Trump's Plans, Goodbye to Walz, Uber Economics, and More!
Main Discussion Topics
Maduro's Capture and Arraignment
Nicolás Maduro captured along with his wife and brought to New York
Arraigned on narco-terrorism related charges and pleaded not guilty
Discussion of whether Trump will pardon him as conspiracy theories emerge claiming Venezuela was involved in rigging 2020 election through Dominion voting machines
Delcy Rodriguez (socialist vice president) sworn in as president of Venezuela
Trump gave her laudatory remarks because she's indicated willingness to do whatever Trump wants
Mark noted the skepticism: "Now they're talking about a few things. One. Running the country. America evidently is going to run the country, uh, there, but the socialist vice president is sworn in, I guess, as the president of the country. And Trump has given her some, uh, laudatory, uh, remarks."
Michael expressed his suspicion: "it wouldn't surprise me and I'm seeing more and more posts on social media about how this is really about proving that the 2020 election was stolen."
Venezuela Oil Subsidies and Government Control
Trump proposing to subsidize Venezuelan oil companies
Estimates going up to $100 billion over the next 10 years funded by American taxpayers
Infrastructure rebuilding will not be easy or cheap and won't pay off for 10-15 years
Criticism of Trump's spending increases despite promises to shrink deficit
Mark questioned the funding: "The guy that was supposed to shrink the deficit is spending more money in military excursions that I think probably any president before him and is now going to spend billions upon billions of dollars of building up infrastructure that won't pay off for 10 or 15 years down the line. Where is this money coming from?"
Michael highlighted the irony: "The people that I've heard my whole life talk about how incompetent government is are now like, yes. Yeah. This is what we want Donald Trump and his boys doing, managing oil fields and doling out deals. Come on people."
Trump's Territorial Ambitions
Plans discussed for going after Columbia, Mexico, Greenland, and Cuba
Cuba expected to fall on its own due to loss of Venezuelan oil
MAGA infrastructure citing Monroe Doctrine despite not understanding it
Monroe Doctrine was to stop European imperialism in Western hemisphere, not a license to invade countries
Michael explained: "the Monroe Doctrine was to stop European imperialism in the Western hemisphere. Right? That's what it was for. It was not a license to go invade countries that you don't like or who you think are bad for you, that, that that wasn't what it was."
Greenland Invasion Threat
Trump threatens military action to take Greenland
Greenland has strategic importance relative to China and valuable rare earth metals and energy resources
Would require fighting Denmark and potentially ending NATO alliance
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen taking the threat seriously and warning it would mean end of NATO
Trump has proven unpredictability with Venezuela invasion
Mark analyzed Trump's approach: "I think that's part of his charm to the MAGA people. The MAGA people like the fact that since he has no principles there, there's nothing you can anchor him to. And he thinks that that keeps the world community on their heels and that keeps them at a disadvantage because they're constantly reacting to him and his unpredictable offense."
Mark warned about the consequences: "It's actually terrible because it creates great uncertainty and mistrust in the world. And how can you exchange and trade with people, uh, over the long term? If everybody distrusts what you're going to do, if they think that the next thing that comes out of your mouth is gonna be some impulsive, crazy thing that threatens to attack you, how can you have a relationship with that person? You can't."
Marco Rubio's Congressional Testimony
Rubio testified before Congress that there were no plans to go into Venezuela
Said the US didn't have legal justification for attacks against land targets
Turned out they had been planning Venezuela invasion for quite some time
Question raised whether Rubio lied to Congress
Rubio's exact quote: "The US is not currently planning to launch strikes against Venezuela and doesn't have a legal justification that would support attacks against any land targets."
Michael's response: "It means nothing because none of 'em have any testicles. So he, he, um, they'll just, uh, kiss his Cuban ass right after they're done kissing the big orange ass."
Political Lies and Public Acceptance
Discussion of how American populace has become inured to politicians lying
People accept lying as normal instead of demanding honest, principled politicians
Comparison to Clinton impeachment for perjury versus Trump's repeated escapes from accountability
Venezuelans in diaspora cheering Maduro's capture despite constitutional violations
Mark observed: "It seems like the American populace has become so inured to the idea that politicians lie. They accept it now as opposed to politicians lie, and this is not the state of things that we wanna, that we wanna maintain in America. We want all honest, principled politicians, so fuck these guys, let's get 'em outta here. Instead, they just accept it."
Constitutional Arguments Dismissed
Michael's debate with Reese Hopkins on WTIC radio
Conservative host mocking constitutional arguments as silly
MAGA conservatives no longer caring about constitutional originalism
Discussion of whether conservative constitutional arguments were always a smokescreen for other motivations
Michael reflected: "This guy yesterday on the radio was mocking people who were making constitutional arguments as if they're just silly to make constitutional arguments."
Michael questioned conservative motivations: "were they ever, you know, uh, blacks told me that all that shit was a smokescreen. That really, a lot of that stuff was just racist policies, you know, the whole state's rights argument... I'm starting to think maybe there's something to that because they don't care about the constitution. That's clear as day. They don't care about truth. They don't care about individual rights. So what, what, what is it? What's their real motivation?"
Medicaid/Medicare Fraud and Government Incompetence
Minnesota welfare, Medicare, Medicaid system corrupted
Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted and fraudulently frittered away
Government overpayment, enrolling people who shouldn't be enrolled, and direct fraud
Demonstrates government incompetence and why they shouldn't be in medicine or any aspect of life
Michael explained the problem: "It's not just fraud, by the way, it's also overpayment. It's also, um, signing people up who should not be on there."
Mark added: "enrolling people who don't belong is actually good for them. They have the incentive to make the roles bigger. The bigger, the bigger the roles are, they look more prestigious. The state and federal governments, the more money they're going to get. It's the opposite incentive than, than a free market."
Phasing Out Entitlements
Republicans claim they will never touch Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security
These three programs are main drivers of national debt
Discussion of how to phase out entitlements since people are dependent on them
Start with deregulation to make cost of living cheaper
Cut spending and taxes simultaneously
Opposition to flat tax that would raise taxes on the 40% who don't pay federal income tax
Michael laid out the approach: "You phase it out. You, you, you phase it out. You start limiting who can enroll. You start limiting the amount of payments you open up markets, you deregulate. You lower taxes and you start the process of moving towards an actual free society and not the cluster fuck of a, a rights violating monstrosity that we currently have."
Mark explained Roosevelt's strategy: "Roosevelt wanted to spread the new deal. He made sure that he, he made states dependent upon the political patronage of the federal government, and that's how he solidified the New Deal as a national... all power that the federal government takes folks, it never goes backwards unless you have some principled people in there who are willing to do the difficult thing, which is to make cuts more than, more than, uh, tax cuts."
Tax System Debate
51% of Americans dependent on federal government for some paycheck
40% of Americans don't pay federal income tax
Romney's 2012 comments about this proven correct
Debate between Mark and Michael about flat tax proposal
Michael opposes any tax as inherently unfair, advocates phasing out
Discussion of whether to cut taxes before or after cutting spending
Michael's position: "I'm with Murray Rothbard on this taxation's wrong, and therefore there's no, no measure of taxation that can be fair. We need to phase it out."
Tim Walz's Political Downfall
Walz experiencing political downfall due to Minnesota Medicaid fraud problems
Questions about how he rose to prominence given his presentation
Hope that downfall might extend to Ilhan Omar on corruption charges
Michael wondered: "He looks older than what he actually is. So, you know, he's not a good looking guy. He doesn't have charisma, and he's not all that smart. Like in his debates, uh, it, it, he, he didn't come off as good in his speeches. He doesn't come off as good so. You know, I don't know how he ever got there."
Uber Breaking the Taxi Cartel
Taxi medallions cost up to $1 million in New York City
Prohibitively expensive capital requirement to own a cab
Created virtual monopoly with transitional gains gap
Uber came along and undercut the cartel
Taxi lobbies fought back violently in Paris and through regulations
Example of how free market innovation breaks government-created monopolies
Michael explained the problem: "You go out and buy this thing for a hundred thousand dollars, but then there's a monopoly on it. So the price goes way up to the for said aforementioned million dollars. So now the, the cabbie who bought it at a hundred thousand has reaped all the gains, sells it to this other guy who now, you know, basically takes the hit."
Mark recounted Paris experience: "The cab drivers were violently protesting Uber because Uber had come in and undercut their prices and was taking all their business... the the taxi lobby came in and violently attacked Uber drivers cars, overturning them, setting them on fire. Finally, of course, the assembly did something about it and made it so that the Uber drivers can't charge any less than the taxi driver."
Airbnb in New York
Hotel lobby went insane when Airbnb came to New York City
Did everything to crush Airbnb
Uncertain if you can even do Airbnb anymore in New York
Political Tribalism
Both sides contradict themselves when other side is in power
Only principle animating them is beating the other guy
American Capitalist Party presented as alternative focused on individual rights and property rights
Endorsement of Larry Sharpe for New York Governor
Call to join Capitalist Digital Army
Mark warned: "if you don't wanna live in that kind of world anymore, where you're a tool in a war between two political tribes, if I were you, I would start thinking about American Capitalist Party, the American Capitalist Party as the alternative, the free market alternative, the one that principally stands for individual rights and inviable property rights."
The Pellegrino Dictator Theory
Mark's personal theory (not American Capitalist Party position) that dictators have micropenises
Examples cited: Napoleon, Hitler, potential application to Maduro, Nick Fuentes, Trump
Theory suggests world's problems could be solved if power-seekers had normal sex lives
Contrasted with founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson
Mark explained: "I think the world's problems could be solved. Just all the violence that these people cause in chaos could be caused. If they would just do two things, get surgical implants on their penises so that they're somewhat larger and have sex, if they did that, the world would be a better place."
Referenced Media/Interviews
Jim Valiant episode on "Using Objectivity for Self-Improvement" on The Rational Egoist
Michael's upcoming Biblical Anarchy debate at 8pm Eastern
Upcoming episode with epidemiologist Vance Ginn (Friday)
Upcoming interview with economist Gene Epstein about Adam Smith
Reese Hopkins on WTIC PM Drive show
Axios article "Rebuilding Venezuela Oil Fields Will Not Be Easy or Cheap"
Free Press article about Danish Prime Minister warning on NATO
Article questioning whether Marco Rubio lied to Congress about Venezuela
Notable Quotes
Michael on Trump's Unpredictability: "it wouldn't surprise me and I'm seeing more and more posts on social media about how this is really about proving that the 2020 election was stolen."
Mark on Trump's Spending: "The guy that was supposed to shrink the deficit is spending more money in military excursions that I think probably any president before him and is now going to spend billions upon billions of dollars of building up infrastructure that won't pay off for 10 or 15 years down the line. Where is this money coming from?"
Michael on Government Incompetence: "The people that I've heard my whole life talk about how incompetent government is are now like, yes. Yeah. This is what we want Donald Trump and his boys doing, managing oil fields and doling out deals. Come on people."
Mark on Unpredictable Leadership: "It's actually terrible because it creates great uncertainty and mistrust in the world. And how can you exchange and trade with people, uh, over the long term? If everybody distrusts what you're going to do, if they think that the next thing that comes out of your mouth is gonna be some impulsive, crazy thing that threatens to attack you, how can you have a relationship with that person? You can't."
Michael on Constitutional Arguments: "This guy yesterday on the radio was mocking people who were making constitutional arguments as if they're just silly to make constitutional arguments."
Mark on Roosevelt's New Deal Strategy: "Roosevelt wanted to spread the new deal. He made sure that he, he made states dependent upon the political patronage of the federal government, and that's how he solidified the New Deal as a national... all power that the federal government takes folks, it never goes backwards unless you have some principled people in there who are willing to do the difficult thing."
Mark on Political Tribalism: "if you don't wanna live in that kind of world anymore, where you're a tool in a war between two political tribes, if I were you, I would start thinking about American Capitalist Party, the American Capitalist Party as the alternative, the free market alternative."
Key Themes
Executive overreach and constitutional violations
Government incompetence in managing programs like Medicare/Medicaid
Military interventionism and territorial expansion
Free market innovation breaking government-created monopolies
Political tribalism undermining principled governance
Tax reform and entitlement phase-out strategies
American Capitalist Party as alternative to two-party system
Capitalist Thought of the Day
"We've talked about how they tax the rich. We like to have fun with Mark because he's rich. The bottom line is this, when that money is earned legally and honestly, we ought to respect it as lovers of capitalism, as lovers of freedom. We need to promote the type of society where people can move up that ladder and get rich, become successful, and be their best person. We want to get the government out of the way from people doing that. We wanna stop the impediments. We want to stop the maligning of successful people, and we want to encourage them. For those who are getting rich by means of the government, fuck you. We don't care about you. But for those who are doing it rightfully, we love you. We honor you, we respect you. We need to continue to do so. And just for the record, Mark Pellegrino was not born a wealthy actor. Mark Pellegrino worked his ass off to get where he is. And as much as I tease him, he deserves all the success and every dime he's earned." - Michael
Question of the Day
Do you think Venezuela will turn out to be a positive acquisition for the United States, or will it be more nation building that turns into a disaster?