Taming Govzilla – with Steve Moore – [Ep.105]

Linda:

Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101 - Breakroom Economics™ Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host, and the Author of 'Prosperity 101 Job Security through Business Prosperity.' The essential to understanding how policy affects your paycheck and the creator of the Break Room Economics online course. The book, the course and the entire podcast library can be found on prosperity101.com. I seek to connect boardroom to breakroom and policy to paycheck by empowering and encourage employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit prosperity101.com.

Linda:

Thank you for joining with us today, you may have noticed higher prices at the gas pump grocery tree store, or for many other items related to conducting your business or raising your family. Supply chain issues have caused empty shelves and shortages and Americans are rightly frustrated at the ongoing effects of mandates lockdowns and an onslaught of policy decisions that stifle opportunity and economic growth. My guest today is my good friend and longtime advisor, Steve Moore. Steve is a well known economist who consistently promotes a limited government pro-growth economic agenda to grassroots activists and media nationwide. He has been featured on radio, television and his writings have been published in countless publications, including but not limited to the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Times, the Weekly Standard and National Review. Steve was one of my original advisors with Prosperity 101. He has provided data and insights for my books and courses, and he is a frequent guest on the podcast for that. I thank you, Steve and I welcome you back to the podcast. Once again.

Steve:

Hi, Linda. Great to be with you. Congratulations on the success of Prosperity 101 and happy new year.

Linda:

Well happy new year to you as well. And I really appreciate you being here. This is my first interview of the new year, 2022, and I felt it was so fitting to have you. It won the first release of 2022, but it's my first interview of 2022. And I couldn't think of a better guest to have to start the year out. And I really am just so grateful for all your advice, help and the friendship and fun that we've shared together. So, but I'd love to help the listeners understand where we are in America right now, economically many listeners are hearing inflation and they don't really know what that means to their daily life. They don't know what it means to their business or their job. They don't know what it means to their family. So I'd like you to explain a little bit about that. And then in the interview I'd also like to cover some of the effects of these policies in different states where lockdowns mandates and different economic policies have led to extreme economic devastation in the communities that are touched by those policies. So let's start with inflation.

Steve:

Well, I think inflation is something people certainly understand. They feel it every day, this is something that affects everyone. And I've always that you don't have to have a media spin on inflation one way or the other because people know it, they see it, they feel it. They feel the pension in their wallets and in their bank accounts and in their paychecks. So, you know when you used to pay, say $100 every time you went to the grocery store and now you're paying $125. People, especially middle income and lower income people really feel the pain of that and it is inflation is a tax it's the what I call the cruelest tax because it really does the lower your income. The more adversely you're affected by this. And I always laugh when I hear Joe Biden and say, "We're not going to tax anyone who makes less than $100,000

Steve:

Well, you're paying a Biden Tax. Every time you go to the grocery store, every time you go to the gas pump and it's not too complicated, really in terms of why it's happening. We... as Milton Friedman taught us, inflation is just too many dollars chasing too few goods. So we have an [inaudible 00:04:57] administration that is just flood zone, just massively increased government, spending government debt in government, printing of money. And you know, that's what Argentina and Venezuela and Zimbabwe and Greece do when they get in trouble. And it never has a happy ending. So I'm worried about it and I think American people are very worried about it. I love these commentaries by The White House saying, "Oh, the economy is as strong as it's been in 25 years." I mean, that's nonsense. You look, the job market is really good right now, but the inflation is just eroding the value of your savings.

Steve:

And it's shrinking people's paychecks. So right now, Linda, we have inflation running at somewhere around six to 7%, but we have, and we have wages growing at about four to 5%. So that means people are actually losing money in terms of purchasing power. The Fed needs to take a role in this and pulling some of that money out of the economy. I think they've been delinquent and way behind the curve in terms of addressing this inflation tax and so I worry, because I lived through the 1970s and when inflation... inflation's like a snowball, really the on a hill, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger as it rolls down. And if you don't stop it, then I don't know if you remember this in the early 1980s. I maybe I'm a little older than you are, but you had a gut wrenching recession to stop the inflation. And I don't want that to happen. So we got to get the grip on this. The worst thing we could do now is passing out a multi-trillion dollar spending bill that would obviously make inflation much worse and I'm praying that doesn't happen.

Linda:

Well, I agree on that and some of the bills that are proposed, could you explain to the listeners some of the details that you're most concerned about and maybe if they're concerned as well, they can call their representatives and senators and express their opposition.

Steve:

Well, how much time have you got? I mean, that's a 2,493 page bill and I've read most of it, not unlike members of Congress have read throughout a bill and it is an atrocious bill from page one to page 2,450. I mean, it has really got awful. It massively increases our taxes. Our U.S tax rates would be the highest in the world under that bill.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

It doubles the budget of the internal revenue service. It hires 80,000 new IRS agents to people like you and me, anyone with a Conservative or Republican leaning is going to [inaudible 00:07:45] that they're going to be audited and small businesses are going to be audited. And it's going to be harassment by the IRS.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

And so that's just another they have 25 new welfare programs non of which have any kind of work requirements. So it'll make it more difficult for small businesses to get workers. It is an assault on the American energy industry. It increased just remember when Joe Biden said this won't cost a penny it's free. It's doesn't increase the deficit. Well, the Congressional budget office that actually getting to grease the deficit by $3 trillion. I mean, I could go on and on, but this is absolutely the wrong thing to do. We should be cutting government spending now, not increasing it. And so there is no need for this bill and I'm praying that Joe [inaudible 00:08:38] and some of these other more moderate Democrats in the Senate are going to come to their senses and kill this bill. Don't forget we already injected $4 trillion of [inaudible 00:08:49] spending into the economy last year. So you add $5 trillion on top of that.

Steve:

You're spending more money than we spent to fight World War I, World War II, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, to build the interstate highway system, the Intercontinental rail system to put a man on the mood and the Marshall Plan, all... that's an unprecedented American history and it's going to increase the debt for our children so much that the average young person born today, a baby born today will pay about $300,000 in debt just to pay for this bill. So that... how is... I love when Joe Biden's says, "This is to help the children." The children are the victims of this bill not the beneficiaries.

Linda:

Very good point and just for clarification for the listeners who may really not have been paying attention, it has been the holiday season and all, maybe they've been busy with family or vacations, and they're just not aware. It's really the Build Back Better Bill. And you know, it's really interesting to me how-

Steve:

I call the Build Back... I call it, Build Back broker, because it's going to bankrupt our country.

Linda:

... yes.

Steve:

And it is... incidentally before I forget, this is very important. I have a new book that just came out literally a week ago. I'm going to hold this up. It's called 'Gobzilla' how the relentless growth of government is devouring our economy and I hope people will get it. It's a short book, you can probably read it too nice. It's only 100 pages, but it really is a great explanation of how much our government has grown and grown and grown and grown and grown under Republicans and Democrats. And we have to bring an end and you can see, this is the picture of a Godzilla coming out of the capital. We need to do something about this and you know, Joe Biden has been a total disaster. He said he wasn't going to adopt the Bernie Sanders socialist agenda. But that's exactly what we're getting from Washington right now.

Linda:

Oh, well that is great information and so where can people buy your new book?

Steve:

Well, I guess the best way to get is go to Amazon. It's published by Post Hill Press and we... as I said, it's a pretty short read, but it's something I love people to have their kids read and their friends read and as I said, it's not a Republican Democrat. It's, the politicians are spending us into an economic health hall and we can't allow them to continue to do this. And you know, when our country started out, it was based on the idea of a very limited Federal Government with a few enumerated powers and we've moved away from that. Now the government's going to subsidize everything from babysitting to pre kindergarten to literally cradle to grave government, which is exactly the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned.

Linda:

Well, and it's exactly the opposite of what has made America great and has provided freedom and opportunity and prosperity for millions and millions of people not only in the U.S, but around the world.

Steve:

[inaudible 00:11:59] you, a signed copy of 'Godzilla'.

Linda:

Thank you.

Steve:

I'll send in the mail to you today. And I hope that... I really do think it's a really nice way to understand what went wrong and how it is that we went from a country really based on principles of a limited government, a free enterprise system that is now where the government is now. We estimate that if the Biden agenda were to pass, the government would be more than 50% of our GDP. So we would be more socialists than free which is really scary when you think about it. And you know, Ronald Reagan said a [inaudible 00:12:39] that. And I love this Reagan quote. He used to say "Government it's big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take everything you've got." And that's the situation we're facing right now.

Linda:

Well, it's really true. And we can see that and that's a great it entre into some of the other topics I wanted to discuss regarding these socialist policies that are truly being enacted in several States within the United States. And we can see what's happening in New York. I know recently in the Committee To Unleash Prosperity Newsletter, which I recommend our listeners to get, go to committeetounleashprosperity.org and sign up to get the newsletter. But you talked quite a bit about the disastrous economic conditions in New York. Maybe you could share a little bit about some of those policies and how the policies in New York, in California have so damaged the freedom of the citizens there and impacted our entire nation's economy.

Steve:

Well, that's a good lead in to another project I worked on called Rich States, Poor States, and it's if people can access that easily. That's where you just go to the ALEC website and you can just... what just Google Rich States, Poor States. But basically the bottom line is that we really are two countries today. And we are two nations today. And I don't say that with any joy. It's actually a very dangerous situation where we have half of America that is Red State America that has low taxes, less regulation worker rights. You know, that they're not required to join unions and because economic freedom, they didn't shut down their economies during COVID and then you have all these... and by the way, those states are states like Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Montana, Iowa-

Linda:

South Dakota.

Steve:

... South Dakota exactly.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

And then you have the Blue States they're catastrophe right now, California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, my home state of Illinois, Wisconsin, where you live is one of those states that can't decide whether it wants to be a Red State or a Blue State. And you had a great Governor in Scott Walker who moved the state in the right direction. And then now, now you've got crazy Governors moved Wisconsin in the wrong direction. So what's happening is people are moving in massive numbers. Millions of Americans each year are moving out of the blue states of California, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and then they are to Texas and Tennessee and Florida and Utah, the states that have freedom. And this is I think one of the greatest critiques of big government socialism and the idea that progressive is the same people want. Well, if progressive works, if it's what people want, why are people leaving those states?

Linda:

Good point.

Steve:

And when I debate people like Paul Krugman and others, they don't have an explanation for that. There's no explanation why people are leaving New York, California, Illinois, except for the fact that now some people... I've argued with some liberals and debated some liberals who say, well, the reason people are losing, moving to states like South Carolina and states like Florida and states like Texas and Tennessee is because of the weather, which there's something to that. I mean, obviously people are moving towards warmer climates, but you know, California has the nicest weather in the country and yet people are leaving. And so these policies of high taxes, more regulation more union power and so on are not liberating. They're actually making people less free and people want freedom.

Linda:

They do and you know, you brought up Rich States, Poor States. And in a previous podcast interview, I did interview Jonathan Williams from ALEC. And so people could go to that episode and learn more about the Rich States, Poor States studies that you do. It's really great to see because tax policies and all the other policies that affect the economics of a state really do have an effect on every single individual and every single family.

Steve:

They do.

Linda:

And you brought up a good point-

Steve:

And by the way, this is the reason why we need the federalism. You know, this country was really set up as a system where the States created the Federal Government, the federal government didn't create the states. And it really was based on the 9th and 10th Amendments, which I call the two forgotten Amendments in our constitution. They're basically, they say very explicitly that all power, not explicitly given to the Federal Government a reserve to quote the states and the people. And why have we moved away from that? Linda, why can't we allow, look, if people in Connecticut want to live in a socialist paradise go at it, have it but let Texas, let Florida and other places be free. And what Biden wants to do, which I think is extraordinarily dangerous is he wants to federalize everything.

Steve:

He wants to federalize education. He wants to federalize childcare. He wants to federalize healthcare. He wants to federalize daycare. He wants to federalize all of these things that make it harder for people to move to places where they can find freedom, because if everything's federal, then it doesn't matter what state you live in. And so we have to stop that. We have to allow the states to have their own sets of policies not allowing things like discrimination and other things, but Biden... the whole left agenda is to, to make the Washington DC command what the states do and that's not what we want.

Linda:

... no, it's not what we want. And you brought up a really good point that earlier in the conversation, you brought a good point that this is not Republican or Democrat. And I know that because we've often worked on conservative sides and we've been more supportive of Republican candidates because they have more conservative policies. There are Republicans out there who don't abide by these policies too. So we're saying it's not about Republican or Democrat.

Steve:

[inaudible 00:18:50].

Linda:

It is no longer that conversation. \.

Steve:

Yeah.

Linda:

It is tyranny or freedom. It truly is tyranny or freedom. And that is the line we're walking now.

Steve:

Yeah, it is true. I mean, look the Republicans voted for a lot of this massive increase in spending that I talked about now, I happen to think that the Democratic Party has gone way over the deep end. And I don't say that with [inaudible 00:19:15] any joy, I mean, the democratic party has become a big government socialist party. And it wasn't like that. When I first came to Washington, there were a lot of really good Democrats.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

We worked with all the time from Bill Bradley to Dick [inaudible 00:19:27] to Sam Nunn, people like that who were more [inaudible 00:19:32] And I unfortunately there were many left. I mean, out of these... I mentioned the trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars that Biden wants to spend. There are 200, some 250 Democrats in the House in Senate and only two have spoken out against this massive raid against our economy.

Steve:

And so I wish that the Democratic Party would move back to the middle. You know, John F. Kennedy was a Democrat. There's no way he would be a Democrat today. John F. Kennedy or even Bill Clinton, who said that the year of big government is over. They'd laugh him out of the Democratic Party today. It's a been a party that's been taken over by people like Bernie Sanders and AOC. And again, that's a really unhealthy thing to see happen to [inaudible 00:20:17] only have two parties and we need both of them to stand for freedom.

Linda:

Right. And you know, it's true that there's been shifts and we just really need to look at what the constitution is. I just tell people all the time, this is about individual freedom, limited government keeping to the constitution. And I heard someone say recently that I thought was so insightful is that we have forgotten that the founding father set it up so that the Congress basically is the largest body of government. Yes, we have these three branches for... we have the three branches for checks and balances but the Congress was made up to be the representative of the people because the United States of America is supposed to be run by we, the people, however, with Executive Orders and with mandates and things, they have just found ways to mandate and legislate from different bodies of government and that is not true. So we, the people need to step up we need to be more informed and we need to be more engaged at the local state and national levels.

Steve:

So I live in Virginia and many of your listeners probably have followed what happened in Virginia, that over the recent months where the Democratic candidate for Governor said that the parents don't have control of the schools, the school boards and the teachers union should control the schools. And that didn't go over too well in Virginia with parents, with kids that... the teachers union, the teachers work for us, the [inaudible 00:21:58] boards work for us. We don't work for them and they've become so arrogant with their power.

Steve:

They actually think that they know it all and that we just do what we're told. And there was a big revolt in Virginia, which has become a pretty Blue State, because there's so much government in Virginia and they voted out the Democrats and they put in a pretty conservative Republican because people, you said it's all about, who's going to control. We going to have control of our own lives. Are we going to hand over the control to the politicians and what was interesting about, and that's why incidentally, that's a really, I don't care what state you're in. If you... if the voters and the citizens band together, they can move mountains, we saw that and they're... we're getting school boards de elected all over the country.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

Parents are taking that power. It's a power to the people movement. I love it-

Linda:

I do too. It reminds me back when we first started working together back in the 2008 to 2010 cycle. But I would say it's even more intense now because-

Steve:

Exactly.

Linda:

... the limits to freedom are even more intense. So people are really beginning to wake up-

Steve:

We need people to run for school board or run for the PTA or run for your local government. I mean, we have to sweep these people out of office.

Linda:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Steve:

And we have to return the power to the people. And I'm seeing it though. You know, I do a lot of work with a group called FreedomWorks and we have hundreds and hundreds of people come in to be trained. How do I run for office? How do I have my voice heard? You don't have to run for office. You can do a lot of other things to influence policy. But you know, we're getting really good people now to run for office on the idea of giving power back to parents. And how did you know... why should the parents not decide the curriculum or the schools rather than these professional educators?

Linda:

Absolutely and you know, here in Wisconsin, we actually had legislation proposed drafting and passed that was to bring curriculum transparency. So parents and all the tax payers could see what was being taught in the schools and our Governor vetoed it. So...

Steve:

Right.

Linda:

Yeah. I did talk about that-

Steve:

See, this is the thing we have to get rid of those people. I don't... again, I hope [inaudible 00:24:23] Republican liberal conservative. If the politicians are saying, "No, we're going to decide the rule's not you." Then we get rid of them and we replace them with people. That's why a representative form of government is so critical and we now more than ever, we need people to be activated. They're not going to leave us alone. They are, invading our freedoms every day, right now, as we speak, we've got these new restrictions because of COVID, even though the restrictions don't work, they don't stop the spread of the virus, but they want to shut down our schools. They want to shut down our playgrounds. They want to shut down our churches. They want to shut down our small businesses. No, we're not going to allow that to happen again. That is unconstitutional it is an incredible grab of power by government. I mean, government can tell stores when they can be open and when they can't that's really dangerous.

Linda:

It is and we need to really step up with the we, the people movement. And you talked about being involved at the local level and that is incredibly important.

Steve:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Linda:

You know, we can take this back and the people of America.

Steve:

Once you take, this is really important. Why? And I don't know if I really appreciated that this so much until this last year or two, that when you take, when people take control of their local governments or the local school boards, it reverberates upward and these politicians are afraid they are now afraid of the voters and they should be because they've been operating in the other assumption that we're just servants and we're not servants. We are a take charge country and I think we're going to see it this year. I think people are angry right now at what's happening in Washington. What's happening at the state level. What's happening in the local communities. When you have these crazy left wing professors that are teaching kids, that America is not a great country.

Steve:

That our nation is responsible for all the problems in the world. We're the most racist country in the world. No, I wrote a piece about this. We're the least racist country in the world. That's why everybody in the world [crosstalk 00:26:35].

Linda:

Wants to come here.

Steve:

People [inaudible 00:26:38] want to come here.

Linda:

Yeah.

Steve:

Because they understand this is a place where everyone and now, look, we're not perfect. We are human beings and we're not... we are all flawed and we do have stains in our history, but we are still a great country. And we are a beacon of freedom. And the idea that we teach our own kids, how horrible our country is. Is really incredibly unpatriotic and bad history. So, I just sense it. I don't know if you do Linda, the people are willing and ready to take charge again.

Linda:

Yeah, I see it. And along with that, I really want to recommend to the listeners too, sign up to poll watch, sign up to be an election worker.

Steve:

Yeah.

Linda:

One of the reasons that we have lost this is sometimes there has been fraud. I mean I want this episode to get into that and what my thoughts are on that. However, I would say that election fraud has probably been happening ever since elections have been happening. People are dishonest.

Steve:

I am from Chicago. I know lot [crosstalk 00:27:41].

Linda:

Yes.

Steve:

So the point is that one of the reasons that Glenn Youngkin won his race in Virginia is that there was a big investment by the Youngkin campaign in poll watching. And just as you said, making sure that every person's vote counts, but that people aren't counting multiple times or illegal immigrants aren't voting and so on. And every time's someone votes, fraudulently it disenfranchises the people who are legally voting if you vote twice. And I only vote once you've canceled out my vote.

Linda:

Right. And you know, the cry of the 2020 election was count all votes. Well, it's really not count all votes. It should be count all legal votes, legal votes and they talk about what are the things that conservatives want in making sure we have election integrity? You know, you need to be a citizen, a legal citizen, you need to be alive, right. Have a form of ID and you only once I mean, these are not rocket science things and all of these things that people cry out like, "Oh, we're trying to disenfranchise minority voters or whatever." No we're not and if people can have an ID to go by alcohol, or they're asking people to have an ID and proof of vaccination things, it's like I'm sorry, every state I think offers a free ID and it's not hard to get.

Linda:

So we're just talking about having honest, ethical elections that are run with transparency and accountability and that alone can help our nation to be more prosperous because people will be more inspired to get out and vote and to be involved in the voting process because they'll realize that their vote actually does matter.

Steve:

Yeah.

Linda:

Which it does and so-

Steve:

Well said.

Linda:

... yeah. So as we close this up and let you get on with the rest of your day, what would you say to employers who would like to help their employees understand some of these important issues, especially regarding the legislation in capital hill right now and how to move forward in 2022, a year of inflation and mandates what would you tell these employers?

Steve:

Well, Prosperity 101 is great thing for employers and employees. So, get Prosperity 101 and just give it to your employees. I mean, you don't have... it's not political. It's just about our country. It's about our constitution and just the [inaudible 00:30:28] . And so we've you and I worked together in getting that into a lot of and you know actually at the workers want this information. They don't know how to get the information and employers should never tell their employees how to vote or anything like that, but they should educate them there's nothing wrong with educating your workers about what makes America great. Why we have some of the best companies in the world how the challenges that employers face in terms of meeting payrolls. And I always say that that liberals love jobs, but they hate employers.

Steve:

You know, you can't have one without the other. And I've said it so many times on your show, but I'll say it again, that the small business men and women are the heroes of our economy. They face real challenges every day, especially with that higher taxes, higher inflation costs lockdowns of their businesses, keeping customers away from their businesses. You know this is a real challenging time and workers need to understand that. You know, if you run the business out of business, the job is gone with it. So you have to be supportive. Workers have to support their employers and employers have to support their employees.

Linda:

Great comments. Thank you. And so if people want to get in touch with you, how should they do so?

Steve:

Well, I hope people will get the Committee To Unleash Prosperity hotline. We have over 150,000 people get it right now. Newt Gingrich the other day wrote to me saying, "This is the first thing I read every morning [inaudible 00:32:04] in five minutes." But it's a good way to get a update every day on the economy, on politics and on COVID because COVID has been such a key issue over the last two or three years. And we provide the facts a little bit of humor but it's really popular. And it... and unlike Joe Biden's $4 trillion spending bill is free.

Steve:

All you have to do is go to our Committee To Unleash Prosperity website, and just give us your email and we'll send it to you for free. And we want people to have it. We want people to be informed. Well tell your... if you like it tell your friends to get it. And it's... we want 5 million people to get it, not just 150,000. So we're working on it and thank you, Linda, for everything you do, and everybody should get Prosperity 101, it's a great primer on how our country works and how we've become the greatest country in the world.

Linda:

Well, thank you for that comment and thank you for your help with my efforts with Prosperity 101, you've always done such a great advisor for me and encourager and you know, for the listeners who may not have heard this story, when I first came up with the idea for Prosperity 101, I called Steve and said "Help I know enough about economics to be dangerous, but not enough to be an expert." So I knew who to reach out to and you and Herman Kane. And I know we talked also with Dr. Art Laffer in the beginning, and it was just such [crosstalk 00:33:28] Yeah. Great team. So thank you so much and we wish you all the best. And I look forward to having you back again soon.

Steve:

Thank you, Linda.

Linda:

Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101 Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library to order my newest book, 'Job security through business prosperity' the essential guide to understanding how policy affects your paycheck or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course, you can also receive the free ebook 10 tips for helping employees understand how public policy affects their paychecks. Freedom is never free, understanding the foundations of Prosperity and the policies of Prosperity will help you to protect prosperity. As you become informed, involved, and impactful. I give special thanks to our sponsors, Mathews Archery, Inc. and Wisconsin Stamping & Manufacturing. Please contact us today @prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.