Last Day Signs, MidTerms, & Open Borders Again?

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. Hey, good morning. Six minutes after the top of the hour, I'm Bill Martinez, and he is Steve Bonta, the publisher of the New American Magazine. Mr. Steve, how are we doing? Good. I'm doing just fine, Bill. How are you? Hey, I'm doing terrific. Hey, you know, I'm observing, like you are, what's going on in Europe, and it reminds me of some parallels here. And I was thinking about it this morning. It's kind of like what happened in Israel. You had the northern kingdom being judged because they were doing goofy things, you know. just ignoring God, but goofy things nonetheless. And the southern kingdom is looking and watching them get judged, and they're not quite doing the math here and going, wait a minute, how much different are we than them? Maybe we should heed a warning from what we see, how God's judging them in the north.

1:16 And I look at it this way, what's happening in Europe, doing goofy things, violating moral law and America here, it's not North and South. It might be, you might say it's more of a West Eastern kind of thing, a comparison. And I can't see why America doesn't look at what's happening in Europe and saying, Hey, we're doing that stuff too. Are we going to be looking at the same thing that they're looking at right now in their streets in France and England and Belgium? Well, I mean, it's difficult to say. You're invoking, of course, the immigration issue in particular, but there are other things. I mean, obviously, Europe invented Marxism and socialism and promptly tried them out, and the disastrous results that obtained over there did nothing to discourage energetic leftists on this side of the pond to continue to push for And to this very day, it continues to agitate for setting up some sort of socialist or Marxist system here in the United States. So, I mean, we have a long history of aping what the Europeans do and expecting different results. So, you know, this seems to be the latest example. In this instance, it's perhaps fortunate that we as American citizens also have the exemplar of Canada directly to our north, which is much further along the road towards socialism, towards demographic, radical demographic change because of the massive numbers of people from particularly Islamic countries that they've imported in Canada. And

2:48 so we do have another object lesson much closer at hand that hopefully will serve as a cautionary tale if things really go south, so to speak, in Canada. Right, so to speak, yeah, exactly. So that would be more of a north and south comparison, just like with Israel. But no, you're exactly right. And we've been conditioned over the decades. I mean, this is going on for over 100 years. Socialistic and Marxist ideas have crept in. And they've been embraced and implemented, whether we're talking FDR, certainly the crazy stuff that LBJ did. And how he, to me, it just amazes me how the Democratic Party and LBJ almost single-handedly devastated the black community. Yeah.

3:31 And again, I mean, you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. So we'll see. I if any good comes out of the absolute catastrophe unfolding in France, and I gather now it's spread into Italy and other places in the EU as well. If there's anything good to be had from that, it will be that we finally have a salutary example and that we can say, well, you know, we really don't want to suffer the same fate as the Europeans. Because, you know, what's happened in effect has been that the Europeans... with smug assurance of the sort of self-correcting righteousness of their way of life, were willing to import people from a different culture and a different religion who, whatever else one may say of them, are very, very, very firm in their convictions. Whereas in the post-Christian West, the very opposite is the case. you know, where we really don't have that.

4:28 I mean, say what you will about Muslims and Islam, they believe fervently in the five pillars of Islam. They believe absolutely that they have this world destiny that ultimately Islam is going to overspread the world, you know, the one true religion of the Prophet Muhammad and all that kind of thing. They believe that to the very depths of their being in the same, with at least the same degree of fervor that our Christian ancestors once generally believed the same. And this is the reason that, you know, in centuries past when Islam came with very formidable invading armies, you know, repeatedly, of course, the Turks, the Ottoman Turks in particular, you know, invading Europe and bidding fair to topple the, you know, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

5:12 Right, exactly. I mean, they actually besieged Vienna twice over the centuries and all this sort of thing. And if you look at the gallantry... at places like the Siege of Vienna, the Battle of Kosovo, and many other pivotal, obviously, the sieges of Malta and Rhodes, the Battle of Lepanto and so forth. Those were won, in every case, against overwhelming odds by the Christian West because they were Christian, because they were, you know, I mean, one may quibble with some of their sectarian beliefs, but they definitely believed in Christ and Him crucified. And they were willing to, you know, to fight for that to the death and to undergo incredible privations and sacrifice to do that. I don't see that same spirit in Europe today. And increasingly, one might say the same of the United States.

6:04 I was going to say, I mean, the fervor that the Muslims have is certainly, I think, more dynamic than what we're seeing here in the West. And maybe some of that, Steve, is because we're just so affluent. you know, that this is such an affluent country, we've been very spoiled, and we've taken God's grace and benefits for granted. Well, I mean, yes, and if there's any area where something approaching that level of fervor is to be found, it's in, oh, I don't know, you know, the concern over who's going to win the Super Bowl or something like that. There was a meme circulating on Facebook a couple years ago that showed this, it's like a crowd shot of some rabid Miami Hurricanes football fans, you know, dressed in it and waving the flags and screaming and yelling at the officials. And the caption said something like, imagine what the world would be like if people got this excited over things that actually mattered. It was just devastating, but it's true. And once upon a time, that same level of fervor, you know, and kind of tribal togetherness, you know, motivated the Crusades and motivated this, you know, the Christian West. I And they will always be nothing if not fervent. I mean, frankly, you know, if you look at the communists and socialists, again, one has to admire in a perverse sort of way, you know, the fixity of purpose. There's a famous picture online, a black and white picture of this young man standing like this

7:34 with his arms defiantly crossed about to face an impromptu firing squad in the street, and he's just staring down his about-to-be executioners. What people don't know about that picture is that the man involved was a communist. He was a German communist in the early 1920s who was not afraid to die. And the same was true of the communist partisans in what used to be Yugoslavia, elsewhere in Eastern Europe. I mean, they're willing to fight and die for their cause, too. The left is nothing if not fervent. Meanwhile, those of us who are supposedly on the side of liberty and decency and traditional values so easily become complacent and bovine and just willing to sit back and let other people do the heavy lifting.

8:14 And sometimes, you know, I think that our belief in life is such that I would say that we honor life, and maybe that has an influence as well, as opposed to somebody who's so ideologically fixed like... you know, the people that we're experiencing in Iran, for example, they're going to fight to the death. No, absolutely. And I don't think Trump understands that at all. I mean, I don't think he really comprehends the nature. I mean, I think he's taken totally off guard by the fervor. They want to die. Now, I'm not saying that we should all become like that. I mean, I think there's some, I mean, part of, you know, Western civilization is that we do place a high value on death. We're not going to strap suicide vests on our little children and send them into the you know, a couple of, you know, perceived enemy soldiers. We don't do that.

9:04 Exactly. Let's go to quick break. We'll pick it up on the other side. More from Steve after this. 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. But less than one-third of employees prioritize judgment. At the same time, 60% of employees worry AI is eroding their skills, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. Aparna Nair, Chief Talent, Leadership and Culture Officer, IBM.

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12:58 800-547-5331. 800-547-5331. 800-547-5331. This advertisement was paid for in partnership with Cars R Us and Find the Children. Hey, welcome back. Bill Martinez here with Stibb Bonta, the publisher of the New American magazine. Steve, you're exactly right. I think Donald Trump, the West has consistently misunderstood the East, and especially when it comes with these radical Muslims, have no idea, you know, what would be in the mind of 19 airline hijackers and, you know, and aim... planes and kill, you know, 3,000 people. I mean, it's hard for us to get our brains around that. But there are evil people out there. And now we're entangled with them in Iran. And truth be known, I mean, still in the Gaza, got, I think, about 35, 40%. The Gaza is still occupied by these radicals. Hezbollah is a little quiet right now, and you got the Houthis going crazy. So, you know, it almost reminds me of what James Dobson would talk about, the defiant child. He said that if little Johnny is standing before you with his hands on his hips, wanting a spanking, I believe that he should not be disappointed. No, perhaps.

14:19 Yes. I mean, I don't know. I mean, I think that. You know, the Iranian situation has been mishandled from the very beginning. We've probably discussed this before, but, you know, suffice to say, you know, Trump did a very unwise thing in effectively pledging to the Iranian people, you know, when the protests started right after Christmas last year. That, you know, he would stand with them and all this sort of thing. And then when the Iranian government called the bluff and went out and massacred tens of thousands of mostly young people who were truly involved in nonviolent protests for the most part, you know, they actually were mostly peaceful protesters. And they just got mercilessly mowed down in one of the most flagrant acts of mass murder that we've seen since the Second World War. But now Trump is stuck. What's he going to do? Oh, you know, I didn't really mean that. We don't want to get involved.

15:08 And of course, then he looks weak and America's credibility yet again is demolished. Or does he go in there in a war that probably we shouldn't be involved in? Well, he chose the latter course and now we're involved. And, you know, surprise, it turns out that religious fanatics, you know, you can't just go in there with a mother of all bombs fly swatter and solve the problem with a few raids. It doesn't work that way. So. And this is something, you know, even in earlier generations, you know, the British, when they were busy trying to colonize North Africa and the East and the Middle East and the French, they found the same thing. You know, they would encounter these fanatical armies that would fight to the last man and, you know, make this choice of, well, I guess we're going to have to massacre all of them if we're going to win this battle. And this is not the way that the West is accustomed even to prosecuting wars anymore. the worst of all evils, we have developed this system to try to mitigate the worst effects of warfare. You know, this idea of the Geneva Conventions and the idea that there's certain things that one just doesn't do in wartime. Well, as we've discovered again and again in wars with non-Western countries, if you join a conflict and you expect to win, you have to throw some of those rules out the window, unfortunately. And then we end up becoming barbarians ourselves to a certain degree.

16:26 Well, and that's what war does, and this is why we try to do everything we can to avoid it. And I think in one hand, when you look at Iran being nuclear, is that a line too far? And unfortunately, we had a president that really gave them a path to nuclear weaponization. And that's– I mean it's a nice tidy thing, Bill, to say, well, we should never, ever, ever do anything with our military except defend our own shores. But in the world of nuclear weapons– That formula doesn't always apply because the reality now is that an enemy can obliterate. There are several enemies that have the capability right now to obliterate American cities without sending a single ship to sea.

17:09 They don't need to invade the American homeland. Whether or not that's a likelihood, you know, with the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, people can debate. But it's a reality that there are several, there are at least three countries in the world, enemy countries, that have that ability right now. and Iran is bidding fair, so they say, to join them. Now, there are people who say, well, actually, it's exaggerated, just like we did with Iraq a generation ago. They really are nowhere near a nuclear weapon. I don't know, and I'm not qualified to say, so I tend to hedge a little bit on this issue because I do agree with the idea, personally, that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon because they're not like other regimes. They're not even like the North Koreans, right? wrote the book on crazy.

17:55 They're so far beyond the North Koreans. I mean, the North Koreans, I think would ultimately, you know, they do value life in some sense. And the Iranians, we've seen what their mentality is. So yeah, I agree, they should never ever be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. But after Operation Midnight Hammer, we were assured that that objective had already been attained. Well, but when you have their own diplomats, you know, in the first meeting saying, well, we have enough fusion material to create 11 nuclear bombs. Either that's arrogance, bravado or what, but I mean to go into a negotiation saying that you have nuclear weapons to the ready already.

18:35 I mean, that pretty much, to me, it takes the, you know, the act of diplomacy and the discussion down a more serious road. Well, and of course, as long as they have a nuclear program, there's the ever-present danger that any one of four nuclear regimes, you know, the aforementioned big three and then Pakistan as well, any of those four could conceivably and probably already have assisted them at minimum in the acquisition of a bomb. Or if, you know, if they find themselves in economic straits, they might be tempted to actually sell nuclear weapons to a regime like Iran. And that would be just... you know, just a devastating outcome, I would think.

19:16 And who's to say, Steve, that Iran, the IRGC, couldn't go into Pakistan and acquire through force a nuclear bomb? Yeah, it's hard to know. I mean, Pakistan has problems of its own right now with the Baluchi insurgency and various other things. So, you know, obviously India. It's a difficult problem. I'm not going to sit here and say, well, I have a simple solution and Trump should listen to me in every particular, because it is not an easy, and Trump is correct when he points out or the meme lords who make the memes point out that we've had a succession of presidents going all the way back to Jimmy Carter, who've done nothing about the Iran threat, who've decried it, but ultimately done nothing, even as Iran has committed, you know, across several generations now, acts of war against America, against her allies, including in the new world, you know, the terrorist attack in the early 90s in Buenos Aires, against the Jewish Cultural Center there. It was a hideous event. And, you know, and proceed apace even as we speak, you know, to attack international shipping. via their proxies, the Hooties, as well as directly. You know, and so do we have legitimate casus belli? Well, here's the thing, Bill. If we do, then stop messing around.

20:29 This is something Trump should have done months and months ago, instead of this constant, you know, oh, now we're all on, and then suddenly, oh, we're going to cut a deal. You know, and people, oh, you don't understand, Steve. He's playing five-dimensional chess, and he's, you know, no, he's not. He just doesn't know what he wants to do. I mean, I'm sorry, but that's a fact. He's good at certain things, but he's a businessman. He doesn't know much about, frankly, about warfare and the history of war. He never served in the military. He went to military school, but that's a That's a different. Kettle of fish. So I'm sorry, not that I'm any more qualified than he is. I'm not here to say that I would have all the answers either if I were sitting in the Oval Office. So obviously, it's easy to point fingers.

21:11 And to those of your listeners who are diehard MAGA, Trump always knows what he's doing, okay, fine, maybe. But we haven't seen the results yet. And this war– he's basically put the war on pause because as important as apparently– as it is, it's more important to curry favor with the electorate in the weeks leading up to the election. So we're just going to sit back and let Iran yet again for like the third or fourth time since the thing started rearm and resume attacks on the Strait of Hormuz and all the rest of it. So– Well, I've maintained whenever you go to war, the generals that know what they're doing, you let them out of the cage and say, go bust stuff up, go in and do what you have to do to bring people to the diplomatic table. That's what it takes. You got to hit them hard and fast. I'm like you on this deal. I'm not into pauses. And I served in the military, didn't serve at that level. But my experience and what I have studied tells me that that's what you have to do. You got to let the generals do what they do best. And then diplomacy comes into play. Well, I mean, you know, if.

22:15 You compare this to the Persian Gulf War, the first Gulf War, for those of us who are old enough to remember that, And I'm no great fan of the first president, George Bush, for a wide array of reasons that we don't need to get into. But, and I'm not sure that that's a war that we should have gotten involved in, you know, the invasion of Kuwait. But leaving all that aside, having made the decision, however illegitimately, yes, I know it was done in the name of the new world order and we didn't declare war properly, all that stuff, leaving all that, looking at it just qua military action, what did the president do? He basically delegated it to Norman Schwarzkopf and said, do this. And we all saw the result. It was brutal, but it was fast and it was over. And then unfortunately, in the aftermath, they allowed the UN to take over. But the war itself was unquestionably a master class in how to do what you were saying.

23:07 He's the publisher of the New American Magazine, Steve Bonta. Thank you, Steve. Take care. Thanks, Bill. 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. This study underscores the remarkable work out-of-school time programs do to help students discover the joy in learning while preparing them to succeed now and into the future. The study finds rural and low-income students are less likely to get frequent STEM opportunities, with rural programs also offering fewer opportunities in computer science and technology. Jody Grant, Executive Director of the After-School Alliance.

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25:54 Sponsored by Specialty Medical. 800-254-1421. 800-254-1421. 800-254-1421. That's 800-254-1421. Hey, welcome back, America. Glad you could join us. For more information on the show, you can go to BillMartinezLive.com. Hey, my good friend Michael Letts is with us right now. Michael is the law enforcement vet and CEO founder of InvestUSA. Michael, good morning to you. Always a pleasure to be with you, Bill. We thank you for the opportunity. Well, I appreciate your service. I appreciate your love for God and country, my man. I'm telling you.

26:39 Now, more than ever, the rest of America needs to stand up. We're in the final stages, Bill. Well, it is a clear binary choice. I mean, I hate to put it in this terms, but you got to call it for what it is, Mike. It's a battle for good and evil. And I know that some people on the left will go, well, how can you call me evil? Well, how can you declare there isn't a God? You know, once you turn your back on God and you think you have a better way and you do it on your own and you want to supplant a democratic republic that's based on Judeo-Christian principles and all you have to offer are really evil and ungodly, you know, ideas. I'm not even going to say they're solutions because they're not. The only thing they're a solution to is more chaos.

27:27 No, you're exactly right. I would respond to the question that you just posed. Look, we know what's going on in Europe. We're seeing our intel shows us their strategy, the groups that are involved. It's the same groups that are involved now trying to hear this is a forward operating base. In the U.S., they're determined to do the same thing here that they're doing currently in Europe now, destroying Europe. And so, yes, it is an invasion. It's an invasion of pure evil. The same thing as the Nazis, you know, I mean, during World War II, et cetera. And if we don't recognize that bill, then we will be decidingly weak and we will lose this battle. But I believe America is waking up. Michael, as a former law enforcement officer, uniforms are meaningful, right?

28:10 Correct. Uniforms mean something. They can mean something good or something evil. And so what you're pointing out is these Antifa types and other rebel rousers, whether they're here in the United States or they're across the pond, so to speak, it's interesting that you see them wearing similar uniforms. Yes, no question. It's a coalition that's come together. It is, you know, Antifa is one of them. Of course, you know, they're using Black Lives Matter and others. But here's what we have. Our intelligence sources show in Europe that they're saying groups that are doing it here. You have an alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood. You have an alliance between the communists. Of course, in this country we call them the Democratic Socialist Party, but it's the same difference. And you have an alliance between basically the Islamic Jihadists from Taliban, from ISIS and others. And so they have all put their forces and their eggs together. They're the ones funding.

29:08 Take a look at Antifa's funding and all. Why do you think it's so important that we have gone into Iran? It wasn't just because of the fact that we didn't want to have a nuclear weapon. Oh, that's extremely important. How many thousands of American lives have been lost because of the terror that Iran finances continuously with no impunity about it? They're going to continue to do it until they're destroyed. And that's what we're having to do. We have to do. And you're talking sponsor of terror around the world, Michael. And the deal is that's surprising to me. Again, this is demonstrative of where the world is right now. Why isn't the world coming alongside Israel and America to oust this terrorist regime?

29:49 Well, it's interesting because here's what we find. I'm giving you communications, intel communications that we've intercepted, is that, you know, there is a segment in Europe that recognizes, and then there's a segment, and here's the sad part, it's NATO. NATO has decided that, you know, I mean. Bill, you have to scratch your head. We went over there and rescued them how many times? World War I, World War II, etc., freedom from Nazism. How do they want to repay us? They want us to be destroyed. They want to support all the efforts that this coalition and Russia and China are doing to destroy America, and that's what's so sad. Think of the trillions of dollars we've put into keeping them alive over there. What did we get for it? A slap in the face? So here's the position that the president takes, and this is what I think America needs to take.

30:35 You know what? If that's the way you want to treat us, you're on your own. You're going to determine America first. We're going to protect America's interests. We've seen the intelligence reports. We know what's going on in Europe. We know that they have listed the United States of America as their number one objective to destroy us and to turn us into a caliphate. And so we're going to take this. I know it sounds a little radical, Bill, but trust me, this is where we need to be. We're going to take those organizations that have aligned with our enemies and and treat them as enemies in this country, you will be locked up, moved out, deported, whatever is necessary to secure our borders. Now, we wouldn't be doing anything different than we did in World War II, Bill. We didn't allow Nazis to walk up and down the street and recruit and. Et cetera, et cetera. We need to do the same thing now to protect our country.

31:17 Well, I mean, this is the thing. It's like my old mentor used to say, Michael. is that sometimes you can be so open-minded your brains will fall out. And I think this is the condition of most of America, is that we're so sympathetic towards people that it's sympathetic suicide, is what my friend John Zamera calls it. And he's right. I mean, you know, because we really do not understand suicide. how we should cherish our freedoms and liberties. I mean, this is a gift of God, and we treat it. We cast pearls before swine, Michael. We don't treat it with respect and honor that it deserves. And you know what?

31:58 You know, we're getting attacked here, and it's at the expense of our families, our legacy, our country. And look, we've got to come together and united against this movement this radical movement and like you say we have to take some aggressive moves and i get i can understand people on the left and the ladies of the view are going to clutch their pearls but you know what at least you're going to be safe because if we don't do this you know what they're going to do with the ladies of the view they're going to put you on top of the building and it's not to look at a wonderful view and have some mimosas. Okay push them off. I mean, look at we look historically what happens with communism and all these isms. I mean, in the last century, Michael, over 100 million people. I mean, can you even get your mind around that? We're murdered, horrifically tortured. And we are we're dancing with the devil on this. Are you kidding me?

32:55 Well, you know, they like to use the narrative. They like to try to make America feel guilty. Look at all the benefits that you have. You should be compassionate to everybody else. Folks, here's the bottom line. We have the benefits that we've had to this country because we've had principles and values that led us that way. It's when you divert from those principles, you lose the privileges. It's not a matter of being compassionate. We worked because we abided by values and principles, and we built this country, and we're not going to let somebody else, because they don't have any values and principles, come in and destroy us. That is what is not compassionate, Bill. Yeah, look what happened. I mean, and Donald Trump is being maligned because of, you know, he called out the condition for what it is in France. And there's other countries as well that have done the same thing. Their borders have opened. They haven't learned from the open borders.

33:38 They haven't learned that you have to, you know, if you don't work, you can't eat. You know, they're not putting their populace to work. They're constantly fighting. taking care of them and they've mediocritized them and made them dependent upon the country till, oh my God, we're out of money. We're so out of money right now in France, we can't even give them cake because there's no cake to be found, Michael. That's correct. They came right in defense. They took all their guns away. So these people are just ransacking, looting homes with no ability for the owners to be able to defend themselves. That's what they want in this country. But one thing I want to remind our listeners, Bill, is this. This just came out this morning. You know, we just uncovered, or we've been working on, we just released this morning, 220,000 fraudulent votes in New York City mayoral election. Mondani didn't win. See, here's what I want to make sure America understands.

34:29 Oh, we're shifting. We're shifting. We're not shifting. The small leftist leaning liberals are getting better and better at deceiving, stealing, and performing all the evil they're so well equipped to do. And it's time that we put a stop to that kind of behavior and ship them back to where they need to go. Again, remind everybody, how many votes? 220,000 fraudulent votes. How do you know they're fraudulent? Let me tell you what we did. Went down the records. No Social Security numbers. Not even citizens. Don't live in New York. I mean, we've got the percentages all broken out. Over 25% of the vote that was cast is fraudulent votes. Now, he won by 207. 220,000 have already been identified, okay?

35:09 And that's so far? So far. Right. So the point I want to. Make sure that America understands is because we get lambasted by the left media. Oh, well, you're just, you're not getting old. I mean, the things are changing. Mentality is changing. People are seeing the light. People are not seeing the light. The other side is stealing. The other side are being deceptive. We still have our values and principles in this country. It's time we stand up and defend them and realize that they're the enemy and they have to go. Exactly. They're not on the side of liberty and freedom.

35:50 Things that you grew up with, the things that you want to pass on to your children and have it be a part of your legacy. Do not give it up. We've got to go to break. Stay with us. We've got more from Michael after this. What if a trip to your mailbox could put you behind the. Wheel of a brand new automobile? Starting September 28th, Valpak Clip is giving one lucky winner a new vehicle valued at more than $ 40, 000. Entering is free. Visit valpak.com slash freeride or keep an eye on your mailbox for the giveaway in your blue envelope and clip magazine.

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38:56 800-284-1349 800-284-1349 800-284-1349 That's 800-284-1349. Hi, everyone. If you've been injured in an accident that was not your fault, listen up. We have legal professionals standing by to answer your questions for free. Call now and find out if you have a case and how much it's potentially worth. Call 800-830-5050. I'm here with spokesman John Wolfe. So John, tell everyone listening who should call right now. Well, Maria, first off, thank you for having me here.

39:38 It's always nice to answer the listeners' questions. Now, as far as who should call in, anyone who's been injured in an accident and think you deserve compensation, give us a call right now. 800-830-5050. You'll find out if you have a case and how much it's potentially worth. Thanks, John. You heard it, folks. Take advantage of this opportunity and call now. 800-830-5050. Advertisement sponsored by Legal Help Center. May not be available in all states. Not available in California. Hey, welcome back. Bill Martinez here with the law enforcement vet and CEO founder of InvestUSA. Michael, as we wrapped up this last segment, I know heads were spinning to realize that, I mean, there's proof here that, you know, we've all known this. I mean, we've been told, you see, nothing that the media is doing to report on this.

40:33 How disingenuous. What a violation of our First Amendment right that our mainstream media cannot demonstrate you know, report on things objectively. And they turned their backs on what happened with voter fraud in 2020. And the fact of the matter is, voter fraud's been going on forever and ever. And one of the things that some of these media talking heads like to do is they go, well, you know, Bill, that's only like 12,000 votes. You know, what difference is that going to make in a, you know, in a state that has 35 million voters? Right. Well, yeah, but you got to look and see how, you know, how many votes did somebody win and lose by? And they start to add up. And meanwhile, you know, forget about the foundational principles of the Constitution that demands that we are governed by the consent of the governed.

41:23 And we give our consent through that cherished, sanctified vote that we put out every two years. You have to wonder, Bill, I mean, when you and I were younger, And you went and voted. I mean, the polls closed at 7. By 8 o'clock, you knew who the winner was. And this is all paper balance, okay? This is hand counting. Nowadays, there's a reason why you don't know by 8 o'clock, because they have to calculate not when, if we didn't win, how many we defeated. Don't put in too many, because then they'll start to question, you know, how did you get those huge numbers? Make sure we have just enough to give us a comfort level, but to also secure our victory. That's why they wait. They cheat, and we sit back and let it happen. Well, you know, you bring up a good point here, because what they do is they set a standard, right?

42:07 Like you say, don't cheat too much. It's kind of like an IRS audit. You know, you don't want to you know, you don't want to trigger any red flags here. Right. So but the deal was with Joe Biden. They went overboard. They made it so obvious. And then it cracks me up to this day. The mainstream talking heads, you know, they'll go, well, you don't believe that it was a legitimate election? You don't believe that Joe Biden won in 2020? No. Do you? You know, where's the proof? I mean, you demand proof from us. And we lay it out there, but the courts, you know, because they're in with this conspiracy and this cabal, you know, they kick it out and say, well, you don't have standing. It's on technicality and everything else. It's like, wait a minute. Let's get to the truth. I mean, what's really what gives us all standing, Michael, is the truth. We need the truth, right?

42:58 You're exactly right. And let's use what we talked about with New York. What to the mainstream media be doing is, really? Show me the facts. Let's have all the cameras there. Show me each one of these. Prove to me how it's fraudulent. Instead of just automatically saying, oh, no, no, no. You're exaggerating. You're lying. That didn't really happen. That's your opinion. You don't want to look at the facts. None of them do because they don't want to be able to be proven that they're cheats and liars. Yeah, because they're all part of the cabal. They're all getting money. This is all power and control. Lindsey Graham brought it out during the Kavanaugh hearings, and that is the order of the day. They have to have power and control is their oxygen, Michael.

43:40 And there's a reason behind that, Bill. Look at how far in debt we are. You think all that money, you know, we've done internal working on this. It's estimated now that 68% of the $ 40 trillion deficit is fraud. 68%, and then the other 32% are probably the interest that we're paying on the debt that we've got. So you see, they've set it up how to steal from us. They don't want to lose their money, and they've got to be empowered to keep these infrastructures in place so they can continue to rob us. Well, I've maintained, I've spoken at length with Grover Norquist, America's for Tax Reform, and I asked him straight up, I said, Grover, how much of that $ 40 trillion is is connected to vote-getting and voter fraud. He goes all of it. I mean, he didn't even hesitate. He says all of it. Because you see what's happening. And again, I hate this saying that happens on both sides, but you have to admit, corruption is corruption. It just doesn't stay.

44:40 What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. We know that. So it's like the little bit of leaven that the Bible talks about. It gets through the whole batch. So understand, we're not trying to protect anybody. What we're trying to protect is our integrity and our moral standing and our demand for the truth. Because what happens is they tap into the taxpayers' treasury and they divert those money to particular interests that then put back into their campaign. I mean, it is an obvious cycle. And it's fraudulent on its face. It's unfair. We are misrepresented. You talk about taxation without representation.

45:21 We haven't been properly represented, Michael, probably for decades. People find this shocking when I'm fixing the state bill, but there are hundreds of thousands of NGOs, these non-governmental entities, to funnel all this money through across the country. We wouldn't have time. It would take us a whole week, 24 hours a day to list every one of them on your show. Can you imagine the fraud and the corruption that's occurring by putting that infrastructure in place? Gives them a cover. Congress says, oh, I wouldn't take anything. I'd just send it to where I thought they needed it. But what they're not telling you, the flip side of the paper is they're going to turn around and send it back. to their campaigns, to their offshore accounts, et cetera, et cetera, as long as they kept a portion of it. But that's why this whole corrupt infrastructure has been in place for decades. We're in the process of tearing it down. And, boy, we are in a battle, an epic war, unlike anything we've ever seen in history.

46:12 Well, look what happened, Michael. I mean, look, we've known this for a long time. Nancy Pelosi has become a gazillionaire with insider trading. This stuff is going on. These politicians go in. They're worth a couple of hundred grand and they leave worth millions. And and then here it comes right before the close of this last session. They said, OK, we're going to vote. No more insider trading. That's it. We're going to codify it. Well, it passes through the House. And what happens in the Senate? Oh, my God. Dead. It was DOA. And so what does that tell you? And I don't think there was one Democrat that voted for that, Michael.

46:52 But, you know, we have a majority in the Senate of Republicans. You still couldn't get it through because, as you said, makes no difference what the party is now. We've got corrupt. We have politicians, not statesmen. And that's where the problem lies. But I want to assure our viewers, you know, there was something real quick I want to throw out there, Bill. Remember, I think we talked about it on your show. Maduro was saying that they had over 60. sitting members of Congress who are on the payroll. We just convicted the first one, Riviera, down in Florida. Republican, okay? So we're going to where the crime's at. We're not going to where the letter behind your name is. And that's the way it should be. Well, exactly. And look what's happening with Ilhan Omar. Man, are the wagons circling around her. And how do you, you know, how do you cover, I mean, this is going on, and lest people forget, I mean, this investigation started under a Democratic president.

47:39 That's correct. Joe Biden started the investigation. And, you know, and the deal is, is that... It's a mockery because it's almost like she was mocking America by admitting and stories out there about marrying her brother and her father and his connections and how they came here under false pretenses. And now we're finding out, oh, another birth certificate issue? I mean, what is it with the Democrats? They can't provide a legitimate birth certificate? The shocking part in that particular situation you're talking about It just recently, you know, this raid we just did, we had to get a warrant. We had to get it from D.C. 97% of the judges, in fact, this one, are heavily liberal Democratic judges. And this, trust me, if he could have found that we didn't cross the T, Dot and I, or for some reason, they would have never signed the warrant. What he saw was there was such overwhelming evidence that had he not signed the warrant, he could have then been accused of obstruction of justice.

48:39 That is the key. So their own people realize how bad they are. When they get bossed in the corner, what do they say? The truth is the truth. The facts are the fact. You can't dispute them. Yeah, and all they could do is go back to their fail-safe get-out-of-jail card. Oh, it's racism. Racism. They've got a word for it. They'll come up with a new one if that one gets worn out, Bill. Well, I keep thinking it was going to be worn out, especially after the last decision from the Supreme Court kind of setting that aside. But, you know, you just give them a chance, and they take a breath, and they bring it back, just like everything else. Just like if the Democrats get into office, the new Green Deal, that green, you know, scam that they put on the American people that cost us trillions of dollars and you know, all the economists are getting together and doing an audit, trying to figure out what kind of return on investment we got.

49:26 I mean, why are you wasting your time? It's called zero. You're exactly right. You've got to give them credit. They use buzzwords. Oh, we want the climate. None of that money goes to the climate. It goes to them, but that's how they cover it. Oh, we've got to feed homeless people. We've got to feed those who are less fortunate. We've got to try to get buzzwords. Does any of the money actually go to those programs? Of course not. That's in a dime. Out of a $ 20 bill, they'll give a dime so they can say they're doing something, and they park at the rest. And that's how they just totally... destroy us and just steal blindly from us. Well, look what's happened in Minneapolis and in other states. I mean, you know, to your point exactly, Michael, they use these bud words. They tell us, oh, this money is going to go to help young kids that are that are ill, that have mental issues, you know, hospice care and all this. And then, you know, it takes a citizen journalism to go in and go, hey, you know what? This king is buck naked.

50:24 It's shocking to me, Bill. I'm taking billions from you and I don't even have a place. I tell you, I'm taking care of all these kids and I don't even have a building. I mean, you know, it's... And there's no kids. No kids, no building, no nothing. Yeah. It's just shocking to me. I don't know how I could be that bold to try to pull that off. I'd at least try to, you know, go get me a warehouse or do something to at least make it look like I had something going on. Yeah. And how dare you ask me where that money went? How dare you even go buy the check on it? It's my money now, don't you? See, that's the problem that we have, Bill. It's one of these, you know, they just expect. I mean, you know, they just assume that they're entitled. And it's amazing because this is the way they, you know, they extend gratitude for what this country has done for them.

51:10 You know, bringing them home to a country, the land of the free and the home of the brave. And this is how they treat our hospitality. How disgusting. You know, I mean, the Democrats ought to remember their own heritage. It was JFK that said, don't ask what your country could do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. They've skipped that last sentence. It's all about what do I get? Give me more. Give me more. Well, JFK wouldn't be elected by the Democrats today. You know that as well as I do. This is why they just put him out of his misery. Killed him and said, okay, we don't need you anymore. We got to leave it there. Michael Letts is the law enforcement veteran and CEO founder of InvestUSA. Michael, as always, an honor to have you on the show. Appreciate it, my friend.

51:54 Take care. God bless. God bless, Eric. Have a good one. Timeshare owners, listen to this. You know it's coming. Your timeshare maintenance fee bill. At RFA Cancellations, we've seen timeshare maintenance fees rising every year. And I bet you have too. Most of our clients that we help get rid of their timeshares don't have that kind of free money laying around. If you don't either, call us. When you hire our experts, we'll do all the work for you. to help you get out of your timeshare with zero money down with approved credit. If you haven't used your timeshare this past year and you want a legal way to get out of it, we can help you get out of your timeshare contract right now and stop paying all the maintenance fees. Plus, put more money back in your pocket every month. Your timeshare is not free, but this call is. Call us right now before time runs out. 800-245-1365.

52:46 800-245-1365. 800-245-1365. That's 800-245-1365. 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. Hey, good morning. Six minutes after the top of the hour, I'm Bill Martinez. He's Mike O'Neill from Landmark Legal. Michael, how are we doing? I'm good. Good to be with you, Bill. How are you today? Hey, doing terrific. I mean, we're screaming to the midterms, having all kinds of fun. I think it's encouraging in one aspect, I would say, is that the consent of the governed seems to be active. I mean, we've got a lot more early voting than we've had in previous midterms.

53:40 I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign, but I want to look at it in terms of engagement, you know? So it's always interesting how engaged folks are on the midterms. And you are seeing that, certainly from a national perspective. It appears that there's a lot more engagement, whether I'm siloed in with just my media bubble hearing about it or whether it's actually happening. But it does certainly seem to indicate that there is a lot more engagement for a midterm election. So whether that ultimately proves good for the United States, good for the conservative movement, good for the Republicans or good for the Democrats, I guess remains to be seen. We will have to see. I tell you what, though. I have generally– I don't pay. A ton of attention to polling at this– because it seems like the past few times they've just been so off with so many different things.

54:25 They've conditioned us not to really believe in it. And you think, you know, here it is. It's all a form of voter manipulation. I mean, because you get these, you know, political camps that hire their own pollsters. And, hey, you know, it's like everything that is, you know, who's ever paying the bill, you're going to get some prejudice and bias because they're the ones that are writing the check, right? Absolutely. So I go vote for who I vote for and we'll see what happens. We'll see where the chips will fall, where they may. I mean, obviously, I do think that there is generally speaking with this election, I think it's really a binary choice. I mean, I think whether.

55:06 If you look at what's going on in France and you look at all the fraud that's come forward from illegal immigration and all the problems with illegal immigration, having open borders, interesting fact that people don't really talk about a lot that's kind of getting lost. It's funny. The good news gets lost. Do you know that there's 60,000 fewer people died this year? From drug overdoses than in the preceding years, that drug overdoses in our country, we're talking about fentanyl, meth, heroin, crack, et cetera, have decreased precipitously since the advent of the Trump administration. And this is really good news. I mean, we had, and I think we've probably talked about it on your show, the. Fact that, remember we were talking about at the beginning of the administration, all of the affirmative efforts by the use of the military to interdict drugs and stop the importation of fentanyl and heroin and cocaine in the United States.

55:56 And there was all this blow up. Oh, Trump's using the military to stop this. And whether the military was being adequately used and whether it was appropriate use of military force to stop this. Well, hey, you know what? Nobody's talking about that anymore. Right. Because guess what? Tens of thousands fewer. People are dying because the Trump administration has gotten control of our borders. So I think this is this is another piece of good news. And again, so so we're having fewer importation of drugs. We're having fewer overdose deaths. Also, immigrant illegal immigration has slowed to a massive has slowed to. Basically nonexistent at this point. Right. We have no nobody's coming into the country illegally. Right. Unlike what was happening at the Biden administration. And what happened is, again, this is why I think it's such an obvious choice here.

56:41 With the open borders for four years, You had– look at what happened. Look at the damage over. Obama's open immigration process for eight years. Biden's four years resulted in what? You're talking about people in parts of this country who have no compunction with defrauding America. And we talked about the honesty and the truth thing in weeks prior. But it starts with that. It starts with securing our borders. And for me, if you look at who supports that, securing the borders, and who doesn't support that, who's actually– interested in addressing the fraud the rampant fraud and the criminality of all of this or who's not i think it's a pretty binary choice and then you can compare what's happened in france with what happens when you have open immigration and allow anybody and everybody into your country.

57:27 And you embrace a bunch of socialist policies you run out of money. You run out of money. We don't have first of all, we don't have the money anyway. Right. We don't have the money anyway. And even if we did have the money, we were you can't spend it from from criminals who come into the country and defraud the American taxpayers for billions and trillions of dollars. Yeah. And so. Yeah. But that didn't stop not having the money didn't stop the Democrats. They just printed it. And so then, oh, my God, inflation. Right. Imagine that. And I would like to see, again, an effort to rein in spending by the Trump administration. That's a quibble I have with it. But you start with the fraud. They're trying to get a hold of fraud. You see this every couple of days now.

58:08 J.D. Vance is coming out. Nick Shirley was at the White House yesterday. They were talking about the fraud task force. There's an actual dedicated effort to trying to get a hold of all of the billions of taxpayer dollars that are just frittered away from for absolute criminality at this point. I think it's been established that it's criminality and there's an effort to do this. So my perspective is, yeah, we can quibble with some of the things with the Trump administration. Yeah, there are problems, but. There's that problems, which I think are manageable and non-existential. And then there's the existential problems you're bringing in. You're opening the borders. You're talking about– think about– this is another one that nobody talks about, and Tom Homan talks about this when he gets the opportunity to, is all of the unaccompanied minors and children that were just imported into this country.

58:51 Oh, yes. And then just send to whomever. Right. You bring in a couple of 12 year olds, 11 year olds, 10 year olds, and then you just send them off to wherever. There's no accountability for this. And this is what happens when you just have open borders. Think about remember that image under the Biden administration when the state of Texas had tried to do something across the river and they put up the barrier and then the feds came in and were. bulldozing over that so people could walk. Right into the United States. It was it's absurd. And this is what you're going to have. This is what we will return to the second that the left becomes comes into power again. So, well, like you say, it's a clear binary choice. And, you know. And the thing is, is that if you still want to deal with the problem, because again, we got the pig in the python here. we're still processing all that mess that Biden and even eight years of Obama, what they brought in and we're trying to get through.

59:41 And so lest we forget, right? Yeah. I mean, you can't undo this. This takes, this will take years and years to restore America to where. It should be. The damage that they can do, that they managed to do in 12 years is incalculable. And just to begin to reform some of these systems and begin to understand that claw back some of the fraud, prosecute some of the fraud, get back some of the money, reform some of the systems, reform the voting systems, ensure that there's some accountability in voting, ensure that there's some accountability in entitlements spending. Remember, I think they just announced the other day how many names they removed from the Social Security rolls, right? Right, exactly. Hundreds of thousands of millions of people who are over 115 years old still on the Social Security rolls? This takes– and everything we talk about, we could talk about Ilhan Omar. We could talk about the voting thing in California.

1:00:33 All of this stuff takes years to get to. This is not– we have systems in place. Our criminal justice system is designed to have speed bumps in it to protect the rights of individuals. So you can't just– you just can't unwind this overnight. And that's what I always try to say, urge patience with it. I understand– A lot of your listeners, viewers, et cetera, are frustrated. Where's the accountability? Where are the perp walks, et cetera, et cetera? A lot of this stuff takes time, so you want to urge some sort of patience with it. I understand everybody's. Patience right now, but this takes time. But all things considered, Michael, who is best prepared and best positioned to address these problems? I mean, Donald Trump has been championing and beating the drum to this end and with some conservative support. I say some, not total.

1:01:22 But the deal is, is that the American people must really, I mean, if you want accountability, you've got to come out in record numbers. and demonstrate to Donald Trump and his leadership, we're giving you the mandate, fix this problem. I mean, he's already demonstrated that he can just by virtue of what he's done with the border, what he's done with other things, you know, drug pricing, the Trump accounts, no tax on tips, you know, trying to get some of this money back into the pockets of the American people. Let's go to quick break and we'll pick it up on the other side. More from Mike O'Neill after this. Stay with us. What if a trip to your mailbox could put you behind the wheel of a brand new automobile? Starting September 28th, Valpak Clip is giving one lucky winner a new vehicle valued at more than $ 40, 000.

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1:05:46 800-439-1588 800-439-1588 800-439-1588 That's 800-439-1588. And we're back with you. I'm Bill Martinez. He's Mike O'Neill from Landmark Legal. So, Michael, as we were wrapping up the first segment, you know, talking about who's best prepared, who is best positioned. And like you said, it's a clear binary choice. You have the Democrats now that have come out and said everything that that you could perceive as being good and positive. under the Trump administration, they want to reverse everything, and they want to take full control.

1:06:28 Absolutely. Dismantle our institutions and our systems that have made America a great country for 250 years. Let me add this real quick, because you mentioned this, and I wanted to say this, is that we need to bring back trust in the agencies. All the three-letter agencies of our government have been compromised. corrupt people have lost faith in them so all this requires some serious house. Cleaning absolutely when you have people again but the long long-term story i said if you're serving in the federal government if you're serving in an institution if you're serving in an executive branch agency and you disagree, like the people spoke in 2024 when they voted for Donald Trump.

1:07:12 The national election voted for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. That means the American people have entrusted those individuals to enact their agenda as presented to the American people through the campaign. If you're in the executive branch and you disagree with that, You could hit the high road. Right. You know what I mean? Or the low road. Just hit a road. And this is what happened within the first term, right? Is you had these career bureaucrats who were burned within the system. And then you still have it, the remnants of it. You still continue to see it. And it takes– and again, this gets back to our point. It takes months and years to burrow this out. But they're working– they're opposition within the. System, right? And so you have the FBI, which was compromised clearly in the first Trump administration, which is clearly compromised. And the fact that you had Department of Justice officials who were compromised. You had– you have– you know, bureaucrats within other departments that are compromised, that are working to undermine the imposition of the administration's agenda throughout the government.

1:08:12 And You know, it took these fights. And again, some of them are ongoing. It took these fights that have gone up to the Supreme Court about the extent to which the president has the authority to terminate the employment of these individuals. Right. And the court to its credit, the Supreme Court has said, yes, the president is the chief executive of the of the country. The executive power is vested within the president of the United States. He is the only he and the vice president are the only people who are voted on nationally. Right. And he has the power, the authority to fire people within his agencies. Exactly. This is something that's common sense for you and me, right? But, of course, in the Washington crazy mind, it's like, no, no, no. I have my job forever. I have a job for life. I can't be fired. I'm entitled.

1:08:53 Everybody in America can be fired except you, bud. No, no. I work for the government. I'm above this. And trust me, I see this pathology day. all the time. It's got to be frustrating. I've got to tell you. My answer is, look, if you don't like Donald Trump, quit. Go find a job somewhere else. You don't have a right to your job. Nobody has a right to any job. You know what I mean? Just because you work for the federal government doesn't mean you have a job for life, although oftentimes that's what it amounts to. You know, Mike, you talk about how things move so slow and the process, and I think our Constitutional Republic and the founders had designed it that way. But I don't think they took into consideration the type of political interference and shenanigans that would take place, the likes of which clearly, and I seem to be picking on Barack Obama, but I think rightfully so, because every time you turn around with these shenanigans and you know, the supposed, you know, scandal-free administration. Barack Obama's fingerprints are all this stuff, whether we're talking, you know, the Russian collusion deal and the IRS thing with Lois Lerner and, you know, just on and on. And then here he is even, he's no longer president. He's a former president and he's interfering with the process. And, you know, to me, I don't think that's fair politics. I think there's just something egregiously incorrect and unfair and maybe even worse than that. It's almost supporters treason that you would interfere with. You know, like

1:10:24 you said, you've got the consent of the government put out their sacred vote to say this is who we want to run this agenda and believe in this. And then it's your job to go ahead and weaponize the government and interfere and plant moles in the administration to kneecap the administration and the wishes of the American people. I think that's what frustrates the American people more because they see this quite clearly. Yeah. And yes, they want perp walks and they want all this other stuff. I get it. But just even accountability to even say, hey, these knuckleheads are here and let's get them out. Yeah, I understand that one. I mean, I thought I thought it was amazing that I've long asserted that that Barack Obama was running the show during the Biden administration. He had a third term and his turn. His third term was the Biden. I don't think the Biden I don't think President Biden was a strong personality within the White House.

1:11:15 Right. I think where the locus of power lay during those four years was up on Calorama, which is where the where the Barack. Obama residence is. Needless to say, how come Barack Obama is the only president not to move away from D.C. After the conclusion of his term, right? Despite the fact that Michelle Obama takes every opportunity to say how much she hates it, they still lived in Washington, D.C. He still met with people within the Biden administration regularly. So I think he was running the show. I think he had an opportunity early on in his tenure as a president to actually be a transcend race candidate. Be something beyond– even the opportunities he came– he was ushered into when he became– when he took office.

1:11:57 Were– He could have been the modern-day Lincoln. Exactly. It was– but he didn't. He chose the path of the radical– activist that he is. It was just this mask that he put on for the American people to get elected. He's a radical activist who has deep ties to radical leftists and is only concerned with being entrenched in power with those individuals. And again, you see this through the NGO networks that they operate. You see it from the Obama Foundation. I mean, good Lord, it's encapsulated in his presidential library, for heaven's sakes. Look at that monolithic piece of drivel. I mean, it's absolutely abhorrent, right? I mean, that's just what a testament to your ego.

1:12:38 Give me a break. That's absurd. So this guy, this guy's been behind a lot of it. A lot of his apparatchiks continue to do this. They were weaponizing the law enforcement, the federal law enforcement agencies during Biden, during Trump one. And again, we can get into that whole thing about Operation Arctic for all the frost and the surveillance and all that nonsense. Yes, I do share the frustrations with a lot of people in our movement and the conservative and just everyday Americans and not seeing some accountability, not seeing some of those people being handcuffed and thrown in the hoose cow. But yeah, I certainly get that. But again, going back to the original point is– You have to look at this as an existential choice because.

1:13:19 Clearly it is. We cannot, as a nation, tolerate years of leftist rule because they have no compunction with dismantling our system. They want the voting system to be dismantled utterly and completely. They don't want to have any checks on verifications on eligibility. They want non-citizens to vote. What's going on in California is good news, but it's incredible that it's metastasized to the point of where it is. And the fact that you have a state actively opposing efforts from the federal government to give them information on non-citizens who are not on. Their voter rolls. You would think in any common sense world, a secretary of state who's in charge with maintaining the accuracy of their voting rolls would say, yes, give me more information so I can make sure that my voter rolls are accurate and are going to contain eligible names of names of eligible individuals, not non-citizens.

1:14:09 But you have California saying, no, I don't want it. You're like, are you crazy? Why don't you want that? Well, of course, we don't want it because you have a system that you've designed that entrenches your power base. And by controlling exactly, you can maintain your authority and power. It's not it's not a conspiracy. It's not it doesn't defy. It doesn't excuse me. It doesn't take a lot of mind power to understand how Spencer Pratt lost the. Mayoral race in Los Angeles. Right. It's as obvious as the nose on my face. They pulled this third person, Nia Rothman, who, by the way, you don't hear word one about now, right? She's gone to the hinterlands. She's completely gone. But they managed to pull her out. to manufacture enough votes so that Spencer Pratt couldn't secure the necessary votes to beat Karen Bass. So now Karen Bass is going to be the mayor again. Nia Rothman, I don't even know who she was, what she was, but they managed to pull her out.

1:15:00 Who did this? Gavin Newsom, the apparatchiks in California. He even said, not to go off too far on this, but he even said, yeah. Spencer Pratt's never going to be mayor of Los Angeles because we have a break glass in case of emergency protocols that we'll utilize. Well, yeah, we saw that. So That's right. Yeah. It's crazy talk. My point, Bill, is to get not too far afield is this is the bottom line is it's a binary decision. It's existential. It's do you want to have a guy of Republicans or conservatives who govern? You know, Donald Trump governs kind of middle right. Right. Middle right. Yes. He's not like he's not Barry Goldwater. Yeah. And he's certainly not a king.

1:15:40 Oh, yeah. By the way. Right. Obviously not. Yeah. But nonetheless, we'll see what happens. Your vote matters, bottom line. And so make sure you get out there and vote. We got to leave it there. Mike O'Neill from Landmark Legal. Thank you, Michael. Take care. Have a good one. As the workforce's most essential skill, but less than one-third of employees prioritize judgment. At the same time, 60% of employees worry AI is eroding their skills, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. Aparna Nair, Chief Talent, Leadership and Culture Officer, IBM.

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1:18:44 800-439-1588 800-439 800-439-1588. That's 800-439-1588. Hey, welcome back. Good morning. Glad you could join us. I'm Bill Martinez. For more information on the show, BillMartinezLive.com. Hey, we're going to talk about soy. You know, most people think of soy as something you eat, but what if it's also beneath your feet, helping your car grip the road, built into your favorite shoes, and even helping firefighters protect their communities? Soy has more than 1,000 uses in the United States, many far beyond people food, and and animal feed.

1:19:28 One of its most unexpected applications is firefighting, where a soy-based foam that is 100% free of PFAS, forever chemicals, offers a safer option for firefighters and a more environmentally responsible approach to protecting local communities, soil, air, and drinking water. With us right now from his Iowa farm, is a board director, United Soybean board director, Brent Renner, and he joins us to tell us more about soy's more surprising uses. Brent, welcome to the show. Good to have you with us. Thanks for having me. Well, this is incredible. You're exactly right. I mean, most people think of soy as something you eat, but they don't realize how integrated soy is in our lives. It really is.

1:20:14 And it's one of the most diverse crops that farmers have the ability to raise. It's used in so many everyday products. It's kind of shocking to most people to learn about them. Brent, how did you get involved in the soy industry? Really, it's kind of a grassroots type organization. I knew a few people that were already involved in the board here locally in Iowa, and then it just evolved as I served on the Iowa board. I had an opportunity to run for the United Soybean Board and won that election and was appointed to serve in that capacity. Well, you know, that's, you know, incredible that here we are and then we're talking about soy so that people really understand beyond food what products and everyday uses of soy might surprise people. Yeah, absolutely.

1:21:02 So Goodyear's using it in their tires. I think you mentioned a few of these, but I'll elaborate. Skechers now has soybeans being used to build the soles of their shoes in over 170 different styles. Cynlon is a company that makes AstroTurf, and the backing of that AstroTurf is made with soybeans. DeWalt is a company that makes electric chainsaws. They're using soybeans in their barn chain oil, which you can buy at Home Depot, or even using soy as an adhesive to bind together wood particles for plywood in the building industry. Well, let's talk baseball here, you know? Fenway Park, huh? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, SYNLawn does have actually over 100 million square foot of this artificial turf has been installed. And yes, it is in places like Fenway Park. There's dog parks across the country, and especially there's one in Iowa. Even the Kennedy Space Center has some SYNLawn in it. And golf courses even are starting to use it, especially in those areas that have water challenges. And you don't ever have to mow it.

1:22:05 So, that's nice too. And of course, football, Indiana Colts, right? Yes, yes. We just talked about that. Yeah. Indiana Colts do have, I think, a pregame pop-up area where they're using sin lawn. Well, that's excellent. Like we said, surprisingly, and I'm sure our listeners and viewers are seeing soy a lot different as a result of you reporting on this, Brent. So how is soy being used to create more environmentally responsible approaches to fighting fires? We mentioned that in the introduction. Yeah, absolutely. So unfortunately, the alternative for firefighting foam contains those PFAS forever chemicals that are not only harmful to our environment and are impossible to get rid of, but they also cause cancer. And we want to protect the firefighters using our products. So we and it is fire prevention week.

1:22:57 So we're excited to talk more about soy foam and how it's in over 400 stations across the United States. And we see that growth continuing in the future. Yeah, and I mean, you know, you think about it, this soy-based foam, 100% free of PFAS, those forever chemicals that, boy, with each year we find out more and more just how deleterious those PFAS forever chemicals are to our life and our health. That is correct. And also from a farmer standpoint, as biofuels continues to increase in use, the soy foam is a protein product. It's not using the soy oil like biofuels does. So it's a nice balance for supply and demand of the product that we raise.

1:23:43 Well, we're talking with Brett Renner, Iowa soybean farmer, fourth-generation farmer growing soybeans, corn, and alfalfa. He practices strip-till and no-till farming and is currently exploring options for cover crops. You know, because we've got a couple extra minutes, Brent, you know, this is really... Excellent that we get a chance to talk about some of these things, especially as it relates to farming. I mean, you're there. I mean, you know, we're the end user. We enjoy what, you know, what farmers across the country produce on our behalf, you know, for us to eat and enjoy and stay healthy. But the industry itself continues to innovate and is constantly looking at better ways to deliver the end product, right?

1:24:29 That's very well said. And yes, I'm blessed to serve on this board with 70 plus other farmers from across the country who are tasked with spending our checkoff dollars wisely on new uses, promotion, and education, just like what we're doing here this morning with you. Well, talk to our audience about strip-till and no-till farming. What does that mean? Absolutely. So it's just another way of farming that maybe is a little bit more conservation friendly. Instead of 100% tilling the soil across every acre, I'm tilling only a strip that with the benefit of global positioning systems or GPS, I can come back in the spring and plant my crop right into that tilled strip. And what that does is also allows me to fertilize just the strip instead of the entire farm. So it keeps our nutrients where we want, right where the seed needs it. And it keeps the soil from leaving the farm in the event of a high rain event.

1:25:31 What about rotational farming, you know, in terms of utilizing the land? It seems like you utilize that as well as opposed to somebody constantly overworking a particular parcel of land. Correct. So it's really awesome how corn and soybeans do work together as a great rotation. Soybeans are a nitrogen fixing plant. So as I harvest these soybeans behind me, next year there will be nitrogen on that farm available for the corn plant. So, yeah, they really work in concert with each other well. And you're correct. The tillage reduction by doing this both strip till and a 50-50 rotation like we do really benefits the environment.

1:26:16 It's really symbiotic. I mean, and that's the deal, which is win-win for everybody, isn't it? 100%. Yes, you nailed it. And I think we're learning more and more every day about not just fertilizer, but soil health in general, and how it's a benefit to do not only rotation, but some of the reduced tillage practices and using the technology that we have available to really hone in on what we're doing with fertility and making sure we're fertilizing the seed and not every acre. Brent, I got to imagine, I mean, here it is, a fourth generation seed farmer, all that your great-great-grandparents experienced in growing soybeans, corn, and alfalfa, and where you are today.

1:27:00 I imagine it's got to be amazing to think, what is this industry going to be like, let's just say, five years from now? Oh, it's mind-boggling. It's changed so much since I came home to start farming 25, 30 years ago, and it continues to ramp up. So with the increase in technology and the dreaded artificial intelligence, I think it's going to be really, really exciting in the next just few years how much things are going to change and hopefully become more cost-effective for us to do more of these things that are good for our environment. Yeah, maybe as artificial intelligence develops in our own minds, in our own imagination, we really realize that it becomes super intelligence, you know, and it's one that is win-win for everybody, right?

1:27:50 I hope so. Yeah, I think a lot of the concerns that we have will iron themselves out over time, and we're excited to use some of that new technology on the farm. Well, here we are. We've been talking soy more than a thousand uses in the United States. I bet you hadn't even thought about that before. You know, many far beyond people, food and animal feed. And again, as we were talking to Brent about, one of the most unexpected applications is firefighting where a soy based foam. That is 100% free. PFAS Forever Chemicals offers a safer option for our firefighters. Brent, again, thank you for the time and helping us be educated on the many uses of soy.

1:28:33 Where can people go and find more information about soy products? To learn more, go to ussoy.org. And thanks for having me this morning if you go to that website you will learn more about what we've had time to talk about and probably see a few new uses that we didn't touch on so I encourage everybody to go to ussoy.org. 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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1:33:14 He's the Vice President of Merchandising with Home Depot. And Aaron Eisen, the Executive Director of the Home Depot Foundation, to talk about the foundation. There's a growing need for skilled trade workers across the country, but many young people... simply aren't aware of the career opportunities available to them. A new program from Home Depot is giving students an early hands-on introduction to careers like carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work. Chris and Erin are here to tell us more about it, about the new Skills Explorer program. I got to say this before we start talking here. I remember when the kids were growing up, I loved Home Depot that they would have the kids there and working on projects and they'd come out and everybody was so supportive of the kids to, you know, build different projects there. And I just thought that was an awesome outreach to the community.

1:34:06 Thank you for doing that. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Kids Workshop, very successful program for us over 25 years. Well, this new education program that we're going to talk about is offering early exposure to skilled trade centers. So tell us about that, if you would. Chris, let's start with you. Erin, I think I'll take it. Yeah, there's been a there's been problems, you know, a big gap in the skilled trades construction industry for quite some time. And so we have been working on this for 10 years. And what we've really realized is as many certification and training programs as we can create, and we have, we've certified over 70,000 people. We're never gonna fix this issue if young people aren't interested in the trades. And so you touched on the perfect part.

1:34:47 We have kids workshops now that puts the first tool in their hands, starting when they're about five years old. And now this new program. Is really targeted at middle and high schoolers between the ages of 11 and 17. who, for the first time, can try out the trades and see what it's like. So we have facilitator guides, videos, activity guides, and it's really just intended to let them try it out, be inspired, and see that they could have these careers. Right. Well, and many of these kids for a long time have had, you know, This wiring, so to speak, it's built into their DNA to work with their hands and do this. But they were told, no, you need to go to college. And so what's happened, we've gone through this for maybe the last two decades. It goes probably longer than that because I remember when I was in high school, I had brought up, we were at a conference and I said, there needs to be something besides going to college. that, you know, the trades need to be emphasized. And they looked at me like I was an alien that, you know, what planet did you come from?

1:35:51 But look at here we are, you know, several decades later, and there is this vacancy and this need for, you know, people who can do this. And the other thing is they're finding out is it pays pretty darn good. It does, yeah. And so there's, you're right, there is a large need. There's 300,000 open jobs today. It's projected to be over 4 million in the next 10 years. Because as the seasoned workers are retiring, for every five plumbers and electricians retiring, there's only two young people coming in behind them. Less than 6% of youth would even consider a job in the trades because primarily they don't really know about it. And there's a lot of misconceptions of, can I make the right money?

1:36:31 Is it dirty? Is it reliable? And at our stores, we have pro customers walking through our aisles that started with a skill and are now entrepreneurs that have built million-dollar businesses. And so there's so much opportunity in the trades. And that's what this new Skills Explorers program is intended to do. Chris, it is reliable, isn't it? I mean, what I've seen over the years, it is, you know, we used to say this in the radio business that it's recession-proof. This truly is recession-proof. You see time and time again how these skilled workers are needed regardless of what's happening with the economy. Is that fair to say, Chris? It is fair to say. And I've been with the company over 36 years growing up in the stores, talking to thousands of pros over the years. And like Aaron just said, many of them started into trades just whether in college or high school doing something. And they got exposed to opportunities. And now they have their own business. They have employee 10, 15, 30 people. They make very good living. Some of them are millionaires now.

1:37:26 And they can't find workers. And if you talk to DIY customers, too, the DIY customers are trying to find a pro to do a job, and they have to wait a long time because it's just scarce to find these folks. So young people just aren't aware of the opportunities, I think. Well, as you say, the middle school and high school is really important because it's a good time to introduce these young people to these types of careers. Right, Chris? Yes, sir. Exactly right. I'm an Eagle Scout, and I serve on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Area Council here for the Scouting America Association. And I just continue to think back when I went to scout camp as a kid. I look forward to going down there to earn merit badges and. Have fun, obviously. And some of the stuff you would think you would normally do archery, swimming, canoeing. But we also did things like forestry and emergency preparedness and soil and water conservation.

1:38:12 And there's a lot of other merit badges that expose you to things that you weren't aware of and careers that, you know, you didn't even think about. And you started thinking about some of this stuff. And I had quite a few of my friends I went to scouts with go into these careers and be very successful now. Yeah, exactly. Aaron, what other ways are the company and the foundation support? skilled trades, training, and education? Yeah, so we've been working on this, both the Home Depot and the Home Depot Foundation, for almost 10 years. We have free training and certification programs through nonprofit partners. We've certified over 70,000 so far. We have an online skills program, similar to Skills Explorers, that helps adults that are wanting to change industries, learn more about the trades, maybe separating service members. We have programs for them. And then we will also help you get a job with one of our pro customers. So the whole life cycle, now bringing it back and incorporating youth with this new Skills Explorers program to generate interest. We are committing to providing 15 million introductions to the skilled trades careers by 2032 in the hopes that that helps inject some excitement with the trades and try to help fill the skilled labor gap.

1:39:17 You know, Aaron, to think that this has only been happening in the last 10 years, I mean, what did Home Depot see that said, hey, look, we need to do something like this, like this foundation? What triggered this? I think we just started hearing it from our pro customers. We started seeing it in the numbers. It, of course, didn't look like it does today. But we started realizing that this was going to be a problem. The schools didn't have shop classes anymore. Kids were taught to go to college. And so there was a couple of perfect storms kind of brewing that we said, hey, we need to go ahead and get involved in this. Now it's become a much more known and national conversation, which is a good thing that there's a lot of people working on it. But if we don't get the youth involved and interested, we don't think we're ever going to, you know, be able to fix it.

1:40:04 You know, Chris, this is so incredible. And congratulations to Home Depot for coming up with this. You know, some people might say, well, it's commonsensical. But how many other companies maybe didn't see the opportunity? But Home Depot's eyes, the leadership was open to realize that this was something that was needed, you know, for the industry and even, you know, for your own business. You know, for your own survival as an organization, right? Sure. And I'll tell you, honestly, the way this kind of came to fruition, it goes back to Bernie and Arthur, our founders. They built this company on a set of core values. And a couple of those values are doing the right thing, taking care of people and giving back.

1:40:47 And they empower people and give you ownership to make decisions. And we saw this need. We worked together with Scouting America to start building something. And we said, we're tripping on something that could be a great opportunity for all of America, all of our youth. And we want to do the right thing and give back. So we're taking action. We're making something happen. A lot of people throw money at things. And it's great to fund things, but we're actually doing things. And I think that's one thing our company does. We take action. We do things. Well, Chris, how can parents, educators, and youth organizations get involved in the program? So it's really easy. Go to pathtopro.com. Everything you need is there. Aaron alluded to it earlier. Videos, hands-on training. Anyone can use it, and it's free.

1:41:29 Aaron, I'm going to give you the last word. Serving as the executive director of the Homer Fund, which provides financial assistance to associates facing unexpected hardships, Again, in the spirit of the ethos of Home Depot and the owners and the leadership, I mean, you have been a giving organization in every aspect. What do you want people to take away from our visit here? What's the key points that they should hold in mind? Yeah, Chris and I are both longtime associates. We both grew up in Atlanta where Home Depot was founded. And I think we both stumbled into these careers. We came to Home Depot, you know, very junior in our careers, right out of in college or right out of college and didn't expect to still be here. And so Home Depot, as we live the core values, it's in our apron, as Chris mentioned.

1:42:24 And so, yeah. It's always been something that has been in the fabric of who we are. And so our foundation that was created in the aftermath of 9-11, because we did so much work down at Ground Zero and helping with some of that and the cleanup, we created our foundation to focus on philanthropic causes. And we have since that time given a billion dollars. We have three different areas we work. Skilled Trades is one. Veteran Housing and Disaster Response are our other two. And I'm just so proud to work for a company that provides these kind of opportunities and sees a problem. And as Chris alluded to, doesn't just fund it, but we actually get in the trenches, find out what the problems are. In this case, we identified youth as an opportunity. We built the Skills Explorers program.

1:43:04 We're now launching it nationally with Scouting America and Boys and Girls Club with some grants for them to be able to do what they need to get this out nationally. But we built it in such a way that anyone can use it. So we are excited to share this with you, excited to generate some excitement for the skilled trades, all hoping that we can get to that 15 million people introduced by 2032 to skilled trades careers and hope that we can make some change in this area. Well, Erin, thank you so much for being with us. Erin Eisen, the executive director of Home Depot Foundation, where she leads the company's philanthropic strategy. and community engagement efforts, and Chris Waits, the Vice President of Merchandising for Home Depot. Thank you both. Appreciate it. Take care. Thank you. Well, thanks again for joining us and sharing a part of your day. For more information on the show, remember BillMartinezLive.com. Hey, tomorrow, you don't want to miss Steve Bonta from The New American.

1:43:52 We're talking about, you know... serving cake to the French. Oh, what a disaster they're going through. And is it a portent of what could be coming West and be coming here in America as if it's not already been? We've had some experiences. Remember the Summer of Love and other Antifa antics that went on. Pretty much the same type of program is happening there, caused by open borders, a lot of entitlements. near bankrupt nation, they're in serious trouble. It's no wonder the people are upset there. And we'll continue to keep an eye on that. Also, we're going to have breaking news from Michael Letts. The former law enforcement officer is going to be here talking about, yeah, voting in New York. So stay tuned for that. It's all coming up tomorrow right here. And a quick reminder, you can catch the show on all major podcast platforms, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Wherever you listen, be sure to download and subscribe so you don't miss any Bill Martinez Live episodes.

1:44:47 We'll see you tomorrow.