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Sept. 20, 2022 - Firebrand - Matt Gaetz
27:34
Episode 70 LIVE: The Pandemic Is Over – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz
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Thank you.
Matt Gaetz was one of the very few members in the entire Congress who bothered to stand up against permanent Washington on behalf of his constituents.
Matt Gaetz right now, he's a problem for the Democratic Party.
He can cause a lot of hiccups in passing applause.
So we're going to keep running the stories to keep hurting him.
If you stand for the flag and kneel in prayer, if you want to build America up and not burn her to the ground, then welcome, my fellow patriots!
You are in the right place!
This is the movement for you!
You ever watch this guy on television?
Like a machine, Matt Gaetz.
I'm a canceled man in some corners of the internet.
Many days I'm a marked man in Congress, a wanted man by the deep state.
They aren't really coming for me.
They're coming for you.
I'm just in the way.
Mr. President, first Detroit auto show in three years.
Yeah.
Is the pandemic over?
The pandemic is over.
We still have a problem with COVID.
We're still doing a lot of work on it.
It's what the pandemic is over.
If you notice, no one's wearing masks.
Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.
And so I think it's changing.
And I think this is a perfect example of it.
Well, there you have it.
The pandemic is over.
Everyone's in good shape.
It's quite something declared by Joe Biden, a man who is clearly not himself in good shape, but do not allow that to spoil the fun.
But if the pandemic is over, maybe Joe Biden should repeal the emergency order that was the basis of so many governments restricting our freedoms.
If the pandemic is over, maybe someone ought to tell the heroes in our military and the patriots who were purged and driven out of our military.
As a consequence of not being willing to take an experimental vaccine.
Maybe they ought to be restored with their full rank and back pay as a reparation.
If the pandemic's over then maybe we ought to have every child in America back in school without the rotations that are resulting in learning loss.
If the pandemic is over then maybe the Biden administration won't come back to Congress for more inflationary spending in the name of the pandemic.
Well, you know what?
The Joe Biden administration still wants all of the powers that it seized during the pandemic.
Tyrants at every level of government actually still do.
There's still some mayors out there enforcing mask mandates, social distancing, for goodness sakes, people not able to gather.
You know what?
The White House has walked this back already.
They were walking it back almost as Joe Biden was saying it, making very clear that stating that the pandemic was over was not in the original plan for Joe Biden's interview with Scott Pelley.
Well, you don't say.
The gaffe of a President Joe Biden actually making an admission.
An admission that the only basis to continue this pandemic is the desire for bureaucrats and tyrants to continue to be able to make your decisions for you.
And you wonder, what's the next pandemic?
Like, is it going to be climate change?
One day, is the climate core just authorized in this Inflation Reduction Act going to be knocking on your door saying that you have to be locked down, you have to stay in your home, you can't have a job so that eight polar bears in the Adirondack can wander around?
I don't even know if there are polar bears.
You know what?
They might not be there.
Anyhow, you get the point.
These things never come in ones.
And it's quite something that they still don't want to give this up.
In Congress, there was also a walk back of the Joe Biden admission.
Here's Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer explaining to you that it all really depends on what the definition of over is.
Here's the Majority Leader.
The House Majority Leader, Denny Hoyer, defended the president and explained why he believes some COVID relief is still necessary.
Well, of course, some of this is for places that's not over.
We don't want to say it went reintroduced in this country.
I guess over is sort of subjective in terms of what does over mean.
What does over mean to you?
You know what I'm over?
I'm over any circumstance where my constituents don't get to live their lives, have their jobs, hug their families, have a barbecue because the people in Washington decided that they were going to engage in COVID fear porn because that happened to be what Dr. Fauci agreed with that day.
So I think the American people actually know what the word over means.
I don't think they need a subjective definition from Steny Hoyer or anyone else.
And it's time for government to release the reins of COVID and allow our people to be free once again.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thanks for declaring that it's over.
And now for a segment on the show we like to call Florida Man.
Florida Man Spotlight you.
Today's Florida Man segment highlights an instance of discrimination against a terrific Florida Man.
Jonathan Isaac was a standout basketball player at Florida State University.
Go Knowles!
Actually, the 3-0 Knowles, by the way.
And in 2017, he was drafted 6th overall by the Orlando Magic.
So imagine that.
You're the Orlando Magic.
You could pick anyone in the world for basketball other than the five selected before you.
From our country, from overseas, they select Jonathan Isaac.
Homegrown, Florida-grown, just like a Florida orange.
Now, there has been a lot of recent talk about Jonathan Isaac making that trek down the Florida Turnpike and potentially being traded to the Miami Heat, another Florida professional basketball team.
Miami needs a power forward.
Jonathan Isaac is a power forward.
And the Miami Heat don't have a starting caliber power forward on their roster right now.
So the possibility of a trade for Jonathan Isaac to the Heat was recently discussed on the podcast Locked on Heat.
But despite the clear need and the ideal fit, some woke pundits have decided that trades...
Must take into account wokeness as a feature of whether or not someone fits in.
It's like the woke sports media wants an ESG score, but for basketball players.
This is Locked on Heat.
Listen to Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss the possibility of a Jonathan Isaac trade to the Miami Heat.
And then one other name I'll throw at you is Jonathan Isaac, right?
Like, you just look at Orlando's roster.
I know Isaac hasn't played in two years, but he's a power forward.
He would probably, if Miami had him, him and Bam, that would be the best defensive frontcourt in the league by far.
Jonathan Isaac, well, let's just say I hope that he'd have no interest in acquiring him because as interesting a fit as that might be, well, let's just say the off-the-court interest might not necessarily make him a great fit in the Miami locker room.
Sounds like Jonathan Isaac is a bad guy, according to David Ramil, right?
Bad locker room fit.
Potential problems off the court.
Did Jonathan Isaac jump into the stands and beat up a bunch of fans like Ron Artest?
I mean, I'm sorry, Meadow World Peace did?
Did he get pulled over with guns and drugs in his car like Torian Prince?
Did he pull a gun on his baby mama like Terrence Williams?
Those are NBA players, but Jonathan Isaac didn't do any of that.
Never an issue regarding his personal conduct at FSU, at the Orlando Magic.
No.
Jonathan Isaac is a problem, according to David Ramil, because he is an outspoken Christian conservative.
In his spare time, Jonathan Isaac preaches at Jump Ministries Global Church in Orlando.
They're doing a lot of good work there.
Isaac even made national news when he spoke out against the vaccine mandate.
Take a listen.
I thank God I'm grateful that I live in a society where vaccines are possible and we can protect ourselves and have the means to protect ourselves in the first place.
But with that being said, it is my belief that the vaccine status of every person should be their own choice and completely up to them without bullying, without being pressured or without being forced into doing so.
I'm not ashamed to say that I'm uncomfortable with taking the vaccine at this time.
I think that we're all different.
We all come from different places.
We've all had different experiences and hold dear to different beliefs.
And what it is that you do with your body when it comes to putting medicine in there should be your choice, free of the ridicule and the opinion of others.
From this smooth shooting power forward, we got greater clarity and focus and common sense than we saw out of the CDC or a lot of people in Congress, actually.
He embraced the concept of personal responsibility.
Make yourself as resilient as you can.
And in his circumstance, you obviously see not only a very healthy individual, but a great guy.
And a brave one.
On July 31, 2020, in a game against the Brooklyn Nets, Jonathan Isaac was the only player to stand during our national anthem.
When questioned after the game, he said, quote, I believe that Black Lives Matter.
A lot went into my decision.
It's my thought that kneeling or wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt don't go hand in hand with supporting black lives.
How right he was.
Jonathan Isaac went on to write a book titled Why I Stand.
And he talks very convincingly about Christianity and the power to shape lives and to help through adversity and challenges.
But here's the real question.
If a superstar NBA lottery pick playing in his state where he went to college cannot speak out without facing professional consequence and ridicule, then how can regular Americans?
And that's the point.
To make you think that any profession of faith or conservatism Could harm you.
They want you to know that.
That's why people like David Ramil say what they do about Jonathan Isaac, that he would be a bad fit.
Because ultimately, the people who think that way want you to think you're a bad fit at your job, in your family, with your social group.
And the reality is...
That the common sense and the clarity of Jonathan Isaac is a lot more in line with the values of Americans than actually what we see from professional wokeism that you see manifest from the Congress to corporate America, even to professional athletics.
Sometimes being a person of faith is uncomfortable.
We see that throughout Scripture.
Wasn't easy for Paul to be an apostle out there.
Apostlen?
You think it was easy for Noah to go build an ark and collect animals two by two?
Probably pretty messy on that ark.
But you know what?
Sometimes you have to put yourself out there.
You have to show your faith, your belief.
And that's what happened to Jonathan Isaac.
And you know what?
He was unfairly ridiculed for it.
The Miami Heat still need a power forward, by the way.
And I think Jonathan Isaac would be a perfect fit.
So David Ramil, remember...
There's no woke locker room in hell.
And there ought to be acceptance for all people of all faiths or people of no faith at all.
And that is what we learn from the Florida Man Spotlight.
Next we're going to a segment called Today in Congress.
Today in Congress.
Today in Congress.
Today in Congress there is intense focus on energy prices, inflation, the cost of living.
Here's some data that you need to know.
Energy prices are currently on the rise.
This is very important because winter is soon approaching and we can see now that there are going to be real problems for people in the Midwest and other areas where they could face a cold spell.
Check this out.
Electricity prices had the largest increase since 1981 last month.
And natural gas costs have nearly doubled.
Now that's not an accident.
It's because in the Paycheck Reduction Act that the Democrats advanced, there was actually a natural gas tax.
So if you tax the onshoring of national gas, which is what they're doing, if that is extracted over water, then you drive up the cost, you limit the investment, and you impact the general balance of supply and demand.
And so today on the floor, Republicans will attempt a procedural move to bring up H.R. 8749, which would repeal the natural gas tax that That the Democrats baked into some of their prior legislation.
That would be a vision for Republican control that certainly wouldn't lead to the intense pressure that you get from this type of rising inflation and rising prices.
We also want to take you to the grocery store.
And I hear as much about inflation at the grocery store as I do even at the gas pump.
And you have to see these things interconnected because a lot of the fuel costs that are driving up What you pay at the pump go into the costs that we pay at the grocery store.
13.5%.
13.5%.
That is the increase in groceries as a result of inflation between last August and the August prior.
Now this is the largest one-year increase in the cost of groceries since 1979. So remember those numbers.
Right now we're in a world where highest grocery inflation since 1979, 13.5%, and then you have the largest increase in energy costs since 1981. That is the Biden agenda, and they are doing everything from the White House to try to distract people, to get people off of their focus on economic issues.
We certainly see that a lot of folks are understanding it.
We see the Impeach Biden movement getting a lot of attention on Instagram.
Oh, even a viewer from England.
So thank you so much, everyone, for tuning in.
We are always simulcast streaming, so make sure...
That you have your notifications turned on.
Make sure you are subscribed.
Also, wanted to note that the Bidenflation we're experiencing is something highly predictable.
It's something solvable if we cut spending.
Check out this little piece of work that members of my team put out this past week.
America is a nation that can be defined in a single word.
Bidenflation update.
Come on, man!
Exactly four weeks ago today, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, a single most important legislation passed in the Congress to combat inflation and one of the most significant laws in our nation's history, in my view.
Mr. President, as you know, last Tuesday, the annual inflation rate came in at 8.3%.
The stock market nosedived.
So it fell to the Democrats to meet this moment and deliver for the American people.
And that's exactly what we did.
People are shocked.
Well, first of all, let's put this in perspective.
Inflation rate month to month was just an inch.
You're not arguing that 8.3 is good news?
No, I'm not saying it is good news, but it was 8.2 or 8.2 before.
It's the highest inflation rate, Mr. President, in 40 years.
I got that.
We are seeing the effects of this inflation on investment confidence, consumer confidence.
Saw recent reports that at Goldman Sachs, they're having a moratorium on hiring.
They're going to have fewer promotions.
And it's because they think that there are going to be fewer deals done in this economy.
Remember, a critical feature of the Trump tax cuts was the onshoring of capital and revenue.
Because during the Obama years, when mandates drove your businesses to smaller employee numbers, to lower revenue amounts, Well, then people created offshore subsidiaries and they would hold their intellectual property offshore and they would use that as a basis to escape the U.S. tax system.
Now, by the way, that wasn't something regular Americans were doing.
You were still paying taxes through payroll taxes, income taxes, and the like.
But the wealthy and the powerful were able to put the costs on the regular folks and then engage in this massive amount of offshoring.
Trump's tax cuts re-onshored that capital where it went to the wages, investments, consumer confidence.
And then you saw the wheels of the American economy starting to really spin at a high rate.
And it was causing more deal-making and growth beyond what the Obama-Biden administration ever told us we could ever have.
Now compare that to some of these inflation numbers.
Under President Biden, workers' wages have dropped over 4%, prompting a majority of Americans to do more bargain hunting.
Imagine that.
You're expected to do less, live less, have diminished dreams and expectations because of that wage drop.
Real wages have fallen every single month since President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package.
More than half of all Americans are spending up to $500 a month on groceries.
$500 a month on groceries.
I mean, that used to be what you pay in rent.
Now that's groceries.
More than half of Americans are doing that.
The savings for low-income people have basically been wiped out under the Biden economy.
I mean, a lot of working people do have 401ks as our economy has moved out of a defined benefit system to a defined contribution system.
And those 401ks were just on the rise.
I mean, we were roaring as a country under the Trump economy.
And then one of the iconic images of the Biden presidency, among so many tragic ones to choose from, will be Joe Biden holding a celebration at the White House over all of his legislative achievements.
As you see in the corner, the Dow just plummet.
And those folks who've made that little contribution in each paycheck to their 401k, maybe got an employer match, just saw their dreams, their retirement, the value of their life.
Continued to decline.
26 million low-income households have seen their savings totally wiped out as a result of the inflationary cycles in this economy.
26 million.
Maybe if 26 million Americans lost all of their savings on the same day the President of the United States is out there saying that the pandemic is over, that we should stop the pandemic-infused inflationary spending that is crushing people.
Just an idea.
More than 60% of job creators fear inflation will drive them out of business.
And this is where this thing starts to cycle downhill very quickly for us, a lot in the way that Joe Biden is cycling downhill.
Because if major businesses believe that their own prospects are impaired by the inflation that we are seeing today, that the value of their deals is diminished, If their supply chain is disrupted, well then they're not going to make the promotions and the new hires.
They're not going to open that new branch store or maybe take a risk and do more capital investment.
And by the way, for those of you who do, the cost of money now is going to be higher at the bank and it's going to be harder to take that risk because of rising rates.
Rates that, you know, now that we're...
Really, behind the eight ball, because people like Janet Yellen told us that inflation wasn't going to happen, we're going to see a far more, I think, severe adjustment of the U.S. economy.
And the regular folks that are out there working hard, doing everything they can for their families, are the ones that are going to be screwed over.
I'm going to cover this.
I'm going to cover the wasteful spending that we see out of Congress.
And if Republicans are trusted by the voters to take control, We must hold their feet to the fire.
We cannot pass government funding bills that continue to operationalize a system that has been weaponized against the people while that very spending is wiping out the savings that hard-working Americans have toiled for their entire lives.
That must be the mission.
That is the mandate.
The mandate for Republicans is to stop the inflation, stop the spending, Stop paying people not to work and to get this economy roaring again.
And I know we can do it because we've done it before.
And actually, if you have the discipline, if you have a little bit of fortitude, it's not even going to be that difficult.
The difficult part will be focusing the investigative work of the next Congress because there's so much corruption.
There have been so many bad acts.
We're going to be talking a lot about that on future episodes of Firebrand.
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