common sense.
- 00:21:07.549 --> 00:21:10.618
- And finally, victoria from tennessee said,
- 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:13.254
- What are your thoughts on the geneva bible?
- 00:21:13.254 --> 00:21:15.857
- I've never heard of it before today.
- 00:21:15.857 --> 00:21:17.325
- I don't know whether to believe what they say about 22 chapters
- 00:21:17.325 --> 00:21:20.295
- More than the king james version.
- 00:21:20.295 --> 00:21:22.297
- I would love to hear what you know and think about it.
- 00:21:22.297 --> 00:21:24.366
- We can always count on you for the truth. god bless.
- 00:21:24.366 --> 00:21:27.268
- Well, victoria, we'll do a show
- 00:21:27.902 --> 00:21:29.304
- One day on how we got our bible and unpack that whole process.
- 00:21:29.304 --> 00:21:33.475
- But in the meantime, let me give you a portion
- 00:21:33.475 --> 00:21:35.643
- That i think might help,
- 00:21:35.643 --> 00:21:37.112
- You know, the hebrew bible, the old testament.
- 00:21:37.112 --> 00:21:39.481
- We have the opposite issue. we have the new testament.
- 00:21:39.481 --> 00:21:41.316
- We don't have very many manuscripts.
- 00:21:41.316 --> 00:21:42.584
- In fact, the most reliable manuscript
- 00:21:42.584 --> 00:21:44.285
- We have goes back to about a thousand years a.d.
- 00:21:44.285 --> 00:21:47.856
- The scholars went nuts.
- 00:21:48.356 --> 00:21:49.391
- They said it was a corrupt text, that christians
- 00:21:49.391 --> 00:21:51.559
- Had added passages that had been manipulated
- 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.262
- All sorts of things.
- 00:21:54.262 --> 00:21:55.997
- When the dead sea scrolls, the first of the dead sea
- 00:21:55.997 --> 00:21:57.932
- Scrolls, was found in 1948,
- 00:21:57.932 --> 00:22:00.235
- They found a copy of the book of isaiah.
- 00:22:00.235 --> 00:22:01.803
- There was more than a thousand years
- 00:22:01.803 --> 00:22:03.204
- Older than the oldest manuscript we had,
- 00:22:03.204 --> 00:22:06.241
- And the book of isaiah, which had been
- 00:22:06.241 --> 00:22:07.542
- The most scrutinized book, was almost letter
- 00:22:07.542 --> 00:22:09.477
- For letter, identical to the text we had.
- 00:22:09.477 --> 00:22:11.946
- God knows how to protect his word.
- 00:22:11.946 --> 00:22:14.449
- You don't have to be stressed.
- 00:22:14.449 --> 00:22:16.251
- Folks, god's moving in the earth
- 00:22:16.251 --> 00:22:17.519
- And he's watching over you and me.
- 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.521
- I pray you have a blessed night. good night.
- 00:22:19.521 --> 00:22:19.521