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Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman find a more positive tone in today's LIVE show, as they celebrate a couple of big wins by the Democrats. Of course, the Dems can't leave well enough alone as they have been pushing extreme right wing candidates in their version of 4D chess.
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Hey everybody, welcome to the Muckrake Podcast, the Weekender Edition.
Get that beer going, because it has been a week, my friend.
I'm here with Nick Halseman, my good, good buddy.
Nick, we're doing good, right?
We're doing good.
It's a Thursday live show.
Woo!
It's a Thursday live show, which means that our patrons are hanging out, they're chatting with one another, supporting one another, having a decent time.
If you haven't joined in on one of these things before, absolutely do so.
They are an absolute blast.
All you gotta do is go over to patreon.com.
I wish we had a crowd murmuring, more of a live show feel, but I'll have to add that later.
I see it.
I see it.
Well, we got a lot we got to talk about today, but before we do, we have to spend a second talking about a really big thing, a big, massive development.
We'll cover this more here coming up.
Nick, are you ready for the big news of the day?
Oh yeah, this is probably why we're excited.
This should be a very positive show today.
Very exciting about it.
It should be a positive show.
The news that we've all been waiting for, and that is that science has resurrected dead spiders to turn them into gripping instruments capable of lifting a hundred times their own weight.
Oh, that's interesting.
How do you feel about that?
This one's interesting.
They resurrected spiders?
Are you trying to say they were dead and they're now able to make them grip?
Yes, dead spiders that science has now resurrected.
They're not alive, but they're able to be used as gripping implements.
How do you feel about that, Nick?
How does that feel?
Well, I've seen this movie.
I believe it's called Re-Animator, and it doesn't end well.
I don't know how I feel about that.
It doesn't end well.
Of course, we're going to be talking soon in the next couple of weeks about the fact that the Department of Justice has announced that it's going to investigate Donald Trump because of January 6th.
Again, I remain skeptical.
How do you feel about this news?
No, I think that they're going to do it.
The only question now is, are they actually going to make any charges out of this?
Because remember, January 6th Committee doesn't have any teeth either, what they're doing.
They're just kind of sending it out there, hoping people make it up in the mini-content.
This is interesting, at the very least, you know, because there will be no leaks, right?
The Department of Justice doesn't leak things.
So, you know, it would be a dereliction of duty if they didn't investigate him.
There's no question he needs to be a person of interest or whatever they want to use that term.
But again, the real question is, are they actually going to bring charges or not?
And that's the real 50-50 thing on my end.
I think it's 50-50.
I'm a little bit less than 50-50, although I will say that the news that has come out in the past couple days, for instance, the Republican National Committee, I don't know if you saw this, Nick, has basically told Donald Trump, hey, chill out on your presidential announcement if you want us to pay your legal bills.
By the way, they're still paying Donald Trump's legal bills.
So how about that?
Well, it's funny because he's raised so much money on his own that he could easily pay for it anyway, but he would never do that.
But I love that they're using the same tactics that he would do.
He would easily say, we're not going to cover this.
You know, he's done this for like Tornado.
We're not going to pay if you don't do your fair share.
So but remember, the reasoning is fascinating.
It's their word that he's going to be a drag on the ticket and drag the midterm people down, which indicates something about polling that maybe we'll even talk about.
Yeah, we got a lot to talk about there.
Before we do, though, the other big news of the day, a couple of things.
Nick, I don't know if you've heard it, Congress is doing some stuff.
Congress actually broke the deadlock.
We gotta talk about Joe Manchin III here in a second.
Which means, by the way, it's time for one of our favorite holidays.
It is Groundhog Day with Joe Manchin III.
Everybody's waiting to see if he sees the shadow.
Once a year, the eyes of the nation turn to this tiny hamlet in western Pennsylvania to watch a master at work.
The master?
Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous groundhog, who, as legend has it, can predict the coming of an early spring.
So I guess the question we have to ask ourselves today is, does Phil feel lucky?
So here we are, Nick.
I know, I know, I know it's deja vu.
I know we don't want to talk about Joe Manchin, but news has broke.
Good old Punxsutawney Joe Manchin has apparently reached an agreement with Chuck Schumer.
This is, by the way, I love whenever they name this shit.
It is the quote-unquote Inflation Reduction Act.
Love it.
Can't love it enough.
This package, it looks like there's going to be $369 billion towards climate change.
It is claiming that it's going to offset itself through taxes, which we'll talk more about in just a second, also in terms of incentives for clean energy, electric vehicles, emission control, possibly lower drug prices.
It sounds like this thing is going to happen.
I, as I'm looking at the Department of Justice, looking at Donald Trump, I'm still, I'll believe it when I see it, Nick.
That's what I'll say.
Right, and let's not forget they have to do this for reconciliation with a Kamala Harris breaking the tie.
I think the best part about this even I think it's going to go through they've got what they need and they're going to pass this thing I my favorite is watching all the Republicans squirm.
Almost to the point where it felt like they must have felt that Manchin was on their side.
Like, they had him locked down.
He'll never agree to this and wouldn't have to worry about it.
And then all of a sudden, poof, you know, Manchin wakes up and, you know what, he must have woken up and realized he was a Democrat today and so decided to do this.
Although, you know, I'm sure that his office scrubbed this bill really, really You know, stringently to get rid of any kind of, you know, things that would hurt anybody in his state, I'm sure.
But we got to talk about the reasons why Joe Manchin is doing this.
And before we get into the deeper meaning of this, I want to read a little something from the coverage of this.
Manchin, who is calling it a quote unquote, realistic energy and climate policy.
Listen to this.
This is great, Nick.
As part of the agreement, Mr. Manchin said he has also secured a commitment from both Mr. Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California that Congress would approve a separate measure to address the permitting of energy infrastructure, potentially including natural gas pipelines.
And also, Nick, are you ready for this?
You ready?
It all could ease the way for a project in which Mr. Manchin has taken a personal interest, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would transport Appalachian shale gas from West Virginia to Virginia.
That's right, folks!
We're getting the Joe Manchin III Frog Fuck Institute.
Your prayers, your hopes, and your dreams have been answered.
There it is.
We were waiting for the pork to be added for him.
And you know what?
I suppose it's worth it because Biden isn't lying when he was saying today this is the most comprehensive climate package that anyone's ever... It's probably the only one.
I guess it depends on what you consider, you know, like the EPA or whatever.
This is it.
This is definitely, finally, something.
It's nowhere near close to what anybody would need to actually have a dent in what we need to deal with.
But, you know, it's something to kick back a beer and celebrate a little bit for today, at least.
And we put off the destruction of our planet for another few months.
So this is great.
Listen, I'm as excited about it as anybody, Nick.
I wouldn't go that far that quickly.
I mean, this is good news that this has happened.
I think it's more telling because we have a lot more of this story that we need to investigate here.
I gotta tell you, Nick, some stuff has happened here.
There's a reason why Joe Manchin has come around on this.
It's not because, heaven forbid, deficits.
It's not his fear of inflation.
Obviously, we've seen now that we've backed that Brinks truck up.
We've basically given him some sweet choice things.
But I want to talk a little bit about who else was talking to Joe Manchin outside of Chuck Schumer.
Are you ready for the next character in this drama, Nick?
Yeah, lay it on me.
All right, so let's talk about who was in Joe Manchin's ear.
Quote, to further win his support, some Democratic senators in recent days also sought an intervention from Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, who has been sharply critical of Biden's earlier stimulus law, according to two people familiar.
The two men spoke this week, and Manchin listened as Summers talked in detail about why Democrats' proposed economic package, including its energy provisions, would not lead to higher prices.
And Nick, because we are on the cutting edge of journalism here at the McCrae Podcast, we actually have exclusive audio that actually came from that meeting between Larry Summers and Joe Manchin.
You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples.
There are no nations.
There are no peoples.
There are no Russians.
There are no Arabs.
There are no third worlds.
There is no West.
There is only one holistic system of systems.
One vast and humane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars.
Petrodollars, Electrodollars, Multidollars, Reichmarks, Rings, Rubles, Pounds, and Shekels.
Oh.
It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet.
That is the natural order of things today.
That is the atomic and sub-atomic and galactic structure of things today!
And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature!
And you will atone!
Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale?
That's right!
Our good friend Joe Manchin, Senator from West Virginia, was visited by Larry Summers.
And for those who don't know it, Larry Summers is as keyed into international finance as you possibly can be.
We're talking about the former chief economist at the World Bank.
We're talking about the former president of Harvard.
Of course, he was the one that helped Obama navigate the 2008 meltdown.
I'm sorry, but when Larry Summers comes to talk to you and talks to you about what needs to pass through the Senate, it's not because he feels a little something in his heart or a little twinkle in his eye.
There are dollars at stake.
Yeah, you know, it's funny, not deservedly so, but Larry Summers conjures a little bit of like the Emperor in the Star Wars feel to me, even though he's more benevolent than that, but still.
My question is going to be like, what do they do to cinema?
What did they give her?
What's happening in her state that's going to make her buy into this too, right?
She must be like, wait a minute, I didn't get my pipeline.
Or whatever she wants, but yeah, it's reminiscent of when everybody dropped out to let Joe Biden win the nomination in 2020.
Like, all of a sudden, somebody comes and knocks on your door, they have the right person, or in the Godfather, they make an offer you can't refuse, and here we are.
And you know what?
I'll take it if that's what it takes.
Yeah, you wake up in a bed with your favorite racehorse is what ends up happening.
Okay, I'm watching this movie now because I just finished watching The Offer.
And again, if you guys do not watch The Offer, I don't know if we'll get to this later in the show, but it's such, it is the best thing I've seen in such a long time.
But I had to go and watch The Actual Godfather right after this.
There is no way you're gonna sleep through a couple gangsters putting a dead horse into your bed.
How will you sleep through that?
I don't know.
I've been taking melatonin lately.
I think I could sleep through a lot of things.
Alright, I guess that would do it.
But I will say, in all of this, Larry Summers... And by the way, I'm glad you brought up cinema because no one knows where cinema is.
Nobody has seen cinema.
Cinema hasn't been in calls lately.
It's true.
What has happened here is that someone like a Larry Summers does not come into a situation like this unless it's absolutely necessary.
And what we're looking at here are a couple of different factors.
And we'll talk here in a second about another thing that passed through Congress.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
It's almost like our economy is in trouble.
It's almost like they need to figure out a way to have an influx of cash, investment, and on top of that, and we'll get more into that here in a second when it comes to the other thing that's actually going through, and this one, by the way, bipartisan, it actually is about a developing trend that's taking place, which is about economic war with China, it's about reindustrializing America, and it's about basically pulling back from unhampered financial globalism.
We're starting to see a sea change here.
And Larry Summers is not somebody that you just send out.
Like, Larry Summers basically has been going around knocking on doors, screaming from the rooftops this recession.
And by the way, anybody who pays attention to this will tell you that we are in a recession right now.
That technically, we basically are.
It depends on who you're talking to, but most people say if we're not in a recession, it's getting ready to happen.
And if you look at all of that, there is a necessity at this point to do something.
Because I have to tell you, everything from COVID to, again, the economic war we're looking at, what has happened with Russia and Ukraine, the way things are starting to stack together, all of a sudden, and this is the only time that the government actually invests in things, is when the financial world needs them to invest in things.
And that's exactly what we're looking at here.
And again, another one of those things where it's like, if that's what it took, great.
I'll take it no matter what because Republicans will campaign on like opening up factories again.
They'll go to Detroit and say, this is a factory which has been dormant for 40 years.
We're going to get this thing open and start manufacturing blenders again.
I don't know, whatever.
But at least with the Democrats, they're going to This is the equivalent of that, but actually looking to the future.
This could actually do some things.
I love the idea they won't let any of the companies that will get money from this program cannot spend any more money overseas on their factories making chips.
So suddenly you're increasing the ability to make chips here, which has been a big issue recently.
This is one of those things where I'm like, yeah, that actually could work.
This could create a lot of jobs and create cutting edge jobs and high paying jobs.
This could be the version of what we had the factory existence way back in the day, but in a much more modern sense and much more lucrative sense for the workers.
So I'm interested in this.
This seems like a good thing.
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