Jake Levine On Midterms and Fighting for American People

0:00Ben Meiselas:In the midst of a catastrophic war in Iran, Donald Trump has announced his catastrophic 2027 budget. And folks, this is not getting enough attention. Donald Trump is demanding that he receive$1.5 trillion as the 2027 military budget. Now, Donald Trump's prior military budget, which was a massive increase of former President Biden's$800 billion military budget, was$1 trillion last year spent on military spending. And now Donald Trump essentially wants a 42 % increase year over year to make that number 1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, non-defense spending would be cut by$73 billion or 10%, perhaps even more folks.

0:52Ben Meiselas:This would be the largest year-over-year increase for military spending since World War II. And you all recall that Donald Trump held a press conference at the end of last week where he said, our country's too big. We're involved in too many wars now where we can't spend money on social programs, on Medicaid, Medicare, on Social Security. Those should all be destroyed and eliminated, Donald Trump basically said. And instead, all the money should go to funding wars. I'll show you that in a moment. But I want to dig deeper into this disastrous budget because here in the Midas Touch Network, we get into the weeds.

1:30Ben Meiselas:We reveal the secrets. We talk about things that aren't getting enough attention anywhere else. So let's do that right now. Donald Trump is demanding close to$200 million, technically$152 million, but lots of people believe that will be increased to rebuild Alcatraz and to turn Alcatraz, which is a museum right now, into a super prison, as Donald Trump is calling it. And what else is Donald Trump spending? What else does he want your taxpayer dollars to go to? Well, you know how Donald Trump's been saying, oh, well, we're spending no money at all on the ballroom or White House renovations. It's all of my rich billionaire friends who are the ones paying for the ballroom BS.

2:12Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump plans to spend$377 million on what's being referred to as executive residence renovations, plus$174 million more in miscellaneous funding. And that doesn't even include potential classified funding, which could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of your taxpayer dollars for the secret bunker that the Midas Touch Network was the first to report about it under the East Wing that was demolished. We reported about it five months ago. You dig in, you can see in these line items, and we've analyzed them, potentially a billion to$2 billion when you add up what could be going down in the underground bunker, plus the$450 ,000 ,000 ,000 in White House renovations that taxpayers are paying for right now.

3:08Ben Meiselas:Just take a look. Remember five was five months ago. We were the first to report this secret bunker exposed underneath the ballroom. And then we did a report three months ago. It's under the ballroom. And I just remember there were so many people who were like, okay, you're being hyperbolic secret bunkers. That's what they're doing. The secret bunkers. That's my voice of people mocking us, but we were right. It's just funny because 12 hours ago, the New York Times did a story on this. What to know about the massive military bunker beneath Trump's ballroom. Trump's been talking about the emergency facility beneath what was once the East Wing details, which are usually kept secret as he tries to justify his renovation.

3:52Ben Meiselas:So that underneath portion as well. Yeah. Who do you think's paying for that? Also, the 2027 budget proposal calls for spending close to$650 million, technically$605 million. But again, based on some of the ways this is written, it seems like it'll be closer to$650 million. But$650 million on National Guard mobilization in Washington, D.C. Also,$75 billion more to ICE, including these massive concentration camp facilities they call detention spaces. These 100 ,000 single adult bed factories that look like these Amazon factories. 30 ,000 family unit beds. $15.4 billion for transportation to move people to concentration camps.

4:44Ben Meiselas:67 % increase in ICE staffing through 2029. What's being cut in this disastrous budget? Well, the 2027 budget proposes steep cuts to the EPA funding by 52%. This reduces the EPA's budget to the lowest level since the 1980s. Trump's 2027 budget fully eliminates sexual risk avoidance programs and teen pregnancy prevention programs. Donald Trump is a sicko, of course, and he's part of the Epstein class. Trump's 2027 budget proposal cuts over$15 billion in funding for renewable energy projects and removing carbon dioxide from the air. It cuts$240 million from the McGovern Dole Food for Education program.

5:32Ben Meiselas:This program is strongly supported by U.S. agriculture groups and trade organizations the budget cuts 2.3 billion dollars from the department of education it cuts uh significant amounts of money uh to small businesses specifically it eliminates multiple sba entrepreneurial development programs that provide small businesses with quality training counseling and access to resources trump's 2027 budget proposal cuts 1.1 billion in NASA funding for the International Space Station. It cuts$297 million for space technology. It cuts$3.4 billion in other NASA science research programs. It cuts$204.5 million for a community development financial institution fund, which stimulates growth in economically disadvantaged communities.

6:25Ben Meiselas:It cuts$2 billion in humanitarian assistance. The budget proposal fully eliminates the Food for Peace program, which would otherwise provide$2 billion in support for the U.S. farm economy each year. It cuts$234 million in funding for worker protection agencies. It fully eliminates Job Corps. Job Corps, as you probably know, provides free education and vocational training to young Americans. It fully eliminates HUD, the Housing and Urban Development's Fair Housing Initiative Program, which assists victims of housing discrimination. It also fully eliminates HUD's Pathway to Removing Obstacles, PRO, Housing Program.

7:07Ben Meiselas:These grants remove restrictive zoning regulations and promote the construction of affordable housing. Also, it fully eliminates HUD's Community Development Block Grant Program. The program develops housing and expands economic opportunities for low-income families. The 2027 budget proposal includes$40 million in cuts to the Department of Homeland Security's office of countering weapons of mass destruction. It fully eliminates HUD and Housing and Urban Development's Native American Programs and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, which provides affordable housing and community developments for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians.

7:45Ben Meiselas:It also fully eliminates HUD's Home Investment Partnerships Program, which creates affordable housing for low-income families. The budget includes$354 million in funding cuts for HBCUs and other similar institutions. It includes$1.3 billion in cuts to FEMA disaster preparedness programs. It cuts$5 billion to the National Institutes of Health. It fully eliminates low-income home energy assistance programs, LIHEAP, which helps struggling families with energy bills and energy during an energy crisis. It also includes$1.6 billion in cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors, predicts natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.

8:36Ben Meiselas:Trump's 2027 budget includes$82 million in cuts to the USDA's Rural Business Service. This program supports economic development, boosts farms, and creates job opportunities in rural communities as well. And just so you remember, I mean, here's what Donald Trump said at the end of the week. We don't have money for these programs. We only have money for war right now. Here's what Donald Trump said. Let's play this clip. We're a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We're fighting wars. We can't take care of daycare. You got to let a state take care of daycare and they should pay for it, too.

9:11They should pay. They have to raise their taxes, but they should pay for it. And we could lower our taxes a little bit to them to make up. But it's not possible for us to take care of daycare. Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things, they can do it on a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection.

9:32Ben Meiselas:I want to bring on right now Jake Levine running for California's 32nd congressional district. Very competitive primary right there. Incumbent Brad Sherman. Lots of people know him. You know, he's been in that district, entrenched in that district for a very long time. I've interviewed him. I've had him on my show before. I would be remiss if I didn't bring you on, though, because your campaign is gathering a lot of attention. You and I are about the same age. You've worked in the Obama administration, had a big role there, worked in the Biden administration. And lots of people are looking to you and your campaign as kind of a model for the next generation.

10:16Ben Meiselas:And, you know, in my view, you know, I don't think, you know, it's not a no offense taken to other people out there who have worked hard in the districts. I do think that there is a lot of people saying, what does the future look like of a Democratic Party? And this race is one that people point to. So talk to us about that a little bit. But I want to get to, you and I are about the same age. I went to Georgetown. You went to Harvard. You worked in the Obama administration, though, right after undergrad. Talk to us about this journey, though, so people get to know you a little bit, Jake. Well, Ben, I think I'm a little bit older than you.

10:55Unfortunately, I have to admit that. But I'm glad I'll take a couple of years here.

11:00Ben Meiselas:We look the same age. You look younger than me. Look, I think a lot about the young people who are getting involved in my campaign. These are people in college. We've had some high schoolers out on the doors with us. We're knocking thousands of doors. And I think about the moment that they've come up in where they lived through 9-11, then the Great Recession, then Trump won, then COVID, then Trump too. They have not had a model for hope or inspiration or success. And a big part of why I'm running is because within our own district, we've had no model for hope and success and effectiveness for 30 years with our incumbent member of Congress.

11:49This was something that I came to appreciate very recently after losing my childhood home in the LA fires and watching the ineffectiveness of our incumbent member of Congress. But we have got to demonstrate across the government as a whole that we can actually deliver on important things. I mean, you mentioned after I graduated college, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to go work on the Obama campaign. I started in 2007. Actually, my very first real job on that campaign was as Michelle Obama's driver. And I shuttled her around New Hampshire. And we were barnstorming the state after Iowa before the New Hampshire primary.

12:33And there was something hopeful. And then we delivered on health care, on financial regulatory reform. I worked in the first ever White House climate policy office. We delivered a bipartisan bill that we got out of the House called Waxman Markey. These folks coming up now have no models for success. And that is the fundamental reason why I'm running. We need a refresh. We need dynamic leaders with new ideas and who are capable and have a track record of getting things done.

13:03Ben Meiselas:You know, people are looking at this current moment and they're seeing, I know this teaching college students at USC. They're like, we were prompt, you know, people, it's, it's incredible to me that people believe some of the stuff that Trump was selling, because I've always known the guy as a con artist his entire life who bankrupted this, that, and the other thing. And so for whatever reason, there are some group of people, oftentimes young men as well, you know, who bought into some of this stuff and said, you know, I believe that he's going to do this. And I, I tried telling people in 2024 and 2023.

13:41Ben Meiselas:And, you know, since we started this, no, he's not the guy, you know, just look at the facts and the data. But what's been fascinating for me to see is the shift recently as well. And the feeling of this betrayal, a la all the other people Trump has come into touch with. But, you know, I think about Trump's statement that he made in the past 24, 48 hours, where he goes, we don't have the ability. Right. As a wealthy big nation to deal with Medicare, Medicaid and other social services. We need to focus just on war. That's the direct quote from the guy. And people are like, what? So talk to us about kind of your priorities, but also this moment where especially with you working for Obama and Biden to even hear somebody say that out loud to me is like, how is that not disqualifying?

14:27Well, obviously, Trump is totally out of touch with what people actually are going through. But the sad truth is that so are a lot of Democrats. So are a lot of people who have held onto office decade after decade and have not delivered. When Brad Sherman was first elected to Congress, you could rent a one bedroom apartment in our district for$700. Today, it's$2 ,800. So, you know, we're putting a renter's tax credit on the agenda as part of our core housing agenda. We're also fighting for a national housing development bank to help create the supply of new housing that we desperately need, not just here in LA, but across the state to bring down prices.

15:11We're going to support first time home buyers with mortgage assistance and young people, whether they're dreaming of buying a home or whether they're dreaming of having a family and they want support on child care and education, insurance, they deserve leaders who are actually in touch with those needs. So that's at the top of our agenda. And I hear that knocking doors. Folks even still in their 30s and 40s paying off$1 ,000,$2 ,000 a month of student debt. People who are dreaming of buying a home but just can't do it. They're still living at home. people who don't feel safe in their communities, whether it's from fire or from crime.

15:53And they've had a government that has said to them, well, there's not that much that we can do. And now you've got the ultimate contrast with a president that has taken us into yet another forever war with no clear objectives, no set of strategic goals, no transparency as to what's happening, never making the case to the American people, and spending a billion dollars a day asking for $200 billion more to finance this when we actually need a whole host of other things on the home front. We got to bring prices down and we got to support the things that people need. And I will say my opponent, Brad Sherman, has not been on the record as to where he would be on funding this war.

16:37I want to be very clear that I would not support funding this war at a moment when we have enormous economic challenges and needs for everyday working families here in our district. And we deserve a member of Congress who will fight for that and be clear about where they stand on everything else.

16:55Ben Meiselas:You know, I think an important point and what I think a lot of people point to your campaign that you're doing, that perhaps some other people who have kind of young, fresh campaigns don't fully appreciate. And I think this is your background with Obama and Biden and being, you know, in these rooms, though, you know, lots of people think that just saying what you're going to do to stop Trump and block Trump and anti Trump, you know, is is enough because people despise and hate Trump. Sure. I think people granted, you know, he's the least popular. His approvals like like historically low, awful human being.

17:34Ben Meiselas:So stipulated. I still think and I want I want to hear from you on this, though, is, OK, well, what is the forward looking affirmative agenda? and people are like, just don't use the word affordability. Tell me, like at a very specific and granular level, like, what are you going to do actually to make my life, you know, better without speaking like a politician? And I think some of the voices right now that have really broken through in this moment at a granular level are talking about this specific thing, this specific thing. And people are like, yeah, that's actually going to make my life better.

18:08Ben Meiselas:So talk to us about that before we go. Yeah. Well, I want to also stipulate to everything you had to say about Trump, but that's the table stakes, right? I mean, we'll all stipulate to that. And I think what will distinguish Democrats, and we'll see this in the presidential election debates coming up, is what are we articulating that is an affirmative message for what people need that is not about purely opposing Trump. What we're focused on is three things fundamentally. One is on bringing the cost of living down so that people can afford to live where they work here in LA. Number two is making a safer Los Angeles.

18:53And I'll talk about that in a second. And number three is electing effective members of Congress, people who can build coalitions and get things done. So bringing costs down. And I mentioned housing, where we're really focused on supply side and also supports for mortgage support and renters support. But we're also focused on bringing down the cost of utilities, like I did when I helped start a tech company called Opower that has saved people billions of dollars on their electric bills. We can do this by deploying cheap, affordable, clean energy. We're focused on bringing down the cost of childcare and education by providing support through federal programs that can be improved through streamlining and additional funding in those areas.

19:40And we're focused on bringing down the cost of insurance. And I've got an opponent who's taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very insurance companies that are denying claims to survivors in the Palisades and in Malibu, when we actually need to be providing accountability on the insurance industry to be ensuring that prices are affordable and that coverage is provided. But we also have to address the concerns that people have around safety, whether that's the mayhem that ICE and CBP have created in our communities. And so we're fighting for a pathway to citizenship for the hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding members of our community who are here without status, but really driving our economy forward in construction, agriculture, We're fighting for accountability around the overreach and unconstitutional conduct that ICE and CBP demonstrated during their raids and continue to demonstrate.

20:34And we're fighting for resources around fire and public safety. This is the basics of government. People, you know, people experience burglary. They call the police here in L.A. and the police tell them, get a dog because the police is not going to be here fast enough. We've got to, as Democrats, pay attention to our shortcomings there. And finally, Ben, we need members of Congress who can actually perform the job. My opponent has passed four bills in 30 years. Two of them are to rename post offices. I didn't wait to become a member of Congress to start an organization helping survivors in the Palisades and Malibu get the resources that they need.

21:12I didn't wait to become a member of Congress to launch the California Climate Action Corps, which has put 20 ,000 young people to work. doing the resilience and climate security that they need in their communities. I didn't wait to start a petition to make sure that this city was not allowing ICE to conduct unlawful raids on city property. And we shouldn't have to wait any longer for a member of Congress to actually perform their job in this district. And I think that's what voters are looking for, is someone who has the urgency and the plans and the experience to actually address these urgent issues.

21:45Jake, where can people learn more about the campaign and when is the primary? The primary is June 2nd. Ballots will drop actually like a month from now in early May. So this thing is off to the races. People can check us out on our website, JakeLevineForCongress.com. We're constantly posting to Instagram and TikTok and Facebook. Please follow. There are opportunities to get involved. We had 50 volunteers out on the doors last weekend. We're knocking on thousands of doors. And we really, you know, this is a campaign that young people are responding to because I think they feel that for too long, the needs that they have have gone unanswered.

22:30And we want to get more young people involved. So join us. Jake Levine, running for Congress out here in Cali.

22:37Ben Meiselas:Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Ben. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.

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