David Friedberg

So everyone has assumed that the House passage of the reconciliation bill is going to go to the Senate with some minor changes and then make its way to President Trump's desk for signing.

but that may not be the case there are several hardliners in the u.s senate who have made it very clear that the budget and the fiscal deficit problems that arise from this bill are insurmountable and they're going to take a very hard stance on voting no on this bill taking the lead on that point of view senator johnson from wisconsin who's going to join us today for an emergency pod to talk about what's next with the senate review of the reconciliation bill what his thoughts are what's the future of the republic and what's ahead

but that may not be the case there are several hardliners in the u.s senate who have made it very clear that the budget and the fiscal deficit problems that arise from this bill are insurmountable and they're going to take a very hard stance on voting no on this bill taking the lead on that point of view senator johnson from wisconsin who's going to join us today for an emergency pod to talk about what's next with the senate review of the reconciliation bill what his thoughts are what's the future of the republic and what's ahead

We're really excited for this emergency pod. Thank you for joining us.

We're really excited for this emergency pod. Thank you for joining us.

And just by way of background, Senator, you were elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. You've had two reelections since then. More recently, we've taken notice, and I gave a shout out to you for your comments on the scaling of the deficit and the U.S. federal debt. And as a Republican, against the stated intention of getting this bill passed and through the Senate, as is.

And just by way of background, Senator, you were elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. You've had two reelections since then. More recently, we've taken notice, and I gave a shout out to you for your comments on the scaling of the deficit and the U.S. federal debt. And as a Republican, against the stated intention of getting this bill passed and through the Senate, as is.

And we'd love to kind of hear from you today about your points of view on the bill that was passed in the House this week, the reconciliation bill, and then take a step back and talk a little bit about the fiscal picture for the United States and where things are headed. So thanks for that. And thanks for joining us.

And we'd love to kind of hear from you today about your points of view on the bill that was passed in the House this week, the reconciliation bill, and then take a step back and talk a little bit about the fiscal picture for the United States and where things are headed. So thanks for that. And thanks for joining us.

Maybe we could just start a little bit with a very basic primer for our audience, something that we don't talk about very much on the show. Can you just tell us what a reconciliation bill is and how it's used so folks can understand a little bit about the process that the House just undertook and what's ahead?

Maybe we could just start a little bit with a very basic primer for our audience, something that we don't talk about very much on the show. Can you just tell us what a reconciliation bill is and how it's used so folks can understand a little bit about the process that the House just undertook and what's ahead?

And the CBO scores assume the interest rate on the federal debt, I believe, is an average of 3.6%. And now we're seeing the 30-year trading above 5%, meaning that if we trade up to 5% for the cost of debt for the federal government, we're probably going to add another $5 trillion of incremental interest expense over the period, another half trillion a year on average over the next 10 years.

And the CBO scores assume the interest rate on the federal debt, I believe, is an average of 3.6%. And now we're seeing the 30-year trading above 5%, meaning that if we trade up to 5% for the cost of debt for the federal government, we're probably going to add another $5 trillion of incremental interest expense over the period, another half trillion a year on average over the next 10 years.

Senator, let me just ask. I think one point of clarification on your earlier comment, which I think would be important for the audience, what has been put under mandatory that should be discretionary?

Senator, let me just ask. I think one point of clarification on your earlier comment, which I think would be important for the audience, what has been put under mandatory that should be discretionary?

When it sits in discretionary, maybe just help folks understand, what does it mean if it sits in discretionary? Does that mean that then the administration under the president has the authority to spend up to that amount to administer the law, to administer the statutes, but doesn't necessarily have to, and the mandatory demands that the capital goes out?

When it sits in discretionary, maybe just help folks understand, what does it mean if it sits in discretionary? Does that mean that then the administration under the president has the authority to spend up to that amount to administer the law, to administer the statutes, but doesn't necessarily have to, and the mandatory demands that the capital goes out?

Just help us understand for the audience what the difference is.

Just help us understand for the audience what the difference is.

So the arithmetic indicates we're entering into a debt-death spiral in the United States with the interest rates climbing, the deficit climbing, and we then need to spend more money to pay our interest on the existing debt. That increases the deficit. We need to borrow more. The debt spirals up. Interest rates climb, and this becomes an insurmountable hill to climb.