Wake Up Live W/ Christopher DeSimone Ep. 429 - Hessam Rahimian, David Schweikert, John Winchester

Channel: Live The Dream Media

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

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[0:24] You're listening [music] to Wake Up with

[0:26] Christopher D. Simone on the Live the

[0:29] Dream Media Network, Southern Arizona's

[0:32] premier live talk and online radio.

[0:47] Good morning and welcome to Wake Up with

[0:49] [music] Chris Christopher D. Simone.

[0:52] Obviously, I am not Christopher D.

[0:54] Simone and neither is my [music] guest

[0:56] host. So, you will be stuck with Ted

[0:59] Maxwell, president, CEO of the [music]

[1:01] Southern Airs Leadership Council, and

[1:03] Shelley Kis. Uh I'm sure Shel will bring

[1:07] all the [music] wisdom to the show

[1:08] today. We will make it uh work out, but

[1:11] we both are honored to sit in for Chris

[1:14] today. We've got a great show uh lined

[1:16] up for you. Uh at the bottom of the

[1:18] hour, we'll be joined by Hassim Rime.

[1:21] Uh, and he's as always providing us with

[1:23] the latest. The thing is Sam will not be

[1:26] here in the studio with us today and he

[1:29] won't be in his studio at home either.

[1:31] So, we'll we'll see where he's checking

[1:33] in from. We know uh he's doing big

[1:35] things uh continuing to keep everybody

[1:38] informed on the reality of uh the the

[1:40] the nation of Iran and what's going on

[1:43] over there. So, I look forward to

[1:44] talking to Assam. He's he's incredibly

[1:46] intelligent. That will be a great

[1:47] conversation. Speaking of intelligent,

[1:49] we'll be joined by Congressman David

[1:51] Schwiker at the top of the 8 o'clock or

[1:54] the top of the 7 o'clock hour. And then

[1:56] for the last closing segment, John

[1:59] Winchester, Republican candidate for

[2:01] LD17 House, will be with us to give us

[2:04] an update of where all that sits. So,

[2:06] how are you doing today, Shel?

[2:07] >> I'm doing great. How are you, Ted?

[2:09] >> I'm doing good. You know,

[2:10] >> this is exciting.

[2:11] >> This is This is fun.

[2:13] >> I think Chris is calling this the Shell

[2:15] Ted.

[2:16] >> Yes, he's he's trying to tag it. I

[2:17] haven't quite figured out how it is. I'm

[2:19] sure he's just sitting back chuckling

[2:20] somewhere and uh Christopher will be

[2:22] back with you tomorrow for the show,

[2:24] >> but uh today he's asked us to come in

[2:26] and sit in. And I always appreciate this

[2:28] opportunity because there's nobody who

[2:30] has been uh quite as engaged as you have

[2:32] with the Republican party here in Pima

[2:34] County. So, I'm always looking to you

[2:36] for an update on on what what's the

[2:39] latest and what's how you're feeling,

[2:40] especially heading into three weeks

[2:42] away. And you know, I'm going to I'm

[2:44] going to say it. We need to make sure

[2:46] everybody votes. There's not any reason

[2:50] to not vote. You need to get out there.

[2:52] You need to be heard. And uh if you

[2:55] don't, then as the old saying goes, you

[2:58] really shouldn't be complaining about

[2:59] the outcomes. So, you got to make sure

[3:00] if you've got your ballot and it's not

[3:02] in yet, please fill it out. You can take

[3:04] it down to a voting center. You can drop

[3:05] it in the mailbox until about the 27th.

[3:07] Uh there's a lot of different ways. And

[3:08] if you want to show up on November 3rd,

[3:10] you can do that, too. So, so what are

[3:11] you hearing on the front on how the uh

[3:14] vote in this this region and in the

[3:15] state's going so far?

[3:17] >> So, first off, if you if you look

[3:20] yesterday, Georgia broke broke all

[3:22] records over 180,000 people on the first

[3:24] day of voting. So, this midterm is so

[3:28] important and people are getting it. So,

[3:29] they're showing up to vote and I think

[3:31] we're going to see that here in Arizona,

[3:33] too. Uh I just came back from the

[3:35] Arizona Federation of Republican Women

[3:37] weekend conference up in Prescuit. It

[3:40] was amazing. Uh we had uh just just to

[3:45] kind of give you an idea of what a

[3:46] lineup at ACFRW looks like, we had

[3:49] Congressman Gossar Crane Buret from

[3:53] Tennessee and Clyde from Georgia.

[3:57] Uh we had a conversations with Congress.

[4:00] We had Representative Basuchi and

[4:02] Senator Finchum talking about the

[4:04] legislature. Uh, and then we spent the

[4:08] day stuffing over 2,000 sleeves for

[4:12] distribution. We made 2,700 phone calls.

[4:15] We sent out almost 600 postcards. Uh,

[4:19] and by the way, to get postcard stamps,

[4:22] we had to go down to Tumacry, I think

[4:24] that's how you say it, and Rio Rico.

[4:28] There there are no postcard stamps. Wow.

[4:30] >> I mean, it's uh finding postcard stamps

[4:33] is something. So, you know what that

[4:34] tells me? Everybody is hard at work

[4:37] sending things out and we did texting.

[4:39] So, we had a huge effort and you know

[4:42] what? It was the first time I've seen

[4:45] the RNC, the ACGOP and the ACFRW all

[4:49] partner together to work on a campaign.

[4:52] And so, I'm really excited. I'm feeling

[4:54] good about this.

[4:55] >> Well, there's no doubts nationwide the

[4:56] midterms have gotten a lot of attention,

[4:58] but in Arizona, they're just as

[5:00] important as ever. the I mean

[5:03] >> I won't say everything's up for grabs.

[5:05] We know that in this state 25 of the 30

[5:08] districts should be fairly safe for one

[5:11] party or the other, but uh LD17 is one

[5:14] down here. That's why I'm excited to

[5:15] have John Winchester in. It's it's one

[5:16] that's considered considered a little

[5:18] bit of a battleground for control of the

[5:20] the House and the Senate and the state

[5:22] of Arizona.

[5:23] >> Yeah. And I'm not sure about that. I

[5:25] don't understand that. We need all the

[5:27] Republicans up there at LG17 to just uh

[5:30] pull up your boots and get out there and

[5:32] go vote. And you know, I I think the

[5:35] thing that really frustrates me, Ted, is

[5:38] that you may not like the individual,

[5:42] okay? Uh but what happens is when they

[5:45] all get there in January, they go

[5:48] through and they put a little red stripe

[5:50] or a blue stripe on their nose. Then

[5:52] they count those stripes and those

[5:54] stripes decide who's going to be the

[5:56] chairman of those committees and that's

[5:59] decides what's going to get through.

[6:01] It's that simple.

[6:03] >> It it it actually it is that's the best

[6:05] way to explain it and all you have to do

[6:06] is look at the number of uh legislative

[6:09] actions and bills that actually pass and

[6:12] make it to the governor's signatur

[6:14] governor's desk. It may all not get

[6:15] signed by the governor,

[6:16] >> but the number of bills that go up, the

[6:19] percentage is well north of 90%.

[6:22] >> Are coming from the majority party?

[6:24] >> Yep.

[6:24] >> And that's not going to matter if it's

[6:26] Republican or Democrat. That's how the

[6:27] game is played. And and the control

[6:30] exists in those uh committees like you

[6:33] mentioned. And the majority party will

[6:35] have the chair of all of those

[6:38] committees. It makes a huge difference

[6:39] on not only the legislation you can talk

[6:41] about, but the legislation that even

[6:43] gets heard

[6:44] >> and and it's the chairman of those

[6:46] committee that make the decision. And so

[6:50] if the chairman of all those committees

[6:51] is a Democrat,

[6:54] we you know, Representative Basuchi,

[6:56] he's he's just a hoot. Uh he was sharing

[7:00] with us some examples of some Democrat

[7:02] bills and I mean he some of them are

[7:06] just funny. They're just funny. You

[7:08] can't even imagine that people would

[7:10] write that. Uh but so, you know, it's a

[7:14] math game. Uh we also had one of our

[7:16] speakers, Nathan Jackson, who's the

[7:18] political director for Restoration of

[7:20] America. He was talking about how he's

[7:23] just really not a math guy, but this is

[7:26] really all about math and he's learned

[7:29] that.

[7:29] >> That's that's very true.

[7:30] >> And that's where we are today. So, in

[7:32] LD17, let's look at the the

[7:35] registration. let's look at the numbers

[7:37] and then let's go out and vote. A

[7:39] >> and the in, you know, the thing people

[7:41] have to understand, you hear that uh

[7:43] Arizona's becoming a purple state. And I

[7:44] think if you look at our politics and

[7:46] where it rolls out, it's it's it's

[7:48] starting to to trend that, but that's

[7:50] really more about the number of the rise

[7:52] of the independents necessarily than the

[7:54] rise of the Republicans. Republicans

[7:55] still have about a 320,000

[7:58] voter advantage in the state of Arizona.

[8:01] yet we've got so many of these races

[8:04] that are going to be incredibly tight.

[8:06] Um because there's there's only about a

[8:08] 20,000 30,000 you may have a better

[8:10] number than me advantage between the

[8:12] Republicans and the independents.

[8:13] >> Right

[8:14] >> now all independents they're they're not

[8:16] independent. They most of them vote like

[8:18] the party they came from because you

[8:20] know that's been a a segment of the

[8:22] voting populace. Um, what have you seen

[8:25] as far as the Republicans outreach to

[8:26] those independents or try to at least

[8:28] ensure that the former Republican

[8:30] independents are are coming back to uh

[8:33] to roost?

[8:34] >> So, I live in the largest precinct in

[8:36] Puma County, precinct 84, um, just by

[8:39] sheer number and also the largest

[8:42] Republican precinct. Um, what we're

[8:46] doing is we've gone through and we've

[8:48] hit all of our Republicans. We've we

[8:52] have quite an operation down there. Uh

[8:55] and now we're going through and we're uh

[8:57] hitting the de the independents. And

[8:59] what we do is we focus on those

[9:01] independents that pulled a Republican

[9:03] ballot in the primary because we know

[9:05] they're coming out. They're 4x4 voters.

[9:08] So make sure that you go after those

[9:10] independents and remind them to come and

[9:13] vote. Uh, but I I actually think the

[9:16] independents as more and more stuff is

[9:19] coming out, I think they're going to

[9:21] lean over to the right. I really do. I

[9:23] think they're they're going to see the

[9:25] advantages of this. You know, there was

[9:27] a report that just came out and it's

[9:29] about, you know, where states are in

[9:33] their fiscal responsibility. And as you

[9:35] know, I am my my deal is fiscal

[9:38] responsibility. I am probably far more

[9:41] to the right than even you, Ted,

[9:43] [clears throat]

[9:44] uh, when it comes to fiscal

[9:45] responsibility. And North Dakota came

[9:47] out number one.

[9:49] But who do you see at the bottom?

[9:51] California, Illinois, New York. Those

[9:54] people are not fiscally responsible. And

[9:57] who runs those states?

[9:58] >> Where was Arizona?

[10:00] >> You know what? I couldn't find Arizona

[10:01] on the list. [laughter]

[10:02] >> Okay, that's a bad sign.

[10:04] >> We didn't make the list at all. That's

[10:06] not good. Well, I think we're on the

[10:08] list, but we're not number one and we're

[10:10] not number 50. So, that's the good news.

[10:12] Uh, but I mean, let's look at some of

[10:15] the stuff we're facing here in Arizona.

[10:17] It is an embarrassment

[10:20] that we are not able to do an audit of

[10:23] our agencies.

[10:24] How can you possibly consider voting for

[10:28] a governor who for four years has either

[10:31] been late on the submission of the audit

[10:34] or hasn't done it at all? She is now

[10:37] saying that she will get the tw I

[10:40] believe it's the 25 audit

[10:42] submitted one month after the 26 audit

[10:46] is due.

[10:47] >> Historically, can you talk about that?

[10:49] When when when in the past have those

[10:52] audits been accomplished? They have they

[10:54] were accomplished under the Ducy

[10:56] administration

[10:57] >> and and uh you know timing sometimes

[10:59] sometimes we get wrapped up in the

[11:01] timing of everything but when you've

[11:03] only accomplished one over four years

[11:05] that's saying the focus isn't where it

[11:08] should be

[11:10] >> and and I agree with that. So I mean

[11:12] that's just the competence of that's

[11:14] just management. That's just good

[11:16] management. But here's the thing. Right

[11:18] now, the University of Arizona, ASU, um,

[11:22] Northern Arizona University, they are

[11:25] having missed opportunities

[11:27] because there are grants that they

[11:29] cannot apply for and and putting us in a

[11:33] position, you know, hand tying us so

[11:37] that we can't compete. That's what's

[11:40] going on right now. That's what we're

[11:42] seeing and that's what worries me the

[11:44] most. And even considering giving that

[11:48] governor another four years is is just

[11:51] it just doesn't make sense to me. Why?

[11:53] When you go to a restaurant and you get

[11:56] bad service, you don't keep going back

[12:00] to see if you continue to get bad

[12:02] service. And we've done that now for

[12:04] four years in a row. We've gotten bad

[12:07] service. We're not managing our

[12:09] resources. we're not managing our our

[12:12] the uh money that's coming into the

[12:14] state, the federal money. And you know

[12:16] what? Say what you want. For two more

[12:18] years, we're going to have a Republican

[12:21] administration in Washington DC. And

[12:23] there is an assistant secretary sitting

[12:25] at HHS that is going to make a decision

[12:28] about Arizona.

[12:29] >> Well, that is that is very true. And

[12:31] again, this this all goes back to this

[12:34] is our opportunity to have our voice.

[12:37] We're, you know, three weeks away.

[12:39] You've got to get the ballots in. If

[12:40] you're if you're going to mail it in,

[12:42] please get it in before the 27th. If

[12:43] you're going to carry your ballot, your

[12:45] early voter ballot into any of the

[12:47] polling uh places. Please show your ID.

[12:52] That means it doesn't go through the

[12:54] signature verification process. It

[12:56] immediately will get marked, especially

[12:57] the closer you get to election day. I

[12:59] mean, one of the things we've always

[13:01] been concerned about because in the

[13:02] nation we sometimes look foolish because

[13:05] we'll have an election and 7 days later

[13:07] we're still trying to tell you who won.

[13:09] >> Ask Juan Ciscoani.

[13:10] >> Exactly. And and speaking of close

[13:13] races, you know, we're we're going to

[13:14] have several close races in this uh in

[13:17] this county in Puma County, but

[13:19] throughout the state of Arizona. So, I

[13:22] I'm personally this year decided I'm

[13:23] gonna take my early voter ballot because

[13:25] I've voted by mail since I joined the

[13:27] military back in the in 1980. So, I've

[13:30] always been

[13:31] >> I know, scary. I'm old. I'm old. That's

[13:33] that's all there is to it.

[13:35] >> So, that I've I've always been a voter

[13:37] by mail and I believe it's important to

[13:39] have that as an option.

[13:40] >> So, so can I give a shout out?

[13:42] >> Absolutely.

[13:43] >> I want to give a shout out to Constance

[13:45] Hardrove.

[13:47] She is the director of

[13:48] >> Look, look at you giving a shout out to

[13:50] Pima County.

[13:51] >> Well, I'm gonna tell you why. Um, I am

[13:55] gonna say why. I I was probably the one

[13:59] that spoke out against hiring her

[14:02] several years ago. So, I've paid very

[14:04] close attention and she's done an

[14:06] excellent job. I just finished last

[14:09] night. I just finished my poleworker

[14:12] training

[14:14] and I did the online course and of

[14:16] course I have to go do an in-person

[14:18] course as well. So you're going to get

[14:20] about 8 hours of training before you

[14:22] even

[14:22] >> That's good to hear.

[14:23] >> Okay. So now what you just said a lot of

[14:27] people don't know the ID verified drop

[14:30] off is new and she and and she addresses

[14:35] it in the online training. It's

[14:38] excellent online training if you're a

[14:40] pole worker and and it's um I I don't I

[14:44] I probably shouldn't say this, but

[14:46] [laughter]

[14:47] you know how sometimes you try and skip

[14:49] ahead

[14:50] >> because you think you could pass the

[14:51] quiz without taking the training? You

[14:53] can't do that.

[14:55] >> You got to listen. You got to sit there

[14:57] and participate in the training. And

[14:59] after every module, and there's seven

[15:01] modules, you have to take a test.

[15:03] >> And if you miss the test, do you have to

[15:04] go watch the module again?

[15:05] >> Oh, yeah. because you have to get 80% or

[15:08] above. But the ID verified. So what

[15:11] you're talking about, what a great idea

[15:14] that our legislators passed and she has

[15:18] implemented and there will be a separate

[15:21] table that you'll go to with your ballot

[15:24] all sealed in the envelope. You'll go

[15:27] you'll show your ID and that will go in

[15:30] a separate box and it will go straight

[15:33] to tabulation instead of going through

[15:36] the signature verification process. So

[15:38] if you want to take your ballot in,

[15:40] don't just drop it off. Go get it

[15:43] verified.

[15:44] >> Absolutely. And especially if you're

[15:46] going to do it on election day.

[15:48] >> Oh my gosh.

[15:48] >> Because your vote your your ballots will

[15:50] be tabulated the same time every ballot

[15:52] that's that's coming in and getting

[15:54] voted for and verified. So you don't

[15:56] have to wait. If you want your vote to

[15:58] count, please do it right. Thank you for

[16:00] being a volunteer. How are

[16:02] >> Oh, I'm not volunteering. I'll get paid

[16:05] minimum wage.

[16:05] >> You're going to get paid the minimum

[16:07] wage that So do all uh the folks who

[16:10] work at the polling places as observers.

[16:13] >> Not observers, poll workers. So I'm

[16:15] going to there's

[16:16] >> Thank you for clarifying that. So if

[16:17] anybody's wants to sign up to be an

[16:19] observer, realize you're not going to

[16:20] make minimum wage,

[16:21] >> but but you will be there to be part of

[16:23] the process. And that process is is so

[16:25] important. So

[16:28] how many pole workers

[16:32] >> well

[16:32] >> are there and how how do you go about

[16:34] signing? That's something that I'm

[16:36] learning new stuff here today.

[16:37] >> Well, so when you think about it, at

[16:39] every poll, there is an inspector who's

[16:42] the boss, the marshall who maintains the

[16:45] marshall business, maintains law and

[16:48] order, if you will. Uh you'll have two

[16:50] clerks, you'll have an equipment

[16:52] specialist, and you'll have two judges,

[16:56] and so there's I think 129 polls uh vote

[17:00] centers. So times seven. I mean, it's

[17:03] it's a and there's rovers that are

[17:06] members of of the election staff that

[17:08] will come. But it's uh it's quite an

[17:11] operation. And yes, and last night on

[17:14] Next Door, I saw one of my neighbors

[17:16] post that she dropped her ballot off at

[17:20] the drive-thru in Saurita

[17:22] and by 3:00 she got noticed that it was

[17:26] going to tabulation.

[17:27] >> This this the system works. I know

[17:29] there's a lot of folks that doubt it,

[17:31] that think it's, you know,

[17:34] every system will be played by people

[17:36] who want to influence outcomes. We know

[17:37] that. But it's if you get involved and

[17:40] if people like you, Shelley, step in and

[17:42] do the both the work and the

[17:44] observation.

[17:46] I I'm one of those that is 100%

[17:49] confident that our election outcomes are

[17:51] accurate. Does that mean there's fraud

[17:53] or there's folks that are doing things?

[17:55] Of course there is. There's always

[17:56] people always try to get around the

[17:58] system, but it's not significant enough

[17:59] because of people like you

[18:01] >> who are willing to work and the

[18:02] observers that are out there willing to

[18:04] watch and make sure that everything

[18:06] goes. It it would be such a difficult

[18:09] thing to overcome. And I know some

[18:10] people probably listening are going,

[18:12] "Oh, it's not that hard to overcome." It

[18:14] I think it's a lot harder. And to your

[18:16] point on Constra, thank you for giving

[18:17] her a shout out. So many people don't

[18:20] understand the difference between the

[18:21] county recorder and the county elections

[18:23] director.

[18:24] One's to run the system.

[18:26] >> Yep.

[18:27] >> And the others to provide oversight.

[18:29] Different stories.

[18:30] >> Yep. Yep. I think she I think she's been

[18:33] here probably four years now. It's been

[18:35] about four years. And I you know the

[18:38] training that I went through last night

[18:40] and this isn't my first election as a a

[18:42] worker.

[18:43] >> It's not your first rodeo.

[18:44] >> No. And I actually worked out in cells.

[18:47] I went to cells one year because they

[18:50] have such a hard time

[18:51] >> Absolutely.

[18:52] >> uh getting somebody out there because in

[18:53] my case if I'm going to be a marshal

[18:56] then the inspector has to be a Democrat.

[18:59] >> So what's a marshall? So, a marshall is

[19:02] I'm going to be the one that goes and

[19:04] make sure sets the 75 ft line. Okay.

[19:07] >> I'm going to in a loud voice announce

[19:10] that the polls are open at 6.

[19:12] >> That's kind of like a ceremony. That

[19:13] could be fun.

[19:14] >> It is. It's going to be great fun. And

[19:16] then at 7:00 p.m., I will go stand

[19:19] behind the last person in line and that

[19:22] will be the last person that gets vote.

[19:25] You are literally the person that's

[19:28] going to stand there and say it's all

[19:29] over and have to turn people away. Oh

[19:31] man, you could have some people that

[19:32] might get a little angry. But again,

[19:34] don't wait till 7:00.

[19:36] >> Exactly. Don't show up at 6. Well, 7:01.

[19:38] >> Yeah. 7:01. Shel's going to do her job.

[19:41] Get your balance in early. So, we have

[19:42] one thing we haven't done yet is we

[19:44] haven't gone and said say good morning

[19:45] to the wakies and and we've got a pretty

[19:47] pretty good turnout here on the live

[19:49] chat. That's the one I'm going through

[19:50] the YouTube live chat. Uh the Holdens

[19:53] are awake at 67 degrees at Moonshine

[19:55] Manor. That's actually a pretty decent

[19:57] uh temperature for Moonshine Manor. I

[19:59] mean, I come down farther and and Dr.

[20:01] Neil's got 36 a crisp 36 degrees in the

[20:03] Metroplex.

[20:04] >> Um Mother Mcker, thank you for being on

[20:06] board as always. The the Paresies are

[20:08] are listening. Pat, good morning to you

[20:10] as well. Uh

[20:13] >> as I stroll through this, Katherine

[20:16] Weasel, it wouldn't be a morning without

[20:17] Weasel on the on the thing saying good

[20:19] morning to all all the wakies out there.

[20:21] So, it's good good to have you in there,

[20:23] Big Dave. We're we're hoping that you

[20:25] will all continue to comment and

[20:27] participate throughout the show. That's

[20:28] one thing Chris does a very good job at

[20:30] is keeping uh his his listeners and

[20:32] everybody engaged. And so, we appreciate

[20:35] you being here. Um,

[20:38] speaking speaking of Katherine Weasel,

[20:39] she'd like everybody to know CD7

[20:41] candidate Daniel Boutier is having an

[20:43] event today out at the El Rico Park 6

[20:46] p.m. So, if you can show up at out at

[20:48] the El Rio Park and and enjoy him out

[20:50] there, she'd greatly appreciate that.

[20:52] And she too has done all of her

[20:54] training. Um, and she's a little bit

[20:57] more concerned about the fraud in the uh

[20:59] recorder's office and education. So,

[21:02] there, like I said, there are folks out

[21:03] there. The important thing is what I

[21:05] appreciate about people like Katherine

[21:07] is she's going to complain, but she's

[21:10] also going to get involved.

[21:11] >> She is a hard what we need to do. We

[21:13] need to have folks out there that are

[21:14] willing willing to get engaged and get

[21:17] involved.

[21:18] >> So, there's another thing that came out

[21:19] yesterday and we've I think got about 20

[21:21] minutes, Tony. So, I know you'll let me

[21:23] know when we need to go to our first

[21:25] break or maybe a little earlier than

[21:26] that before we are joined by Assam

[21:30] Raheem to talk a little bit about the

[21:32] what's going on in the the Middle East

[21:34] at this point. He's

[21:38] Well, let's real real quick. We want to

[21:40] throw out one thing. Let's give us about

[21:42] we'll go about five more minutes long if

[21:44] that's okay with you, Tony. All right.

[21:46] It's always good to have that voice in

[21:48] the air keeping you on as as I like to

[21:50] say on time and on target, you know, if

[21:52] you if you stray.

[21:54] >> There was an op-ed yesterday written by

[21:56] supervisor Steve Christie in in the

[21:59] Arizona uh Daily Star and it was uh

[22:03] putting out for the no on Prop 425. 425

[22:07] is the permanent and it is permanent um

[22:10] base increase to the expenditure

[22:12] limitation for Pimac County. it uh the

[22:15] books will tell you it's going up $70

[22:17] million. It's an increase, but that's

[22:18] cuz it's taking the $91 million that was

[22:21] set as that limit in 1980 and making it

[22:24] $161

[22:25] in $181.

[22:27] And that translates to about $610

[22:30] million that it will increase what is

[22:32] currently the Pumac County uh

[22:34] limitation. That increase will occur

[22:36] right after. It doesn't result in

[22:38] immediate taxation, doesn't result in

[22:40] immediate expenditures, but it opens a

[22:42] door. And I the headline of Steve's uh

[22:44] op-ed was why give the county a blank

[22:47] check.

[22:48] >> What are your thoughts on Prop 425?

[22:51] >> No.

[22:52] >> That's an that's an easy answer.

[22:54] >> No. And it's not that I haven't thought

[22:56] about it. I I am a financial manager. I

[22:58] get it. I understand particularly

[23:00] government finance and I think this is a

[23:03] very dangerous position to open the door

[23:06] as Supervisor Christie said. Uh you

[23:09] don't want to give them a blank check.

[23:11] Uh, and we we need more accountability

[23:15] than what we're seeing from our board of

[23:17] supervisors. And I'm very concerned that

[23:19] we would consider this. I think Pima

[23:21] County is bordering on a financial

[23:24] crisis. We're getting ready to uh change

[23:27] hands with the uh retirement of Jan

[23:31] Leer. And so, I think that this is not

[23:34] the time for us to uh just give them the

[23:37] keys to the kingdom. And in and my op

[23:40] opinion on this is is I'm also a no on

[23:43] 425 personally. That's my that's my

[23:44] opinion. That's how I'll be voting. Uh I

[23:47] look at the 15 counties in the in the

[23:50] state of Arizona. Seven of them have

[23:51] already authorized increases in their

[23:53] expenditure limitations from those base

[23:55] numbers set in 1980. It goes up based on

[23:58] population, goes up based on uh the the

[24:02] economy, you know, with some of the the

[24:04] indexes that they use. But it it's been

[24:06] running behind and Puma County is up

[24:08] against their expenditure limitation

[24:09] right now. They are at the point

[24:11] >> there's the key

[24:12] >> and they are up against theirs. that

[24:13] prevents them from doing other things

[24:15] they may want to do like raise some

[24:18] taxes from some of the taxing districts

[24:19] they've got to do the things that as uh

[24:21] supervisor Christie points out are in

[24:23] their control and there's there is

[24:25] obviously a lot of programs they want

[24:26] and the challenge has been we've

[24:28] received so much COVID and federal

[24:30] funding since 2020 and that money is

[24:34] expiring or has is no longer coming in

[24:37] and there's a lot of programs and once

[24:39] programs are in place people don't like

[24:41] to give them up and the board of

[24:43] supervisors right now want to keep a lot

[24:45] of these programs that were funded,

[24:49] some needed, some maybe not back in the

[24:51] day um from by the federal government

[24:53] that aren't anymore. They want to turn

[24:54] it into a local funding stream, which

[24:56] means ultimately if you do this, there

[25:00] will be increases in taxes and funding

[25:01] that's going to come along with it.

[25:03] Whether they want to acknowledge that or

[25:04] not, that's not why I'm know as much. I

[25:06] know they've got to address the

[25:08] expenditure limitation. I'm against it

[25:11] because of the size of the increase.

[25:14] They looked at three different things,

[25:15] 25%, 50% or 75% increase, and they

[25:18] picked 75%.

[25:21] Cookanino County just did one and they

[25:22] did 75%. It's a huge change. Maricopa

[25:26] County, when they did theirs, they have

[25:27] passed an increase. They increased

[25:30] theirs by, I believe the actual number

[25:31] was 14%, but 14 or 15%. And in

[25:35] discussions with the board of

[25:36] supervisors, I said, "Why didn't you

[25:37] consider that lower number?" Well, then

[25:40] we'd have to go back to the voters in

[25:42] five or 10 years. And I'm going, what's

[25:43] wrong with going back to the voters?

[25:45] >> We we are supposed to be able to provide

[25:48] oversight and

[25:50] control, some control to what our

[25:53] elected officials do, but not when you

[25:54] set up a number that they believe will

[25:56] be 20 to 25 years before they will butt

[25:59] up against the um expenditure limitation

[26:03] again at current growth rates. That's

[26:05] without increasing in taxes, but they've

[26:08] got limits on how much they can

[26:09] increase, but they can, and you're

[26:11] already hearing talk about it. So,

[26:13] that's my my reason for it. But I

[26:15] appreciate Supervisor Christie as always

[26:16] stepping up and putting something in

[26:18] print and out there in front and telling

[26:20] everybody this this is not the right way

[26:22] to do this. There's a right way to raise

[26:23] the expenditure limitation. This is not

[26:24] it.

[26:25] >> This is not it. This is definitely not

[26:28] it. And and what has happened is all of

[26:31] that COVID money, I think you hit the

[26:33] nail right on the head. And whether it's

[26:34] in our school districts or in our county

[26:36] government, everybody just just got

[26:39] drunk on the money. [laughter]

[26:41] And so now here we are and we've we're

[26:44] going to have to we're going to have to,

[26:46] you know, tighten our belt. This is like

[26:49] uh all this money going away and all of

[26:51] a sudden people just like you said, they

[26:53] don't want to give up these programs.

[26:55] >> Absolutely. So that's that's you've got

[26:57] you've got two nos on 425 from from the

[27:00] two of us. And again, vote how you feel

[27:02] you feel fit, but please vote. Real

[27:05] quick, popular national days today.

[27:06] You've got National Grouch Day. Hey,

[27:09] Chris. Uh, National Cheesecurd Day, I

[27:11] Love Lucy Day, the National Schwarma

[27:13] Day, uh, National Lemon Bar Day. Who

[27:16] knew that one? Roasted Feeasant Day.

[27:18] >> As always, there's a ton of uh holidays

[27:21] being celebrated every single day, but

[27:23] today you've got Shell and Ted Day, I

[27:25] guess, at uh, Wake Up Tucson with

[27:27] Christopher D. Simone. We'll be right

[27:30] back after uh going to our sponsors and

[27:32] getting some Albusto's coffee.

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[33:08] >> It's more of Wake Up with Christ. Simone

[33:10] [music]

[33:11] on the Live the Dream Media Network. Now

[33:14] back to the show.

[33:21] Welcome back. You're joining us on Wake

[33:24] Up with Chris [music] Christopher D.

[33:26] Simone, but today you've got uh Ted

[33:28] Maxwell and Shelley Kis. Shelley, that

[33:30] was a we talked about if we'd be able to

[33:32] fill the first half hour, but as you

[33:34] told me, don't worry. If we needed to,

[33:36] we could fill all two hours. But

[33:37] luckily, we don't have to do that.

[33:39] >> That's a good thing. But we could

[33:41] >> that that that we could appreciate all

[33:43] the comments that are flowing through on

[33:44] the live chat. Uh, one of the ones that

[33:47] uh was was dropped on the the live chat

[33:49] was there's really no limits on the

[33:50] special taxing districts like the

[33:52] library districts. I'm I'm going to have

[33:54] to go do a little more research on that.

[33:56] I thought they had limits too. I know

[33:57] there are and the property tax what the

[33:59] county can do unilaterally, but uh you

[34:02] know that again it goes back to the

[34:03] premise on that one. It's just

[34:07] 25 20 to 25 years is too long to wait to

[34:09] come back to the taxpayers and ask them

[34:11] if they like what you're doing with

[34:12] their money.

[34:13] >> And it's a permanent increase. It does.

[34:15] It doesn't It doesn't go down. So,

[34:18] >> all right. Well, what we have for you

[34:21] now, it's always great. I finally have

[34:23] had the opportunity to meet Hassam

[34:25] Rahmian in person uh at one of the

[34:28] events that uh Christopher D. Simone was

[34:31] putting on and uh I was I was really

[34:34] honored to do it. Sir, thank you for

[34:36] joining us today. you don't have Chris,

[34:38] but you've got Ted and Shel with you to

[34:40] talk about what uh what's going on and

[34:42] appreciate you you joining us on the

[34:44] stream.

[34:46] >> Ted and Shelly, it's a pleasure to be

[34:49] here with you and it is certainly an

[34:52] honor to be able to provide some insight

[34:56] while I'm traveling here in Washington

[34:58] DC. It's good to be here. Well, I

[35:01] appreciate you answering that question

[35:02] because that was going to be the next

[35:03] one is I I know you're not at your own

[35:05] uh office space and you're not here with

[35:07] us in the studio. We appreciate you uh

[35:09] taking the time to call in from

[35:11] Washington DC. So, let's just put that

[35:13] right on the table. Sir, what what are

[35:15] what are you currently doing in

[35:17] Washington DC?

[35:19] >> Absolutely. As you and the listeners

[35:22] know, u the Islamic regime for 47 years

[35:26] has kidnapped Iran hostage, 90 million

[35:29] people. And throughout these years,

[35:32] President Trump finally was one of the

[35:36] only presidents that decided to actually

[35:39] make a difference and took this task on

[35:43] by attacking the Islamic regime with the

[35:46] hopes of dissolving this regime for once

[35:48] and for all. and hopefully provide a

[35:51] world a safer place and an ally like

[35:54] Iran was to us uh before the 1979

[36:00] um Islamic regime takeover. Having said

[36:02] that, there has been a lot of ups and

[36:04] downs. Um I am one of those uh people

[36:08] that decided to do what I can to be the

[36:11] voice of Iranians. Uh my brothers and

[36:14] sisters in Iran don't have the voice. uh

[36:17] often they don't have access to

[36:19] internet. Recently up to 90 days of

[36:22] complete darkness, meaning no internet

[36:25] at all whatsoever. So not much comes out

[36:27] of Iran. And uh when it does, they are

[36:31] not free to talk. Meaning if they get on

[36:34] social media and if they share um any

[36:37] images or any updates, they risk arrest,

[36:42] persecution, torture. And in one of the

[36:46] most recent cases as of couple of days

[36:49] ago, a young lady is going to be on a

[36:52] death row. And this is only because she

[36:56] shared um videos about the latest uh

[37:00] uprisings and what's going on in Iran

[37:03] and how the Islamic regime is getting

[37:05] weak. So it it's it's a challenging

[37:08] time. Uh this is the second time that

[37:11] I'm coming to DC. uh I have always

[37:14] firmly believed and that's one of the

[37:16] reasons that Iran liberty foundation was

[37:19] formed. Raising awareness is the key in

[37:23] this uh matter. I always felt that

[37:27] Americans

[37:28] uh no disrespect I consider myself an

[37:31] American. I've lived here for 37 years,

[37:34] but I'm talking about people that were

[37:35] born in this great nation. Don't value

[37:38] the freedom that they have and they are

[37:42] also very naive and they don't

[37:44] understand the concerns that it's coming

[37:48] uh towards them. For me, for my family,

[37:52] uh this is almost like a rerun of a

[37:55] movie. I can simply

[37:58] remember the days back in 1977

[38:02] and 79 when the uprising took place and

[38:05] with the Islamic regime took over. Um

[38:08] the Islamist uh fundamentalist the

[38:10] clerics joined forces with Marxist and

[38:14] the leftist not having anything in

[38:16] common in their ideology except they had

[38:19] one goal and that was to destroy Sha. Um

[38:22] and uh they did and they won and after

[38:27] that uh obviously the Islamic regime

[38:29] took over and I see the very same here

[38:32] in United States. Uh and we don't have

[38:35] to look far. We can simply see what's

[38:37] going on in France and England right

[38:39] now. Uh those two uh nations are in deep

[38:43] trouble. Um and they brought it up to

[38:45] themselves and hopefully they can work

[38:47] it out. But this is my home. This is

[38:50] where I live and I've often say this. I

[38:54] don't want another 9/11 here in my

[38:56] backyard. Um I get very ticked off when

[38:59] I hear about gas prices. Um I understand

[39:03] times are tough for some people. Having

[39:06] said that, uh it will be a whole lot

[39:08] more difficult to live if we had a

[39:10] nuclear bomb uh thrown at us or any

[39:14] other type of similar uh terrorist

[39:18] actions like the Islamic regime has done

[39:21] for 47 years. Um my goal in here in

[39:25] Washington DC is meet with members of

[39:29] Congress and Senate and there are three

[39:31] things that I have been pushing and

[39:33] these are three items that are truly

[39:38] uh bipartisan. The number one has been

[39:41] free and available internet to the

[39:43] Iranians.

[39:45] I've always felt that something that it

[39:47] should have been long time ago and I'm

[39:50] doing whatever I can in my power to

[39:54] fight that and hopefully accomplish

[39:56] that. The second is the need for

[40:00] Iranians to have the right tools. It's

[40:04] very simple. If you're going to write,

[40:06] you're going to need a pen. If you're

[40:07] going hiking, you need hiking shoes. And

[40:10] if you're going to fight a regime that

[40:14] has been brutalized, terrorized

[40:17] uh the nation for 47 years, you are

[40:20] going to need certain tools. And those

[40:23] tools are guns. And it is one of the

[40:26] things that I am hoping somehow we're

[40:30] going to be able to get to the Iranian

[40:32] people. there are some chatter, there

[40:33] are some good um news that's popping out

[40:37] and hopefully we're going to be able to

[40:38] accomplish that in a large scale.

[40:41] And uh so and and the third item is one

[40:45] of the items that Christopher and I and

[40:48] uh Bob Wells talked about numerous times

[40:52] and that's for a uh propaganda that

[40:56] takes place by United States and uh

[40:59] that's by giving pamphlets that get uh

[41:03] basically thrown out of the planes all

[41:05] over Iran for Iranians especially uh not

[41:09] necessarily in the big cities But in

[41:12] places that they may not have access to

[41:14] any type of uh news from outside world

[41:18] letting Iranians know that United States

[41:21] loves Iranian people. United States does

[41:25] surgical attacks. United States is going

[41:28] after the Islamic regime to free Iranian

[41:31] people. So, these three items are three

[41:35] that are very uh bipartisan and I have

[41:39] to say I'm getting a great positive

[41:42] thumbs up so far from my meetings. Of

[41:45] course, I have two more full days ahead

[41:47] of me.

[41:49] >> So, appreciate uh all you do on this

[41:51] front. It uh I mentioned earlier I

[41:53] joined the military in 1980. So I was a

[41:56] high school senior uh when the uh the

[41:59] Iran revolution occurred and the the the

[42:02] throwing the dismantling of the shaw and

[42:04] the the uh the country and everything.

[42:07] So it's it's close to me, but the

[42:09] majority of folks in our nation

[42:12] are unaware. A lot of them are unaware

[42:13] of it. Just flat. It's it's it's

[42:15] history. You know, it's it's 30 or 50 45

[42:19] years, 46 years now

[42:22] past. How you you're how do you are you

[42:25] able to go back and engage now with the

[42:27] legis the Congress and those folks back

[42:29] there and bring that story of how Iran's

[42:34] current government came to power and

[42:36] more importantly have held on to power

[42:38] for 45 years.

[42:40] >> That that that's a great question. Uh it

[42:43] it's very simple. We can actually see

[42:45] already what's taking place. Look at

[42:47] what happened in New York City. you have

[42:50] the largest

[42:52] and

[42:54] New York City, I mean we're talking

[42:56] globally it's recognized. Um,

[43:00] and you have a Islamist extremist

[43:04] uh leftist uh that is the mayor. That

[43:08] that to me is unbelievable. Look at

[43:11] what's happening in Michigan. Look at

[43:12] what's happening in uh Texas. You have

[43:16] the Islamic fundamentalist little by

[43:19] little gaining their footprint. Times

[43:22] have changed. Um there are uh Islamic uh

[43:26] terrorists and extremists that come

[43:29] after uh our peace and our um way of

[43:34] life uh with guns and torture and

[43:37] killing. But one of the newest methods

[43:40] that has been uh very successful is by

[43:45] immigration

[43:46] and becoming part of the community.

[43:50] That's how they did in France. That's

[43:52] how they did in England and that's how

[43:54] they're doing it the United States. uh

[43:57] basically by increasing their numbers

[43:59] and the family size and uh buying out

[44:03] small communities, building a church, a

[44:06] mosque and uh little by little by having

[44:09] more people come to the neighborhood. um

[44:12] a lot of people that don't necessarily

[44:14] care uh to have that in their

[44:17] neighborhood and to wake up to it and

[44:19] see large number of uh the Islamic

[44:23] extremist with the headscarf and the

[44:26] covering and all the backward things

[44:30] that is from thousand years ago. um you

[44:34] know, they decide to leave the

[44:36] neighborhood and they drop the price of

[44:37] the value of their real estate and the

[44:39] Islamic communities and the Muslim

[44:42] Brotherhood continue to buy more

[44:44] properties and they're getting their

[44:46] foot in the door. Um look at the number

[44:49] of the Islamic

[44:51] um fundamentalists that now are members

[44:55] of our government. uh the last count and

[44:59] we're talking about Congress, Senate,

[45:01] and of course uh just normal state

[45:05] level, it's over 100

[45:09] uh Islamic leftist uh extremist that are

[45:14] now active. Um to me that's alarming and

[45:19] we need to understand that and we need

[45:22] to deal with it. Look at the amount of

[45:25] uh investments by gatar um gatar uh it's

[45:30] or gutter whatever they call it here uh

[45:34] that the billions of dollars has been

[45:37] invested in our IV school uh Ivy League

[45:40] schools um throughout the past years uh

[45:45] that that number is alarming and by the

[45:48] way that explains how we have this

[45:52] challenge with college campuses uh

[45:55] ruining, burning down and really nothing

[45:59] other than uh destruction

[46:02] uh of uh property uh under the uh cover

[46:07] of free Palestine and uh free Gaza.

[46:11] >> Well, that there's the uh everything

[46:13] going on in Gaza has [snorts] obviously

[46:15] heightened some of the awareness of the

[46:17] Middle East and what all is going on

[46:19] there. As far as before we get into some

[46:21] of what your current assessment of the

[46:23] situation, I'd like to you're you're

[46:24] really an expert on so much more than

[46:26] just uh the Iran conflict. You you you

[46:29] understand that region, but thank you.

[46:31] >> I'd love to hear what's the reception

[46:34] you receive when you go back to

[46:35] Washington DC.

[46:37] >> It's great. Um it's it's wonderful. It

[46:40] it is the communication is there. Um

[46:44] unfortunately

[46:46] uh I get much better uh welcome from

[46:51] their right side of the aisle. Uh but

[46:55] I've always been open and transparent

[46:58] and will continue to speak to uh the

[47:03] left as well. I am firmly believer of

[47:06] this is not matter of politics. This is

[47:10] human rights and the most important part

[47:14] of this that we cannot forget is our

[47:18] safety and security. Uh forget the

[47:21] Iranian people. This is about our safety

[47:24] and security. The beauty of this is once

[47:28] we um topple the regime,

[47:32] the world will be a safer place and of

[47:35] course the Iranian people will be free

[47:38] and they have been fighting for it and

[47:40] they want that freedom and they will get

[47:42] it but we need to focus on our safety

[47:45] and our security and that's why this is

[47:48] crucial. Uh it does uh sadden me when I

[47:51] do have uh meetings with few members

[47:55] that are on the left and I clearly see

[47:58] that there is a wall uh that I cannot uh

[48:03] get over but I'm not giving up.

[48:05] >> Do quick followup and then Shel I want

[48:07] to make sure if you've got any thoughts.

[48:10] >> You talk about the wall. So you

[48:11] obviously they take the meetings with

[48:12] you, you get to see them. Do you think

[48:14] the wall is being created by the current

[48:17] political divide and their concern of of

[48:20] remaining office in office or or is do

[48:23] you think it's actually what they

[48:25] believe uh when you're talking to them?

[48:27] No, it's not what they believe. It is

[48:30] basically uh they are in the most part

[48:34] being bullied by few members that are

[48:37] outspoken. They're loud. They're rude.

[48:41] They're wrong. And they're

[48:43] disrespectful.

[48:45] And they lie and they cheat. And they're

[48:48] disgrace to this country. They're

[48:51] disgrace to United States. And those

[48:54] members are so loud and they're such a

[48:58] bully that the rest of the party must go

[49:01] along, unfortunately.

[49:04] >> Um, and that's why I'm not giving up.

[49:06] >> Well, I app I appreciate it. sad that

[49:08] it's it is a political thing versus

[49:10] people getting elected and then being

[49:12] who they are and what they believe.

[49:14] >> It is that's

[49:15] >> it is

[49:17] >> I I do have a question. I think what I'm

[49:20] interested in is is trying to understand

[49:22] better the what the relationship is with

[49:26] the people that are living in Iran and

[49:30] this Iranian

[49:33] government, if you'll call it that. Uh

[49:36] what what is it? What misconceptions do

[49:38] we as Americans have about what it's

[49:41] like over there? What are the Iranian

[49:43] people thinking?

[49:45] >> Shel, that's a great question and thank

[49:47] you for bringing that up. That's one of

[49:49] the talking points that almost I do my

[49:52] best to mention and bring up in every

[49:54] interview. The reality is, and this is

[49:57] very hard to understand, so follow me,

[50:00] the regime, the current regime is a

[50:04] terrorist group of criminal organization

[50:08] that has kidnapped the Iranians. They

[50:12] control what they can say. They control

[50:14] what they can wear. They control where

[50:17] they go, what to do, what music to hear,

[50:21] and the list goes on and on. The Iranian

[50:25] people are not the same as the regime.

[50:30] Meaning the regime is Islamic terrorist

[50:33] and the Iranians wanting to be free from

[50:36] the regime. That's why if you recall um

[50:40] there has been few uprisings in the past

[50:42] 10 years or so. But one of the most

[50:44] recent was about uh January 8th and

[50:47] night unfortunately that anniversary is

[50:49] coming up that uh millions of Iranian

[50:53] took the street and they had nothing but

[50:56] their fist

[51:00] and they were unarmed but they had the

[51:02] courage and all they wanted was freedom

[51:06] and unfortunately the regime opened fire

[51:10] and they've killed them in masses. They

[51:13] killed more than 50,000

[51:16] innocent unarmed protesters. And you can

[51:19] imagine that type of number creates um a

[51:25] concern and uh scares a lot of people.

[51:28] And uh so they're sort of sitting back

[51:31] waiting for that moment that they could

[51:34] take the streets again and hopefully

[51:37] this time for good to be able to get rid

[51:40] of this regime.

[51:42] Thank you. That that is exactly the kind

[51:46] of information I was looking for. You

[51:48] know, Ham, one of the things that I'm

[51:49] thinking right now, I'm sitting here as

[51:51] a woman and I know that more than 50% of

[51:56] the women in America, if they knew how

[52:00] women were being treated,

[52:02] they would not stand for this. How can

[52:06] we help you? And and I'm I'm asking you

[52:09] as a woman, how can we help you

[52:14] save not just the Iranian people, but

[52:17] save the women from the torture and

[52:19] degradation that they're facing.

[52:24] >> We have to raise awareness that that's

[52:26] the only way. We have to make it clear

[52:29] and uh we have to let Americans know

[52:33] that what's going on in Iran is not

[52:37] Iranian. It is brought on to Iranians

[52:41] based on the principles of Islam. And

[52:45] that's the challenge. What are the

[52:48] principles of Islam?

[52:50] Simple. Woman has no right. They cannot

[52:53] wear whatever they like. They have to

[52:55] cover their hair. they have to cover

[52:57] their hand and this and that which is

[52:59] something that it's unbelievable. Um the

[53:03] woman has no right to even divorce their

[53:05] husband. Um if they divorce their

[53:08] husband uh when that comes they cannot

[53:12] have their children. Uh the it it's just

[53:15] uh you know when it comes to um their

[53:17] right and their voting the woman is half

[53:21] the man when it comes to their um power

[53:25] when it comes to uh the society and

[53:29] decision making. Um when a woman gets

[53:33] raped often the woman gets punished. Uh

[53:38] this is what's happening every day in

[53:40] Iran. Um they stone them, they hang them

[53:44] because wanting to be alive, because

[53:48] wanting to live and have a better life.

[53:51] These are the new generation is

[53:54] educated. They're some of the smartest

[53:56] people out there. And when they have

[54:00] access, they see what's happening

[54:02] outside Iran. They see how women are

[54:05] powerful. They have rights. they have uh

[54:09] a opportunity to choose the life that

[54:12] they want for themselves and to have a

[54:15] better life for themsel for their

[54:17] family. So these are the things that

[54:20] women have no right. Um let's look at a

[54:24] very simple entertainment aspect. A

[54:27] woman cannot sing or perform in Iran.

[54:33] Uh, and this is 2026 we're talking

[54:37] about. We have some of the most

[54:40] beautiful talented

[54:43] um, entertainers

[54:45] and they have no right to perform. Just

[54:49] try to wrap your head around that simple

[54:52] thing. Imagine what power this regime

[54:56] has on their people that controls what

[55:01] they do for a living or as an artist.

[55:06] >> Well, thank you for that. I I I do think

[55:09] that this is a very big issue and

[55:11] there's a lot of women in America that I

[55:13] know when they get the awareness, when

[55:16] they understand what's going on, they

[55:19] will stand up. So thank you.

[55:22] >> And I think one of the important things

[55:24] and this is something that your

[55:25] organization again it's if you want more

[55:27] information it's the Iran liberty

[55:29] foundation and it is that simple to find

[55:31] irranliberty.org

[55:33] you can learn more about what Assam is

[55:36] is doing. I think this country doesn't

[55:38] really understand the enormity of the

[55:40] country of Iran. It's got n almost 94

[55:44] million people. It's the 17th largest

[55:47] country by population. Think about that.

[55:49] 17th largest country by population,

[55:52] yet they really don't want anybody

[55:55] interacting with them or telling them

[55:56] what they need to do. And that's because

[55:57] they don't want you to know what they're

[55:58] doing.

[56:00] That That's correct. And you know, I

[56:02] maybe I should share one of hundreds and

[56:06] thousands of horrible um stories that's

[56:11] coming out of Iran uh with you and your

[56:13] audience just so we could understand the

[56:15] extreme

[56:17] part of this regime. Um during January

[56:20] 8th and 9th, there was a young man that

[56:23] uh took part in the uprising. Um he was

[56:28] shot

[56:29] uh a few times on his torso and on his

[56:33] leg.

[56:34] He did not go to the hospital. The

[56:37] reason he did not go to the hospital is

[56:38] because uh the regime will arrest them

[56:42] and he went home hiding. The regime was

[56:46] able to find this young man and remove

[56:50] them from the home. took him to the

[56:52] hospital just enough to do some minor uh

[56:57] treatment and they took him to jail.

[57:00] Throughout the last months

[57:04] he was tortured

[57:07] beyond imaginable.

[57:10] They brought his mom and sister

[57:14] and they had the parents, the mom and

[57:16] the sister in room next door as they are

[57:21] torturing this kid by directly pressing

[57:26] on and hitting the areas that was

[57:31] wounded.

[57:33] And that's how this regime

[57:36] operates. But let's not stop there.

[57:41] his girlfriend was arrested as well

[57:45] and um throughout this process

[57:48] he thought that they want to get married

[57:52] to sort of sets their life so when they

[57:56] get out they are a husband and wife. The

[58:00] regime allowed these two uh by using an

[58:05] attorney and phone lines to get the okay

[58:07] from their parents. And they allowed

[58:10] these two to connect and become husband

[58:13] and wife with the promise of a life

[58:17] ahead

[58:19] only the following day to hang this

[58:23] young man.

[58:26] >> That's the Islamic regime. And I thank

[58:29] so many people. I appreciate what you do

[58:32] some uh getting out there and continuing

[58:34] to tell uh the story. It's a story

[58:37] that's not just of uh what's going on in

[58:39] Iran. It's a story of American history

[58:41] and from the from the early 80s as well

[58:44] as a warning for what you're seeing in

[58:46] this country that's got you as an

[58:50] American scared and worried about the

[58:52] direction we're going to. So, so we

[58:54] appreciate you taking the time. Best of

[58:56] luck in DC. I hope uh the the members of

[58:59] Congress or the staffers that you're

[59:01] back there dealing with now since I'm

[59:02] sure a lot of those members of Congress

[59:03] are out uh uh now campaigning for their

[59:07] reelection. I hope uh they they give you

[59:09] the the time of day and then take

[59:11] seriously the conversations you have

[59:13] with them. So that's uh Ham Rahheemian

[59:16] joining us uh and a regular here with

[59:18] Bob Wells. Those are some of the most

[59:20] incredible conversations because the two

[59:22] of you can really go deep and we

[59:24] appreciate you and uh uh travel safe.

[59:27] >> Thank you. I appreciate you both and

[59:29] look forward to seeing you soon. Take

[59:30] care. God bless.

[59:32] >> Thank you.

[59:32] >> Thank you very much. All right. Stay

[59:34] with us please on Wake Up with

[59:36] Christopher D. Simone. Uh I believe we

[59:38] actually had somebody on the chat that

[59:40] said, "This show is so much better

[59:42] without that loudmouth D Simone." Oh,

[59:44] well that that was Chris. And so he's

[59:47] obviously uh had a great uh opportunity

[59:49] last night in uh Phoenix and he's up

[59:51] there for the day and we'll be back with

[59:52] you tomorrow. But stay with us because

[59:54] when we come back we hope to [music] be

[59:56] talking to Congressman David Schwanker.

[60:01] >> This is Wake Up with Chris [music] D.

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[65:49] >> You're listening to Wake Up with

[65:51] Christopher D. Simone on the Live the

[65:53] Dream Media Network, Southern Arizona's

[65:56] premier live talk and online radio.

[66:12] Welcome back. You are with Ted Maxwell

[66:15] and Shelley Kis on Wake Up without

[66:18] Christopher D. Simone, but he will be

[66:20] back tomorrow uh to continue the the

[66:24] attitude that this show and this morning

[66:26] brings and he definitely set us up with

[66:27] a great lineup today. always uh

[66:30] incredible listening to Assam talk and

[66:32] so that was just

[66:34] >> it was an easy interview because we just

[66:36] had to throw little tidbits out there

[66:37] and he took it down the path for us.

[66:39] >> Yeah, that was phenomenal. That was that

[66:41] was a a a great interview. It's hard to

[66:44] say it's great. But

[66:46] >> the the topics the topic's tough.

[66:48] There's no doubt about it. But the uh

[66:50] the content and the expertise we had

[66:53] just there it was was eye opening and

[66:56] always learn something new. And Shel,

[66:57] again, I got to thank you for your

[66:58] question. I think that's one that uh

[67:00] probably he hasn't had to answer on this

[67:01] show before. It's a from the woman's

[67:03] perspective. So, appreciate you

[67:05] appreciate you bringing that question

[67:06] forward.

[67:07] >> Speaking of great interviews, we are now

[67:10] joined by Congressman David Schwikert,

[67:12] who is uh always brings his aame

[67:16] wake up with Christopher D. Simone. And

[67:19] Congressman, it's great to see you this

[67:20] morning. How how are you doing,

[67:23] >> Shelley, Ted? Um, well, it's the chaos

[67:25] at the Schwikert household. It's spring

[67:28] break, excuse me, fall break. So, the

[67:31] four-year-old um uh demanded a different

[67:35] cereal and the um 11year-old um God

[67:40] heaven knows what she wanted. [laughter]

[67:42] >> Well, it's always good, you know, fall

[67:44] breaks. I remember we were talking about

[67:46] uh you know my age and how old school

[67:48] you know we were lucky to get a spring

[67:49] break and then it was pretty much just

[67:51] us running around the neighborhoods most

[67:52] of the time but now it's you know it's

[67:54] the responsibility of the parents to

[67:55] make sure the kids are entertained and

[67:57] and enjoy

[67:58] >> yeah apparently the old days when I was

[68:00] a kid where mom would just drop you off

[68:02] at the park you know we don't do that

[68:05] anymore that

[68:07] >> it it's true I mean and there's reasons

[68:09] in some of our communities uh being

[68:11] dropped off at the park not a good place

[68:13] to be Well, but you also think about how

[68:17] many kids there were. Um, you know,

[68:20] there was, you know, so many kids and

[68:22] the whole neighborhood and it was the

[68:23] neighborhood. Yeah. Um, society is

[68:26] different today. Um, even beyond actual

[68:30] crime statistics. Um, it's there's just

[68:33] so many fewer children,

[68:35] you know. So, yeah, I think that's a a

[68:39] situation we're starting to have to

[68:41] address and deal with. I mean, you've

[68:42] been talking about it forever, the

[68:44] impact it's having our financials.

[68:47] >> Yeah, Ted. Um, this is one that drives

[68:50] me a little nuts. Um, it's not starting.

[68:52] We should have started to deal with this

[68:54] a decade or two ago because you we see

[68:58] it in our numbers and it it is what we

[69:00] are. Um but it it infuriates people when

[69:04] you try to explain you know uh much of

[69:07] our economic headwind and one of the

[69:10] reasons you have so many people

[69:12] economists fixated on AI is they're

[69:15] using the technology as a substitution

[69:18] for the fact we have so few young

[69:20] people.

[69:22] Um you know we're as a country we're

[69:24] just a a couple ticks above zero

[69:26] population growth.

[69:28] And if you all remember your high school

[69:30] economics class, population was a

[69:33] substantial part of the formula of

[69:35] growing an economy. So it's just what we

[69:37] deal with.

[69:39] >> And so let's just jump to the that on

[69:41] the national the national budget, the

[69:43] debt, everything. I mean, everything in

[69:45] our society has is based on the

[69:48] productivity of our citizens. And with

[69:51] our citizens not growing,

[69:53] all the pro programs or majority of the

[69:56] programs in uh the federal government

[69:58] system has been based on this continual

[70:00] growth.

[70:02] >> How what's next?

[70:04] >> Um look, it's a broken record. It's what

[70:08] we talk about constantly with Chris and

[70:10] those sorts of things is just the basic

[70:12] math problem. Um for every dollar in, we

[70:16] spent a $140 last year. And believe it

[70:18] or not, that was an improvement.

[70:21] But the reason it's so hard is every day

[70:25] we functionally have another 3,3500

[70:29] of us who turn 65,

[70:31] >> right?

[70:32] >> And move into their earned benefits. And

[70:35] when you have a society where in about

[70:38] 20 22 months, somewhere in there, I have

[70:40] to redo the calculations,

[70:43] half of all federal spending will go to

[70:45] those of us 65 and up.

[70:48] Um that's our math problem. It it's just

[70:52] and you know the politicians often the

[70:55] political class waste and fraud. Well,

[70:58] when you actually work through the

[71:00] numbers, you know, there may be a couple

[71:03] hundred billion dollars of waste out

[71:04] there. Excuse me, fraud. There's a much

[71:06] more waste. But if you're borrowing two

[71:11] trillion plus another, you know, 400

[71:14] billion that you borrow from the trust

[71:15] funds, you got a math problem. And

[71:18] finally today, you're starting to see

[71:21] people willing to talk about saying,

[71:22] "Hey, in 5 years, 8 months or so, the

[71:26] Social Security trust fund is empty."

[71:28] And if we follow the law, that's about a

[71:30] 22 to 24% cut in people's checks. and

[71:35] several months later the math says

[71:37] you'll double poverty of seniors. And

[71:40] yet you'll see both on the left and the

[71:42] right um we're almost educated by our

[71:46] political consultants don't talk about

[71:48] these things um because they're

[71:51] functioning political traps but it's

[71:53] math. It's the reality of what's coming

[71:55] at us.

[71:57] So let's talk a little bit of the math

[71:59] that you might be seeing out there right

[72:00] now on the current situation with

[72:02] Congress. Obviously, you will go back to

[72:04] DC after the elections are over and

[72:06] finish finish the this year's uh

[72:08] session. Um, what kind of environment

[72:12] are you anticipating finding when you

[72:14] get back there based on your insight?

[72:16] >> Oh, that's a really Ted, that's a

[72:18] brilliant question. Um, first off, I was

[72:21] there a little bit this last week um

[72:24] packing up and doing some meetings with

[72:26] the economists. It was hysterical. Um, I

[72:30] packed up I had this big Havalina head

[72:33] on my office and put Javier the Havalina

[72:35] in a box and flew him back. I'm just

[72:38] wondering the TSA folks as they were

[72:40] doing the scanning looking going what

[72:42] the hell is but all right but that's the

[72:44] humor part. Um,

[72:48] I was the only actually urban suburban

[72:52] Republican to get reelected in 2018.

[72:55] >> Right? remember that year we lost what

[72:57] 40 41 seats

[72:59] >> and when you get back it's this

[73:01] combination of I can't believe what

[73:04] happened even though 2018 we saw what

[73:08] was coming and we lied to each other and

[73:12] and that's one of my rages I have often

[73:16] is

[73:18] we as as elected people in the political

[73:21] community uh sometimes because we want

[73:24] to raise money sometimes We want to keep

[73:26] our volunteers motivated. We don't tell

[73:29] the truth about some of the information

[73:31] we're seeing. And yet that truth would

[73:33] been the way you could have fixed your

[73:35] message. U fixed how you campaign to be

[73:38] able to have more people get elected. Um

[73:42] but uh the political class is often more

[73:46] concerned about the fundraising

[73:49] than the final outcome and and that's

[73:51] just an incredible frustration. So, when

[73:53] we get back, we actually have some work

[73:54] that has to be done.

[73:57] Will we have the stomach to do it if

[73:59] it's been a tough election? Um, we'll

[74:02] know in about a month.

[74:04] >> So, what are some of those issues that

[74:05] you know need to be addressed that it

[74:08] >> um

[74:10] and this one I despise. I cannot tell

[74:13] you. It it it it leaves this horrible

[74:16] ugly taste in my mouth. Um, but we're

[74:19] burning through so much money Um, so

[74:22] we're about every 150 days we borrow

[74:25] another trillion dollars. We will hit

[74:28] the debt ceiling as a country. Um,

[74:30] probably next January, February, March.

[74:34] Um, if the left were to take the House

[74:40] um what would that negotiation be like

[74:43] with President Trump? And so, do you try

[74:46] to say, "Hey, Congress, we at least

[74:48] control the House and the Senate right

[74:50] now." Do you raise the borrowing limits?

[74:53] Remember, the borrowing limits you're

[74:55] raising is for things you've already

[74:56] spent or already authorized.

[75:00] Um, and there's people like me, uh,

[75:02] every time we've gotten to this, we

[75:04] demand spending fixes, you know, where

[75:08] where we where we see programs that just

[75:10] are ripe with bad acts. You know, in New

[75:13] York City, for the last five years, the

[75:16] number one job creator in New York City

[75:17] is a Medicaid program.

[75:20] You know, that's when we say that term

[75:23] waste and fraud, that's your waste. But

[75:26] turns out you have lots of businesses

[75:28] that make their money off this sort of

[75:30] stuff. So they send armies of lobbyists

[75:32] to fight you from doing the reforms.

[75:36] Um so it's going to be um a couple

[75:38] interesting weeks of battle.

[75:41] And I think you bring a great point up

[75:43] there, the difference between waste and

[75:45] fraud, because we we there's there's

[75:48] going to be fraud. There's going to be

[75:49] people trying to create fraud and take

[75:51] advantage of the systems all the time,

[75:52] but it's to me it's the waste that we

[75:55] know

[75:56] we're continuing to support that's

[75:58] driving these numbers.

[76:00] >> Well, okay. Um, this going to be a

[76:04] little higher level, but it will make

[76:05] sense.

[76:06] Um,

[76:08] Shelley Ted, you you run the state's

[76:11] Medicaid system.

[76:13] Any state, just pick any state. and

[76:17] you've been told over and over, hey,

[76:19] this is free money we're getting from

[76:21] the federal government.

[76:23] Do you really fixate on the scam

[76:27] artists, on the provider that may be

[76:30] scamming the medical system, the people

[76:32] signing up this and that? In a weird

[76:35] way, the way the federal government has

[76:37] set up that cost sharing in Medicaid,

[76:41] you have a number of states that it's a

[76:44] low priority to stop the bad acts

[76:46] because it's cash coming into their

[76:48] economy,

[76:50] >> right? It's federal money. So, we've

[76:53] this incentive system for

[76:56] not allowing bad acts, bad providers,

[76:59] bad this is all screwed up.

[77:02] And I've set off a firestorm over and

[77:05] over and over saying maybe the most

[77:07] powerful way we could get rid of that is

[77:10] say look look state here's the block of

[77:13] money you would spend instead of us

[77:16] micromanaging you we're going to give

[77:18] you this

[77:20] and so when there's the fraud it doesn't

[77:22] raise the federal's tab you you know the

[77:26] state gets the money that the state gets

[77:28] all of a sudden the states and everyone

[77:30] is incentivized to stop the the scam

[77:33] artists.

[77:36] >> I think that's an excellent point,

[77:38] Congressman. I think what happens if we

[77:40] move this to a managed to budget rather

[77:43] than pay per player,

[77:44] >> I going to see a huge change in how

[77:48] states lead and manage their federal

[77:51] programs. But we incentivize them by an

[77:55] outreach program. Get more people

[77:57] involved. Lower your thresholds. do

[77:59] anything you can and we'll give you more

[78:01] money. So, it incentivizes the waste and

[78:05] it encourages fraud.

[78:08] >> You you absolutely nailed it. You you're

[78:10] you're obviously very smart on this. Um

[78:13] and the fascinating thing is you find

[78:18] states like um the lobbyists from New

[78:20] York or Minnesota, particularly

[78:22] California,

[78:24] um they are almost enraged at this idea.

[78:27] Um, we in Arizona actually have an

[78:29] interesting opportunity because our

[78:31] access system is a managed care system.

[78:34] It's a lot of the other affiliated

[78:35] programs though that we know we have

[78:38] some um, you know, the math isn't lining

[78:41] up. um you know when you actually sort

[78:44] of see the audits

[78:47] >> and I think the challenge to your point

[78:49] there is we you can look stateto state

[78:52] and you're going to see the difference

[78:53] in states abilities or desires to run a

[78:56] tighter program but we need federal

[78:59] leadership on this.

[79:00] >> Um Ted, I would you [clears throat]

[79:03] you're going absolutely the right path.

[79:06] Why does one state sometimes have double

[79:09] well almost double the cost of the

[79:12] providing the similar services? Now

[79:14] look, there's regional expense

[79:16] differences. It's more expensive in New

[79:18] York City than it might be in Iowa, but

[79:20] it shouldn't be double or close to it.

[79:24] And and so that's actually why sort of

[79:29] the concept is often referred to as

[79:31] almost a risk sharing, a capitated

[79:33] model. And that's just one of the things

[79:35] we're going to try to take one last run

[79:37] at. I don't

[79:41] my reforms.

[79:44] I often can't even get a single member

[79:46] of Congress to sponsor them with me

[79:49] because you you got to understand it's

[79:51] an army of you know insurance company

[79:54] executives surprising Republican

[79:56] business people that often make their

[79:59] money on this. So it's always about the

[80:01] money. thean said Washington DC is it's

[80:06] not about morality it's not about

[80:08] following the constitution it's not

[80:09] about what's right it's about the money

[80:12] so so based on your the first question

[80:15] we asked talked about this it sounds to

[80:17] me like you expect when you go back

[80:18] after the election that it's going to be

[80:20] one of those situations that it's how

[80:23] much will people be willing to do based

[80:24] on the outcome of of the elections

[80:28] for you personally how

[80:31] do you believe you've got any

[80:33] opportunities to make any inroads on

[80:35] some of the things you've been uh

[80:37] working on so hard knowing that you're

[80:40] not

[80:42] >> um

[80:44] I don't know there is a chance the bond

[80:47] market will still be punishing us.

[80:52] Um we're going to publish a paper today.

[80:54] my joint economic economists. Um, we've

[80:57] been working on CBO responded to a

[80:59] request we gave them a month ago saying,

[81:01] "Build a model of what happens if

[81:04] interest rates are up a half a percent

[81:05] from your baseline to a point and a

[81:08] half." Well, we're already over that

[81:09] half a percent. And their baseline, if

[81:13] you went up a half a percent, excuse me,

[81:15] a point and a half, a half one and a

[81:17] half percent would be a 4.8%,

[81:21] excuse me, 5.8. Sorry, I got to get my

[81:24] math right. 5.8% interest rate on US

[81:27] debt. Well, you know, if we're sitting

[81:29] at 52, 53, we're not that far away. And

[81:34] here's what was terrifying in the paper

[81:36] we're about to publish, and I'll get

[81:37] beaten up on this because people don't

[81:39] like it when you tell them the truth

[81:41] about math.

[81:43] in 2036. So nine budget years from now,

[81:46] you could have as much as 48 48 12% of

[81:51] all available taxes. So you can't use

[81:54] social security, Medicare taxes, the

[81:56] payroll taxes, but you're approaching

[81:58] almost half of all taxes will go just to

[82:01] interest.

[82:04] So there's no doubt I I mean our six

[82:07] largest uh largest programs are the

[82:11] interest on the national debt, defense,

[82:13] Medicare, Medicaid. That that's where

[82:15] our money's going. It's the entitlement

[82:17] programs.

[82:18] >> Yeah. Let's actually walk through the

[82:19] hierarchy. Social Security is number

[82:21] one. Interest is number two.

[82:26] >> Medicare is number three. Medicaid and

[82:29] Obamacare subsidies is number four.

[82:32] defense is actually number five. So the

[82:34] thing that's in the constitution is

[82:37] actually number five. And if these

[82:40] interest rate increases that have

[82:42] happened particularly in the last two

[82:43] months start to weave into the

[82:46] refinancing of the US sovereign debt in

[82:50] a few years interest will be the number

[82:52] one expense in the United States. It

[82:53] will pass social security.

[82:57] And Congressman, I'm going to assume the

[82:59] only solution is to stop spending.

[83:02] >> Um, it's a combination of a number of

[83:05] things. Um, and and here's the problem

[83:07] is uh so often if when you run for

[83:10] office, you you you get educated say,

[83:13] well, just give two sentence answers or

[83:15] 30 second answers. Complex problem, it's

[83:18] going to be a complex solution. you're

[83:19] going to have to do things to um adopt

[83:22] the technology in healthcare to crash

[83:24] the price of healthcare because

[83:26] healthcare is actually um the thing

[83:28] that's moving up the fastest. Um

[83:30] incentives for folks to say, "Look,

[83:33] you're perfectly eligible to retire.

[83:34] Would you like an incentive in your

[83:36] social security check to stay in the

[83:38] labor market?" Um you're going to have

[83:41] to just be willing to touch everything.

[83:44] Um the thing it's like standing for a

[83:46] conservative on, you know, um quicksand

[83:51] is you're going to have to talk about

[83:52] how you want to redesign the entire

[83:54] immigration system in the United States

[83:56] and go to a talent-based system because

[83:59] we need people that grow the economy and

[84:01] pay lots of taxes. Um you can't import

[84:04] poverty anymore. Um and so so you have

[84:08] to think of it as a as

[84:11] I think on one of our lists we had 60 70

[84:15] things you sort of had to do all at once

[84:18] a holistic approach from you know what

[84:21] you're doing in the way you do education

[84:22] to adoption of technology to healthcare

[84:25] to immigration policies and you got to

[84:27] do them all all at once because they all

[84:30] interact with each other

[84:33] >> and I think that's that that's one of

[84:35] the big challenges is people can take

[84:36] things in one at a time, but the it's a

[84:39] holistic solution. You're going to need

[84:41] a lot. It's kind of like

[84:41] infrastructuring infrastructure funding

[84:43] in state Arizona. It's there's no one

[84:45] golden uh arrow that's going to solve it

[84:47] all. It's going to be a lot of little

[84:49] pieces that have to have to change or

[84:51] have to be considered.

[84:53] >> Yeah. And they interlink with you. It's

[84:54] it's like the case where, hey, we built

[84:56] a new bridge, but we still have a

[84:58] two-lane road going to it. you don't get

[85:00] the value, you know, and and trying to

[85:03] explain that to people because so much

[85:05] of our politics have become so trit

[85:08] say something that makes me angry even

[85:11] though I know I'm getting conned

[85:14] um for my emotion instead of my

[85:16] intellect. But as you see in our

[85:18] elections, we often vote for people that

[85:21] spike our emotion, not for folks that

[85:23] actually have ideas that actually work

[85:26] and solve problems.

[85:28] There's no doubt we we need more problem

[85:30] solvers. Well, before we let you get

[85:31] back to fall break, [laughter]

[85:35] >> mean chasing the kids,

[85:37] >> which makes me very nervous because

[85:38] they're in the next room over and

[85:40] suddenly I can't hear them anymore.

[85:42] >> Oh, that that's never a good sign. But

[85:44] before you go, I've got to ask. You've

[85:46] done such a magnificent job of holding

[85:48] on to your congressional district and

[85:50] district. I think every single time they

[85:52] came into that district saying, "Hey,

[85:54] this is this one's at risk. Oh, yeah.

[85:56] Risk." and and every time, no matter how

[86:00] bad they said they were going to you

[86:02] were going to go down, it was going to

[86:03] happen, you preserved it. What's your

[86:05] sense right now? And I'm not asking you

[86:07] to make a prediction on the final

[86:08] outcome, but what are you hearing inside

[86:11] your district?

[86:12] >> Um,

[86:15] [sighs]

[86:17] look, I'm blessed, but this sort of

[86:20] Scottdale, North Phoenix district, it's

[86:24] very well educated.

[86:27] Um, so you don't get to pull the wool

[86:29] over these people's eyes. You know, you

[86:31] you you can't say some fancy things and

[86:34] that don't make sense. Um, you got to

[86:36] grind it out with facts. You got to you

[86:39] got to meet people where their intellect

[86:40] is. Um, it's tough because I've seen

[86:44] some of the data on um, uh, free market

[86:48] Republicans are unhappy with us.

[86:53] independents, which remember

[86:54] independents are now our number one

[86:56] registration in Arizona.

[86:57] >> Yes, they are.

[86:58] >> Are are cranky with us.

[87:01] >> And

[87:03] in many ways for

[87:06] the both the the populist community and

[87:09] politics and the conservative community,

[87:11] um we haven't done a particularly good

[87:13] job of talking to the independents and

[87:15] saying, "Here's why we bring prosperity

[87:19] to Arizona."

[87:21] And my fear is that lack of, you know,

[87:25] meeting people where their interest is.

[87:28] Um, it's gonna it's makes it makes the

[87:30] election tougher for everyone. And and

[87:32] you got to understand the hierarchy of

[87:35] everything from the governor's race, you

[87:37] know, if that's becoming a tough race,

[87:39] you you actually have this sort of we

[87:42] interlock with each other. um the higher

[87:45] up on uh races when they're not doing

[87:47] well, it can affect even down to your

[87:50] state legislature. Oh yeah.

[87:51] >> And go heaven forbid heaven forbid we

[87:54] were to lose the state legislature.

[87:56] >> And for you know some Ted I think you

[87:59] live in what do you live in 17?

[88:01] >> I do. I live in LD 17. rem remarkably

[88:05] important that we as the conservatives,

[88:08] as the Republicans, um hold those seats

[88:12] um to be able to keep the Arizona

[88:14] legislature.

[88:16] >> Fully agree with you, Congressman. As

[88:17] always, we uh appreciate you joining

[88:20] this show. And as a regular uh person,

[88:22] I've valued uh since the first time I

[88:24] met you, probably eight years ago, I

[88:26] valued your insight on uh all the fiscal

[88:28] concerns because that is that you're

[88:30] speaking my language. That's my biggest

[88:32] my biggest worry. Uh great lead in for

[88:35] us because when we come back we're going

[88:37] to be with LD17 Republican candidate for

[88:40] the state house uh John Winchester. And

[88:42] congressman, we wish you the best of

[88:44] luck going forward and good luck with

[88:45] whatever you find when you get back to

[88:47] DC. And I hope you can uh get a couple

[88:48] of things that that you know are

[88:50] important to get solved when you go

[88:51] back. And we look forward to continue

[88:52] having you on this program with

[88:54] Christopher D. Simone.

[88:56] >> You're very kind. Take have a great day.

[88:58] Bye now.

[88:58] >> Thank you, Congress.

[88:59] >> Thank you, Congressman. All right. So,

[89:01] we're going to go and pay a couple bills

[89:02] now, Shelley, and uh keep the lights on

[89:05] here at Live the Dream Media. And then

[89:07] we'll be back with John Winchester. He's

[89:09] uh sitting across uh

[89:12] >> in the sofa.

[89:13] >> I saw him.

[89:14] >> It's good.

[89:14] >> All right,

[89:15] >> we'll be right back with you. Stay with

[89:16] us.

[89:21] [music]

[89:21] >> This is Wake Up with Chris D. Simone,

[89:24] only on the Live the Dream [music] Media

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[92:00] >> DC is a mess, but Arizona Republicans

[92:03] [music] are delivering. Cutting taxes,

[92:05] balancing the budget, protecting girls

[92:07] sports, increasing classroom [music]

[92:09] funding, and securing our border. While

[92:11] radical groups back Democrats to defund

[92:13] the police, Rachel Keshell and John

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[94:48] >> You're listening to [music] Wake Up with

[94:50] Christopher D. Simone on the Live the

[94:53] Dream Media Network. Southern Arizona's

[94:56] premier live talk and online radio.

[95:11] Good morning and welcome back to [music]

[95:13] Wake Up with Christopher D. Simone.

[95:15] We've uh we've had a great lineup of

[95:17] guests thus far

[95:19] with between the conversation with

[95:20] [music] Assam and with Congressman

[95:23] Schwikert and it's it's been an easy

[95:25] show to co-host. So, I appreciate uh

[95:28] Chris reaching out to us and asking uh

[95:30] you to and I to join together on this

[95:33] one and it's been a a great opportunity.

[95:35] Speaking of great fun speaking of great

[95:37] opportunities, make sure you stay with

[95:39] uh Live the Dream Media after this is

[95:41] Southwest Flavor with Ron Arenas will be

[95:43] coming on and then after that it's we're

[95:44] talking sports with Ron and Will Pena.

[95:47] So there may be a little similarities in

[95:49] some of the conversation. So So if

[95:51] there's questions that you don't hear

[95:53] from our next guest, just stay because I

[95:55] believe he's going to be the opening act

[95:57] on Southwest Flavor when this is when

[95:59] this show is over. So uh we are joined

[96:02] now by John Winchester. Uh, we just

[96:04] heard Congressman Swiker say how

[96:07] important LD17

[96:09] is and you are the one of the two

[96:12] candidates for the House in LD7. So,

[96:15] John, thanks for joining us today.

[96:16] Appreciate you being here.

[96:17] >> Thanks for having me. Lord, thanks

[96:19] Chris. Thanks. Thank you, Chris, for

[96:21] having me.

[96:21] >> Yeah, [laughter] he he set up a line.

[96:24] >> Glad to be back.

[96:24] >> He he set up a lineup and gave us an

[96:26] easy shot. So, I'm going to turn over to

[96:28] Shel. And Shel, let at this point, what

[96:31] do you think the most important thing

[96:33] John needs to do? And then we can let

[96:35] him tell us how he's actually doing that

[96:36] to ensure he gets elected in LD17.

[96:39] >> You know what? There is no doubt that

[96:41] John is running the playbook that gets

[96:44] candidates elected and I suspect that

[96:48] you will be elected. And so I think you

[96:51] need to clear your calendar for January.

[96:53] [laughter]

[96:54] uh you may want to take a few days off

[96:56] in November, but I think I've been

[96:58] watching your campaign from the

[97:00] beginning as you know and uh I think

[97:02] you've done all the right things and

[97:04] everybody's been watching your

[97:05] commercials in between great

[97:07] commercials. Um you know it's it's about

[97:11] getting out there and knocking doors and

[97:12] I know you've done that and it's going

[97:15] and speaking and and participating in

[97:18] the community. So tell us how are you

[97:20] feeling?

[97:21] Uh, I mean, I I feel good about our

[97:24] chances. It is it is a Republican

[97:26] leaning district. Um, the most important

[97:28] thing is to get our our Republican

[97:31] voters out. Uh, we've done all the work

[97:33] that we can really since May to um touch

[97:37] swing voters and try to make the case to

[97:40] swing voters that that uh we're focused

[97:43] on um issues that support families.

[97:46] LD17's a family district. It's the

[97:48] densest family population in the county.

[97:51] Um, we have the most alternative school

[97:53] options. We have charters and we have

[97:56] private schools and we have home schools

[97:57] and we have the district schools. Uh, we

[98:00] have uh but that's where it's the place

[98:01] where families live. And my my message

[98:04] to folks has always been business

[98:07] owners, I want to make you make it

[98:08] easier for you to do business and so

[98:10] that families can can thrive here in

[98:12] southern Arizona. And I I think that

[98:14] that's a simple message. Uh, you know,

[98:17] I'm I'm all about making government

[98:18] boring again. I just I want the

[98:20] government to focus on its job and and

[98:23] stay out of everything else. Um, and

[98:25] here in southern Arizona, we have a we

[98:27] have a government that overreaches a lot

[98:29] uh and creates barriers for businesses

[98:31] and for families. Um, so we want to roll

[98:33] back where the government shouldn't be

[98:35] and um but but have the government do

[98:37] its job like law enforcement and and uh

[98:41] uh u you know good good schools and and

[98:44] infrastructure. So,

[98:46] >> so

[98:47] what do you hear about law enforcement

[98:49] in southern Arizona?

[98:50] >> Well, well, we were just talking about

[98:52] this. So, Channel 4 uh put out a story

[98:55] yesterday that state troopers are coming

[98:57] down here, state police are coming down

[98:59] here uh to work on violent crime. And um

[99:03] I frankly that's it's the right idea

[99:06] because our local officials in the city

[99:08] of Tucson, by the way, we are a suburban

[99:10] district and we're all the people that

[99:12] don't want to live in LD17 or don't want

[99:15] to live in the city of Tucson. We don't

[99:17] want to live there. In fact, I of course

[99:18] being born and raised here, my wife and

[99:20] I were living in the heart of the city.

[99:22] We were living over in uh near St.

[99:24] Mary's and Silverbell, and we left

[99:26] explicitly because of the violence. Uh a

[99:29] young lady got raped right right behind

[99:31] our house. um uh and and the the drugs

[99:34] that were in Menllo Park and uh the

[99:36] homeless factor and we were we just

[99:38] wanted to get out. So we moved up to the

[99:40] northwest. So we we explicitly we are a

[99:44] population of people in LD7 that don't

[99:47] want to live in the city of Tucson

[99:48] specifically because of the public

[99:50] safety issues. And uh in fact and I went

[99:52] I was at a it was I had the funnest uh

[99:54] weekend. I I went to uh an Indian uh uh

[99:59] celebration over the weekend. And I was

[100:01] out door knocking last week on Wednesday

[100:02] night, met a guy named Sunny Patel and

[100:05] he's like, "Oh, you should come to this

[100:06] festival." And I was like, "Okay." So I

[100:08] went to the Chinese Community Center and

[100:11] there was just I don't know two 300

[100:13] people from the Indian community from

[100:15] India, not not native uh population that

[100:18] were there and they were having a

[100:19] festival and it was phenomenal. But I

[100:20] was meeting business owners and their

[100:23] their whole everybody wanted to just

[100:24] talk to me about the homeless issue. All

[100:26] of them regardless of what their

[100:28] business was, regardless of what they

[100:29] were doing. like we we have to take care

[100:31] of the homeless issue. We have to take

[100:32] care of the crime element, uh the

[100:34] property damage element. And so it's

[100:37] always been on my mind, state

[100:38] intervention to secure my my hometown.

[100:42] And so we're seeing that happen now.

[100:44] According to Channel 4, the state is uh

[100:46] sending down troopers. Do you know if

[100:48] that I I did not see the announcement.

[100:51] Was that a request from this region,

[100:53] which I'm assuming it wasn't. Is that

[100:55] something that the police departments,

[100:57] local police departments reach out and

[100:59] ask for support? What what

[101:01] >> I can't say I know why I can't say that

[101:04] I know wh how it happened. Uh, of

[101:07] course, President Trump has been doing

[101:08] this in other places at a federal level,

[101:10] which was not welcome

[101:13] >> in in some of the inner cities. Welcome

[101:14] by some, but a lot of inner cities

[101:16] didn't want it. But it's we we're we

[101:19] have failed like law enforcement is the

[101:22] number one priority without secure

[101:24] community

[101:26] business fails and families leave and

[101:29] it's the number one responsibility of

[101:30] government. The number one I will take

[101:33] unpaved roads and have safety and

[101:36] security and and especially as a guy

[101:38] who's raising four kids in this town and

[101:40] it it we have failed. We have failed

[101:42] miserably. People in Tucson know it.

[101:44] They sense it and we're still going to

[101:47] spend a hund00 million a year on unfor

[101:49] on on uh you know lowincome housing

[101:52] rather than put that money into law

[101:54] enforcement to secure our city here in

[101:55] the city of Tucson. It's about

[101:56] priorities. I mean Ted, you know this

[101:59] working with SLC Shelley, you pay

[102:01] attention. Uh it's about priorities. So

[102:03] I don't know how it happened. I'm going

[102:05] to find out. But I just think it's I

[102:07] think it's indicative of where we're at.

[102:09] >> So let's jump to priorities for for some

[102:11] of the listeners that may I know you've

[102:13] been on the show. you're a regular on

[102:14] this. You're getting out as as Shelley

[102:16] said, you're doing all the things you

[102:17] need to to get your voice. What are the

[102:19] your priorities that you believe you can

[102:21] go up to the state

[102:23] not to solve the state's issues, but to

[102:25] bring back and help both LD17 and the

[102:28] southern Arizona region that you care

[102:30] about?

[102:30] >> Sure. So, I I I think uh as I've said,

[102:34] I've talked a lot about education, so

[102:35] I'll skip that one unless somebody wants

[102:37] another earful on my my my passion for

[102:41] for public education um or education in

[102:44] general, K through 12 and and the

[102:46] university systems. But, uh public

[102:48] safety is one um we we need, uh safer

[102:52] communities. Uh if we want business to

[102:55] thrive, I've already said that, you have

[102:57] to have safe communities. You have to

[102:58] have predictability and we don't have

[103:00] that in Tucson. We already have a tough

[103:02] economic environment and that's due to

[103:04] primarily to regulation. Uh some of

[103:07] these business owners I was talking to

[103:08] over the weekend at this celebration at

[103:10] this f Indian festival said why why we

[103:13] have to pay more fees because the city

[103:15] of Tucson can't pay their bills. Um and

[103:19] because that's the truth in the city of

[103:20] Tucson reflexively it's like well just

[103:22] raise fees raise the cost to do business

[103:24] in the city of Tucson. So we have a very

[103:27] fraught for a number of years uh uh

[103:30] economy here and part it's it's

[103:32] exacerbated with public public safety

[103:34] and people feel it uh especially

[103:36] families. I mean of course the powerful

[103:38] testimony from that young man stood

[103:39] before the city council uh earlier this

[103:41] year and said I can't even practice my

[103:44] with my football team in the park

[103:46] because there's a bunch of homeless

[103:48] people doing drugs uh in in the park and

[103:51] we can't we can't even play in our park.

[103:52] Um I I think that so people are just

[103:54] tired of it. But I think that there is a

[103:56] an exacerbation. So that's one. I and I

[103:58] think state police is is an option. I

[104:00] believe it should be exercised by the

[104:02] governor uh for towns that are not going

[104:04] to do their job. But uh it's also about

[104:06] funding. Uh state police are

[104:08] underfunded. I mean

[104:10] >> it's not like it's just the city of

[104:11] Tucson. State police don't have we it's

[104:14] not like there's a sales tax or

[104:15] something that the legislature can levy

[104:17] to help support police. It comes out of

[104:19] the general fund and it's so there

[104:21] aren't the same options like that at a

[104:23] city or or a county might have in

[104:25] funding their police. There there are

[104:26] fewer fewer options, few fewer streams

[104:29] of revenues. We just we need to pay them

[104:31] uh and we need to hire more. I was just

[104:33] talking with uh the troopers and they

[104:35] were like we're the roads are unsafe in

[104:38] certain areas of the of the of of of the

[104:40] state because we just don't have enough

[104:42] officers uh state troopers to to man

[104:44] them. And so we need we need to do that.

[104:46] but they are an option also for for

[104:48] local. So I think that that's important.

[104:49] Uh and so I do I do appreciate that

[104:51] that's happening. I appreciate that

[104:53] Katie Hobbs is sending sending those

[104:54] troopers down to secure our community,

[104:56] but it shouldn't be. It just shouldn't

[104:58] be. Absolutely.

[104:58] >> Um uh but the other is is deregulation.

[105:01] Uh the city of Tucson Pum County

[105:03] exercise a tremendous amount of of

[105:05] regulatory uh uh uh privilege and it is

[105:09] it is choking business. We talk about

[105:11] affordable housing. You know, a lot of

[105:13] my Democratic uh uh colleagues here in

[105:16] Tucson complain about housing

[105:18] affordability, but 30% of the cost to

[105:20] build is regulation. If you want to cut

[105:22] it or or land availability,

[105:26] then then stop making it so difficult,

[105:28] approve plat, lower the cost to build,

[105:31] stop requiring, you know, EV chargers

[105:34] and all of the new home builds that

[105:36] you're doing and and and and and get

[105:38] these projects moving forward. supply is

[105:40] the answer because supply is the

[105:42] problem. We need to increase supply and

[105:45] uh but but they you know affordable

[105:47] housing for for my for my Democratic

[105:49] colleagues is some kind of a uh another

[105:52] government uh subsidy where the

[105:54] government's paying taking tax dollars

[105:56] and paying for it. We don't need to do

[105:57] that. We can drive down costs by

[105:59] building supply. Um and we can build

[106:01] better. Uh right now they're I mean the

[106:03] lots that they're building in they're

[106:04] cramming so many houses in there. It's

[106:06] like the airplane seats, you know, where

[106:08] they're trying to squeeze in another two

[106:10] or three so they can make the p the

[106:12] project pencil. Um, and so those uh at

[106:16] the state level uh really working on on

[106:19] the regulatory environment that that

[106:20] exists elsewhere in the state. I'm

[106:22] hyperfocused here obviously, but that

[106:24] that exists elsewhere in the state.

[106:25] Those are those are some priorities.

[106:27] Well, I and I think there's

[106:28] opportunities there and I know because

[106:30] of how plugged in you are in the

[106:32] business community here and working with

[106:34] uh groups like SALC and others. Um

[106:38] you've heard Jim Toe talk about housing

[106:41] and and how it's not just the regulatory

[106:44] costs. It's the fact that we're using a

[106:47] model for how we determine what the

[106:50] taxes you have to pay when you build a

[106:52] house from the the 60s.

[106:54] >> Yep. Mhm.

[106:55] >> And it's it's

[106:56] >> Well, isn't that Arizona in general? I

[106:57] mean, the gas tax from 1992

[107:00] 4 whatever one 91 so 35 years. I mean I

[107:04] mean it's like it's like this is our

[107:05] model. It's like we don't touch it after

[107:07] a long time. Even though our population

[107:09] has more than doubled even though you

[107:11] know things have changed. We we don't do

[107:13] a good job at the state of revisiting

[107:15] our our structures and our models.

[107:17] >> But we want 425 to be permanent.

[107:20] >> Right. [clears throat]

[107:20] >> Think about it. Think about it. Uh, you

[107:23] know, I I hear what you're saying. I

[107:25] understand it. You're You guys are up

[107:27] north. I'm south of Tucson. Everybody is

[107:29] fleeing Tucson. It's affecting the

[107:32] schools. It's affecting the safety. When

[107:34] I moved here, I moved in the south part

[107:36] of of

[107:38] >> well into Saworita. And I remember

[107:41] saying to my husband, "This will be

[107:42] great because as we get older, we can go

[107:45] ahead and get a condo in Tucson and just

[107:48] have the ability to walk to theater."

[107:51] And so when I came here, I wanted base.

[107:54] Well, my husband wanted baseball,

[107:56] theater, opera,

[107:57] >> university, symphony. We had 14 things.

[108:02] It's gone.

[108:04] >> Yeah.

[108:04] >> Within a a direct flight from it was one

[108:08] of my criteria, a direct flight from

[108:11] Tucson to DC. Even though it was going

[108:13] into IAD, I needed that flight. I hadn't

[108:17] been here a year and that flight was

[108:19] gone. time. There's people miss the fact

[108:22] that a vibrant economy is what helps

[108:26] solve a lot of these solutions. But when

[108:29] the government gets to the point where

[108:30] they're going to solve it without

[108:32] helping that economy grow, it gets

[108:34] worse. So

[108:36] >> here here's a challenge that and and

[108:38] you've worked with a lot of people.

[108:40] You've worked with a lot of folks in the

[108:41] current legislature.

[108:43] When you go when you go up there, we'll

[108:45] just jump to the when. when you go

[108:47] there, do you believe you can bring the

[108:49] Arizona the the southern Arizona

[108:51] delegation, which is going to be

[108:53] predominantly Democrats, along with you

[108:55] on some of these?

[108:56] >> I think that there's opportunity. I

[108:58] think that there's opportunity to work

[108:59] together specifically on education. I

[109:01] mean, the Democrats are are, you know,

[109:03] that's been an issue that they've

[109:05] championed. I don't think that we agree

[109:06] on what that looks like because I'm not

[109:09] interested in just dumping a bunch of

[109:10] money into a system that that broadly

[109:13] doesn't seem to be functioning. Um, and

[109:16] we need to I but I am willing to

[109:17] consider putting more money into a

[109:19] system that if we take if the state

[109:21] takes more control and more oversight of

[109:23] a system that's working, then we can

[109:25] look at uh whether or not we need to put

[109:28] more money into it because I do believe

[109:30] that we need a fully uh funded and

[109:33] properly properly structured education

[109:35] system for the producing the things that

[109:37] the state needs. So I think that there's

[109:39] overlap. I do, but I do believe that my

[109:41] Democratic colleagues, you know, they

[109:43] want an education system that works. So,

[109:45] we're going to try I'm going to try to

[109:46] find uh the places uh where there is

[109:49] overlap that we can uh work on

[109:51] something. Education is going to take is

[109:52] is a big hall. It's not going to be one

[109:54] party. There's no supermajority in the

[109:57] legislature for either party. So, it's

[109:59] going to require, you know, people being

[110:02] able to work across the aisle for

[110:04] solutions. And I just think, you know,

[110:06] that we need to, you know, we need to be

[110:08] able to do that because education, I

[110:10] mean, we're leading this the the state

[110:11] in high school dropouts. I I mean, I

[110:15] don't

[110:15] >> another fine honor.

[110:16] >> I Well, and we are minting I I I try to

[110:19] tell people this for Republicans. I try

[110:21] to tell my Republican colleagues, I

[110:22] said, "We are have an industrialcale

[110:24] production

[110:26] through the education system of families

[110:28] that are going to need government

[110:29] assistance for the rest of their lives

[110:31] because they're failing. If if you can't

[110:33] get a high school diploma, what what are

[110:35] you going to get into? Minimum wage.

[110:38] Again, Tucson leading the charge $15.

[110:40] Now it's over $15 minimum wage is

[110:42] driving entry- level jobs out of the

[110:44] market. Meaning those jobs that might

[110:47] have been available uh for for people

[110:49] who are uh lower don't have that high

[110:52] school level education, they're

[110:53] disappearing. I know because we were at

[110:55] the YMCA. I was working I was running

[110:57] the Northwest YMCA when this happened

[110:59] and we couldn't make it pencil. So we

[111:01] said, well, all of these jobs now are

[111:03] going to require additional levels of

[111:05] work. So we're paying, you know, above

[111:08] minimum wage at the Y eventually, but

[111:11] not to do welcoming at the front desk

[111:14] anymore. Those entry level jobs that

[111:16] these high school kids were coming in

[111:17] and taking, that these early college

[111:18] kids were taking. Now it's you got to do

[111:20] routines in the in their bathrooms

[111:22] because we have to offset for facilities

[111:24] and now you're going to do X, Y, and Z.

[111:26] And we were adding to the load because

[111:27] we couldn't afford it. So these jobs are

[111:29] leaving the market.

[111:30] >> That that's that's a concept that I

[111:32] think people miss by things that minimum

[111:35] wage and other uh

[111:38] >> help to businesses drive is you're now

[111:41] employing what you just explained is you

[111:42] are now employing less people,

[111:44] >> fewer people, fewer people and those

[111:46] jobs are working more. So you're paying

[111:47] them more, but it's still an overall

[111:49] cost savings to you from trying to pay

[111:52] somebody the full minimum wage. You just

[111:53] add a dollar on an individual and give

[111:56] them more responsibility. Now it's

[111:57] earmarked to inflation.

[112:00] >> So it's it makes it even harder on

[112:02] service-based businesses and then we

[112:04] want to complain while these people

[112:05] aren't making a good living. Well, we're

[112:07] trying to do what we can, but that's

[112:09] also what helps to drive out jobs from

[112:10] the market. And I want to go back to

[112:13] education just because I heard you talk

[112:14] about it the other day when you're

[112:16] talking about you're thinking one of the

[112:17] things that we're missing in our

[112:19] education system is we don't have the

[112:21] northstar of what we want for our high

[112:24] school graduates.

[112:25] >> Yeah. and what we what are we trying to

[112:27] create in our education system? You you

[112:30] you talk specifically about an increase

[112:32] I believe in civics and can you kind of

[112:34] talk to your thoughts on why we have to

[112:36] re

[112:37] >> so our education system is is just

[112:39] scattered. So we have district schools,

[112:41] we have charter schools, we have private

[112:42] schools, we have home schools, we have

[112:45] um and then we have the Jed or the CED

[112:47] programs which isn't required. So

[112:49] they're fighting to get kids that should

[112:51] be required

[112:53] creating intentionality. So if if if we

[112:54] work backwards graduation, we want

[112:57] students to have a skill set if they're

[112:58] not going to college or the or prepared

[113:01] to go to college. Right now, your high

[113:04] school diploma does not mean that you've

[113:06] met the minimum requirements to go to

[113:07] any of the state universities, but state

[113:08] dollars are paying for all of it. I

[113:10] mean, that's absurd. I mean, it's just

[113:12] it's absolutely ridiculous. There's no

[113:13] alignment between K through 12 and

[113:16] postsecary. So now we have kids that are

[113:18] coming into to higher education. the

[113:20] amount of remediation that we have to do

[113:22] to get them to level in their first year

[113:24] is is is extensive. It's a lot. So,

[113:27] they're having to take more classes once

[113:28] they get into college just before they

[113:30] get into college level stuff. But not

[113:32] everybody's going to go to college. And

[113:33] we've been pushing kids to everybody go

[113:35] into a four-year degree program. We need

[113:37] to be working with kids once they reach

[113:40] high school, if not earlier, on what are

[113:42] the paths. Are you going to end up are

[113:44] your grades going to get you into

[113:45] college or are we going to start working

[113:47] on getting you a job into one of these

[113:49] fine industries like aerero airplane

[113:52] mechanics or vehicle mechanics or or or

[113:55] any of the trades or you want to get

[113:57] into beauty or or you know get your

[113:59] certifications in the salon businesses

[114:01] or things like that. We need to start

[114:03] working and we need to treat education

[114:05] as a pipeline into gainful employment.

[114:08] And this is bizarre that this doesn't

[114:10] seem to be the the driver. And if and

[114:14] and then the so the other one is because

[114:16] once these people graduate, it's a

[114:17] cyclical system. If they get a job, once

[114:19] they get out, whether it's post-secary,

[114:21] they go to college and then they get a

[114:22] job or they get a job right out of high

[114:24] school, they pay taxes. And the more

[114:27] people paying taxes, the more people go

[114:28] back in, money goes back into the system

[114:30] so that we can fund the next generation

[114:31] to come through. This is how it's

[114:33] supposed to work. And then uh the other

[114:35] is uh uh uh good citizens. We need

[114:38] people that are leaving with an

[114:40] appreciation for the American way of

[114:41] life and how we have our government and

[114:43] the intendent responsibilities

[114:46] that they have in order to perpetuate

[114:48] and secure it. And we just don't have

[114:49] it. We have kids that are leaving our

[114:50] system that think America sucks. And I'm

[114:53] sorry, but you should be we should be

[114:55] creating cheerleaders

[114:57] >> uh for for the American system and the

[114:59] American way of life. I don't want the

[115:01] complexity of the world being dumped on

[115:03] a bunch of high school kids. uh they can

[115:05] learn that in college and they will

[115:06] learn it in college or elsewhere, but

[115:08] they don't need to learn it in the

[115:09] education system. We treat the education

[115:11] system as it's like, well, you know,

[115:13] we're here to make your dreams come

[115:15] true. No, we're not paying tax dollars

[115:17] so that people can live their dreams.

[115:19] They can go we're here to give them

[115:21] tools so that they can go make figure

[115:24] out how to make themselves happy. But

[115:27] we're we're failing on both of those.

[115:29] And the educ the the university system

[115:31] needs to be aligned as well. I will say

[115:33] this, working in the education system

[115:35] and higher education, it's underfunded.

[115:37] We're not putting enough money into

[115:38] state tuition. That is residents who

[115:41] decide to stay here and go to school in

[115:43] our universities. But there's also,

[115:45] here's the counterbalance, which

[115:46] Republicans are right on. There's not an

[115:48] alignment with industries. You know, why

[115:50] do so many kids are graduating from the

[115:52] University of Arizona when our top

[115:53] industries are uh uh aerospace uh and

[115:56] defense are uh health and mining and we

[116:00] have most of our kids are graduating

[116:01] with liberal arts degrees. We don't have

[116:03] a pipeline into the industries that

[116:06] locals residences res kids with in in

[116:08] that live here can go to college and

[116:10] then immediately move in to a sector

[116:13] that is relevant for them to earn a

[116:15] living. Again, the state's interest is

[116:16] people paying taxes. I mean that's

[116:18] that's our interest and we have it's

[116:20] like we don't we don't recognize it.

[116:22] >> The more people that are working also

[116:24] creates a better society. It just does.

[116:27] More people contributing

[116:29] >> to everything we want in the society

[116:32] whether it's the arts or whether it's

[116:35] >> enough folks using the airlines so that

[116:37] we've got the direct flights out of

[116:39] Tucson. We want it. The government can

[116:42] never prop up the society. The society's

[116:44] got to generate it themselves. And I

[116:46] think that's

[116:46] >> we have to trust people,

[116:47] >> but you have to what the government does

[116:49] is give give skill sets to people so

[116:52] that they can live their lives and make

[116:54] good decisions and generate wealth. And

[116:56] I know that that's sometimes a bad word

[116:58] in politics. But government doesn't

[117:00] generate wealth. It spends it. That's

[117:03] it. It takes it from people who

[117:04] generate. Government doesn't generate

[117:06] wealth. People do. And we need that

[117:09] because we need we need uh because

[117:10] that's that's how people live their

[117:12] lives, pay their bills by I mean that's

[117:15] how I pay my bills. I go out and I I

[117:17] earn a living. I have a skill set and

[117:19] and and I get paid for that skill set.

[117:21] Uh and so that's that's where the

[117:23] education system in in the state of

[117:24] Arizona. And the problems with it is it

[117:27] is so dispersed and you have every

[117:30] district 236 districts making their own

[117:32] choices. You have all of the charters

[117:34] making their own choices. You have all

[117:36] the private schools making their own

[117:37] choices. You have all of the home

[117:39] schools making their own choices. And

[117:41] but the state's paying now for all of

[117:43] it. And it's like, but shouldn't the

[117:46] state be we call, again, I always say

[117:48] this, we call it an investment. What is

[117:50] our return? And I don't think anybody's

[117:52] happy with the return. I'm not. I don't

[117:54] think anybody's happy with the return.

[117:56] Um and and and and I I I just think it

[117:59] needs to be fixed.

[118:01] You know, everything that we've talked

[118:03] about today since six o'clock this

[118:05] morning has been segmented pieces of the

[118:08] economy. And the problem that we have is

[118:12] going back to Congressman Schwikert. The

[118:14] problem that we have is we need to take

[118:17] a more um kind of look at it as an

[118:20] umbrella and start looking at all the

[118:22] issues whether it's education, whether

[118:25] it's business. Um so I have a question

[118:28] for you. What committees do you want to

[118:29] be on? uh appropriations and I'm

[118:32] debating between um natural resources or

[118:36] education because we have huge barriers

[118:39] to the future economy in water, energy,

[118:42] and land use. Uh and those will strangle

[118:46] the economy in the future. Arizona's,

[118:48] you know, has tons of opportunity right

[118:50] now, but if we don't solve some problems

[118:52] and ease some restrictions, we're going

[118:54] to we're going to strangle the economy

[118:55] in the next 5 to 10 years. Well, we're

[118:57] going to get strangled in southern

[118:58] Arizona because we're losing population

[119:00] in Coochis. Greenley and Graham were

[119:03] never very big. Santa Cruz was never

[119:05] very big. Puma is suffering. And so, you

[119:10] are going to be one of the only

[119:14] representatives who lives in Puma County

[119:18] who goes to Phoenix.

[119:20] And we need to look at Panal, Puma,

[119:25] Coochis, Greenley, Graham, Santa Cruz,

[119:29] Yuma, or else we might as well just go

[119:31] ahead and rename ourselves. And

[119:33] President Trump's done this well. Maybe

[119:35] your job will be to go up there

[119:37] [laughter] and change the state name to

[119:39] Maricopa. A

[119:40] >> and and we're going to have to work on

[119:41] it. Now, John Winchester will be staying

[119:43] around with Ron Arenas right after this

[119:44] on Southwest Flavor. Unfortunately,

[119:46] we've hit the time. Umpire John. Yes, I

[119:49] heard you tell me that there was an A10

[119:51] in my rearview mirror. But guess

[119:52] [laughter] what? I looked over the

[119:53] shoulder and the F-16 had pulled far

[119:55] away from it. No threat there. But

[119:57] here's one for you, Empire John.

[119:58] Tomorrow on Chris, you will have Matt

[120:01] Mark Van Bern coming in to countdown his

[120:03] top 10 movies dealing with military

[120:06] aircraft in military conflicts.

[120:10] >> So, that could be a good good show for

[120:11] that. And uh and Empire John, I know

[120:13] you'll be listening intently. We'll see

[120:15] if they've got any uh good A10 movies

[120:16] out there. Um can't recall one yet, but

[120:19] we'll we'll work on it. Uh it's always

[120:21] good having people here. Thank you to

[120:23] Chris. We appreciate you allowing

[120:25] Shelley and I to co-host. Shel, as

[120:27] always, it's been a phenomenal

[120:29] opportunity with you.

[120:30] >> Pleasure to work with you.

[120:31] >> And we're going to go to the break now.

[120:33] When you come back, you will still see

[120:34] John Winchester. You won't see Ted and

[120:36] Shel. And you'll [laughter] be joined by

[120:37] Ron Arenas for Southwest.

[120:40] >> Have a great day and have a great

[120:42] weekend.