MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 10/10/25

22:40I don't view it as a distraction thing. It's a very big deal that Donald Trump is sending troops into our streets. It's a very big deal that all these things are happening. And so just because he does one horrible thing and then another horrible thing and then another horrible thing, he just does a lot of horrible shit. And it's unfortunate. And we need to be able to keep track of all of them. We need to be speaking about all of them. And we do hear and the listeners are constantly in touch. But I don't view this as just, oh, he's trying to distract from Epstein. I view this as Donald Trump is now weaponizing the Justice Department the same way Vladimir Putin does.

23:10And we need to stay laser focused on that fact as well.

23:13Brett Meiselas:Yes, absolutely. And I think both can be true at the same time. I think they can both be true. Ben.

23:19Ben Meiselas:I think overall, the whole plan of this authoritarian regime is to distract from the truth more than anything. And it is to overwhelm, turn this fire hose of disinformation on, bend reality, exhaust people, and then allow the authoritarianism to just kind of move over the entire country because the information environment is so poor that people are unable to unite and push back and fight back and recognize their power. And people just get overwhelmed and go, ah, like, you know, sometimes it's a, it's not a great example because of the seriousness with what we're doing. But you ever like have like someone in your life, you don't have to tell me who, whether they're younger or older or whoever, though, kid or whoever is so annoying, where it's just like, and you're finally like, fine, fine, I'll let you do it.

24:22Ben Meiselas:Just fine. Just okay. Well, fine. And then what happens to that person? Then they do it again. And like, again, as I said, not the greatest example, given the seriousness with which we exhibit, but the authoritarianism just wants to overwhelm you, destroy a framework that pushes back and holds this type of conduct accountable and remove the normalcy, remove the adult, responsible, mature behavior, remove the humanity and just put everybody into this dystopian, crazy, you know, madhouse, if you will. And then within that framework, that's where the authoritarian thrives. Yeah. Well, they want to overwhelm, right?

25:10They want, they want to overwhelm you with so much bullshit and so much fake footage and, and these slick Hollywood style videos that they create and all the all this crap that they're throwing at you so that ultimately the kind of lay person who is maybe not super tuned into politics maybe not watching Midas touch every day maybe not super checked in on the news goes I don't know there's a lot coming at me I don't know what's true I don't know I don't know I hear I hear there are riots in Portland the whole city's on fire I guess if they got if they want if they need to send in the military to help like that's not a bad thing I guess right that's the goal just totally overwhelm people with the bullshit.

25:47And that's why I think mockery is important when these people get mocked. And that's why I think constantly exposing and showing what's actually going on. Like, for example, and we'll probably get to this later in the show, but like Kristi Noem going to Portland, for example, and trying to act all tough and going, oh, look, I'm on the mean streets. Let me stare down Antifa. It's all getting crazy. Then she looks down to like a crowd and there's like eight people and a guy in a chicken costume. You're like, these people are just freaking liars and they're terrorizing these cities. I mean, people are walking around these cities right now.

26:19They're trying to go about their day. There are like Black Hawk helicopters flying in the sky. They're military walking down the streets. Like this is not normal stuff that we are witnessing. And Donald Trump says, I hear it looks like a war zone in this place. And that, yeah, because you sent the military in and you're flying military helicopters above. Of course it looks like a war zone. You're making it look like a war zone. Everybody else is just dancing, chilling, going to farmers markets, trying to enjoy their day, trying to enjoy their life. Americans at large are trying to enjoy their life, trying to make sure that they could continue to afford their health care, trying to do basic things.

26:52They're trying to live. The average American is just trying to survive in this country. And Donald Trump and these Republicans who have his back are terrorizing and torturing these people. It's just disgusting to me that we are witnessing this every single day. I'm not counting on any of these Republicans to stand up to them, unfortunately. I mean, we should be pushing them too, but they're just freaking cowards. But this is the country that we have right now. It's certainly not the country I grew up and it's not the country I want to leave to my kids. But hey, that's why we're here, putting up the good fight.

27:25Ben Meiselas:Look, a federal judge in Illinois had to make a ruling today blocking the Trump regime from using force against journalists in Chicago, including the following. The Trump regime is enjoined from using riot control weapons, including kinetic impact projectiles, compressed air launchers, OC spray, CS gas, CN gas, other chemical irritants and munition launchers, less lethal shotguns, less lethal specialty impact munitions, controlled noise and light distraction devices, electronic control weapons on members of the press, protesters, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer.

28:18Ben Meiselas:The fact that a judge in the United States of America has to say, basically, you have to stop doing chemical warfare on reporters who are just there videotaping and photographing and behaving peacefully shows where we are right now in this country. Now, when we return, I want to talk more about that. I want to talk about, again, why are people buying into this framing that Donald Trump did a peace deal in Gaza? Okay, he announces fake deals. Every deal he announces is fake. Can we wait until we see what the hell is actually going on first, number one? And number two, can we also recognize the atrocities that have been committed in Gaza?

29:03Ben Meiselas:Can we recognize that even today, there were more people in Gaza being attacked after Donald Trump said there was this peace deal? And everyone, well, the ceasefire technically doesn't start. Well, even if it technically didn't start until when, whatever that's even supposed to mean. Out of good faith, Why would you be shooting people there? What's cool? Like, what is going on? And now the AP is reporting that America is sending 200 troops into the area. We're sending American boots into the ground, into Israel to help support and monitor the Gaza ceasefire. Whatever that means. That's what that's the plan.

29:40Ben Meiselas:I didn't see it. Was that in the 20 point? That's their plan to send troops there? American boots on the ground? Seriously? That's what we're doing. Anyway, we'll talk about this and more. A reminder, hit subscribe here. Let's help us get to 6 million and become a member of our YouTube page. You see it says join. You can gift memberships to as many people as you can. It helps grow this independent media platform. Please, please, if you can become a member, it helps keep us growing. We're currently beating Fox when it comes to daily views, and we're getting out the truth while doing it as well.

30:18Ben Meiselas:We'll be right back after our first quick break of the show.

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33:13Brett Meiselas:Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. Links in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. Benji, where to next?

33:23Ben Meiselas:We have a lot to discuss. I want to talk about the order soon out of Illinois, where a federal judge essentially blocked the Trump regime's deployment of National Guard there, saying this is not the role of the National Guard. And very similar to the order we saw in Portland, Oregon, in Illinois, the judge, Judge Perry basically said that what the Trump regime is saying about the conditions on the ground do not align with the reality of what is actually taking place on the ground. You are creating a fictional world, in other words, and a TRO issuing there in Illinois blocking the Trump regime from its National Guard deployment there.

34:09Ben Meiselas:So we'll break that down shortly as well. And of course, there'll be coverage throughout the evening on the Midas Touch Network. And we'll try to bring you as many experts as we can to talk about that. Brett, I want to definitely speak about that in a bit. I did tease this other section that I wanted to talk about, and then we'll get there, though. Donald Trump announces there's this deal that's a peace deal in Gaza. You know, it's already been leveled to the ground. I mean, if you've seen before and after photos, I think I saw a data point that said it would be the equivalent of what, like 13 of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, basically, in Gaza is basically what occurred there.

34:59Ben Meiselas:And so when Donald Trump, though, was asked at that disastrous cabinet meeting today, though, I think the key question here, like, people are so focused on what he's announcing sometimes, and like, they're not exercising common sense. And Brett, I think we have this clip from the cabinet meeting where Trump is asked by a reporter, so what is your view of a two-state solution, right? Foundationally in a peace deal, shouldn't we understand is there going to be a free Palestine? Like shouldn't – end of free Israel. Is that the purpose of the plan, that there can be a Palestine as a free sovereign country and Israel, a free sovereign country, living next to each other?

35:47Ben Meiselas:Is that the goal? What else are we announcing? What else is this deal supposed to be if not that? I understand the hostages need to be returned. Abso-freaking-lutely. And it would be an incredibly important and great thing if those hostages were returned to all of the families who have been suffering a great deal so much after what transpired on October 7th. Absolutely. Now, are we doing two state solutions? So basic question, right? What say you, Donald? Let's play. Be very much involved in making it making it as good as possible.

36:29Brett Meiselas:What's your take now on a two state solution, sir? Just to follow up on that, what is your view now on a two-state solution for this? I don't have a view.

36:37Ben Meiselas:I'm going to go with what do they agree to. How do you move on from that question? I'm going to just do what they agree to? Wasn't this supposed to be your deal? That you want to do the Nobel Peace Prize? Isn't Netanyahu out there posting these weird and I think frankly disrespectful, unhelpful, that's an understatement, unhelpful memes of you wearing gold Nobel Peace Prize chains. So isn't this your deal? So you don't even know foundationally, and this is what I mean before, Jordi and Brett, about the fire hose of disinformation bending reality. What the hell was this? What are people even talking about?

37:21Ben Meiselas:If foundationally there's not a free Palestine and foundationally there's not two sovereign countries living side by side in peace, which has not been able to be achieved for more than half a century. What have you done differently than anybody? What are we awarding? Why are we treating you like a baby that you deserve to be able to? You've done nothing different than anybody. If anything, you've set things backwards and now U.S. troops are going in. What the hell? It's totally crazy that U.S. troops are going. I mean, this is I don't think that was part of the part of the deal. But I think, you know, what what what worries me about Donald Trump's comments there mostly is that it shows me they haven't thought about the phase two.

38:04You know, this is being pitched as phase one of this plan. I want to remind everybody we've been to phase one of these plans before in the past. And I really, you know, there's perhaps nothing more in the world right now that just like destroys my soul than what's going on over there from what started over the past like two years. The death, the destruction, the complete devastation, what happened on October 7th. All of it makes me so incredibly sad if I'm being just totally candid with everybody, like incredibly sad to witness what happened, what continues to happen there. And I really want all of this to end.

38:43I desperately want all the bloodshed to end. But as we speak right now, the bloodshed is still ongoing as we approach this apparent ceasefire, which I know is still being worked out. But they're talking about this phase one plan. The thing that scares me is they don't have the phase two plan. They haven't figured that part out. And I understand they're working through it. They're going to figure it out. But that's been the part that's always stop this from being a lasting and durable peace. That was the issue when President Biden went forward with the phase one of the plan back in January. I think it was like right before kind of the inauguration when Biden helped with that, you know, with that ceasefire deal.

39:23But we know, you know, there are a lot of parties right now that seem to have some sort of handshake agreement here. I mean, we know Trump's announced this Israel, Hamas, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, like they're all saying that this is going to happen. I think Israel, they still have to vote on it to ensure it happens. You have Netanyahu posting these weird AI memes to try to spike the football before it actually happens and to try to hoist Donald Trump as someone who should win the Nobel Prize, which gets announced shortly. I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I think it's hard to give the Nobel Prize to somebody who's indiscriminately bombing boats in the Caribbean, who's sending military helicopters in American cities, who is shooting priests with pepper bullets in American cities and all the other things that Donald Trump's indicting his political enemies here in the United States of America.

40:12I don't think that's the guy you give the Nobel Peace Prize to, I'm going to say. But, you know, I really, from the bottom of my heart, I do hope they work something out here. I hope that this is it. And, you know, even if it's is just a phase one, I hope that phase one is successful in bringing the hostages back and ending the hostilities. Like, so I mean, we'll, we'll see what happens, but you know, one of the issues with that fire hose of lies has been, has described, um, you know, throughout this episode is that we don't know the truth with any of these deals ever. I mean, Donald Trump has touted deal after deal after deal with all of these various countries on trade and all this other stuff.

40:53It's all been bullshit so far. And so it's just really hard to go into this and to take his word. And I don't take his word on anything like that, as I've said so many times on the show. But that's why I'm looking to seeing what other countries are doing, how they're reacting. But I think we have to see what happens here. I'm willing to keep an open mind because I, more than anything, desperately want to see an end to this conflict. I want to see the hostages come home. I want to see the Palestinian people live in peace, the Israeli people live in peace. I think there are a lot of just innocent people who have been caught up in this just horrifying bloodshed right now.

41:30And I hope that they are thinking of how do we make this a lasting and durable peace after we get through this phase one. Say we're able to execute phase one and that goes well, which I really hope it does. What's phase two? What's the plan, as you were saying, Ben, to ensure that these two groups can live side by side in peace? And I think the president of the United States should have some sense of that or should be pushing for that in some way. By the way, maybe his solution is a one state solution where the Palestinians and Israelis live in one state together and they're going to figure out how to structure the government in a way that's fair.

42:04Okay, if that's your policy, I just want to hear what the plan is. I want to know how this is going to last. And I'm not going to pretend like this is an easy issue, but I also don't need people posting AI memes and constantly trying to brag about give me the Nobel Prize, give me the Nobel Prize. There are real people's lives on the line here. There are people who have been tortured for years in captivity. And I think it's important that we respect those people, those families, all the people who have actually been impacted here, and really treat this with the seriousness that this issue requires.

42:35Brett Meiselas:Absolutely. And what terrifies me to your point is they have very clearly not thought of a phase two. And I think that is no more clear than when you actually watch that response from Donald trump and i'm going to ask you in one second brett to play that clip again but i'm going to prompt our our video viewers here look at donald trump's face when he's asked that question it's almost like he's never heard the term two-state solution before which is really actually terrifying when you think of think of it let's play the clip right i'm going to comment on when we come back from it be very much involved in making it uh making it as good as possible what's your take now on a two-state solution sir just to follow up on that what what is your view now on a two-state solution today i don't have a view i'm gonna go with what do they agree to yeah look he's got no idea he it just very like he he genuinely looks like he has no idea the question wasn't mumbled he's looking like a deer in headlights when he's asked that question and look i know i give corporate media a hard time i so desperately want a strong fourth estate in this country i think it's the foundation the bedrock of this country is to have a strong fourth how do you let that question go ben to your point.

43:41Brett Meiselas:How don't you have a follow-up to that? It really just blows. You are in that room. You are asking. He is spiking the football in your faces right now. And yet he doesn't have the answers to these questions. One of the biggest issues I see in this whole scenario also, in terms of believing the information we get, and like I said, I'm withholding judgment until we see what happens. I'm truly praying and hoping for the best here. But based on the information we get and just the conflict in general is that there aren't a lot of parties you could really trust in this all. I mean, who am I supposed to trust here?

44:17Donald Trump? Netanyahu? Hamas? Qatar? Who are the voices that I'm supposed to be? Oh, this is an authoritative voice who I'm able to trust here. Unfortunately, in this kind of situation, they don't exist. So I think the best we could do is sit back, see what happens, hope for the best, and hope that people are actually working in the interests of peace and security and safety. And I personally, I do, I hope it works. I hope it works out. But, you know, we'll see.

44:46Ben Meiselas:What is the it? What is the it? They haven't even defined what the thing to work out is. Because Donald Trump doesn't say it's two state solution. So I don't even know what they're talking about. If you ask me, what do you want to see, Ben? Do you want to see a two state solution? Yes. Do you want to see a free Palestine? Yes. What do you want to do about healthcare? How do you prove affordable care? There should be universal healthcare. You see, it's just plain talk. And I think this whole shutdown situation is also just amplifying and Americans are seeing it now also because no matter where you're from, your healthcare is being ripped away from you.

45:30Ben Meiselas:I mean, what person can afford$24 ,000 to$30 ,000 a year in healthcare. The ACA subsidies have kept them down where it's still the prices are high. I mean, paying$8 ,000 to$10 ,000 a year, if you're making 60 ,000, if you're making more than $60 ,000, that's a lot of freaking money, making$80 ,000,$100 ,000 a year. That's a lot of money, but now it's going to be$24 ,000 to$30 ,000. And then Donald Trump's response to this is, oh, this is a democratic issue. These are Democrat things. And I give you the best healthcare and the big, beautiful bill has helped you out with your healthcare. And young pregnant women are getting paid more money from Medicaid than – are getting paid less money than migrants.

46:19Ben Meiselas:What do you mean they're getting paid? No one's getting – what are you talking about? You're talking about reimbursements for emergency medical room treatment? I don't, Brett, I hope it works out. Presidents and leaders are supposed to define even what the it is. So we have all this fraud. We don't even know the it. And ultimately, it's just easy to destroy and rip apart everything. And that's what he seems interested in. I mean, think about this. One of the stories that just, you know, kind of goes under the radar today is the Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea struck a Colombian fishing boat with Colombian citizens, not a Venezuelan narco-terrorist or whatever the Trump regime is saying.

47:06Ben Meiselas:And the Trump regime's response is, this is baseless. Colombia is an essential strategic partner, but they need to retract the statement immediately. The last boat struck by U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea was Colombian with Colombian citizens. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says a U.S. person familiar with details confirmed to ABC News that at least one of the boats hit by the military in the Caribbean Sea was to believe was believed to be from Colombia. Now, if that doesn't anger you because you're like, well, that's Colombia and Venezuela, which to me is a ridiculous argument. It seems to be daily war crimes being committed by the United States military, violating all rules of engagement and laws of war and just laws in general, killing people, apparently killing Indian Columbian citizens with zero transparency.

48:02Ben Meiselas:I also want people to think about this. While the Texas National Guard was invading Chicago, Texas still did not find all of the dead children from the Guadalupe River flash flood, where because of Republican policies, because they say we hate government and all this woke Biden money that was trying to buy emergency systems, that we didn't want those emergency warning systems. You know, those damn woke emergency systems. And also the dereliction by FEMA led by Kristi Noem, uh apparently cory lewandowski who has whatever that relationship is going on there with her who hand takes a relationship social relationship to lead special very special special so they're very special relationship we then have somebody lead fema with no emergency management background they shut down the call centers they wouldn't activate urban search and rescue 200 people die hundreds of over 100 people died close to 200 people children by the dozens got killed and just think about how many natural disasters there have been where dozens of people have died where trump doesn't even acknowledge the existence of these things and corporate news yeah you know donald trump says he did a 20 point peace deal let's do the headlines because we all need to be first to write the headline right to get the clickbait and to get it can we take a step back and ask, if he's not wanting a two-state solution, what's the deal on?

49:45Ben Meiselas:Is the deal just to now further totally wipe out Palestine? Is that what they're saying? If that's what they're saying, then say it because I think that you're going to put American troops there. That's going to be your position. And you think that's going to lead to long-term peace? Or is Donald Trump just going to go, not my problem, not my problem, pass it on all the problems to the next person. And then MAGA and their whole propaganda network then spends the next four years blaming people who try to fix this mess, who fix the chaos that he creates, fix the things that he does, which he has no way out of because it's just one Ponzi scheme after another.

50:24Ben Meiselas:I mean, you look at the economy right now and everyone's like, well, stock market's doing well. Do you know 80 % of the stock market gains in 2025 are only from a handful of companies that are AI related companies that are basically just doing deals with themselves. They're taking percentages of each other than buying the semiconductor chips from this company that's buying. And they do their own version of those fake announcements every single day. And then the prices surge on that. But 80 % of the market is being propped up by AI and adjacent semiconductor AI-related stocks. That's not a sustainable model.

51:05Ben Meiselas:We have the worst housing market since 1995. We're having what's called farmageddon. Our farmers are going bankrupt in numbers that have really never been seen before in history because of Donald Trump's disastrous trade war. Tourism is down in levels that look like great recession, depression numbers. Over 20 states right now are currently experiencing recessionary feelings. People are living paycheck to paycheck. Trump's shut down the government because he refuses to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to Americans who rely on it to live. This is the world that this is the reality of what we're living in.

51:46Ben Meiselas:And I just think the American people are saying enough is enough. Enough is enough of this crap. And they're seeing it. And they're seeing what Trump's doing every day. I mean, this is what Trump did today. It just goes unnoticed. They're planning to do, after the ballroom, they're going to build a triumphal arch. The triumphal arch that Hitler wanted to build in frickin' Germania, that he never got to build because he lost World War II, like almost a freaking replica of the triumphal Germania arch was in the White House today. That that's what they're thinking about building golden ballrooms, triumphal arches.

52:27Ben Meiselas:What the hell? What the hell? And so when I do videos that are all hell breaks loose, what the hell are we looking at right now? What is this? Is this germania is this hitler's germania because that's what the shore freaking looks like what else is this so wake the hell up right now see what's happening no king's protests are coming peaceful protests october 18th be there for those peaceful protests we've got a lot more to discuss on this episode we'll take our last quick break of the show we'll talk more about the shutdown we'll talk more about what's going on across this country please become a member of the youtube channel if you can by clicking join and you can gift memberships to as many people as you're able.

53:14Ben Meiselas:It helps grow this independent media platform. Take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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57:57Brett Meiselas:shout out to our sponsors links in description about the youtube and the audio use the links use the codes if there's an exit survey let them know we sent you benji where to next you know i

58:06Ben Meiselas:know what's really important on the minds of the american people right now with all of the things that i flag all of the issues people are dealing with they really want to see the president of the united states doing this here let's play that clip hello everyone it's president donald j trump and it's trump time check out this red beauty it's one of my new watches wear it proudly on your wrist and everyone will know exactly what it's for who it's for who it represents yeah he's doing he's doing watch that's real he's doing watch commercials they're airing on right-wing media networks like newsmax and others we are a parody of ourselves but it's real and you know You have that and then you have a guy like Senator Thune, Senate majority leader, guy who's supposed to be like a serious dude, was supposed to be kind of like a moderate guy when he rose through the ranks.

59:07Ben Meiselas:So he's asked a very basic question. All right, well, what's your game plan on health care, right? I mean, this shutdown is about health care. Trump refusing to extend Affordable Care Act credits and ripping away people's Medicaid. So surely you have a plan, right? Listen to what Thune has to say. Play this clip. I mean, the fundamental problem here is the underlying the underlying program, which, again, needs to be reformed. And the president wants to do that.

59:32Brett Meiselas:The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable. But you've got Obamacare now embedded for the last 15 years.

59:43Ben Meiselas:The Democrats, again, enhanced these subsidies a few years ago. So there's no income cap on it. And so, yeah, frankly, I think that's a these are all conversations that are ripe to be had. And I think the president is more than open to sitting down and working on solutions that would improve quality and affordability for people in this country when it comes to health care. But part of the problem. Except he's not. Except he's not. We're nine months in. His priorities have been filing frivolous criminal cases against people who he doesn't like, sending masked ICE agents to terrorize cities, deploying the National Guard against Americans in cities and states that he considers democratic or liberal, imposing tariffs against the world.

1:00:28Ben Meiselas:that's you know that's lying about solving wars that he doesn't solve um that's what what he's done so what are we what are we talking about here okay well donald trump held the cabinet meeting he was asked questions about health care um he says we are the party of good health care okay then what's your plan just stop what the hell is your plan then if you're the party of good health care then what's your plan here's trump from the cabinet meeting earlier government at the same funding levels. We're not going to do anything only good for healthcare. We're really, I think, become the party of good healthcare.

1:01:05And they keep using healthcare as a cudgel. They want to try and get everyone thinking about healthcare. We're the ones that are saving healthcare.

1:01:13Ben Meiselas:You're not. But do you notice what he does? It's every issue. This is all part of the playbook of propaganda. And it is, you just take whatever issue you're weakest at, and you just literally say it over and over again, you're the strongest at. We're the party of healthcare. We're the party of healthcare. We're the party of healthcare. They hate healthcare. They hate healthcare. They hate healthcare. Now, the hard part about doing that is that most human beings are unable to lie so easily and you feel guilty or you just can't bring yourself to do it. But like Trump and MAGA Mike, I mean, these people are just like, they wake up and they lie.

1:01:52Ben Meiselas:Now, MAGA Mike's nowhere close to being as good of a liar as Donald Trump is. And one of the issues is, is that MAGA Mike's kind of been left on his own to kind of message this and be the face of it. And MAGA Mike's been just another wreck and another disaster. But OK, so if you're the party of health care, Donald, right, party of health care, good health care, you said. All right. So tell us what is it that you're going to be doing? And you can't, don't tell me you're going to reduce prescription drug prices 100, 200, 300, and 500 % because that's just not a possibility. Numbers, numbers don't work that way.

1:02:27Ben Meiselas:So surely that's not your plan, is it? Because there's no details. You're just saying numbers. And you're saying numbers that don't actually serve as a way to reduce things. It's just a fake. That means we would be being paid by the prescription drug companies. But play it. We're the ones that are saving healthcare. In fact, one of the things we're doing is we're going to be reducing the cost of medicines by 100 percent, 200, 300, 500 percent and even more than that. All right. But you're not going to go on and tell me that you brought down the price of groceries and energy, because like we all know when we leave our homes that like groceries are just I mean, like totally unaffordable at this point.

1:03:08Ben Meiselas:I mean, after you go shopping and you see that grocery bill, do you all feel the pit in your stomach? So surely that's not where you're going. And you're not going to say energy prices are down because home energy prices have actually never been higher. They're up like 50%. And they're only going to go higher because you're destroying wind and solar energy, which lowered the prices because you have weird things. So you're not going to say that, are you? Because people are suffering. We're in a shutdown. No way you're going to say that, right? I wouldn't say it's an even trade. While the other side is focused on playing games, the Trump administration is focused on creating jobs, bringing down prices.

1:03:53And we've really brought them down a lot. That's the other thing. We're bringing down prices a lot. We're bringing down grocery prices. But the big thing is energy. When you bring down energy, everything comes down. And the energy prices are way down. We're down to about$61 now a barrel. and where gasoline's going to be. I think gasoline's going to be below$2 at some point in the pretty near future. It's very low, much lower than it was under Sleepy Joe.

1:04:22Ben Meiselas:Okay, well, that's not true. But Marjorie Taylor Greene's got your back, right, Donald? She's going to surely support what you just said. And Marjorie Taylor Greene's going to say that prices are going down and everything's so much better and you solved inflation because she always parrots what you say. Marjorie, are you going to say what Donald Trump just said? Here, Blake. Costs have not come down. I myself can tell you my apartment here in Washington, D.C., the electricity bill is$100 more than it was last year because you can look at your own bill and look at cost. Prices have not come down.

1:04:56That is a reality. People's wages have not gone up. That's another reality. And so Americans are continuing to have a very difficult time.

1:05:06Ben Meiselas:She always frames it, though, like with herself. I mean, she was on the right. She's right. What she's saying is accurate. So you got to give her that, right? I mean, she said an accurate statement. There's nothing to fact check. It's true. But she always frames like my kid's health care is about to go up or my own personal expenses are going to go up. But you're a congresswoman. We're a country. If that's what it takes, I'm not going to.

1:05:33Brett Meiselas:No, but it's a really good point because they always have to be their main character. Like it's always somehow only about them. And it only impacts them when it is, you know, when they see it through that lens. Yeah, you do always see that. It's gross. It's great. I mean, it's like, no, you represent, you have constituents. I was okay when you were hurting those people, but now it's hurting me. And I want to be clear because I think there are probably a lot of people watching this that are going, oh, I need a shower now. I'm out here agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Tucker Carlson said something that was coherent the other day.

1:06:08Steve Bannon, I agreed with something. What the heck is going on? I feel dirty. This doesn't make any sense. I want to be clear. You're not agreeing with them. They are agreeing with you. They've come around because they understand how devastating this is going to be to people. They understand how devastating, in Marjorie Taylor Greene's case, I think she understands how devastating it will be to her party as well. Because there's going to be a massive reckoning, a reckoning like we've never seen before. And there probably already will be, but there will be a mass reckoning like we've never seen before electorally.

1:06:41If we see these premiums spike the way that they're set to spike, if Republicans refuse to extend these tax credits, because right now people already cannot afford things as they are. Now, imagine like these health care costs, when you see these numbers and we've been compiling the data over here at Midas Touch, if you check our social media feeds. every single Republican district we have a graphic for that says what the average premium is right now for a family and what are for a couple and what it will be if the Republicans refuse to extend these tax credits. And it's like four or five X, like on average, the ones that we put together, I would say, and I'm not, this is just based on what I've been looking at.

1:07:20They go from around$500 a month to around$2 ,000 a month. I don't know, unless you're like Elon Musk, who could afford that? Nobody can afford that. And think about if people's costs go up like that. And that's why Marjorie Taylor Greene is like, what the heck are you doing? Because I think deep down, she views herself as a populist. She views herself as someone, however she has to frame it. She goes around going like, I hate that Obamacare, but I'm going to have to vote for these subsidies. That's like, yeah, like this is our system as it is now. And, and I, you know, I, I wish there was another plan out there also, by the way, uh, y 'all killed the public option back in the day that was supposed to be an Obamacare.

1:08:00This is the best solution that the country is able to actually, you know, uh, had passed. Um, Donald Trump constantly says, we're going to have a plan. We're going to have a plan. Hey, we made a video now, uh, I don't know, six years ago, eight years ago. I can't remember. I guess not that long ago. Cause we didn't exist then, But in the very beginning of Midas Touch, we made a video showing Donald Trump from the very beginning of his campaign and before back to 2015 saying, I'm going to have a new health care plan. And when did he say it? You all know because it's become a punchline at this point.

1:08:28In two weeks, in two weeks, it's the best health care plan you're ever going to see. Two weeks, best health care plan. Well, it is now many, many years, more than a decade later, and we still have not seen these plans at all materialize because the Republican plan for health care is to strip out all these protections, to make it so that the corporations, the insurance companies are the ones who are benefiting, to make it so people who have preexisting conditions are able to get denied coverage. because if you want to know their plan, that's their plan. The reason they don't put pen to paper is because they know how horrible that is going to look.

1:09:05I know there's certainly a lot of criticism you could levy at the Affordable Care Act and obviously our private insurance system, which I think is a complete and total disaster. But if you compare what we have now to what we had before the Affordable Care Act, I mean, it's night and day. I mean, to have a pre-existing condition before Obamacare and to not be able to get treatment, I mean, it's like pandemonium. It's unbelievable. Like, it's beyond cruel. And you think, how could this country have even done that? So hopefully we have this program. Hopefully we could build on it and try to create a system, perhaps a single payer system, some sort of universal health care system that ensures that people could get care, ideally for free, cut out the middleman and actually have a system that works like basically the rest of the world has.

1:09:48Republicans certainly don't have that plan and they just want to destroy everything. um but uh you know I think Maga Mike and I think Trump I think all of them are getting really exposed here and I think Marjorie Taylor Greene kind of you know turning against them here and actually telling the truth for once I think that's actually very powerful um and really exposes just how big of a liar Mike Johnson is Donald Trump is how they try to distance themselves from what they're actually doing here which is going to be catastrophic for uh the American people at large and definitely for their own constituents and I I think it's that right too

1:10:21Brett Meiselas:I don't think they're telling the truth because they want to tell the truth. I think to your earlier point, there's a reckoning that's coming. And everyone kind of sees where the wind is blowing at this point with how Trump and Mike Johnson have been just so greatly mishandling all of this. And so come midterms here, people are going to need to be on record as to where they stood the 12 months before. So people are, you know, you're going to start seeing a little bit more and more of this of folks, you know, planting their flag down and coming out more like a Marjorie Taylor agree, not because she wants to, but because they might feel that they need to.

1:10:54Brett Meiselas:More broadly, as Ben mentioned, Donald Trump held one of these cabinet meetings today. And I think we've all made the conscious decision here not to play many clips from this cabinet meeting, because again, it's just a propaganda event. It is really weird, demented, King John Un, you know, stuff, level stuff that we're witnessing. And I just want to comment on it because we don't even have to play a clip, but for those political junkies who witnessed it today, it is weird. Don't be gaslit by corporate media into seeing a snippet pop up later this evening or tomorrow and be like, okay, this is what they talked about.

1:11:30Brett Meiselas:The cabinet, interesting. No, no, no. You're right. It was weird and it was even weirder than you thought. Just the fact that each one of those folks in the cabinet has to go down a line and pay compliments to dear leader before they could get into whatever agenda point they want to talk about. I mean, it is really Kim Jong-un level stuff. As I said, it's gross. It's bizarre. And don't be gaslit by others around you into thinking any of that that you witnessed on TV today was normal. And we haven't even gotten into RFK going autism. I got a new theory, folks, for how autism comes. Circumcisions.

1:12:07Brett Meiselas:Yeah. I mean, on this episode of batshit crazy cabinet meeting, I mean, it's great.

1:12:12Ben Meiselas:it's really out of control you know um when you see what is happening across the world with war with the atrocities in gaza with the atrocities in ukraine the real it's a real stuff okay this is real people's lives this is real death taking place this isn't a movie it's not a joke. It's not something that you can just make up crap with. Then when you talk about the situation that Americans are in now, it's also deadly serious. There's times to be funny and humor is great. And we like to be funny on this show. When it comes to governing, governing, right? It's like I like sometimes maybe when going back to the reference of a doctor, a surgeon during the initial consult, you want to make a joke here or there to lighten the mood in very difficult times.

1:13:23Ben Meiselas:There's a time and a place for it. But in the middle of the surgery, I'm not looking for a standup comedy show. I'm not looking for weird behavior. and I'm not looking for someone who's not a doctor to be able to perform the procedure. And there are very pivotal moments when a government needs to govern and it needs to work. And at a baseline, we need people to behave like grownups and behave like adults. We need adult behavior. That's to me the floor, right? And then above that, maybe we can have responsible adult behavior. And then above that, we can have leadership. And then above that, we can have good leadership.

1:14:04Ben Meiselas:And then above that, we can have A-plus level leadership, which is the standard that we should set for people who are in these positions of the highest possible power. What we see with Trump and his cabinet is they're not even behaving like adults and grownups. So to view them as just a normal political side in a Democrat versus Republican political framework to me is just misunderstanding what's happening. The behavior here is infantile. The behavior right here is sick and unwell, and it's dangerous, and it is authoritarian, and it's gross, and it's all of these elements. And I think that we're in this government shutdown down mode, which is making more Americans pay attention to just the behavior of Donald Trump and Mike Johnson and Senator Thune and these MAGA Republicans.

1:14:59Ben Meiselas:And you could only come to the conclusion that not only are they not behaving like adults, but like, you hate me. And I'm not just saying me, Ben, Midas touch. I'm saying like the American people watching it, like you just genuinely don't like me as a human being. Like that's kind of what it comes down to because I'm not one of your billionaire oligarch friends who's doing something for you. So I really don't matter to you, right? That seems to be what this is all about. You'll rush to pass subsidies for billionaires who don't need to be subsidized because they're billionaires. You'll rush to help them with their tax cuts.

1:15:39Ben Meiselas:You'll rush to help them get their 20th jet because 15 jets don't do it or yachts or whatever. But all I'm saying is, can we just for now, until we have a better solution, can we keep my healthcare costs at around$7 ,500 a year versus$25 ,000 a year, which is still a lot. And you're telling me, sorry, nothing I can do. You're on your own. You are just helping illegal aliens or migrants or transgender people from Peru or whatever. I think I just want to say, isn't it, doesn't it say at all that tax breaks for the rich, permanent, government shutdown, government employees stop getting paid, Congress people still get paid.

1:16:30Like, I think that tells you it all about how the system is rigged in favor of particular people, in particular of those in power, the wealthy. and if there was a just system, at least when the government shut down, perhaps the people who caused the government shutdown, the politicians in Washington, D.C., perhaps they would not get paid. They would feel some of the pain that the rest of the American people are feeling as a result of their actions.

1:16:54Ben Meiselas:I agree with you so much. And I just hope what you take out of this episode is not even like a, not that I've even solidified your view of like political parties or where you, like I just hope you've been educated with what the reality is, and you apply that to the facts and you make the right decisions. That's ultimately the most that I can hope for and the most that we can hope for at this network is arming you with good data in an otherwise corrosive and diseased information environment that is intended to do that to cause you harm and to exploit and take advantage of you. So with knowledge is power.

1:17:36Ben Meiselas:Know that you have the power. Know that Trump and this regime is scared of you knowing your power and showing your power. And as long as you still have that power and this community has this power, and we show up on No Kings Day on October 18th, and we show what peaceful protests look like, when we show what it's like to stand up to an authoritarian regime, to stand up to bullies and say, no, no, we're not. We're not going to do that. That's not who we are. That's not what our constitution is about. No, get away. Stop. That's what we have to do. And then we'll fix this together. We'll build this brick by brick together.

1:18:12Ben Meiselas:I promise you, we'll be able to do that together. So with that, I thank you all so much. A reminder, hit subscribe. Please join this YouTube channel as well. Become a member. And you can gift memberships to as many people as you can. Other people can't afford membership.

1:18:30Ben Meiselas:So a big way to be helpful to some of the other members in this community. Only if you can, of course, get out the word about the Midas touch network that helps a lot as well. Thank you everybody so much for watching. We'll see you next time. Hit subscribe. Jordy, take it away.

1:18:46Brett Meiselas:Shout out to the Midas mighty.

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