All Eyes On France, Government Weaponization & What Happened to Hope and Change Pt 2

0:13 Are you ready? Yeah. Okay, let's do it. Bill Martinez Live, a program about current events, our culture, our values, our politics, and our future. And now, Bill Martinez. Well, good morning, America. Glad you could join us six minutes after the top of the hour right now. And it's time for Mike Pallett's from ATR. He's the ATR Tax Policy Director. Hey, Mike, good morning to you. Good morning, Bill. Good to be with you. Always good to have you here. Lots to catch up on. You know, it's amazing what the socialists have done. It is really unhinged craziness. You know, this national wealth tax that they're pushing. I mean, truly, what is the benefit?

1:00 Yeah, exactly. The point here is to punish people that the left doesn't like. And who they don't like are people who create jobs, who lead to higher employment in the country, higher wages in the country. And it's simply, it's a revenue grab. The idea that the state of California, where we're going to see this on the ballot, a 5% wealth tax that they'll tell voters is just a one-time tax, yet the authors of the tax are themselves publicly saying, this is great. This is the start of a global wealth tax movement. They're going to start with billionaires. They're going to lower the threshold. So it applies to everyone. What they want is the European level of government. In order to get that, they need European levels of taxation, which means taxing the middle class. We're seeing this entire effort, the authors of which, the main one is a French economist named Gabriel Zuckman, who is a professor at Berkeley.

1:55 You cannot make this up. We should not be following the lead of a French economist who which I joke is like French economists is like saying jumbo shrimp. And all you have to do is look at France right now and see that country on fire and understand that even they introduced a wealth tax and repealed it. We should not be repeating French mistakes, let alone trying to go onto the path of becoming more like France. I hope voters crush this thing at the ballot. It is looking good. It's looking like voters will reject this in California. But this is what Democrats want to take national. We're seeing Senate candidates run on the creation of wealth tax policies at the federal level, which is essentially the creation of a federal property tax, Democrats like El Saeed in Michigan, and we've even seen their top tax writer, Ron Wyden, in the Senate introduce his own legislation with Elizabeth Warren.

2:43 So this is what Democrats are bringing if they get control of Congress and what they want to take across the country. And the thing is, Mike, how does this square up with affordability? I mean, this really makes everything more unaffordable. I mean, you package. It in such a way that's so deceptive. And this is one of the big complaints that I'm hearing coming out of California is, you know, again, the way these ballot measures are written up and propositions and that sort of thing. They're purposefully confusing in much the same way. Like who was it? The author of Obamacare, if you remember. I mean, he admitted he goes, yeah, we purposely made it confusing. It's like how how audacious.

3:25 But it's like, you know, again, these politicians are saying the silent thing out loud. That's exactly right. They purposely mislead the public. They confuse their own politicians, of course, around around Obamacare, too. We had the famous quote from Pelosi, the well, we have to pass it to know what's in it. Yeah, right. And that's the logic that they operate under. And that is the same thing we're seeing come from Democrats right now. Again, the key issue is cost of living affordability right now. Hitting people Democrats don't like with a stick does nothing to improve the quality of life for Americans. It is the politics of hate and envy. They're trying to distract you from the fact that things are too expensive right now because they offer no solutions. And all they're promising to do is go hit people that they don't like.

4:10 Right. And the thing is, is that, you know, last I was seeing is that the U-Hauls are still moving with rapidity out of the state of California and they're chasing away, you know, The middle class, they're chasing away, of course, the uber wealthy who have the money and the wherewithal, and they're getting out of Dodge, except maybe Silicon Valley is still fat and happy and hanging in there, I guess, for as long as they can. But like you said, and the reminder of Nancy Pelosi's statement of you got to pass it to find out what's in it. I mean, how ludicrous. I mean, think about this. We put these people into office because- We think they know better. I mean, it's like, what are we? Are we idiots for, you know, putting them in the office?

5:00 It's no wonder we're $ 40 trillion in debt. Well, and think of California is one of the most beautiful places in our country. How poorly you have to mismanage government and tax people for them to want to move out of California, which is so beautiful. That's what Democrats have offered. That's what we're seeing in the data. People keep leaving. You mentioned the U-Haul numbers. It's not a billionaire who's renting a U-Haul to move across the country. That's middle class people. That's families who are leaving the state in record numbers. California, for years now, continues to be one of the top states where people are fleeing from. And where are they going? Low tax, low regulation states. They're going to Texas. They're going to Florida. They're moving to Tennessee. States that have zero income tax, that have less cost of government, that spend less, that budget more responsibly.

5:51 This is where we're seeing growth in the country take place. And this effort from Democrats on a wealth tax, it really is, it's a desperate last gasp because their tax base is fleeing. So what they're doing is they're trying to extract wealth from the last places that they think they can and thinking that they lie to people and tell them it's just a one-time tax. It's not going to apply to you. It's only the billionaires. Like we've never heard that before, right? Exactly. Yeah, it's entirely misleading. And then we've even seen this effort now where you're seeing the left-wing media, like the New York Times, fully behind the effort, trying to bully CEOs into backing this. I don't know, Bill, if you had a chance to see the United Airlines.

6:32 CEO's comments on this. I did see that. I mean, how ludicrous. I mean, okay, well, if you want to pay 100% or some level, then why don't. You voluntarily offer it? I mean, all the time when you fill out your tax form, it gives you an opportunity to make a donation to the government, right? And if you watch that New York Times interview or read the full interview, it is gross, complete cowardice from the United CEO to just absolutely cave to the left like this. But the context in which the New York Times asks him about it is, well, you know, you've got these assassination attempts on CEOs. Are you worried about income inequality in the country? And his pivot to showing all that he cares about income inequality, he cares about the poor, is to say that he supports inequality. the wealth tax. He supports a 100% death tax. And then he volunteered to pay them. So completely bullied into it, complete cowardice on his end. We've put out a study showing that if we were going to have a global wealth tax like the left has been pushing, it's 20 million less jobs globally. We should not have the CEO of United Airlines pushing a tax increase that kills 20 million jobs. And he should know better. And it's cowardice on his end. But you can see how the left just tries to bully people into this and how woke, weak companies cave. So really ashamed to see that happening.

7:52 And the idea that a CEO would be embracing job killing policy is just insane and a sign of where the left has gone. How myopic their politics has become, Mike. I mean, you think about it, that they can't even step back and think, okay, what are the consequences? I mean, we've been living, I mean, gosh, throughout my life since I've become aware you know, we've become very familiar with the idea of unintended consequences when it comes to political policy. It's like, wait a minute, you're the brain trust. This is your job is to look at all this, to understand what the trajectory of these things are, you know, what they're going to do, whether it's, you know, Barack Obama's not so ready, shovel ready jobs. Remember that he laughed about that. How many millions and, you know, dollars did it cost us for that to, you know, uh, And then, of course, then we had the, you know, what he did with, what was the.

8:48 Solar panel company? Solyndra. Solyndra. In California. I mean, a half billion dollars that he gave them. And then right away after he gives them the money, he allows China to come in and underbid our investment. I mean, I don't know where his intelligence comes from. But, I mean, when it comes to basic common sense, it has left a building in the Obama household. A new study finds a major increase in STEM learning in after-school programs, but gaps remain. Today, 92% of parents with children in after-school say STEM is available, up from 69% a decade ago. That's 6.4 million kids now getting STEM in after-school. Emma Binet, Overdeck Family Foundation.

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12:37 In early October, the Tide took a team to Lahore, Pakistan, to participate in a leadership conference for indigenous pastors, as well as get a first-hand look at how the ministry is faring on the ground. In addition to making new connections and strengthening existing relationships, team members gained a clearer picture of the spiritual environment in Pakistan and a deeper understanding of church life and what it means to follow Jesus in a hostile environment. To learn how you can pray for and encourage people around the world whose lives have been eternally impacted by hearing the good news of Christ in their own language, visit thetide.org. That's thetide.org. You know, Mike, I'm sorry to, you know, harp about the Obama situation. It's just, you know, it's just a constant, you know, thorn in my side because, you know, I think we had a lot of hope, you know, it was hope and change, you know, with Obama. And, you know, the fact that he was worse than the typical politician, that he was an ideologue and that he came in as a, you know, kind of a Trojan horse and somewhat of a Manchurian candidate. And what he did to this country that we're still dealing with, you know, particularly with Obamacare, what he did with Lois Lerner and the IRS and how it's impacted and interfered with the elections to this very day. you know, the shenanigans that he did against the Tea Party patriots and conservative groups. And again, you know, all this stuff that what's happening is the left,

14:07 they have ways to get you to comport. And Alyssa Slotkin echoed it the other day in telling, you know, kids coming out of college, hey, you better be careful in so many words. If you want to go, you know, work for government, you better make sure you're working on the left side of government, because if you work on the right side of government, we're going to punish you. Exactly. And on Obama, he's of course back in the news right now because he's on the campaign trail for Senate Democrats like El-Said right now. And every time I see him talk, it's just a complete reminder of how crazy he drives conservatives and how he would just gaslight voters. Complete dishonesty. He'd always talk as if he's a moderate where he'd always have the ridiculous line about how he's not partisan. He's willing to consider any good idea wherever it comes from. If only Republicans would send it to his desk. while he was just bankrupting the country with Obamacare.

14:58 And the year of the lie that even the liberal Washington Post had to acknowledge that you'd be able to keep your doctor. Just major lies like that to the American people that he smuggled into office. So someone who lied his way into office, pretends to be moderate, is doing it right now on the campaign trail, trying to get a radical jihadist socialist like El-Sayed in Michigan elected. That's where the self-described moderate Barack Obama is right now in Michigan. helping the most far-left candidate on the field. So frustrating to see him back in the news. Well, you know, and you talk about desperation. I mean, who would have thought that Barack Obama would be so desperate that he would align himself with a candidate like El-Said?

15:39 Yeah, exactly. We saw the role. He still plays in the Democrat Party, helping push Joe Biden out the door at the last minute and then ensuring that Kamala Harris would be the candidate. So he's still a major influence in the Democratic Party. He is I think always been far more progressive behind the scenes and he portrays himself and you can see it in the kids He's backing and that influence in the party is still there Going so far the left. It's just imagine to think the the Democratic Party did voters I think are even far more to the center than the members and the staff that represent the Democratic Party You can see I think they mislead their own team time and again and that's where we're seeing just look at what they're campaigning on these radical issues and things like we're going to impose a federal property tax, confiscatory wealth taxes, pack the court to do it, violate the Constitution. And this is the party that tries to run on democratic norms while they trash the Constitution on the campaign trail.

16:36 Right. And, oh, yeah, let's get rid of, you know, borders. Let's open those borders up again. I mean, because it worked so well for us the first time. You know, what's amazing to me is if you consider Barack Obama's track record in backing candidates, I mean, it's not like he's a rain man, is he? No, I think he's actually always had a pretty poor political pulse on this. And the thing of Barack Obama, well, he remains somewhat personally popular even towards the end of his administration. He was a disaster for the Democratic Party across the country. This is where, you know, go back to 2014 when Republicans had, I think, 240 members in the House, 248 members, record number of 54 senators. I think we had something like 32 governors across the country.

17:20 And trifecta is Barack Obama was great for the Republican Party. That's where we, I think, hit our electoral peak. So the fact that Democrats can't move on from it, maybe that's helpful towards our side. But the other thing that you bring up that I hope our audience is catching here, and that is that, you know, and this is what leadership does. Leadership takes you from where you are to where, you know, they want you to be. And what the left is doing is they're saying, OK, we're going to take moderate Democrats and. And we're going to yank you to the left. What I'm concerned with is at the same time, because you talk about coattails in politics, there's coattails to the Republican Party. The Republican Party figures, okay, if the left is going left, they've got room to move left themselves.

18:04 And you're going, no, that's the wrong direction. Because the leadership of the left is taking their party and their middle-of-the-road party kicking and screaming, and they're taking them over the cliff and don't think that they don't realize this. And I think people are going to be very surprised if we can get a legitimate vote count. I think they're going to be very surprised with the results of this midterms. Bill, I'm so glad you brought up the point about how important it is for Republicans and the conservative movement not to lurch left because that's where Democrats are going. We don't beat Democrats by offering Democrat-lite. Elections are about offering a contrast. Republicans are the party that are the party of less government that get out of your way, that let people be left alone by the government, let you keep more of your own money. We should not do anything. And I don't think we're doing this in the campaign trail. What we're seeing across the country, Republicans running on the Trump tax cuts, great attack messages, getting the message out about all the ridiculous socialist tax increases these Democrats are pushing. There is not a Democrat policy on the ballot that makes your costs of living more affordable.

19:17 This is the party, if we're talking about gas prices and vehicle ownership, this is the party of carbon taxes and the Green New Deal. Give them out loud saying that they want to end vehicle ownership. Democrats have said the internal combustion engine is a mistake, not one of the greatest advances of human history. This is, they don't want you to own a car. They want cheaper gas prices. They don't want you driving, period. So this is what we have to remind people as we're going into this election. It's about how it impacts your family. I think if people vote that way, We'll see Republicans do well. Well, yeah, and that's the thing. Like you said, this is a clear choice. I mean, it's so clear and binary, and that if the Republicans hold the ground, let the contrast bring light to the idiocy, the chaotic insanity that the left is proposing. I mean, they're proposing... projects that we've already spent trillions of dollars on and got bupkis.

20:13 It's like, I mean, it's that age old, you know, proposition that progressives always give you is that, oh, Mike, you just haven't given us enough time or enough money, right? We're going, well, you've had like a couple of decades already and We spent well over a trillion dollars on your boondoggles, and that's not even counting all the other underhanded junk that you guys have done with NGOs and that. Come on, give me a break. We're $ 40 trillion in debt. Thank you very much. I mean, at least give me an idea to say, hey, we're going to arrest this debt problem, and we're going to make some tough decisions and start cutting back.

20:54 Get me excited on that level. Even the Republicans are weak in the knees about talking about these things. I understand when you've got a party that's out there handing out freebies left and right, it's a tough message. To fight against. At some point, you've got to have the courage of your convictions to be able to say, look at what's right for America. You've got to cast that vision. And that's why, you know, that's what Trump has done. And that's also why Trump is so hated by so many people because, hey, wait a minute, how dare you take away my entitlements, right? Well, this is right where, again, it's about drawing the contrast.

21:35 I think Republicans have had a unique time where the public became aware of the direct connection between overspending and inflation. Inflation and cost of living continues to be the top issue for really the past five years. Understanding that Democrats are going to walk into office give more handouts to their constituents, to their special interest groups. They're not going to do anything to tackle inflation. They are the party of spending. It's the Joe Biden levels of inflation that caused Bidenflation to begin with. That's how we got in this mess. It's Republicans who have reined in spending. Of course, not as much as we need to, but we did see $ 1. 6 trillion in spending reduction as part of the big, beautiful bill and the working family tax cuts. So that's what we need more of. Less government, more tax cuts, more spending cuts. There's only one party that delivers on that, the Republicans and the conservative movement.

22:25 Well, we the people gave Trump a mandate two years ago. And that hopefully that mandate doesn't expire at the midterms, but it's reinforced and it comes out loud and clear to the elected officials. You know, can you hear me now? We need to fix this problem. And Donald Trump is the one who has demonstrated the capacity and capability to do that. And our trust is in him. And I hope that comes out loud and clear. Mike Pallitz, as always, we appreciate the time and thank you for coming on. Mike is ATR's tax policy director. The website they can go to for more information, Mike. I encourage everyone to go to ATR.org, the website for Americans for Tax Reform.

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25:56 Paid for by Senior Choice Plans. 800-796-3954. 800-796-3954. That's 800-796-3954. Hey, welcome back. Glad you could join us. Bill Martinez here. We've got Steve Berube going to join us in just a moment. He's a trucking expert and the vice president of Geotab because we're going to talk about, you know, next week, by the way, is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. And the reason that's coming up is because, you know, think about it. Just about anything that involves your life, eating, wearing, using or buying, it spends time on a truck, right, Steve?

26:43 Yes, sir. It sure does. Well, and this is why we need. To appreciate the professional drivers responsible for keeping the store shelves stocked, right? That's exactly right. Well, Steve, I'm glad that you could join us to talk about it because truck drivers help keep our economy moving by delivering the goods and supplies that communities across the country depend on every day. It's some of the hardest, most important work there is. And National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, as I mentioned, is a chance to recognize the essential role these professionals play and the dedication it takes to do it. And Steve, let me ask you, what is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week and what can you tell us about its significance?

27:30 Sure. Thanks, Bill. Thanks for letting me have some time to talk about this important week. So National Truck Driver Appreciation Week runs from September 13th to 19th this year. It's a great time for us to stop and say thank you to the three and a half million. Professional truck drivers across the U.S. And, you know, as you mentioned on the lead in here, pretty much everything in our lives is came to us via a truck, whether it was your coffee this morning, the cell phone that you're listening to this on, the food in your fridge. Chances are that was delivered by a professional American truck driver and probably got delivered or driven at least at some point overnight while we were all asleep. And really the trucking industry in America touches about one in 20 jobs, generates over $ 900 billion a year in revenue, And so the economic impact is enormous.

28:29 And the job is difficult. American truck drivers cover almost 330 billion miles a year. So that's the equivalent of driving to the sun and back 1,700 times. And, you know. We said it. Twice already, but very few industries touch our lives quite like trucking does. And if you think about it, it's not just about moving freight. It keeps our community stocked. It keeps our businesses running and really is the engine that keeps America's economy moving forward. So it's just a really important opportunity for us all to say thank you to the men and women that drive those trucks and keep our lives comfortable.

29:12 And the economy moving forward. Well, Steve, as you say, these individuals, they're unique individuals. I mean, to be able to be on the road like this, in many cases, driving by themselves, and they put a lot of hours on the road, as we know. And Geotab, your organization, is committed to safety. And maybe you might talk about Geotab and what you guys are doing in order to ensure safety, not only for the truck drivers, but for the rest of the population that's out there on America's roads. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, Geotab is a global leader in connected vehicle technology. And, you know, as our product has evolved over the last 25 years, there's a strong, there's always been a focus on safety, but today the focus is really, really pinpointed in on safety. And so whether that's an advanced alerting system inside the cab or AI dash cams, we're really focused on providing new products and services to help drivers perform safer and get home safely to their family at the end of the day, which is really the most important thing. We've got over 6 million connected commercial vehicles around the globe. And our research shows that like driver stress, and traffic congestion are among.

30:29 The biggest safety challenges on the road today. And so our technology is designed to address both of those items among many other things. But I think it's also a great opportunity for all of us to think about, you know, the next time that we're on the road and there's traffic congestion and there's a truck trying to get in, you know, maybe we all stop and think, okay, let's let this one extra truck in and try and make that driver's life a little bit easier for that moment. Yeah, I often think that, you know, when some of these people get pushy and stuff and, They won't allow a truck driver to get in. It's like, oh, so you're going to be a truck lengths later, you know, to your destination, you know, because you didn't let the truck driver in. And not to mention the.

31:09 Fact that what you do in exacerbating the potential peril by, you know, trying to speed up. And I mean, these trucks and maybe it might be good to remind Steve that about these trucks and the size and weight that they carry i mean it's not like they can stop on a dime or anything. It's true right i mean you know we know that it's difficult driving our own vehicles in congestion never mind when they're driving a vehicle multiple times larger in weight and in length i think um for a lot of these vehicles that speed you know it takes a couple of football fields to to come to a complete stop so It's really smart for all of us to be cognizant of the challenges that those drivers have today driving those trucks and try and try and help support them when they're out there. Because, I mean, after all, they're probably something in the back of that truck that we're after to go and buy to help our lives get better, too.

32:03 Right. Well, exactly. And the other deal, too, that you can do, Steve, is you follow a truck, you find out they know the best restaurants. Yeah, for sure. They know where to eat. And if you follow a truck, you're going to find nine out of 10 times I found, you know, a pretty darn good restaurant that I didn't know about. And they know them all, right? Yeah, there you go. That's a great point. You know, some of these folks are driving the same routes or similar routes. And, you know, over time, they're definitely going to find those local places that we might not know about just driving around on our own. So that's probably a really great tip. Well, we're talking with Steve Berube. He's the vice president at Geotab, where he leads the company's network of reseller partners across the U.S.

32:48 And Canada. And, you know, as we've been talking about, next week is going to be, you know, give us an opportunity to appreciate and honor our truck drivers with National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. And, Steve, as you were mentioning, I mean, these guys are working hard. And I say guys. I mean, you've got women drivers as well that are handling these big trucks, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think all cross sections of America are incorporated into that driver of these trucks. When you've got three and a half million professional truck drivers across America, that's a wide cross section of the country for sure.

33:31 So how are you honoring them this week and beyond? Well, so, you know, this week we're going to fan out Geotab employees across about a half a dozen locations and from Ohio to Kentucky to North Carolina to Florida, all during Truck Driver Appreciation Week. And from there, we're just going to shake hands and tell people thank you and honor their. Sacrifice that they do every day. And, you know. Provide some refreshments and some Geotab gear to those folks is really the least that we can do. Um, on top of that, we're, we're making a donation to the trucking cares foundation, which is part of the American trucking association. And so we think that that really just kind of shows that, um, you know, we appreciate drivers, um, wellbeing well beyond, uh.

34:15 Just behind, behind the wheel of the cab. Um, And so, you know, we invite anybody that might be on the road, especially if you're a trucker, if you go to geotab.com, you can find the list of the specific locations that we'll be at and what times. And we'd love to see you, especially if you heard this. I'll be at one of the locations in Wilson, North Carolina on the 15th myself. So we'll see if we If we touch anybody on the call today, and maybe I'll see you. I was going to say, if I'm in Florida, if you're going to be in Florida, I was going to go join you in Florida. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. So the Lone Stop in Florida will be down in Vero Beach, and we're actually going to extend Trucker Appreciation Week a little extra.

34:56 On the 23rd, we'll be down in Vero Beach. Oh, wow. Excellent. Okay. I got to mark that down because if I'm in town, I mean, it's a little bit of a drive from where I'm up by, you know, I'm down here by West Palm. But it's not too bad. I mean, that's a nice little cruise up there to check out, and I'd love to participate and join you with Driver Appreciation Week. Well, let's talk about the technology as we wrap things up, how they continue to evolve. So I've got to imagine the future is pretty exciting for you guys. Yeah, I think so. Trucking is a growing profession, and there's a lot of need for new drivers as the existing driver population starts to retire. Steve Berube, he's the trucking expert and vice president at Geotab. Steve, thank you so much for being with us. Remind everybody very quickly the website they can go to for more information and find out how we can honor our truckers next week.

35:49 Sure, Bill. It's at geotab.com, G-E-O-T-A-B.com for all the list of the locations that we'll be at. And just to any of the drivers, if you're a truck driver out there listening to us today, we just want to say thank you for the sacrifices that you make every day and appreciate all your service. This report is sponsored by IBM. As AI becomes more common in the workplace, HR leaders and employees have different views on the skills needed most. A new global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value finds that 71% of CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce's most essential skill.

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39:51 Call anytime at 720-660-40. 720-660-40 or visit c-60.com. That's c-60.com. Greska's Carbon 60. Go to c-60.com. Hey, we're back with you. Glad you could join us. Bill Martinez here with Dr. Danny Huerta from Focus on the Family. Hey, Danny, how are you, my friend? Hey, Bill, doing well. Good to be on the show with you. Hey, always good. It's been a long time. I always love talking to you because every time we do, it's about families, it's our kids, it's the culture and how it's colliding with their psychology and everything else that's going on.

40:35 And right now, I mean, here we are days away. It's Halloween time. And Christian families at this time of year are always challenged by how do I address this? Do I let the kids get dressed up? Do I let them go to, you know, some kind of candy event or something that's happening in the community? You know, how do I handle this, Danny? And I know, I mean, this has been something that you have been dealing with the kids ever since day. One, right? Oh, yes, yes. And Bill, I already know I'm not going to make a certain number of people happy here. Any response you give to this topic, You get quite a response. And what I want to say is I can't make everyone happy. I'm not ice cream, right, Bill? So this idea of Halloween is so hard because there's such an evil element to it. There's the occult stuff, the evil costumes, the horror movies. There's definitely an evil side. Then on the other side, there's a lot of creativity and fun times together as a family that can be had. A lot of great memories. In fact, I was talking to my son about it. and my daughter, I said, hey, what do you guys remember about our Halloween times? They said, oh, when we had family gatherings at our house, we played games, we went to see our neighbors, we dressed up as some characters that we had fun dressing up as superheroes or whatever. And then they got to exchange candy with each other and learn about what candy each of them liked.

41:59 And many times they ended up giving that candy away or we used it in our gingerbread house that we built later on close to Christmas. But they remember the family times and we didn't do any horror. There are certain things we put boundaries on. And as family, this is where you need to be very clear as to what your values are and what your boundaries are. You know, and that's a good point. And I'd say, especially now, Danny, to your point, as you were saying earlier, I mean, look what the media is turning out now. The commercials you see on television, stuff like that. It's all apocalyptic. It's all this demonic stuff. presentation. It's kind of like soft demon, you know, horn, if you want to put it in those terms. And it's just to titillate and I believe to kind of condition us to think that that's normal.

42:45 Yeah, that's totally true, Bill. It fascinated me to see how many horror movies were playing in the 1950s, and it was close to zero. And then you get into the 1990s, and it's about 10 to 15 horror movies. And then you get into 2010 to 2020, and it went from 107 to to close to 300. And now we're at 343 horror movies in one year compared to 15 in 1996. I mean, that's not that far back. Yeah. And of those horror movies, how many would you think are directed by Satan himself? Because the demonization of characters and the way they're presented, I don't care.

43:25 What you're talking about. I mean, you can look at even Disney. Disney's been captured. in so many ways. And you think, gosh, when you and I grew up, you know, Disney was that family friendly go-to film. Anytime you could go to a Disney movie, you didn't have to double check. Now it's like, thank God for plugged in. It focused on the family because you're always doing a movie analysis on it to give parents a forewarning of, you know, what is going to be on the big screen. It's going to be impacting their, their children's minds. Yeah. We have to be wise as parents. We have to be clear about, on what we're going to be able to watch and what you're not. And you're not here to make your kids happy. You're here to guide them and direct them. And I would say haunted houses, horror movies, both of them have a ton of demonic presence to them.

44:10 And we've got to be able to tell our kids no there, even if they're going to be upset about it. Actually, we were talking about this yesterday, my kids and I, and we were saying how, and my daughter-in-law as well, how different those horror movies are. And if you look back 90s and 80s and they go, man, you can almost laugh at those. And then now it's just, it truly terrifies you. And they have such effects that you feel in your spirit. And I've never even watched any. I just see, I see some trailers and I go, oh my goodness, I need to turn away. I go, man, close my ears. Any commercial, I'm like, oh. And you can feel it in there. So as parents got to be discerning, got to teach our kids and guide them.

44:51 there is an element of fun to creativity. It doesn't have to be on Halloween. You could do a fall festival. A lot of churches are doing that a week before, two weeks before. It's about being creative with your kids, getting to know your neighbors. If some families say, turn lights off, I'm not going to participate. Totally get it. You as a family need to decide that. Some of them see it as an outreach, sitting out in the driveway or a front door, and they talk to their neighbors and their life giving to them. And then some of them, Some parents believe, hey, we can go out, we can dress up as Bible characters, and we can have a redeeming side to it and bring within our home the fun times and memories that we want to bring.

45:33 We don't have to participate in any of the evil stuff, and we're not celebrating the holiday per se. It's just we're going out and having some fun. And I know it's a tough discussion to have with the kids because the kids just think of candy. They don't think about all the ramifications. But it's up to us as adults and especially believers to read the signs of the times, right? I mean, even I believe it was the apostle who had commended, even Jesus himself, I believe, commended the brothers Issachar because. They studied the times. And I think we need to be students of the times right now because of what we see happening. I mean, even Billy Graham, before he passed away, and I use this example often, Danny, you know, when he was asked by a reporter, Dr. Graham, are these the last days?

46:19 He goes, oh, no, these are the last of the last days. So think about if Billy Graham's making that statement, you got J.D. Vance, the vice president of the United States, talking about the last days. It's like, hello. I mean, and you see the intensity, spiritual intensity that's revving up. And, you know, the demonic that's giving, you know, more and more, you know, presence all to condition us so that we would miss the second coming of Jesus Christ, God forbid. Yeah. Yeah. And so as families, we need to be intentional about the spiritual direction, the spiritual formation of our kids so that they can be discerning and not get stuck on the yes or no on this, but talking about the deeper things. Let's say a child wants to pick a certain costume instead of saying absolutely no. You go, hey, why would you want to pick that one? Tell me more about that. Go a little deeper. Have deeper conversations as a family with your adult children, with your teens, with your younger kids. to look at belief systems, because that's what drives ultimately our behaviors.

47:20 Exactly. And we need to be able to look way deep inside. Why do we make the decisions we make? What's going on inside our spirit? Because that's what, that's what caused us to make certain decisions when we're faced with an intersection of a decision that we're going to make. And we've got to help our kids learn how to make wise decisions that are based on biblical principles. And that takes ongoing conversations, not just around Halloween, but but all year long about what we're experiencing, what we're deciding, what we're thinking, what we're attracted to and why. Well, and as you suggested, Danny, there's age appropriate direction here. You know, when a child is, you know, maybe up to seven years old, maybe six, maybe you're a little bit more directive because you can be, it's a little bit easier. It's a little bit more challenging when they start, you know, getting above 10 because they seem to know better.

48:09 But if you haven't laid the groundwork up to that point in time, It's a little bit tougher battle, isn't it? It is because now it becomes more difficult. They're starting to establish their own belief systems. Now you've got to undo some of that and go backwards a bit and then reestablish new ones. That takes trust. It takes conversation. It takes patience and maybe some conflict, especially preteens and teens as they're trying to follow now their peers and their teens. And so you've got to take advantage of those early years of participating in a directive way. but also letting your kids learn the why. And I know with our kids, when we were intersecting here with this particular holiday, this Halloween, we would say, hey, you guys, here are the parameters. You guys can dress up as something that's either a Bible character, superhero, something life-giving.

49:03 Think about a life-giving character. And let's put that on. And tell me what it feels like to put on a costume And to have that, we had deeper conversations around that, that sometimes we wear masks and all that. But then we said, hey, let's have family over and let's play games. Let's have a talent show because our talents are to be given away as gifts to people. And today people are, we're going to go to doors. We're going to visit neighbors, people we know. They're going to give you guys candy and we can be life giving to each other. And there's a sweetness to that. And we need to learn that. Let's say hi to our neighbors. Let's have fun seeing them because otherwise there are no other days where you just go to their front door and ask for candy. So we would go say hi to them and, and, and then we'd come home and the cousins, it was so fun to see them do a talent show, but also exchange candy and learn about each other and learn the, the, the great skill of getting to know other people instead of it's all about you. And then from there, Those are the memories we had. We took a group picture.

50:07 We had a costume contest. And so we made it fun. And it wasn't anything about that other stuff, the stuff that was evil. And then when they became teens, there were some years where we said, hey, guys, let's just watch a movie. Turn the lights off. We're just going to hang out as a family. It's going to be family night tonight. What do you guys say? And they'd say, yeah. Oh, that sounds great. And we'd watch. We watched Elf one time. Just to start thinking about Christmas. So just families, you know, each year to year, look at how you're going to handle this. Begin to talk to each of your kids that you may have one temperament that says, oh, I want to be all in. This is my favorite holiday. I want to dress up. Get to know the why and then penetrate within that in the conversation and then guide it throughout the year.

50:53 Well, I think that's some great advice, Danny, that could really, you know, turn this holiday on its head. And maybe people of faith can capture this uh you know these this event in such a way to like you say bring life into it because uh so much about halloween it's become about death which really we're putting it into the hands and we're elevating the demonic unbeknownst to ourselves i think people have felt uncomfortable about it for a long time but they just weren't sure how to go about it so as we wrap things up what's your final advice here danny. Yeah, all year long, let's be life-giving. And in times of darkness, this is when we can bring a tremendous amount of light.

51:34 He's the vice president of parenting and youth department at Focus on the Family. He's the author of the book, great book, by the way, Seven Traits of Effective Parenting. If you haven't seen it or got your hands on it, you must have it. uh in your personage i highly guarantee it might be a nice uh even christmas gift for you or you know even a halloween gift why not let's make the most of it uh dr danny worth it thank you danny take care god bless thanks bill god bless you. We call ourselves ASAP Travel for one reason. We can help you book a ticket ASAP. For those of you that don't know, that means as soon as possible. That means no wait time. You get through right away. No searching online. Our specialty is the lowest available fares on the big name airlines.

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