1.6.2025 -- NLS -- School Choice and the Future of Education

On this episode with Neal and Julie, the conversation delves into the intricate dynamics of politics, education, and societal change. Neal reflects on the rapid transformations that can occur in politics, expressing confidence that a private education choice bill is likely to pass in some form, a topic expected to feature prominently in the upcoming gubernatorial address. The discussion also critiques the political landscape, exploring the roles of figures like Pete Buttigieg and the challenges of navigating perceptions around Joe Biden's presidency.

Julie brings a passionate perspective to the debate on private versus public education, arguing that the current system often stifles innovation and limits parental choice. They discuss the potential for private schools to flourish in rural areas if financial resources are reallocated, emphasizing how this shift could create opportunities for families across socioeconomic backgrounds. They also tackle the contentious issue of extracurricular participation for private school students, highlighting the tension between fairness and accessibility.

The conversation extends to broader cultural commentary, including media dynamics, societal gaslighting, and the evolving role of political punditry. Neal and Julie share candid insights on how legislative sessions unfold, the socioeconomic implications of school vouchers, and the need for educational systems to balance accountability with flexibility.

Listeners are invited to reflect on these pressing issues, as Neal and Julie blend humor, sharp analysis, and genuine concern for the future of education and governance. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities shaping today's political and social debates.

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Transcript

Hello, East Idaho and welcome. It's a Monday, seven minutes after 8:00. It is winter. It's January. And not just January. It is January 6th. How are you all coping on this day of days? I hope, pretty well a lot happening today. By the way, Justin Trudeau may be stepping down as the Canadian prime minister. And, you know, it's interesting how politics works, where you I feel like in politics today, you can have revolutionary change in the course of a few weeks.

And usually that goes the wrong way. But I think sometimes it can go the right way, too. Donald Trump gets elected in November 5th. Everything in the world changed, got realigned politically. And we'll talk about more of that. Because there is, Trump news to share with you. It's also today is the start of the legislative session.

And Governor Brad Little will deliver the state of the state address at 1 p.m. this afternoon. We will carry that address live for you, which we typically do here. And what I'm watching for is the tone and tenor of the governor's speech. Of course, these speeches are merely wish lists. They are the governor's saying, this is what I'd like in terms of policy, and rarely does he get carte blanche what he says he wants in a state of the state speech, like state of the Union, whatever.

Now I feel like we might have a different tone from the governor today, simply because there's a new reality in Boise, in the statehouse. I believe that, private education choice bill is going to happen in one form or another. And I think he, Governor Brad Little, if he's anything, he is grounded to political reality. And he's pragmatic.

And I think that he can read the the room. I think his approach will be this is a reality. We can't change that. We're going to have an education choice bill. Here are the guardrails I'd like to see. That's my hunch is that he he will recognize that this is what the people want. This is what lawmakers are going to do.

But he'll put up some expectations about guardrails and what he'll veto and and not he won't say that, but I think we'll get an idea. So watch for that. I think education is going to take a high profile position in his address later this afternoon, again, which we will carry at 1:00 right here on Newstalk 179. So, hope you're tuning in for that.

And of course, we'll slice it and dice it tomorrow. So we have that. We also have, historic vote today in Washington, D.C., where the legislature will vote or excuse me, Congress will vote to approve of the electoral votes, and it's going to go through. All right. I don't think that's really in question. However, they've had a pretty solid snowstorm in the nation's capital several inches of snow have come down, so that might delay some things.

There was even some chatter about putting this off. I don't I don't think they will. I don't look, I, I think they're going to move forward, with it. So we have that we also have a bunch of interesting audio from over the, the weekend. And Adam Schiff talked about this day in particular that day when we peacefully transfer power.

Historically, peacefully transfer power is a real, solemn occasion, I think, for the whole country. But it has another meeting now, that we had this terrible violent attack four years ago. For those of us that were there in the Capitol, it's going to be, I think, quite an emotional experience to to be back in that environment on that day.

Okay. It might be emotional for him now, all morning long, I have to tell you, in my traditional impish style, I have been playing somber music now and then as a recognition that it is January 6th. Now, I would never make the case that that day was a nothing burger. It certainly was consequential, memorable, historic, all of those things.

But you had members of the Democrat Party that were trying to compare it to 911. And I remember hearing that the first time it's happened 2 or 3 times of it happened right afterwards. And then it also happened again in the run up to and perhaps during the January 6th hearings that Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were a part of.

And I have to tell you, every time I heard that, I rolled my eyes. It was absolutely nothing compared to 911. We still talk about 911. It is still a day that we have memorials, recognition, and we we mourn that day. And it's genuine. It is a genuine recognition of it. January 6th was a raucous, mischief filled day that should not have happened.

I don't defend what those protesters did, but there are so many lies. There's so many politically advantageous narratives that have been attached to January 6th. It has been forever tainted. And so I don't mock an attack on the Capitol. I don't minimize an attack on the Capitol. It wasn't an attack. I mean, yeah, they broke some windows. Whatever it was, I'm not trying to defend that.

I am mocking the overreaction. I am ridiculing the people who have tried to continue to squeeze ridiculous sentiment and emotion from that. That's what I'm mocking. So, although I, we haven't really gotten any, most people texting in or just playing along sometimes when I overstep and I've overstepped now and then I'll hear about it from listeners and I'll be like, okay, maybe I was a little too flip on that.

Pretty. Not this time. No, this was such an overreaction by the left and by Nancy Pelosi and by Liz Cheney and all the rest, and keeping mind they made their bed and they've had to sleep in their bed. And it has been a filthy bed, and it's been uncomfortable for them. It's been miserable for them because they boy, they spent a lot of political capital over the last four years.

They spent political capital installing a dementia ridden president. They spent political capital continually lying about January 6th. They have spent so much political capital that they are in Wokeism and in these. Ridiculous leftist narratives that America doesn't want them anymore. And they are in disarray. They don't have a leader. You have prominent Democrats that are now openly mocking the Obamas, and how the Obamas are no longer, the power couple of influence in the Democrat Party because there are no power figures left in the Democrat Party.

They're all a mockery and a joke. The people who could have the gravitas to be leaders in the Democrat Party, they've already kicked out and forced out people like Joe Manchin and Tulsi Gabbard there. Who is there? Who's left yet? Pete Buttigieg, who is trying to put out, a little kind of a brown nosing video the other day praising Joe Biden and his powerful agenda and list of accomplishments.

And, you got to be kidding me. You're real. You're honestly trying to continue with this narrative. And it was clear to a lot of people that Buttigieg was probably trying to position himself as the future leader of the Republican Party, or, excuse me, the Democrat Party, that he'll be the one to step up and triangulate and look like the grown up in the room.

And that's sort of the play that he's making. It is not going to work. It's just not he doesn't. Nobody takes him seriously. He was a joke. As a transportation secretary, what makes you think that he could be a president? Watch these words come back to haunt me at some point. But so you have that. You also have Joe Biden himself listen to the musical skills of Joseph Biden as he sings Happy Birthday.

This was in the white House. A young man by the name of Ali SEO was there, and some people knew how to say his name. Unfortunately, the most prominent figure in the room as he's trying to sing Happy Birthday, could not. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, birthday. Happy birthday to you. All right. Yeah.

That just happened. And that nothing. Nothing about that audio was manipulated. This was the president. And when you start out and you sing that song, happy birthday to you, you don't just repeat the melody. Happy birthday day to you. And that's what he tried to do while everybody else was doing the appropriate happy birthday to you. And then he's off.

He's like not singing the words in unison with everybody else, singing the words, and then he can't remember the kid's name. You had that. And then he he also lashed out. He was asked a question, and the answer that he gave had it was hostile, ill, it was aggressive, it was profanity laden. And it had nothing to do with the question.

I know more world leaders than anyone of you ever met in your home and work. So, Bill, I just reiterate, I know more world leaders than any one of you have known in your lives. It was just sort of this disdain. These were not hostile questions by the reporters. Here's how the pundit explained. And just reiterate there, President Biden calling former President Trump, president elect Donald Trump a genuine threat to democracy.

And the question that was asked that produced that answer about him knowing more leaders than any of the reporters in their whole damn life. Stories about Trump, ending birthright citizenship. Biden called it an awful idea. Okay, so reporter asks Biden about Trump ending birthright birthright citizenship. And Joe Biden's answer is, I know more leaders than you've known in your lives.

What? Where? Now, this is a hallmark of dementia. We cannot remotely diagnose the president. Although I've been unapologetically saying he has dementia because, well, he has dementia, but we can't I where there are multiple reasons I'm not a doctor. And, you couldn't diagnose dementia remotely even if you were a doctor. But you see all the signs you see you see everything there.

And this is actually one of them. When there is hostility in reaction to something that's not hostile, that happens with dementia patients. And answers not matching up to questions is a very frequent hallmark of those who struggle with with dementia. So it's so sad. Honestly, this is so incredibly sad. You have this weird thing going on now where Joe is privately angry and feels like he could have defeated Donald Trump.

At least had a better chance of defeating Donald Trump than Kamala Harris. And maybe, I mean, she was such a disaster, he might have actually performed better then she performed. But I don't believe Joe Biden was going to beat Donald Trump. He hit his downward cognitive spiral has been quite evident in the last couple of months, and it certainly was evident leading up to the although we didn't see him a whole lot.

I think they're parading him out more now because they kind of have to. It's the waning days of his presidency. There's ceremonial things, there's lots of things happening. And quite frankly, at this point, what does it matter? And he's not going to be the no. There's no scenario under which they need to preserve his legacy, his reputation or or all of that.

And so, you know what? Just put him out there and, and all of it, by the way, in my mind, is a favor to Donald Trump. How refreshing is it going to be? And before I break, I want to ask you this question. How refreshing will it be on the morning of January 21st? And it may even happen before then?

It may happen shortly after. He raises his hand, is sworn in and becomes, for the second time, the president of the United States of America. And if all goes as it should for the next four years, will continue as the president of the United States, I will. I can't speak for all of you, and I certainly can't speak for the country, but I know I speak for more than just myself when I say there's going to be a collective, it's finally over.

The nightmare of having Joe Biden as our president has come to a close. And I think in that moment, we're going to have some realizations, and one of them will be how sort of burdensome it has been to watch the country pretend that everything was fine, that nothing was wrong with Joe, that this was business as usual, that there was this is normalcy, that that real ization that for the last four years, we have been gaslit every day by people like Joe Scarborough, like Chuck Schumer, like so many in the Democrat Party and so many in the media pretending that all was okay with Joe Biden.

Now, you may not like Donald Trump then, and certainly that's understandable. He's, I don't know, maybe even acquired taste is, is a generous reference because Trump is Trump, I like him. I don't know if I'd want to work around him every day closely. I that might that might be, you know, that might be a lot. But he knows how to get things done.

He is a rational player and he will get things done for the United States. On the economy, on our position in the world and our traditions as Americans. We are going to see some good things happen, whether you like Donald Trump or not. And I feel like, and, and maybe saying it will take some of the, the wind out of those sails.

But I feel like when that moment comes, it's going to be a big collective relief of of tension and a burden that we have been living under for four years. I've hated it. If I'm if I'm honest with you, it has made me sad. It has made me angry. It has gotten so old to have to sit here and listen to educated people, smart people, capable people.

Tell me day after day after day, everything's normal and everything's fine that that's done and that's going to be nice to have that done. And of course, we'll have new fights and new battles and new disagreements. I will especially be happy when these particular disagreements are over with and done. Got a break. It's 826. It's a Monday here on Newstalk 179.

If you'd like to join us. The fall, the excuse me, the Stones Auto Group. Colin text line is (208) 542-1079 831 on Newstalk 1079, and you can reach us on the Stones Auto Group. Colin Text line (208) 542-1079. Hi, Julie. Hi, Neal. How are you today? I'm okay. You you know, despite being January 6th time, I'm doing okay. I'm making it through the day tonight.

I've decided that in 2025, I'm going to be stronger than dates. So I'm not going to let it bother me at all. Stronger than what about figs? Are you stronger than figs? Now, those kind of knock me over. That's true. Gotcha. What's wrong with you? Everything. Everything's wrong with me. All right. Should we play the Scott Jennings real time community note?

Yeah. This was a good. He's so good on CNN. Listen to this. The Trump tax cuts. Obviously, Democrats are going to fight that tooth and nail. It's not just something that exposes the debt. It's also something that is really symbolic for Democrats of, giving all the benefits to extremely wealthy people while the rest of us, suffer or don't get anything.

Jessica, if I may, just one community for the record, the Trump tax cuts, cut taxes for virtually everyone who pays taxes. It wasn't just a tax cut for wealthy. Everyone who pays taxes got a tax cut. Extending these tax cuts would be tax cuts for everyone who pays taxes. And so this was like a, one of the biggest lies told about the bill when it passed in the first place.

But there is verified, absolute verified reporting from numerous reputable news sources that virtually everyone who pays taxes got a tax cut. That's what Republicans stand for. Go ahead, Christy, do you want to jump in? Wealthy yet? By far the biggest share of that. Scott, as you know, everybody everybody who pays taxes got a tech boom. Yeah. Allie's asking her to do.

Which is why it's so appropriate that he calls it a community note. It's just be honest about what you're saying. When she started it, she said nobody but the wealthy got a tax cut. That's not correct. Yeah. So then at the end, she said, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the wealthiest got the biggest tax cut. Well they pay the most right.

They got the lion's share of the benefit because they pay the lion's share of taxes. This is not hard. Now. But he wrecked her talking point. And she doesn't like that. No. And it was. I mean, too bad it's radio, because if you could watch the video, you could see her do this little kind of impish, irritated smile that she had, that he he came in and simply with the truth, blew up her point.

Right? Right. Which I good with do it all the time. I feel like, let me make a comparison here with with Scott Jennings. I feel like we are watching a world class major league baseball player play in some farm team in, you know, Kenosha, Wisconsin. And, you know, he could play for the Yankees, right? If he you know, it's just that everything's got to line up.

They got to take him out of Kenosha, and he'll be in a ball park that has 50,000 seats. Right, right. Does that make sense? Yeah, totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I don't I love Scott Jennings. I hope that his career is long and and flourishes far past CNN. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. I think, you know, if you're looking back on 2020 for a very, very tumultuous year, but I feel like the emergence of Scott Jennings has been a big highlight of this last tumultuous year.

It's kind of been a form of, resuscitation for CNN, too. I they're barely breathing. They're barely surviving. But I think the fact that Scott Jennings has created the stir on CNN that he has, has made it possible for CNN to kind of get some more play, to get some recognition during a time when no one wants to listen to them anymore.

Whoever thought to elevate Scott Jennings into the role that he plays CNN smart move. It may have been counterintuitive for a far left liberal network, but that was and maybe it was, an inadvertently smart move. But I think it's turned out to give CNN somewhat of a lifeline. And I think they're seeing it because he's not. You would think that he has this specific spot that he fulfills right?

You have him. Okay. So let's let's take Fox and Friends in the morning. You have the specific spot that Doocy and, Kilmeade and, Ainsley like that they fulfill, right? They're not popping in and out all over the rest of Fox. That's not how it's become for Scott Jennings. They'll pull him in to a morning piece. Then he's in his regular nightly rotation.

Like he's kind of all over the place, right? And I think that's because they see the breath that it or the the life that's being breathed in to, CNN because of him. I mean, it's it's not like Avenatti level yet, but it's close. Yeah. Can you join us every hour? Yes. Right. You know, if Scott Jennings ever makes it through East Idaho, I'm going to buy him a grand peach steak, and we'll sit down and have a steak together.

This is a great idea. I'm sure he'll take you up on it. He's a good, solid, like a good dude. He's a good, solid conservative. I'm pretty sure he's a good steak now and then at Grand Peaks, it's the place to be. But if you wanted brought, we could have brought. If you want to drips, we could have ribs.

It's. It's totally his choice. Yes. French tips. Yeah. Yeah. If he likes a crock roast. I love crock pot, but it's sort of weird to think crockpot with with. But he may love that. Maybe he likes the all American food. He, You know what? He probably does? You're right. He's kind of a common guy. He doesn't need snails on a plate.

Three of them and saying, that's your entree. That's that's really that. No, it's not snooty like that. Yeah. Does anybody actually enjoy snails? No. It's a, it's a, it's a virtue sex play. Yeah. That's true. It is. It's actually cause play I think also caviar is cosplay. I've never eaten caviar. I've had it before. I've had it like fish eggs on sushi before, but I've never, like, actually been served caviar.

Caviar? Yeah. Maybe a little bit. People actually like that. But I don't think you get caviar at Grand Peaks. Prime means you don't. Well, when you got steak, that's what you're gonna choose. Absolutely you are. Go online GG Prime meats.com. Check out their packages and check out their specials. Certainly something for you and for your freezer and for your family.

And just give them a call. And by the way, you might think because they are a specialty specific meat place, that the prices are through the roof. No, you're they're actually very competitive to what you see at the grocery store. And so it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg. And they have free delivery for all orders over $75.

That's great in Idaho Falls. And if you're if you don't spend more than $75 or you're out of Idaho Falls area, it's just a small surcharge. They're here to help you make your life better and easier. GP Prime meats.com. It's 838 on Newstalk 179. Quick break will be back after this. 844 Neal Larson and Julie Mason and you.

And if you'd like to reach us and join us today, you can call us or you can text us on the Stones Auto group. Colin. Text line (208) 542-1079. Awaiting the official announcement that Justin Trudeau will resign. They're saying as early as today. So maybe just sometime this this week. So yeah, I the very first initial reports that came out said Wednesday, and then it was this morning that it was kind of switched to maybe as early as today.

So if it doesn't happen today, don't go. I didn't think it was going to happen because the initial reports were he would do it by Wednesday. Do you think that he'll this will give him more time to spend time with his cousins in Cuba? It's gonna reestablish some family situation with the whole 23 and me thing. He's been able to link himself to a whole bunch of people that.

Yeah, that's true, because isn't his. His first cousin is now the leader of Cuba. Fidel's son. Right. Fidel's son. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, they got some family stuff to do together. I don't know why you're laughing.

You're gonna play a little pickleball cribbage at night. Do they do that in Cuba? I have no idea. I've never heard of Cubans playing pickleball. I know they're good at baseball, but I didn't know. You know, I never heard of the Cuban pickleball powerhouse, but I bet it is there. You're probably right. I bet it's there. It is.

That a powerhouse? Well, I don't know, but he. Someone sent us a link, Julie, to a Deseret News piece about Joe Biden pardoning, pardoning Hunter. And the headline kind of tells you everything you need to know, right? Opinion. Hunter Biden's pardon seems like an abuse of power, but it is perfectly in the president's power. Okay. And I'm not sure I like that headline.

But here's the deal. I've never argued that it wasn't in the president's power to pardon somebody. I and I don't think that that's a big talking point by conservatives. You I'm sure it's been out there. I'm sure it's been out there. But the problem that I saw most conservatives have was the fact that Biden lied about it. He had lied multiple times.

And that's what I've been scanning through this, and I don't think it's ever mentioned that Biden lied about it, that he he put Karine Jean-Pierre in this position of having to double down repeatedly that Joe Biden is not going to pardon his son. Yeah, he's not going to do it. He's on tape saying he's not going to do it.

Yes, I know. And so he he's forcing other people to carry a narrative that just simply wasn't true. I, you know, I don't know what what goes on in the mind of someone that struggles with what he struggles with. But my hunch is he planned all along to to pardon Hunter. He just couldn't say it prior to the election because that would harm the the Democrat brand and all of that.

And so isn't that funny that that's the thing that he thinks is going to harm the Democrat brand, right. That's it's not the cocaine in the white House. It's not all the girls in the videos, not the horrible Afghanistan withdrawal. It's not the fact that you have dementia. It's not the fact that you placed Kamala in as the candidate without anybody speaking or giving their vote for her.

You know, none of that is going gonna make right? Yeah. Okay. Well, I just thought it when I somebody set up the link, I pulled it up. I didn't read the whole entire article, but that was my thought is that I'm sure there's been a pundit who's made this, this point that, well, legally, he shouldn't have been able to do crimes before and after.

I'm sure that's been made. Yeah. But the I think the overwhelming portion of people were frustrated that he lied to the American public. Again, because he's lied about other things. This was just one more thing that he lied about. Then he went ahead and did it. Yeah, I, I think there was a it was interesting to hear all the punditry after the pardon happened because you had, an awful lot of people even on the right, they're saying I don't fault him for pardoning his son.

Most of us would do that. And then they'd talk about the lying or or whatever. I don't know if I agree with that. A I think part of the reason why Hunter's life's went so off track, and why he's lived the life that he's lived, is because he was never held accountable for what he had done. And the pardon is just one more instance of not holding Hunter accountable.

And truly you made a great point a few weeks ago. We treat Hunter like he's some knucklehead 24 year old who can't get the party life behind him. He's in his mid 50s now. He's older than me and you. Yet we act like he's a 21 year old whose brain isn't quite developed yet. And you know what, kid glove him.

He's got some issues. I don't care if he's got issues. Yeah, I've got issues. You've got issues. Every adult has issues. Doesn't give you a right to behave the way this man has behaved. Yeah, right. And you know I look at it in in a way I guess it's a little heartbreaking because you had Beau Biden who of course passed away.

And Joe has made that very politically useful. The fact that Beau passed away tragically. But I almost feel like you had Hunter, who was always living in the shadow of Beau's success. And so his way of coping was making really stupid decisions. Right? I think Hunter probably had a bright future if he wanted it. And I mean, Joe's sort of bestowed upon a hard earned, bright future, I should say.

But I just I feel like at some point they needed to let Hunter experience the consequences of his actions. And maybe he wouldn't have gotten into that lifestyle that became so apparent on the laptop from hell. Okay, let's talk about this family, because, no way would I ever want to belong to them, even with the the financial blessings that were provided by having the last name Biden, I would never want to belong to this family.

Is it is there potential that Joe actually utilized by, Hunter's mistakes for his benefit? That he looked at Hunter and said, I've covered you for you your whole life? Used a kind of like, blackmail. I know you've done this, and I know you've done this, and I know you've done this. Do you want me to put it out there?

And if you don't want me to put it out there, you're going to get over there to Ukraine and you're going to make some money for this family, and you're going to cut me back 10%. So get it done. You know, Julie, the fact that you would think that makes me suspicious of you. I don't even have that level of imagination, but I let me write a novel.

I think you are spot on. I think that that absolutely is. This was Hunter's way of staying out of jail. Staying out of trouble. Stay. It is. He was going to do these things. And daddy said, you're going to make lots of money. You're going to have everything that you want and need in this life, but you have to do this, and you're always going to give me a cut.

Yeah, and I'm going to get a cut. I'm the big guy and I'm going to get a cut. And so you're going to interface with Chinese businessmen. You're going to interface with Ukraine. And Burisma. And you have no skills whatsoever. But to compensate for that you have the Biden last name. And here's what you're going to do.

This is your role in our family. And I will help keep you clean. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. That's very possible. I mean, I can't say it is. That's how it is. But does any would anybody be all that surprised if we found out that's the dynamic in the Biden family? Oh, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Look at how messed up this family is.

Hunter sleeping with his dead brothers. Oh, yeah. Right. Then him sleeping with, a woman who is barely scraping by and using her means. And I'm putting quotation marks around that to make a living. And he fathered a child with her. And then that child is completely neglected and never even recognize it. Yeah, that's what I mean. That's what's going on in this family.

It's so icky, isn't it? Just all of it's just. Well, and let's top it off. The whole whipped cream cherry on this Biden mess is the fact that the man has some sort of mental frailty going on, and they just keep trotting him out there. Yeah, they don't help him at all. They don't protect him at all because everybody has to be useful in some way.

I don't suggest this, but I like thinking through the, the fallout of this. It would be great if Donald Trump preemptively pardoned every single one of his kids, from Donald to Eric to Ivanka. Even I'm sure Baron hasn't done anything wrong, but preemptively pardoned Barron. Tiffany. Yeah, Tiffany's probably pretty clean. Yeah, yeah, I think so. But just just to poke back, I think it would be great if Donald Trump pardoned all of his kids.

Hillary's all right. It's 854 on Newstalk 179. If you'd like to reach us on the stones out of group Colin text line (208) 542-1079. All right. So we're going to jump in really quick here. Amidst reports that Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, is resigning. We're going to join in progress. His remarks. And we can tell you that's exactly what's happening right now.

That's profound. Him on the Canadian. He's ready to go on TV in there. Right there. The Canadian. All right. Again I don't know that that okay. So we don't apparently have the translation in the English part, however all the headlines are saying that he is resigning as the head of Canada's Liberal Party. Does that mean he's.

Yeah, that means he's done as prime minister. He's done as prime minister. He's asked a woman, I'll get her name here in just a second. Mary Simon. Okay. To step in and take that role until the actual election happens. So I don't know if he meets with her and he's still kind of acting as a proxy leader through that.

But the headlines are saying he is resigning. Okay. Interesting. How much of this is the Trump effect? I, I think not all of it. I don't I, I, I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump comes out in a truth social and takes credit for it. Yeah. But I do believe that there's a portion of it that has to do with Trump.

What I think was happening prior to Trump being elected is Justin Trudeau knew he was in trouble. Yeah, he knew he had he had screwed up several things. His country was frustrated with his reaction to Covid. There there's been some bizarre, financial issues happening in Canada. So all of that's going on, right? Yeah. And then he I think, like a lot of other liberal people, totally thought Kamala was going to win.

She doesn't win. And he has a oh shoot moment. Yes. And he runs on down to Mar-A-Lago, has a meeting with Donald Trump and that. Oh shoot. Moment turns into an oh shoot moment with four exclamation points behind it. And now he's like, this is my only option. I've got to get out. So this story from the CBC says that his political future was put into a tailspin when Chrystia Freeland, long seen in his as his top lieutenant, resigned as finance minister and deputy prime minister last month, the day she was scheduled to present the fall economic statement.

In a letter to Trudeau that was subsequently posted to social media, Freeland said she had no choice but to resign after Trudeau approached her about moving her to another cabinet role. She also took a jab at Trudeau's handling of the economy, denouncing what she called the government's costly political gimmicks and imploring him to work collaboratively with the country.

The country's premiers, to take on U.S. president elect Donald Trump's tariffs threat. She went on to write that she and Trudeau have been at odds in recent weeks about how to handle the incoming U.S. administration, so it was significant. The conservatives, which have been riding high in the polls for more than a year, promised to move a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal government as soon as possible in the new year.

So, yeah, to underscore what you said, I, I my big question here because I'm always worried about the culture what happens and what impact does government have on a country's culture. My hope is that in Canada, which has seen a shift to a more militant approach, there's certain biblical passage which, if you read publicly, can land you in some hot water, maybe even jail.

They're outlawed because they're viewed as anti LGBTQ whatever. I hope that they will restore sanity to the culture. And in all of this, by the way, has happened while Justin Trudeau has been the prime minister of Canada. And I think maybe Canadians are like, you've gone too far like this is this is just too much. We don't, you know, we want to be more progressive than, say, the United States, but we don't want to put people in jail for reading the Bible.

I that's another one that it she mentions his his social issues that have got him in trouble. I think the Bible is one of those. We've had some listeners say the the trucker issue that he had when they were shutting down transportation because they were limiting what the truckers could do. That was a social issue that had problems.

We had another listener mentioned the gun control in in Canada is very, very fierce right now. Yeah. And that's made lots of Canadians feel uncomfortable. They want to be able to protect themselves. So I think there's multiple issues that were happening. Then Trump gets elected and he goes, oh dear, last straw. This is it. Yeah yeah. Well I would say I, I am not a fan of Justin Trudeau.

I think that he's taken Canada to a terrible place. I sort of view him sort of like I did Obama, that he Obama promised to be a transformational president. And he was in a lot of ways, he didn't get a lot of great legislation passed, but he really changed the culture and made it much more toxic in America.

I think Trudeau's had kind of the same impact in Canada. And so hopefully that countries waking up and they can at least do some level of course correction hopefully. Yeah, hopefully this is a good move. So hopefully this is a step of healing. Yeah. I believe the the election of Donald Trump is a step of healing, depending upon how we choose to handle it.

It might not be, but I believe it is is the the step that we can become a better country. And I hope Canada's yeah in that line as well. Yeah. Right I do too. I okay. So we have that. We also speaking of governors addressing the people just a little. It's actually a prime minister but I adding a little Trump joke there like I'm aware.

But yeah. We have Governor Brad Little. He'll deliver the state of the state address today 1:00. We'll carry that live right here. It's essentially his wish list, Julie, and I'm going to predict he will somehow acknowledge that a a private not a privatization of, education, but education choice. Even applying to private schools is a political reality in Idaho.

It's coming. I think he's going to try to initiate some kind of guardrails to that, to that process. So he's relevant in it because if he, there might even be a veto proof majority. So I think he wants to have at least some say in some play in this. Oh, I totally expect him to do that.

And guess what? It's going to happen. We a library bill eventually was passed. A school voucher bill is eventually going to be passed. So what I would hope is that everybody put down their swords right now and craft the best thing for Idaho possible. Yes, that doesn't mean that you're fighting for your side to get everything you want.

I think you have to be very open minded. I have said this repeatedly. There are other states that are making this function fabulously. Yeah. Don't recreate the wheel, right. Start doing what they're doing. Figure it out. Write some good letter legislation. Let's get this done. Yeah, I, I would hope so. But you know it's interesting, Julie, when I think about previous legislative sessions, here we are the day of the address here right before we'll make some predictions about what we think is going to happen.

And then there was last year or the year before, do you remember where it was like almost nothing for a month, month and a half? We were well into February and finally things started moving like at light speed. So there was a lot of background work being done, just nothing getting past other legislative sessions. They have a lot ready to go almost from day one, and so you never know quite how it's it's going to go.

But I know this. I've made predictions about things that just didn't really pan out. I'm pretty confident about this one. I think we're going to have a very robust, discussion and hashing out of this, this idea. And I think there is a very needed and inevitable shift to discussing how we educate our kids and what we do with the the money we spend as taxpayers to educate our kids, because there is just this growing sentiment that the status quo is not acceptable.

And I and I firmly believe this. Julie, in a lot of ways, traditional public education K through 12 did this to themselves. They were they opened their arms and their doors to Wokeism, coming into schools and into the curriculum. And parents are fed up. They're fed up with worried about their kids being taught about transgenderism. Or, and you could list a whole bunch of stuff when, when we see and I don't know that how big this is in Idaho, but when we see transgender kids playing on the basketball court or running in track against girls, you feel like they're not looking out for fairness or for our kids.

And so it, it makes, in my mind, a 100% rational sense that parents are saying we need more choices and we need something different. We need to rethink how we educate kids in society. Rational is the right word for that. It is rational to think that there should be another option. B besides public education. I read a pretty lengthy article about this, over the weekend, and one of the things that seems to be the sticking point is they want an, income limitation on who can access these dollars.

Okay, there's reasons behind that. And I'm going to talk about some very delicate things here. Don't everybody get their feelings hurt about this? What they what they don't want to happen is for the ultra wealthy to all leave schools, big public schools. Yeah. They have said this, not Julie. This is their, their their sentiments that if you start pulling out the kids who are privileged, that leaves all of the underprivileged kids.

And, and you're going to have a group of kids that are testing lower, that, are going to need more social resources, that potentially are more difficult in classrooms. Those guys of thing that's their words, not mine. Yeah, they are the ones who have said that. So putting an income cap on who can use these dollars, they're hoping to assure the fact that they'll that the school system will still have some more affluent kids attending public education.

Now, I don't I don't think that solves your problem. I don't feel like they feel. But that is something that they're going to consistently argue, be written in to the school voucher. And in this article, Wendy Hoffman was, quoted as saying, yes, we're going to look at that and put an income cap on it. I don't for me now, I'm gonna go to what Julie thinks, not what they think, what Julie thinks.

I don't think it's going to get them what they want, but I also don't care that they put the income cap on there. If the school voucher thing happens, as long as that cap isn't so low that it that the regular middle class person doesn't have another option, then I'm fine with it. So yeah, if it makes them happy, put a relatively high income cap on that.

Let's get this done. Yeah, I, I will say, and this is just me thinking out loud because I don't that element of it. I don't really have too strong of an opinion on I think you might be inviting lawsuits if you do that because you are now saying this kid is going to be entitled to a benefit that this other kid hasn't, and if you look at the Constitution, it says a free uniform education.

So if you have these income based vouchers or grants or tax credits, whatever it ends up being, and it doesn't apply to every kid. I think you're inviting lawsuits. That's not me opposed to it. I'm just reading the landscape here because, like you, a lot of these really wealthy families, if they don't like what's happening in their local kids schools, they just send their kids to private school and they're taking care of what they consider a problem, and they're using their means to make it happen.

Yeah, yeah. So again, I, I'm not opposed to them talking about it. I'm with you though I don't think I think the cap should really, be high enough that all middle class kids still have access to this. Yes, absolutely. It cannot be a lower cap on on any of that. And your point is well-taken because they have actually argued the opposite for lawsuits.

Yeah. Saying that they're that, a lower income child, the parents won't take advantage of this like an upper income family would. And so it's unfair to the lower income child almost calling the parents like, less intelligent or something, right? Yeah. Again, their words, not mine, their words. That's the concern that they have. And so I think that that also is a form of discrimination.

Just on the other end of it. Whereas if you just count it all as a free, open available to everybody, you're not talking any discrimination. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. That's. Yeah, it's it's a tough issue. But I think this is an issue of the transition is hard. The end results, if we can do it, I believe people will embrace it.

I think you have the, the current institutional k through 12 education community. They don't want to see the change. They don't want the threat. They don't want to they don't want to have the the landscape that's familiar to them all upset over this. But I think in the end, one of the things and I try to point this out when I can, they talk about how well rural communities don't have private schools, so these kids won't have these options.

And I'm trying to I'm trying to make the point that if you free up these resources, you will see private schools pop up in smaller towns because the business model will now be a feasible thing. So yeah, maybe not the first year or the second year, but you give this thing five years or ten years, you are going to have small rural communities that will have private school options.

Okay. Let's talk this has actually happened in East Idaho. This has happened in another realm. When you first saw a soda shop. Become profitable. All was it in a very very small rural community. Absolutely not. Yeah. It started in one of the larger communities in East Idaho. Took off like wildfire. 3 or 4 years later you got soda shops all over.

Even in little teeny towns. Bone has seven of not really. It will happen. It's that's how industry works. Yeah. When you mentioned that the very lengthy article that I wrote. But by the way, was full of loaded words. Yeah. Loaded words about stealing money from the from the public education Swan. Oh, I don't think it was Jim Jones.

Okay. But but they they did. A whole segment of the article was about the fact that this will not serve rural schools. You're right. It probably won't in the first year, but that's how that's how industry works. Yeah. If you open up the dollars, it will begin to serve the rural area. Yeah. Well, which is why we have like rural technology grants or rural medical grants.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a great or the Bonneville Power Administration is a great example where it didn't make financial sense for these utilities to run lines to a rural community. They're never going to get the money back to the cost. But the government said, well, we want some equity here. And so we're we're going to to put money in these communities so they can have this option.

It's going to work the same way. And so I, I think it gives, but it's going to work directly to the families. And then they'll make choices and then we'll we'll see what happens after that. There's a lot of online options. There's you know there it even though there's, there may not be a brick and mortar private school in a small town, if you have internet, you have access to private school.

You do. There's also I am so tired because they do this in the abortion conversation as well. The left in Idaho does this in the abortion conversation. They treat people who live in a rural community as helpless, completely helpless. They choose to live in a rural community. Yeah, they want the upsides of living in a rural community. And by making that choice, they're fully aware that in like, let's just take East Idaho, for instance, that Idaho Falls is incredibly busy on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The traffic is up immense on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Part of that is because people come from rural communities and do their shopping. They know they're going to do that. When they live in a rural community. They build that into their life. I, I think I'd be offended listening to the the state's elites. Yes. Tell me what I want and don't want and what's going to hurt me and what's not.

And you're exactly right, Julie. If you were to allow these small communities to vote and say, would you want to provide your kid with more educational options through this, through this program, I guarantee you these rural communities would say, absolutely, we want this. But you have the elites in Boise and some of them in Idaho Falls or Pocatello who think, oh, no, we know what's best for these rural areas, so I'm going to speak for them.

I went to law school. I know more than they do. Or yeah, I'm a doctor. I know more than they do know. They know what's best for themselves. Give them the option. They figure it out. In fact, they're better at figuring things out than a lot of, you know, uppity city slickers do. That's because they've lived it. They know how to plan for these things.

They know. They know they're going to have to travel. And they know that options exist on the internet. And if there is, if they love their local small town K through 12 school, then they'll just say, we're not we're not going to use our our money. We're sticking with a rival school. We'll stick with what we've got. And that is an option that is also available to them.

That's what's crazy about all this is doing nothing different. Keeping the status quo is an equivalent option to the small school or small towns. But no no no no no no, you can't take dollars. You can't take dollars. You guys, it's all about money. They don't care about your kids. No. Yeah, they don't. All right. We got to take a break.

927 on Newstalk 179. We'll be back after this. Hi, Facebook. How are you? It's Monday. It's Monday. Yesterday I watched football. Mike Evans, Buccaneers. Yeah, they made sure he got enough yards in that game to secure his $3 million bonus for the season. Oh, man. And it was. They could have taken a knee and he couldn't have.

He could have not gotten it. Yeah. And that's not how they played it out. That's not how Baker Mayfield played it out. They drew up a play gave it to Mike Evans. He's he got enough yardage and he got his $3 million bonus. Did he get the yardage without scoring like yes. Yeah it was it was close to scoring.

But he got that without scoring. Okay. I I that's what I like to see. Plenty of administration or plenty of money is infused into the administration. Yeah. They're not hurting. So rally together as a team and a coach and make it possible for this guy to get his $3 million bonus. Do you think the owner was like, I don't know, because I feel differently.

I if I was an owner, I'd be advocating. Yeah. You want to make your dangle a carrot? Do it. Yeah. Yeah. They did the same thing in the Denver game. Courtland Sutton got a huge bonus for something he did. And and Denver was beating them huge. Yeah. And so they didn't need to provide that to Courtland Sutton. But everyone was like no we're getting him this bonus.

Here we go.

930 on Newstalk 179, The Stones Auto Group Collin Text Line is (208) 542-1079. Let's jump right to the phones and caller. Welcome to the program. How are you? Yes. So I had a just a few quick comments on for the, education debate. Yeah. So I think fundamentally, one thing that's really important for people to understand that makes a lot of things more clear and understanding the issues is that, in reality, our education system is a socialistic program.

And what I mean by that is socialism. I control is not only the accumulation of taxes and things like that and the distribution, but it also controls the means of production. And so schools are controlled by the government and and the issues that I hear coming from the teachers or superintendents and then also from parents are kind of the same.

The reality is people want freedom. Yeah. And like the teacher say, they don't like to be told what to do. But the problem is really the system that, because they're set up in the system where they're guaranteed, you know, the income and things like that coming from the state, which forcibly takes it by taxes.

But then that also means that people who pay taxes have a right to say what it is, and they have to go through the state legislature as kind of a referee to be the in between. It means there's a larger distance between, of course, the person who is paying and the person receiving the payment. And that causes frustration.

And, anyway, basically, yeah. The and it's funny it when you listen to the arguments against, say, school choice, it's the exact same arguments that you'll hear against capitalism. Yeah. And anyway, I just think if people view it through that sort of a lens, they'll see things in quite a different way that, become a lot more obvious.

No, I, I appreciate that that perspective. And I think that's that's true. Julie, we just got a text a few minutes ago, and someone clearly on the other side of this issue than you, and I said, what if the private school kids want to participate in extracurricular activities? They're getting both of the, best worlds or the best of both worlds, I think is what they meant to say.

And public schools have to pay for them with no funding coming in. I sports doesn't really make money anyway, right? I mean, aren't they losing money on that kid anyway? Playing sports? I don't know what the economic value is of a child attending and and being just in for sports. Yeah, I would we'd have to talk to a administrator about this.

But I am going to tell you, having had children participate in sports. First off, I had to do a pay to play. It wasn't free. Yeah. Second off. Massive amounts of fundraising and dollars came out of my pocket for that child to participate in those sports. So I, I, I just want to make sure we presented as it is, which is the child just doesn't show up and get everything.

The parents have to give a lot for a child to participate in sports. Yeah. Then I would also say so that we contextually know everything about it. If a child, let's say it's AA6 foot six kid who is able to play varsity as a freshman or a sophomore, I'm telling you, the kid doesn't care or the school doesn't care.

No, they want that kid there to play. I would see I would agree with that. And you know what they may have to rectify this. Where if a kid say they play football at a local high school, but their education is with a private school, I have no problem with it. And they're trying to play this fairness game like they, they want to punish the kid and punish the family because they chose academically their kid to, to go to a private school.

So we are not going to let them play football. Well I, I kind of look at it like number one. That's petty if that's your attitude and and that's where it's coming from. If your concern genuinely is the dollars, I don't care if they work something in where a school, takes on a kid, but they want the kid to play football and the kid wants to play football, that they get some level of an allocation.

So it's revenue neutral for that school. I have no problem with that. Yeah. They can write it in. Yeah. If that's the concern, let's fix it. If your concern truly is dollars, we can fix that with the law and just say okay, it costs the school an extra, $1,500 for Billy to play football. Cut a check to the school for $1,500.

If you're doing that for every other kid. My hunch, though, is it's not about the dollars. It's about them wanting to create an us versus them. And they want to segregate these families that may choose private school from being able to participate in anything that is connected to public education. And for me, that's where I will push back and I will fight this fight.

Yeah, I again, that argument though, is about money. It's not about a kid. Like if we really cared about the kids. Yeah. You write the law and you figure out a way to to have a kid be private schooled and play sports. Yes. Agreed. I if the money, if the conversation is really going to be about money. Just own up to it.

Then finally I. Because I'm tired of everybody hiding behind this virtue of a child. Yeah, because that's not. That's not what Reclaim Idaho was going for. That is not what the teachers union is about. That is. It's never about the kid. Yeah. And so let's at least be honest, intellectually honest about what you're arguing about there. Because if it was about the child, you'd want the kid to have as many opportunities as possible.

What what is considered for that family? A safe, healthy environment, which is private education. And then if it benefits the child to play and they have the skill level to play, then let them play sports and and figure it out somewhere in the law. It's a it's a $900 fee. And they get to play on the basketball team.

Yeah. The kid gets the best problems. The best for the kid. Yeah. Someone said, just have the money. Follow the kid. That's what we've been arguing the whole time. Because you're right. Most sports you I mean the school may bear some of the cost of it, but a lot of the cost is what families have to come up with or fundraisers have to come up with.

Yeah. For the kid I mean you, the school is paying for a coach. The school is paying for the, the facility. The school is paying for when there's games for people to work like. Yes there are costs in there. Yeah. But if you have a high profile athlete and they're going to help you win, you sell more tickets to the basketball game, right?

You sell more tickets to the football game. So there is a there is an equaling out sort of there. And yeah, you can figure it out. Have the money, follow the kid. If, if there needs to be a kickback to the school, if they play sports or if they're on the debate team or whatever. Yeah. Kick it back to the school.

Well, and is there also a sense that they want to find this because, you know, I mean, it it creates a little bit of a conundrum. They want to collapse the entire argument based on this little conundrum. Like they want to they want to bring this this forward and have it be the argument ender. Well it's not going to be the argument ender because parents want their kids to both be educated.

And if their kid is going to be benefited by sports to have that opportunity as well. And you know there's probably multiple names we could come up with for people who want to ruin a kid's opportunities playing sports because their families are choosing private school instead of public school. Yeah. Also, for me, it's a it's a little overreaching on for the reasons that people choose private school.

Right. Yeah. Some kids too. Some parents choose private school for their kids because their kid is getting bullied. Some kids choose private school for their kid because they don't want the the woke education that's happening. Some kids choose, some parents choose private education for their kids because that girl is had a horrible experience with a boy at that school and it is wrecked her personally.

Like you don't know why the parent is choosing for the kid to go to a private school. And so it's really arrogant to think that the only reason a parent wants is because we're better than you. Yeah, like and I feel like that's kind of an argument is brought forth. Oh, we're good enough for the sports program, but we're not good enough for the education.

Yeah. You don't even know why the kids are not there. Yeah. And it's none of your business, quite honestly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed? Agreed. All right. Now, at 940, a Newstalk 179. The Stones Auto group call and text line (208) 542-1079. We'll be back after our news break here at the bottom on Newstalk 179. Okay. I'm going to be back in a minute.

Okay. Okay. Oh, Gary, that is a good point. If money is the real issue, then sports don't make sense to have part of public school because a lot of the a lot of the extracurricular activities don't generate enough money to justify the program. You do it for the kids. You do it because it's part of of being a growing human in a community.

It teaches you lots of things. It helps you learn to win well and lose well. It helps you to understand team. It helps you like helps you to excel. It helps you to push you past you pass some boundaries that you might have for yourself. Like, all of those things are about creating good little humans. It's not. You would hope that sports isn't truly about, profiting.

You know, I don't know, I always forgetting the kids and all of this always. I don't think Neal has mentioned it, and I'm going to say the wrong teams, but I know you guys in this chat know there's the the Montana State is playing tonight for the championship, I believe, ESPN 6:00 7:00 if you know, say and because I don't think we've mentioned that I'll look I'll, I'll tell you my own personal thing.

So my daughter was the cheer captain her senior year, and, she had done online school in addition to regular school. So she had enough credits to, to graduate before her senior year. But she wanted to cheer. Okay, so that's part of being part of a sports program. She wanted to be in the cheer program. I, I wanted her to just take college courses at, CEI and finish out online with the way that it's designed.

They wouldn't let her. She had to be on campus for five classes every day in order for her to be part of the cheer team and to be the cheer captain. So, one of those classes was obviously the cheer class, but then we had to come up with four others where she could have been taking college credits somewhere else.

That kind of stinks. I mean, that, yeah, it wasn't awesome. It would have been better for her had she been able to accumulate some additional stuff off campus. But this wasn't in place then. So I have a question. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, okay. My butt just hurts after sitting in one position. So I put my feet up and then I.

Oh, so we know what the Constitution says about public education in Idaho. Free uniform, whatever. All that. What prevents the legislature from providing that? Plus, every kid can have access to the free uniform system of education. Okay. You're not depriving anyone. Nobody's going to be deprived of that. I don't think there's anything that prevents lawmakers from offering other options that may fit outside that framework.

Yeah. And so I, I take exception and it truly is I mean you have people in education, even people who are otherwise pretty conservative. Julie, that take the same approach. Now I made a little bit of an over-the-top comparison last week to the North Korea model, where they don't want you to leave like they, they, they do things to keep you captive in their system.

And that is an attitude in K through 12. They're like, we don't we don't want to make it easy for people to leave this. We don't make it easy for middle class families to to go elsewhere with, with government resources. Right. And that's a, that's a very toxic attitude to have. Yes. Yeah. Well I I'm back to it's all about the money when you have that attitude.

It's not about the kid. Yeah okay. Here we go.

Welcome back. It's the Neal Larson Show. And if you'd like to reach us on the Stones Auto group. Collin Text line, here's the number (208) 542-1079. So I just asked our resident constitutional expert, Julie Mason. Okay. Yeah. Don't give me that because I'm going to fail. I am going to fail. In Idaho, there is a provision in the Constitution.

I mean, the founders put it in the, you know, the creators of Idaho put it in that basically the government would provide a uniform, free education for for all the kids. And my question is, as long as that offering is there that that Idaho's kids will, will have that opportunity to have an education paid for by the government until they're, you know, age 5 to 18 or however long it takes, what prevents the legislature from offering up avenues for an alternative to that, as long as the constitutional requirement is provided to the residents of Idaho.

Is there anything in the Constitution that would prevent lawmakers from putting a comma behind that requirement, rather than a period and a the end, after that, because for some reason you have these people that think there's a period and a the end after that provision of the Idaho Constitution. And I would say, no, it can have a comma as long as it's there, you can have a comma, and the legislature can then say, but there are other avenues here because the residents want other options here.

They want alternatives. So are you a comma person or are you a the end person? Yeah. I don't know what those people are. I would say as long as the Constitution is met, if there's additional above and beyond that, isn't that just extra an awesome versus, you know, like the Constitution is written meets the level of the Constitution, which is that no child shall be deprived.

Yeah. Well, Wendy, hormones bill that was drafted last year, no child was deprived. Yeah. That for me that met the constitutional demands of a lawmaker. Now the fact that there's more available for a child above and beyond what the Constitution says you have to do. Well, isn't that just great? Right. All right. Well, it it's the difference between you can and you must.

And you have a lot of people thinking that. It says as a, as a student, as a family, it's a you must when in reality the Constitution is basically, you can and and so I don't now I think Jim Jones in one of his columns of I had other words for it, he had come up with some way that said, the legislature cannot pass more because there's also something in the Constitution that says they they can only pass laws that are necessary for the function.

And since education's already taken care of, then they are not allowed to pass any more laws for education. Right? It's a stretch. You're, you're you're looking is very spot on in terms of the tone. Like I could flip that whole argument on him and say, then we're done with the Medicaid expansion. Absolute because there was no there was no guaranteed right for these people.

You in the Constitution. Yes. And and I would imagine if you went back in Jim Jones writings, you would find multiple examples of him advocating for extra things that would fall under this, this same purview. But all of a sudden, on this issue, he's a constitutional originalist, and the legislature can do this. Yeah. Yeah. Again, it's. I'm just going to go back.

We're having a conversation about children and what's best for them, and we're crafting the rules around money. Yeah, right. You're right. And and that's the big problem. I think, Julie, when we read the letter that was sent out by the Bonneville Republican Central Committee, basically to lawmakers, essentially the guts of the letter was we'd prefer you not pass anything.

But if you're going to pass something, here are the guardrails that we would expect of you, that you would force public education to take lower socioeconomic kids, that you would you know, there's, and whatever, I've even talked about this like, I do think that if if you're going to be taking those public dollars that comes with some obligation that you participate in the tragedy of the comments that basically you take upon some of the you can't just pick and choose the highest achievers that show up at your door with a voucher or a tax credit, but you take anybody who comes along that's not going to be a physical threat or that, you know.

So if you get someone who's going to need extra help, you can't turn them away. And so I think that those safeguards deserve a discussion. Again I'm going to say there's a state that's already covered this issue. It's Arizona or any of them. Yeah. Oh yeah I gotcha. There is a state that's already already worked through what what they would like to say.

Well this is too difficult. Yeah it's too hard. No it's not. Other states have made it happen. I think everything that we've talked about is figure out. That's my new term by the way. Yeah. It it's figure out yes. If other states are making it work without massive lawsuits and you can and they haven't been doing it for six months or nine months.

They've been doing it for years. Idaho is behind on this. I think we're only one of 13 states. Yeah that do not have this. Yeah. So when you hear these arguments in the media and you're like, oh, we don't want to be part of this cutting edge thing. We're not part of a cutting edge thing, right? We're actually behind.

We're behind. Yeah we are. We're playing catch up now. We're one of 13 states who don't have some sort of a voucher system. So there's plenty of mistakes that have been made and plenty of reform that has happened in this whole universe of school. Voucher. All we've got to do is pick the best of the best from various states, and we're going to be just fine.

I do now, normally we don't sic our listeners on lawmakers, so we don't give out phone numbers. We don't. That's not our thing. But I will I will say this, I think, and always with civility, be a grown up. Don't be demand good percent. But but call your lawmaker, email your lawmaker and let it be known because there are some very loud voices that are yelling in their ear right now.

Don't do this. Don't you know you're going to ruin education? You're unconstitutional. You're they need some support from the other side. And so say, look, as a parent, we're a middle class family. We would love to have this option. And not every kid is going to go to private school. But I do have one kid who who he just doesn't thrive in the traditional K-12 environment.

We'd like some options. You know, you approach it as a grown up and you're you will have an impact. And I think we have some lawmakers that might be on the edge that that that are going to tip one way or the other based on the way the winds blowing. And we need to blow the wind a certain way.

And and, I mean, I hate to characterize lawmakers like that, but the truth is, many of them are like that. They do exist. Yes. We mentioned this last week about speaker Mike Johnson, when he was getting ready to go forward for the vote to retain his speakership. He's a little multiple. Yeah, politicians are like that. It just not all.

Yeah, but some of them are like that and you might as well mold them to your your desires. Yeah. Stop complaining about it. Use that to your advantage. Yeah. All right, 955 we'll be back after this. Okay. Let's see here. Yeah. And they don't have to move anything. By the way, I love the mug. He's been doing his thing.

You guys, I don't have. I have an idea for Neal for his birthday. That's in 11 days. No, no, no, nine days. Nine days, nine days. You guys okay? If you're friends with me on Facebook. Facebook messaged me an idea for Neal's birthday. It's not fair. It's not fair that I have to come up with this really great gift.

And then you die. Less than a month later, I have to come up with a really another great gift. I don't I need to have a conversation with mom Allison about when your birthday is. Maybe we should just celebrate your six month. I think the horse left the barn like, I don't think it's. Most problems are figure out of all that one's probably not.

But you know what? I don't care if you want to postpone celebrating my birthday till June or whatever, that I don't. I'm okay with that. I can't get him a gift certificate to his favorite restaurant. I have to have a bar for myself. I need to do it. Yeah. A really meaningful gift that's too lazy for Julie to do that.

Not saying it's lazy if you do it, but I think Julie's standard is that different. I don't now don't know, don't know. Did she say it was on January 15th? No, his birthday is on January 15th, by the way. Nine days away on January 15th. January 15th. His birthday is January 15th. Not saying it's connected, but our doors open at eight and we do accept gifts at the front desk.

It's, Gary says ice cubes that fit in that mug. I could get you a pebble ice maker. I don't need it. The beautiful thing about cold is I put the. We have a water cooler up front, so the water goes in cold and three, four hours is just cold. Just stays cold. What we decide crisp when it's in the.

The stainless steel. It's crisp. I'm almost done. Good job. That's 40 out. Do you fill it all the way to the top? It's 40oz. Says good for you. All done. I do. My first beverage of the day is a 12 ounce can of Diet Mountain Dew. Because I like a little bit of a jolt. Let's. I don't like that because it makes him prepping for the show.

Makes him better here. Yeah. Okay. Stand by. We got to go back on. All right. To that's going to do it for the show today. 959 The Nielsen show. We'll be back tomorrow morning right here.