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Well, 10 years ago, we invited brothers Brad and Dallas Woodhouse onto this program to talk about the political divide in America and in their own household.
C -SPAN viewers might recall that it made for something of a viral moment when their mother called in.
Brad Woodhouse, remind viewers what that 2014 documentary Woodhouse Divided was all about.
Well, that documentary was about the time that Dallas and I squared off in 20...
2009, 2010, over the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
He had a documentarian follower activity.
He was running Americans for Prosperity in North Carolina.
I was at the DNC helping President Obama and the White House pass the Affordable Care Act.
And so we had this documentary.
It was coming out right around then, and I think we were doing a pretty mediocre segment with Steve Scully when Mom shocked the world and called in and told us to stop bickering.
Dallas Woodhouse, today, is your family, is the country less, more divided than it was back in 2014?
I mean, probably not.
I mean, there were certainly a lot of things that were posted on Twitter, everything about Thanksgiving after President Trump's election.
I mean, I think the election returns were a little more unifying in that we had a Republican president win the popular vote, which hadn't happened in a long time.
Well, that's no longer true.
Well, yeah, because y 'all just keep counting votes till you didn't do that.
He won a plurality, but he did not win a majority.
Okay.
And that's something that we talk about, John.
Well, all right.
Well, let's see what that does for you.
But, hey, look, I was thinking about things that have not changed over the last 10 years.
I mean, they passed The Affordable Health Care Act.
Brad thinks it's a success.
I don't.
That hasn't changed.
Our mother, who is as spicy and as sharp as ever, she doesn't get around quite as good.
But, you know, she is the same.
You know, the other week I was with her, and she, you know, Brad called her, and she asked when Brad was coming home for Christmas.
She's really excited to see him, you know, as I am.
It's very different.
You know, he lives in D .C.
Are you going to be spending the holidays, the Christmas holidays?
Yeah, yeah.
We'll be together at Christmas.
He's coming to my house for Christmas Eve.
But the funny thing is, you know, when Mom talks to Brad, you know, I mean, she just lights up and gets so happy.
She then starts calling Robert Preston and getting 76 trombones ready.
And not the same with you?
And she said, well, why would you want to do that?
I said, I'm not going to miss my opportunity to let you down one more time.
Dallas, explain what you do now.
So I work with two sister organizations, American Majority and American Majority Action, a great grassroots organization that started in North Carolina about 18 months ago.
I was its first director.
And, you know, Brad has, you know, got a We're good to go.
Republicans, somewhat led by Trump, had taken a sour look on, and that puts us at a strategic advantage.
And thanks to our work at American Majority, our activists, our paid staff, also the president -elect changing his sort of tune on that, we were able to turn that around and have, for the first time in North Carolina's history,
Republicans actually outvoted Democrats in early voting, which was really phenomenal.
And Brad Woodhouse, explain what you do now.
Well, first of all, John, this is exactly how the holidays go.
Dallas doesn't let anyone else say a word and it constantly interrupts.
So this is what I'm looking forward to on Christmas Eve.
Well, so my primary job right now, one that I'm very dedicated to, that goes back to...
This job does not go back, but it goes back to my experience in working to pass Affordable Health Care, to pass the Affordable Care Act, as I'm the Executive Director of Protect Our Care.
That was a group that was put in place to stop Trump from repealing.
We're good to go.
I think?
Thank you.
We care about the lives of the American people, and RFK Jr.'s views on infectious diseases, on research, on scientific research, and on vaccines, not only will kill people, but has killed people.
So we're fighting that nomination tooth and nail.
You mentioned you're in that fight again.
If the two of you get into a fight around Christmas time, who's the one that usually separates you?
Is there any chance that you avoid talking politics, Dallas Woodhouse?
There's no chance that we'll avoid talking politics, and I am always the one that will walk away, because I just can't take so much of Dallas Woodhouse.
Well, actually, there is some truth to that, but I think it's a little different.
If you're going to be honest about it, we may razz each other a little bit when we're in person, but I think he does have less...
Tolerance for sort of bickering than he did 10 years ago.
And I think that's because he gets it from his Republican wife, Jessica, who's his toughest name.
Don't bring my wife into this.
Don't bring her into this.
No, but I think that's it.
But I will say this, right?
I mean, but we're just as likely to bicker about other things besides politics, you know?
And we are able to talk politics.
Yeah, we argue sometimes.
And let me just say this.
I mean, I want to say something about my brother, right?
I am a lot of what I am.
Just the good parts, Brad.
If there are any.
You know, because of my brother.
I mean, he is older.
You know, I became a television reporter in part, that's because I started in a performance background.
Acting in plays, being in show choir.
Well, my brother did that first.
You know, my taste in music.
You know, I love Springsteen.
I still listen to Huey Lewis and the News, even though he doesn't sing anymore.
Where did those tastes come from?
They came from my brother.
And, you know, I was a journalist for a number of years and I started covering politics.
And when I decided to make a switch, even though I was, you know, on the other side, you know, my brother was very helpful.
So, you know, today, a lot of times, like during the campaigns, you know, there's no point in us sort of talking, you know, who's better, Trump or, well, whoever they're running, Joe Biden or Kamala, whoever they figured out.
But we can talk tactics and other things, and I still learn a lot from my brother.
He didn't tell me any trade secrets, but I can call him up sometimes.
I don't really understand why somebody did something or why a campaign might do that, or we just call it the laugh about it.
So yes, there's always playing up that we're bickering, but we get along, and I still learn a lot from my brother.
Well, for viewers who want to learn a lot from the two of you, the phone lines are open.
We're good to go.
We're good to go.
We're good to go.
38 % said they actually plan to avoid family members that they disagree with politically this holiday season.
So why is it better to engage and maybe walk away than not engage at all?
Well, look, I think it's important to engage.
I think the problem I think that exists, and it was interesting, I was listening to some of your callers before.
Before we came on, and you know this, and you deal with it in listening and talking and moderating these calls every single day, is that we have, with respect to people who are active...
uh politically, or or or paying attention to politics, we have people just living with separate sets of facts.
I mean there are people that still believe after you know, after a bunch of you know people in the government and senators and members you know, members of Congress and neutral observers have come out and said those are airplanes over New Jersey.
There are a whole bunch of people that believe you know, for whatever reason.
This is mostly on the right.
There are people that believe those are drones.
I mean, we just are operating with two You know, separate sets of facts.
I think that the results in that survey, I think, are sad.
You know, if we could operate with the same set of facts and then disagree on the policy solutions, which is what I think we were doing, you know, in the not way recent past, in the last 15 or 20 years,
but now we're not even agreeing on the same set of facts.
We're not agreeing.
On the efficacy of vaccines, even though uh, even though they've been proof.
You know the polio vaccine, I mean Rfk's own.
Uh, allies want to withdraw the you know approval for the polio vaccine, even though the efficacy of that has been proven over and over and over again, and that institutes a whole new set of not real facts, but a different people are operating with different set of.
I have a different answer, John.
Well, Brad brought up the drones.
You know, One thing is, when you have an administration that has so bald -faced lied, you know, Joe Biden was fine.
His health was great.
He's tap -dancing.
I mean, that's a problem.
I don't know what's happening.
We'll let Dallas have his say.
You know, I mean, and I got to tell you, we're talking about Merry Christmas.
Assuming he makes it another 15 days, nobody's going to have a merrier Christmas than Jimmy Carter.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on.
I love my brother.
I think he's misguided.
I don't think he's evil.
I know he's not.
He's a good man.
And it's a little different here in North Carolina.
I ran the Republican Party in North Carolina.
I tried to defeat a lot of Democrats.
I have friendly relationships with Democrats across the aisle in the legislature.
I have friendships with Democrats.
I don't think they're bad people.
And I think, you know, the Villa, you know, and, you know, Brad and I were talking about it, you know, ever since, you know, George H .W. Bush won in 1988, which was kind of a third Ronald Reagan term.
You know, otherwise the parties have flipped back and forth.
Clinton, Bush, Obama.
Trump?
Biden?
Trump?
I mean, you know, it's cyclical, you know, and neither one of us, you know, I don't believe that this past election was the most important in my lifetime.
I don't believe 2016 was.
I don't believe 2024 was.
They're all important.
But, I mean, you know, I do believe in the fundamental...
John, here is exactly why people don't want to engage in political...
Hold on, hold on, Dallas.
And here's my prediction.
Here's my prediction.
Two months from now, two months from now, one month after he's sworn in as president, Donald Trump
The Biden legacy will be a lot...
Let me get you guys some calls here.
I want to make one final thing.
We had an election and it's over and he lost and the American voters did not agree with anything he just said.
Let me get some calls for you.
We'll start way out in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Kyle, up early this morning.
Independent, good morning.
You're on with the Woodhouse Brothers.
I guess I bridge everyone being from Hawaii here.
You know, I don't think it's a matter of bridging any political divide.
I think if this last election showed us anything, is that a topic that was in the previous segment, the press really went up against Trump, and he still won.
The people of this nation, they made him president, for sure.
And I think...
If there is a political divide, it's going to exist, and I think it's working in the sense that the American people, they're still going to make their own decision with everything.
They say Trump is not a political party, it's a movement, and we're seeing it now.
He got his second term, and he doesn't have to take credit for anything Biden or anyone else did.
He got a validation with this re -election.
And he's gonna do what he wants to.
And it looks like he's started already.
He's gonna pardon the J6 people.
That's big.
That's big.
And it's gonna get bigger.
Brad Woodhouse, let you start on this one.
Well, that didn't sound much like the independent line.
I mean, well, first of all, let's start with that.
That would be a travesty for this country and a travesty for the rule of law if he pardons the people who ransacked the Capitol, who crapped on Nancy Pelosi's desk, who injured 140 officers, some of whom died.
I mean, that would be an absolute...
A travesty for the American people.
So look, Donald Trump was elected.
He gets a shot.
This was no mandate.
This was no romp.
He is now behind in the popular vote to the other candidates who are in the race, Kamala Harris and the third party candidates.
He won in the key battleground states by a point and a half.
Or less, only by less than a point in Wisconsin.
The Democrats won four Senate races in states that he won.
We ran the candidate off the field in the governor's race in North Carolina.
We narrowed the majority that Republicans have in the House.
And at some point when the people he's nominated go through the nomination process, they'll be down to about a one -seat majority in the House for a number of months.
You know, he's the president -elect.
He'll be the president.
He'll get to, you know, he'll get to run his agenda.
But this was no mandate for him, as the caller said, to do what the caller said is exactly one of the problems.
He said Donald Trump can now do whatever he wants.
That's not how it works.
Dallas Woodhouse, let me give you Johnny on the Democratic line from Cincinnati.
Johnny, go ahead.
Yes, this is John, and I'm just trying to...
Understand why, you know, at these dinner tables, people and all these smart people that you got two smart guys up there now throughout the campaign, mute them.
And you all have never really looked or tried to connect the dots.
The Republican Party came on the scene and they said the border is wide open.
Every Republican has always said the border was wide open as long as Joe Biden was there.
And once they got here, they said Joe Biden want them in here to vote for him.
That's absolutely crazy.
Dallas Woodhouse.
Well, a couple of things I do want to say about the Biden administration.
Sort of the whole reason for Biden's candidacy, you know, was to end Trump and end Trumpism.
And as he exits office, sort of in this clandestine way, you know, Donald Trump is stronger than he's ever been.
He is uh, the biggest force in American politics by far and the biggest, um biggest force in politics in the world.
I agree with my brother that he can't do whatever he wants.
In some ways, I feel like Biden did that, like We're good to go.
You know, they already know Donald Trump's flaws and they know the things they don't like about him.
But, I mean, what drove the election?
Immigration, inflation, the economy, and crime.
And those are important issues.
And it happens to be that the Democrat positions, as perceived by the American public, were, you know, were on the losing side of that.
Coming up on 9 .30 on the East Coast.
We are chatting this morning with Brad and Dallas Woodhouse, two brothers on opposite side of the political divide.
John, if I can add one thing.
Sure.
I may have been the previous caller, and I think Brad would agree with me, is sort of this mystery of wanting to bridge the political divide.
And I think that's what a legislative body does, right?
I mean, a Republican House and a Democrat Senate have to bridge.
The divide to figure out how to fund the government.
It's not that Brad and I need to bridge the political divide.
And we have to work at it, but it's the ability to have a rational conversation, maybe get animated about it and disagree and walk away as friends and not think that the other person is evil or bad or going to hell because we disagree politically.
So I think bridging the political divide is kind of a misnomer.
How did you end up on opposite sides of the political divide?
How did you become a Republican?
How did your brother become a Democrat?
Well, my brother is older, and he was certainly more conservative when he was younger.
I grew up through the Reagan years, and he was my personal hero.
And Brad went to Washington.
I think he was always favored.
I never really thought of him as a liberal.
And by the way, I think my brother's very, very good at what he does.
I mean, I think, you know, he would never say this, but I suspect when they were having these calls around Washington, D .C., of the Biden people and the Harris people, whoever had listened to him a little more, they'd have done a little better.
Not, you know, maybe a lot better, not enough to win, but, you know, he could have helped them more if probably they'd listened to him.
You know, and I just...
I'm just a more conservative person.
He went to Washington, and as I've said many times when this question comes up, nothing good happens when somebody goes to Washington.
Nothing.
Brad Woodhouse, is that fair?
Well, I mean, I was, you know, I'd started in politics as a Democrat.
My mom's a Democrat.
Our parents had been Democrats.
They'd grown up in the, now my father changed, you know, parties over the years.
He was a Democrat and became a Helms Republican, a Ross Perot, you know, independent.
He was kind of like, I want to, I'm going to vote for the best person.
And so he kind of, what he thought was the best person, he kind of migrated.
I don't even think about ideology as much.
Conservative, liberal, progressive.
I think the government is...
Here to do a few things.
One, it's, you know, to protect and defend, and it's to provide for security.
But I think it's to help the least among us.
I mean, if government's not helping level the playing field for, you know, and right now, you know, we have, and, you know, Dallas, you want to defend this position.
We have, and this is one reason I'm a Democrat.
We have, the Republican Party is drafting a budget bill for next year right now, which will take Medicaid away from poor people.
So that Elon Musk gets the benefit of the Trump tax cuts being, you know, being extended.
And that is, to me, that is just the wrong priorities for the, you know, for the American people.
So I'm going to stick with the people on Medicaid.
And not with Elon Musk.
That's what makes me a Democrat.
A minute ago, you mentioned your mother.
It was about this exact time when you were appearing on this program in the last hour of the Washington Journal, 10 years ago, that your mother called into this program.
Joyce Woodhouse is her name, and this is that moment from 10 years ago.
You're right, I'm from down south.
Oh, God's mom.
And I'm your mother.
I disagree that all families are like ours.
I don't know many families that are fighting at Thanksgiving.
I was very glad that this Thanksgiving was the year that you two were supposed to go to your in -laws.
And I'm hoping you'll have some of this out of your system when you come here for Christmas.
Yeah, we were not together this Thanksgiving.
We are most years.
I would really like a peaceful Christmas, and I love you both.
December 16th, 2014, Dallas Woodhouse.
You mentioned your mom.
How is she doing?
I mean, she's still sharp as a tack.
She doesn't quite get along as good as she did, but neither do Brad and I.
And I'll notice that on that clip, she said, She loves us both.
She didn't say she loves us both equally.
Just for the record.
We know that the glorious Brad comes from a town you've never seen anything like it.
One thing I want to say about that clip that's interesting is I always remember it is that it did not sound to me at the time like it does when you play the clip.
In other words, Steve Scully says we've got a call from Interrupted like an animal.
So shocked.
Well, I promise you if a Joyce from North Carolina calls in in the next half hour, we will bump her up to the top.
But in the meantime, let me let you talk to Earl in Redding, California, Republican.
Earl, you're on with the Woodhouse Boys.
Hey, thank you very much.
I find this a very interesting discussion with these two gentlemen.
I got motivated to call today.
I try to call every 30 days.
I'm an Agent Orange volunteer Vietnam veteran.
I live on a fixed income.
Thank you for your service.
Oh, thank you for mentioning it.
I live on a Social Security and a veteran's agent, on my Agent Orange, okay?
And here's some facts I want to share with Brad, because he's big on facts.
And you guys tell me if I'm wrong, okay?
Please, both of you.
I'll get off the phone, but I want to give you a couple facts that I see.
I lost 20 % of my fixed income in the last four years.
That's a fact, okay?
That's $2 ,000.
And it's $2 ,000 that I donated to homeless and veterans and help people, you know, give them rooms and boards and what have you that I can't do anymore.
Another fact is for two years we listened to Adam Schiff push a Russia, Russia, Russia.
Was I on the same planet as you two?
Is that what happened?
It turned out being a lie?
And then you want to call this an insurrection?
You know, here's a bunch of people that believe in the Second Amendment and nobody brought any guns to the insurrection.
Is that what happened?
Let me just say this, caller.
No, no, no.
Let me finish.
Let me finish.
I'm almost done.
I'm almost done.
That's Earl in California.
Brad Woodhouse, he originally addressed you on that.
Hold on!
Hold on!
Hold on!
He addressed all these questions.
He's just not living in facts.
He said, yes, Black Lives Matter protested.
Many people in Black Lives Matter were prosecuted after that.
Yes, there were weapons on January 6th.
This is the whole thing, is that we're not operating from the same set of facts.
I honor him for his service, but I think he's wrong about the insurrection.
There definitely were weapons.
Weapons confiscated.
And by the way, beating a police officer with a flagpole, that's a weapon.
Dallas Woodhouse, let me let you chat with William out of Georgia, line for Democrats.
Hey, good morning, fellas.
I think Brad hit it early on in the conversation when he said we can't agree on the same set of facts.
And I think the reason we cannot The facts don't line up well for the Republican Party.
You guys just elected a convicted felon who was awaiting sentencing over a prosecutor.
Just that alone is ridiculous.
Not looking at the sexual assault allegations that he had that he was found liable for, the exit out of Afghanistan, you guys bring that up all the time.
That was all set up by Donald Trump's failure.
Dallas, what house?
Did the two of you have children?
We're good to go.
I was going to say, do you feel like they have political leanings at this point?
Do you talk politics with your kids and your nephews or nieces?
And I don't principally talk politics with my children.
I've never been the one that feels like I need to indoctrinate my kids to be like me or to take my positions.
My wife takes a little bit of a different view.
I think she's had more conversations with them about politics than I have.
But my children, and I believe Dallas' children as well, are fiercely... independent.
They will decide for themselves.
They're not going to be swayed.
I will say one thing that does really concern me.
It concerns me about our politics and it concerns me about my children and that is the amount of misinformation, disinformation that is fed online.
My kids are online.
I know Dallas' kids are online.
I think it's one of the things that parents struggle with.
I know that I've struggled with it, and Where's he going to go
to college?
Do we know?
We should get the caller's opinion.
We don't know.
He's applied to a lot of places.
He's applied to institutions in North Carolina and all across the country.
He's been a great student.
We'd love to have him.
Brad's just a great father and a great brother.
You're a terrific father and a good son.
I think.
To be politically active, to be politically minded, to be civically engaged.
I mean, one of the great things, you know, we both have an autistic nephew that, you know, my sister's child, who actually lives near North Carolina.
And after, you know, this tremendous publicity we got out of C -SPAN and Mom Calling, we were able to do an event.
you know years ago and helped raise money for the autism society and that was great but but i'll tell you something else about my mother which i think is is really incredible you know she installed something us not that we would just install on our kids about being fiercely independent but um you know i love brad's wife to death jessica she is fiercely independent strong um uh My wife, Christine, is fiercely independent, strong, hard -nosed.
You know, I don't think guys like us could have been ready to marry, love, and accompany these strong women in our lives if we had not had the model and the learning experience from our own mother who's that way.
And I think that is one of the great...
Yes, good morning.
I'd just like to talk about the bridging back the political divide is almost impossible, especially when you have...
All these propaganda TV stations going on right now.
I think that Fox News is a commentary.
Also, CNBC is a commentary.
Now you've got problems with the other channels also.
These lawsuits that are going on.
It's just gotten to be pretty crazy.
What I'd really like to speak about is the national debt.
I think that if you look at Dallas,
you want to start on this one?
Well, the simple answer is it requires really, really hard choices, and Washington avoids those at all costs.
I agree with the caller's concerns.
I'll say this about the national debt.
You can thank Donald Trump for a big, big part of it.
The first Trump tax cut cost $6 trillion.
Extending those tax cuts again will cost another $4 trillion.
Money we shouldn't be spending.
We're cutting taxes, but we continue to spend the money.
So it balloons, balloons the national debt and it balloons the deficit.
If we're going to continue to spend the money, if we're going to continue to spend the money on our national defense and on health care and all these other things, then we shouldn't be cutting taxes by $4 trillion and cutting Medicaid to boot.
Let me say something about this.
I didn't want to get into a big discussion about health care, but let me say this.
We go back many, many years ago when Brad and I started these conversations, 2009, 2010, and Brad said something and he reminded me of the day that he was right about it.
He said it would pass and it would, and that people would like it.
I don't know that they like it, but I will say attempts to repeal it have failed.
Here, to me, here are the two legacies of the Obamacare thing.
You know, one is if you really look at it and you hear about all the market exchanges and all that, you know, a minimal amount of people get their insurance through that.
The real insurance coverage, and they did expand coverage to people, is dumping a bunch of people on Medicaid.
And we have this moral hazard in the country where the federal government, right now, something they will not continue to do, is paying more.
For the expanded part of Medicaid, where we put 25 and 30 -year -old single, able -bodied men of working age on Medicaid, then we pay for sick and pregnant
First of all, first of all, You can keep your doctor.
You can keep your plan.
Why?
Remember, you can't disagree with me because Obama said that was not true.
Brad Woodhouse, 30 seconds and then we're getting to more.
Well, I mean, everything he just said is a lie.
First of all, over 20 million people get their health care through the marketplaces.
25 million people have gotten health care through expanded Medicaid.
Every single state in the country where Medicaid has been expanded, the economy is stronger.
We've seen a reduction in chronic diseases, everything from heart disease to diabetes.
And what he's saying is simply not true.
He'd be a stronger health care in this country, but cutting Medicaid, rolling back Medicaid expansion, ending Medicare's ability to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices for seniors and repealing the Affordable Care Act is not going to make health care better.
Enhancing those programs, expanding those programs, and bringing more people coverage at lower costs is the way to do it.
And I am certain we can have a health care...
I'm certain we can have the healthcare discussion for the rest of the segment, but let me go to Jack in Hamilton, Ohio.
Republican, good morning.
Hey, you guys have really made my day.
I'd like to say to Dallas, Dallas, you've been so complimentary to your brother and to his family, and you've been conciliatory.
Your brother is nothing but mad and angry, and I'm thinking you're not going to get invited to the Christmas dinner at his house to get a Christmas card from him.
Well, the Christmas dinner is at my house.
You know, my brother is a fierce advocate, and he gets an hour on national television, and he's going to keep fighting for health care, and he's going to fight for what he believes, and that's fine.
I know how much I mean to him.
Look, first of all, I've said to the caller, I've said on this program, I think he's an excellent father.
He's an excellent son to his mother.
He's an excellent brother to me.
I love Dallas.
I love Dallas Fierce.
Brad, let me ask you.
You had said it's important to engage, and we've established the two of you spending Christmas together.
Is there a time limit, though, to engaging?
Is it one day?
Is five days too many?
Well, I think five days is a lot.
I really think about this as moments when you're together or when you're on the phone.
You engage for a few minutes, and then at some point, you see Dallas here.
He dominates the discussion.
He interrupts.
He drones on.
And at some point, it's enough.
You have to call a timeout.
But I think it's important to try.
I think it's important to try.
If we didn't try to engage one another in political discussion, since it's such a big part of our lives, we would have a hard time having a relationship.
Unfortunately, we have a relationship.
I want to put the one thing in context here.
Politics is not the most important thing in my life.
I work in it.
I believe in it.
But, you know, I go to church, Asbury United Methodist Church, 930 on Sundays to get my salvation.
Right?
I mean, You know, politics is not the be -all and end -all.
And we used to take long trips together, and we had political difference.
We're just fine.
You know, I mean, Brad and I are always busy with our kids, which we love.
But as we get older into retirement age, I hope we're able to do that again.
And, you know, we'll talk politics for an hour.
And then, you know, we'll move on to shuffleboard.
Maybe we'll go on a cruise.
And if I get, you know, Two out of hand, he'll throw my ass overboard.
I mean, and that wouldn't be the terrible way to go.
So, you know, that's basically what the government does to you if you're on government health care anyway.
So just speed it up.
We'll do a remote show from the cruise.
This is Raymond in Largo, Florida, though, waiting.
Line for Democrats.
Raymond, go ahead.
Hey, guys, how you doing?
Doing well.
Go ahead, Raymond.
Political divide.
You kind of need it.
If we want to be the United States of America.
You need to have a divide.
You need to have multiple opinions.
They're always not going to be on the same side.
If not, it would be Russia, North Korea, Iran, and so forth.
As far as one thing I just want to push back, even being a Democrat, the gentleman that called from California, he wanted to know where the $2 ,000 and the fixed income, that's very disingenuous by Brad by saying, well, I don't know where it came from.
Well, I mean, just do a real basic map.
That guy probably spends $100 a week, 25 % inflation.
That's $100 a month.
That's $1 ,200.
That's just in his hood.
Then you throw the gas in and that's an extra $40 or $50 a month.
Now you're up to $1 ,500.
I don't even want to talk about all the other discretionary things that the poor gentleman has to deal with.
So please don't do that to that guy.
He's a veteran.
He's out there working hard.
And you're basically saying it's not reality.
And that's a lot of the reason that you guys lost.
And that's all I have to say.
Thanks.
Brad didn't say it wasn't reality.
He just said he didn't know the specifics.
Dallas, for God's sakes.
I wasn't questioning whether or not he had lost $2 ,000 in his income, but I didn't know what he was referring to.
And I did say, and I do say, that I appreciate his service.
This is George out of Michigan Independent.
Good morning.
Thanks for calling.
You're on with the Woodhouse Boys.
Thanks.
Yeah, good morning.
Hey, you guys are brothers.
You guys act like you don't even know each other.
You're just on separate sides of the fence.
I'd like just a one -word answer.
Dallas, do you love Brad?
More than you can ever imagine.
Okay, Brad, do you love Dallas?
Yes.
Okay, why are you guys bickering so much then?
This is what's wrong with our country.
This is why I am an independent, okay?
No, no, stop, guys.
Stop.
Please.
Hey, this is my time.
Stop.
Stop talking so I can have my time.
I don't have much time.
And George, we're hearing you.
But let me let the gentleman respond.
Brad and Dallas, go ahead.
Well, I mean, I actually agree with the previous caller.
We need these discussions.
We need, you know, Brad, I mean, you know, Brad and I can bicker and disagree and move on.
I mean, that's the problem.
It's not disagreeing.
I agree with the caller, two previous callers, whatever, that said we, you know, I mean, elections are not really...
But, you know, supposed to be necessarily unifying, right?
I mean, they are a way to count which side wins and which side gets to do what.
And that's healthy.
And look, I think we have a healthy democracy in America.
I don't think democracy is under threat.
I think America's good.
And I think Brad's good for America.
Maybe I am.
Brad, one of the callers, or one of the viewers, Lou on Twitter, wants to know if there's any issues that the two of you agree on.
Political issues?
I mean, not that I can think of.
I mean, you know, I'm sure there are, and this is one thing that I think people don't appreciate about Congress, is there are a lot of high -profile...
You know, there...
With five minutes left, let me go to Cookie in Indiana, line for Democrats.
Good morning.
Thank you for C -SPAN.
I've been watching for years, but I think that Dallas has a big problem with a big brother, and he's always trying to override what he says,
and so I am with you, Brad.
I think your mission is worthy, and hang in there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Dallas Woodhouse, any response?
Well, it's not just my brother I try to override.
Do you think people try to psychoanalyze your relationship with each other too much?
You know, people can do what they want.
I mean, you know, we've had our story told a number of times.
I hope people can learn that the thing that unites us is love.
You know, love for our mother, love for our deceased father, love for our sister and all the kids that are in the family, The beach, love for NC State University, love for the country.
We don't have to believe the same path gets us to the same place.
And like I said, I'm going to be fortunate to see Brad at Christmas.
And no matter what, the disagreement is, we'll go out and throw the football with the kids and watch whatever games on TV.
You know, we will have a nice Christmas.
I mean, we always do, or Thanksgiving, or, you know, I wish I got to Washington.
I mean, the only reason I would want to go to Washington is to see him.
I don't want to go there for anything else.
But, you know, and I hope as we get older, we're able to do more of that.
I mean, I think, again, there's a way to disagree and not hate each other and not walk away mad.
We do it all the time.
Brad Woodhouse, why is it so hard for...
Well, I think it's partly because people are the people that are engaged in politics.
By the way, I don't know that it is true that all Americans are...
Yeah.
It tells them the other side is evil, you know, that the other side is lying.
I mean, really strong, you know, really strong language.
And I think, you know, people, I don't want to say brainwashed, but, you know, people accept as a fact that, you know, that one side of the political divide is terrible.
The other side of the political divide is righteous.
And I think it sometimes get hard.
It's hard to get.
Because some of these things mean so much.
Like, you know, look, take mom.
Mom is not politically active anymore, but the health care issue was really, really personal to her.
It was personal to her for the reason that Dallas brought up earlier, which is one reason is our autistic nephew, who would know telling what he would do if he didn't have access.
My argument would be putting 25 -year -old able -bodied men on Medicaid.
It eventually threatens my autistic nephew.
But that's my opinion.
Why should it be any different?
He always gets the last word.
Brad Woodhouse is the Executive Director of Protect Our Care.
Dallas Woodhouse is the North Carolina Executive Director of American Majority.
Thanks so much to both of you.
Merry Christmas.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas.
Congressional reporter Michael Schnell discusses efforts to avoid a government shutdown ahead of tonight's midnight deadline.
Also, New York State Democrat Senator James Skoufis on his candidacy for DNC chair and the future of the Democratic Party.
And Michael Cannon, Cato Institute Health Policy Director, will talk about potential Trump administration policy on health care regulation and drug pricing.
C -SPAN's Washington Journal.
Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern this morning on C -SPAN, C -SPAN Now, or online at c -span .org.