Point of View May 15, 2026 : Weekend Edition

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View. Anderson. Thank you for joining us. It is the Friday Weekend Edition and we're going to be covering quite a number of things. Just a minute we'll get into the whole idea of Rededicate 250 which is taking place this weekend

[00:00:30] and that's a very good illustration of our religious liberty and the focus on that. We'll also be talking about the idea the president called for a national Shabbat or if you want to say it, Sabbath. Either way we're going to be talking with a guest a little bit later on that. Lots of topics there but most importantly we also are seeing a very significant change in the economy from Jerome Powell to Kevin Warsh.

[00:00:57] What that might mean at a time when we have 3.8% inflation and rising. 14 million barrels of oil not getting to the Straits of Hormuz and a gallon of gasoline nationwide $4.5. So I think we've got a few things to talk about. In studio with me Jeff Mateer, Executive Vice President, First Liberty Institute and Merrill Matthews of course our analyst and going to be a host again on this program on Thursday.

[00:01:25] Dr. Matthews, a change at the Fed, all sorts of economic issues. We're going to talk about that a little bit later but those are very significant issues while the president is over in China. Indeed and of course he's coming back from China. I think he may be back now. There was hope that there was going to be, he took a number of business leaders over there from Amazon to Apple to Elon Musk and so forth. And there was some expectation that they would be announcing a number of major business deals that were,

[00:01:54] and the market sort of had gone up for that. They're down today because there were no business deals except for Boeing. They're going to buy a bunch of Boeing airlines. So, you know, looking at this, the president tries to put a good spin on this, and I wouldn't put a bad spin on it but it doesn't look like they actually accomplished much in doing this other than saying that China agrees with them that their Strait of Hormuz ought to be open. But I'm not sure I saw anything that says, this is really great, we've made some progress here. Nothing noteworthy.

[00:02:24] Although, again, she said, I want to help you with opening up the Strait which I think was in his best interest. Yes, indeed. So, we will certainly get into that because as you will see if you look at some of the articles we've posted for today, this is an important issue for the midterms. But I thought most often we start with, Jeff, the focus on religious liberty. And my first article, I picked one from Christianity, actually I guess this one was from the Washington Post, just to illustrate that, you know, the power can forth.

[00:02:52] But one of the people they quote is Mark David Hall, who you know only so well, expert on America and on the fact that, you know, there's been an encouragement to have a time of prayer, a time of a Shabbat or Sabbath and a number of other things. And if you look at the number of people that will be speaking, Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, Jack Graham, Jonathan Pocluta, individuals that have been on the program with us as well as Eric Metaxas, Samuel Rodriguez,

[00:03:21] even Jesus himself of the chosen, Jonathan Rumi, music from Chris Tomlin, the Marine Band, choirs from Liberty University, Hillsdale College, Grand Canyon, as well as a number of people like Mike Johnson, Marco Rubio, Pete Higgs, Seth and others. A very significant event taken over the place over the weekend. And it brings us back to the value of religious liberty, doesn't it? No, it's encouraging. And as you mentioned, Mark David Hall is actually in the building today at the Hope Center.

[00:03:50] I literally came from a meeting with him to come to radio and was rushing to get here. But it would have been Mark David Hall's and the traffic on 75's fault. But I mean, I think in this article and actually mentioned this article saying I'm going to be discussing your quoted in this article. And he said, I think I might have been misquoted in that. And I went through a couple of the quotes. He goes, no, no, no, that's exactly what I agree. There's nothing wrong. Nothing wrong.

[00:04:18] With a president doing an activity, as Mark says, is, quote, it's encouragement, not coercion. We're not forcing people to do anything. We're the White House is recognizing. And Mark mentioned this morning, you know, at the founding, 98 percent of Americans were identified as Christians at the founding. And so and quite above that, an overwhelming majority were Protestant Christians.

[00:04:45] And so this criticism that that somehow you have to you can't have anything religious in which the government or the president is involved is is completely contrary to to the American founding. Let me just hold up. This is our booklet. And it's a May booklet on a biblical view on America's founding. And essentially, it's Cliff Notes version of the Mark David Hall book. So there you go. So you may already know that name.

[00:05:14] But Dr. Matthews, for just a few minutes, we might talk about that, because another one of his quotes is America is basically Protestant, Catholic, Jewish. We need to celebrate what we have in common. The problem is when we jump to 2026, we're very diverse. And the founders designed a country to be one open to all individuals of all faiths. First Liberty has been defending individuals that aren't necessarily Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, but other faiths as well or no faiths. And that's what America is all about.

[00:05:41] And I will mention that in the in the ceremony, there's going to be I think there's two Catholics and and at least one or two rabbis who will be speaking also. So it is expanded some. But yes, we is trying to get back to our roots, which was Judeo Christian ethics, Judeo Christian books that guided us, guided the founders. They didn't do it perfectly, but they this was guiding most Americans.

[00:06:04] And it's trying to get back to just a recognition because there have been people who've sort of tried to distinguish essentially separate us from that recognition. Doesn't mean you said it doesn't affect us in ways today, but it is it's it's part of our history. And we're trying to just celebrate that, even if we've even if we've changed them. Right. I mean, and and again, what's what are we celebrating was celebrating the American founding.

[00:06:30] So the American what better way to showcase the American founding than the importance of religion. And and and look, let's not we're not going to run from it. The religion was Christianity. I mean, you can't rewrite.

[00:06:44] It wasn't as as I believe some folks in Austin, I heard, are pushing the school board to emphasize the Islamic input into the into our founding, which is interesting because it doesn't exist how you can rewrite history. But this is actually honoring our true religious founding. And so completely, perfectly fine, completely, perfectly legal, I would say. So I know usually it's the legal segment.

[00:07:13] And I didn't send send this to you this week because I was was traveling. But there's a new lawsuit against the secretary of agriculture, right? Yeah, right. And which because, you know, she sent out an encouraging email and Easter email. Yeah. And that and she's now been sued. And of course, you know, we've we've at first we responded to that as will will will the Department of Justice. But there's nothing wrong with religion.

[00:07:43] And again, this is the idea of the left that somehow that that you have to take religion out of everything in public life. No. And we think the Coach Kennedy case was sort of the explanation point. But sometimes our friends on the left need further education. I just might mention that first article is actually from The Washington Post. And by the time you get to the third page, they do talk about the fact that indeed there has been a suit against Secretary Brooke Rollins.

[00:08:09] She's agricultural secretary, came here from the state of Texas, Texas Aggie, if I remember right. Yes. Was with the Texas group here that's been involved in all these issues. But getting in trouble for sending out an email that says he is risen. And of course, also, they mentioned Pete Higgseth holding an evangelical worship service. But again, nobody's coerced. It's just an opportunity. Don't you think when we come back, though, we'll get into some other issues in the news a bit later.

[00:08:35] We're going to revisit this because we'll have a guest talking about the Sabbath. And I'll give you some updates on other things happening as people celebrate 250 years here in America. We'll be right back. This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:06] Two of the most famous dystopian novels are 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by August Huxley. Diana Knox in a recent YouTube video says Orwell got only half of it right, Huxley the other half. Orwell's book described a world controlled by fear, surveillance, censorship, and form conformity. Huxley's world did not have anyone watching you, but you still conform. She observes that Orwell's afraid of what would be done to us. Huxley was afraid of what we would do to ourselves.

[00:09:34] In Huxley's future, we aren't born but manufactured. There's no war, no poverty, not much crime. Everyone has Soma, a chemical that produces happiness. If you have an uncomfortable thought, just take Soma to return to a pleasant and uncomplicated existence. Orwell's future required continual effort. Someone must run surveillance. Another must deal out punishments. Someone else needs to rewrite historical records. By contrast, Huxley's society maintains itself.

[00:10:02] Neil Postman, writing in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, said, What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Both were right. Some people want to ban books, but many don't even read books. But we may not read books, but we certainly look at our phones. It has become our Soma, providing information and entertainment. Nearly all Americans own a cell phone and check our phones 144 times per day.

[00:10:31] Our Soma is also addictive. We should be concerned about being controlled by government, but we should also realize how we are being controlled by these devices. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net.

[00:11:01] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again in studio with us today, Dr. Merrill Matthews, Jeff Mateer. A little bit later, if you'd like to join the conversation, we'd love to hear from you. The first article here about the Nine-Hour Prayer Festival, which will be taking place on the National Mall, reminds me of Washington for Jesus. I was there in 1980 when that was taking place in the Mall. Robert Jeffress said it reminded him of Expo 72, which is something that happened here in Dallas.

[00:11:30] And so you might say, well, nine hours is great, but can't we do a better job? Well, Franklin Graham has already thought that through. Fifty days of prayer for our nation. What he has done is identified one pastor in every state to actually join together. And because of our great technology, you can all join with him. And I'll see if we can post that very soon, because right off the bat, he's going to have Pastor Jim Lowe of Alabama pray.

[00:11:56] And then each day there will be a different pastor from a different state pray for the country. That is something. A little bit later, we might even talk about the fact that in Congress, I know, for example, Representative Mary Miller. She is a representative from the state of Illinois. One of the few Republicans, by the way, there has introduced a bill to mandate in God we trust on federal buildings. Of course, you have that on some. So lots of things happening. And we'll come back to that a little bit later.

[00:12:22] But, Dr. Matthews, just to get back into some serious things happening in Congress right now, you wrote a very, I think, interesting piece indeed that has showed up in USA Today. We can't afford to let Democrats lead health care reform. And the reason that's coming up is a majority of Americans, six out of every ten, have encountered some problem with their health insurance in 2024. We've got a problem. And Democrats are saying, we can fix that.

[00:12:51] And you're saying, no, I would rather you didn't. Explain. Well, you know, Democrats have been saying that for some time. And I'll remind our listeners that in 2010, Democrats said, we can fix this health care insurance system that we have. They passed the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. That is what we have now. And the irony, Kirby, and we've talked about this, Democrats will be campaigning. They'll have a presidential debate or something. And the media will say, how are you fixing it?

[00:13:20] We've got a terrible health care system. The health care system we have is the Affordable Care Act. The thing that was going to fix our problems is now the problem. And so Democrats, excuse me, don't want to mention that. The media don't hold that to them. Account for that. But that has been the problem for a little while. And part of your problem has to do with the fact that they say we're winning against big insurance. Of course, right now, that's an easy target.

[00:13:46] But also in your piece here, you point out that the architects of Obamacare said health care was too fragmented. So I know. Let's just bring it together and make big insurance. Right. And even they were surprised at the consolidation that was going on. I still remember three or four years after this got started, they said, look at all these companies that are combining and joining forces and merging and so forth. And we didn't really mean that to happen. But what's happened is you've put in controls and regulations over large insurance companies.

[00:14:15] They are better able to manage this. They have been able to gobble up a lot of companies out there. And one of the things, it had been going on before Obamacare, but hospitals had been buying up physicians' practices before that. That is on steroids now as most physicians' practices end up getting bought up by the hospital. And there's reasons for that. For one thing, Medicare will pay a larger price for certain procedures done at the hospital than at the doctor's office.

[00:14:44] So if the doctor is controlled by the hospital, instead of doing it in the doctor's office, which charges less, they now send them to the hospital. And the hospitals benefit from this. So hospitals, the amount of money going to hospitals has grown significantly over the past few years. And in part because of the way it's structured and in part because you and I are not consumers when we go to the hospital because the insurance company is paying for it.

[00:15:08] And we've said this so many times, Jeff, and I've used this example with some of the other people at First Liberty that if we're all going out for lunch afterwards and I'm paying or we're using the credit card from First Liberty, well, we don't really pay a lot of attention to the right-hand side of the menu because we're not paying for it. And that's the problem with health care right now. No, it means exactly. There's no accountability.

[00:15:32] And for patients, I know this is walking through with my father who was recently hospitalized, and you go through and you look at the bill, and it's just out. I mean, and for someone his age, he gets that and goes, well, what am I going to do? Oh, don't worry. That's not. I mean, it's all fiction, right? It's all fiction. Because he's not part of the – he's not even part of the process. I mean, as Dr. Matthews said, he's not part of it.

[00:15:57] It's about the insurance company and it's the hospital, and they're playing a game, and it's taken the patient, the consumer, completely out of it. I mean, the disturbing trend – what Obamacare has – and Dr. Matthews' article makes this point. I mean, there is no competition anymore. Competition has been essentially eliminated.

[00:16:16] And, of course, we're – in addition to celebrating the 250th anniversary of America and the declaration, we're also the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith and Wealth of Nations. Yeah. And, I mean, a little free market economics might – What a concept. I mean, let's – What a concept.

[00:16:37] And maybe applying it, but more regulation – and I think this is the overall point, more regulation is not the solution. So, five years ago, I had surgery, and I went to the hospital to talk about this beforehand, and they said, well, your co-pay is going to be $345 for the surgery. And I – so, did the surgery cost $5,000, $10,000, $50,000? I don't know, and I don't care. I was at $345, and I was happy about that.

[00:17:06] But, interesting, last night, we were watching an old law and order from back around in the 2000s, and the chief detective, a path of – I can't – Mercatus or something. She's got cancer now, and she's looking over her bills, and she says, $81 for a M or something or other. And she's saying, what is that?

[00:17:31] And she looks at it, and she says, oh, it's a mucus receptacle something or other. She said, it's a tissue. It's a Kleenex. They charged me $81 for a box of Kleenex. That goes back 20 years. That goes back 20 years. And they're having fun of it on the television back then, and that's been one of the problems is hospitals can adjust the prices however they want to because we don't care. Insurance company has already negotiated a discount.

[00:17:58] The insurance company is going to give – is going to pay what their negotiated rate is. The people who get hurt the most on this are the uninsured because they don't get that negotiated discount. And these days, your negotiated discount could be maybe 10%, 20% of the actual list cost that the hospital poses. So if I go in and I've got a $50,000 bill, the insurance company may be paying $5,000, $6,000, $7,000. So as Jeff is saying, the prices are all shams.

[00:18:27] There's no real prices out there because there's no real competition for us as consumers to go and make sure we are getting value for our dollars. That's what we can then say. Okay. Do you have some solutions? Yes, you do. That's the third page. And you said the good news is Republicans are pursuing a number of reforms, and some of those have to do with things we've talked about, like health savings accounts. But you also mentioned some other reforms. And if you really want to solve the problem, more regulation is not the answer. More regulation is not the answer.

[00:18:57] In fact, reducing regulation so that you and I can go out and buy the insurance policy that we want that meets our needs. Right. Obamacare sort of eliminated most insurance policies. They tried to force us to buy what the government wanted, but in the Tax Custent Jobs Act, they zeroed out the mandate, so we're not penalized for not buying the government policies.

[00:19:18] But, yes, you need to remove some regulations and let providers out there, health insurance providers, compete and find a way and look for customers so that we're paying for something that we want. Yes. Yeah, and I think that was a part of that, too. And a proper rule for government is to make sure that there is fair competition, not unfair competition. And, look, monopolies, when you have monopolies, that's bad.

[00:19:43] And so policing the monopolies, I mean, the thing now, and you make this point in your article, is, I mean, the same company now owns every part of the process. It's integrated so that they own the pharmacy benefit managers. They often are connected with the hospitals, the insurance companies. And so you've got this vertically integrated system, and you've got just a small number of them. And when we don't care about the prices, they can charge up and down the line whatever they want. Right.

[00:20:11] And what the Democrats, of course, want is they want to eliminate – they just want government. Yes. Government-run health care system. Bernie Sanders wants Medicare for all. To our listeners, it is not Medicare at all. It's a government-run health insurance system where the government pays the doctors, hospitals, and so forth, and we pay higher taxes. And, again, one of the questions that a lot of people have is whether or not this will be a big issue, because a little bit later we're going to be talking about affordability. But both of you are at least old enough to remember the Tea Party movement.

[00:20:41] Remember the Tea Party movement? And that came in large part because of people getting sticker shock when Obamacare was implemented, right? Absolutely, yes. And so the Tea Party movement really took off in part in reaction to Obama and Obamacare. They tried to fight it. It got passed anyway. But, yes, sticker shock started coming in fairly quickly. We did not get that reduction of $2,500 a year in premiums that Obama promised. I'm still looking for those, aren't we? We're going to take a break.

[00:21:08] And when we come back, I do want to spend just a little bit of time since we do have the first time a president has ever had a call for a national Sabbath or Shabbat. And so I thought we'd bring on Dania Greenberg on for a few minutes to talk about that, because, again, that's all part of what is happening this weekend. Then we'll get back into this because there are a lot of issues to address, especially as we're coming up to the midterm elections. We'll be right back. Who can you trust?

[00:21:37] Years ago, many of us could probably have provided a fairly long list. But today, well, today it seems we almost can't trust anyone. Everyone, educators, don't even know what a woman is anymore. Many so-called public servants have shown all they care about is themselves. The FBI has been accused of bias, law-breaking, betrayal, and journalism. It's largely corrupt, with no Clark Kent standing up for truth, justice, and the American way.

[00:22:07] All of this is why Point of View Radio is more important than ever. And your part in supporting us is more needed than ever. Do your part today in supporting trustworthy truth. Stand with us and help push back the lies and the darkness. Visit pointofview.net. Don't put it off. Take a moment right now and click on that big blue button that says, Donate Now.

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[00:23:06] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. In studio with us, Merrill Matthews and Jeff Mateer. And again, this weekend will be a very significant event. Rededicate 250 National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving. That will be taking place on Sunday. But something is going to happen in just a few hours. And I wanted you to know about that.

[00:23:35] And this article that I've posted here, which comes from our good friends at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, say, The U.S. President, Donald Trump, called on Americans to observe Shabbat from sundown right now, May 15th to nightfall, May 16th, in a proclamation that was signed. And again, this, as far as we can determine, is the first time an American president has made such a declaration.

[00:23:59] However, in his speech, it was interesting, President Trump did reference a letter from George Washington to a synagogue, which again highlighted how Jewish Americans help fulfill the founding promise of this nation as it marks its 250th year. We thought just to get some perspective on that, Dania Greenberg, who's been with us before, is probably best known since we've had her on talking about her Bible,

[00:24:24] the Tree of Life Version, which is a family Bible which has a brand new biblical text for both Jews and Christians. The wife of the Messianic Rabbi Mark Greenberg. And Dania, thank you for being with us today here on Point of View. Thank you so much for having me. What a day of celebration and rejoicing for all of us. I would love to have you, first of all, talk about this as working with a Messianic Jewish congregation.

[00:24:49] This is the first time I can tell, and I think we have pretty good evidence of the first time any president has actually had a time to actually call for a national Shabbat. What are your thoughts about that? My thoughts are that the timing of this is just amazing. Our country was founded on the principle of religious freedom and freedom of speech. And being able to celebrate our faith in our homes with our children is such an amazing blessing.

[00:25:18] And the fact that our president would recognize, that he would recognize how precious this is in the founding of our country, that we can celebrate our faith at home with our children loud and excited and happy and thankful is such a miracle. Again, I have on this particular article how a number of Jewish communities and other organizations have actually praised the Shabbat 250.

[00:25:43] But also, I think, Dania, one of the other things we can talk about is that we have been dealing so much with this issue of anti-Semitism. We've seen it on college campuses. We've seen it in the community. We've seen certain political leaders. This seems to me to be another way to provide a light in the midst of some of the darkness. What are your thoughts? Absolutely. Having a spiritual perspective on this is so enlightening.

[00:26:08] God made a promise to the Jewish people that the Messiah would come through them and that they would be a light to the nations to bring truth and his word. They were promised a land of their own. And in the end, the nation of Israel would play a significant role in redemption.

[00:26:22] So when we're dealing with issues of anti-Semitism, it really is about trying to stop people from freely expressing their faith and deciding that somehow we're not willing to let people worship God in the way they feel committed in their spirit. That they've heard the voice of God. They want to follow God. And when people try to stand against that and say you can't practice your faith, that's not what we need in this country.

[00:26:52] We need unity. We need fellowship. We need faith. And we need family. Dr. Matthews, I just think this is a great challenge to the anti-Semitism we talk about so often here on Point of View. Indeed. We've seen a lot of here lately. Donya, thank you so much for what you're doing here. Do you have a sense as to how many people may be involved in this?

[00:27:14] In celebrating Shabbat, I will tell you that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people that celebrate Shabbat all over the world. But in America also we celebrate Shabbat. Jewish synagogues all over the country are celebrating Shabbat. It's an at-home celebration of faith and family. And I would love to tell your listeners, our Christian brothers in Messiah, we'd love to tell them things they can do to celebrate a Sabbath.

[00:27:41] Like, what does that even look like to Christian people? I so want to help with that. Well, let's talk about that for just a minute. And, of course, we have a link to you. And if people want to jump on it very quickly, they'll have to contact you, and there's a way that they can do so. But talk about just generally what a community that would want to honor this proclamation from the president, what they can do starting at nightfall just a few hours from now. Just a few hours from now.

[00:28:09] As a matter of fact, we're going to go live and do it at 4 p.m. on our YouTube channel if people want to actually see how to do it. But this is the most simple component that will bring you just a sense of community with your own family around the dinner table. So Shabbat starts at nightfall. So we light candles to remember the light that arrived at creation. We light two candles because it celebrates creation and the exodus from Egypt.

[00:28:38] It's our religious freedom that we celebrate on Friday night, that we're free to worship and teach our own children our faith. So blessing the Lord, lifting up his name, singing psalms, praying for one another, blessing one another, celebrating with having some provision, some bread and some grape juice to toast the Lord and bless his holy name. Those are the things that we do.

[00:29:06] And one of the best psalms that you can read on Shabbat, because I was really, you know, I was really inspired by what President Trump said. He said that we were to reflect. And if Christians would like to know a really great way to reflect, to have a reflection with God, reflect his character back to him by reading Psalm 145 together around the dinner table tonight. That would be a great way to worship. Jeff, if I can come to you for just a minute, Jeff Mateer.

[00:29:34] I have typed in a while back how many people and which groups are criticizing the idea of a national Shabbat. It goes on for pages. But again, we... Shocking. Shocking. Yeah, but again, back to what we've said, whether it's the posting of the Ten Commandments, whether it's the idea of rededicate 250, or the call for the first time a president's called for a national Shabbat, I got a feeling somebody's going to be calling your office before it's all through.

[00:30:00] Well, if they do, I hope they do if they're presented with problems. But again, I think we go back to what we said earlier. This is encouraging people to do something. And it's actually encouraging to do something, as our guest is noting. It's encouraging something that's really important to do. And we should encourage, certainly, other Christian believers and those of the Jewish faith to do so and to participate. But it's not forcing anyone to do something.

[00:30:29] I mean, the president is not saying, pay this tax, go to this building, do this. He's encouraging. So it's perfectly constitutional. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Daniel, let me, if I can, talk about the fact that we do have a link to your website. Of course, you have been very much involved in what's called Shalom at Home. And you also have an opportunity, if some others would like to contact you, or even if they would like to find out a little bit more about the broadcast,

[00:30:59] that's probably the best way to contact you because I suspect for some people it's caught them off guard that we have, within a few hours, a national Shabbat, and they would like to know what they could do to be faithful to that. So if they contact you, is that possible? Absolutely. We would love to hear some people. We're going to be live. We'll be on our official YouTube channel. We're going to go ahead and bless the candles and the – it's almost like it's a communion but with hollibred.

[00:31:28] It's a fullness of joy and pleasure at the right hand of God. And listen, nobody has to celebrate Shabbat. We get to celebrate Shabbat. It's a time when our family knows that we take a moment to slow down, gather around our table, and celebrate and read the Bible together. This is really a cornerstone of Jewish faith. It is, in fact, actually perceived in the Jewish community as completing all the commandments

[00:31:55] by getting together and celebrating Shabbat because it's central to our observance. That's what I think is so important to recognize is that our faith is the faith in the home, and then it's reflecting God when we go out and love God and love one another as his reflected light. Don, you just mentioned that YouTube channel address so people know.

[00:32:16] It's the official T as in tree of life, T-L-V as in version, tree of life version, T-L-V Bible Society dot org is our website. And the official T-L-V Bible Society YouTube channel is the place you'll see us light the Shabbat candle. And we're going to sing a song, too.

[00:32:41] We're going to enjoy Shabbat, give you a little taste of what we've been doing at home literally for more than 30 years. Again, if you're looking for that, just go to our website, pointofview.net. There's a Facebook link, and that will then take you to the Tree of Life Bible Society, and then you can follow all the links there as well. And, of course, we also have a link to her website. I appreciate you joining us. And, if nothing else, first time an American president ever called for a national Shabbat. So thank you for educating us about that today.

[00:33:11] Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed being here. Enjoy Shabbat. This is a celebration of our religious freedom in America. So excited. Well, we're going to take a break. And when we come back, we'll get into some other issues in the news, if no other reason why we certainly, even this week, have put out our National Day of Prayer having to do with what was happening in China. Then we're going to have one coming out about this very significant event. And, as you probably have gathered, many other events during America 250.

[00:33:39] But let's come back and get back into some of the issues in the news right after this. It should not be a shock. New York's mayor of just under six months, So Ron Mamdani, is looking for a financial bailout from the state.

[00:34:08] He claims, correctly, that his city has a revenue problem. He'll have to compete for funds with the governor, who previously told political opponents to jump on a bus and head down to Florida. Governor Kathy Hochul is now begging the rich ones to come back and help out with the state's shrinking tax base. The Daily Signal's Jared Stepman argues that New York City's messy finances stem from mismanagement and overspending, which have left it with an expected budget deficit of about $12 billion through 2027.

[00:34:37] He points out that Mr. Mamdani's entire campaign was built on giving new, free things away. Free child care, free buses, and government-run grocery stores. Mr. Stepman's article titled, Mamdani has already run out of other people's money, describes the socialism he's selling, despite current shortfalls in basics like the city's housing and transportation authorities. The mayor is not backing off his central planning, including getting five no-profit grocery stores up and running by the end of his first term.

[00:35:07] Young New Yorkers, enamored with the young candidate's progressive agenda, voted for this. Let's hope they're ready for tax increases, because there won't be enough billionaires to pay for it. Another city that's recently acquired a socialist mayor, who is making a lot of promises, is Seattle. Katie Wilson, seeing businesses flee her city, simply said, buy and laughed. One of her backers, radio host John Curley, is thinking twice. He said on KIRO News Radio, we're driving out the job creators. They're leaving.

[00:35:37] You have high vacancy rates. The city is now struggling to find money. Of Seattle's latest socialist experiment, he said, apparently, taking from one group and giving to another group of people, fails, as it always does. Blue cities should quit electing socialist mayors. For Point of View, I'm Penna Dexter.

[00:35:56] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Beck, once again, you know, it's that wonderful time this year. According to Cal Thomas, it doesn't mean Christmas. It's time when our Citizens Against Government Waste have released their 2026 Congressional Pig Book. And I've got a long list here, but he, in about two pages, gives you a summary.

[00:36:25] And Dr. Murrow Matthews, I can remember a time when we had some very prominent Democrats at that time pointing out some of the areas of congressional pigs. I can also think of some very significant Republicans that were also doing that as well. But now the Citizens Against Government Waste make sure that whether a member of Congress points it out or not, they are equal opportunity grief givers.

[00:36:52] And he talks about some of the things given for earmarks to the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center, as well as the University of Georgia Foundation looking at diagnostic laboratory pathological waste incineration and some of these things in the theater. I know that Jeff Mater likes theater, but he probably doesn't like his government money going towards all of that.

[00:37:16] So help us out, because it seems to me that we have tried through Doge to cut some of the waste and fraud. But every year, in this case, looking at earmarks, that's still something that both Republicans and Democrats are engaged in. And our listeners may remember that when he was Speaker, John Boehner opposed earmarks. And so he said, as Republicans, we're not going to put earmarks in there. And there are still ways they sort of got around it.

[00:37:43] But at some point they said, no, Democrats are figuring out a way to put earmarks in there. And what earmarks are is when they pull together the budget, they'll hand money back to the states. So defenders of earmarks will say it's not actually spending any more money. It's just that members of Congress decide where that money is going to go when it gets back to the state. But then people back at the state determine where to spend the money. And I would argue, well, let's just don't give the money back to the states.

[00:38:11] Let's cut taxes and we'll keep the money and the states keep the taxes. Yes. But that's not – once Boehner got out, they decided to go back on earmarks. And as it points out, the earmarks are just exploding out there. And they do all kinds of things because – and some of these things may actually be of value. They sometimes sound dumb, but they may actually be of value. But you get so many of them, it's hard to tell. And we used to do things about looking at the sex of tsetse flies and things of that nature.

[00:38:41] And people would look at that and say, why are taxpayers spending money on that? Because so many of them – the bridge to nowhere, remember back in Alaska? That's right. People were – and incidentally, powerful politicians are able to get more money back to their states, which is why at least at one time half of West Virginia was named after Senator Robert Byrd because he was head of the Senate Finance Committee and then the majority leader.

[00:39:07] So, yes, we spend a lot of money doing that, and it's just – it's billions and billions of dollars going to various people out there. Some of these people are glad to get it, but these earmarks are running up the budget. Let's talk about Robert Byrd for just a minute. If you go to Wikipedia, there's a list of places named after Robert Byrd, and I counted them up. There's 50 different places that have the name Robert Byrd on them. And West Virginia is not very big.

[00:39:34] Yes, and then there's some others named for his wife, Emma Ora Byrd. So if you get to that, you're getting close to almost 100. And I think those – I would have to say – and this is made to make Jeff's head explode, which is what we like to do from time to time – just amazing the amount of money that is just going through these earmarks. Yeah, and again, I expect the Democrats to be for earmarks. What I don't expect are the Republicans. And so let's just – let's put a little more light on the Arkansas.

[00:40:04] Yes. Arkansas has two Republican senators. There you go. Do we need $9.6 million to study rice? Yeah. I mean, explain – Dale Bumper's National Rice Research Center. Explain that. I mean, I – And that's – these are Republicans. If you need to study rice, then Rice-a-roni can study rice. I don't know who Rice-a-roni is owned by. But private industry, if we need to enhance rice, let private industry do it.

[00:40:33] But, I mean, $484 billion in earmarks. That's insane. Yes, it is. Because people never – we don't have the money. Right. I mean, so this is just – this is like – it's monopoly money. It's just play money, and they're spending it. And that that – I mean, as a Reagan Republican growing up in the 1980s, we were against things like this. Yes, you were. I mean, we were against what Tip O'Neill was doing, what Jim Wright was doing.

[00:41:01] But the Republicans – and, of course, I love Cal Thomas – oh, yeah. Well, they're doing it. We ought to do it. Yeah. No, we need to stop. This is money that we don't have for items that we don't need. And, look, I love theater. And I know our producer loves theater. But the federal government doesn't need to be – what is this one example? One and a half million. Yeah, and some little town that has 4,000 people. That's insane.

[00:41:31] It's absolutely – it does blow my mind. It's absolutely insane. This stuff is just – and that the Republicans are participating in it. And, of course, even our own. Here in the state of Texas, we're studying hogs. Yeah. At Texas A&M. Yeah, barrel hogs. And this is pork barrel, so maybe that fits. I don't know. I guess so. And then they're giving all this money to the fishing industry, which – That's in Alaska.

[00:41:56] But what we need to do is – because there's so much regulation – take those regulations off. Let the fishermen do their jobs instead of giving $11.9 million. Is there $11.9 or is it $11.9? I mean, it's insane. Almost $12 million. If Elizabeth Warren's for it, I'm against it. But, again, these are just earmarks. But that's something else this week.

[00:42:23] And I did want to get this from you also, Dr. Matthews. We have for some time – and you have even a book that has your name on it that talks about waste, fraud, and abuse. And right now you have the vice president being tasked with some of the things that originally had Elon Musk talking about because the amount of graft and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid is just off the charts. It's off the charts. And, yes, every administration says we're going to go after waste, fraud, and abuse.

[00:42:50] It does look like the Trump administration is actually trying to do that for a change. Give us some credit. But you have to – they've got a big job ahead of them because so much of it goes on out there. And in so many cases it's justified. In many cases there are minority populations. And so if you try to go look into that, you're accused of being a racist because going after minority populations. And it's just wasteful.

[00:43:14] There is a story this week that there are people who are on welfare benefits who are driving Bentleys, Lamborghinis, and other things. I didn't know. I saw that. James Inhofe, I think, one time – no, O'Keefe did this one time. James O'Keefe, yeah. He went to apply for Medicaid. And they drove up, I think, in a Lamborghini or something like that and went in to apply for the Medicaid. And the person helped them walk through how to do this. Yes. He said, don't let them know about your car over there.

[00:43:44] And you just have to laugh because it is just a very sad commentary. And back to what Jeff reminds us of, and we all do, we're broke. I mean, it's not like we're sitting here on this mountain of cash that we just might as well fritter away. We're looking at roughly $2 trillion in deficit this year. And that's before they add in the cost of the war. That's just unbelievable, which is a billion dollars a day, basically, in round numbers. What's a few billion amongst friends?

[00:44:10] And it just illustrates, again, this way in which members of Congress with a straight face can say – and I still like this one – again, almost $12 million for nine EROC marks for the fishing industry. And we love Alaska, and we love Alaskan seafood. But really? And it just illustrated all the kind of abuse that's taking place. And those feral hogs you mentioned. We actually put people in helicopters to go shoot feral hogs. I mean, what are we studying?

[00:44:39] I mean, what are we studying? I don't know. $300,000? I mean, it's just – to me, it's crazy. I just pulled up the U.S. national debt clock. And there we go. Is it $39 trillion? Yeah. $39 trillion. We'll be over $40 trillion by the time of the election. Yeah. It's going to be $50 trillion by the time Trump leaves office unless something changes, and I don't see that it will. And this is just, again, a disaster right before our very eyes. We're going to take a break, though.

[00:45:08] We're going to talk about the midterm elections and some of the issues facing all of those running for re-election right after this. Where does moral truth come from? According to 58% of Americans, individuals determine moral truth. A quarter of Generation Z says society determines moral truth, and morality can even change over time. Only 42% of Americans believe that truth comes from God.

[00:45:36] I don't know about you, but I find these numbers extremely troubling. It really is a crisis of truth, and that crisis has consequences. Look at society. Evil is called good. Good called evil. People with biblical beliefs are called bigots. Or worse, they're canceled. But there is hope. The Bible promises the truth will set us free. And that's why Point of View is relentless in our commitment to the ultimate source of moral truth, God's Word.

[00:46:05] At Point of View, we know that God's truth is eternal. And if we stand together, we can help more Americans apply His truth in their daily life. Help Americans find truth again by giving at pointofview.net. Or call 1-800-347-5151. That's pointofview.net. And 1-800-347-5151.

[00:46:33] Point of View will continue after this. Across America. Live. This is Point of View. And now, Kirby Anderson.

[00:47:02] Check it out today if you'd like to join the conversation. 1-800-351-1212. Of course, we've covered a number of issues. But we're going to focus some time and attention for a few minutes on the midterm elections. Because we've posted one article from Bloomberg and another one from John Fund, which came out in The Spectator. And these are going to maybe sound like it is almost a virtual certainty that Republicans will lose control of the House and Senate. But let me give the other side to that.

[00:47:31] Because the latest CNN poll, and you know that has to be true then, finds Democrats are leading Republicans by three points in what is called a generic matchup. 45% to 42%. You might say, well, what's 3% mean? Well, in March it was six points. Right. So, again, you could see the possibility that sometimes a three-point lead translates into a turnover about 10 to 15 seats, which would be quite a significant amount in the House.

[00:47:58] But also, the data guru, Harry Enten, if you ever watch CNN, he's the most enthusiastic data guy I think I've ever seen, said that he thinks a three-point lead might not be enough to flip control of the House. So we've gone from a time where there was assumption that Republicans would retain control of the Senate and might lose the House. Now, as we get into some of these articles, Dr. Matthews, some people are starting to wonder whether or not the Republicans would lose both the House and Senate.

[00:48:26] And if that's the case, can you imagine what that's going to look like with all the kinds of subpoenas against the president? There is a growing sense that they might – of course, we've got a good while. We've got several months left. But there's a growing sense that the Republicans might lose both the House, perhaps by several seats, and the Senate as well by a couple of seats. And that's just a change in what we saw between 20 and 2024. So Hispanics, he increased to 48 percent, Donald Trump, in the Hispanic vote.

[00:48:57] Among blacks, he doubled his percentage to 15 percent. Among younger people, he doubled his percentage to 15 percent by 15 percent as well. So he did well in 2024. And the point of what's happening now is some of the people, especially lower income, farmers and others, are beginning to lose some of their – let's say, hope for the recovery of the economy. And right now we've got – as we talked about earlier on, he's come back from China.

[00:49:24] He has not gotten the deals that some people were hoping he would get. Iran is still stuck. We don't know if that will open up or change. Oil prices are still going up. And all those things are weighing on the population and the public perception right now. So you have consumer sentiment that's hit the lowest place it's been in years. And that could end up weighing on the vote come November. Now, there's still time to turn things around.

[00:49:50] But it's getting to be a set narrative that's going to be increasingly difficult to turn around, especially with inflation going up. And we've got that 3.6, 3.8 percent this last – earlier this week that inflation has gone up. That's going in the opposite direction. That means the Fed, which has a new chairman, will be meeting in a few more weeks. And the concern is that they may not just hold rates steady, but they may actually increase rates out of concern about the inflation rate. Wow.

[00:50:20] And history. History would speak to essentially a second-term president. It's a final-term president. That in the last midterms, things don't go well historically. Of course, it's Donald Trump. So anytime you have Donald Trump, I mean, a lot of history goes out. But I do think if you think about the key issues that really Trump focused on and why there was a successful Trump comeback, immigration central.

[00:50:49] And I think, you know, to be fair, I think on immigration, the Trump administration has done what they said they would do. And I think you would give him at least a passing grade on immigration. So if you started immigrating – are we doing it now? Is it perfect? Is everything – no, there are issues. And obviously we've seen, you know, what's occurred in some cities and that. But I think overall, if you think about Republicans and then you think about the middle immigration, probably Trump okay.

[00:51:16] But on the other two issues that I think that he ran on, where one was we need to disentangle from foreign affairs and sort of kind of retreat back. Well, I mean, that's been a complete failure. And, you know, I think even a Trump loyalist would say we have not successively done that.

[00:51:39] But the one to me that is probably the biggest issue because I still – I agree with James Carville. It's about the economy, stupid, right? I think elections are primarily about the economy. And when you think about the economy, and I think a lot of reason – yes, Trump ran hard on immigration. People were attracted to that. But I think we were tired of Biden economics.

[00:52:06] And so Trump promised us lower prices. Well, how's that working out for us as I got gas this morning? I mean, and like – and like – so we have not only the war in Iran, which has caused prices to go up. We also have his just laser focus on tariffs, which have caused prices to go up. And so I – you know, right now – and again, as Dr. Matthews said, it's a long time. We're sitting here in May.

[00:52:36] November is a long time. But gosh, the economy has got to turn around, and the signs are not good. And I think – I mean, we could – I mean, we could literally lose both – and when we, as a loyal Republican, we could lose both houses.

[00:52:54] And there will be – there will be nothing coming out of Washington other than subpoenas and investigations and just – I mean, there will be a circus and impeachments. And there will be a circus and the debt will continue to – I mean, the real problems facing this country will not be addressed. There will be lawsuits.

[00:53:18] There will be – I mean, I just – you know, and especially as time – as time ticks down on the end of the Trump presidency, it could get uglier and uglier. And the thing that Republicans have going in their favor for a positive note is how far off the cliff Democrats are going. Well, I know. They're not – the thing is they don't run a good – they're not running a good campaign. So it's been interesting to see the anti-Semitic element rising in the Democratic Party.

[00:53:48] You've seen them embracing people who seem to be – could arguably be considered anti-Semitic or socialists or both. And these are the party that – the people in the party who are really leading it. And now there's this notion that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may decide to run for president in 2028. And she actually – and some of the votes among younger Democrats – Can you give out her information so we can make donations?

[00:54:17] Among young Democrats, she is the most popular out there. I encourage her to run. I think – I think – I think – you know. But I think I may have said that about some guy named Barack Obama at one time and how did that work out? Gary Bauer put it this way. I was at a dinner last night and they were talking about who would be the next nominee, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg. And he said, but one individual says Alexander Ocasio-Cortez and everyone around the table sort of said, yeah, probably so.

[00:54:44] And that is even hard to imagine. Let's take a break. When we come back, I'd love to get your thoughts because we have two pieces. One, Trump is losing the voters he needed most. We'll go into that in more detail. And John Fund reminding us – I love this line – should the Democrats take the House, they'll send so many subpoenas flying that they will blot out the sun. And Trump derangement of the Democratic Party is out for blood. Plans for retribution. So there's some very important issues.

[00:55:12] But I do want to, when we come back from the break, just give you a couple of the numbers which do need to turn around if indeed, as I think Jeff wisely pointed out, it oftentimes is the economy. Stupid. And the economy is not going in the right direction and some of those numbers don't look good for the future. We'll be right back.

[00:55:42] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. Two of the most famous dystopian novels are 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Otis Huxley. Diana Knox in a recent YouTube video says Orwell got only half of it right, Huxley the other half. Orwell's book described a world controlled by fear, surveillance, censorship, and form conformity. Huxley's world did not have anyone watching you, but you still conform.

[00:56:10] She observes that Orwell's afraid of what would be done to us. Huxley was afraid of what we would do to ourselves. In Huxley's future, we aren't born but manufactured. There's no war, no poverty, not much crime. Everyone has Soma, a chemical that produces happiness. If you have an uncomfortable thought, just take Soma to return to a pleasant and uncomplicated existence. Orwell's future required continual effort. Someone must run surveillance. Another must deal out punishments.

[00:56:38] Someone else needs to rewrite historical records. By contrast, Huxley's society maintains itself. Neil Postman, writing in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, said, What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Both were right. Some people want to ban books, but many don't even read books. But we may not read books, but we certainly look at our phones.

[00:57:05] It has become our Soma, providing information and entertainment. Nearly all Americans own a cell phone and check our phones 144 times per day. Our Soma is also addictive. We should be concerned about being controlled by government, but we should also realize how we are being controlled by these devices. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:57:31] Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again, listen with Ken Elise, put some of the economic issues on the table for a moment. All of this can be turned around by November, but it's certainly a prayer target, if nothing else. First of all, of course, a 3.8% inflation rate,

[00:58:01] which is much higher than the target rate of 2%. And what Kevin Warsh is going to do, I think we could leave that. The price of gasoline, well, we just mentioned $4.5 a gallon. In California, we have listeners in California, $6.16 was the... Can you imagine? Then you have to say, well, you know, 14 million barrels of oil that normally go through every day, the straight-up Hormuz are not going through there.

[00:58:29] And so, of course, that means not only the price of gas has gone up, but diesel has gone up dramatically. A lot of you probably don't have diesel for your cars, but diesel is what keeps the various deliveries running and things of that nature. Trains and trucks. And then one other thing, about a third of all the fertilizer comes through the straight-up Hormuz, and there are all sorts of farmers right now that are saying, I don't have fertilizer that I can put on the field. And not just here in the United States.

[00:58:58] This is around the world. Around the world. And if you miss applications, they're like, well, I'll do it later. It's like you don't have a crop. And, of course, then some of the farmers, even in the United States, are saying they can't afford fertilizer. So there is a sense in which, okay, you can say that the inflation rate is 3.8%, but that's a backward, that's kind of a lagging indicator. There is another indicator. It's the producer price index. Right. And it's 6%. 6%.

[00:59:26] And that's a preview of coming attractions. So with all that around here, if indeed the Republicans retain control of the House or the Senate or both, I think it's a great miracle right now, because it's just something that is, all the headwinds are really against the Republicans, and also even against some of the incumbent Democrats, don't you think? Yeah, I think so. And Trump needs to get this straightened out,

[00:59:54] but we don't look like we're seeing any kind of resolution to Iraq anytime soon right now. Right. So I don't know if you're going to be able to get that. And, of course, they're to the point now where the Democrats are trying to call this a war. They want to try to pass another version of the War Powers Act. The administration, Republicans have defeated that. And it looks like sometimes they use the word quagmire, and people say, no, no, we're not in a quagmire, but I don't see an easy resolution of this anytime soon.

[01:00:24] No. And I mean, I think despite saying, oh, it's over and we've won. Well, have we won with gas the way it is? I think the other is the international impact. I mean, I know in Africa there are shortages for oil and gas. When I just got back from visiting some missionaries in France, I think they would love for there to be a $6 gallon. We were trying to convert it. We were looking because they sell liters, of course,

[01:00:50] and we figured out it was about $8, what would be the equivalent of $8 a gallon in France. And so Europe, I mean, this is going to have – it has a domino effect. Obviously, what happens in the United States impacts the world. But at the end, if – you know, we talked about eggs. Remember, we were talking about eggs. It took so long during the Biden administration. But, I mean, you go to the grocery store, food costs more today than it has.

[01:01:18] And, as you said, it's somewhat like it. I mean, it's going to keep going up and up and up because to get those eggs to the grocery store, you've got to drive a truck. And as diesel goes up, I mean, it's just going to go – it's going to go up. The other is – I mean, the other that has not been addressed, and the Trump administration at times has talked about this, is, I mean, the price of homeownership. I mean, we now are raising a generation.

[01:01:46] You know, unfortunately, my kids got in before. But, I mean, now there are a lot of people, I mean, in their 20s and 30s who – I mean, they have no – they will never have an opportunity unless things change to buy a home. And, you know, one of the problems that's happened here, and this is a challenge for Trump, is that in years past it was considered that higher income college-educated people voted Republican. Right. Lower income union people and so forth voted Democrat. Trump has largely switched that. Yes, he has.

[01:02:14] And so now higher income people, especially college-educated women, tend to be very, very strong Democrat. The lower income, the working people and so forth tend to be voting Republicans. They are the ones who are least able to afford the price increases and are being hurt the most by the price increases, and that's his voters. And so this is a real problem for Republicans right now because if Democrats are energized and excited about the coming election

[01:02:43] and those who have typically supported Republicans, especially Trump, and said, you know, I'm just – I just pox on all their houses. If they don't go to the polls, then you have this shift towards Democrats. And, again, you've got to recognize it isn't that necessarily people are going to shift. They just may not show up. They may not. And, again, this article that is from Bloomberg, I think, gets back to what point you made a minute ago.

[01:03:07] The three groups that have been very significant for Donald Trump, which is very different in historical – Hispanic voters actually jumped rather dramatically, almost a 10-point increase for Hispanic voters. As you mentioned, voters for African Americans doubled. And then, again, looking at voters under the age of 30, a leap of about 15 points.

[01:03:32] Well, those are three different groups which historically oftentimes were the ones that voted to the Democrat, but at least in the last election voted for Donald Trump. Now, just because they are maybe less likely if Donald Trump were to run again to vote for him, will that also translate into not voting for the Republican? And, again, some of the Republicans have really kind of hitched their wagon to the success of the president,

[01:04:00] and that could affect a significant number of individuals who themselves were not necessarily seeing themselves as vulnerable. We mentioned the Tea Party phenomenon years ago. And another unknown here is how all the redistricting is going to reshape the elections. So you've got several Republican states that have redistricted. You've got some Democratic states.

[01:04:22] And just to go by Larry Sabato's estimates so far, he says California and Utah add up to maybe five or six new Democratic seats. The other six states that have gone through redistricting up maybe nine to 12. So that's four plus some toss-ups. So as he sees it right now, he thinks the redistricting that's going on probably benefits Republicans more just because Democrats have not done it as much

[01:04:50] and they've had a pushback in Virginia and some other things. But that could end up sort of offsetting some of the losses that might have come otherwise just by the normal midterm election change. Well, especially since you mentioned Virginia, I've got to get to Jeff here. And that is after the Supreme Court in the Commonwealth of Virginia said that what you would try to do by going from six to five to ten to one was unconstitutional. Democrats had a solution.

[01:05:18] And that is, and this I think is a preview of coming attractions. Well, then we will have the mandatory retirement age, which right now is age 73. We'll bring it down to 54 so we can find out a way to toss out the judges we don't like. And you for some time at First Liberty have been warning us about a Supreme coup. I think we've got a vision of it in Virginia the other day, didn't we? No, we absolutely do. And that's exactly what they're doing. And I have no doubt.

[01:05:46] I mean, and this is what I'm, you know, one of the biggest fears because I don't know if our country recovers from it. And I know that sounds pretty extreme, but a world where the Democrats in these midterms gain the Senate, they gain the House. And then in two years from now, they either keep those majorities or expand them. And they elect a Democrat president, you know, someone like AOC.

[01:06:14] I have no doubt that one of the first things they will do is pack the U.S. Supreme Court. And once they do that, then it's going to be we're going to be it's going to be majority rule. And they're not going to be protection of of individual liberty rights, certainly for for things that we care about, like like religious freedom.

[01:06:33] And so and then I don't know if I don't know how we ever come back from that, because then what the republic I mean, it will be a cycle that that really destroys the rule of law. So, I mean, these are important. I mean, the midterms are important to see what happens and then the presidential election after it. But when you have a president who who unfortunately I mean, and I think, Dr. Matthews, you brought this up.

[01:06:57] I mean, I don't see the focus or intent on solving the problems that he needs to solve in order to be successful, you know, for for for his party to be successful in these midterm elections. And that that's a little troubling. I mean, I think, you know, it seems to be he's just he's just and this could could cause some people to be upset. But but it just seems like he's not focused on the key issues that that, quite frankly, are the key issues that he ran on.

[01:07:27] And he needs to be addressing. And again, I, you know, is it I think it's the people around him. He's getting some really, really bad advice. Yes. Well, let's take a break. If you'd like to join us, 1-800-351-1212. Two articles that I might mention here, one that is from Bloomberg, West Kosovo, I think is how you pronounce his name. Trump is losing the voters he needs most. And John Fond, it's the corruption stupid.

[01:07:50] And he's talking about some of the ways in which, again, there are as say you even has a quote from one individual. There's a tipping point for an incumbent. And if voters start believing that he's not focusing on the key issues or doesn't care about them, that could change. We'll come back and get some more comments right after this. At Point of View, we believe there is power in prayer.

[01:08:19] And that is why we have relaunched our Pray for America campaign, a series of weekly emails to unite Americans in prayer for our nation. Imagine if hundreds of thousands of Americans started praying intentionally together on a weekly basis. You can help make that a reality by subscribing to our Pray for America emails.

[01:08:45] Just go to pointofview.net and click on the Pray for America banner that's right there on the homepage. Each week you'll receive a brief news update, a specific prayer guide, and a free resource to equip you in further action. We encourage you to not only pray with us each week, but to share these prayers and the resources with others in your life. Join the movement today.

[01:09:14] Visit pointofview.net and click on the banner Pray for America right there at the top. That's pointofview.net. Let's pray together for God to make a difference in our land. Point of View will continue after this.

[01:09:43] You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Back once again, if we can, for just a few more minutes, going to talk about what happens in the midterms. And we'll look at both. Right now, we've been, of course, talking about the Republican Party and the Trump administration. It's a piece by John Fund. He's been on the program with us many times.

[01:10:11] He used to write for the Wall Street Journal, now with National Review. I've interviewed him. Dr. Matthews, you've interviewed him. Legend experts. Yeah. And, matter of fact, he's kind of our go-to expert on the whole issue of voter integrity and voter fraud. He's written a book on the subject. He points out that this issue of corruption, and he gives a couple examples, Exhibit A, Corey Lewandowski, always have trouble with that name, but I won't have too much longer,

[01:10:36] because he was with Kristi Noem doing all sorts of things in Homeland Security when he wasn't even allowed to do that. He basically took control of the department, hiring and firing, and eventually they encouraged Kristi Noem to find another position in the administration, which is a nice way of saying, you're fired, but we won't fire you. Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez, DeRiemer, same thing. Then all sorts of things that have been happening with the Trump administration.

[01:11:04] Of course, let's not forget Howard Letnick, who was good friends. Yeah. Who told Miranda Devine that he lived next door to Jeffrey Epstein, and they went over there like in 2003 or 2004. They went over there one time and saw the place and said, we're not going to have anything to do with him. Then it came out that Howard was actually on his own boat with his family in the Caribbean. Probably in the island, too.

[01:11:29] Went over to the island, had lunch with him, but when they brought this up, he said, but I had my family with me. I had my family with me. I don't for a minute believe he didn't remember that when he told the public that he had no further connections with Jeffrey Epstein. And again, you know, we've talked about some of the corruption issues with the Biden administration. And Hunter Biden. Yeah. And, oh, I mean, that's well known. But here we go again. And back to John Fund's point.

[01:11:58] Should the Democrats take the House, and he's assuming that may happen, they'll send so many subpoenas flying that they will blot out the sun, that the Trump derangement base of the Democratic Party is out for blood. And quotes from an individual that used to be the chief of staff or the former congressman and then former governor, or now current governor of the state of Colorado said, you know, there are all sorts of plans for retribution.

[01:12:23] And you might say there might be some moderating voices, but not many in the Democratic Party. Matter of fact, the one that we did talk about the other day is, again, you know him only so well, having lived in Pennsylvania. John Fetterman is one of the very few people in the Democratic Party right now that's saying, you know, this has gotten out of hand. Yeah. When John Fetterman is the voice of reason, hoodie and all. We'll all be wearing hoodies.

[01:12:53] I mean, if that's the voice, that's the voice of reason from the Democratic Party. I mean, I mean, it's you couldn't make it up. You can't make it up. I mean, you know, we've got we certainly have our our problems on on on on the right, but on the left. Unbelievable. And he says he does not want to be part of a party that is the tinfoil party hat of the Democratic Party,

[01:13:17] because he's talking about the number of individuals that are Democrats who say they think that all of these assassination attempts were a sham. And they were staged when in especially Butler, Pennsylvania, not only do you have the president shot, you had a person killed. Two people were injured. And yet there is a percentage of individuals, a high percentage of individuals.

[01:13:42] If you take those who think it was a setup or then those who aren't sure, you end up with a majority of people. And these are people that will be voting in the next election. Unfortunately, yes, maybe they won't be able to find their way to the polling place. But John Fund raises a number of interesting points, which is Trump, as he became president, he says he separates himself from his business. But his sons are still running. They're still running it.

[01:14:08] Eric and Donald Jr. are running it, but also with Steve Whitcoff and Steve Whitcoff's son, Zach. And so right before the election, I think in September 2024, they created Trump and Steve Whitcoff created World Liberty Financial. This is sort of a cryptocurrency. I'm not entirely sure what it does.

[01:14:27] But foreign investors have come and put lots of money, millions of dollars into this investment, including now we've got one person who put a lot of money in there is now suing because he's going to try to take some of his money out because the value of World Liberty Financial has dropped significantly, as has the value of the meme coin. But there's also and John points this out in the piece.

[01:14:50] Either Eric Trump or Don Jr. are on the boards of various companies that are being that the Pentagon is buying weapons from drones and other things. That's a problem. It may be completely on the up and up. We don't know. But it it doesn't pass a good smell test when they are on the boards of companies that are then being given millions of dollars in contracts by the Pentagon. So the Democrats are going to look into all these things and we will have to see what we find.

[01:15:20] But it's a it doesn't look good, even if it is completely on the up and up. Well, again, that's just one of the other articles that I thought would be just helpful for people to look at. And so, again, that's on the one side. But back to for just a few minutes, just the things happening right now, as we've jokingly said, maybe the Republicans would be able to retain control of the House only because some of the things happening in the Democratic Party,

[01:15:47] Jeff, are just off the charts and some of the statements being made. I just mentioned the one that we've talked about this week, which caused John Fetterman to say, I'm not even sure I belong in this party because of some of the bizarre things being said. He says, if those of you that say the White House correspondence attempted assassination is fake, I was at the table. I can tell you that it was not.

[01:16:11] And yet he has a majority of individuals that either believe it was simply a sham or are not sure. And yet those are the people that are, in a sense, driving with the enthusiasm right now, the Democratic Party. Yeah, and that's one of the things you think. I mean, do they really believe these things or they're just using them in order to play to their base, to fire up their base, to gain further support?

[01:16:39] You know, I honestly don't know because I think it's so – some of these so-called conspiracy theories are so out there. I can't think that anyone with any brain cells would fall for them. And, of course, Fetterman's talking about it on the left, but we have it on the right. Candace Jones, who thinks that Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, his wife is actually a man dressed up in.

[01:17:07] And they push these things and you get a fair amount – I mean, Candace Jones has a very, very popular blog out there, including the notion she says that it was the Jewish state that ultimately assassinated Charlie Kirk. Yeah, Candace Owens, but then you were thinking – I'm going to say Candace Jones. Yeah, Candace. You can buy the two. But we're going to start a conspiracy. Maybe they're the same person. We'll start a conspiracy. They are the same person.

[01:17:34] And isn't that just a sad commentary on where we find ourselves today? And I think if there's anything that we are trying to do at Point of View is to just try to bring some common sense there. And one more example I might use, who would have guessed that a person that was basically known for some of those very interesting TV shows,

[01:17:57] Spencer Pratt, who has really no political experience, is giving the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, a run for his money. And I think in part it's just because he's trying to say, look, my house burned down. These people are insane. There wasn't enough water. And watching some of these debates, whether it was California governor's race or the Los Angeles issue,

[01:18:22] I mean, you are starting to have people just trying to inject some level of common sense, and they're rising to the top of the heap simply because we have so many people that don't have common sense right now. So, yeah, at which, I mean, a reality show guy. Yeah, I mean, I go back, we sow what we, we reap what we sow. And some of these blue states continue.

[01:18:48] You had Eric Swalwell, who looked like he was going to be the odds-on favorite to be governor of California. And he had a illicit affair with a Chinese spy some years ago. That didn't get him kicked out. But apparently several women came out to say that he had been sexually abused at various kinds of things. And that finally got him out. But the blue states tend to keep voting for people who just get crazier blue. And you see that in New York.

[01:19:17] Well, since we're talking about California, our listeners in California say, you didn't mention the fact that we have a mayor in California that actually is a Chinese spy. Truth is stranger than fiction. Can't you get reelected? Yeah. Which is a great setup for just a minute because when we come back, we will mention Pennexter's commentary on Blue City Socialism. And that is one that we always play right now at the top of the, near the top of the hour.

[01:19:46] So if you find yourself wanting to read that, that is on the website right now. And I think that will give you, actually the one at the moment is one on Bretton Woods. So I guess we didn't get it updated. But you will be able to find it if you go looking for it on the website. And just a good illustration that, as we like to say sometimes, and where's Kelly Shack over? He loves to say it. You just cannot make this stuff up. Kelly has said that so many times about some of the cases that First Liberty's had. But when you look at some of the things happening in politics right now,

[01:20:16] this is why I hope that we can be your trusted source of news and information because common sense isn't so common anymore. We'll be right back. It should not be a shock.

[01:20:44] New York's mayor of just under six months, So Ron Mamdani is looking for a financial bailout from the state. He claims correctly that his city has a revenue problem. He'll have to compete for funds with the governor, who previously told political opponents to jump on a bus and head down to Florida. Governor Kathy Hochul is now begging the rich ones to come back and help out with the state's shrinking tax base. The Daily Signal's Jared Stepman argues that New York City's messy finances stem from mismanagement

[01:21:12] and overspending, which have left it with an expected budget deficit of about $12 billion through 2027. He points out that Mr. Mamdani's entire campaign was built on giving new, free things away. Free childcare, free buses, and government-run grocery stores. Mr. Stepman's article titled, Mamdani has already run out of other people's money, describes the socialism he's selling despite current shortfalls in basics like the city's housing and transportation authorities.

[01:21:41] The mayor is not backing off his central planning, including getting five no-profit grocery stores up and running by the end of his first term. Young New Yorkers, enamored with the young candidate's progressive agenda, voted for this. Let's hope they're ready for tax increases, because there won't be enough billionaires to pay for it. Another city that's recently acquired a socialist mayor, who is making a lot of promises, is Seattle. Katie Wilson, seeing businesses flee her city, simply said, buy, and laughed.

[01:22:10] One of her backers, radio host John Curley, is thinking twice. He said on KIRO News Radio, we're driving out the job creators. They're leaving. You have high vacancy rates. The city is now struggling to find money. Of Seattle's latest socialist experiment, he said, And apparently, taking from one group and giving to another group of people, fails, as it always does. Blue cities should quit electing socialist mayors. For Point of View, I'm Penna Dexter.

[01:22:42] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again, just for a few more minutes, let me just mention that oftentimes we post the commentaries. My commentary comes out Monday through Friday. Penna Dexter's, if you have signed up for it, will actually land tomorrow on your inbox. But it's called Blue State or Blue City Socialism. And she says it should not be a shock, but the New York mayor, that'd be Zoran Mamdani, is looking for a financial bailout from the state.

[01:23:12] And, of course, the state of New York isn't doing very well, and the city of New York isn't. And I thought I'd broaden it for just a minute, because earlier this week, I posted a piece by Howard Schultz that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. You might say, who is he? Well, he's the CEO of Starbucks. Now he's left, and he was writing about Katie Wilson, who is the other Democratic Socialist mayor. Yeah, one in New York City, one in Seattle. And, you know, Howard Schultz really had kind of the great American success story.

[01:23:42] I've heard him talk about the fact that he grew up around a situation in which they had subsidized housing. As a matter of fact, even to get into some of the buildings, he had to use the influence of Bill Gates Sr. That would be Bill Gates' father, who helped him get into some of those homes, but eventually became very successful. But then, becoming successful, everybody turned on him, you know. And as a result, he talks about the problems that have come out of Olympia, Washington, problems come out of Seattle, Washington.

[01:24:11] And here we have the problems coming out of New York City. And if you want free child care, free buses, government-run grocery stores, sooner or later, you run out of other people's money, don't you? Yes, and my understanding is that Zoran Mamdami, the mayor of New York City, is now postponing certain things that he's supposed to be paying, putting off some things that need to be paid because he has not been able to get through the tax increases that he wants to get to cover some of the things.

[01:24:38] But he is building, I think, five or six non-profit grocery stores that he's actually building new buildings on. The question was, why didn't you just go get a building that's here? It's empty, and you could refurbish it. No, we've got to build new buildings to have non-profit grocery stores. And then what I'm also understanding is mom-and-pop grocery stores, which have been operating sometimes for decades and generations,

[01:25:03] are now going out of business because they can't compete with a state-run, you know. I mean, can we send them, like, to Russia or, I mean, Cuba, and see how state-run grocery stores operate? And the other is, I mean, the people, wealthy people are leaving. And so, of course, your tax base is going to go down,

[01:25:28] and you think cities like Seattle, oh, New York elected a communist. Let's elect one for Seattle. If it's for New York, let's elect one. And, of course, you know, they use the word socialist, communist. I mean, I think they're communists. Yeah, these are not conservatives calling them socialists. They're avowed socialists. No, they're socialists. I'm calling them communists, but they call themselves a socialist. They don't deny it. They embrace it. Well, one of the things that Penadextra mentions, one talk show host says, you know, we're driving out the job creators.

[01:25:57] They're leaving. We have high vacancy rates. And it isn't just, you know, Starbucks leaving. It's Amazon and Google and everybody else. And Howard Schultz was saying there was a time in which all sorts of people were coming to Seattle because there was this entrepreneurial activity. There was an attempt to try to encourage some of that. And then you get Katie Wilson standing up the other day and saying, you know, I'm going to boycott Starbucks, and I'm glad to have them leave.

[01:26:25] And then you have the governor of the state of New York saying, well, I don't know. Maybe we should bring some of them back. I don't know that's going to work. Yeah, she basically bid the wealthy people goodbye. And then she said, on a second thought, maybe you need to come back. And the thing is Starbucks. Starbucks, it's not necessarily known as sort of the conservative company, but not apparently left-wing enough.

[01:26:51] Yeah, and the fact is that many of these tech companies were started by people who either embraced liberalism. They grew up that way. I don't know. But they've tended to be liberals. And now you're seeing changes with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, buying Washington Post. And now he's changing the he let go of a number of people. He's putting in some more conservative people in the editorial board and so forth. Some of them have begun to change their liberal look. Yes. Well, again, I just wanted you to see that.

[01:27:19] And real quickly, I'm not going to spend much time on it because it's pretty awful. But we do now have a report from a commission that looked at what happened on October 7, 2023. And the editors referred to this at National Review as the sexual barbarism of October 7, which is worse than you can imagine. Yes. I would encourage you to maybe read this because, first of all, it is worse than we ever anticipated.

[01:27:46] And although we have traveled Israel sometimes, I have some people that we've had contact with them. And they've warned us that it was worse than we'd even heard reported in the press. And it was. But I think it also helped answer something because a few days before this report came out, Nicholas Christoph, who's a New York Times columnist, posted something about some kind of brutality at the state of Israel,

[01:28:14] which now most people say really was no evidence. But it was almost like trying to get out in front of that because, as I said, he's usually a pretty respectable columnist. And coming up with something that these Israeli leaders were engaged in some of this brutality. This may have been an attempt just to get in front of this. But if you have never taken the time to just briefly summarize it, and I won't say it on the air because I know we have young voices listening here.

[01:28:42] But we're talking about looking at 400 witnesses, survivors, and others, visual analysis. The most awful things you could possibly imagine took place on October 7th. And the point is the torture and things of that nature was gleeful beyond the bounds of human decency. And the report concludes that this was systemic, widespread, and integral.

[01:29:08] So it just wasn't a number of people getting their kicks. This was maybe intended. And when we talk about dealing with Hamas, Hezbollah, even Iran, I think we're starting to learn how evil some of this radical Muslim ideology can be. Yeah, the words I wrote down after reading this piece, I wrote down pure evil. I mean, and I think this is – I mean, it is complete moral depravity.

[01:29:36] And as you said, I think what is most troubling in this, this isn't just a few individuals engaged in bad acts. That has happened throughout history. I mean, that's happened – Americans have engaged in bad acts in the past. But this was planned. This was encouraged. It's encouraged that this is who these people are. And, I mean, pure evil. I think it's just pure evil.

[01:30:05] And I'll just add, I've heard a number of Muslim people say that Muslim men would not do that because they're Muslim men. You need to look at this. This is exactly what they did. Yes. And so, again, I just wanted you to know that it is something that we didn't talk about much this week. Of course, with the Nicholas Kristof piece coming out, I thought, well, how do I respond to that? And then now with this commission report, this is something for you to read.

[01:30:30] And as I think even the few people that have covered it said, a little disclaimer about how awful it is. But it just reminds you of what we are dealing with sometimes there in the Middle East and the depravity, human depravity that is there. And sometimes motivated in a systemic way. So, all sorts of things we have covered. But most importantly, let me come back to what we started with. Rededicate 250. Of course, also this idea of a national Shabbat.

[01:30:59] If we have ever needed that, I think we need it right now. And certainly to be involved in prayer for that. If you'd like to read some of these articles by Dr. Murrow Matthews, some of the links to, of course, First Liberty Institute. All available at the website pointofview.net. One last time, let me mention that we're making available a free copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And we'd be glad to get that to you. You can simply go to the website pointofview.net. Click on the banner that is there.

[01:31:26] And most importantly, I also want to thank the help that I receive on the other side of the glass. First of all, from Megan, who engineers the program. Steve, thank you for producing the program next week. We're going to talk about archaeology with a good friend of mine who will be in studio. Dr. Murrow Matthews will be hosting on Thursday. And we, I think, really are looking forward to a great week. So I hope you'll join us. Enjoy the weekend. See you back here on Monday right here on Point of View.

[01:31:58] It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority. They say men can be women and women men. People are prosecuted differently or not at all, depending on their politics. Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens. It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing. You feel like giving up. But we can't. We shouldn't. We must not.

[01:32:25] As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II, Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. And that's what we say to you today. This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos. We can't do it alone.

[01:32:52] But together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness. Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151. pointofview.net and 800-347-5151. Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries.