Point of View November 11, 2024 – Hour 1 : America is Headed Toward Bankruptcy

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View, Anderson.

[00:00:20] Thank you for joining me. It is a Monday edition of Point of View and first of all, happy Veterans Day. As you well know, this is Veterans Day and it began originally as Armistice Day to mark the 11th hour ceasefire.

[00:00:33] So 11 a.m. on November 11th at 11, that was the end of World War I. But again, Congress later renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day and this is a day we certainly want to support those of you that have served in the armed services.

[00:00:48] We want to thank those of you who are veterans. And of course, you might remember last week we talked about a movie that I'd highly recommend you go to, which is really just a way to honor our veterans.

[00:00:59] It was talking about military chaplains. So all of that is available on our website at pointofview.net.

[00:01:06] Let me just mention that I've got a couple of guests today as well as some comments that we will be making about these issues.

[00:01:13] Chuck Bantley of Crown Financial will be joining us on the bottom of the hour.

[00:01:19] We'll be talking about a piece where he was asked when Elon Musk says America's headed towards bankruptcy, what do you think about that?

[00:01:27] And so we'll get into that issue. By the way, I might just mention as we move through the program today, I know most of you listen on radio.

[00:01:36] Some of you tend to watch it or listen to it on your computer or your phone.

[00:01:41] We will be showing some charts occasionally and graphs. I'll try to explain those because I recognize this is radio, not television.

[00:01:48] But sometimes a chart or a graph really illustrates only so clearly what we're trying to say verbally.

[00:01:56] So if you have access to a way in which you can watch the program or even later, if you find yourself saying, I'd like to see that chart that Kirby was talking about and go onto your computer and go to the section that says watch or listen.

[00:02:09] And you'll have a chance then to look at some of the material that we posted for you.

[00:02:14] Some of it, of course, we post on Facebook and a variety of other places, but I just wanted to make it easy for you.

[00:02:20] And next hour, we are going to talk with Hans von Spakowski.

[00:02:24] He is an individual that served as a member of the Federal Elections Commission.

[00:02:29] He now, of course, works at the Heritage Foundation, but he has put together all sorts of great resources on election integrity.

[00:02:38] And I have said recently, as a matter of fact, we had John Lott on that just because many people might be very excited about the election or very disappointed about the election because it's less contentious than it was four years ago.

[00:02:53] I think there's a window to really address some of these problems with the electoral process in America.

[00:03:01] If you were to raise those four years ago, you'd be accused of trying to change the election.

[00:03:06] I think everybody knows what's going to happen in January when Donald Trump takes the oath of office.

[00:03:11] But the bottom line is this may be an opportunity to address this.

[00:03:16] And, of course, John Funn and he – John Funn was on just recently with certainly a couple of guests that we had on as well.

[00:03:24] He and John Funn wrote the book Who's Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk,

[00:03:29] but also has written on some other issues, our broken elections, how the left changed the way you vote.

[00:03:35] And so we're going to also post a piece that he has put together and really get into what needs to happen.

[00:03:43] We are not in the 19th century where we have to wait days to count paper ballots.

[00:03:48] We're in the 21st century.

[00:03:50] And the fact that we're just now finding out that perhaps we will have Republicans control the House,

[00:03:57] and we are just now finally able, just a few days ago, to say that you have an additional Republican senator from Pennsylvania,

[00:04:06] I think illustrates some things that need to happen.

[00:04:08] And there is a real need to address some of these campaign finance laws,

[00:04:13] some of these various elections, public funding, the issue of how we count the votes, and much more.

[00:04:19] So we'll be talking about that with him next hour.

[00:04:22] But let's get to the first article.

[00:04:24] Donald Trump wins 312 electoral votes with the final race called, and that is, of course, Arizona.

[00:04:32] Again, Arizona.

[00:04:33] I know I have listeners in Arizona.

[00:04:34] Why did it take so long?

[00:04:36] I think we're still counting some votes in Maricopa County, but I'll go back and check that in a minute.

[00:04:40] So that does mean that Donald Trump won Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

[00:04:47] Those were the battleground states or the swing states.

[00:04:50] Except for North Carolina, he flipped all the ones that went to Joe Biden in 2020.

[00:04:56] Donald Trump, of course, did win North Carolina.

[00:04:58] And, of course, you also have, at the moment, the Associated Press having him leading in the popular vote by about 4 million votes.

[00:05:06] Joe Biden supposedly won by about 7 million votes.

[00:05:09] I could make some comments about where are those misting 20 million votes, but you probably heard enough people talk about that as well.

[00:05:16] But just before we take a break, let's talk about some political maps.

[00:05:21] The first is one that I'm not going to post, but you can probably find it very easily.

[00:05:26] It's a map that came from New York Times in which it showed which counties were actually pointing to the right with a red arrow.

[00:05:35] And if you see that map, it's pretty clear.

[00:05:38] But it is a harder one to read, which is why I didn't want to put it on the screen, although I'm going to put one up in just a minute.

[00:05:44] And that is the concluding comments from The New York Times were this.

[00:05:49] Of the counties with nearly complete results, more than 90 percent shifted in favor of former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

[00:06:00] So you have had a very significant shift, and that is illustrated certainly by the shift in the counties.

[00:06:08] But if Steve can put up our next chart, this one comes from the national election pool.

[00:06:14] I'll hold it up here for those of you that want to see it.

[00:06:17] But this would be an opportunity for you then to see something which I think I will try to describe.

[00:06:24] And what it does is it looks at Donald Trump's share of particular groups.

[00:06:29] And if you look at the blue, that's 2016, and then the sort of golden is 2024.

[00:06:38] And so in some respects for Hispanics, his share of Hispanic vote went from about 28 percent to almost 45 percent.

[00:06:48] Whereas before it was always assumed Hispanics would always vote for the Democrat.

[00:06:54] It's almost become a 50-50 split.

[00:06:57] For Asians, the same thing, from about 27 percent up to about 38 percent.

[00:07:04] From Hispanic men, again, about 30-plus percent to now more than 50 percent if Hispanic men voted for Donald Trump.

[00:07:13] And then looking even at black men, from about 12 percent now to 20 percent.

[00:07:19] And so these ethnic divisions that are oftentimes used or racial divisions, I think as we're going to talk about a little bit later in one of the articles about this realignment, that has been rather dramatic in many ways.

[00:07:35] But also when you look not only at ethnic background or racial background, but if you look at income, here's the other one.

[00:07:44] Donald Trump did pretty well with people whose household income was less than $50,000, but he did even better, almost 50 percent.

[00:07:54] And so that is one of the comments which we'll read a little bit later, because I wanted you to realize that you're now having at least some soul-searching on the part of the Democratic Party.

[00:08:06] And one of the leaders of the Progressive Congressional Caucus said, we've become a party of the elites.

[00:08:15] Actually, it's true that people that have very high incomes tend to now vote Democratic, whereas before they tended to vote Republican.

[00:08:24] And yet it's interesting because they also pick up some who are like below the poverty line.

[00:08:29] But the bottom line is, is that if you look at middle America, which is most of America, they're voting for Donald Trump.

[00:08:36] And that's a question that will certainly surface as we continue later on, maybe in the second hour, to talk about the realignment of these parties.

[00:08:45] That'll be my topic of my future booklet on that subject.

[00:08:49] Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] While most Americans were focused on the election, the BRICS nations had a conference in Russia that we should not ignore.

[00:09:08] In case you're wondering, BRICS is an acronym for some of the world's leading emerging market economies.

[00:09:14] BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

[00:09:18] At the conference, there were nine members and 13 new partner nations who were accepted.

[00:09:22] That means that the GDP of the BRICS nations is now greater than the GDP of the G7 nations.

[00:09:27] The population of the BRICS nations is more than 3 billion.

[00:09:30] And some pundits have actually wondered if a BRICS currency could threaten the status of the dollar.

[00:09:35] Until recently, the assumption has been that would be unlikely since the diversity of the various foreign economies.

[00:09:41] They wouldn't be able to settle on one currency.

[00:09:43] But Matthew Siegel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, reminds us that three of the new members are now mining Bitcoin with government resources.

[00:09:52] He explains that there is an urgency in the BRICS nations to find some way to circumvent the irresponsible U.S. fiscal policy.

[00:09:58] Russia's sovereign wealth fund is going to invest in a regional initiative to build Bitcoin mining and to build AI infrastructure throughout the BRICS nations with the goal of being able to settle global trade in Bitcoin.

[00:10:11] Siegel predicts that when President Putin dies, some of the countries may reintegrate into the world's financial system.

[00:10:17] He says these BRICS countries will be trading with Bitcoin and then wonders what the U.S. will be doing at the time.

[00:10:23] The U.S. dollar has been the world's primary reserve currency for over 60 years.

[00:10:27] Now these countries are pursuing a policy of de-dollarization that will reduce the use of dollars in world trade and financial transactions.

[00:10:37] Congress and the incoming president need to take note.

[00:10:40] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] For a free booklet on biblical reliability, go to viewpoints.info slash biblical reliability.

[00:10:53] Viewpoints.info slash biblical reliability.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] Back once again, if you think we're only going to be talking today about the campaign, we are certainly going to be talking about other issues as well as we go along.

[00:11:12] As illustrated by the fact that my commentary today is about the BRICS conference that took place recently.

[00:11:17] And I said while most Americans were focused on the election, the BRICS nations had a conference in Russia that we should not ignore.

[00:11:25] If you're not familiar, of course, BRICS stands for B for Brazil and R, Russia, I, India, C, China, S, South Africa.

[00:11:37] And, of course, I point out at the conference there, they had many other individuals and nations there as well.

[00:11:43] So, we'll get into the fact that when we talk about that a little bit later, the GDP of the BRICS nations is much greater than the GDP of the G7 nations and a variety of other things that I think you need to know about as well.

[00:11:55] But let's stay on this for just a little bit longer because, after all, my second article is by Sarah Arnold.

[00:12:02] And it basically is an argument that I think we all would agree with.

[00:12:09] What do Americans want Donald Trump to fix first?

[00:12:13] And the bottom line is, it's real clear, Trump is to fix immigration.

[00:12:18] The most recent survey that came down from Reuters and Ipsos and others found that at least a quarter of all the voters think Trump should make a high-priority immigration.

[00:12:29] And then the poll found that 82% of Americans, basically most everyone, including Democrats, surveyed, believed that Trump, when he said he was going to order mass deportations,

[00:12:41] and even indicated their support for it.

[00:12:44] You're starting to see groups now marshalling all sorts of resources to fight that, but you are fighting against a majority, a significant majority of Americans that say,

[00:12:55] if somebody came here illegally, and they're certainly causing problems in cities and in communities, maybe it's time to encourage them to go back.

[00:13:06] Either if they will not self-deport, we will deport them.

[00:13:10] See where that goes.

[00:13:11] And he also, of course, has said that he wanted to end birthright citizenship.

[00:13:17] Although I know he wants to end it, I don't see how that happens.

[00:13:20] If for no other reason there's too much kind of disagreement about when somebody is born here in this country,

[00:13:27] even if their parents are illegal, they're considered to be a citizen of the United States.

[00:13:32] I think that's a misreading of the 14th Amendment.

[00:13:35] But if you've ever listened to Point of View, you know that Kelly Shackelford and I disagree on that point.

[00:13:40] So if we can't even get agreement around the table here, you can see it's probably going to be a tougher sled to try to deal with that as well.

[00:13:48] Which brings me to the first announcement.

[00:13:51] A lot of people say, well, what's coming next?

[00:13:53] Well, cabinet appointments and things of that nature.

[00:13:55] And Donald Trump has already tapped Tom Homan, H-O-M-A-N.

[00:14:02] He's the former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[00:14:07] In other words, he was the ICE director.

[00:14:09] And he's been tapped to actually be the next border czar.

[00:14:14] Think about this.

[00:14:15] A border czar that's going to visit the border.

[00:14:17] A border czar that actually is familiar with actually dealing with the border.

[00:14:23] Who would have guessed?

[00:14:24] And there we go.

[00:14:25] That's the first of many.

[00:14:27] As a matter of fact, some people thought he might have even been tapped to be the secretary of homeland security.

[00:14:33] But instead, he will be responsible for overseeing the southern border, also the northern border, and, of course, our ports and other things.

[00:14:40] So a man that certainly knows a great deal about immigration and customs is going to be heading that up.

[00:14:47] And so we now have that particular issue addressed and will be certainly.

[00:14:53] If you haven't seen it, our good friend Dinesh D'Souza put out a particular tweet the other day.

[00:14:59] And it was so good that I passed around to a lot of my friends.

[00:15:03] And, as a matter of fact, I even sent it to some other talk show hosts and people like that.

[00:15:07] Because it's called, he called it the Trump effect.

[00:15:11] Now, it came out a few days ago, but I think it's still relevant.

[00:15:13] He says 72 hours after winning the 2024 election, he calls this the Trump effect.

[00:15:21] What do we have?

[00:15:22] Well, the first female chief of staff appointed.

[00:15:25] New York City to stop giving debit cards to illegals.

[00:15:29] U.S. companies bring production home.

[00:15:32] Stock market hitting all-time highs.

[00:15:35] Bitcoin hitting all-time highs.

[00:15:38] Newest migrant caravan breaking up.

[00:15:41] Qatar agrees to evict Hamas leaders.

[00:15:44] Hamas wants to immediately end the war.

[00:15:48] Taliban claims to want a new chapter.

[00:15:51] China wants peaceful coexistence.

[00:15:53] Russia is ready to speak with the U.S.

[00:15:56] The U.S. wants to buy U.S. gas, not Russian gas.

[00:16:00] And Ukrainian leaders in talks with Trump and Elon Musk.

[00:16:04] And he says Trump will still be president-elect for 72 more days.

[00:16:07] Of course, now it's 70 days.

[00:16:08] But, again, I recognize that's a little bit of hyperbole.

[00:16:12] But I think it illustrates, again, that even before he has taken office, even before he's been officially confirmed in January,

[00:16:22] and even before he actually puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office,

[00:16:26] some of that is happening because they get a sense that there's, as they say sometimes, a new sheriff in town.

[00:16:33] And so if you haven't seen that by Dinesh D'Souza, I've sent it off to a couple of individuals that do talk shows,

[00:16:39] and they probably have quoted it there.

[00:16:41] And so I thought it would be appropriate to quote it here as well.

[00:16:44] But let's get ready for our conversation first with Chuck Bantley.

[00:16:48] And that is to recognize that the vote by the American people probably was a vote to say goodbye to Bidenomics.

[00:16:57] Because, after all, because of the victory there, I think the economy really was one of the reasons.

[00:17:04] And pundits and economists were trying to tell us the economy was doing just fine.

[00:17:09] Remember that list of Nobel Prize winners that said that Kamala's economic program would be better than Donald Trump's?

[00:17:17] I don't know how they could say that with a straight face.

[00:17:19] But nevertheless, the voters didn't agree.

[00:17:22] Neither did the financial markets.

[00:17:24] I just quoted from the stock market and Bitcoin just a minute ago.

[00:17:28] And stocks rose almost immediately after Trump won.

[00:17:32] And so, as we mentioned just the other day, the editors of the Wall Street Journal argued that the stock market rally

[00:17:38] really suggested a groundswell of growth optimism.

[00:17:43] They were really, I think, relieved is probably a good word, that this big tax increase that was looming on the horizon

[00:17:51] and maybe even an increase in regulatory interference was not going to happen.

[00:17:57] They were fearful of, of course, these higher taxes and even the regulatory assault that they had seen taking place under Biden-Harris.

[00:18:07] And, of course, the editors also warned that the stocks could fall in the future

[00:18:11] if some of these Trump policies turn out to be a disappointment.

[00:18:16] We've heard, of course, concerns about tariffs, concerns both on Wall Street and Main Street.

[00:18:22] But, frankly, I think some of those just paled in comparison

[00:18:25] to the last couple of years of high inflation, highest inflation in 40 years, and lower real wages.

[00:18:34] We looked this up.

[00:18:35] If you run the numbers, inflation-adjusted weekly earnings remained lower than when President Biden took office.

[00:18:44] So, while inflation was going up, wages were actually slightly going down when adjusted for inflation.

[00:18:52] Why do we have a wealth gap?

[00:18:54] Well, there it is.

[00:18:55] And so that's certain to pay attention to.

[00:18:58] But, also, it's worth mentioning that inflation wasn't the only issue.

[00:19:02] Interest rates were as well.

[00:19:04] High interest rates made it more difficult to buy a home or to afford a new car.

[00:19:10] The average mortgage payment almost doubled over the last four years.

[00:19:16] And if you look at cars, the bottom 40% of wage earners accounted for all of 6% of new car purchases last year

[00:19:25] compared to, what, 18% when Donald Trump left office and Joe Biden took office.

[00:19:32] And then, of course, as we've already mentioned, we've had millions of voters

[00:19:36] who did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016.

[00:19:40] Did not vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

[00:19:43] But they voted for him this time.

[00:19:45] And a good percentage of those individuals never had voted for a Republican for a president in their lives.

[00:19:52] So, I think as we'll come back, certainly that was a way for the American people to say bye to Bidenomics.

[00:19:59] So, we'll now see what unfolds.

[00:20:02] But we'll also spend some time talking about an issue that no one ever wants to talk about.

[00:20:07] And it's a really big issue.

[00:20:10] And that is the national debt.

[00:20:13] In just a minute, I'll have Steve put up what I think is, again, one of the most arresting statistics and charts I've ever seen on that subject.

[00:20:21] Well, we're going to be talking with our good friend Chuck Bentley of Crown Financial

[00:20:25] to really kind of get into this issue of where are we going.

[00:20:29] Because since neither Republican candidates or Democratic candidates or even the moderators of the presidential debates ever wanted to bring this up,

[00:20:40] we're going to bring it up.

[00:20:41] Because it's something that is going to affect your children and your grandchildren.

[00:20:45] And that is a skyrocketing national debt.

[00:20:49] So, those are just a few things we're going to be talking about today.

[00:20:52] Then, next hour, we'll get to Hans von Spakowski.

[00:20:55] I've got a piece by him called Unrigging Our Elections, which he wrote a while back.

[00:21:00] And also, certainly focusing on some things that need to be changed to make our elections even better, more efficient.

[00:21:09] We want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

[00:21:13] And we've done some things in the positive direction, but there's more that needs to take place.

[00:21:19] And while we're still talking about elections, I thought it would be a good time to talk about it right here on Point of View.

[00:21:25] Let's take a break.

[00:21:25] We have a lot more to cover.

[00:21:27] We'll do that right after this.

[00:21:30] It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority.

[00:21:36] They say men can be women and women men.

[00:21:40] People are prosecuted differently or not at all, depending on their politics.

[00:21:45] Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens.

[00:21:50] It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing.

[00:21:53] You feel like giving up.

[00:21:54] But we can't.

[00:21:56] We shouldn't.

[00:21:57] We must not.

[00:21:58] As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:22:02] Never give in.

[00:22:04] Never give in.

[00:22:05] Never, never, never.

[00:22:07] Never yield to force.

[00:22:08] Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:22:12] And that's what we say to you today.

[00:22:15] This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:22:23] We can't do it alone.

[00:22:25] But together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness.

[00:22:29] Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:39] pointofview.net and 800-347-5151.

[00:22:47] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:10] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:13] Once again, we are going to spend some time talking about economic issues, and I hope that you will stay tuned.

[00:23:19] Sometimes we talk about economics.

[00:23:20] It's easy for our eyes to glaze over.

[00:23:23] But it's your money.

[00:23:23] It's your tax dollars.

[00:23:24] And it is your government.

[00:23:26] And as we will be getting into a very important Ask Chuck question, this is one issue that should be discussed but has not.

[00:23:36] Both Republicans and Democrats seem to want to avoid it in all these presidential elections.

[00:23:41] Neither candidate wants to talk about the national debt.

[00:23:44] And even the moderators of these presidential debates don't want to bring it up.

[00:23:49] I'm glad that there was a question to ask of Chuck Bentley because it helps us talk about something that is a very significant issue we address.

[00:23:57] Chuck Bentley, of course, is CEO of Crown Financial Ministries.

[00:24:01] That is the organization founded by the late Larry Burkett.

[00:24:05] Of course, you probably hear him on his daily radio broadcast, My Money Life.

[00:24:10] He also is the founder and executive director of Christian Financial Economic Forum.

[00:24:14] And, of course, is a graduate of Baylor University, a good friend and even supporter of this ministry.

[00:24:19] So, Chuck, thank you for joining us again.

[00:24:22] Well, Kirby, thank you.

[00:24:23] And what a day to be alive.

[00:24:25] Isn't it an exciting time?

[00:24:27] We are living in an era that is full of risk but also of opportunity.

[00:24:33] And I'm just grateful to you and I'm grateful to Point of View and thank you for all the hard work you've done of helping people to see the issues that really matter.

[00:24:41] I was listening to the program on the run-up to my joining you today and I just thought to myself how grateful I am for Kirby Anderson and Point of View.

[00:24:50] So, God bless you and I think we've got some things to celebrate.

[00:24:54] Oh, we certainly do.

[00:24:55] And, again, I don't want to be a downer but one of the questions was asked about Elon Musk says America is headed towards bankruptcy.

[00:25:02] But as you heard me mention just a few minutes ago, I don't think we're going to have a massive tax increase.

[00:25:08] Although, again, though actual taxes have to be reinstituted, the tax cuts and things of that nature and the whole issue of regulatory issues.

[00:25:17] So there are a lot of things to celebrate in the economic realm and inflation is down some.

[00:25:23] But the biggest, as they say oftentimes, the elephant in the room is the fact that this national debt continues to increase.

[00:25:33] And the other day you had someone ask, I'm really concerned with what Elon Musk said about America heading towards bankruptcy.

[00:25:40] Do you think there's anything we need to do if he turns out to be correct?

[00:25:44] Well, first of all, he is correct.

[00:25:45] And second of all, you then give a very detailed answer about that.

[00:25:50] But how did we get here?

[00:25:52] If you read your book, and I've oftentimes held it up for people to see, Seven Great Swans, the Seven Great Swans, one of the chapters is on modern monetary theory.

[00:26:03] Can you teach us about that for a few minutes?

[00:26:06] Well, it's hard to believe I wrote the book in 2020.

[00:26:08] That's four years ago, Kirby, almost five years ago.

[00:26:12] And I was warning that we're practicing modern monetary theory without anybody ever voting on it.

[00:26:17] And it's a concept popularized by Dr. Stephanie Kelton in her book, The Deficit Myth.

[00:26:24] And essentially she says that any government that issues their own currency operates the same as the bank in the game of monopoly.

[00:26:33] And what she means by that is they can have a limited supply of money because they can print it or create it, even money to pay the interest on their own loans without any consequence.

[00:26:47] And deficits don't matter.

[00:26:50] And she would consider what I'm saying right now as fear-mongering because she says no matter how much our federal deficit is, we can always just print it and pay it off.

[00:27:01] Well, what she doesn't acknowledge is that's almost a doom loop.

[00:27:06] It becomes a form of a Ponzi scheme where people are just simply printing money to pay back money, creating it out of thin air.

[00:27:15] And, of course, as you know, that creates inflation.

[00:27:18] It creates a lack of confidence in the currency.

[00:27:21] And what many would say is it violates the principles of sound money, that it's taking money as having no value other than the paper that is printed on.

[00:27:32] And you've seen in Argentina or Zimbabwe or other places that when people lose confidence in the currency, then we're in deep trouble.

[00:27:40] It will be an economic catastrophe if that happens.

[00:27:43] One of the things that I've tried to show in the past, and I'll hold it up just for a minute, we've actually posted this,

[00:27:50] is that it shows that it took 221 years for the United States government to actually come up with $12 trillion in national debt,

[00:28:02] from George Washington all the way up to 2020, actually.

[00:28:08] And then since 2020, we've added another $12 trillion.

[00:28:13] So, again, the graph goes from curve to exponential, almost vertical.

[00:28:21] And to then look at that and say deficits don't matter, spending doesn't matter, and national debt is not an issue,

[00:28:29] I think is to be flying in the face of some sound financial information that you give over the air every single day.

[00:28:37] Well, when Elon Musk says that we're whistling past the graveyard and no one is talking about this,

[00:28:43] he said that on the All In Summit, which is, as you know, the group of billionaires who talk openly about the economic issues that we're facing.

[00:28:53] And that was the primary point that he wanted to make to these groups of people who had so much at stake,

[00:29:00] is that nobody's talking about the national deficit.

[00:29:03] And it is running out of control, especially with the higher interest rates.

[00:29:07] So it's either backed by assets, which offset that debt.

[00:29:11] In other words, our assets have to be growing in that same exponential curve that you're showing that our debt is growing,

[00:29:18] or we have to demonstrate that we are physically sound and we're keeping our expenses under control.

[00:29:26] So what you see as what he's recommending is reducing the current spending, federal spending, by one-third, $2 trillion.

[00:29:39] And that type of austerity has never been discussed, Kirby.

[00:29:44] It's like it's a brand-new idea.

[00:29:48] And I wrote about that in my follow-up of what to expect under this new administration.

[00:29:53] But, Kirby, can you imagine if we cut back on federal spending by one-third?

[00:29:58] I think it would send a tremendous signal to the rest of the world that we're serious about our debt,

[00:30:04] that we're serious about stewardship of our national resources.

[00:30:07] And I think it would restore confidence, if we can get it done, that we're actually headed in the right direction.

[00:30:14] And I think what I said to people who push back on that idea is if you think there's going to be a lot of pain and suffering

[00:30:22] by cutting back that much spending, affecting that many federal jobs, imagine the consequence if we don't.

[00:30:29] It will be far worse, not only for Americans, but for the rest of the world.

[00:30:33] So if we lose our economic strength, then we're going to be jeopardizing the economy worldwide.

[00:30:41] I just mentioned that this Friday my commentary is on American Leviathan, which is a book written by Ned Ryan.

[00:30:49] Probably going to get him on to talk about it in the future.

[00:30:52] And also I have one coming up about a week after that, which comes from a book that is written by Vivek Ramashwamy.

[00:30:59] One of the chapters is basically under the idea that there's only three branches of government, not four.

[00:31:06] And he wants to cut back, of course, what he calls the managerial class, or Ned Ryan calls it the administrative state.

[00:31:13] Some people, Chuck, call it the deep state.

[00:31:16] But the reality is that if you're spending more than you take in year after year after year,

[00:31:22] there comes a point in time where that affects not only the individuals, but it also affects the nations too, doesn't it?

[00:31:29] Well, totally, Kirby.

[00:31:31] And I remember when I started hearing about the term deep state, it sounded sinister.

[00:31:36] It sounded like a conspiracy theory.

[00:31:38] But the reality is it can be identified.

[00:31:40] It's a very real thing because politicians are elected on a temporal basis.

[00:31:46] The president comes and goes.

[00:31:48] But if you're a part of the deep state, meaning you're entrenched in some sort of leadership role within the federal government, then you're consistent.

[00:31:57] You basically have a tremendous amount of power and control over allocation of taxpayer dollars.

[00:32:06] And what I'm taking heart by is, and I've watched this and read about this numerous times preparing for today,

[00:32:16] is that this issue is going to be addressed.

[00:32:20] What was written about in the book of the author you're planning to interview, Kirby,

[00:32:26] is that's going to be addressed in the new administration.

[00:32:29] And President Trump has espoused a 10-point plan to eliminate the control that the deep state has over the direction of this country

[00:32:39] because they've been in some ways subversive.

[00:32:43] And I'm not saying that from one party or the other, but to both parties.

[00:32:48] They can literally sort of direct the government and what it's doing in spite of the leadership that's in place as commander-in-chief.

[00:32:58] And he's going to address that.

[00:33:00] Let's take a break.

[00:33:01] When we come back, we're going to get into a couple other issues.

[00:33:04] If, by the way, you say, I have really only heard the term deep state, and I really would like to know more about it.

[00:33:11] One of the booklets I have written, and again, you receive those if you're a donor, is on the deep state.

[00:33:17] If you want to go to the website today, pointofview.net, and ask for it, we'll be glad to send you a copy

[00:33:22] because I wanted to give you the history.

[00:33:25] It's not conspiracy.

[00:33:26] A matter of fact, a lot of people, even when I was in graduate school at Georgetown with fellow bureaucrats getting a graduate degree,

[00:33:34] they were talking about the fact, yeah, we really kind of have a permanent administrative class and almost like a deep state.

[00:33:40] They were talking about that almost 40 years ago.

[00:33:43] But nevertheless, if you'd like to learn more about that, it's available at the website, pointofview.net.

[00:33:48] We'll be right back.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:01] Chuck Manley with us for a few more minutes.

[00:34:03] And again, if you'd like to know more about Crown Financial, we have a link there.

[00:34:06] Also have a link to this article.

[00:34:08] Elon Musk says America is headed towards bankruptcy.

[00:34:11] And, Chuck, one of the things I've found is for listeners to Point of View, when they share some of the material we talk about,

[00:34:18] the most typical response is, where did you hear that?

[00:34:21] That just can't be right because nobody else is talking about this.

[00:34:25] I thought your piece was very good because you quote from GoBankingRates.com in which Les Rubin says,

[00:34:31] you know, the government can pay their loans due to an unlimited ability to borrow for now or print more money.

[00:34:38] But eventually they look down the road, and it's probably getting a lot closer every single day,

[00:34:44] in which they can no longer borrow money.

[00:34:46] And then he says, I think the U.S. debt is a Ponzi scheme.

[00:34:50] Since there is no source to pay the principal on the debt and interest except to borrow more money,

[00:34:56] the Ponzi scheme will collapse when people don't buy our debt.

[00:34:59] But when this happens, we face economic catastrophe.

[00:35:03] So it isn't just you and me and a few other people saying this.

[00:35:08] There are people in the industry, including, as we just quoted a minute ago, Elon Musk,

[00:35:13] who is looking from the outside in saying we've got to do something now

[00:35:17] or the consequences will not be good for the United States of America.

[00:35:22] Well, that's right, Kirby.

[00:35:24] And what I like to say is just look at the price of gold.

[00:35:26] It has had the largest rise it's had in decades because people are fearful.

[00:35:32] And gold is an index of the fear of our current economic situation.

[00:35:39] A flight to gold is a flight to sound money.

[00:35:44] And so when you look at it rising, it is almost like the lead indicator that people are believing that we're in trouble.

[00:35:52] We've got to turn back from going over the edge of the Niagara.

[00:35:56] And it's, as Elon said, he didn't say it this way, but it's like we're floating down a barrel towards the edge of the Niagara.

[00:36:05] No one seems to be blowing the whistle to turn back.

[00:36:08] But he has, and he has requested that he's even said he would volunteer to help find ways to cut back on our expenses.

[00:36:19] And he's recruited Ron Paul, who's been saying that for his entire tenure in government service.

[00:36:27] And he's looking for help and ideas.

[00:36:30] You know, it's the typical $1,000 hammer that the government buys that you could get at the local hardware store for $20.

[00:36:37] And there's so much of that abuse.

[00:36:40] And if we could just take the excess and the fat out of the budget, it'll send a message to the rest of the world that we're going to operate on sound principles.

[00:36:50] And I think it's potentially going to create the kind of confidence and the good faith and credit of Uncle Sam that's been lacking.

[00:36:58] I think you'll actually see the price of gold start to go down when that happens.

[00:37:02] You know, one of the other booklets I make available is one that came out in October.

[00:37:06] And since you're a donor, you probably received it on historical cycles.

[00:37:09] And we talk about, you know, basically political and cultural cycles and generational cycles and technological cycles.

[00:37:16] But the financial cycles, I used to put on my Chuck Bantley hat and said, you know, if you look down history, what was the dominant currency in the 15th century?

[00:37:27] Well, that was the Portuguese real in Spain.

[00:37:29] It was in the 16th century, the Spanish real.

[00:37:32] Then in the 17th century was the Dutch Guilter and then later the franc in France.

[00:37:38] Then in the 19th century, the pound sterling.

[00:37:41] And, of course, in this particular last century was the dollar ever since Bretton Woods in 1944.

[00:37:49] But it's a reminder that, you know, most of these currencies only last about 100 plus years.

[00:37:55] And anybody that thinks, well, the United States will always continue to flourish.

[00:38:00] It will always be able to have the it is a reserve currency.

[00:38:04] Not necessarily because my commentary today is about the latest BRICS conference.

[00:38:10] And these various countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and other countries are quite willing to try to come up with something other than the dollar and aren't really interested in buying our debt.

[00:38:24] So we've got to address this issue because just from a historical point of view, if we don't, we'll just be a footnote like many of those other countries in the past.

[00:38:33] Well, I would just add to bring some sense of comfort to our listeners today that thank God for the fossil fuels because we're the largest daily producer of oil and gas in the world.

[00:38:47] And essentially we're backed by petrodollars.

[00:38:51] People may not want to acknowledge that, but those are the things that give stability to this runaway debt.

[00:38:59] And as long as we can continue to produce, be a nation of entrepreneurs and people that solve these problems, we're going to be okay.

[00:39:08] We're going to come out of this.

[00:39:10] But we have to wake up.

[00:39:11] We have to identify the problem and then be courageous enough to do something about it.

[00:39:17] Nobody likes austerity.

[00:39:19] Nobody.

[00:39:19] And it's difficult for a government to implement austerity.

[00:39:23] But let's pray that we're successful at doing that because in the long run, all of us will benefit through measures that get this budget deficit under control.

[00:39:33] Well, just before we wind it down in this hour, I thought we might talk about the fact that there are things that individuals can do.

[00:39:40] And that is even if the federal government cannot balance its budget, we need to balance our budget.

[00:39:46] And certainly you have all sorts of suggestions, even from experts on how to prepare for a time of persistent inflation.

[00:39:54] If you go to crown.org, you can see that you already have a matching challenge posted.

[00:40:00] And we're going to have something very similar here at Point of View.

[00:40:03] And just as you have been so gracious about telling people to support Point of View, because you do, I also want to encourage people to support Crown Financial.

[00:40:11] And first of all, just go there to learn more about how to manage your own finances.

[00:40:17] You need to know how to be a faithful steward, even when the federal government hasn't been a faithful steward of your tax dollars.

[00:40:24] And it does seem to me that we need to have to prepare for some kind of bumpy road ahead.

[00:40:30] And the best way to do that is make sure we're on a sound financial footing, right?

[00:40:35] Well, that's exactly right, Kirby.

[00:40:37] And I didn't say affirmative earlier in your statement, but I would say in the affirmative, I do receive your material.

[00:40:43] I read your material.

[00:40:45] And it's the double blessing of being a supporter of Point of View.

[00:40:48] Not only do you have a good missional impact, and I think an essential missional impact, but I also get things that help me.

[00:40:57] I'm helping others and getting personal help.

[00:41:00] I read your material.

[00:41:01] And I would encourage all people to get behind you.

[00:41:04] This is a tough time for not-for-profits.

[00:41:07] They're trending because of the election, because of the massive amount of natural disasters we've had,

[00:41:12] and because of inflation, not-for-profits are lagging behind in support.

[00:41:17] And so between now and the end of the year, I would encourage your listeners to really generously get behind Point of View.

[00:41:23] Well, again, we're going to take a break.

[00:41:25] But first of all, let me again encourage people to go to crown.org.

[00:41:29] We also, of course, have that link where it says Elon Musk says America is headed towards bankruptcy.

[00:41:35] You can go to crown.org to all resources.

[00:41:38] Just follow the link, and that will give you some other great questions and answers.

[00:41:42] And I'm so grateful that someone asked you that question because it gave us a chance to talk about it today.

[00:41:47] And as always, I look forward to the next opportunity.

[00:41:50] Well, I appreciate you so much, Kirby.

[00:41:52] Keep up all the great work.

[00:41:54] Again, say hi to your wife and also all the friends that you have there at Crown Financial.

[00:41:59] Let's take a break, though, because I know some of you have really had some really significant questions about the election.

[00:42:07] Four years ago, I, of course, quoted some of the material by Hans von Spakowski when we wrote a booklet on voter fraud.

[00:42:16] And at that time, I only quoted some of the examples of Democrats charging other Democrats of fraud in some of the indictments and the various punishments.

[00:42:26] Because I recognize people, every time you talk about voter fraud, they say, well, that's just a Republican talk show, a talk point, talking point.

[00:42:33] And I really wanted to get back to that.

[00:42:35] But he has put together a documented database of all sorts of examples of voter fraud at a time when people say it's not happening.

[00:42:43] And he's written a very good piece, which we've posted, that you can read on unrigging our elections.

[00:42:49] So we're going to spend some time talking about that with him.

[00:42:52] Then we're going to come back to some of these other important issues that you need to know about.

[00:42:56] So let's take a break.

[00:42:58] Visit the website pointofview.net to find out more.

[00:43:01] And we'll be back right after this.

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