Good morning and welcome, welcome to Matt and Air on Air.
Jane, Matt and Air.
Greg Bach, Calvin Butenoff coming to you live from our home at Radio Park in Racine.
You can always join us, call or text.
The number is the same 855-752-4842.
You can leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter.
It's Thursday, February 20th.
Today, the average price of a gallon of 2% milk in Wisconsin, $3.18.
That is the same as yesterday.
The average price of a dozen large eggs here in the States, $5.98, the same as yesterday.
However, that's a 13% increase since Tuesday, $5.98.
for a dozen of Grade 8 large eggs here in Wisconsin.
We have a jam-packed show for you today.
Coming up in just a little bit, Ben Wickler, the chair of Wisdoms, is going to be joining us.
We're going to talk a little bit, Greg, about how we can get people motivated and engaged.
And we got some work to do.
People are exhausted, and we all understand that and appreciate that.
Yeah, yeah.
I understood.
Fatigue is nothing.
Nothing that we don't know about, especially in elections, especially in Wisconsin, where it seems like we have an election every six months.
Well, we like to, we like to visit our poll workers.
I love ballots.
What can I say?
Who doesn't?
Absolutely.
So Ben Wichler will be here after, at the 1021, after the bottom of the hour news, Alex Lawson from Social Security Works is going to be joining us.
Looking forward to this conversation.
We are hearing a lot now.
The other night Donald Trump said yep Nobody's gonna touch Social Security or a Medicare or a Medicaid and then the next day He said oh, yes, I'm all in favor of the house budget plan which essentially attacks Social Security Medicare and Medicaid so we're gonna be talking about Social Security We hear very often that it's gonna run out of money So I'm looking forward to talking to Alex and finding out about how can we is it's saveable?
Yeah
And we save social security.
It's something that's important to a lot of folks.
And I really wish they would stop calling it an entitlement.
I understand what you're saying.
I mean, even I believe Social Security Works refers to it as that, because that's the official title of it.
Right, because we are entitled to it.
The way one side uses that
is
that this is an unearned benefit and that is not what social security is.
Everyone who works in this country has money taken out of their check every pay period to go to social security so that will be there for you after you retire.
So please don't try and make it sound like we're taking advantage of a program to which we have no right to.
That's inaccurate.
That's my little pet
peeve.
And honestly, I have the exact same attitude towards unemployment insurance too.
People like to look at unemployment as, oh, he's on unemployment.
Well, when I was on unemployment a few times, I paid into that.
That's my money.
I'm getting back as an insurance policy from the state or the government to
pay me while I'm off of work.
I mean, I think that's, those are important ways to look at it.
And one of the thing too is if we have anybody who in your thirties or forties listening, listen to this discussion about social security, because we always like to discuss, we always like to point this discussion towards older folks, 65 and older because the retirement whatnot.
But I've been paying into social security since I was 12.
And if I'm going to walk into that office one day and make my request and like, sorry, we're out of money, I'm going to be
real mad.
And these affect this.
This topic affects a lot of people multi generational.
Absolutely.
It's it's very important.
So that is coming up after the 1030 news.
If you have a question for Alex, you may want to send it in now.
Yeah, you can always text it in at 855-752-4842.
Next hour, Brittany Merlot will be here with a little weather and wine after this deep freeze.
Now spring is coming.
whether you like it or not.
Yeah, exactly.
And I understand Calvin has a question for Ms.
Merlot.
Yes.
So we'll take Calvin's question for Brittany next hour around 11.21.
And then 11.30.
He joins us every other Thursday to talk all things sports.
Paul Noonan will be here from the Acme packing company and we'll wrap it all up as we always do with this.
Shouldn't be a thing.
Today it is the Kiss My Grits Edition.
So stick around for that.
I did want to start off, though, just briefly.
We don't have a lot of time before Ben Wickler joins us, but I want it.
We were talking about prices and the price of milk in Wisconsin and the price of eggs in Wisconsin.
Well, now here's something to consider as well.
This from NPR this morning from Joe Hernandez, how Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum could hit you at the grocery store.
Yep.
Soft drinks to beer, to aerosols, soups.
Lots of stuff that we use all the time are sold in steel and aluminum cans.
Well, Trump has announced that he will impose a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum, trying to boost American producers by cracking down on foreign competition.
Again, that doesn't sound like a bad idea, but we just talked to James Vanderloo the other day about tariffs.
And in order for us to replace all the supply chains that we get from overseas,
Just for us to set up to be able to do that would take a decade
Mm-hmm Not to mention and
do not have we do not have these systems in place right now
I don't think we have the systems in place and I mean for all them for all of the Manufacturing we want to bring back to America do we even have all of the land on top of that is the land inhabitable on top of that is the land completely unusable and as you as you mentioned with James this week
Some of those resources that come from other countries.
We just don't have them, right?
So this once again this magical they pull out their magical wand of broad thinking go poof Manufacturing's back.
No, it's not and it's not because we don't want it's because we're just up against some, you know nature walls
Yeah, it's a it's a much more complicated issue Greg than just coming in with a pen and saying that's gone.
That's
gone.
That's gone.
That's gone.
And now everything's gonna be dandy.
Perfect.
Yes.
It sounds great.
Doesn't actually
work like that.
Jane,
Jane, I'm a I'm a billionaire.
I'm not good for you.
Yeah.
Working for you.
Yeah.
Ken Hendricks is the owner of Altair Brewing Company in suburban Chicago.
He said the increase in cost of cans
can hurt the craft beer sector at a time of rising inflation and growing competition from big beer companies.
We've talked about this before.
These small craft brewers have been having a hard time for at least the last five years.
There was this big explosion.
And now, unfortunately, we're seeing the retraction.
But this goes far beyond just beer drinkers,
right?
Oh, of course.
I mean, these tariffs touch us.
where we live everywhere.
Like, you know, it's the aluminum cams that our, our peas and carrots come in.
It's, it is an overwhelming, uh, influence on us.
And we just, I mean, when I say we, I mean the Royal, we of course, you and I and Calvin and the listeners know, but like this thing of like, it's so hard to explain because you have a president saying terrorists are the answer.
People are saying, yeah, you're right.
You guys tariffs are going to work, but meanwhile craft brewers.
And we had the, we had the, uh, Pat had the, the, uh, co-founder of the hinterlands brewing on, she said the same thing is that the cost of the aluminum for the Kansas going up and we are, and just not even because of that breweries are closing down because of this big bubble that happened years ago.
It's finally starting to burst.
The vice president of supply chain at the consumer brands association says if foreign steel gets too costly,
It's tough for American producers to pick up the slack.
Again, Trump proposed tariffs on steel in 2018.
When he did that, in 2018, nine American tin meal steel producers shut down.
Nine.
I'm going to say that again.
After Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel in 2018, nine American tin meal steel producers shut down only three.
Production lines are still open today in the US.
You don't hear him mentioning that doesn't come
up.
Well, that's probably not going to be his fault.
That's going to be Joe Biden's fault or Hunter Biden's laptop's fault or something like that.
It's never his fault and he never wants to talk.
Those aren't wins, Jane.
Right.
We never talk about things
that aren't a win.
Yeah.
So well, and this is especially going to hurt again.
We're talking about steel and aluminum tariffs.
And what this is going to do to producers here in Wisconsin, what if you're a small company and you make homemade soups?
And this is how you package it in aluminum cans.
Those
profit margins are pretty small for small businesses.
I'm pretty sure to switch to glass for like a mason jar is going to be even more expensive than a slice of tin.
I mean, it's this is what we've been talking about since before the election last year.
These, these arbitrary tariffs with no sense of, of, of real explanation are going to have, and these are just the tariffs we're talking about.
We're not even talking about what Doge is doing.
We're talking about the tariffs.
They're going to have such a deep impact on the, on the American people.
And they might not happen.
As, as James said, three, six months down the road, we have to still actually kind of like
wait, we're waiting for the impact and we're already starting to see something now.
Imagine what it's going to look like in summer, in summer when, you know, when there's, you know, when there's beer to be had and parties, you know, tailgating things like that.
I mean, this is real, real questions here.
Don't worry about it though.
The CEO of Coca Cola, James Quincy, he says that the impact of tariffs won't be insignificant.
But it won't radically change a multi-million dollar U.S.
business.
Yeah, for them, that's great.
And he said that if this becomes an issue, they're just going to do more packaging and plastic, which is great, because only approximately 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our global waterways every single year.
Also, am I going to be drinking beer out of a plastic bag?
Beer in a box like the water in a box or wine in a box like like who wants a Bud Light?
I got a box of it at home.
It's great
Oh, I would love I would love to see the advocate advertising campaign for that
you can you can't even taste the cardboard anymore Bud in a box.
Yeah
I like it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I, I mean, we're going to keep talking about this.
We're going to give them, and James Vanderloo will continue to be our guests.
We're going to keep discussing these points.
And as we get more into quarter two of the year, we're going to see these impacts happening through the stock market, through customer, you know, confidence, things like that.
And I'm not looking forward to it.
Well, it just
seems tragic to me that Elon and Doge and all these cost cutters.
Don't consider ramifications.
They're not looking big picture.
They're not looking down the road.
Because none of these decisions will impact them.
They will be rich at the end of the day.
We are going to continue when we return with Ben Wickler, head of Wisconsin Dems.
Stay close.
You are listening to Matt Nair on air.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
Good morning.
Welcome.
Welcome to Matt and Aaron, Jane, Matt and Aaron, Greg Bach.
This week, I'll be on the board coming to you from our studio at Radio Park in Racine.
You can always join us, call or text.
The number is the same 855-752-4842.
You can leave a comment on the live stream.
If you're watching on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter after the 1030 news, we're going to talk to Alex Lawson from Social Security Works.
What is their group?
What do they do?
And what do they think about saving social security?
If you have questions, I would highly encourage you to text those in now, again, to 855-752-4842.
Right now, delighted to be welcoming back to the show.
He is the chair of Wisdoms.
Ben Wickler is here, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Good morning, Ben.
How you doing?
We have a huge fight on our hands.
Everywhere in the country, people are like,
What do Democrats do now?
How do we fight back against this in Wisconsin?
We know exactly how to do that, which is by fighting and winning the state supreme court race against Brett Schimmel and Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the forces of darkness and electing Susan Cromwell.
That's
all I do.
Just a couple of things on your plate.
Just a few things.
There are a lot of people, Ben, who are frustrated and afraid and exhausted and worried and
I'm glad to see you bringing some fire because I feel like there are a lot of folks who feel like Democrats are lacking that right now.
And watching Musk specifically, who's president of the United States, in effect, if not in title, running circles around everybody as he shreds food inspection and the federal aviation administration.
and dangers just about everything that everyone counts on just working, it can be terrifying.
And at the same time, we are still a nation of laws that is built out of states, and the most powerful way to fight back is at the state level.
And you can see in what Governor Evers is doing, an attorney general call with these lawsuits in federal court and in the state of Supreme Court race, and the chance to have a check on the Republicans in the court system, a path to be able to channel
all the totally legitimate fear and rage that people are feeling into work that can actually make a positive difference.
It's a testing, challenging time, but it's also a time where people who are paying attention, they want a channel to be able to do something in this fight.
And we can give them that in this race.
There are a lot of people who want to do something.
It's like, just point me in the right direction.
Excuse me.
Point me in the right direction and tell me what to do.
Yes, yes, that's exactly it and that's you know I think it's easy to look at what happened last fall and think ah nothing worked, but if you if you
Look under the hood the reality is in Wisconsin.
We showed that things do work We had the same flood of Republican attack ads that happened everywhere here But we actually added Democratic turnout at Wisconsin in the presidential race and we won the US Senate race Despite a wall of right-wing dark money with all the same hideous attacks against Tammy Baldwin We flipped 14 state legislative seats week We have things that work to fight back and if we use those things There's a very real chance that Wisconsin can
go the full distance to win a democratic trifecta in 2026.
And the critical thing is this spring on April 1st, if Susan Crawford wins the state supreme court, then the people who want to dismantle our democracy won't get control of the levers of power in our state.
So it's a must win fight, but it's also a fight that if we lean in, it shows ourselves that we still have the fighting spirit.
We can get up off the mat.
We can face down the richest person in the world who's trying to buy and dismember the entire government.
We can face him down and we can win and so that is that is where my my fire comes from right now The sense of we have to show ourselves that we can still do this.
There's a lot of money behind Brad Schimmel who by the way isn't for sale
That's because he's already
I think is the way to understand that when you change the first sale sign to the sold sign outside of house This is someone who you know, he might as well be
running with a rubber stamp in his hand.
He would just do whatever it is that the mega billionaires want him to do.
And that's what he did when he was attorney general.
That's what he's done as a judge.
He had a case where the lawyer for the defendant, who'd committed hideous crimes against children, gave him a campaign contribution and then he gave the personal life sentence.
Like this is not someone you want on the highest court in the state of Wisconsin.
When we get the word out about this, people are infuriated and they they're ready and fired up to vote against it.
So we just have to do our job and turn folks out.
So what is your recommendation for people who are listening right now to what what can they do?
Where should they go?
Is it all about door knocking or is it I wonder sometimes been.
And we always encourage people to share what you know.
If you feel like you're relatively well informed on a topic, either from things that you read or other folks that you listen to, talk to the people in your circle.
I
And this is a race specifically, Spring Supreme Court elections.
Most people don't know they're happening.
So this is the time when sharing in your group chats, in your social media networks, at bars, at the church, like wherever you might be going, talk to people about this race.
Sign up to volunteer.
Knock on doors with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Absolutely.
Make phone calls.
You can do that at Wisdoms.org slash volunteer.
Chip in a few bucks.
It is very helpful.
Wisdoms.org slash donate or Crawford for wi.com.
And get the word out in your world, in your social network.
Recruit people.
All make a plan with a group of folks to go vote together.
Taking action together is this source of incredible kind of rejuvenated energy when you see you're not alone.
facing this moment that's so terrifying.
So this is absolutely the moment to reach out and build a community of people who are determined to get through these dark times.
And when we do that, we will show ourselves that we have the capacity not just to survive, but to actually make forward motion and positive progress that has to be the antidote to the kind of vicious attacks that are turning our phone news alerts into a source of recurring anxiety each morning.
Absolutely.
Well,
And then Wichler is our guest.
He's the chair of Wisdoms.
I'm just talking about what we need to do before the April 1 election.
I just find it hard to believe when Janet Protasewitz was elected by such an enormous margin because people wanted fair maps.
People wanted their representatives to, I don't know, actually listen to their concerns and potentially respond to the needs of their constituents.
Do we really want to go backwards now?
But the right-wing billionaires who want to buy the state, they want to go back with everything they've got.
And that's fundamentally the choice that the Republican super PACs are explicitly fundraising on the idea that they can re gerrymandered the state of Wisconsin, that they can take us backwards.
And if it for anyone who wants a government that responds to us and, you know, sometimes we'll change our minds about what we want, things can change over time.
But the idea of democracy is at stake on April 1st.
Ben Wickler, we're still glad you're.
You're still ours.
Ben Wickler, the chair of Wisdoms.
Thank you so much, Ben.
We will have you back on again for a longer segment.
Really appreciate your time.
News is coming up next.
Stay close.
You are listening to Matinair on air.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
Good morning.
Welcome.
Welcome to Matt and Air on Air.
Jane Matt and Air, Greg Bach and the Calvinator on the board committee from our studio at Radio Park in Racine.
You can always join us, call or text.
The number is the same 855-752-4842.
Leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter coming up after 11 o'clock.
We're going to talk a little bit about Brad Schimmel running against Susan Crawford.
or the Wisconsin Supreme Court open spot there.
The election is April 1st.
And a couple of things about Brad that have been published today in various newspapers.
We will kick that around after 11 o'clock.
We'll also lighten it up with a little weather and wine with Brittany Merleau around 11 21.
And Paul Noonan will be here to talk all things sports at 11 33.
We are waiting.
Are we waiting?
Yes, we are.
We are waiting to be joined by Alex Lawson, who is the executive director of Social Security Works to talk about social security and what Donald Trump has said he wants to do.
On the one hand, I think it was last night, night before, he said, we're not touching social security or Medicare or Medicaid.
Nope, nope, that's all off the table.
And then the next day he went and endorsed the House plan.
which, yes, looks at Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.
I would love to hear from you if you receive Social Security 855-752-4842.
Do you get Social Security?
And what does that mean to you?
What does that mean for your monthly life?
What would you do if your social security were either reduced or completely cut if it wasn't there?
What kind of life would you have?
855-752-4842 if you would like to join us and tell us about your experience with social security.
I have one relative in particular who has said that if she loses her social security, she's not going to be able to afford to live anywhere.
She's in her early 70s.
I
think I mentioned this to you this week when we were talking about Alex coming on the show is the fact that my mother-in-law has said that social security is two-thirds of her monthly income.
What do you say to that?
It's absolutely...
I don't, I don't even, I don't even know what to, I don't even know what to say that.
It's like, it's like, then just come live with us right now.
Just please come live with us right now, just in case, because I don't want to see us having to, to like sell off your house and you're just to make it.
Did
you want to take that call from Cindy
at
555-752-4842?
We would love to hear from you.
If you receive social security, what does that mean to you?
Cindy from Appleton, you're on the line right now.
Thank you so much for calling.
Are you or anyone you know on social security?
You collect social security.
I have been for five, four, five years now.
I also thankfully have a pension because I was a union employee, but that is not enough to sustain me.
Only like, you know, a little less than $800 a month.
I am still working.
I'm a school bus driver.
I'm still working.
I'm not working because I want to.
I'm working because I have to.
And I also have taken on over the weekend a part-time job.
Geez, Cindy.
Because I can't do it alone anymore with, you know, I mean, everything's getting so expensive.
And if I lose that social security, I along with thousands and thousands and thousands
of other older people are going to be homeless.
And I mean homeless.
And
that's what a
terrifying city.
It truly is terrifying.
And I know that my I know that my mother-in-law is not in that situation.
And we are thankful for that.
But when she said two thirds of her income is social security, I like immediately my my heart sank.
And I was like, I was like, I feel like we should just tell your mom she's she can move in with us because I don't want to see her have to.
I mean,
Thankfully the house is paid for, but still that doesn't the cost of the cost of living past retirement is not fixed.
It only gets more expensive.
And nowadays they say things like, Oh, you can retire with a million dollars.
And I'm not going to shake if I handed a million dollars.
But when I think about retiring it, I don't know when I'm 70, because that's probably the closest a million dollars will maybe make it a few years.
So like
And that's and that's and that's maybe with social security if as I said before if it's still around
Yeah, exactly a PJ on the live stream has a comment.
I am on SSDI Yep, it's my only source of income if it's ripped from me I will lose my house and end up living in my car Yeah, I went to college in hopes of getting off of the benefits that I've been on since 1997 I have a bachelor of science degree and it didn't help at all.
I'm so sorry to hear that PJ
And PJ, I don't think that I know you're not alone.
I know that you are not the only one that's in this situation.
And we've all been told for years and years and years and years that this will be there for us.
Yeah, you are paying into the system so that you will have some cushion when you leave the workforce and you should be able to enjoy your golden years.
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
The golden years.
What happened to those?
Well, those are I mean, I mean, if you could.
Jane, if you can afford to retire and you invested wisely and you have all those things that came before, they're going to be great and golden.
But as I said, I told my mom, I'm like, I don't think I'm going to be able to retire until I'm at least 70, if not older, if ever.
But that's, that's something that, you know, I have to deal with.
Unfortunately, we're all dealing with Nancy from wassaws on the line right now.
Nancy, are you on social security or do you know anybody who relies heavily on social security?
Thanks for
calling.
I am on Social Security and I do get a small pension too because thank God I was a union worker.
But I worry, I've got two friends who have had to retire early due to health reasons and their Social Security is very minimal already.
I don't know how they're making it.
And if this was ripped away from them, they would have nothing at all.
And I know I myself would have to go back to work and thank goodness I'm healthy enough I could do that.
But this is not a handout.
I worked for this Social Security and I paid into this as well as everybody else.
So it's not an entitlement.
I want my Social Security.
And when you think about it, there's people like the Elon Musk to the world that they are done paying in on day one, on January 1, they paid in their amount for the year.
So basically all we have to do is raise the cap on social security.
Right now, the minute you hit 168,000 a year, you don't have to pay in anymore.
Well, I'll tell you, if you're making 168,000 a year, you can sure as hell afford to pay in.
Yep.
Absolutely.
Think about the people who are making well over $160,000 a year and there's plenty of them.
Yeah.
I mean, it's.
Thank you so much, Nancy, for calling.
I mean, I'm feeling that we've got other callers on the line.
We have some texts on the line.
I feel like these are going to be a lot of the same discussion points because everyone's feeling this fear.
And as I said earlier in the show, this is not a fear that should only be felt by people 65 or older or those currently on social security.
If you're in your 20s, 30s and 40s, this should be scaring the living but Jesus out of you.
Because if you don't have the money that you're putting in right now,
I asked the question, and maybe we can ask Jim Santel this when he comes to the show.
Is this a case?
Is this a standing ground for a lawsuit?
It's like, you took my money and you wasted it.
Where is my money?
I gave to you for safekeeping for decades down the road.
Sorry, I'm getting a little fired up about this.
Dale in Oshkosh is on the line right now.
Dale, thank you so much for calling.
Are you on social security or is someone you know, relying upon
it?
I'm planning on signing up in September or to start drawing in September.
I went back to college late in life.
I spent down my 401k as part of my education fund based on the idea that I was going to get ahead.
And then shortly after I graduated, my parents had health issues.
I just spent seven and a half years caring for my mom who passed from Alzheimer's.
I was her 24-7 caregiver, and all I have to look forward to is my social security.
And if they take it, there's going to be hell to pay.
I mean, that's... So sorry about your mother first and foremost, and good for you for...
for loving her and being there for her.
That's a very difficult role is being caregiver in a situation like that.
It is.
It's really, really difficult.
Yeah.
I mean, you're doing the hard, hard work, Dale.
And we, I mean, our hearts go out to you for your loss and what you had to do.
I mean, and also congratulations for going back to college too.
Those are all great things.
And that is, Jane, for me, that is one of the big sticking points is that we talk about this blanket American dream.
Where anything is possible go to college get a job Have a family don't have a family get a house do all these things and I feel like a lot of us at least from my point of view We're doing all those things.
We were told we could do and and yet we still live with a specter over a head saying well But what's gonna happen to us when we can't work anymore?
I mean not not even retire.
What happens if I can't work anymore?
Yeah, those are very real things and we just have these two I'll say it idiots
in the White House slashing and burning, taking fire to everything and not thinking about anybody who's calling us today, people who are texting us ourselves.
They don't care because as Nancy put it, on day one, they're done paying.
And they will get, for one thing, wealthy people to that extent will never need social
security.
They don't need that money.
They're still entitled to it.
It's an entitlement.
It's still entitled to it.
They paid in, but they will never need that to live like most average Americans.
And boy, Greg, you make such a good point about the American dream, right?
Yeah, you work hard, you go to school, you stay in a job or you move jobs, and you get to a point where you retire, and then you were supposed to enjoy all the benefits of all your decades of hard work and saving and all of those things.
with, as you said, Greg, essentially a savings account that was set up by the government.
Yep.
That we didn't have really any choice about either because they took it out of your paycheck, whether you wanted them to or not.
So I know it's called an entitlement.
Originally, I didn't have a problem with that because we are entitled to that money.
Yeah.
It's what the Republicans have done to that word that makes me furious because it makes it sound like.
We don't deserve that money.
We want money that we didn't earn.
That's not true.
We all worked for our social security dollars.
Absolutely.
We have a few more callers on the line.
We can take this at the other side of the break, but before we do that, Ollie in the Northwoods, you are on the line.
Thanks for calling.
Are you on social security or do you know someone close to you who is dependent on it?
I am on social security.
I was on disability first because of health issues.
And I've worked my whole life since I was 15 years old.
I started working as a living babysitter.
I've worked in caregiving field, in medical assistance field, many different jobs.
My parents never could afford to send us to college, but my dad was in the Army for
22 years and he too worked all his life and This isn't Something that we're getting for free we did pay in and I I count myself as one of the lucky ones right now That I do have a roof over my head but
Social security is my only income and everything I pay for the medical and I pay for health insurance and I still have a ton of medicines that I have to pay for.
So it's hard for groceries and even with the roof over my head, how will I pay for heat or lights?
Thank you so much, Ali.
Didn't mean to cut you off.
We are right up against the break.
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We're talking about Social Security and plans to cut or gut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.
It's interesting.
Representative Jerry Connelly, I believe, was on CNN, and they were talking about this, and he essentially said, too, if you want to save Social Security, it's a pretty easy fix.
Raise the income threshold subject to withholding tax, and you can extend Social Security by 40 to 50 years easy.
It's not difficult math to make this system.
Also,
I feel like even without these fixes, I still think there's people paying into it.
Like there are things that can be done, but, but, you know, we, somebody on the lives of someone on the text line said, you know, it's Terry from wassa said, isn't it the Republicans ultimate plan to enter social security funds into the markets?
They've been wanting to privatize the, they want to privatize everything, everything they can privatize.
They want to do that.
And if they, if that happened, I think the market would crash so hard because
that amount of money going in on the backs of the American people, pulling as, as, you know, we got a lot of taxes.
There's a lot of smart, passionate opinions on this matter.
The rug will be pulled out.
And what would we do?
I mean, it's, I couldn't even imagine what would happen if we tried to prioritize social security or, or, or gamble, or gamble it in the market.
It would, yes.
Yep.
Because you know what happened to be like, crypto.
Oh, yes.
Oh, don't even get me started on that.
And we're going to do a segment on crypto as soon as we can find someone who's not nuts to explain crypto.
We're looking for that person.
We haven't exactly found them quite yet.
But this goes back to, and again, I'm 65.
I can remember when they got rid of pensions.
Count companies working to offer pensions anymore.
So the answer was your 401k.
Yes.
Your 401k is going to be your retirement account.
That's that's how you can safeguard yourself.
And well, but again, that your 401ks are subject to the fluctuations of the market.
Yes.
So if the market crashes, so does your 401k.
I've watched my mother's 401k her savings crash twice in my lifetime, like hard.
And she's patient and she waited through and she's it was great But yeah one minute you could be up quite a bit and then if you know the government decides to play with things then Sorry all that money once again just like so security all that money you paid into is
Gone and before we have to move on.
I want to take a couple more calls Karina On the phone right now Karina.
Are you on social security or do you know people who are on social security?
Well, I work with a lot of people who are on social security There's a lot of Russian immigrants who are on social security as well because they came when they were radio was like over 60 years old
Language barrier, not exception of their degrees and education and the work experience.
So they basically were kicked out of the workforce just because that.
And even though guys, I just want to warn people.
to make it clear for everybody that, yes, okay, right now they're saying that individual health is not, individual social security is not going to be taking away.
And I absolutely agree with the situation of 401K.
It's very easily can be repeated.
Look what happened with the pension with Milwaukee County.
They feel we're still out of tax money.
They lost.
that the pension for my work account to workers, but yet we paying as a taxpayer into those funds so they can get retired.
I mean, and that's the thing, Karina, is that whether you look at pensions, 401ks, whatever, it's all who's in charge of it.
It's all who's in charge of it.
They can take your pension and gamble it.
They can take your 401k and gamble it.
And really, when we talk about the social security that thank you so much for calling it, by the way, Karina, it's
We need to, there needs to be a stable income for folks who are retiring.
Our golden years, you guys, we were told work hard, save money, be a good person.
Be a
good American.
And, and, and you get to retire and enjoy your golden years.
Yeah.
It doesn't seem like there's so much about the golden years anymore.
It's more like, yeah, we need you to work until you die.
Do
you
mind?
Whistler.
In the Richland Center, we're coming up close on a break.
What would you say about Social Security today?
Thanks for calling.
My dad was a STEAM Center.
My mom was a school teacher.
And I'm 73 years old right now.
I was in the service in the early 70s during Vietnam.
And right now, Social Security is the only income that I personally have.
My wife has a state retirement fund.
plus social security, but still a weak struggle.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for calling.
And your wife's service as a teacher as well.
I mean, this is, this has been the through line for the past two segments.
These individuals are either, they're all on social security and they all, they're not bathing in millions of dollars either.
This is money.
to help them keep the lights on, keep the heat on, afford groceries.
And the problem is, even on social security and with small pensions, sometimes you have to make a choice between the two.
We will read your texts when we get on the other side of the news.
News is coming up next.
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