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Hello, my name is David Olds and welcome to Mississippi Happenings.

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I'm your co-host and joining me is my co-host and friend, Jim Newman.

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Jim, talk to me.

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How are you, buddy?

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I'm doing fine and I'm still trying to research your family because you told me your
family created the Oldsmobile automobile.

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Well, as a matter of fact, ah I know that you are familiar with REO Speedwagon.

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I know that music is a little bit after your time.

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But as a matter of fact, REO's, Ransom E.

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Olds, the inventor of the Oldsmobile is a distant, distant, distant uncle.

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So there.

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What do you think about that, big boy?

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Well, I have to research it, but I believe you.

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Okay, we're good, you should.

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I wouldn't let...

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I mean, isn't it great that your name's not Pontiac.

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Well, I am upset that they kept the Buick and got rid of the Osmobile, but that's a whole
different thing.

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But ah as you know, each week we talk about kitchen table issues and we, sometimes we have
a tendency to forget that what happens at the federal level affects here.

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And what happens at the federal level affects our kitchen table.

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ah

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And we've got somebody with us today that's going to talk about uh HR1, Trump's big,
beautiful bill.

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And I want to uh say hello and introduce you guys to Kathleen O'Byrne.

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Kathleen, good to have you with us.

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Thank you, David.

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It's great to be here.

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And just to be clear, there is not a relationship between your family and REO Speedwagon.

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REO Speedwagon got their name from R.

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E.

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Olds because his first...

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car was called the speed wagon.

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Yeah.

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So now that's a bunch of useless information that we all can forget about.

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But let me tell you guys a little bit about Kathleen.

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Kathleen is a Mississippi native.

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She's a former lawyer.

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And she...

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I'm sorry.

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I do not practice.

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There you go.

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There you go.

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Thank you, Jim, for the interruption.

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uh

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want you to have her show up.

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after you.

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Oh, okay.

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Alrighty.

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Sounds good.

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She received her BA in political science from Davidson College with a minor in Spanish,
and she got her uh law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

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She also served her junior year in Spain and also in Chile.

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Prior to working as a commercial litigator for 15 years, she worked in the nonprofit
sector with immigrant women.

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in North Carolina and in community development in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

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She's also spent several years in various board positions with the Mississippi found with
the Women's Foundation of Mississippi.

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These days, she spends most of her free time as an activist and organizer, and she is
committed to moving Mississippi forward because, and this is her words.

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It's the only way she knows how to maintain her sanity.

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So Kathleen, thank you so much.

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And you're doing what a lot of people are doing and trying to keep our sanity.

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So, amen.

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And it's all about grassroots.

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Jim and I have talked to Northeast Mississippi Indivisibles, oh Mary Jane

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and Jamie, we've talked to them and we've talked to other several grassroots area.

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And that's really where it's happening.

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So let's jump right into this with, and we all know that Trump has such a command for the
English language oh and his big, beautiful bill.

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which was HR, which is HR one, it was passed.

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So Kathleen, how is this big, beautiful bill?

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What's that going to do to all of us in Mississippi?

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That's a great question, David.

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And as you all know, this bill, I think is written as over 900 pages and it covers so much
different territory, so many different issues, different components of our federal

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government.

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and I think we could talk about it for days and days.

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um But the specific issue, well, let me say this.

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So there are a few major things.

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One is tax policy.

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um

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changes to federal taxes that Mississippi families will owe is one thing that we should
discuss.

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There also were pretty major cuts to Medicaid, which will have a big impact on healthcare
in Mississippi.

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There's a huge

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provision and allocation of funding for immigration enforcement, I think to the tune of
about $175 billion.

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um which will have a big impact not just on our immigrant communities, but upon the
industries that depend on those on labor from immigrants in Mississippi.

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So those are kind of the three big areas um that are top of mind for me.

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And so, but what I wanted to talk to y'all about today really is um the tax policies and
how that is going to affect

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Mississippi families.

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And then about the effect, the combined effect of both tax policies under the big,
beautiful bill uh and also tariff policies, which our Mississippi GOP congressional

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delegation has, you know, ceded all of its authority over to the president.

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So that's where I'd like to start if that's fair for y'all.

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Okay, so um what I've been digging into is data from the Congressional Budget Office,
which of course is a nonpartisan um branch of, or office within the legislative branch of

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our federal government.

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And they, m

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they dig in and do the research and figure out what are gonna be kind the micro and macro
economic impacts of laws that Congress passes.

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And so, um

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They use data from the Census Bureau, the American Community Survey through the census,
and I'm sure all number of other information oh to determine the combined effect of all

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facets of the big beautiful bill on um American households by income.

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And so what they do is they take, this gets a little bit wonky, but y'all bear with me for
a little bit.

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So they basically look at a spread of American household income from lowest all the way to
the highest, and then they divide those groups into deciles.

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So for example,

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the lowest decile of American households makes about $23,000 a year.

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And then say the one, two, three, four, let's look at the fifth decile of household income
in America is about $85,000 a year.

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And then the highest decile is about $692,000 a year.

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And so,

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So with that information, they then look at, you know, different components of the big,
beautiful bill, um work their magic.

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I mean, these are like nerdy nerd, nerd, PhD, number crunchers.

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um You know, this is what they do.

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This is what they've always done.

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um And so they look at the net effect in dollars of changes to federal taxes and cash
transfers.

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um and then also federal and state in kind transfers and I can go into kind of what that
is um by decile.

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So um to me, the first place I wanna look to figure out um the effect on Mississippi
households is I wanna look at the median, um median Mississippi household income.

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So that is to say that's the number

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that um half of Mississippi households make more than that amount and half of Mississippi
households make less than that amount.

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it's different, is different than average.

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I'm sure you guys know this, but just in case some of your listeners um don't quite
understand, median is different than average because average would be skewed by like,

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the couple of billionaires that live in Mississippi, for example.

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So looking at median kind of leaves out the furthest, very richest and the very poorest.

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All right, so median household income is about 55, $56,000 for Mississippi.

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So if you go and look at the congressional and that's based on that census data.

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So if you go and look at the congressional budget office, it tells you that these people
are gonna be negatively impacted by the big beautiful bill to the tune of negative $156 a

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year.

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Okay.

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So that is the median income household in Mississippi.

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So the very middle list of the middle income, literally they are like the definition of
middle income in Mississippi.

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They make $56,000 a year.

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The net effect of the big beautiful bill on their pocketbook is negative $156.

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And so what that includes is tax policy changes, reductions in ACA premium subsidies.

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I'm sure y'all have heard that like not only are people gonna be kicked off of Medicaid,
but people who aren't on Medicaid, but get their health insurance through the ACA

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marketplace, their premiums are gonna go way up some of them.

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because of cuts to the premium subsidies in the Big Beautiful bill.

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And then what are some of the things Wicker has said?

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Let's see.

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So stimulate the economy and benefit job creators across the country.

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uh The reconciliation bill delivers the largest tax cut for the middle class in American
history.

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That's just not true.

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I mean.

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You

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you're gonna talk about tax cuts for the middle class, like I hope you're talking about,
you know, the middle class of your own constituents, but.

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um

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Yeah, I don't know where the numbers come from.

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And the other thing is, I'm sure you all have heard a lot of talk about how this bill is
basically the largest wealth transfer from poor Americans to wealthy Americans.

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Well, being one of the poorest states in the nation, if not the poorest, what that means
is the detrimental impact of this bill

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is bigger for a poor state like ours than it is for any other state.

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If you are making life harder on more poor Americans and giving tax cuts to really wealthy
Americans, then the impact is gonna be far worse in a poor state like ours, right?

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Well, absolutely.

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ah The government transfer payments, whether it be for SNAP or Medicaid or any of the
other social programs, they're all been cut.

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yeah, you want to hear those numbers?

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No, and I don't have in front of me specific numbers about how much uh Medicaid funding is
going to be cut in Mississippi.

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That's something I need to dig into.

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um

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going to be something like 230,000 people are going to lose their Medicaid.

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However, that transfer is in the money.

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I don't know, but I'm more concerned about people and their health and their lives.

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Yeah, so folks, that first decile that we talked about, so the lowest income people making
$25,000 and less.

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And in Mississippi, it looks like there are about 200, 350,000 of those people.

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The net effect.

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of this bill for them.

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So these are folks who are already only making $25,000.

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The net effect is negative $1,357.

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Yeah.

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Those who can't afford it the least.

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That's right.

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And then the folks, the top decile of American income earners, households, those folks
make on average $692,000 a year and they're gonna get a boost of $13,000.

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Wow.

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Talk about just the opposite needs to affect.

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We had a conversation with Kara Roby, who's a political analyst.

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not to, I mean, we still want to stay on the big, beautiful bill, but she was talking
about the state, the elimination of the state income tax.

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And, you know, she was talking about the same group that you were talking about.

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You know, ah they're going to, they will save four.

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dollars, you know, a year.

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One, two, three, four.

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But, you know, you go back up to the other, the high, the wealthy, you know, like you
talked about the 600,000, they're going to save $40,000 in state income tax.

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it's

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inequality is sickening but the

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One of the messages I'm trying to get people to understand is that yes, the inequality is
sickening, but some people just don't care about inequality.

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It doesn't hurt their feelings.

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They don't care.

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They don't think about it.

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But when you think about, what did I say, 250,000 Mississippians and they've lost $1,300 a
piece.

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So do the math and think about what that is going to do to our local economy.

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in the state because I promise you um people making such with such a low income that
$1,300 would be spent in their communities.

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It would be spent at their grocery stores at Walmart at the totes.

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at the gas station out of, know, um, any number of places and they don't, they're not
going to have that money anymore.

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You know, and so what does that do um to small businesses, for example?

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You know, and then you play that out through these other deciles of income.

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It's gonna have a really horrible impact, not just on families who are gonna have a hard
time affording the things that they need to get by.

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but it's gonna have a terrible impact on businesses that supply those goods and services
that these families would be paying for, but now they can't afford anymore.

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Well, if you're making $24,000 a year and you've got a child and you are a single mother,
it's going to cost you $12,000 for child care during the day, which leaves you $12,000.

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And then you lose $1,000 of that, which leaves you with $11,000.

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I don't know many families

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that can live on $11,000.

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I mean, between groceries and keeping an automobile up and doctors and it's just
physically impossible.

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And it's no wonder that we have homeless and we have people that cannot afford health care
and end up in the emergency rooms and hospitals are going broke.

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It's just a vicious, vicious cycle.

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And our governor, frankly, doesn't give a damn.

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No.

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I mean, my theory is, I don't know any logical reason to be against Medicaid expansion.

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So put aside how you feel about poor people having healthcare, because what I've realized
over the last couple years is there are a lot of people,

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who don't care.

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They don't care if poor people are able to go see a doctor or go to the hospital.

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They just don't care.

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And that's a really sad um conclusion to reach, but I don't know what other conclusion to
come to.

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Even if you don't care about poor people having healthcare, surely if you are a
Mississippian and you have your own private health insurance or you have Medicare or

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coverage through the ACA, surely you care about there being a doctor to treat you or your
loved one when you need it.

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And surely you care about um

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you know, that hospital down the street or 20 miles away, you know, whatever hospital you
depend on being open when you need it.

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Surely you care about um if your loved one shows up in the emergency room and they're
told, I'm sorry, we don't have a bed available.

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which just means it's not that we don't have a bed, it's that we don't have the staff to
treat your loved one.

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Surely you care if your own healthcare costs and premiums go up.

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um

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Surely you care if you need to see a neurologist and you can get in to see a neurologist
in three months as opposed to having to wait a year.

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So mean the point is that even if you literally do not want poor people to have
healthcare,

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there still is so much argument for all of the rest of us in favor of expanding Medicaid.

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Because if those people don't have healthcare and they don't have a way to pay for the
care that they are entitled to get in our hospitals, the effects of that are gonna reach

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us as well.

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It's gonna be terrible for that person who doesn't have health insurance, but it's gonna
be terrible for all of the rest of us too.

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And I think so many people just don't understand that.

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think people, especially in Mississippi, have this misconception that Medicaid is just
another government handout of cash to welfare queens, which like couldn't be further from

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the truth.

213
00:23:05,900 --> 00:23:08,451
It is literally health insurance.

214
00:23:08,471 --> 00:23:16,393
Nobody, no Medicaid recipient gets a cash handout that is called Medicaid.

215
00:23:16,507 --> 00:23:23,004
Literally, it is payment to the providers for providing care to the insured.

216
00:23:23,337 --> 00:23:25,067
And so it's like, what do you think?

217
00:23:25,067 --> 00:23:32,414
So a doctor should or shouldn't get paid depending on how wealthy his or her patient is?

218
00:23:32,555 --> 00:23:34,456
That's ridiculous.

219
00:23:34,683 --> 00:23:49,407
You hit one of the main points ah is that we, or people don't realize, people that have
health insurance, that have Medicare, our costs go up.

220
00:23:49,727 --> 00:24:01,790
And that's where the focus, we need to let people know that yes, you're paying for it and
your costs are going up when, you know,

221
00:24:03,154 --> 00:24:10,807
with Mississippi would simply accept the federal funds to expand the Medicaid.

222
00:24:11,167 --> 00:24:12,377
It would help everybody.

223
00:24:12,377 --> 00:24:20,370
But I think like you said, a lot of people look at it as a handout.

224
00:24:20,711 --> 00:24:29,814
And that's sad because one of the things, you have to have a healthy workforce.

225
00:24:30,074 --> 00:24:33,155
And right now, I don't think Mississippi

226
00:24:33,479 --> 00:24:41,583
has a very healthy workforce because of not accepting uh Medicaid funds.

227
00:24:41,583 --> 00:24:42,794
absolutely.

228
00:24:42,794 --> 00:24:48,569
And just to be clear, um there still is an opportunity to expand Medicaid in Mississippi.

229
00:24:48,569 --> 00:25:03,912
So in spite of the cuts to Medicaid that are part of the big, beautiful bill, our state
legislature still could oh expand Medicaid and help offset some of the negative impacts of

230
00:25:03,912 --> 00:25:07,014
the federal Medicaid cuts in Mississippi.

231
00:25:07,174 --> 00:25:09,948
That would make a big difference.

232
00:25:09,948 --> 00:25:10,360
Yes.

233
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:24,254
Well, we have one we have the highest rate of baby deaths before one year of age at 10 per
thousand of any state in the union.

234
00:25:26,710 --> 00:25:34,772
And that's got to be attributed to lack of prenatal health care and postnatal health care.

235
00:25:35,181 --> 00:25:46,456
All right, and there's no way for those stats to improve by cutting access to care and
cutting funding.

236
00:25:47,378 --> 00:25:49,080
No, it's not.

237
00:25:51,903 --> 00:26:05,644
And if you live in the Delta, in certain parts of the Delta, if you have a heart attack,
everybody, all the doctors and everybody say that the first hour is so critical.

238
00:26:05,744 --> 00:26:17,016
Well, there are parts of the Delta that that first hour, you can't get to a hospital or to
a critical care facility within an hour.

239
00:26:17,016 --> 00:26:18,406
That's exactly right.

240
00:26:18,406 --> 00:26:35,120
Another one of the really stupid things about this bill is, so we haven't even discussed
the fact that these cuts to Medicaid, cuts to SNAP are intended to offset um huge tax

241
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:36,421
breaks for the really wealthy.

242
00:26:36,421 --> 00:26:38,671
So I can't remember what the final number is.

243
00:26:38,671 --> 00:26:47,097
Maybe it's like $3 trillion um that's being added to the federal debt.

244
00:26:47,097 --> 00:26:57,217
because of these huge tax cuts to the super wealthy, to the tune of $13,000 for a family
that makes $700,000 a year.

245
00:26:57,217 --> 00:26:58,337
So that adds up.

246
00:26:58,337 --> 00:27:08,417
And so they're trying to offset that amount by reducing spending on things like Medicaid
and SNAP, which is again, like if that inequality doesn't just blow your mind, I don't

247
00:27:08,417 --> 00:27:10,357
know what will, but.

248
00:27:11,339 --> 00:27:17,450
So they have these cuts to Medicaid and the way they're cutting Medicaid.

249
00:27:17,749 --> 00:27:28,416
expenses is by making the um hoops that folks have to jump through to get Medicaid more
cumbersome.

250
00:27:28,416 --> 00:27:34,681
So they're just, they're not changing like the substantive requirements to my
understanding.

251
00:27:34,681 --> 00:27:40,364
They're just making you have to jump through more hoops to prove that you meet those
requirements.

252
00:27:40,364 --> 00:27:44,447
And so if you miss a hoop, if you miss jumping through a hoop, you lose your coverage.

253
00:27:44,447 --> 00:27:46,039
So that's how they're kicking you off.

254
00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:57,099
And so the amount of Medicaid cuts that they're uh anticipating, I'm using real round
numbers right now.

255
00:27:57,099 --> 00:28:01,662
I wanna say it's around $150 billion.

256
00:28:03,565 --> 00:28:13,330
To help offset that, what the Republicans who crafted this bill decided to do was to
provide

257
00:28:13,330 --> 00:28:18,472
$50 billion in relief to rural hospitals.

258
00:28:19,232 --> 00:28:29,186
So it's like, we're gonna take all this money away from you rural hospitals because we're
not gonna pay for your Medicaid patients anymore.

259
00:28:29,186 --> 00:28:32,077
We're not gonna pay you to treat your Medicaid patients.

260
00:28:32,077 --> 00:28:34,088
So the patients won't have coverage.

261
00:28:34,088 --> 00:28:35,299
They're not gonna get care.

262
00:28:35,299 --> 00:28:37,179
They're not gonna come in.

263
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,481
But we'll just give you $50 billion dollars

264
00:28:41,613 --> 00:28:52,347
that is the dumbest thing like why would you give them $50 billion when you could use the
$50 billion to provide Medicaid coverage?

265
00:28:53,249 --> 00:28:54,951
I mean, that's bananas.

266
00:28:54,951 --> 00:28:59,457
You want to talk about like a really crummy return on your investment?

267
00:28:59,457 --> 00:29:00,420
Ha m

268
00:29:01,745 --> 00:29:02,865
Right?

269
00:29:02,985 --> 00:29:05,705
Like, where are the adults in the room?

270
00:29:05,705 --> 00:29:06,885
That's what I keep asking.

271
00:29:06,885 --> 00:29:08,885
It's like, where are the adults in the room?

272
00:29:08,885 --> 00:29:11,425
Who comes up with this garbage?

273
00:29:11,565 --> 00:29:16,265
And on what planet did they live that like, it makes sense to them?

274
00:29:16,460 --> 00:29:19,211
Well, you need to change your saying.

275
00:29:19,215 --> 00:29:21,564
Where are the adults in Washington?

276
00:29:21,872 --> 00:29:22,730
Yeah.

277
00:29:24,396 --> 00:29:26,717
because the adults in the room are out here.

278
00:29:27,833 --> 00:29:29,793
Yeah, yeah.

279
00:29:31,094 --> 00:29:38,616
Yeah, well, and you know, I mean, on that note, like the adults in the room are the
constituents.

280
00:29:39,317 --> 00:29:48,259
They are the grassroots folks who are figuring things out, who are realizing we ain't that
stupid.

281
00:29:49,820 --> 00:29:52,621
And we're not gonna be deceived anymore.

282
00:29:53,965 --> 00:29:59,235
Yeah, I've come to the point that we're not constituents anymore, we're victims.

283
00:29:59,503 --> 00:30:01,425
Yeah, absolutely.

284
00:30:03,644 --> 00:30:12,684
And it irritates just irritates the hell out of me that we're coming up on shutting down
the government.

285
00:30:13,504 --> 00:30:16,864
And a lot of people are going to get laid off.

286
00:30:17,464 --> 00:30:23,184
And some people are going to be required to work even though they don't get paid.

287
00:30:24,624 --> 00:30:29,420
And the 430 some legislators and

288
00:30:29,420 --> 00:30:42,831
100 senators will continue to receive their health care and their paychecks while
everybody else in the government that gets laid off and furloughed is going to suffer

289
00:30:42,831 --> 00:30:44,092
tremendously.

290
00:30:44,773 --> 00:30:45,817
That's right.

291
00:30:46,023 --> 00:30:47,086
That's right.

292
00:30:48,980 --> 00:30:52,263
What about ah let me ask you about education?

293
00:30:52,263 --> 00:31:10,938
ah If he does away, if they're successful doing away the Department of Education and I
think the number was 800 billion that they were cutting out of education.

294
00:31:11,459 --> 00:31:13,520
What is that going to do to Mississippi?

295
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,940
ah Since it is always.

296
00:31:17,940 --> 00:31:27,503
I've always understood that we get roughly $2 back for every tax dollar we send to
Washington.

297
00:31:29,657 --> 00:31:31,748
Yeah, it's gonna be devastating.

298
00:31:31,748 --> 00:31:33,359
There's no question about it.

299
00:31:33,359 --> 00:31:38,400
um I don't have, I'm trying to think, where do I have that information?

300
00:31:38,961 --> 00:31:40,462
I'm have to go find it.

301
00:31:40,462 --> 00:31:50,347
does federal funding make up like a third of our spending on education in the state?

302
00:31:50,347 --> 00:31:54,860
I can't remember the number, but it is significant.

303
00:31:54,860 --> 00:31:55,710
Hmm

304
00:31:55,710 --> 00:32:03,993
And if that funding goes away, it's gonna have a devastating effect on so many families.

305
00:32:03,993 --> 00:32:17,398
I mean, I think about, I had a friend who early on in this administration um lost his job
as a counselor at a local public school.

306
00:32:17,599 --> 00:32:23,441
And as a parent, I got to thinking about, I mean, obviously it's terrible for him that he
lost his job.

307
00:32:23,441 --> 00:32:36,021
But I got to thinking about the families who depend on the services that he provides to
their children and what that disruption looks like for them.

308
00:32:36,021 --> 00:32:51,439
I mean, if you've ever had a child who needs special behavioral therapy or interventions
in school for dyslexia or ADHD or

309
00:32:51,439 --> 00:32:56,891
you know, has an, what is it, an individual education plan, IEP.

310
00:32:56,891 --> 00:33:09,956
um You know, any of that, it's really hard as a parent um first to figure out what's going
on with your child and then to figure out...

311
00:33:09,956 --> 00:33:11,937
um

312
00:33:11,937 --> 00:33:19,070
how to get your child the most effective services to deal with whatever that issue is.

313
00:33:19,070 --> 00:33:25,984
And I think about a counselor in the school, mean, how huge is that?

314
00:33:25,984 --> 00:33:38,770
Let's think about if you're a two-parent, two-working parent family, your kids are in
public school, you've got a kid who's got some behavioral struggles, let's say, and you

315
00:33:38,770 --> 00:33:40,470
need that child to have therapy.

316
00:33:40,470 --> 00:33:41,811
So you've got to

317
00:33:41,811 --> 00:33:49,233
um You've got to have a therapist nearby, which in some rural communities is probably
difficult to come by.

318
00:33:49,233 --> 00:33:57,915
You need, um if there is a therapist, you need that therapist to accept whatever insurance
you have, assuming you have insurance.

319
00:33:57,915 --> 00:34:04,497
You have to figure out how to get your child to that therapist probably once a week.

320
00:34:04,497 --> 00:34:06,298
um

321
00:34:06,298 --> 00:34:15,501
you know, there are all these steps that you have to go through to make sure that your
child is getting the best care that you can get for him or her.

322
00:34:15,881 --> 00:34:28,705
And so how lucky were these families um in public schools here um whose children were able
to go see my friend for free.

323
00:34:29,301 --> 00:34:33,223
during the school day, you know, he's right there.

324
00:34:33,223 --> 00:34:37,086
He knows the children, he knows their environment, he knows their teachers.

325
00:34:37,086 --> 00:34:45,670
um Nobody has to leave work to go pick up the kid from school to get her to therapy and
then get her back to school and then get back to work.

326
00:34:46,511 --> 00:34:51,414
And all of a sudden, all of that is ripped out from under those families.

327
00:34:51,774 --> 00:34:53,055
For what?

328
00:34:54,596 --> 00:34:55,376
But that's...

329
00:34:55,376 --> 00:34:56,777
um

330
00:34:56,791 --> 00:35:06,648
That's what the Trump administration is doing um in schools all over the country,
industries all over the country.

331
00:35:06,648 --> 00:35:10,231
uh Again, for what?

332
00:35:10,551 --> 00:35:15,735
What about this is making things better for us Americans?

333
00:35:15,995 --> 00:35:30,023
uh I'm looking at an article from Mississippi Today and it's from July the 24th and it
talks about some of the things that the big beautiful bill and it talks about uh federal

334
00:35:30,023 --> 00:35:44,301
money uh for workforce training uh will be eliminated but also the main thing is free
school meals will be affected.

335
00:35:44,571 --> 00:36:00,490
ah It says it would create more work requirements for parents to qualify for the SNAP
program, which may decrease the number of students available for the free meal program.

336
00:36:00,490 --> 00:36:07,964
And of course it talks about a domino effect and that there's a lot of paperwork to fill
out and it just makes it harder.

337
00:36:07,964 --> 00:36:13,487
uh And we do in Mississippi, there's a...

338
00:36:13,744 --> 00:36:16,287
food insecurity issue.

339
00:36:16,287 --> 00:36:23,795
uh And a lot of the kids, you know, oh they do go to school hungry.

340
00:36:26,321 --> 00:36:36,781
Yeah, mean, look, David Jim, I was a free lunch kid at Oxford Public Schools in 1985, six,
six, seven, 87, 88.

341
00:36:36,781 --> 00:36:37,741
Is that right?

342
00:36:38,417 --> 00:36:43,438
I've got, no, I'm off a year, 86, 87, 87, 88, 88, 89.

343
00:36:43,438 --> 00:36:55,338
I promise you the return on the federal government's investment in my family for those
three years has been repaid.

344
00:36:55,338 --> 00:36:57,558
I don't know a thousandfold.

345
00:36:57,558 --> 00:37:00,858
You know, I mean

346
00:37:01,306 --> 00:37:20,791
It's just so short-sighted to me to think that somehow it's gonna, it'll be better for us
to not feed these children during the school day than it would be to feed them in the long

347
00:37:20,791 --> 00:37:22,712
run, right?

348
00:37:24,392 --> 00:37:27,069
But you know, I mean, here's what I've come to.

349
00:37:27,069 --> 00:37:30,594
Here's what I've come to about, um

350
00:37:30,943 --> 00:37:49,275
particularly our GOP leadership in the state of Mississippi, is that for some reason,
their disdain for poor people and people of color is stronger than their love for

351
00:37:49,275 --> 00:37:50,485
Mississippi.

352
00:37:51,985 --> 00:37:53,229
Excellent point.

353
00:37:53,416 --> 00:37:56,642
Because how else can you explain it?

354
00:37:57,265 --> 00:37:58,119
Go Jim.

355
00:37:58,119 --> 00:38:06,842
What do you anticipate as far as them getting a budget before the end of the

356
00:38:09,714 --> 00:38:25,614
I don't know, but I will say I think there is more support for shutting down the
government now than there was when was that?

357
00:38:25,614 --> 00:38:27,494
What back in March?

358
00:38:29,614 --> 00:38:38,714
Because of the way the federal government is being weaponized against the American people.

359
00:38:39,722 --> 00:38:56,659
Yeah, I mean I think I think there are a lot more people now who say Sure shutting down
the government is gonna hurt It's gonna hurt those folks who are gonna lose their jobs or

360
00:38:56,659 --> 00:39:08,634
those folks who have to keep working but don't get their full paycheck But maybe right now
the alternative is far worse than that

361
00:39:10,846 --> 00:39:26,376
It almost seems to me, and I hate to say this because I don't want it to happen, but I'm
willing to bet that if they shut down the government and included...

362
00:39:28,416 --> 00:39:30,750
No more social security checks.

363
00:39:33,313 --> 00:39:41,418
I can almost guarantee that a lot of Republicans are not going to be re-elected next year.

364
00:39:43,604 --> 00:39:48,747
Because older people will not take kindly to that.

365
00:39:49,609 --> 00:39:52,670
And they will get out and they will go vote.

366
00:39:53,571 --> 00:39:54,802
And they won't.

367
00:39:54,859 --> 00:39:55,279
so.

368
00:39:55,279 --> 00:40:04,524
then also, Jim, if you think about, you know, the older people, and I confess, I don't
know if there's a government shutdown.

369
00:40:04,524 --> 00:40:07,872
Is that true that social security checks won't be issued?

370
00:40:07,872 --> 00:40:10,516
No, they will continue to be issued.

371
00:40:10,938 --> 00:40:18,772
What I'm saying is if they cease issuing, they will have hell to pay next year.

372
00:40:18,864 --> 00:40:30,011
Right, I mean, because if you think about it, like not only um does that impact, I don't
know how many millions of older adults, but if older adults aren't getting their social

373
00:40:30,011 --> 00:40:34,514
security anymore, then that has a trickle down impact on their children and grandchildren.

374
00:40:34,514 --> 00:40:38,366
You know, because who's gonna be taking care of them?

375
00:40:39,584 --> 00:40:40,392
Precisely.

376
00:40:40,392 --> 00:40:41,939
ah

377
00:40:41,939 --> 00:40:52,386
mean, I think, I hope and I think that um there is gonna be a reckoning in 2026.

378
00:40:52,386 --> 00:41:06,986
I ah mean, especially if you look at like, you the other thing, the other numbers I've
looked at are the impact of tariff policies, which our Republican congressional delegation

379
00:41:06,986 --> 00:41:08,577
has wholeheartedly endorsed.

380
00:41:08,577 --> 00:41:10,858
um

381
00:41:11,603 --> 00:41:22,443
If you combine the effects of the Big Beautiful bill and tariff policy on Mississippians,
it's way worse than just the impact of the Big Beautiful bill.

382
00:41:22,943 --> 00:41:32,023
mean, major, a major dent in Mississippians' pocketbooks.

383
00:41:32,743 --> 00:41:37,083
Or, you know, for the next hour and a half.

384
00:41:37,663 --> 00:41:38,853
What's that?

385
00:41:38,853 --> 00:41:41,756
and its effect on the farmers.

386
00:41:42,499 --> 00:41:43,068
Yeah.

387
00:41:43,068 --> 00:41:43,508
sure.

388
00:41:43,508 --> 00:41:46,611
um know, tariffs affect on farmers.

389
00:41:46,611 --> 00:41:51,246
um The loss of immigrant labor's effect on farmers.

390
00:41:51,246 --> 00:42:04,269
It's effect on the manufacturing industry, know, construction, um any number of industries
in Mississippi.

391
00:42:04,269 --> 00:42:05,610
um

392
00:42:07,392 --> 00:42:11,332
folks are gonna really gonna be hurting.

393
00:42:15,333 --> 00:42:17,995
Jim, you had something.

394
00:42:19,161 --> 00:42:34,502
You mentioned the farmers and I heard an interview the other day that in Mississippi, if
the farmers don't get help, the family farms ah are going to be approaching 50 to 75 %

395
00:42:34,502 --> 00:42:44,568
bankruptcy, which will mean that the larger corporate farmers will take over and

396
00:42:44,576 --> 00:42:47,068
There'll be fewer people needed to work the farms.

397
00:42:47,068 --> 00:42:49,156
ah

398
00:42:50,892 --> 00:43:07,232
And the proof of that is that Caterpillar has already lost 300,000 in this last quarter
and they expect to lose that again.

399
00:43:09,172 --> 00:43:20,512
I don't know how we're going to get out of this without a real change in our legislation
or legislators.

400
00:43:21,481 --> 00:43:22,935
And that's going to require.

401
00:43:22,935 --> 00:43:23,727
is.

402
00:43:23,759 --> 00:43:27,502
The impacts are already devastating and they're only gonna get worse.

403
00:43:27,502 --> 00:43:40,681
I've got a friend who's a bank president down here and he um told me, he's got a lot of
bank customers who are farmers and they've been calling him since March and saying like, I

404
00:43:40,681 --> 00:43:41,822
don't know what we're gonna do.

405
00:43:41,822 --> 00:43:46,534
And these are fifth, sixth, seventh generation farmers.

406
00:43:46,915 --> 00:43:52,198
And I mean, that is a segment of the population that is...

407
00:43:53,607 --> 00:43:56,029
you know, what, 90 % Republican?

408
00:43:56,029 --> 00:43:57,187
I don't know.

409
00:43:57,187 --> 00:44:01,753
I mean, and they are being squeezed.

410
00:44:01,753 --> 00:44:05,295
um And again, it's for nothing.

411
00:44:05,295 --> 00:44:10,739
we, you know, it would be one thing if we were getting something out of this.

412
00:44:10,979 --> 00:44:22,367
I read somewhere or heard a podcast maybe, I don't know, talking about, you know, that
authoritarian regimes, if they succeed,

413
00:44:22,607 --> 00:44:35,091
they succeed because the people believe that there's gonna be a benefit that offsets the
detriment.

414
00:44:35,351 --> 00:44:49,627
So the detriment is like we're losing our freedoms, we're, you know, our first amendment
rights, you know, due process rights.

415
00:44:49,627 --> 00:44:50,929
Freedom of speech.

416
00:44:50,929 --> 00:45:00,856
maybe go away, there's redistricting and that sort of thing, but we benefit in some way.

417
00:45:00,856 --> 00:45:12,104
our, um you know, we're more prosperous or we're safer or we have better healthcare or we
have, you know, better something.

418
00:45:12,465 --> 00:45:15,867
And that is absolutely not.

419
00:45:16,091 --> 00:45:18,493
what is happening in our country.

420
00:45:18,493 --> 00:45:21,135
We are losing all of our freedoms.

421
00:45:21,155 --> 00:45:23,517
We are losing our democracy.

422
00:45:23,517 --> 00:45:32,304
And we are also losing, excuse me, our asses financially because of these policies.

423
00:45:32,645 --> 00:45:36,948
And like I keep saying, Mississippians ain't that stupid.

424
00:45:37,229 --> 00:45:39,671
Like we are waking up.

425
00:45:40,111 --> 00:45:41,242
and paying attention.

426
00:45:41,242 --> 00:45:43,866
And we're not going to stand for it.

427
00:45:43,866 --> 00:45:48,351
I mean, look, I think the pitchforks are coming in 2026.

428
00:45:48,562 --> 00:45:52,365
And they should people should be mad as hell.

429
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:53,659
Yes.

430
00:45:55,782 --> 00:46:00,566
I love that Mississippians ain't that stupid.

431
00:46:00,566 --> 00:46:04,790
ah Tell us about Cat O'Shea.

432
00:46:04,790 --> 00:46:06,311
Tell us about her.

433
00:46:06,857 --> 00:46:09,999
that's my alter ego on social media.

434
00:46:10,801 --> 00:46:27,917
I have an Instagram account and a Facebook account and who knows if it's uh helpful or
not, but I give myself a little bit of anonymity with uh a alter ego.

435
00:46:27,917 --> 00:46:29,899
um

436
00:46:30,219 --> 00:46:47,471
Because I have a big mouth and I'm not very good at biting my tongue and I don't I don't
want everybody else to go down with me But yeah, you know I um I want one of the things

437
00:46:47,471 --> 00:46:53,355
that I Want to do most is to help

438
00:46:53,766 --> 00:47:08,488
Mississippians understand how different policies affect us because we certainly aren't
getting that information from our elected officials.

439
00:47:08,488 --> 00:47:12,631
mean, the information they are giving us is garbage.

440
00:47:12,631 --> 00:47:13,532
It's not true.

441
00:47:13,532 --> 00:47:17,596
um And so,

442
00:47:18,195 --> 00:47:25,530
ah One of the ways to do that, to help educate people is on social media, which is really
bizarre.

443
00:47:25,530 --> 00:47:34,766
mean, you know, like we're used to writing letters to the editor and, um you know, I don't
know how else you do that.

444
00:47:34,766 --> 00:47:47,335
um But these days, a lot of people are getting their information on social media and there
is so much garbage out there that I just...

445
00:47:47,451 --> 00:47:49,792
kind of feel like I can't be quiet anymore.

446
00:47:49,792 --> 00:47:52,684
And I get curious about these issues.

447
00:47:52,684 --> 00:48:01,849
I mean, with the big, beautiful bill, I'm like, there's no, there's no way Cindy Hyde
Smith is telling the truth when she says, you know, middle income Americans are going to

448
00:48:01,849 --> 00:48:03,458
get back $1,500 a year.

449
00:48:03,458 --> 00:48:04,511
That's not true.

450
00:48:04,511 --> 00:48:09,742
And so I go digging into it and sure enough, it ain't true.

451
00:48:10,611 --> 00:48:13,151
And it makes me mad.

452
00:48:13,151 --> 00:48:27,891
mean, I get, I have one child who's very, very stubborn and, you know, if he sees anything
that he perceives as remotely unfair, particularly if it's unfair to him, he just throws a

453
00:48:27,891 --> 00:48:31,051
fit and I wonder where he gets it from.

454
00:48:31,251 --> 00:48:39,371
You know, like I just, and I tell you when it started, it was back during COVID and

455
00:48:40,027 --> 00:48:46,921
where we used to go to church, priest made a, long story short, the priest made a comment
on Facebook.

456
00:48:46,921 --> 00:48:53,095
It was a post on Facebook about how um they were, you know.

457
00:48:53,128 --> 00:49:02,135
doing the best they could and as much as they could to help make sure that our teachers
were taken care of during COVID.

458
00:49:02,135 --> 00:49:07,268
And I knew for a fact, because I was on the PA board, that that wasn't true.

459
00:49:07,268 --> 00:49:15,606
And we had a lot of elderly teachers who we just adored and we were worried for their
health during COVID.

460
00:49:15,666 --> 00:49:19,862
And he put that on Facebook and I was like, hell no, uh-uh.

461
00:49:19,862 --> 00:49:21,059
Hahaha!

462
00:49:21,843 --> 00:49:24,063
I commented on his post.

463
00:49:24,063 --> 00:49:39,903
I mean, it just made me so mad to see like somebody in a position of authority speaking
out to his followers about something and it's not true.

464
00:49:41,003 --> 00:49:48,283
And he later said to me like, you know, shouldn't have put that in the comments on my
Facebook post.

465
00:49:48,283 --> 00:49:50,743
I said, no, no, no, father, uh-uh.

466
00:49:50,925 --> 00:49:55,681
you shouldn't have made that Facebook post that was not true.

467
00:49:57,235 --> 00:50:07,978
And kind of ever since then, I just like, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna sit here and sit back
and be quiet and watch people be lied to.

468
00:50:08,859 --> 00:50:16,070
We don't hold our authority figures or our leaders, we don't hold them accountable.

469
00:50:16,112 --> 00:50:19,537
And we let them get away with crap.

470
00:50:19,537 --> 00:50:20,649
ah

471
00:50:20,649 --> 00:50:29,737
I don't know if you saw, I uh had a video rant um several weeks ago.

472
00:50:29,737 --> 00:50:39,576
was after um after Wicker made those public comments on video down at the Gulf Coast
Chamber of Commerce event.

473
00:50:39,576 --> 00:50:43,229
said, uh he was, don't, did y'all see this video?

474
00:50:43,229 --> 00:50:44,699
Do know what I'm talking about?

475
00:50:45,741 --> 00:50:46,251
Yeah.

476
00:50:46,251 --> 00:50:48,716
So he was asked, um

477
00:50:48,716 --> 00:50:59,229
if he receives the messages when people, constituents call and email his office and he
said two things that were appalling and all the rest of it was like mumbo jumbo.

478
00:50:59,229 --> 00:50:59,929
have no idea.

479
00:50:59,929 --> 00:51:01,968
was like words weren't even coming out of his mouth.

480
00:51:01,968 --> 00:51:03,400
It was just grunting.

481
00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:10,842
But he said, um, surely people have better things to do.

482
00:51:10,976 --> 00:51:14,586
And he said, people need to get a life.

483
00:51:14,586 --> 00:51:15,423
Yes.

484
00:51:16,459 --> 00:51:24,024
What struck me was that that is exactly our problem is that?

485
00:51:24,485 --> 00:51:32,611
for I don't know decades now at least the last I'd say 15 years people

486
00:51:33,423 --> 00:51:40,627
are going on about their lives without paying attention to what's going on in government
and politics.

487
00:51:40,627 --> 00:51:45,130
And people are oh finding better things to do.

488
00:51:45,130 --> 00:51:59,297
And that's how we got into this mess is because we're having better things to do, we're
getting a life, and we're just going on about our day and our lives and assuming that our

489
00:51:59,297 --> 00:52:02,159
elected officials are doing right by us.

490
00:52:02,767 --> 00:52:04,094
and they're not.

491
00:52:07,577 --> 00:52:09,760
Yeah, we're with you.

492
00:52:10,405 --> 00:52:12,091
to tell that they're not.

493
00:52:12,796 --> 00:52:13,806
Right.

494
00:52:14,304 --> 00:52:24,266
When Wicker says Mississippians ought to get a life, send the money and maybe some of them
will be able to get a life.

495
00:52:24,659 --> 00:52:29,739
Yeah, I mean, yeah, stop making our lives harder.

496
00:52:30,859 --> 00:52:45,079
That's what government is doing is it is our federal government and our state government
too is making life harder for the vast majority of Mississippians.

497
00:52:45,079 --> 00:52:46,619
And it's time to stop.

498
00:52:47,252 --> 00:52:50,234
Well Kathleen, this has been so much fun.

499
00:52:50,234 --> 00:52:53,596
uh We admire your passion.

500
00:52:54,356 --> 00:53:00,660
We admire your candid comments and that's quite all right with us.

501
00:53:00,660 --> 00:53:01,841
We like that.

502
00:53:01,841 --> 00:53:05,002
So thank you for being with us.

503
00:53:05,163 --> 00:53:06,083
Jim?

504
00:53:07,242 --> 00:53:09,233
I want to have Kathleen back.

505
00:53:09,549 --> 00:53:10,708
Yes, we do.

506
00:53:10,708 --> 00:53:12,865
eh Well, I've sure enjoyed it.

507
00:53:12,865 --> 00:53:14,817
I'll be glad to come back anytime.

508
00:53:14,817 --> 00:53:20,575
we can pick another subject and have a go at it and tear into them.

509
00:53:20,575 --> 00:53:22,450
ah

510
00:53:22,450 --> 00:53:23,660
Give me a topic.

511
00:53:23,660 --> 00:53:25,193
I'll dive into it.

512
00:53:25,193 --> 00:53:26,544
Yeah

513
00:53:27,216 --> 00:53:27,546
it.

514
00:53:27,546 --> 00:53:31,579
It's all about the deep dive and you're right.

515
00:53:31,579 --> 00:53:43,966
We have got to communicate what's going on and the real news and the real facts and know,
you know, and this is what we found.

516
00:53:43,966 --> 00:53:45,847
This is where we found it.

517
00:53:46,108 --> 00:53:50,513
And Cindy Smith is lying her off.

518
00:53:50,513 --> 00:53:51,343
Yeah.

519
00:53:51,624 --> 00:53:52,975
And let me just say this right.

520
00:53:52,975 --> 00:54:03,104
I know y'all are trying to wrap up, but not only do we have to, do we have to educate
people about the what's really going on, but we have to, um as Mississippians have to

521
00:54:03,104 --> 00:54:04,435
speak up.

522
00:54:04,435 --> 00:54:06,617
We cannot sit idly by.

523
00:54:06,617 --> 00:54:12,857
cannot sit in our, um what am I trying to say?

524
00:54:12,857 --> 00:54:14,166
recliner, I don't know.

525
00:54:14,166 --> 00:54:14,915
Say hello.

526
00:54:14,915 --> 00:54:23,019
our echo chambers, you know, you and I can't, the three of us can't just sit here and talk
amongst ourselves.

527
00:54:23,019 --> 00:54:27,461
Like we have to share with other people what's really happening.

528
00:54:27,461 --> 00:54:31,743
We have to be in community with other people um and we have to do something.

529
00:54:31,743 --> 00:54:33,804
We've got to call our elected officials.

530
00:54:33,804 --> 00:54:34,984
We've got to write to them.

531
00:54:34,984 --> 00:54:37,085
We've got to show up to protest.

532
00:54:37,085 --> 00:54:40,871
October 18th is No Kings Day 2.0.

533
00:54:40,871 --> 00:54:54,104
They're going to be protesting Gulfport at the federal courthouse in um Jackson at the
state capitol and in Tupelo in front of Trent Kelly's office, I believe.

534
00:54:54,245 --> 00:55:04,025
So October 18th is a great time for people literally to show up with their bodies and um
do something.

535
00:55:05,655 --> 00:55:11,300
Jim, let's talk about your favorite subject, Jim.

536
00:55:11,543 --> 00:55:12,839
Oh, money?

537
00:55:12,873 --> 00:55:14,402
I love money.

538
00:55:16,126 --> 00:55:17,085
Yes, you do.

539
00:55:17,085 --> 00:55:20,464
it comes in and we don't have to continue paying for this.

540
00:55:20,608 --> 00:55:21,669
Hahaha

541
00:55:23,819 --> 00:55:25,100
But it's worth it.

542
00:55:25,740 --> 00:55:30,805
But yes, these broadcasts do cost.

543
00:55:30,805 --> 00:55:36,189
They're not terribly expensive, but they are somewhat expensive.

544
00:55:36,650 --> 00:55:49,521
And if you'd like to ah to continue seeing topics of interest to Mississippians and what
David calls kitchen table issues.

545
00:55:49,521 --> 00:55:51,659
ah

546
00:55:51,659 --> 00:56:05,379
We sure would appreciate it if you would consider making a donation one time or on a
monthly basis, even if it's five or $10, everything helps.

547
00:56:09,481 --> 00:56:12,532
We've got some great, great people coming up.

548
00:56:12,532 --> 00:56:18,894
One of the ones I'm really looking forward to is with retired Admiral Jamie Burnett.

549
00:56:18,894 --> 00:56:34,978
ah And hopefully he will have a JAG officer, which is a justice, naval justice advocate ah
with him.

550
00:56:35,438 --> 00:56:38,639
And ah we're gonna talk about

551
00:56:38,761 --> 00:56:46,075
blowing up boats in the Gulf of Mexico without any justification.

552
00:56:47,016 --> 00:56:54,919
And I think a retired admiral and a retired JAG officer might have some opinions about
that.

553
00:56:54,920 --> 00:57:01,223
So that's one really great one that's coming up and I can hardly wait to see it.

554
00:57:01,423 --> 00:57:04,705
But like I said, it all costs money.

555
00:57:04,705 --> 00:57:08,743
ah The good thing is

556
00:57:08,743 --> 00:57:11,025
It's not like the grocery store.

557
00:57:11,265 --> 00:57:14,347
Our costs have stayed the same.

558
00:57:15,429 --> 00:57:18,691
Trump says grocery bills are going down.

559
00:57:18,752 --> 00:57:22,154
Well, ours isn't going down, but it's not going up.

560
00:57:22,195 --> 00:57:25,898
So if you got a little change, send it our way.

561
00:57:25,898 --> 00:57:27,179
We'd appreciate it.

562
00:57:27,179 --> 00:57:33,064
If not, continue to listen in, get educated and take some action.

563
00:57:33,345 --> 00:57:36,497
Don't sit on the log doing nothing.

564
00:57:38,368 --> 00:57:40,039
Absolutely, absolutely.

565
00:57:40,039 --> 00:57:40,680
Thank you, Jim.

566
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:47,726
And if you want to contribute, uh your cash app is at Mississippi Happenings.

567
00:57:48,187 --> 00:57:52,460
PayPal is dollar sign Mississippi Happenings.

568
00:57:52,460 --> 00:58:00,527
And also you can check us out at mshappenings.org and you can also contribute there.

569
00:58:00,527 --> 00:58:02,198
So we do appreciate it.

570
00:58:02,198 --> 00:58:03,660
We appreciate you listening.

571
00:58:03,660 --> 00:58:05,701
We do want you to subscribe.

572
00:58:05,701 --> 00:58:06,830
It is free.

573
00:58:06,830 --> 00:58:15,574
We do need more sponsors, ah and yes, we do need donations to keep us going like this, but
we do appreciate it.

574
00:58:15,574 --> 00:58:22,437
Also, our email address is mshappeningsofone.com.

575
00:58:22,437 --> 00:58:26,299
That's mshappeningsofone.com.

576
00:58:26,299 --> 00:58:27,649
We do want to hear from you.

577
00:58:27,649 --> 00:58:34,922
We do want to talk about the that you want to talk about, the things that you want to hear
about.

578
00:58:34,995 --> 00:58:42,608
And this helps us get great interviews like we just had with Kathleen.

579
00:58:42,608 --> 00:58:44,119
So we do appreciate that.

580
00:58:44,119 --> 00:58:53,002
ah And in closing, may we never become indifferent to the suffering of others.

581
00:58:53,062 --> 00:58:53,982
Thanks.

582
00:58:53,982 --> 00:58:54,743
Y'all take care.

583
00:58:54,743 --> 00:58:55,263
Be safe.