Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Eric Swalwell & Charlie Sykes

Published Mar 22, 2024, 4:01 AM

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz talks about enacting progressive policies that actually change citizens' lives. Congressman Eric Swalwell details what he saw at another one of the Republicans' inept Biden Impeachment hearings. MSNBC contributor Charlie Sykes details the Republicans' ridiculous new budget attacks on Social Security.

Hi, I'm Mollie John Fast and this is Fast Politics, where we discuss the top political headlines with some of today's best minds. And even Fox News won't air Republicans embarrassing President Biden impeachment hearings, all bad witnesses and one was in jail. We have such an interesting show for you today. Minnesota Governor Tim Walls tells us about feeding hungry children. Then we'll talk to Congressman Eric Swawell about the vibe shift in the Vibes based Biden impeachment. But first we have MSNBC columnist and contributor.

And my friend Charlie Sykes.

Welcome back to Fast Politics, my friend Charlie Sikes.

Hey, good to be back with you. It's good to be anywhere these days for me.

I mean, so you are in the great state of Wisconsin, hi, am, where this selection will yet again come down to.

Well, that's right.

I mean, you know, everything in Wisconsin is closed. It feels like every election has decided to be about twenty thousand votes. And by the way, before we get into all of that, I want I'll apologize on behalf of the entire state of Wisconsin for sendra Ron Johnson. I'm really really sorry about that. Damn.

He did make a cameo in yesterday's Hunter Biden Criming hearing and again Lev Parnass hard to know. There were a lot of people testifying at those hearings who maybe were not completely ready for prime time, but he did say that all his intel went right through Ron Johnson.

John Solomon to Ron Johnson.

Yeah, I mean you you never want to be called out as a as a complete Toty four Russia, even if it's Lev Parnass.

It's just it's kind of embarrassing you.

Ron Johnson could have become anything he wanted to become, and he chose to be this. He chose to become like the doppel ganger of Joe McCarthy. Another one up. Are great, it's going from institutions here. Yeah, and I'm really sorry because you know, when I when I first got to know Ron Johnson, I thought he was going to be another William Proxmyer. I don't know if you know this, but my dad actually wrote Bill Proxmeyer's biography. So I actually and then and I gave Johnson a copy of it. I said, yeah, you know, this long tradition of being a Maverick in Wisconsin. You can be the new Proxmayer. Instead, the fucker decided to become Joe McCarthy.

What can I say?

Well, yes, he has brain worms. The man has brain worms. That's what I'm trying to say. But you never know when a senator like for example, jd Vance, he ran as a maga, but he's turned into like Donald Trump's personal pr.

You know that one's is amazing when you think about it, because Jade Vance is a smart guy. I see, I don't really get upset over you know, the complete wand from birth senators, you know, the Tommy Tubberville's and everything.

I mean, you know, okay whatever, Marsha Blackburn, Yeah, I was actually thinking of it's the same, Marshall Blackburn. I mean in that category, fine, you know, you're as dumb as a box of hair.

Whatever we can do, you know.

But it's the guys who are really intelligent, who you know, have good educations and who sit down and think, you know, I can be anybody I want to be, and I've decided that I want to be this this dark Iago character.

Yeah.

And Jady Vance, I mean, Jady Vance is a best selling author he and movies made about his stuff. I mean, one time he wrote for The New York Times and he's looking around and he goes, you know, I want to be the craziest son of a bitch in this body, and he's succeeding.

Yes, it turns out that's not so hard.

Actually it's not crazy. I don't want to apologize.

I don't mean crazy, because he knows what he's doing. It's more dangerous than crazy. Crazy is crazy. This is somebody who is basically decided, you know, I am going to move into a dark corner of right wing politics, and I'm going to carve myself a niche, and I'm going to try to drag my party, you know, from the extreme position it's in right now, into some place even more extreme and darker. It's easy to cast that off as clown like or crazy. It's not. It's very very intentional. It's very dangerous.

Yeah, and calculated and very I think that's right.

It is this kind of brinksmanship that the burn it All Down Caucus has really embraced. Are you of the George Conway school that this Republican Party just needs to be burned down?

Well, here's the problem. You know, whether you think it should be burned down or not, it's it's a fact of life right now that we have two political parties and one of them has ceased to be interested in governing. Yeah, and that is that is dangerous. Mean We're never going to have a moment where we wake up and all fifty states are governed by Democrats and the Democrats have complete control over over Coagos. That's probably not likely to happen. So what does it mean when you have a political party that is completely held hostage by this performative minority who is far more interested in generating clicks and hits on Newsmax and the Nancy Maces of the world who just just want you want to be seen, and have no interest in actually doing the basic job. And the basic job is keeping the lights on. That's kind of the bare minimum. Okay, whatever else are you going to do as a member of Congress. You keep the lights on. You do not shut down the government that you are sworn bold. And yet this has become this kabuki theater now for more than a decade. I have to admit I'm bored by these things because it is this kabuki dance and in the end they decide not to actually blow themselves up, which is I suppose we should be thankful for that. I mean we're at the point like, hey, it's a good day in Washington, d C. They did not blow themselves and the rest of us up. Hey, this is great. You have a good weekend too. But I mean this has become this theater of the dangerously absurd that we've been enduring ever since, you know, Ted Cruz decided to you know, I can become famous by being the biggest dick in the Senate. And I am not talking about the size of his male member here. I do not want to be misinterpreted there.

We're getting very naughty. Charlie seikes. Yeah, I'm sorry, it's hilarious.

And look, you know, the whole system is a two party system. So when one party gives up on American democratic norms, I mean, that is going to upset the whole way we do things in this country, right, I mean, is that the thing that keeps you up at night?

Because that is the thing that keeps me up at night.

Well, and it's not going to go away anytime soon. I would like to think two things. Number One, that the election can somehow break the fever. It's not going to because the fever is really deeply engaged. I would also like to indulge the fantasy of thinking, you know, it's just politics and we can just ignore politics. I mean, the rest of life is great, everything's going long, well, you know, you step outside social media, people are going about their lives. But the reality is is that no matter how successful a society is, if it gets the politics wrong, everything, Yeah, and my evidence for that is the entire twentieth century. Just as the Germans ask, the Cambodias ask the Chinese, get back to me when you hear the answer. It would be nice to think that these people don't matter, or that we could just simply sit back and watch the theater of their idiocy, but it affects all of us, so we are kind of crapps in this doom.

Yeah.

I mean, I think that's a really good point, and you really can History is lettered with people who think, you know that if they just stay in their lane.

The authoritarians will stay in theres right.

Absolutely. You know, I'd like to go, you know, walk my dog's tender garden. But the authoritarians generally historically do not leave people alone. Now, having said that, can we just go back to the whole you know, leb Parnass thing yesterday and Ron Johnson, I have to admit that was extraordinary, even by the extra ordinary standards of the clownishness of Congress, you know. And again I'm not trying to trivialize it, but it's really hard to imagine that this Republican impeachment effort could have ended in a more spectacularly embarrassing way if these people were capable of embarrassment, if we were not living in a post shame world. This has fallen apart so dramatically. And I'm not trying to carry any water for Hunter Biden or Joe Biden. There's some things that are sleazy that are going on, but it's almost impossible to write a script at which James Comer could make himself and his committee and the Republican Party in Congress look more completely feckless. And I mean just dragging in these dregs and these foreign agents and having somebody testify jail.

Yes, I mean so the testifying from prison thing was unbelievable. And then that Jared Moscow at the moment where he was saying, you know, let's vote to impeach him, right now, let's go, And then Jim Jordan cracked up and could not stop laughing.

Well, because the thing has become just this sort of herody inside of a farce. Yeah, And and then I think at some point you start to recognize this. We all understand what this is about, right. I mean, there's the political and psychological necessity of Republicans who have to find a way to rationalize supporting Donald Trump. And the only way they can really do that is to say, well, what about this. You know, it's not you know, yes, Donald Trump was impeached, but we're going to impeach Joe Biden. Yes, Donald Trump is thoroughly, thoroughly corrupt, but everybody's corrupt, right and Donald Trump it demanded this, wanted this, pushed themselves into it. The base wants this.

I mean, wow, I think wow is the operative word here, like wow. The thing again is Republicans trying to keep the House, and they have all of these swing state swing destruct Republicans who voted not only to impeach Joe by on neither high crimes nor misdemeanors, but instead on vibes. But also you had a cabinet secretary. They voted to impeach a cabinet secretary for some in one hundred years, and they voted to impeach him not because of high crimes and misdemeanors, but because they were mad about his policy.

Right, it's totally forgotten about that.

That's still going well, seriously, I mean, it's just but the problem is is that they do these big performative things and like, look here, you know, this is our record.

We have done absolutely nothing.

We are the ultimate do nothing Congress, which, by the way, somebody should be able to run against. I don't know, Harry Truman managed it.

So this is our number one accomplishment. And what oh yeah, okay, so where's that going? Nowhere?

Nowhere?

Hope it felt good while you were doing it. But that's it, you know, Yeah.

I mean we shouldn't laugh. We have to laugh because we would cry. Yes, but it is it is really not what Congress is supposed to be doing. And they have passed like something, you know, twenty seven bills or something.

I mean, they really have been one of the most in effective congresses in history.

I probably should have done some Ectual Research BEFO. I brought this up. You probably know more about this than I do. This this new Republican Study Committee legislative agenda. This is one of those moments where for people who I don't know if you've talked about this before, but they've come up with now, let's lay out our agenda. And you can tell that they live in a bubble inside of a bubble because they have crammed into this, you know, one radioactive issue after another. You know, whether it's it's banning in vitro fertilization or supporting you know, the right to life from the moment of conception to messing and screwing around with Social Security and medicare. It's like you would think that there'd be somebody that would be rushing down the hall going God, people do not put that on the xerox machine. Do not send send on this. We have vulnerable incumbents. Even Donald Frump with his lizard brain, knows you do not talk about well, actually he's forgotten that you don't talk about social But I mean, these these things are just absolute gifts to the Democrats. I mean, they have to be sitting in the White House going are you kidding me? Are they really going to be running on these things? Because it's it's not as if Democrats will like say, by the way, if you rote for Republicans, it's not just that they're a clown car. This is what they intend to do, and they put it in writing.

Yeah, they're raising social security and medicare raising the age of social security and medicare. That's something that no one has ever been forever.

Look, we have raised the age, but there's so much else in there. And I guess it's it's part of your reminding people that these are deeply unseerious. On one level, they're deeply unserious. On another level, they're they're quite reckless and and I'm ideologically and ideologically extreme, and you know this year to go into and this is the problem around the country now. So it's not just that you know, Donald Trump is the head of the ticket, but Donald Trump is putting people like Bernie Moreno on the ticket for Senate in Ohio. And this is a guy who's like a caricature of every extreme Republican position you could have out there. I mean, Shared Brown could not be luckier. And you kind of wonder whether or not there might be a reverse effect where Bernie Moreno actually serves as a kind of a boat anchor on Trump because Democrats can say, look, look how extreme these guys are on every one of these issues, one after another. And meanwhile, the serious, grown up Republicans, and then many of them are conservatives, not just you know, you know, moderate, but I mean conservative Republicans, but who actually understand how the process works. They're being driven out of the party. They're basically saying screw it. Like Mike Gallagher and Wisconsin, Well, you know what, I you know, I have a great future ahead of me. But if I had to spend two years sitting in the caucus with Jim Jordan, Lauren Bilbert and Marjorie Taylor Green, I am out of here. I'm just it is just not working right exactly.

People like Ken Buck, I mean, yeah, they can't keep their normal Republicans anymore.

The few that were left.

Does strike me that there is a group waiting in the wings. If Trump is a manages to you know, if fast forward and again we're six long months away from this, so who even knows?

And you and I may be having our.

Next conversation from Portugal, but there is a world in which I feel like a Liz Cheneys is in the wings and perhaps again we don't know what she's going to do, but a Nikki Haley keeping their you know, if Nicki Haley keeps her powder dry, she could theoretically, you know, help pick up the sort of rubble of this Republican party if Trump loses again.

Mollie, I'm sorry, is that casting?

No?

No, no, I was going to say that, I know we're being recorded here, but could I have some of what you're smoking? Unless now I could I could use that. I wish, I wish that were true. I think it's more likely what you're going to see is the rage directed at the Nikki Hayleys and the Liz Chinese and even the Mike Pences of the world that they are Judaseserian but they have betrayed the Orange Jesus, so they can never be forgiven. Unfortunately, I don't see this fever breaking anytime soon.

Now.

I mean, I wish that at some point sanity would prevail, but it's really hard to see how in fact that happens, because I think what has to happen I think traditionally is that is that a political party needs not only to be defeated, but needs to be defeated in multiple elections. I think I read somewhere the political scientist said, I think they have to you know, suffer you know, three consecutive you know, pretty convincing defeats too. I wish, yeah, I wish I could tell you that that's going to happen this year. But of course, as we know, the Republicans have now set up this narrative in which they never lose.

I do that.

They never lose.

So the one thing that will purify our political party is the acknowledgment we have been defeated, and yet they will never be defeated. So you kind of have a an undrum.

Yeah, it's a really good point, right, they will not admit that they've been defeated. And again we're seeing already the rigged narrative going. The irony here, right that Trump won the primaries because he changed the primary calendar, right, made it easier to consolidate votes. Thus, I mean, he probably was going to win anyway, but there certainly you could, if Nikki Haley wanted, you could accuse him of rigging if.

You want to do that.

But the reality is is that he won because the Republican base wants what it wants. He was fortunate enough to have incredibly weak candidates. I mean, there was a moment there was a little sliver of possibility that Ron de Santis might have been the trump Ism without Trump. But as you and I both know, he turned out to be an absolutely craptacular candidate and who decided not really to run against Donald Trump, and so who knew that would have failed? But this is Trump's Republican Party, and Trump's Republican Party did not want any substitutes. They wanted the real thing, and by god, they're going to get it good and heart.

Thank you, Thank you, Charlie Sikes, You're the best. Tim Walls is the governor of Minnesota.

Welcome too Fast Politics.

Governaball Hi Balie, thanks for having me.

You know, Jesse and I have long wanted to have you on this podcast because some of the progressive legislation you have passed has become sort.

Of like the wish list of all liberals. So you're kind of a big deal.

It's like the new Deal. We did the new Deal out here.

So yes, you and Governor Pritzker are sort of two of our people where you've done the impossible. So you shot to fame in my mind when I saw that picture of you and the children.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah, so talk to me about some of this progressive legislation, how you've done it, and also can we talk about that photo of the children when you've signed the free breakfast?

Yeah, well, thank for bringing it up, Molly. I can die a happy man after that. And look, I've got a great comms team and everything. And people were writing them saying this was the most brilliant thing, and they're also very humble. They said, look, this was organic. We in Minnesota passed free breakfast in lunch for all of our kids. No more meal shaming, no more different colored ticket, no more families having to worry about filling out all the paperwork whatever. For goodness sake, we can feed our children. So we went out to Webster Elementary School to sign that, and I did a signing and we had all the advocates in the legislator, but we were in a school with these kids and they were kind of just all setting around. These are elementary school kids, and they were into this. And I remember my signing statement. I said, and now all your classmates can eat, and these kids, they're pure joy of understanding what it means to be a decent human being just sprung up and they just kind of mobbed me. It was this happy grandfather photo type of thing, but just symbolic of what we can do. So and I think that, you know, going back to why do we get this done? Because how do you argue about that? It is just a smart thing. Look, these are also markets for our farmers out here or a big agricultural state. I always try and drop troop bombs on all of you. We produce more turkeys than any other state, so just so you know, we're the turkey capital of the world, and so we have all this. We produce a ton of food and our kids can eat. And I think we went into this session saying, look, there has been a pent up desire and people ask me what you know, what are you most proud of? There is a list of things here that is really awesome. It's things that we bought for decades over. I think for me it was changing this app Progressives by nature are you know, we're progressive and we're hopeful, but we can also be pessimistic. People. Oh, it's a nice day, but it may snow tomorrow type of thing. Very minnesotent about that, but I said, we were conditioned to that. Bad things happened. Pasting good things took decades. So for me, it changed people's attitude, and especially with young people. I had a young eighteen year old who worked on a lot of this stuff, was interning it first and working and said, you know, I worked on your campaign, Governor. We want and five months later we have paid family, medically free breakfast and wheat is legal. This stuff's not that hard. And I'm like thinking, oh my god, we created monsters here, but in a good way. So that's how that came about, and that I think that photo was just accumulation of what kind of progressive dreams is. Look when our people, you know, they want to make it like we have an extreme agenda. Yep, it just crazy. We want these elementary kids to eat. That is just really wild, and it really just stuck. It was pretty hard to push back against that photo.

When you watch Republicans argue about free meals and those days like we don't want you know, some middle class kid getting a free breakfast, and you really do see how little this whole thing makes any sense, right, Like you are a wealthy country.

That's where they're stuck right now. They don't have anything, Molly. And on this one they actually said this to me, Look, there's going to be people that don't need this tax break. When have they ever talked about wealthy people that they're worried that somebody's going to get a who doesn't need it. And I'm telling you what I heard on this problem was for those families who did not qualify for free and produced lunch, whose kids wanted to eat at school and now could and because of the way our country still you know, the division of labor still falls heavily on women. Er mothers say, thank god, I don't have to make breakfast in the morning. It's like my life so much better. That was the thank you, Like, look, we can afford it and everything, but this is just so much easier. So I agree, they got no pushback on it. That's your pushback. We can't afford to feed our kids.

So one of the stark contrasts I think of between blue state and red steak governors is in Arkansas and a lot of other states, you have a red steak governors signing slation that makes it easier for companies when they have underage children working, to not have to pay the same kind of fines because likely they have underage children working. That has been real movement in these red states to make the fines lesser for child labor. Talk to me about what it looks like to be a blue state governor in that kind of America.

Yeah, it feels like Victorian England. David Copperfielders. It was a really great when showed the contrast. I think it was the same week I signed the free breakfast. I think the governor of Arkansas signed you know, child labor laws. And I'll tell you what. Her picture did not look as happy as the kids in my picture who were organically thrilled. Look that's what they're doing, and unfortunately this is in very dangerous business. We also are you know, protein backing states from meatpacking plants. These are dangerous places. There are no places for kids and trying to look we're all dealing with, you know, labor shortages that we're trying to get. We simply take a different approach and said we're going to protect union workers and we're going to pay pay people more and lo and behold when you pay people more and give them worker protections, people move to your state and start working in those businesses. So this truly is the race to the bottom versus the idea of lifting up and building. And again we're making the case out here. We did all of these things and for the first time on the CNBC they do their survey of the best states for the business climate. We moved into the top five, replacing Texas. Because it works when your workers are well paid, they have paid them in medically, they have healthcare, their children have daycare, they have cool meals, and you have an education level. Look, we made college free to folks that are making less than eighty thousand dollars. Those are those working families that we need to participate in our economy. So I agree with you. The contrast could not be greater. And when we start measuring this, you really start to see it. And I don't know where the end state is for them. I don't know how telling people forcing your kids, oh, it'll teach them character whatever, as they lose an arm and you know in the equipment, it makes no sense. And we made the case here in Minnesota as Look, it is moral imperative that people be safe, that they be protected, and we provide healthcare for those children.

Yeah, talk to me about healthcare and then just talk to me about what you're doing on a local level for healthcare.

Well, you know, we have no system that makes any sense in this country. We spend twice as much as the next country in terms of that, and yet we rank what thirty eighth in maternal mortality rates. It's just a shame and it really comes home to press here. We've got more people ensured than I think almost any other state, and of course we're home to like the Mayo Clinic. So these are just recognized as the best healthcare system in the world, which is great if you can get in. And so what we've done is we have Minnesota Care, which you know, folks can buy in and need it. We expanded that to folks regardless of their documentation status, because once again, you know, the basic human rights of being able to take care of folks on These are folks that are here working in proceeds that they're waiting for a legal system that is again takes seven to nine years to get your asylum claim process. Would have been nice if Congress would have passed the legislation that would make that ninety days and put money into it.

But you know, Trump didn't want them to, so of course they.

Don't want to because they want to complain about this. And these are in our community. So I think for us here, what really is interesting about this, Molly, it becomes harder and harder. What you know, we asked asking Republicans and those who don't look at this this way, is what's your complaint and what's the alternative? You know, where where's this workforce going to come? And I think there's a real dynamic shift happening and we'll see if it happens fast enough the business community. The business community understands that we need to have immigration reform. The business community needs to believe, and they know that we need childcare. That's a big issue for parents that can't find working out of the workforce. They get all these things, but there's sence so conditioned that many of these chambers of commerce are just they think it's the old Republican party. This is not where elected officials in the Republican Party are at today. So I'm actually somewhat hopeful that we're making the case that, look, not only can we take care of people and do the right thing, and these progressive ideas about you should have health care and food in a safe place to live, and you should be educated. In the long run, that's how you grow the economy. And I think in Ministerota starting to work.

Yeah, I mean, that's a really good point.

And Paul Krugman had a really good piece on the idea that maybe that this migrant served is actually maybe one of the things that saved us from having a recession, which is kind of an incredible idea. So talk to me about what you are doing with the DGA to bring this idea of abundance national a.

Yeah. Well, and I'm really proud of the DGA. You mentioned that you've got folks like Baby Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, You've got, of course Gavin Newsom, but you've got folks Roy Cooper, you got Basher Andy Basheer at in Kentucky and on Saturday this last Saturday, I was at the Democratic dinner in Topeka, Kansas with Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. These ideas work everywhere, and I think one of the things that DGA does is we're out there to make the case that governors are the front lines of protection on all of these things, certainly on reproductive care in vitro and voting rights and protections of our children and food and all this. As Congress becomes more grid luck and paralyzed, it becomes more important than ever to elect these governors. It's super inspirational. See Lord Kelly, Andy Pasher win. But now we've got to win down in North Carolina. And so what the DGA does is it goes out there, it supports, and we're super successful. We've defended twenty three of twenty four of our incumbent governors over the last three cycles. This year, we have no incomebent governors, but we've got as I said, in North Carolina. After Rui Cooper's term limited, Jay Insley up in Washington State, John Carney and Delaware, we had an open seat in New Hampshire. The DGA goes out and helps these local candidates. They know their best message, they know what stands, but we raise the money, have some of the technical expertise and try and provide the support to get them elected. Because you said it, mind, you just want to start comparing life expectancies healthcare. Heck, compare happiness they've got to think. Happiness in Minnesota, by the way, usually ranked second in this and I'm okay with that because we're behind Hawaii.

In the happiest right, and you guys have some weather issues.

Yeah, COVID brought this to the front. It's statistically provable. If you lived in a red state, your chance of surviving COVID was greater, was lesser.

If you lived in a blue state, your chances of surviving COVID were greater.

He shooes me. Yeah, exactly right, and that these red state governors put you that's exactly right. We're very proud. We're One of the things we had is we're one of the ten states with the lowest death rates on that and lo and behold, our economy recovered pastor and we had surpluses. So I think we're out there making the case that if you want to see your personal life improve, elect a democratic governor. So if your listeners, Molly, I'll put in a shameless plug for the DGA on that if they want more information on these great governors, and trust me, Like in North Carolina with Josh Stein, he is literally running against the guy as central casting of a marble villain. This guy is demonized the survivors of school shootings. He's called school teachers the most evil thing on the planet. He said, when you're pregnant, it's not your baby, it's all baby now, just insanity.

So he doesn't think women should vote correct.

I mean, the guy is on every front. So if they want more information on these this, if you want to know where your impact makes a difference, these state right races make everything. We're able to codify abortion rights, we're able to make sure that we're a trans sanctuary state here in Minnesota. And be clear, I ran against a guy who had the absolute opposite opinion and all that, and in states where those type of guys won, life is hell. Women's life is put at risk. The vice president was out of here last week. For the first time in American history of setting vice president or president stood in an abortion clinic. Abortion clinics are healthcare clinics, by the way, that's what they're referred to. And stood in there and talked to a young woman from Idaho who had to travel from Idaho to Minneapolis figure out how to do that. Luckily she had the resources and everything. But it's just unacceptable Democratic governors protect that. So if they want to text me here it is Molly, it's Tim at three zero two zero one. And what they'll do is get information on these races.

Yeah, one of the things I've been really struck by is the Medicare expansion. One of the things Democrats have done when they've been in red states is they've been able and again it depends on state legislature, but they've been able to pass these expansions.

Explain to us what happens when they do.

That, for example, and there's two things that are the most despicable things in the world. Using Medicare expansion, using federal dollars. And you know, many of the cases of Minnesota is a payer state, we get far less back from the federal government to give a lot of these red states get an awful lot of federal dollars back. But in the case of Medicare expansion, you're able to expand it to more people, make the eligibility there. And from a person's on, the most basic level of this is it means somebody who couldn't get access to affordable health care does in the easiest way, and it comes with the federal money that helps you've got to put in a little bit on state. But there's two things that I find the most despicable thing in the world. They turn this down, they being Republican governors, turn it down. And there's been a new program that is an absolute godsend is the Summer EBT program, the Summer SNAP and I believe it's fifteen of these states have turned it down. Now, these are folks that my bed is is I bet in their businesses they took VPP loans for themselves. I bet you they take upsidy payments. I bet you they take other breaks. But on this the governor of Nebraska said, this just creates dependency, and the governor of Iowa said, we don't have hunger here, which you all know is crazy. So I think tying back to this, having Roy Cooper in North Carolina meant eight hundred thousand more North Carolinians were able to access Medicare at affordable healthcare, which, again, even if you're a crul not caring about human beings getting this, it means they're healthier, they spend less money in the long run. At the end, more people are able to work and take fewer days off work, and your economy growth. When people are healthier, your economy does better. So no, they turn it down. And it's because we don't want the iman. You know, they don't want socialism. It's their message. It is the most despicable and those two programs the most damaging things they can do. But it apparently appeals to their base. I don't know, I don't get it.

Just cruel, right, and it's also I mean more likely the base doesn't know that it's available to them, right, because nobody is.

Going to turn down good point. Yeah, and nobody's going to turn that down.

And by the way, they when they turn this money down, it's not like they get the money for something else.

They just don't get.

No, they don't get it. And then apparently they don't care. That's what this thing with the summary BD program. You know, these are the worst time for kids in hunger is the weekends and breaks, as you will, Well, that's why they have to pack, backpack send food home. We were at a school last year before we were you know, got through our school meals program, and there was a teacher talking about that she's had some of her children eating crayon because they couldn't get enough they didn't know, and people are assuming, oh, there's charity things out there, whatever. These are parents that are just trying to make ends meet, working hard, and it's hard enough to navigate government when you're not in that situation. Your child's hungry, or you're worrying about homelessness or whatever. I just the cruelness of it is what really strikes me. And I'll tell you, I'm going to make one more plug for what I would encourage states to do and elect democratic governors. During the pandemic, the federal government did the child tax credit. We saw the big reduction in childhood poverty in our nation's history. Well, we took that and put it on steroids. In Minnesota, we have the most aggressive and generous child tax credit, seventeen hundred and fifty dollars for every child, no limit on that. Whether you have to file taxes or not, you get that. We have seen over three hundred thousand children qualified. We have returned four hundred million dollars. And what it basically assures is in those families, for the first time, they have a guaranteed income source to take care of those children. It is estimated by all measures that that will reduce Minnesota's childhood poverty rate by a third. We're already the third lowest in the country. We will be by far the lowest of childhood poverty in the country. And again, what I would say is, they'll go to school, they'll have good childcare, their parents will pay famin medically. But imagine that mom and dad can take time off after they have the baby to bond with that child. We're going to have a better, healthier, well qualified workforce for jobs of the future. So I come back to this again, even if you don't want to add the humanity side of doing this, it's just smart to do.

Yeah, Jesus fundamentally, you know, I spend all day talking about politics, and the thing that I'm struck by is that Republicans have terrible policies. Yes, like there's just not a single policy where you're like, oh, that's actually kind of.

God Yeah, And I don't know, maybe it's we're bad at this year listeners saying this too. For God's sakes, how do you argue against these things that were making the case And in the long run, you can save money, you can have a better economy. Look if if their stuff worked, I don't disagree with them because they're Republicans. I disagree because their ideas don't work and they're weird. In a lot of cases, I think it was that it worked. I don't have an ideological dog in the fight that I'm going to ram this thing through just because I like it. On some things, I am, but no, the big ones. On most of them, we just wanted to work and they don't really have a response to it. Hell, they're fighting here. One of the things Minnesota, you know, we're proud we set troops to defend the nation, you know, but we had a flag year that was pretty racist. It showed you know, indigenous being driven out. You know, it's manifest destiny time, and they did it. So we got a new flag that included everybody. But oh, you'd have thought the world ended for Republicans. Now that's their big thing. They need to be elected this year's so they can overturn the flag and put back up the racist eighteen hundred flag. That's the whole Republican party right now. It's like a ven diagram of you know, Gadson flag. Some of that I don't get it, but I think what we need to do, we need to do a better job of telling people. Look, I'm a regular dude who hates politics. If you're that guy that's out there, well, here's how that's going to save you money. Here's how this's going to do this. Oh and by the way, we've got background checks and you know, red flag laws around the guns, but you can still own a firearm, no problem. We just don't want you shooting kids in our schools, and we're going to try new things so you don't. It's really not that controversial, and I don't think we've done a great job. Apparently we haven't. My god, my wife, my wife, and our public school teachers, and she said, we don't need standardized testing to show we're failing. They're still not voting for us on these things, which I think we have to do a better job of educating.

All right, you can be her governor next. Thank you, governor.

Yes, thanks Bali, you're the best.

Congressman Eric Swawell represents California's fourteenth district. Welcome back to Fast Politics, Congressman Erics.

Wawell, Hey, Molly, thanks for having me back.

Delighted to have you back.

And also, what is happening in the United States and representatives right.

Now, pyos chug absolute nothing that would help anyone who listens to this podcaster who doesn't.

This morning, I was on Morning Joe and they were talking about how they did modernize a duck stamp in the toe. Let you go, least effective Congress right.

Yes, and Molly, I'm coming to you from the Judiciary Committee Library, which is just adjacent to a Judiciary Committee hearing that's been going on this morning and right now. The top priority in the Judiciary Committee is an anti transgender bill to create essentially gender checks for Olympic and amateur athletes. If that's like a thing and like this is a problem, maybe we should look at it. But last time, I not as it relates to kids, like they want to be safe in their school, their parents want to get their IVF fertility treatments to start families, and they don't want government mandated pregnancies, and we can actually work on all those things, which are things in the Judiciary Committee. So that's just kind of the chaos and nonsense that is happening right now in the House Judiciary Committee.

That sounds insane.

The thing that I'm struck by is Mike Johnson has this ever slimming majority, right, I guess he has two seats.

Now it's a two seat majority, and if he was hoping to make it a three seat majority, the Kevin McCarthy seat is all screwed up. Now get that person back in a Tuesday special election. But McCarthy's hand pick candidate cannot get fifty percent plus one, so he goes to a runoff. Oh wow, yeah, so it's still at two. Ken Buck is gone on Friday, so dire for them. But the good news is we're the only ones that get shit done. So I mean, Jackeen Jeffries is for all intents and purposes, the speaker, right, because we have delivered the majority of the votes on anything that has ever mattered in this Congress, which you have never seen in the history of our Congress, and frankly, you've never seen in the history of any Congress or parliament around the world, which is the minority party delivering the majority amount of votes.

But that's because the Republicans, I mean, this is a function of the Bernard down Caucus, right.

They don't want government to work. They want to make government small enough so they can drown it in a bathtub.

Right, yes, that's right, And so many of them were saying, as we approach another shutdown, which will be avoided again because Democrats will deliver the votes. But many of them were saying again this week, just shut it down, like with no plan in places to like how you'd reopen it. But Tim Burshett said, just shut it down. We need to send a message. So I mean that's the mindset is to just break things. These guys would be a great demolition crew. Probably don't want them as carpenter.

Yes, well, they never were trained in carpentry, right, They were only ever trained in demo.

So you still have to pass some bills.

Mike Johnson was installed in this job because Trump wanted him there, right, his work overturning the twenty twenty election and trying to overturn the twenty twenty election. If he wasn't willing to make deals with Democrats, the government would have already shut down, right.

And you know what, credit to him on keeping the government open by passing these continuing resolutions that fund the government. You know we're going to vote for those. I think it's nuts that one hundred plus Republicans will vote against it and That's why I hope he understands that he should just bring the Ukraine Aid to the floor. His crazies they're never you know, going to support anything as it relates to Ukraine because they see helping Ukraine hurts Russia. Russia likes Trump, so we can't hurt Russia if they like Trump. And I'm speaking for myself here. Other press reports that other Democrats may feel the same way. But for the next eight months, if we're going to keep the government open and we're going to provide Ukraine the funding that they need, if Republicans were to try and punish Johnson by removing him, I don't know if I necessarily would be supportive of that.

If we're right just.

You know, doing the blocking and tacking Lang, which is the bare minimum of what we'd be able to do anyway. And I think the sooner he realizes that, and you know, the sooner he has confidence that he would remain speaker. If he would just you know, do what he believes in and what the country wants him to do, I think he'd be much more effective. That's not the data that we're not going to make Hawkeeen Jeffreys a speaker a right.

If Democrats get the majority, you're not going to want to have Maga Mike Johnson in there. But he is definitely much less dishonest than McCarthy.

Also has shown as I said that you know, he will keep the government open. He's not you know, making baseless personal attacks, you know against Democrats. And remember Democrats would deliver the votes to keep the government open and then we'd save McCarthy's ass and then he would go on television and say and blame the Democrats and that's that was why he lost the Democrat We were just like, we're not going to bail you out, keep you in. God if you're just throw us under the bus. And you're right, Johnson has not done that. So again, if I'm just thinking what's best for my constituents with a Republican majority, well, it's to keep the government open, and it's to fund you know, the effort in Ukraine. We're not going to get anything more than that. So you know, I just as I think it through, I don't know if you're going to see a lot of Democrats willing to throw him out.

Yeah, I mean that's the sort of fundamental problem for Democrats and for Republicans. Is that Democrats believe the government can war are great and Republicans do not. So like these Ukrainians are desperate for help. They could lose this war, Kiev could fall.

Look that the press sure is working because you know we have heard behind the scenes. You know that Johnson wants to find a way, you know, to pass this legislation. Look that the best deal was, of course, the one that the President struck with the second most conservative in the Senate, James Langford. You know, to do the border Ukraine, humanitarian aid in Gaza and is real. That's the best deal, that's the most comprehensive. It addresses you know, the global and domestic threats and needs Ukraine. They're on the ropes right now. And I think we don't articulate enough. And I'm guilty of this as well. Is that the funny to Ukraine. This isn't a check that we write and send to Ukraine and then they cash it and then we're billions you know less in our account. No, this is a check that we write to us defense companies who create us jobs.

They get our old stuff, right, don't they They.

Get our old stuff or they get a new stuff. But it's manufactured into the US. It creates US jobs, it sustains US jobs, and so we send weapons, not troops. And it's cheaper to do that if we beat Russia there rather than if Russia wins and then attacks a NATO country, because then contractually we're obliged to send US troops. And then it gets a lot more, you know, costly, it gets a lot more, it gets a lot closer to US.

Yeah, there's Israel funding, there's Taiwan funding. This is meant to sort of be a larger defense aid package. Is that how you think it'll end up going through?

Or now I do? And again, what's so maddening, and I think what frustrates most people at home is that the majority, overwhelmingly of Congress will vote for this. So it's not like they don't have the votes, and he's you know, preventing something from coming forward that you know doesn't have support. You would see three hundred out of four hundred and thirty five members of Congress at least vote for this. And so if we're not a place that reflects where you know the majority of votes are and where you know what the majority of our constituents want then we're not really a democracy anymore, right, And that's what's really frustrating.

Yeah, when we look at what's happening in the House right now, do you feel like there is a future for this Republican Party.

No. They have shown that it's a shit show when you let them govern. You know, they spend just as much time fighting themselves as they spend fighting for anything that they claim to believe in. They're all in on Trump, and that's that's got to be quite confusing for them because one day they want to ban TikTok, and then Trump says, no, don't ban TikTok, and then he just kind of scrambles them. And they're trying to figure out, you know, what to do, how to govern, and and they're not loyal and backing somebody who has like a course set of principle. Right, everything that Donald Trump supports he looks at first through the lens of like how does this help me?

Me?

Me? Me?

And then they have to twist and contort themselves, you know, to change their positions, because they have to find a new way each day, you know, to reflect what Donald Trump wants. And so that that's what is so dizzying you know around this place is that it's really just a law firm of attorneys who are working for one client, Donald Trump, and he doesn't necessarily want the same things every day. I mean, he can be quite inconsistent consistently you know, about himself, and so that seems to be at odds with the priorities of you know what, people at home care about it as so many of their rights are facing this demolition crew, so many of their freedoms are facing this demolition crew.

You can't talk about what you saw in that TikTok briefing, but clearly it's persuasive.

Letast see this.

And I voted against you know what could lead to the band one at the most basic level, you know who bans things?

Bands things to start.

I didn't want to do anything that felt like there was something China would do.

Two.

This is a platform where millions of people between eighteen and forty are engaging. It's just a place where small businesses are engaging. And it just seemed to me that if we want to have a conversation about algorithms and data and privacy, we should do that for all social media, not just be seen as being in the business of bands, and so Mammy, I say all this, like, look, Republicans have a crazy, longstanding fantasy about me and China, and I knew that, you know, taking this vote would just reinforce like this fantasy that they have. But I still voted against the ban because I just don't want to be anywhere near a band, and I think there's better ways to do it without banning it. And you know, the President just two months ago went on TikTok, signed up for TikTok. He's been quite effective on TikTok. There are over two hundred million views of portions of the State of the Union on TikTok. So eight months out from an election, you know, that's a place where we want to communicate, you know, to a very consequential generation who is going to make a difference in November.

Okay, So that is a reason not to ban TikTok.

In my mind. You know, there are.

More nefarious owners of TikTok than even the CCP. Right, I mean, look at X right, I mean, we know what's happening there. But I'm curious, Like the argument for banning it is that China bans all American social media. I mean, like on the times that I've known people to go to China, they tend to have to have another phone, right, because it is not necessarily a place where you can feel safe about your data.

That's right, And that's why I think, you know, we could go at this in other ways as it relates to where data store, order, the transparency and understanding who has access to it without as I said, essentially forcing a ban. But it was persuasive to me, to be honest, that the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee voted against it as well. And that person is in what it's called the Gang of Eight and has access more intelligence information and threats than you know, almost anyone in the world. And so that's why I just think, you know, anytime we get close to a ban, it just it feels like it's a slippery slope. And by the way, I'm out on the campaign trail telling people why Republicans you know, want to ban books and they want body bands and book bands, and I just don't generally like bands unless you can articulate that the harm is completer than infriensing it on speech. Right, this is a freedom election to read, the freedom to vote. You know, the freedom to breathe clean air, the freedom of body, the financial freedom, freedom from violence. I mean, there's all these freedoms on the line, and I just as I said, I'm a little cautious when it relates to how we communicate.

Yeah, that makes sense. What is sort of next?

I mean, do you do you think that the Democrats in the House understand the opportunity they have here with this do nothing Congress to flip the House?

And do you think that they're working on it? And are you working on it? Yes?

This is you know, a good chunk of what I am working on because you know it's so tied to you know, what freedoms we will enjoy or not enjoy. And today women are facing fertility bands, you know, across the country, and Trump has appointed federal judges who believe that life begins at conception. And that's the underpinning of what led to the band in Alabama.

Embryonic personhood.

That's exactly right. And they think you're a serial killer if you don't use all the embryos. I mean, it's just it's nuts. And so that's what's at stake. We've got great candidates running all over the country, and that's where I'm you know, spending my time and energy to make sure that freedom wins the stuff Emperor.

Yeah, really good point. Thank you, Eric swah Wow, thank you for joining us.

Of course, thanks Molly, No mo Fu, Jesse Cannon my junk Fast.

The press they're saying Little Marco's and the VP running, But my money's still on Christinome up in South Dakota.

What are you see in here?

I mean, look, Christy Nome runs sponsored content. Yes, right, she does advertisement. She did one for Fake Teeth. Again, not going to cast dis versions. I love my vineers.

I was gonna say it's people who make money from spot con, which tread lightly. Please right.

We love sponsored content and we also love fake teeth.

But we are not governors yet.

So Christine Nome is definitely in the running, Little Marco. Few people have demean themselves so much for so little. I don't think Trump picks Little Marco, but I do think he gets Little Marco excited enough so that when he doesn't pick Little Marco, it will be yet another humiliation. And yet we have to quote the Ric Goulson here. Everything from Touches Ties. That's it for this episode of Fast politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to hear the best minds in politics makes sense of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. And again, thanks for listening.

Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast

Join noted author & pundit Molly Jong-Fast for irreverent humor that cuts right to the heart of our  
Social links
Follow podcast
Recent clips
Browse 402 clip(s)