WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Okay, let's unpack this. Before we really dive 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.320 into the political and financial deep end of 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.519 our sources today, we just have to acknowledge 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.779 this amazing moment, just incredible stamina, 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.019 really. World Series game three. Tie the record, 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:18.519 right? Longest game ever by innings. Yeah, 18 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:20.879 innings, almost seven hours, finished at what? 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:23.960 Nearly 3 a .m. Toronto time. Unbelievable. And 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.420 get this, within that marathon game, Shohei Otani 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:31.679 reached base. Nine times. Nine times. Four hits, 00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:33.320 five walks. I mean, that's something we haven't 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.719 seen in a postseason game since, like, 1900. 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.179 Wow. It really speaks to a system pushed way 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:40.700 past its normal limits but still capable of producing 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.399 these historic surprising moments. And that's 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:45.039 actually a perfect analogy, isn't it, for what 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:46.619 we're seeing in the sources you've pulled together? 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:50.810 Exactly. Just like that game, we're diving deep 00:00:50.810 --> 00:00:54.609 today into political gridlock, some frankly dizzying 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:56.909 financial maneuvers, and the clock is ticking 00:00:56.909 --> 00:01:00.070 really loudly on all fronts. So our mission here 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:02.450 is to give you a shortcut, basically. A way to 00:01:02.450 --> 00:01:06.670 understand three huge complex stories. The pressure 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:09.950 points in this government shutdown, the surprising 00:01:09.950 --> 00:01:12.930 ways the wealthy are using tax shields, and the 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:15.319 latest legal dramas playing out in D .C. It's 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:17.620 fascinating because all three areas really do 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:20.060 show systems being pushed maybe to their absolute 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:22.180 breaking point, whether it's time pressure, political 00:01:22.180 --> 00:01:25.140 standoffs, or, you know, sheer financial ingenuity 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:26.980 finding loopholes. We're seeing a lot of 18 thinnings 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:28.799 right now. Yeah. Where one sudden move could 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.780 just end the game. Yeah. For better or worse. 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:32.659 Exactly. OK. Let's start with the most immediate 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:35.319 crisis then. The government shutdown clock. As 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:37.480 of tonight, we're entering week five. Fifth week. 00:01:37.659 --> 00:01:39.719 That puts us just seven days away from tying 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.099 the all time record shutdown length, which was 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:44.859 35 days. Wow. OK, so what could actually break 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:47.840 this? Our sources point to maybe four key pressure 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.379 points. That's right. Let's start with the federal 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:53.659 workers themselves. The American Federation of 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:56.560 Government Employees, the AFGE, they represent 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.859 800 ,000 members. Dish number. Massive. And they've 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:01.980 called for Congress to reopen the government 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:05.019 immediately with what they're calling a clean, 00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:07.819 continuing resolution. OK, hang on. For listeners 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:10.219 who might not follow all the legislative jargon, 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:14.580 what exactly does clean continuing resolution 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:17.020 mean here? What makes it clean? That's crucial. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:20.500 Yeah. A clean CR basically just funds the government 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:23.419 at the levels it's already at. No policy changes, 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:25.939 no strings attached, none of what they call poison 00:02:25.939 --> 00:02:27.699 pills. So it just keeps the lights on. Right. 00:02:27.699 --> 00:02:29.919 It's like hitting reset. But the problem is you 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.699 have hardliners in the House who absolutely refuse 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:35.099 to pass anything clean. They want concessions. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.219 They see this as their leverage point. Right. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:39.379 Speaking of concessions, Senator Ron Johnson, 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:42.039 Republican from Wisconsin, he's proposed a kind 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:46.069 of deal. He has. The idea is pay all the federal 00:02:46.069 --> 00:02:48.270 workers retroactively for the time they missed. 00:02:48.409 --> 00:02:51.289 OK, that sounds good. But keep specific language 00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:53.289 in the bill that affirms the president's right 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:59.289 to fire federal workers without cause. So is 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:02.669 that is that a plausible way out for Democrats? 00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:06.490 Paychecks now, but giving up that civil service 00:03:06.490 --> 00:03:09.240 protection? Well. Probably not immediately. Look, 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:11.939 the draw of getting paychecks flowing is obviously 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:15.419 powerful, very powerful. But Democrats see that 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:18.159 language about firing federal workers as essentially 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:20.500 a poison pill itself. Because it changes the 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:22.639 balance of power long term. Exactly. It hands 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:25.360 the executive branch this permanent tool to potentially 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:27.960 gut the civil service based on politics, not 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:30.219 performance. Even if they think courts might 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:32.539 overturn firings later, the risk is just seen 00:03:32.539 --> 00:03:35.360 as too fundamental, too high just to solve a 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.699 short -term political jam. Now, let's talk military 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.039 pay. Big deadline coming up, right? Friday payday. 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:43.020 Yes, and the administration announced they covered 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:45.599 this next one with a, well, a highly controversial 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.080 donation. $130 million from Timothy Mellon, who's 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.139 a longtime political donor. Why, stop there. 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.840 Our sources are pretty clear this is, well, it's 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:55.759 against the rules, isn't it? Right. Violates 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.860 the Anti -Deficiency Act. Can you explain why 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:00.479 that's not just unusual, but actually illegal? 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:02.939 Yeah, it's really important. The Anti -Deficiency 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:06.039 Act basically says public money can only be spent 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:08.780 the way Congress specifically authorized it. 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:11.740 You can't just accept a huge private donation 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:14.819 to cover a core government function, like military 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:17.120 pay. It's an end run around Congress. It's a 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.600 direct end run around Congress's power of the 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.870 purse. And Honestly, it sets a potentially dangerous 00:04:22.870 --> 00:04:25.430 precedent. Could future presidents just bypass 00:04:25.430 --> 00:04:28.230 Congress entirely if they find rich donors? Yeah, 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:30.490 that's a worrying thought. And practically speaking, 00:04:31.129 --> 00:04:34.790 that $130 million, it only works out to about 00:04:34.790 --> 00:04:37.329 $100 per service member, right? Barely. It's 00:04:37.329 --> 00:04:39.089 nowhere near covering a full paycheck. So it 00:04:39.089 --> 00:04:41.449 feels less like a real solution and more like, 00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:44.529 I don't know. political cover, to maybe hide 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:46.350 where the actual money is coming from. That's 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:48.050 certainly a question being asked. Now, a different 00:04:48.050 --> 00:04:50.069 pressure point, one that's becoming very visible, 00:04:50.269 --> 00:04:52.089 is air travel. Ah, the air traffic controllers. 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.389 Exactly. They're essential, so they have to work, 00:04:54.470 --> 00:04:56.269 but they're not getting paid. And we're seeing 00:04:56.269 --> 00:04:58.389 reports of them calling in sick at higher rates. 00:04:58.509 --> 00:05:00.329 Is that a protest, or are they needing to make 00:05:00.329 --> 00:05:04.120 money elsewhere, like driving Uber? Probably 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:05.980 a bit of both, frankly. Whatever the reason, 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:08.759 the effect is real. We've already seen temporary 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:11.800 ground stops or slowdowns at major hubs. LAX, 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:14.399 Chicago Air, Newark. And we're heading straight 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.399 for Thanksgiving. The heaviest travel days of 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:21.240 the year. If this ATC situation continues or 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.079 gets worse, we could be looking at massive flight 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.879 delays, cancellations, millions of travelers 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:29.860 affected. It's a collision course. OK, then there's 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:33.819 maybe the most Emotionally charged pressure point. 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:38.660 SNAP. Food stamps. Yeah. This Saturday, 42 million 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.399 people. Think about that. That's about one in 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.259 eight Americans. Yeah. They're set to lose their 00:05:43.259 --> 00:05:45.579 benefits completely. And the administration stance 00:05:45.579 --> 00:05:47.839 is that contingency funds can't cover it. The 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.000 Secretary of Agriculture says the contingency 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.920 funds aren't available for the regular monthly 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.199 cost, which is about $8 billion. Democrats urged 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.620 him to find a way, but the answer's been no. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:00.470 That is just staggering leverage. Absolutely. 00:06:00.730 --> 00:06:03.930 And you can bet if those benefits lapse, Democrats 00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:06.430 will use that. They'll wield it like a political 00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:09.810 hammer next election cycle. How so? Well, sources 00:06:09.810 --> 00:06:12.149 say they're already planning ads. Picture this. 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.649 Hungry kids versus billionaires. That kind of 00:06:15.649 --> 00:06:19.529 stark contrast. It's a profoundly effective political 00:06:19.529 --> 00:06:21.610 message because it brings the consequences of 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:24.029 this gridlock right down to the kitchen table. 00:06:24.269 --> 00:06:26.430 OK, we have to talk about the leadership situation 00:06:26.430 --> 00:06:30.079 or maybe the lack of it. Speaker Mike Johnson. 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.040 He's offered several explain explanations for 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.899 why this shutdown is dragging on and they seem 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:38.620 Well, they seem to be shifting they have been 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:40.959 yes first He claimed it was a tactic, you know 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.720 to pressure the Senate even though the house 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.199 passed that well that sort of clean bill as you 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.339 called it earlier Okay, then what then the rationale 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:49.319 shifted he started saying GOP members were back 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.980 home having meaningful interactions with constituents 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.240 and they shouldn't be pulled away from that important 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.819 work, but then Here's where it gets, frankly, 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.839 a bit bizarre. Johnson's latest claim seems to 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:04.500 be blaming the shutdown on Zerhan Mamdani. The 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:08.120 New York City mayoral candidate. Yes. Suggesting 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.439 that far -left activists tied to him are somehow 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:14.339 forcing Democrats nationally to demand, I think 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:16.759 the term he used was Marxism. Wait, seriously. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:21.029 We're actually analyzing a claim that a... city 00:07:21.029 --> 00:07:23.209 council candidate in New York is responsible 00:07:23.209 --> 00:07:25.790 for shutting down the entire federal government. 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:28.829 That is indeed the argument that's being floated 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:30.810 and discussed in some circles in Washington right 00:07:30.810 --> 00:07:34.790 now. It's something. Wow. OK. Meanwhile, this 00:07:34.790 --> 00:07:37.329 whole crisis is raising the stakes incredibly 00:07:37.329 --> 00:07:40.230 high over in the Senate, isn't it? Exponentially. 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:42.730 You've got senators like Josh Hawley, Rick Scott, 00:07:43.189 --> 00:07:46.649 Republicans now openly talking about going nuclear. 00:07:47.290 --> 00:07:49.589 Meaning killing the legislative filibuster. Exactly. 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:52.490 And they're citing the SN Act pre -crisis, the 00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:55.029 potential cutoff as the reason, the justification 00:07:55.029 --> 00:07:57.290 for taking such a drastic step. Now, that is 00:07:57.290 --> 00:07:59.310 a massive structural change to the Senate. If 00:07:59.310 --> 00:08:01.269 they actually do it, if they kill the filibuster 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:03.689 just to end this shutdown, what's the long -term 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.209 price? Oh, the price is potentially enormous 00:08:06.209 --> 00:08:08.870 for them because the next time Democrats control 00:08:08.870 --> 00:08:10.550 the House, the Senate, and the White House, the 00:08:10.550 --> 00:08:13.089 trifecta, guess what? No filibuster to stop them. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.699 Precisely. They could pass huge legislation, 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:19.480 D .C. statehood, maybe changes to the Supreme 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:22.240 Court, major voting rights acts with just 51 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.459 votes, zero Republican input needed, because 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:27.480 the filibuster would already be gone and the 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:29.459 GOP would have been the ones to kill it. It really 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:32.279 is robbing Peter to pay Paul, isn't it? Textbook 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:35.200 definition. A short term win, potentially creating 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:39.399 a massive long term vulnerability. OK, let's 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.929 let's pivot dramatically here. We've seen Government 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:45.990 systems pushed to the brink by gridlock. Now 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:47.950 let's talk about a totally different kind of 00:08:47.950 --> 00:08:49.990 game being played. This involves the ultra -rich, 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:52.950 new tax laws, and how they're shielding fortunes. 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:55.149 Right. This revolves almost entirely around something 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:57.700 called bonus depreciation. There's a new law, 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.399 well, a restoration, really, that brings back 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.659 the permanent 100 % write -off for certain business 00:09:03.659 --> 00:09:05.899 assets in the first year you buy them. And that's 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:07.639 a big change from how it was working recently. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.340 Huge change. Before this, that benefit was actually 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.480 shrinking each year. So for example, if you bought, 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:14.740 say, a $10 million private jet this year under 00:09:14.740 --> 00:09:17.019 the old rules, you might have only gotten a $6 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:20.220 million deduction. Now, boom. Back to the full 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:24.039 $10 million deduction 100 % right away. And the 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:26.879 market noticed this, I take it. Instantly. Private 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.980 jet sales are reportedly way up maybe 30 % from 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:32.240 the previous year. Brokers are saying they're 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:34.820 seeing a huge uptick, especially from American 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:37.580 buyers rushing to get deals done before year 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:40.879 end to lock in that 100 % deduction. OK, so planes 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:43.679 make sense as a business asset. But what else 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.200 qualifies for this 100 % write -off? Our sources 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:48.379 mentioned some surprising things. Yeah, this 00:09:48.379 --> 00:09:50.379 is where it gets really interesting. The law 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:52.659 applies to commercial assets that have a, quote, 00:09:53.059 --> 00:09:56.590 short, useful life. So yes, planes, specialized 00:09:56.590 --> 00:09:59.929 factory equipment, but also, surprisingly, structures 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:02.409 built mainly for specialized services, like gas 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:04.629 stations. Okay. And most notably, car washes. 00:10:04.850 --> 00:10:06.750 Car washes? Seriously, that seems like a massive 00:10:06.750 --> 00:10:09.169 loophole. How on earth does a car wash count 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:11.210 as a short -life asset for 100 % write -off? 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:13.049 Well, it's not the building itself, right? That's 00:10:13.049 --> 00:10:15.769 just standard real estate depreciates normally 00:10:15.769 --> 00:10:19.169 over decades. It's the equipment inside the car 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:22.529 wash. Ah, the machinery. Exactly. The super expensive, 00:10:22.769 --> 00:10:25.870 specialized stuff. the tunnel systems, the sensors, 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:28.070 high -pressure water systems, all the complex 00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:31.289 mechanics, that equipment qualifies for the immediate 00:10:31.289 --> 00:10:36.190 100 % bonus depreciation. So it heavily incentivizes 00:10:36.190 --> 00:10:39.250 building or buying car washes just for the tax 00:10:39.250 --> 00:10:41.129 break. It seems that way. And we actually have 00:10:41.129 --> 00:10:43.029 a perfect anecdote illustrating this from the 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:45.629 sources. An entrepreneur named Mark Johnson, 00:10:46.470 --> 00:10:48.610 after selling his family business, his accountants 00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:50.549 basically told him, hey, buy some car washes. 00:10:50.690 --> 00:10:53.529 And he did? Yep. bought multiple ones in Colorado 00:10:53.529 --> 00:10:56.409 and Alabama specifically to avoid paying millions 00:10:56.409 --> 00:10:59.250 in taxes. He apparently called it a big game. 00:10:59.370 --> 00:11:02.409 Wow. Just gaming the tax code. But this isn't 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:04.409 free for the country, right? With the estimated 00:11:04.409 --> 00:11:06.870 cost. It's not cheap at all. The estimates suggest 00:11:06.870 --> 00:11:08.950 this change could cost the IRS something like 00:11:08.950 --> 00:11:12.190 $363 billion in lost revenue over the next 10 00:11:12.190 --> 00:11:14.169 years. Billion would it be. Billion would it 00:11:14.169 --> 00:11:16.669 be. And this raises, you know, bigger questions 00:11:16.669 --> 00:11:18.649 about economic efficiency. Some experts argue 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:20.870 this policy is actually pretty inefficient. Why? 00:11:20.950 --> 00:11:23.590 Because it distorts investment. Exactly. It pushes 00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:26.509 people to pour money into assets like car washes 00:11:26.509 --> 00:11:28.649 purely because of the tax break instead of maybe 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:31.309 investing in things society arguably needs more, 00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:34.220 like, say, affordable housing. So we're actually 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:36.519 seeing real estate firms now building these things, 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:39.620 car washes, certain types of restaurants, factories 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:42.620 specifically, to sell them to wealthy buyers 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:44.960 who just want the tax break. That's what the 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.240 sources indicate. The market is responding directly 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.159 to the tax incentive. And the profile of the 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.879 buyer has changed, too. It's not just businesses 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.340 needing car washes. It's wealthy families, family 00:11:56.340 --> 00:11:59.639 offices actively looking for these specific assets 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:02.740 just to offset their tax liability. Their primary 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:04.450 interest might not even be running a car wash 00:12:04.450 --> 00:12:06.769 long term. OK, that's quite a distortion. Yeah. 00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:08.850 Let's shift to our final section now. We've talked 00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:10.809 about gridlock. We've talked about tax loopholes. 00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:13.309 Now let's look at the limits and maybe the bending 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:15.909 of executive power, particularly in the legal 00:12:15.909 --> 00:12:18.389 system and in controlling narratives. We had 00:12:18.389 --> 00:12:21.889 two, let's just say, controversial pardons this 00:12:21.889 --> 00:12:24.110 week that kind of got lost in the noise. They 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:26.190 really did, yeah. Information overload is real. 00:12:26.450 --> 00:12:29.429 The first one went to former representative George 00:12:29.429 --> 00:12:32.769 Santos. He'd been convicted of fraud. admitted 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:37.230 it, owed $400 ,000 in restitution. Trump's pardon 00:12:37.230 --> 00:12:40.049 wiped out not just the conviction, but also the 00:12:40.049 --> 00:12:42.850 requirement to pay back that money. And the justification 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:45.250 given. Well, it basically boiled down to two 00:12:45.250 --> 00:12:48.309 things, according to sources. First, some what 00:12:48.309 --> 00:12:50.929 about -ism, you know, comparing Santos's fraud 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:53.809 to claims about a Democratic senator. And second, 00:12:54.009 --> 00:12:56.889 the simple statement that Santos always vote 00:12:56.889 --> 00:12:59.929 Republican. OK. Yes. What was the second? Pardon, 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:02.379 you called it maybe even sleazier. Arguably, 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.039 yes. This went to Chengpeng Zhao, known as CZ. 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:08.179 He's the founder of Binance, the world's largest 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:10.899 cryptocurrency exchange. He got a pardon after 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:13.059 pleading guilty to money laundering charges and 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.600 serving, I think it was four months. OK, money 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:17.559 laundering is serious. What was the White House 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:20.779 spin on that pardon? The official line was basically 00:13:20.779 --> 00:13:23.659 that CZ was a victim of the Biden administration's 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:26.000 supposed war on cryptocurrency and that it was 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.460 a victimless crime anyway. But is there more 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:30.929 to the story? Well, here's the context that sources 00:13:30.929 --> 00:13:33.710 point out. CZ still owned a majority stake in 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:36.470 Binance. Binance runs an associated service called 00:13:36.470 --> 00:13:39.269 PancakeSwap, and PancakeSwap's single largest 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:42.669 client. Reportedly, it's the Trump family's financial 00:13:42.669 --> 00:13:46.299 entity, World Liberty Financial. So the pardon 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:49.100 cleans Cece's record. Cleans his record, removes 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:51.279 legal barriers that might have prevented him 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:54.019 from running financial ventures. It certainly 00:13:54.019 --> 00:13:56.500 raises questions about potential future dealings, 00:13:56.659 --> 00:13:59.179 especially involving Trump -affiliated cryptocurrencies. 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.059 Okay, moving from pardons to the president's 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.879 health. Yay! Recently, Trump revealed he had 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.279 an MRI and also took a cognitive test. He bragged 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.529 about getting perfect results. Yes, and he mentioned 00:14:11.529 --> 00:14:14.149 specific questions he found difficult, like repeating 00:14:14.149 --> 00:14:17.429 a string of numbers 2, 4, 8, 1, 5, I think it 00:14:17.429 --> 00:14:19.809 was, or explaining what a banana and an orange 00:14:19.809 --> 00:14:22.669 have in common. So what kind of test uses questions 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:24.870 like that? Those questions strongly suggest he 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:26.950 took what's called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 00:14:27.049 --> 00:14:29.769 or MOCA. And here's the key thing. The MOCA isn't 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:32.190 an IQ test. It's not designed to measure high 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:33.389 intelligence. Oh, and what's it designed for? 00:14:33.409 --> 00:14:35.669 It's explicitly designed as a screening tool 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:38.269 for cognitive impairment, dementia, things like 00:14:38.269 --> 00:14:41.200 that. Getting a score of 26 out of 30, which 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.700 is generally considered passing, just means not 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:46.519 impaired. The questions he cited as difficult 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.580 are actually standard baseline screening prompts. 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:53.120 So the bragging about acing it is maybe missing 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.759 the point of the test. Pretty much. But the bigger 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.019 ambiguity here, the real question our sources 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:00.539 raise, is why these tests were done in the first 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:03.580 place. Right. Neither an MRI. nor a cognitive 00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:06.720 screen like the MOCA is typically part of a routine 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.059 annual physical, let alone a second physical 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:11.320 within just six months. Exactly. Why were they 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.259 ordered? That remains the critical unanswered 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.159 question. OK, finally, let's look at where the 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.419 system might actually be pushing back, holding 00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:20.720 the line against political pressure, specifically 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.580 on the Justice Department. Yeah, it's not all 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:25.860 one way pressure. We know the president has sought 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:28.399 indictments against political opponents and sometimes 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.620 succeeded. But one target, Senator Adam Schiff, 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:34.389 who the president has repeatedly attacked, seems 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:36.830 relatively safe from a potential mortgage fraud 00:15:36.830 --> 00:15:38.789 charge the White House was reportedly pushing. 00:15:39.309 --> 00:15:42.809 Why is Schiff safe when others weren't? Is there 00:15:42.809 --> 00:15:45.690 a difference? There's a crucial jurisdictional 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:48.570 difference, according to our sources. The investigation 00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:50.990 into Schiff falls under the actual U .S. attorney 00:15:50.990 --> 00:15:54.110 for Maryland, Kelly Hayes. She's a career prosecutor, 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:56.570 not a political appointee in the same way. And 00:15:56.570 --> 00:15:58.830 she's resisting the pressure. It appears so. 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:01.539 Hayes and her deputies are reportedly aware the 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:04.379 push is politically motivated and are insisting 00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:07.159 on just calling balls and strikes, applying the 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:09.879 law neutrally. And here's the key procedural 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.639 point. The political appointee who wants the 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.080 indictment can't legally sign off on charges 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.200 in Maryland. Only the U .S. attorney for that 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.840 district can. Exactly. Jurisdiction matters. 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:22.740 Kelly Hayes holds the authority and she seems 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:25.139 to be using it to uphold the independence of 00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:27.919 her office against that political pressure. Interesting. 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:31.659 OK, one last unusual item. This situation with 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:34.409 poll watchers in California. Right. The Department 00:16:34.409 --> 00:16:36.610 of Justice announced plans to deploy federal 00:16:36.610 --> 00:16:39.090 monitors, federal poll watchers, to California 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:41.549 for the upcoming election. And the state's reaction. 00:16:41.850 --> 00:16:43.990 Immediate pushback. Governor Newsom and the state 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:45.990 attorney general instantly announced they would 00:16:45.990 --> 00:16:48.690 deploy state observers specifically to watch 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:51.950 the federal monitors. So monitors watching monitors. 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:54.629 Pretty much. It sets up this strange, potentially 00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:57.809 confrontational dynamic, but it also raises a 00:16:57.809 --> 00:17:00.879 strategic question. Why would the DJ announce 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.440 its plan so far in advance? Yeah, kipping their 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.740 hand. Exactly. It gives the state ample time 00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:10.099 to prepare and deploy this kind of countermeasure. 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:13.039 Tactically, it seems a bit clumsy. It makes you 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.119 wonder what the real goal was in announcing it 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:17.500 so early. OK, so wrapping this all up, we've 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:20.400 covered a lot. High stakes government gridlock 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.380 pushing toward record territory. powerful financial 00:17:23.380 --> 00:17:25.819 incentives, basically warping investment decisions 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:27.900 towards things like car washes purely for tax 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.599 breaks. And these critical legal systems, sometimes 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:33.279 bending under intense political pressure, but 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:36.119 sometimes, as with U .S. Attorney Hayes, holding 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:38.339 firm. You know, we started this whole deep dive 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:40.599 talking about that record -long baseball game, 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:42.559 the 18 -inning one that ended suddenly with a 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.779 home run. It feels like the political system 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:46.960 right now is stuck deep in extra innings, whether 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.539 it's the shutdown, these tax games, the legal 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:53.970 fights. Something's gotta give. The only certainty 00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:55.990 is that one of these pressure points is likely 00:17:55.990 --> 00:17:57.769 going to break the current standoff, probably 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:00.529 abruptly. Yeah. So here's maybe a final thought 00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:02.829 for you, the listener, to mull over as we close 00:18:02.829 --> 00:18:06.730 out. We have the SNAP crisis, potentially affecting 00:18:06.730 --> 00:18:10.650 42 million vulnerable Americans, forcing Congress 00:18:10.650 --> 00:18:13.210 to stare hunger in the face. A massive human 00:18:13.210 --> 00:18:15.369 cost. And then we have this bonus appreciation 00:18:15.369 --> 00:18:17.849 loophole, mainly benefiting the ultra -rich, 00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:20.890 but costing the entire nation's tax base an estimated 00:18:20.890 --> 00:18:24.490 $363 billion. A massive financial distortion. 00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:26.890 So in this environment of information overload, 00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:29.940 political breakmanship Which of those two pressure 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:31.859 points do you think ultimately forces Congress 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:34.900 to act first? The immediate human suffering affecting 00:18:34.900 --> 00:18:37.640 millions? Or the quiet financial distortion benefiting 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:40.380 a few but costing billions? Something worth considering?