Sheriff Jim Allard
State Senator George Borrello
Dr. Nick Waddy
WYSL
Newsmaqkers 3-15-25
Next, the Newsmaker Show. Here's Ryan O'Neill. Three guests. Today we have Sheriff Jim Ehler, the Stupend County Sheriff in our first segment. In segment two, it'll be Republican State Senator George Borrello. And then the office say, college sister professor Dr. Nick Wadi right now welcoming. Stupend County Sheriff Jim Ehler. Hello there. It's a beautiful day at Stupend County. Well, this is kind of interesting. You and Stupend County Legislative Chair Bath Republican Kelly Fitzpatrick have sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hogle asking her to reverse this whatever you want to call it a ban on employment blacklist, if you will, of the fired prison guards, the prison guards who were fired this past Monday for going on strike. First off, let's get your thoughts on the strike. And then tell us about this letter, please. Well, I stand in solidarity with those that were on strike. The working conditions were untenable inside our state prisons. They were not safe. They were being asked to work in excess of any kind of reasonable guidelines for safety. And after the uprising in Collins, they were so desperate that it started out there and spread statewide. And all of these issues that they're talking about aren't new. They've been part of the prison system for the last several years. As they as time has gone on, their numbers have gone down. And in the number of correction officers that can work. And there's been nothing done by the state to make it better. And they finally get the tipping point. And you know, I feel for them, but what the governor has done is so, so retaliatory and punitive in her executive order. She's saying you can't work here, but you can't work anywhere else either. Yeah, I don't understand the logic there. The governor said her reasoning was that she didn't want to work in any government jobs. And she says this in the executive order because the workers on strike broke the Taylor law. What do you make of that argument, Sheriff? Well, if you break the Taylor law, that means that you go back for an improper practice hearing. Or you look at notices of discipline. That's what the Taylor law is about. I've never known anyone to lose their job for violating the Taylor law. And typically, what the Taylor law governs is collective bargaining agreements. And in New York state, you can't any, I can't, you know, none of our police officers are allowed to strike under the Taylor law. But on the other side of that coin, we're also required to provide a safe working environment as we can. And so there's, I think there's violations on both sides, clearly, in this situation. And on the letter, you and Kelly Fitzpatrick, the stupid county legislative chair, really kind of peel out the governor saying that she's not doing her job correctly. Do you get a sense that other sheriffs and other county legislative chairs are put also putting pressure on the governor? I know Congressman Nick Langworthy, for what is, I know a night account is already passed a past legislation to let their county attorney move forward with legit with with a lawsuit against the governor to remove parts of the executive order that inflict upon or infringe upon county law. We had a meeting with the sheriff's association yesterday. And I didn't hear a single sheriff across the state say that they were supporting this executive order. So we'll do a more formal survey to find out. But to my knowledge, every sheriff in the state is against this. And in the biggest reason for us is not only can't they work as correction officers. But even if you wanted to have one of these former corrections officers work as a janitor in a municipality that are barred from that by this order. And it's so far overreaching and and so retaliatory on its face that it needs to be amended. Going to be talking more about this issue when we have Senator George Brallow. He's coming up in the next segment. Right now we're talking with stupid and county sheriff Jim Allard, who just the other day was up at Albany at the state Capitol talking about the issue of getting help for first responders with post traumatic stress. Tell us about that, Sheriff. One of the things that the New York State Sheriff's Institute and Association are engaged in, and you've heard me talk about it before, is building a wellness center at our camp on Cucalake for first responders. And yesterday, Wednesday, I went to Albany for Mental Health Matters Day. And I presented to a few groups about the need for support in the treatment and peer support for first responders that have suffered not only a seriously traumatic situation, but accumulated stress and how that affects their health and well being and their families. And we met with a Senator and and I think three assembly people in the afternoon pushing a peer support bill that would not only create a standardization for peer support counselors within the first the first responder community, but also give them confidentiality. In other words, if one of my deputies becomes a peer support today, and another deputy shares something with them, that peer support person can be subpoenaed into court and have to testify to everything that that other deputy bared their soul about. And that's just not right. So what we did what we're doing is pushing for legislation to once they have received the certification, then they can have that confidentiality, much like a counselor or a clinician would have and and the only time they'd be able to read to say what that person said is in the cases of public safety. Talking to Steuben County Sheriff, Jim Allard, and congratulations on this wellness center in Yates County that they're going to be building sheriff. That was something the sheriff's Institute's doing on your suggestion. And that's a great idea, Sheriff. It's well overdue. So there's one in Maryland, there's one in Kentucky, but there's nothing in the Northeast. So this will be the first of its kind, not only in our state, but in our region. And it's it's long overdue to have a place where folks can go and unplug and learn coping skills, and then return to work rejuvenated with a clear head in making good decisions. Sheriff, you know, one of the kinds of things that your first responders will see on the job that would get them to be so upset. Well, probably an endless amount of things, huh? Well, you know, we see things that no one should have to see. Yeah, and that's that's the unfortunate truth. But we also get to see things that nobody else gets to see like when, you know, someone who is in recovery from addiction finally finds their way and becomes a peer support for someone else. That's amazing. But yeah, we see, you know, horrendous crash scenes. We see horrendous violence done to children. We see horrendous violence done to to in domestic violence situations. And all of that takes a toll. And all of that, I always say every time you have to use force to take someone into custody, it takes a little piece of your soul with it. Yeah. And there has to be a recovery for that. And that's what we're focused on. And again, I've been I've been in this game for 37 years. I've seen us lose so many folks over the years to to depression to addiction and not just lose them from the job but see them take their own lives. So then that's the goal is, let's do better. Let's do better for these folks that are there to help people when they're in crisis, let's help them when they're in crisis and and hopefully help them before they get into crisis. Sure. If you're Mallory, do you have a couple more minutes to talk about the commendations you made recently? Absolutely. Okay, let's start out with the deputy shaper who helped an 11 year old child. Tell us about that. So deputy shaper is one of those deputies that just engages and goes the extra mile. And she shows great compassion, great empathy, and has fantastic communication skills. And this was, you know, it's it's not like it's a call that you're going to get a accommodation for normally it's show up and and help a guardian with a child that's that's unruly and out of control. But the way in which she does it and builds relationships with people, strikes other people as something unique. And the grandmother, the caregiver in this case, called and demanded that I recognize deputy shaper because no one else has been able to connect with her granddaughter in that way, communicate whether that way and deescalate her in that way. So to her, even though, you know, it's not a shooting or a car crash or anything of that's, you know, attention getting to her, it was so remarkable in the way in which she interacted with that child that she wanted to make sure that we commended her for that. So we did. That's terrific. And the other thing that the deputy got a combination for was working on a case where there was one of those phony threats that came into our Port Central School. Tell us about that, Sheriff. Yeah, so they received an online threat to certain staff members there and she investigated it. And again, you know, it is a terroristic threat until we know it's not. And that's the way she approached it. And that's the way she handled it. And the school superintendent was so impressed by her and her the way she interact again. It's all about the communication. He was so impressed that he sent a letter, commanding her himself. And so we joined that with the other requests for accommodation that we'd received and put them both into the same accommodation for deputy shafer. That is terrific. Sheriff, did you want to go over any more accommodations? Well, you know, we have, I always like to make sure we give the attention to our correction officers in our jail. We had two life saving events where folks were attempting suicide and due to the quick action of our employees, they weren't able to complete it. And a lot of times they don't get the credit they deserve inside the jail. And that's Sergeant Angelo Scotty, who's a or no native and Sergeant Chris Kaster did a phenomenal job with a guy that was trying to elucidate himself. And Deputy Nyeback and Deputy Bush came into the jail to assist with another person that and again, I keep harping on communication. But and Deputy Nyeback knew this inmate had had dealt with him previously and had built a level of trust where this person had some broken glass and was attempting to complete suicide through cutting veins. And he was able to talk him down, get the glass away from him, and then get him into treatment with us to been counting mental health. So when we look at the effect, both of those people are alive today because the actions of our employees. And that's always worth accommodation to me to point out those great actions of those folks when they're, you know, it's just another day for them. But suddenly, they're saving life. And that's amazing to watch them in action. And honestly, the other two were also life saving actions by our EMT deputies. So good times in to Ben County and and, you know, some scores for the good guys. Always good to hear Sheriff. We've been speaking with Stupid County Sheriff Jim Mallard got to thank you so much for joining us. Sure. Anytime Brian again, if it wasn't for folks like you doing local news, we wouldn't have any Wow. Thank you so much. Goes without saying your jobs a lot more important. Thank you, Sheriff Jim Allard, Senator Brillo coming up next. Every day life can be unpredictable. Sometimes it's spontaneous day trip unpredictable. Other times it's the dog ate the lasagna unpredictable. But through it all, it's important to know that no matter what the day throws at you, your long term financial strategy is secure. That's why Cornell Allstate agent Michelle Poe works with industry leading companies that provide life insurance and retirement solutions that will help you be confident you're making the right choices for your financial future. Call Michelle at the Cornell Holbert Agency at 607-324-5611 today to find the right plan for you. Are you in good hands? Life insurance offered by third party companies not affiliated with all state. Each company is solely responsible for the financial obligations accrued under the products issues. Product guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuing company securities offered by personal financial representatives through all state financial services LLC registered local dealer member F.I.N.R.A. S.I.P.C. Main Office 151 North 8th Street, Sweet 450 Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 877-232-2142. Newsmakers show also sponsored by the classy cafe 188 Main Street in Cornell. Well worth the trip to Hornell. If you don't live there, if you do, you're probably very familiar with their breakfast and their lunches. They've got delicious breakfast sandwiches, breakfast pizzas, Christmas English muffins, bacon and eggs. You name it for lunch, subs, hot and cold burgers. You name it. They got a classy cafe Main Street Hornell back with Republican State Senator George Borrello, senators always great having you on. Brian, great to be back on with you Friday morning. I got an email from Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy's office. It says, Congressman Nick Langworthy wants to prevent the wind projects from happening near the Great Lakes. What it says is he wants to pull the subsidies. He's going to work to make that happen. Pulling the subsidies from the wind projects near the Great Lakes. Well, first and foremost, I'm appreciative of the fact that he and I are sitting on the same page. When it comes to all of this green energy stuff, it is nothing but an investment scam. We all know that. There are a lot of people making a lot of money off of this, but it's really the only money. The only profit for these projects come from taxpayer subsidies. If there were no more taxpayer subsidies, there would never be a single industrial wind or solar project ever developed anywhere in the United States. And that is the reality. We a lot of these wall street investment firms and you know, investors figured out a long time ago that this is a guaranteed return on their investment from the courtesy of taxpayers. They're not going to lose money ever, because the only profit comes from those guaranteed dollars from taxpayers. And that's why we've seen this fall. And of course, we have the usual idiots, you know, the climate alarmists that have said that if we don't do this, the world is going to come to an end. And they have become the essentially brain dead zombie army army for these investors that are making money off of this. That scam has to come to an end. We're already losing billions, if not trillions of dollars every year, due to waste, fraud and abuse. And this is one of those key elements. I'm happy that time was to Langworthy is stepping forward. And I certainly President Trump has signaled the same. It's about time to get rid of the green news scam. Do you think that Langworthy and or President Donald Trump will work to prevent wind turbines from coming in in other places outside of the Great Lakes in other areas where there are proposed wind projects? I hope so. And that is certainly my wish. Again, we have lots of ways to produce power here in the United States and become energy independent. And we can do things that are cleaner and greener. We have all kinds of opportunities. First and foremost, nuclear power. That has something we have to explore, which is what other countries that have chosen to power their countries with the true emission free power have done. They've turned to nuclear power natural gas is a low emission source of reliable energy that we have an abundance of, particularly here in New York State. We do not need to rely on like the Champlain Hudson power line, which is way behind schedule and very costly. We should be energy independent here in New York State. And natural gas is the key to that. We have the ability to look at other things. Green hydrogen, hydrogen, carbon capture, you know, all kinds of alternatives that would also include a host of a very reliable American made sources of power. That's the path we need to be down. Not this dead end of wind and solar and battery storage that will never ever ever be able to power your state or the United States. That's just the reality. On a somewhat similar node, green New Deal type issue. Understand that there's something in the proposed state Senate version of the upcoming New York State budget that addresses electric school buses. Can you tell us about that, Senator? Well, the electric school bus mandate has certainly, you know, been incredibly controversial. I hear every time I speak to any school board association or superintendent that this is untenable. The costs are astronomical. The timeline is too short. And we've been we have been pounding cable about this I carry legislation that would suspend this electric school bus mandate and replace it with a pilot study where we test it in urban, suburban, rural areas. Let's see. Let's see what happens and let's come up with a plan for those that wish to participate in the electric school bus programs. So finally now that my Democrat colleagues, who I'm sure are getting the same phone calls that I'm getting have added something that's essentially extending the compliance for 24 months. And this could happen multiple times. It's not the solution that I think is the right solution, but it is somewhat of a half measure. But the reality is a goal is not a plan. And to tell school districts, particularly in rural upstate New York areas that they have to take on this incredibly expensive, incredibly unreliable, and incredibly risky venture in order to meet some ridiculous boondoggle virtue signaling goal of Kathy Hochles is absolutely outrageous. And as the Democrats are seeing the political fallout now and are reluctantly starting to move in the right direction. Thanks to a lot of folks, myself included who have been, you know, calling out, you know, this far since since it was put into place two years ago, talking to Republican State Senator George Borrello, anything else in the state Senate version of the budget you'd like to tell us about Senator. Well, there's a lot of bad things, unfortunately, you know, the state Senate and state assembly put forth their one house budgets. You know, these are essentially their wishlist, if you will. And we already had a record breaking $252 billion proposal from Kathy Hochle. And the Senate one house ballooned that up to $259 billion in the assembly of $262 billion. So wow, that's like a country's budget. We have the increase alone. It's been, I've been in the Senate now about five years. And our budget has gone up about 40%. And it's going to go up even higher now. So think about that, as your household income in the last five years gone up 40%. But yet New York State is spending, you know, well beyond what we're able to bring in. And of course, that comes a lot of tax increases. But also the one of the things I'm very opposed to in the budget is in general, having policy in our budget. If you want to talk about controversial policies, and that should be done separately. And of course, the Democrats know that most New Yorkers don't support their pro criminal policies. So they hide these things in the budget documents. And this year is no different. One of the things that they have proposed in this upcoming budget is to eliminate the changes to the criminal discovery laws, which are setting criminal free across the state, because of these, of these untenable requirements on our district attorney's offices to provide what in most cases is irrelevant, unnecessary paperwork, and such a short timeline that they're forced to drop the cases. I know this is happening across New York State, just get to take and this is also happening in New York City in Manhattan alone. Half of the drunk driving cases are dismissed because of these untenable, you know, discovery timelines. This is something that the average person in New York probably doesn't know about, but it is having a huge negative impact on public safety. And the Democrats, the governor put forth what I would call some kind of tepid changes and not the most aggressive. And the Democrats are going to allow that they have removed that from the budget. They didn't want to talk about anything that would impede any kind of criminal activity in New York State. They are the most pro criminal radicals running the state that we have ever had. And this budget proves it even further. They're also going to do something they call the Unjust Convictions Act, which is going to allow people who have been rightly convicted of crimes. Again, because it may be perhaps a T wasn't crossed or an I wasn't thought it to vacate those those convictions. So thousands of convicted felons in New York State will walk free if this becomes part of the New York State budget. This is that this is again another attempt to take people that have committed heinous crimes against people New York State and vacate those convictions. So they walk free. That is two examples. If I could stop you there, Senator, you said something a little bit ago about the whole discovery issue and how in the legal court system that the discovery issue is getting worse. Sure. So discovery is basically this is the district attorney's obligation to provide evidence to be to be used in the in the trial against someone who's, you know, facing a criminal conviction. It could be something like a drunk driving. It could be murder. It could be anything in between. And what has happened is when they did the so called criminal justice reforms about four years ago, five years ago now, the Democrats put in place this short timeline to deliver a critical evidence in some cases and even some things in the end that isn't critical to the case, but is required in order to move forward. So when that happened, immediately, lots of cases started being dismissed because, for example, you may have to wait for the results of a DNA test or some kind of other test that takes a long time. And it's beyond the time frame for which you have now under these new discovery rules that the Democrats in Albany put in place before you can actually get that evidence physically to be part of that case. So as a result, we have seen lots of cases dismissed. I'm not talking about, you know, we're talking about parking tickets here, speaking tickets. We're talking about drunk driving. We're talking about rape. We're talking about sexual assault and, you know, domestic violence cases. We're talking about lots of very serious things, even in some cases murder. But like I said, just in the borough of Manhattan, that half of the drunk driving cases are being dismissed. So someone who was arrested for in some cases felony drunk driving DWI will walk free without ever having a trial because there wasn't enough time for the district attorney's office to present the evidence under these new discovery laws. And this is happening across the state. As long as we're on the topic of crime, on order, the whole prison guard issue that you have the situation of unruly prisons, the prison guards, the corrections officers say that it's hard to discipline the prisoners because of this halt act. At first, it looked like the governor was going to pull back on the halt act. Then the governor changed her mind. As we all know, she ended up firing the striking prison guards and corrections officers wanted to get your thoughts on this whole ban and corrections officers who were on striking got fired. Can I get a C state County city village town government jobs and not just not just the law enforcement related jobs. Am I right there, Senator? Yeah, that's correct. Well, first of all, the governor has said that they cannot hold any state positions and that she's basically telling the local government, you know, County City town village that they cannot hire them for positions in law enforcement. However, I would suspect that if you hire any one of them, is that going to jeopardize? Potentially, you know, grant applications you might have before the state as a, you know, a small municipality that needs to hire a court officer or a corrections officer at a county jail. But to me, that is completely outrageous. She's black balling these people. And there's nothing even within the Taylor law that said that she can reach down into local governments and tell them insisted they cannot hire people. But let's let's just pull back for a moment. And why did this happen? This happened because Kathy Holkel and the Democrats in charge turned our prisons into violent, just uncontrolled violent places to work. Prison guards didn't feel safe. They didn't strike because of, you know, money or benefits, it struck because they're literally in light and death situations. Your prison guards being injured, seriously injured, on a daily basis in prisons across New York State, having fingers bitten off and having, you know, urine and feces and blood thrown at them on a daily basis. I would love, love, love, love. They have some of my Democrat colleagues go undercover. Remember the show undercover boss? I'd love to have some my Democrat colleagues put on a prison guard uniform. Don't walk in there with a pomp and circumstance of being a Democrat senator from New York City. No, walk in there with a prison guard uniform on and spend a day and the sandwich empathy you have for the worst of the worst, the worst criminals, the worst criminals in New York State are in our New York State prisons. Go walk a day in their shoes and tell me if that was proper that that's the kind of life that that the citizens of New York State, those employees of New York State government should be should be subjected to. And that's the real issue here. We've forgotten the fact that this strike came because of basic human rights and safety. And it's not about money. And the fact that she's going to blackball, the 2000 folks that said, I can't do it anymore. To me, it's just shameful. We're going to take a quick break back in just a moment with Republican State Senator George Burlow. Keep it here. When it comes to protecting what you love, you want an insurance agent that cares more cares more about your world more about what you need. And that's exactly what you'll get with Hornell All State agent Michelle Polk, an agent who doesn't just know what it's like to live in Hornell, but one who wants to protect life here as much as you do. Call Michelle at the Cornell Holbert agency at 607-324-5611 today to find the right plan for you. Are you in good hands? All state and affiliates offer products and services subject to availability, terms and conditions. Also brought to you by the classy cafe. They are on main street in Hornell. They're number 607-6614-854. If you're going to call ahead, I go in there two, three times a week and get what they call the early riser, bacon and eggs and toast and hash browns. It's delicious. It's the classy cafe made through Hornell right across from the movie theater. Back with Republican State Senator George Borrello, Senator, you're a businessman. You own a restaurant in Jamestown was wondering, what do you think of businessman Donald Trump turned president of the United States? You know, it's a whole different thing. I'm sure as you must know, going into the going into politics, not as an experienced politician, but as a businessman. What do you see, you know, being a businessman yourself that Trump brings to the table? Are you excited of what you're seeing coming out of Washington? Do you think that Lee Zeldin and people like Congressman Nick Langworthy and Congressman Claudia Teddy can maybe fight some of the fight that you've been trying to fight in Albany at the state government level? Well, first of all, I feel like we have allies now in our federal government. You know, obviously, we always have with great champions, you know, like Nick Langworthy and Claudia Teddy and others that represent us and represent us well. But now they have backup in the executive branch and President Donald Trump is is is proving that already. I know that today, Kathy Hochl is supposed to be in Washington, meeting with the president. I hope that meeting is productive for the sake of every New Yorker. But yeah, as a business owner, you know, there's very few of us in the New York state legislature and fewer and fewer, as a matter of fact, you know, people that actually know what it's like to run a business and make a payroll and, you know, actually have to deal with all of the harmful laws and regulations and taxes that have made New York the worst place in America to do business. So that is a perspective that I carry every day. And it's a perspective that I think Donald Trump carries at the federal level. So you see, start seeing things like, you know what, this person that we've been paying for the last four years that hasn't shown up in the office that we can't really prove is doing anything productive that is actually contributing to the to the business of government. Maybe they don't need to be working for us anymore. And that sounds radical and controversial. But to a business owner, I can't afford to pay somebody that's not actually a productive member of the team. I don't have other people's money to work with, like government does. So this is, in my opinion, the is right sizing the federal government, because we can't afford to do this anymore. There isn't a business in America that could go on for very long, borrowing more money than it actually takes in. Senator, I got to stop you there. Congressman Claudia Tenney is trying to get a law introduced, trying to get this passed into law so that there's a doge movement for every single state in the union, all 50 states getting a doge department. What do you think of that? Well, we actually already have myself and several my Republican colleagues led by Senator Mark Walzick from the North North country, we have a bill that took great what's called code here in New York State. It's the committee on government efficiency. So I would love to see that. I think the federal government coming in and trying to do that is probably going to be met with resistance in states like New York, but we should have, I think, a grassroots effort here. And I support Claudia's efforts, because anything that we can do, and perhaps this would be work well in concert with the legislation that we're proposing, to actually bring some accountability to government would be great, because there isn't a state in this country that right now that couldn't use less spending and more returning taxpayers, the money that they're contributing. So I support that fully. Senator Borrello, we've got to leave it there. It is always great having you on the Newsmaker show here on the WYSL stations. Thank you very much for having me back. Look forward to doing it again. And we are now being joined by Alfred State College history professor Dr. Nick Wadi. Hi there. Hello, Brian. I want to start out talking about the possibility of a recession Trump critics are harping on. They are saying that it's it's a definite thing. Bill O'Reilly was on the Chris Cuomo show on NewsNation the other night says that's only a maybe. Here's what O'Reilly said. This is all what might happen. What could happen? But I think psychologically, it's the president's duty to calm things down at a certain point. Now Donald Trump is not in the calm down business. He's never been in the calm down business. All right? But now facing his legacy and facing, you know, very interesting decisions that he's making. Dr. Wadi. Well, Brian, I certainly agree that a recession is by no means inevitable. There are a lot of factors that go into the health of the US economy. But O'Reilly makes a good point that Trump is by nature a disruptor. He is trying to reshape not just American politics in the way that Washington DC works, but the US economy, American society. And in fact, all of Western civilization, let's face it. And you can't do that without scaring some entrenched interests. And there's no doubt that some forces on a Wall Street are troubled by tariffs in particular. And they're taking a wait and see attitude. We don't know exactly what shape all these tariffs are going to take. But, you know, the whole economic framework that we've relied upon for decades is going to change. And there will be winners and losers in that process. And it is conceivable that these very fundamental changes could produce some economic headwinds, including a recession. So we have to be prepared for that possibility. The Democrats in the House and Senate do not like the cuts they're seeing at the Department of Education. What do you make of it? The teachers unions have been a major supporter of the Democrats for a long time. And there's a lot of concern that the public schools and higher education, which has have functioned as a vehicle to indoctrinate America's young and the values of leftism, if we're to be honest, that that whole system is going to be disrupted and that the gravy train will end and that a lot of changes will occur in K through 12 education and higher education. And of course, the states will acquire more authority over education. All of these things are very, very troubling from a democratic perspective and from a progressive perspective. And I think a lot of people were skeptical that Donald Trump could make any of these things happen, or that he would even try. But it looks genuinely possible that the Department of Education, even if it's not formally abolished by Congress, will be effectively abolished by the Trump administration telling all its employees to take a hike. So these, these are incredibly significant and historic developments. Dr. Ronnie, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. And this friend of mine said to me that he thinks the largely the base of the Democrat Party are all these government agencies and all these government workers. And even though they don't, you know, that's not billions of people, I guess I'd say, they have a lot of people who are sympathetic to them on the Democrats side. Your thoughts, sir? Well, I agree that unionized government workers are a huge part of the infrastructure of the Democratic Party and a core constituency of the Democratic Party. And if you look at it in economic terms, the state, local and federal government comprises something like a quarter or a third of the US economy. And if most of the people who work in that sector, not just as government employees, but as contractors, etc, are on board with big government and are profiting from big government and are reliant on big government, that is an enormous constituency to keep government big. And that's exactly why you've seen such powerful pushback against doge against Elon Musk and against Donald Trump. He is attacking the foundation of the progressive movement and the Democratic Party. And he really represents an existential threat to them. And it's not surprising that they're reacting accordingly. Talking about for state college history, Professor Dr. Nick Wadi, how do you think this is going to play out these cuts at the Department of Education and the other cuts that doge is making? Well, my concern is that I support all these cuts. And in fact, I think there need to be much deeper cuts. And it looks like some of that is in the works. But my concern is that congressional action really isn't matching action at the level of the executive branch and especially with doge. The Congress is not ratifying the elimination of any of these agencies. And it is not substantially cutting the budgets for any of these agencies as far as I know. So Congress is absent from this process. And at some point, to make these changes official and permanent and truly meaningful, we need Congress to be part of that process. And whether you can get a majority in the House or Senate to do any of these things is a very open question. Dr. Wadi, are you so upset about that that you would go out and ruin a bunch of Tesla cars in Rochester where you live? Well, I'm so upset about it that I might buy a Tesla because I agree with Trump that, you know, if if Republicans and conservatives support what Elon Musk is doing and support the reduction in the size of government and greater government efficiency, then, you know, just as Democrats are are showcasing their anger by selling their Teslas. Many conservatives and many Republicans and many Trumpers ought to be considering what they can do to support Musk and his endeavors. So, you know, it's sort of a reverse boycott, I guess, but Trump, Trump and Musk need our support politically more than anything. But but commercially, couldn't hurt Dr. Nick Wadi, are you so upset that the way things are going with the Trump administration that you might move to Europe? Now, I'm thinking the United States has a very bright future, actually. Okay, your thoughts on Rosie O'Donnell moving to Europe? Well, of course, like every Republican and conservative around the country, I say good riddance. And it's high time that Rosie O'Donnell left the country. But I guess my immediate reaction would be that so many progressives, leftists and Democrats have said repeatedly that if Donald Trump was elected president again, they would run for the hills. And the number of them that have actually done so is is pathetically small, if we're to be honest. But there are all these countries who they regularly take the side of against the United States, including Canada and Denmark and you name it. And, you know, I think sometimes you can make a country better, you can make a country greater by subtraction rather than addition, some of these people who are so down on America, and its future, and its prospects and its fundamental values want to leave the country and go live somewhere else. I say, don't want to hitch it on the way out. All right, we got to take a good break. We'll be right back with the Alfred St. College history professor Dr. Nick Wadi. Keep it here. Nobody protects you from mayhem like Allstate. I'm a lost bee that found my way into your car. Now that I'm in here. Good luck getting me out. I think it's gone. Wait, no, it's in my hair. And if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage, now this could be quite a sticky situation. So get all state call Michelle at the Cornell Holbert agency at 607-324-5611 to find the right plan for you. Are you in good hands? Subject to terms, conditions and availability. All state fire and casualty insurance company and affiliates Northbrook, Illinois. And we are back on the news maker show the WY cell stations the show also brought to you by the classy cafe May Street when I got to get that in first classy cafe. There are hours are weekdays, 6am to 2pm Saturday, 7am to 2pm classy cafe. If you have never been there, it's worth a trip to a hornell. If you don't live in a hornell, they're on Main Street right across from the movie theater. The classy cafe hot subs, cold subs, burgers, they have breakfast, they have lunches and late lunches. It's delicious. The food is amazing. I get in there once, twice, sometimes three times a week. The classy cafe Main Street Hornell again, right across from the movie theater. Back with officer college history professor Dr Nick Wadi, your thoughts on Trump's address to Congress. Well, it was vintage Trump. It was extremely pleasing to Trump's base and it was extremely upsetting and triggering to Democrats and to progressives. And it was interesting to see the theater of the way that he interacted with the Democrats and Democrats had little signs that they held up to demonstrate just how, how much they held Donald Trump and contempt. And it's a shame that the decorum of these events has deteriorated over the years. But let's face it, this has become a very partisan political system, a very partisan environment. And that's inevitable. But, you know, Donald Trump won the election. That's the great fact that progressives and Democrats have to contend with for the next four years and judging by their immediate reaction, it's going to be a very, very, very long four years for them. Gavin Newsom, the governor out in California seems to be moving to the center politically. What do you make it at? Well, assuming he wants to actually be president of the United States, it's smart. But I have my doubts about whether this strategy is going to work, because he's the left wing governor of California, and he's got a record and, and if he wants to describe himself as a centrist, that's going to be a difficult trick to pull off. But the bigger problem is that the core and the primary voters in the Democratic Party are very left wings. So if you position yourself as a centrist, they might view you as inauthentic and rightly so. But even more so, they'll be you as out of step with their values and priorities. So if he wants to move to the center, I think he's a little ahead of the game, because first thing he needs to do is nail down support among Democrats. And the way that you do that is basically by railing on Trump all day long and, and spouting left wing talking points. And so I think this could be the beginning of the end for Gavin Newsom, to be quite honest with you, I'm not sure he understands how far to the left his own party has traveled. Another big Democrat name, Pete Buttigieg, he was looking at running for US Senate in the state of Michigan CNN reported Thursday, that Pete Buttigieg expected to pass on Senate bid, setting up potential 2028, run your thought snake. Well, I'm not terribly surprised. I don't think it was a really good idea for Pete Buttigieg to run for anything in Michigan, because he's not from Michigan. And that is a swing state. It's not a state where a Democrat like Hillary Clinton, for example, can just walk into New York state is a complete outsider and and win an election because the state is so blue, Michigan is purple. So I think that would have been a very bad idea to run for any office in Michigan. He's clearly setting himself up to run for president as are many Democrats. And I think there will be a wide field. It's very possible that Kamala Harris or Tim Walts could throw their hats in the ring. So, you know, the Democratic Party is soul searching. It's it's deciding or trying to decide whether it's going to be a centrist party or progressive party. And at this point, it is, it is anybody's race to win to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. I have no idea which party which direction the party is going to go in. And for years is a long time. So we'll just have to wait and see. Okay, what about Tim Walts doing his national tour of town halls? And CNN says he's going to be doing this in Republican house districts. Right. It's exactly the kind of thing you do if you have presidential ambitions. Now, Tim Walts is someone who is thought of as a centrist and as someone who's been successful in a reasonably purple state. And no doubt he thinks of himself. And many Democrats would think of him as the sort of candidate away male and who can talk to to working class voters as an electable candidate as a as a viable candidate. Again, whether he can win over the Democratic primary electorate, whether he's left enough from their perspective is an open question. And as I said, I expect a very wide field in 2028. And there's so many variables between now and then that I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess on Tim Walts's prospects. Sure thing, Dr. Nick Wadi. What's going on in Romania and Romanian politics at the moment? No, you keep an eye on that being a European history teacher. Well, it's very worrying. It was an element of JD bands the speech that he made in Munich a few weeks ago. And rightly so, basically, this fellow Georgescu finished first in the first round voting for the presidential election in Romania. And a court invalidated the whole election because they said Russia interfered, basically Russia may or may not have sponsored some social media accounts that said nice things about Georgescu. And for that reason, and that reason alone, they threw out the election and said, let's do it over. And now they're saying that in this new election, he can't be a candidate because he's a fascist and a jerk. And to be clear, it's invalidating the will of the Romanian people. And it is imposing on them a set of criteria for candidates for any political office, which essentially rule out fundamental transformation of the Romanian political system. So, you know, if you take this logic to an extreme or you apply it across Europe or even in the United States, what you would have a censorship to be sure. And you would have a democratic process that was curated by an elite so that no one with disruptive ideas like Donald Trump would ever be a candidate, let alone win an election. So the European elite appears to be circling the wagons to protect its its authority in a very troubling way. On the topic of Europe, just saw the other day that in England, Prime Minister Starmer is looking to abolish the NHS, the National Health Service. Well, I don't I haven't seen that story, but I the NHS is very popular, but I could imagine that he might wish to rename it or to rebrand it in some fashion. But that socialized medicine has been a fixture in Britain since the 1940s. And while the system has lots of problems, the basic concept of guaranteed access to health care is very popular. And and no conservative government has ever talked about abolishing the NHS much much less the labor government. So I would suspect that that the the core functions of the NHS and the basic system of socialized medicine will remain in place. You said sorry to the 1940s. Did church Hill have any involvement in that? Well, this was during the labor government of Clement Attlee right after World War II, England took a pretty hard turn to the left and it nationalized many industries and and it created a socialized medical system and then church in 1951 took over again as Prime Minister. But by that point, the NHS had become so popular that the conservatives never dismantled it. So it has been a fixture in the lives of the British people for so long. And they've come to depend on it so much. It's kind of like Social Security or Medicare in the United States. There are people who in private might say, well, we could do better than Social Security and Medicare, but virtually no politician will say in public that we need to abolish these very popular programs. It's it's a similar situation. Dr. Woody, on that topic, you know, you talk about the conservatives in England and labor movement and the different parties. What's the difference between conservatives in America and the conservative party in England? It's not exactly the same. Is it? No, it's certainly not the same. And I guess the the shortest answer to your question would be that it appears that conservatives are people who label themselves as conservatives in Canada and Western Europe are for the most part to the left of American conservatives. They're not as as adamant about free speech rights. They're they're not as adamant about reducing the size of government. And so to us a conservative in Canada or Western Europe might seem more like a Democrat than a Republican, to be quite honest with you. And that's why Republican elected officials in the United States and especially Republican presidents tend not to be liked in Canada in Europe. They tend to be seen as right wing extremists. And you know, some of that's just propaganda, of course. But there's some some real substantive ways in which politics in Canada and Western Europe is just fundamentally different than it is here. And so some of that animosity is is probably natural. We have been speaking with the Alpha State College History Professor Dr. Nick Wadi. His website is wadiisright.com wadi is spelled W A D D Y. And again, wadiisright.com is his website. He also writes for town hall.com and on the WISL stations, you hear town hall news. So Dr. Wadi may be a familiar name to those who check out the town hall website Nick, I want to thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Brian. I don't want to thank our other guests who was on before Dr. Wadi that would be state Senator George Borrello. And against before that, Stu Ben County Sheriff Jim Allard. You've been listening to the newsmaker show on the WISL stations. Nobody protects you from mayhem like all state. I'm a lost bee that found my way into your car. And now that I'm in here, good luck at me out. I think it's gone. No, it's in my hair. And if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage, now this could be quite a sticky situation. So get all state. Call Michelle at the Cornell Holbert agency at 607 324 5611 to find the right plan for you. Are you in good hands subject to terms, conditions and availability all state bar and casualty insurance company and affiliates North Brooke Illinois. [Music]
Sheriff Jim AllardState Senator George BorrelloDr. Nick Waddy