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>> Walker Wildmon: welcome to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on another July edition of the The Core here on American Family Radio. I'm Walker Wildmon. The show's hosted each week by Rick Green and myself. We're your host each week on the program, and once again, we're glad to have you listening with us today. AFR.net is our website. AFR.net is where you can find out all information about American Family Radio and this specific program, the specific show that airs from 1 to 2 Central each weekday on AFR. you can also subscribe to the podcast. Wherever you listen to podcasts, just type in the name of the show at the core, click the subscribe button, and the latest episode will be queued up in your library for your convenience there. wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, glad to have you with us. We'll jump in to our scripture for the week and then we'll get into the news as well.
This month, we are celebrating America's 250th birthday as a nation
And the commentary for today's program, Acts, chapter 11 is where we are this week. Verse 16 says, Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, john, indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That's Acts, chapter 11, verse 16. The, not necessarily the introduction of, but the pointing to every believer receiving the Holy Spirit upon salvation. Acts, chapter 11, verse 16. Well, also this month, in addition to reading through the book of Acts, we are also celebrating, our 250th birthday as a nation. And each day throughout the month, I am reading from Steven McDowell's book that examines the evidence of the Christian foundation of America. And I'm pulling quotes from the 16, 17, and 1800s. during, obviously the Colonial period, then the founding era, and then the early, first, let's say century or half century of the country. These different quotes, the first one is, from the NewSong york legislature in 18, 38. And they were quoted. The NewSong York legislature, they were quoted saying, quote, this is a Christian nation, 9,900. Otherwise, 99%, if not a larger proportion of our whole population, believe in the general doctrines of this Christian nation or this Christian religion, rather. That's what the NewSong York legislature wrote in 1838. And then, Rewind to 1606. no, that, that's. I've already read that one. Rewind to 1639. In the state of Connecticut at that time. Connecticut, this was obviously pre. State. This was during the colonial era. But Nonetheless, in 1639, in January of 1639, in the orders of Connecticut, the beginning, of this writing, this draft establishing Connecticut said, that the inhabitants coveting together under God to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and which we now profess it gave governor magistrates power to administer justice according to the laws here established and for want thereof, according to the rule of the word of God. Then lastly, in Maryland, this is all in the Northeast, as you can tell, during the early American period, the charter of Maryland that was dated in 1632 revealed the motive of the Catholic proprietor Cecil Calvert in establishing the colony of Maryland, being animated with a laudable and pious zeal for extending the Christian religion. That was his purpose for helping to establish Maryland, in 1632. So I could go on and on. And we will the rest of this month as we celebrate America's 2 50th.
Senator Mitch McConnell reportedly hospitalized in Kentucky; no public information on condition
Well, there's a lot of news we could talk about. The first one I want to make sure we mention is, what is going on with Senator Mitch McConnell out of the state of Kentucky? He has had, failing health issues for some time now, going back several years, and over the last three weeks he has been. Senator Mitch McConnell has been reportedly hospitalized in, I believe, back in Kentucky. And, the problem here, and this is a very sad situation, let me just set it up like that. but the problem here is that the people of Kentucky currently do not have one of their sitting US senators representing them and unable to vote. Obviously, Senator McConnell's unable to go to the Senate floor and vote. the media and the public haven't spoken to him in person in three weeks. there's just no real public evidence of how Senator McConnell is doing other than what we're being told. So this has been quite a mystery and quite frustrating for people that number one, they're looking at the, at the U.S. senate vote breakdown and they're also looking at the fact that people of Kentucky only have one of their two sitting US Senators that are able to actually vote and be a voice for the people. But Scott Jennings on CNN went on just last week and claims he's talked to Senator McConnell. It was quite a biz, a bizarre admission, surrounding Senator McConnell and his well being. listen to this clip one.
>> Scott Jennings: Yeah, he called me this morning, before I did my radio show. We talked for about 17 minutes. You know, he talked a lot about the situation with Iran, talked a little bit about Ukraine and what's going on in Europe. I told him I'd been to the Teddy Roosevelt Library. We talked a little bit about the history of the Vice presidency and how Roosevelt had transformed that in the modern presidency. A little history of the Senate. I mean it was a, you know, it was a wide ranging conversation. I talked to him often. I hadn't talked to him since he'd been in. I'd gotten a few text messages from, but I hadn't spoken to him. So it was good to hear his voice. Voice sounded strong and sounded like he was keeping up with the news to me.
>> Reporter: Did you ask him how he was feeling?
>> Scott Jennings: Yeah, he said, you know, he said he was feeling okay, you know, obviously well enough to call me on the phone and obviously well enough to talk to Barasso and Thune. Now look, I'm not quite qualified to discuss any medical issues or give you any information about that that's really for him or his, his staff to do. But you know, I talk to him from time to time and I see him from time to time and you know, we had a conversation today about the things that we normally talk about which are news of the day, political stuff.
>> Reporter: Did you come away feeling like he's still capable of serving the people of Kentucky as senator?
>> Scott Jennings: I came away feeling that he was staying on top of the news again. I look his, his condition and why he's in the hospital or when he might come out or. Look, that's, that's.
>> Reporter: Do you know why and are just saying you're not a liberty to share?
>> Scott Jennings: I do not know why. I only know frankly what has been reported or what his office has said. So this was, it was a personal private call. But, but I Didn't, I didn't probe him too deeply for his medical records.
Walker: We don't need 84 year old U.S. senators
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, so, so here, you're wondering, you know, where am I going with this? Here, here's the problem. here's the problem. We don't need 84 year old U.S. senators. All right, I'm just going to say what everybody's thinking now. everybody else doesn't want to say that because, well, how can you tell Mitch M. McConnell that he can't be a senator 84. I'm just telling you, I'm just looking at demographics and health data and you don't need to be a US sitting senator at 84 years old. That is just all there is to it. and so if you got a problem with that, folks, and this isn't, Thus saith the Bible, this is my opinion. My opinion is at 84 years old, the last thing you need to be doing is being a sitting U.S. senator. And I actually have problems. The fact, that President Trump is now 80 now, I think that could be problematic, especially if health issues arise. Nonetheless, Senator McConnell's been in the U.S. senate since when? Before I was born. Eight years before I was born. Senator McConnell was elected from Kentucky, 1985. Are you kidding me? So it isn't as if he just got started and he's trying to finish his term. No, he's the longest sitting serving U.S. c. Senator. 1985. Do the math on that. What? 41 years. He's done his time. What, what are you, is he gonna do? What other chairmanship do you need? Goodness. Put in 30 years and be done. This is absurd. But do you wanna know why Senator McConnell is 84, unable to carry out his duties? Nobody knows or what his health status is because they won't tell us. He can't vote. He can't make it to the Senate floor to vote. But do you want to know the fundamental problem here? It's not the age, it's the lust for power. And we have a lot of elected officials across the country that have a lust for power. And not a lust and a thirst for godliness are a lust and a thirst for humility. No, they've got a thirst for power and they, they know nothing else other than Mr. Senator. And so, but this is, this is a longstanding problem. This is a longstanding problem. Senator Grassley, also in his 80s, actually maybe close to 90. And so we need to stop having, these 40 plus year politicians. This, this, our government was not set up for this. If you would have asked our Founding fathers, hey, do you think I should be a US senator for 41 years? They would say, have you lost your mind? Why would you want to do that? Who wants to do this? But being a elected official with insider trading capabilities has become the most lucrative gig that's out there. These people go in and They've got a $300,000 net worth, half of which is tied up in their real estate, in their home. And then they come out multimillionaires. And it's not because they're running all these small businesses on the side while they're also working for the American people. No, it's because they hire the right campaign consultants and they hire the right analyst and they hire the right market people that they can do all the insider trading that they're until their hearts content and then they get the kickbacks and then they get the the pork money going back to their state and then they get the contract and then they get the campaign donations and then before you know it, multimillionaire, it never fails. It hardly ever fails. As a matter of fact, any elected official that goes to Washington and leaves not a multimillionaire is an anomaly. It's a statistical anomaly. And the only way to leave there clean as a whistle is to not engage in the corruption, the shenanigans, etc. And so I'm just, and this is, this cuts across party lines. The fact that Senator McConnell has been in D.C. that long is a problem. And there's nobody that convinced me, can convince me that serving for 41 years, nearly half of his life has been as a U.S. senator. Put, put that in perspective. It's misplaced priorities and this on a broad scale. We don't need 84 year olds serving in the U S. Senate. Okay? On a, on a, and I'm speaking, this is, this is, these are principles that apply across the board. So if you're 86 and you're mad at me now because I just said you shouldn't serve in the U. S. Senate, well too bad, because Lord willing, when I'm 84, I'm not serving in the U S. Senate, I'm very far away from Washington D.C. and spending time with my family and discipling my grandchildren, etc. But nonetheless, this is bigger than a Washington problem or a political problem. This is a cultural problem of misplaced priorities. And we've got a lot of our culture and people within it that think that power and fame and elections and Senate chairmanships and insider trading and wealth are all the end all, be all this is all there is to this life. And what they're going to find out in eternity is this is but a brief period in the grand scheme of eternity. We'll be back in a few.
>> : America's 250th birthday. It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics250@the corps podcasts are [email protected] now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.
Senator Grassley is 92 years old and still serving in the US Senate
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us. Well, Senator Grassley is 92 years old and still serving in the US Senate, is actually chairman of the Judiciary Committee. And so he is the longest serving, actually it says one of the longest serving senators in American history. I would suspect he's probably the longest current serving U.S. senator, but I may be wrong on that. And then, Mitch McConnell follows right behind that, at 84 years old, serving since 1985. And so those are some of the two oldest U.S. senators. And, we just need, fresh blood in the U.S. senate. And it's not right for Kentucky voters and citizens to not have a representative in the U.S. senate, for now, three weeks. Going on four weeks next week is how long Mitch, McConnell has been unseen by the public and unable to cast a vote on the Senate floor. Well, speaking of US Senators and elections, Debbie Wethnau with I Voter Guide, president of ivoterguide and now host of the new radio program the Compass. She's with us now. Debbie, welcome back.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Good to be here, Walker.
You've been hosting a radio program with Rick Beggs for a couple months
>> Walker Wildmon: Well, Debbie, you're officially a radio pro now. You've been hosting a radio program with Rick Beggs going on a couple months now.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: yeah, I think we just recorded our tenth show, so we're into the two month window.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. So how long did it take you? You obviously been speaking in public for a long time representing ivoterguide, but how long did it take you or did it take you any time at all to get comfortable with the radio format, the radio setup?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: I've done enough interviews with you and on various other shows that I've been on that. That part didn't bother me at all. sitting here with this microphone in front of me at my computer feels a little weird. but I like that Rick and I have a conversation. It's not like me just sitting and talking to a microphone. I really look up to you and admire all those people who can do it that way. But it's. I love that it's very relatable. We're just kind of talking about what's going on in the public square.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: And it just feels very natural.
Every US congressman and congresswoman is up for election in November
>> Walker Wildmon: Do you, what about the content? Like how, how much prepping are you, are you having to do on the content?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, there's a lot of it. We're pulling from emails we've sent. So we're just kind of talking through that and giving the background of participating in voting. talked about the history of ivoterguide and how it became a part of AFR AFA M. We've talked about how I voter guide was created, what data we look at. So we're really still building what I would call the foundation of what we cover. And we're just going to continue to talk about patriotism and be in a public square and being candidates and being voters because that's all of us and it just relates to so many of us.
>> Walker Wildmon: Excellent. Well, Debbie, we are currently, I would say at least you can correct me if I'm wrong. At least if not over halfway through primary season and a general election is just right around the corner in November and midterm, year, big year. All obviously all House, congressional seats are up barring some rare, know, special election abnormalities. But nonetheless every US congressman and congresswoman is up for election. a lot of, probably over half of the US Senate seats are up for a third, a third, up for election. And so, and then of course this will be somewhat of a check on whether President Trump, the voters think he's doing a good job or not when it comes to some of these down ballot elections.
I Voter Guide is designed to help voters and AFR listeners prepare for elections
Nonetheless, tell us where I voter God is and some of the things that y' all been working on.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, you're spot on. It's about, we're about 60% of the way through the primaries. We're in kind of a lull in the month of June of July. Things will pick up in August and the final last primary is not till mid September. Our team is still wrapping up about 10 or 15 voter guides for the primary election that we're still researching up in those August and September ones. And we've actually started on a few general election voter guides. So the work definitely continues and is ramping up as we head into November. and the, the whole point of I Voter Guide is to give voters and AFR listeners a free tool to help you know about the information about the candidates on your ballot. So you go to ivoterguide.com and you enter your address and you will see the races and candidates that are on your ballot. we will are in the process of researching and evaluating the candidates. So if you just see like candidate names, that's what we call our candidate list phase. check back later and we will have the ratings available. Or even better, go and sign up for I voter Guides emails and we will email you when we release voter guides for your primary or for your runoff or for any special elections that might be in your near future so that you can be informed, informed and educated. because ivoterguide really wants to be a resource for all elections, your one stop election resource. So we're researching all of the legislative candidates, we're researching all the Congress and senate candidates in most of the state legislatures, we're researching those state senators, state, state reps, we're researching quite a few ballot measures that are going to be on the ballot. Some are in the primaries and quite a few will be on the ballot in November. Dozens of states across the nation. we're researching judges for the supreme Court, state supreme courts that will be on the ballot as well as some key school boards. So there is just a heck of a lot going on at ivoterguide and we're just ah, proud to be part of the AFA family and make it available to AFR listeners.
>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. And our goal is to reach more and more people each election cycle and we are proving to be doing just that. it's very, very easy to use folks and many of you are probably Ivote or God fans. You've already used it multiple elections. When we go to these events. Usually at least half of AFR listeners have already used iVoterGuide, sometimes more than that. but it's got all the information you need. For example, Debbie, I just typed in my home address.
>> Walker Wildmon: Of which I will not read on the air. But I typed in my home address and my general election, the primary has already passed here, in Mississippi. My general election ballot is estimated to be ready on August 28th of this year for me to use with all the evaluations ready and done and published. And so to your point, even if folks Maybe their primary has already passed and they go checking out their ballot for November. you guys list the date that you plan to publish the evaluations. That way they know when to go back. And also Debbie, correct me if I'm wrong, but if people want to be notified when their ballot is ready, when the evaluations are published, they just simply need to sign up for your emails. Correct?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, it's that simple. You should get a pop up that will appear on your screen to sign up for our email list and we will send you, we call it election notices as well as weekly just educational topics, the topics that we will frequently be discussing on the Compass. You can also go down to the footer and sign up down there, and just contact us with any questions you have. We've got a great team answering questions and sending you those emails every week to make sure that you're educated and informed.
>> Walker Wildmon: Excellent, excellent. Well, Debbie, the Compass, I'm hoping over time, builds an audience, but also people and educates people on ivoterguide because there's just a lot of low hanging fruit there. And I voter guide. Your team puts so much time into it, so much energy and money into it. We want to make sure we get this content in front of people as much as possible. the Compass airs on Saturdays from 1:30 to 2:00pm Central, here on American Family Radio. So check that out. We've got the podcast [email protected], also Debbie and her team link to the show [email protected] if you're on the browser you can look at your bottom right hand corner and you'll see the Compass tab, pop up and you can listen to the latest episode.
iVoterGuide has a tool that lets you find who represents you
Ah, Debbie, one more thing. Tell us about the find or who represents Me tool that was built out just this year.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, we, we realized a lot of people don't even know who their representatives are. you know I voter guide was created for elections but those people represent you all throughout the year. So similar interface if on the white box you enter in your address and then you click see who represents me. And it'll start up at the top with President Donald Trump and then it'll go through your senators, your representative. So it'll be both the senators, which you never would see on the ballot at the same time because they, they rotate that, you know, a third every, every two years. But also sometimes it even includes down ballot. I live in Austin, Texas and it includes my mayor and some of my city council members. It also, it will tell you how to contact these people, people, their websites and emails that they have, as well as how I Voter Guide rated them the last time they were on the ballot. So you can kind of know, you know, where these people land on the political spectrum and reach out and let them know where you stand and, and communicate with them. We really need to know who represents us, build relationship with them, because they do represent us and they need to hear from us as well. So that's why we created the who represents me feature.
>> Walker Wildmon: Excellent, excellent. ivoterguide.com is the URL ivoterguide.com Debbie, thanks so much for coming on. We'll keep, bringing you on at least once a month to highlight the I Voter Guide so that folks can be prepared and ready to go for November or for their primary election. Appreciate you coming on and we'll chat soon.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Always a pleasure. See you later.
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, thanks, Debbie.
5, 7, 10% of voters turn out using I Voter Guide
That's Debbie Wuthnow president of ivoterguide.com and one of the best, if not the best, voter guides in the country. It's online, it's easy, easy to use. Just type in your address and your personalized ballot will be queued up in your, on the Internet, on your browser and on your mobile device as well. And you can sign up for email updates. They'll send you emails when your voter guide is ready to go. So it's, it's very, very helpful. They put so much time and energy into it. We just need as many people as possible using I Voter Guide each and every election cycle. And we are making an impact with ivoterguide. The numbers are very compelling. depending on which, election we're talking about, we're seeing anywhere from 5, 7, 10% of voters that turn out actually use ivoterguide. in any given election. Some of those numbers go up into the double digits when you're looking at school board or some local elections. But nonetheless, to have that percentage 5, 7, 10% of voters in a given election use I voter Guide is a very, very big deal. I know it doesn't sound like a big number, but when you're talking about moving and influencing and educating 5, 7, 10% of voters, that's a very big deal because these elections are determined oftentimes by 1, 2, 3% of votes. And so when you can move 5% of voters in a given election, that is a very, very compelling case. So go to ivotoguide.com register for their emails. Use the I Voter Guide each and every election Cycle and share it with your family and friends.
Talarco claims to be Christian but doesn't represent Christianity
Well, speaking of elections and, the Democrats, Talarico, out of Texas, is running for the U.S. senate seat, against, I think, Ken Paxton. I think that's the open race there. Senator Cruz obviously, ran last cycle, so he's not running now. So Talarico is running in the general against, Ken Paxton for the U.S. senate seat to replace Jon Cornyn, who lost in the primary to Ken Paxton. And this. This Talarico guy is just off the deep end. I mean, he's as. I'm not even sure you can call him a lefty. He's as far left as they get, which I don't know how you keep describing them because they keep moving farther and farther left. but this guy, claims, to be a Christian, yet doesn't represent Christianity. Very liberal, very unbiblical viewpoints. and this is him claiming that, yeah, you know, Islam and Christianity, I mean, they all lead to the same place. That's what he claimed.
>> James Talarico: Clip 4 I'm always so, so thrilled when I get invited, you know, to the Diwali festival. I think I've gone two years in a row now. and, you know, also, have gotten a chance to speak at some of our local mosques, and I find such wisdom and comfort and inspiration from faith traditions all over the world. and I find that they're all kind of equal pathways to truth. You know, that's how I think. You know, I always think of all of the world's faith traditions as like a circle with, you know, that. That divine mystery of the universe in the middle. And we all have different names for that mystery, right? Whether it's God or Yahweh or Allah or, nirvana, Great Spirit, whatever you call it, this is all different pathways to the same kind of fundamental truth of reality. So, yeah, it's something. It's, how I try to stay grounded and stay rooted.
>> Walker Wildmon: That doesn't sound very grounded and rooted to me. Goodness.
>> Bobby Roza: Sounds like he's on a slippery slope to me.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, a lot of. And a lot of false gods mentioned there. Bobby.
>> Bobby Roza: He is so lost. Pray for that clown.
>> Walker Wildmon: He is lost.
>> Bobby Roza: He really is a clown.
>> Walker Wildmon: And to claim that. Oh, yeah. I mean, Nirvana, what on this earth? Yahweh, which is a biblical name for God, and Allah, which is the false God of Islam. Yeah. All of these places, he said, Bobby, lead to a fundamental truth. The same fundamental truth.
>> Bobby Roza: And he's so giddy about all of them. I'm just so excited to be here and be able to. To espouse these views.
>> Walker Wildmon: One, one, scripture that I think about, Bobby, is that pride comes before the fall.
>> Bobby Roza: Amen. And Amen.
>> Walker Wildmon: What we have here is not even someone. I would just say this isn't even someone claiming Christianity like a. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Yes, this guy's off the deep end. He represents nothing of Christ, Christianity, doesn't know the core tenants of Christianity and is speaking heretical, things there. And so, this guy needs to be roundly rebuked at the ballot box in November. I'm talking slam dunk. Not even close in November.
>> Bobby Roza: And roundly rebuked on the campaign trail as well.
>> Walker Wildmon: Exactly. And by and by, pastors and leaders need to be roundly rebuking this guy. This guy doesn't need to be within 100 miles of a church unless he's coming to repentance. I mean, the heretical teachings here that he's putting out on the airwaves is very, very dangerous. But nonetheless, that's what Marxism brings you. This is what godlessness brings you. It brings you lies, it brings you idolatry, and it ultimately brings you destruction, because of the failure to acknowledge the God of the Bible, the only one true God of scripture, which is not Islam. It is not all these other false religions. There is only one true God of the Bible, and, he's a God of righteousness. And so all of these prideful, humanistic, secular ideals that are being pushed by Talarico run completely contrary to Scripture, completely contrary to biblical Christianity. And that cannot be stated enough. The interesting dynamic that we're in as a country is how are voters gonna handle this? Because he's not the only candidate like this on the ballot come November.
>> Walker Wildmon: They. They've got some doozies out here. I mean, they've got some. Some clowns running, as Bobby said, for, these Democrat seats in these various states. Now, it's not. That's not a hundred of them, but. But I think I can go through the list and probably find at least a dozen of these guys and gals around the country that are just talking out the side of their head. And, don't believe in virtually anything American. I mean, these are like foreign ideas coming in, have no semblance of truth and reality. And so my hope is that voters just roundly rebuke these. These false ideals, these dangerous, lies that are being pushed by Talarico and others. Very, very dangerous place to be to have these folks on the ballot is just utterly embarrassing. We'll be back.
Preborn network clinics offer free ultrasounds to women facing unplanned pregnancies
Right now, the voices in our culture are loud, but truth is often silent. And today preborns need you to help speak that truth. Women facing unplanned pregnancies are often pressured to act quickly before they have time to pause, breathe, or, hear the truth about life, dignity and hope. But I refuse to be silent, and I'm asking you to join me. At preborn network clinics, a woman is welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. She sees the life growing inside her, often for the very first time. And in that sacred moment, fear gives way to clarity. And she's offered something abortion industry will never provide. The hope of Jesus Christ. This April, our goal is to have 11,000 gospel conversations in preborn network clinics, trusting God to bring the increase as we remain faithful to speak. You can help make that possible by sponsoring ultrasounds. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and $140 provides five free ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 and say the keyword baby dot or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr at the core podcast are [email protected] now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.
Chris Woodward says energy markets are showing signs of ignoring Iran conflict
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us here on the program. Krish Woodward is with us this third segment as he is on most Fridays. Krish, welcome back.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you very much.
>> Walker Wildmon: Well, Krish, one day the Strait of Hormuz and everything is calm and then the next day things are fiery and so it's really hard to cover it and bring true up to date news. nonetheless on the energy front, speaking of, you know, the Strait of Hormuz and Iran and the energy front, the energy markets recently, over the last 24 hours, Krish, are really showing signs of ignoring the Iran conflict.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I think they, like a lot of Americans have gotten into, like this is just, you know, this is another day ending in y, kind of thing, which is a new era for us, as a country. but, the good news is stocks rose the last couple of days. Oil prices have eased, financial markets have calmed. After President Trump said, hey, we're going back to bombing or striking Iran because they struck ships in the strait. Things were going up after that, and then they've kind of eased, even the stock market on Thursday, I mean it closed and broke positive territory. The Dow was up 139 on Thursday, the Nasdaq 336, the S&P up 60. The Dow is still, I mean the Dow is almost at 53,000. And we're in what is basically a war. I know some are calling it a conflict or whatever, but the stock market does not seem phased. I think part of that is because investors look at things in a long term view rather than what's the world going to look like tomorrow. I'm planning for years or decades from now.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And that's maybe why there is some, protection there. but it's good news to see nonetheless.
>> Walker Wildmon: The, the thing Krish, here that is, is positive is if the energy markets begin ignoring the straight of Hormuz, I mean obviously the energy's got to flow, the oil's got to flow and it is, it's, it is flowing. but if, if we get out of this kind of volatility stage, that's a big deal. It is, it's in a positive way because we can move on to other things.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. And the good news is, is that during this conflict or war, you had a country like the UAE say, hey, we're going to, we're going to get out of opec.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: Then you have the Venezuela situation from months ago. if they get more and more and more oil on the market, that's going to be some non OPEC kind of oil out there. That is not going to be phased by, we're going to slow down production. announcements from the cartel, and I say cartel, that's not even me calling it a cartel. The Associated Press of all liberal news outlets has referred to OPEC as a quote, cartel in recent months.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. Because of their market, the level of market that they have and how they make decisions that don't seem rational on the, like the, on the production side. They're like, they're like, we're cutting gas is like $5 a gallon. Like we're cutting production. It's like, why are you cutting production? I'm paying $100 to fill up my vehicle.
>> Chris Woodward: Right. You know, that comes at the same time when you have like these, these communists and socialists, running for offices in parts of the country where they're bad mouthing all the rich people that control everything. None of them ever say anything bad about opec, which arguably is controlling how you live your life.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. The best counter to OPEC is the US and that's that's been proven. And we have been. I think. I think, Was it, Cutter. One of them broke off. Saudi. one of them was like, hey, we're doing our own thing.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. In recent weeks.
>> Walker Wildmon: Uae.
>> Walker Wildmon: Uae. Yeah. So the more we can splinter OPEC and boost our supplies, and if we can ever. And we got Venezuela now on the block, if we can ever get Russia back in the game and unsanctioned, now opec, they're not part of. Russia's, not part of opec, I don't think. but if we can get some of these other major energy producers back on the market, like an unsanctioned, that could help, too. I mean, I'm not in favor of, like, helping Putin, but at the same time, you know, what's our beef with Putin? so if we can get some of that energy on the market, that might help.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: to counter OPEC is. My point is, how can you counter opec and you have other. You provide other alternatives of energy production and export. nonetheless.
Chris Drum: Oil prices started falling back down on Thursday
Chris, tell us, what about the, markets? How have they been responding? I, know the S and P. Well, not all of the S and P, the Mag 7, had been struggling in recent weeks.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, on Thursday, the S and P climbed 2.8%. The Dow was up. The Nasdaq rose 1.3%. Oil prices, started falling back down. That's always a good thing because basically where oil is going, that impacts everything. Based on fear and speculation and all the other stuff, that impacts markets. since it looked like, the ceasefire was off and we were going to start striking one another, things kind of were in panic mode for a day or so. But, like, they've done a lot during this conflict. things have some sort, they've kind of, you know, settled, which is good, because gas prices, of course, they went up a little bit. but the national average is still below 4 bucks a gallon. For a gallon of regular diesel is still, praise God, below five bucks a gallon on average. if we could get those things back down or continue to get them back down, that would be fantastic. A year ago, we were paying 316 a gallon on average for gas. That's the national average, meaning us in the Southeast and other parts of the country were paying a little bit less. but today it's. It's a lot more. And, that's something. That's something that, Democrats running for office are still out there beating the Drum about. I saw a story, somebody posted on X earlier this week and it talked about how, Trump said he would bring your energy prices down and he hasn't. And Trump said he would bring your grocery prices down and he hasn't. Yeah, those kinds of things. We'll continue to see those from Democrats running for office and their friends in the media until Trump gets that fixed.
Chris Bell: I think inflation is still a problem. I don't think it's a five alarm fire
>> Walker Wildmon: Let me ask you this, on the inflation front, there's mixed numbers out there because you look at the government data and they're showing over 4%, whether it's core PPI, et cetera. They're showing actually four and a half, given the month, depending on the month. Then you look at private providers, private data like truflation, which has actually become a go to for economists and they're showing like 2% or two and a half on the same categories, drastically different numbers. Where do you think we are on inflation? I would say you think we're still high or you think we're like towards the Fed target?
>> Chris Woodward: I would say, I would say
>> Walker Wildmon: we're still a little elevated.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I would say we're still a little high. I'm kind of leaning towards maybe somewhere in the middle.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: because oftentimes the true inflation people, it's kind of like the unemployment rate. several years ago people talked about the true unemployment rate. It's what the government doesn't report to you.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, the people who quit applying for jobs.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. Yeah. And by the way, the jobs report. There were no fireworks in the July jobs report by the way, or the June jobs report. but yeah, I would say it's somewhere in the middle of the two numbers.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, I agree. I think inflation is still a problem. I don't think it's a five alarm fire, but I think it's still a problem. and that's. Krish, what's becoming, what not becoming, what has been concerning to me is just the stubborn nature of this inflation. now it's not, you know, it's not, you know, Iran's got 300% inflation. It's clearly not like a apocalyptic inflation number. But as far as it eating away at American wages and making it very difficult for wages to catch up and the cost of living just continues to rise. Krish, 3 or 4%, is a problem. And the fact that we've been doing this now over five years, at 4 plus percent inflation, that's got to give at some point.
>> Chris Woodward: It does. because you've got places like California, which has Forever had high gas prices. They also have a housing shortage. And because that, that's caused the economy, cost of housing to just be outrageous out there, then you factor in all the other things that they have to pay. I mean you're looking at like much higher sales taxes just in California. and it's always like to help make ends meet or to help fund this and that and whatever. and if you speak out about it, people rip you on social media or whatnot. I honestly, I have no idea how people in California make it, right now. And in many cases, they're barely making it or they just find a way. For example, I was watching one of the, debates between the eleventy billion people running for governor at one point, ahead of the June 2nd primary. And CBS, a local CBS store, news outlet had done a story on a lady where they went and followed her. And it was like a day in the life of a stay at home mom. And she was going out and she was having to buy groceries and she was having to buy gas. And basically, because of the cost of living being so outrageous out there, she picks up what would be like one pack of meat for that night's spaghetti or hamburgers or whatever. And she starts, and they're in a family of three. Okay. So she takes this ordinary pack of hamburger meat and she's like, I could make this into four nights. Wow. And then she goes and she buys gas, but she only gets like a quarter tank of gas. And she's like, I'm just gonna have to make this work.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: that's why, that's where it's really scary.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And that's sad. And, and I don't, I understand. Because there's two sides that people come at this from. They, they come of it, at it from, well, you should be thankful that you have hamburger meat. And I understand that sentiment, but our point is that it doesn't have to be this way.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: And, and it's not that the, the example you gave. It's not that she's not working hard enough. Right. Or she's lazy or sitting on the couch. It's that our leaders in our state capitals and in Washington D.C. have been running terrible fiscal policy for decades.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: And they've been eating away at our wages. That's the problem.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: And so I get that there's lazy people out there and not all people are owed sympathy. but when you are working hard and you are trying to do the right thing and you Just can't seem to stay ahead. that's the frustrating part for people.
>> Chris Woodward: Very true. Government is largely the reason why you can't afford to make it today based on the fact that they have had decades of bad spending policies, that have caused us to pay higher taxes.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right.
>> Chris Woodward: then we're taxed when we buy stuff, we're taxed when we do all kinds of things. so government is the reason for the housing problem. because, there's rules and regulations in this case in California, you can't build here, it's got to be this and that. If you build there, it's going to take a long time, a lot of paperwork, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All that stuff adds up to fees and regulations in taxes that end up trickling back down to the Joe Six back out there that's trying to figure out how to make a pack of hamburger meat going to six meals.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, it's it's become. Krish.
>> Chris Woodward: And wages are ridiculous.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, it's become. Where? Well, the reason we have the inflation that we have is because of Washington's printing press problem. Even other, even under Republicans and President Trump, I mean, he's talking about a $1.5 trillion defense budget. What on this earth? What are they smoking up there? $1.5 trillion on defense and you can, you can sell me all the fancy weapons. That is absurd.
>> Chris Woodward: You can get rid of a lot of the departments which conservatives would be in favor of, the federal departments like Department of Education and all that stuff. It would still require a ton of ridiculous borrowing just to pay for that, defense plan.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, $1.5 trillion defense budget is insane. and I mean we just hit it. We hit 900 billion or close to a trillion last cycle. so we're going to bump it up, by $500 billion in a 12 month period. the printing press, Krish, is the reason I say it's. The problem is because when you put that much new money into the economy every single year and you're running hundreds of billion dollars in deficits, what do you expect you're going to have, I mean, no way you're going to get 1 or 2% inflation.
Chris Martin: Defense budget bumped up by a half trillion dollars in a 12 month
because the 2 to 3% inflation and the fed funds target, or the fed target of 2% is under, best case scenario, like maybe a couple hundred billion dollar deficit. but you bumped the defense budget up by a half trillion dollars in a 12 month period. That's not considering all the other budget increases.
>> Walker Wildmon: it's fantasy land. I Think we're going to get inflation down to 2%.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: And there's nothing that Kevan Warsh can do to get a 2% when you're spending that kind of money.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: I mean, and listen, that's what's frustrating for me because they're like, you're going to pay. I'm going to pay a higher mortgage, a higher auto loan rate, a higher everything rate on borrowing money because the Defense Department wants $500 billion more in money for, for the next calendar year
>> Chris Woodward: after he ran for office saying, I'm going to get us out of this and that we're going to stop doing all these kinds of things. I'm, m not saying we shouldn't have weapons. And certainly soldiers need to have boots, they need to have firearms, they need drones and all these things.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: But, that's a lot of money for, an administration that said, I'm going to get us out of things and stop putting us in situations we shouldn't be in.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right.
>> Chris Woodward: at the same time that you've been out there blaming the previous administration, and rightly so, for bad spending policies that caused us to be in a
>> Walker Wildmon: world of hurt from 2020. And I will say, if we're going to spend it, I mean, defense is a, list of priorities. I would agree with defense. It's just, it's just when you're trying to counter inflation, Krish, when I look at that, I'm like, the Fed can, they can hike rates to 20% and we're going to have inflation because of the level of money printing. So it's like counter. They're working against each other, but it's all the same government trying to work for the same causes. but just the math shows, folks, you can look this up. When the Treasury Department prints money to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars to backfill a budget deficit that the government doesn't have in tax revenue, you get new money into the market at a rate that causes inflation. And that's what happened during COVID with the stimulus money. And so I just think, Krish, if we're going to have baked in 3 or 4% inflation, okay, the Fed just needs to quit acting like they're in control of it.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. And they are doing this to some extent. But if I was a representative in the House, which controls the purse strings and Pete Hegseth or somebody comes to me with a ridiculous spending request.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: I would say, well, you need to have JD Go down to the Pentagon and get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse because there is a whole lot of that going on in the Defense Department.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. Let's shut some stuff down. Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: In exchange for some of the money you're asking.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And reallocate it and keep shutting down other agencies. I mean, find that money somewhere else. I mean, a trillion dollars is more than like everybody else is spending, like combined.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: In defense. And that's not an exaggeration. All right, folks. Thanks, Krish.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Walker Wildmon: Well, there you have it. Afr.net check out the podcast wherever you listen to podcast and we'll see you next time.
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