Walker Wildmon: American Family Radio broadcasts live from afr. net
>> Jeff Chamblee: We inform religious freedom is about people of faith being able to live out their faith, live out their convictions no matter where they are. We equip sacred honor is the courage to speak truth, to live out your free speech.
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>> Jeff Chamblee: Welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. I'm, Walker Wildmon. The show's hosted each week by myself and Rick Green. Once again, it's good to be with you on this edition of At The Core on American Family Radio. Well, we've made some updates to the afr.net website, afr.net and, one of the great tools now is that you can watch the program directly from afr.net so if you go to our website afr.net on the top left hand corner, you can click, listen live to the audio only. But if you want to watch the show, you can click the watch video tab on the upper right hand side as well. So, that's a quick and easy way to get the program live on your smartphone, your tablet, your browser, on your desktop, etc. Just visit afr.net afr.net and we do live stream the video as well over on YouTube on the American Family Radio YouTube channel and our video platform stream.aca.net stream.aca.net Acts chapter 17 is where we have been this week. Let's, conclude our time in Acts chapter 17. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessaloniki, where they were in the synagogue of the Jews. Paul, as his custom was, went to them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas. And so here we have early in Paul's missionary journey here, him preaching to and converting, these, Greek Jews. And so, it just further, emphasizes this day and age, the significance of, and the biblical mandate to witness, to and convert the Jew and the Gentile alike into the household of faith and the teachings, of Christ. That's Acts chapter 17, verses 1 through 4.
ivoterguide is looking for volunteers to help with candidate evaluations
Well, I want to mention this for our good friends over At ivoterguide. They are heading into the heaviest season this year of election evaluations. Candidate evaluations and they need your help. They need your help here. So let me give you the high level view and then I'll tell you what you can do and how to find out more information. But ivoterguide is going to be evaluating almost 15,000 candidates this election cycle and they need you to help them with these candidate evaluations. They are looking for volunteers to help participate in candidate evaluations and they provide all of the training, all of the steps necessary in order to carry this out. So here's the more information. all you need is a computer, biblical values, a willing heart and about 15 hours of time over a three week period. So about five hours a week. We're looking for the states where we are currently in the most need of these volunteer panelists and these evaluators is West Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Nevada, Minnesota, Oregon, Missouri, Idaho, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan and Oklahoma. Ideally, if you currently live in these states or you once did, this is preferred but not required. And so, we are looking for volunteer panelists for ivoterguide over the next month or so, to help us finish up some of these election evaluations. You're looking At the candidates. Once again, we'll provide all the training, all of the information needed for you to participate. It's about five hours a week over the course of three weeks, so 15 hours total. And here's how you can fill out the form and sign up to be a volunteer Panelist. Go to ivoterguide.com click on, ah, the Take action button and then become a panelist. So go to ivoterguide.com, click the take action button in the menu bar and then click Become a panelist and go ahead and fill out the form. This will be greatly appreciated. I know we have thousands of you listening each week, each month, each day on the program. And sometimes you're thinking, you know, what can I do to make a difference? Well here's a tangible way to make a difference. Become a volunteer panelist with ivoterguide and let's help them finish this midterm election Strong. Go to ivoterguide.com click take action and become a panelist. Fill out the form and we will be in touch. And if we could get 12, 20, 30 of you right now to go over to ivoterguide, uh.com click on the become a panelist tab, fill out the form. That will be excellent, excellent, excellent. So we appreciate the work of ivoterguide and I promised them that we'd make sure we get to that and pitch it over the next several days.
American women now hold 176,000 more payroll jobs than American men
Well, let's turn our attention to the news of the week. We are a lot going on, a lot to cover as as is the typical news cycle. But one thing I wanted to make sure we got to is, is what's going on, with men and the workforce because for some time we've been warned about the number of men, working age males that are completely checking out of the workforce. And this shocking statistic and this shocking report from the Wall Street Journal hit my inbox this week that there are now more women in the workforce than men. This was absolutely shocking. But let's listen to this Wall Street Journal report about the number of women currently in the US workforce.
>> Announcer: Where did all the guys in the office go? American women now hold 176,000 more payroll jobs than American men. That's a far cry from three decades ago when men held nearly 7 million more jobs than women. What changed? The largely male dominated industries of manufacturing and construction have lost employment for decades due to automation and offshoring. Meanwhile, the healthcare industry, which is 78% FEMA thriving. The male unemployment rate is actually relatively low right now. But the number of men who aren't even looking for a job has reached a nearly 20 year high. Gen Z men grew up witnessing the effects of the Great Recession and corporate America's push to bring more women into male dominated fields that left many of them feeling pessimistic about their own employment prospects. So for the guys who aren't working or even looking for work, what are they up to? Many are living At home. Some are even embracing the trend of being a stay At home boyfriend with a breadwinning girlfriend. This is all while more and more of life is happening through a screen. So social media, video gaming, sports betting, further isolating men from real life. But we can fix this. We can encourage more men to enter education, healthcare and administration. Just as women were encouraged to pursue careers in stem, we could also expand vocational training and apprenticeships for men who are skipping college. It's time to bring a generation of young men back in from the sidelines.
Seven million working age men not in the workforce, according to Wall Street Journal
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, there you have it folks. That's the Wall Street Journal report on this shocking statistic. Women now hold 176,000 more U.S. payroll jobs than men, reversing a gap that favored men by nearly seven jobs in the 1990s. All right, here's why this is a problem. We have currently 7 plus million working age men on the sidelines. From an employment standpoint, that is a major problem. What on earth is going on here. Seven million working age men between the ages of, 25 and 54 are sitting on the sidelines, not engaged in any way in the labor force. Meanwhile, the number of women in the workforce is now surpassing the number of men. And, closing a 9 million 7 to $9 million, gap from the 1990s of, men versus women in the workforce. This statistic, paired with what else we know, creates what I'm calling a five alarm fire in American culture. And this isn't partisan, this isn't just conservative. This isn't ideological. This is civilization survival priorities. And the five alarm fire that I'm talking about has to do with this degradation of the American family. I mean, the utter, utter falling apart of the American family as we once knew it is the five alarm fire. And then things like seven million men not in the workforce. Well, that's just adding to the problem here, because how can you expect marriage and family rates to increase if we have that many men not being breadwinners? It's a fundamental problem. Another shocking statistic is the number of unmarried men now. And so, as of 2025, between 2000 and 2025, the number of unmarried men between the ages of 20 and 39 has gone from 20 million in 2000, 20 million unmarried men ages 20 to 39 to now in 2025. That's increased by 10 million over 30% to now 30 million unmarried men ages 20 to 39. These are prime years of marriage, of fatherhood, of parenting, of working. This is the prime in multiple categories for young men 20 to 39. And you have 30 million in America that are also not just checked out of a job. They're checked out of marriage as well. The number of married men M ages 20 to 39 dropped from 2000 to 2025, from 18 million married men ages 20 to 39 in 2000 to now 15 million in 2025 married man ages 20 to 39. All right, so, so we have 7 million. Let's put this together. We have 7 million men of working age, prime working age 25 to 54 sitting on the sidelines, not even applying for jobs. We have more women now in the labor force on US Payrolls than men. For the first time ever, we have 30 million men aged 20 to 39 not married. And that number is continuing to rise. And then lastly, we have birth rates At historic lows below 2%, which is the number required 2.1% to be At replacement levels for a culture and a civilization. And we've been At below 2% since the mid-1970s. And nearly every time I cite that statistic, someone in the room says, I don't believe you. To that I say, go check it out. We've been below replacement levels since the 1970s. From a birth rate perspective, that's a fundamental problem. But if you notice the trend here, the trend here is a destruction of the family. And so the ultimate solution here is we have to have, we must have a culture wide society wide, economic wide emphasis on the fact that we need young people getting married and having babies. That's just a fact. And if you want to word it in a fancier manner, if you want to pitch it in a different way, At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day we need to go back to what we were doing before the 1970s and that is we were marrying young, meaning we were marrying At 18, 17, 19 and we were having children, we were having two, we were having three, we were having five children. That was the norm. We are going to have to go back to that because the alternative is that we have a continual degradation and reducing of the native born American population and we have a continual rise in the importation of foreigners to supplement the offset that we have in our own birth rate. What does that mean? We have foreign cultures being imported into America that eventually take over America and then we have no more America. That's how serious this is.
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Walker Wildmon and Rick Green encourage listeners to subscribe to American Family Radio podcast
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to At the with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. If you're looking for the podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, you can type in the name of the show just as it was cited At the with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. We would greatly appreciate it for the fans of the program, the fans of American Family Radio to subscribe or follow the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. We have over 700 between 7 and 9,000 each month depending, on the month that download or listen to the shows, the various shows on American Family Radio. Throughout all the podcast and the platforms and all the different shows that we produce on American Family Radio. We have sometimes near a million people total, subscribe to and download and listen to the various podcasts that we offer here on American Family Radio. So be another one of those individuals that subscribe to the podcast and share it with family and friends and get the word out so we can continue educating people, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and Lord willing, transforming culture for God's glory. Well, let's jump into some economics. We'll have Chris on with us in the last segment as well. We can talk more markets and interest rates and housing market and labor force participation, et cetera. But I wanted to talk about the war on American Energy, how that can hurt the American economy and how it has hurt the American economy. And then we'll talk about the outlook on these data centers on the role of AI with potentially deflationary pressure in the economy.
Jimmy Talarico: Students at UT Austin passed resolution against coal power plants
so to start this out I want to play this clip of candidate James Talarico from the State of Texas running against Ken Paxton for the U.S. senate seat there. But Talarico's been a lifelong liberal and he has there's been so many clips resurfaced of his, his Marxist left wing, you know, socialist viewpoints. But this one was a beauty from his time in college At the University of Texas in Austin where he was on the student government body leading them in this war on American energy and actually passing resolutions against building coal power plants in Austin. and so out of all the states to be anti energy, boy, Texas is not the right one to hold that position. Maybe California but not Texas. So let's listen to this flashback clip of James Talarico and his war on American Energy.
>> James Talarico: I'm Jimmy Talarico. I'm a university wide representative with the student government At the University of Texas At Austin. we passed on Tuesday night, AR18 which is a resolution supporting the city of Austin's efforts to divest from the Fayette Power Project. It was a great success for environmentalists on campus, students and also students who want to pay less with their energy bills and who want a sustainable economy and a green collar economy when they come out of college. M We passed the resolution with a lot of support. Student government At UT Austin is the voice of students, the voice of 50,000 students At the University of Texas, We're a big part of the community here in Austin. We want to make sure that when we leave here, when we graduate, we have a sustainable economy and one that attracts businesses from all across the country and all across the world, and also a city that's healthy when it comes to our environment to make sure that we can breathe quality air. It's a student issue, but it's also, an Austin issue. We encourage the city council to do all they can to divest from the power project, and we're glad that students are taking part in their process, engaging with a dialogue with their, city officials. So thank you all for coming out here, and we look forward to, talking with our city officials. So thank you all so much.
James Talarico urges Austin City Council to divest from coal powered energy projects
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, there's James Talarico urging the Austin City Council to, quote, divest from. From the Fayette Project. What was that? It was an energy production project to bring in a coal power plant to lower energy cost for the folks in Austin, Texas. And, what do you know, the Green NewSong Deal tree huggers. What are they? They're against energy. Energy production. And they say we need. We need renewable energy. Well, folks, number one, all natural resources, including coal, oil, these are naturally occurring energy sources. And so, by definition, they are, quote, unquote, renewable. You know, the scientists and the energy industry have been studying for a century, how much oil we have under our feet, how much oil we have under the ground. And some scientists have concluded we have an unlimited supply of oil. Why? Because they would say oil is a natural byproduct of the Earth's cycle and the fossil fuels and how everything's biodegraded, that we pretty much the Earth is producing oil indefinitely as part of its natural process. And so, the problem here is that we've been sold a bill of goods that makes us believe that solar panels and windmills is, quote, unquote, renewable. Well, folks, that's not. That's not renewable. It's just, by definition, not renewable. How can I say that is because the windmills have to be replaced, and the solar panels don't last forever, and the lithium ion battery storage doesn't last forever. Those are products. Those are. That's hardware that has to be replaced. And so that is not, quote, renewable energy. And so from that vantage point, oil, coal, natural gas is technically more renewable than solar and wind. But let's move on. This war on American energy has cost American consumers, and we could have been At a place with pennies on the dollar. Energy production for our homes and our businesses. But we got stuck on this Green NewSong Deal scam for the last 50 years and we've completely neglected nuclear. Now we're leaning back into it. Nuclear is going back on the market very rapidly and that is going to lower the cost of energy in America.
Frank Luntz: I think the anti data center movement to its extreme extent is wrong
let's play this clip on how, the data centers and the rollout has been completely fumbled from a public perception standpoint. And we actually had Mississippi, agricultural commissioner on recently to talk about, the negative perception of these data centers amongst the general populace. And so we'll talk through all the pros and cons of that here shortly. But the reason I bring this topic up is because we need more energy to run these data centers. And so you can't be anti energy and expect us to build out these massive data centers to run AI. Let's listen to pollster Frank Luntz on how these AI companies have fumbled the ball when it comes to the rollout of data centers.
>> Frank Luntz: People who want to build these data centers are not explaining how the populations will benefit. They simply assume that they just offer it. And the public says, yes, it can pay for all sorts of stadiums, it can pay for health care, it can pay for, tax decreases. It can make such a meaningful, measurable difference in the quality of life of the communities. But the people who want to build them aren't explaining it. And so some populations across the country, Ohio for example, the public is turning against it.
>> Walker Wildmon: So there you have it. This polling, is not looking good for, for, for candidates running for public office. And, and the whole data center issue, voters are very upset about this. And let me, let me try to strike a balance here, all right? I think the anti data center movement to its extreme extent is wrong. I think it's not correct. I think it's ill advised. because the fact of the matter is that the AI build out is happening. It's going to happen. And I agree with President Trump, we have to beat China to this. There's just no doubt about it. We have to be the AI superpower on the world stage. And so in order to do that, we have to build out these data centers. And there is a tremendous amount of good, by the way, that is already coming from the build out of AI. And there is a tremendous amount of good that will come from this build out of artificial intelligence. All right? So that's one side of it. On the other side, I agree with Frank Lawrence. I agree with sentiments from Mississippi Agricultural Commissioner Andy Gipson that I interviewed recently that the Rollout of this has been sloppy and it's been rather careless. now it's all happened fast and sometimes this happens in industry. When you try to rapidly build out technologies, you miss some critical angles. But the first position I would hold is that we ought not be building these massive data centers next to neighborhoods and small communities. All right? Nobody wants to walk out in their backyard with their cup of coffee and look At this massive ugly building that is just pumping out noise and eating up local resources and utilities. All right? So I think these technology companies and these municipalities need to be very careful and intentional about where they're placing these data centers. For example, during the industrial era and still now many localities have industrial parks. They have entire elements, or, parts of the city or town that is for industry. All right? And so the, the coding requirements are a little less stringent, that the buildings don't have to look as pretty, but that's okay because it's the industrial park, it's the industrial part of the city or the town. The same standards should apply here. If we're going to throw up this big metal building, this big, you know, million square foot data center, let's put it in the industrial park, let's put it in the part of town that is for industry and not throw it up next to neighborhoods and schools and churches. so that I think that's just minimum threshold, just common sense as far as where you place these in the communities. But also there's going to have to be a convincing of the local populace that these data centers are going to pay for this infrastructure buildout. For example, all this new power, energy infrastructure, all of this water consumption that is being, that is taking place. The local, the tech companies are going to have to convince the community that they're going to cover their fair share, if you will, to use, one of these socialist talking points of the build out. because any other industry that comes in, for example, if you have a Toyota or Nissan coming into a community, well, they're going to pledge up front. Look, we're going to provide our own power, we're going to provide our own infrastructure. we're going to do new roads and bridges around the community. We're going to make this work to where it's not a detrimental impact to the local population. And so all of this is going to have to take place. And look, whether you're concerned about it or not, I'm just telling you what the polling says. This is going to have to be addressed. President Trump is going to have to address this as well. The National Republican Senatorial Committee just sent out a private memo, earlier this week. Listen to this. This is a story breaking this week that goes along the same lines. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a private memo this week to USAI companies warning them that the GOP is on the verge of losing the Ohio Senate seat over data centers. Unless something is done to improve public policy perception, political support will collapse nationwide. And so the Democrats are taking advantage of this. Of course, they're anti capitalism, they're anti productivity, they're anti human flourishing. So they'll just say and do whatever they have to do to win public office. But Republicans need to be very careful how they talk about this. There needs to be, a balancing act, if you will, and these technology companies are going to have to do a better job messaging with the public on why putting data centers in their communities is important, why it's valuable, and the benefits to the local community. So that's what the Republican Party is now concerned about. And they're even sending out private memos around the country on this very topic.
Steven Moore says we're on a trajectory for below 2% inflation
Do want to play this last clip here? This is Steven Moore, economist, formerly with the Heritage foundation and other groups as well, has worked with the Trump administration before, talking about how we're on a trajectory now with this Iran conflict easing and I build out, reducing inflationary pressures. We're on a trajectory for below 2% inflation. Let's listen.
>> Steven Moore, Economist: Sure it is. Sure. As anytime the energy price goes up, you see prices of everything else going up, like food and transportation costs, manufactured products, because energy, of course, is the, is the master resource and everything that we produce. But that also means that if we can get that price down, which I believe we will see over the next couple of months, because there's no shortage of oil in the world. You could see the inflation rate. I'm going to make a prediction to you. Within, three months, we're going to have an inflation rate less than 2% and closer to 1%. In part, Stuart, because of one of the things you've been talking about all the time on your show, which is that this AI productivity revolution is very real. It's happening right before our, very eyes. And you just, I mean, I listen to the people you have on your show, the businessman and woman who run these great companies and they're telling you I is reducing their costs of producing things. So I think the days of, you know, 4 or 5, 6% inflation are, ah, well behind us. Incidentally it was exactly four years ago today. Four years ago today, under Biden, we had 9.1% inflation.
>> Walker Wildmon: There you have it. That's Steven Moore, who has a pretty good track record of predicting things. He says we're heading to 2% or below 2% inflation. And I believe him. I think he's right. I think he's onto something. And there's a couple things coming together here, folks. you have the easing of the Iran conflict, you have the continual increase in production of energy. you have the modular nuclear reactor build out taking place now, which over the next decade is going to drastically reduce the cost of energy. and you have the full Trump economic policies really coming into play here and taking effect. And this is a path we were very much close to and on prior to the Iran war. And the Ran war was somewhat of a setback that we're now having to get back on track with. And so I think he's exactly right. Looking out long term, I'm not too concerned about AI taking jobs, all right? I think it will take certain jobs. But as far as the abundance of other jobs that will come from the build out of AI, I think there's a lot of optimism here. Let me give you some examples. All right? The number of electricians, the number of plumbers, the number of H vac technicians, the number of welders that are needed to build out these massive data centers is unheard of. I mean, you've got, you've got electricians making $300,000 a year building out these massive data centers. And so, I think, and then you've got, on the energy side of things, you've got this energy sector boom with modular nuclear reactors, new coal and new, gas power plants coming online every month. Those have to be built by someone, those have to be maintained by someone. And so I think the number of jobs in the electrical field and just in the overall industrial field to support this build out and maintaining of data centers and technology infrastructure and energy infrastructure in America. I think there's hundreds of thousands of jobs that are long term jobs, not temporary, that are going to come from this technological, industrialization in America. We'll be back in a few, Friend.
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>> : At the The Core podcast are [email protected] now back to At the The Core on American Family Radio.
Walker Wildmon welcomes back Chris Woodward with a few words
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, Chris Chris Woodward is with us. I'm, Walker Wildmon. Glad to have you back on the program. That was probably the quick intro for Chris ever in the history of radio to go to Chris before the music's even done. Chris welcome back. Hey, man. A few words.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: Hey, Chris the, we got a lot to talk about, but let's start with the $40 trillion.
Chris Woodward: The approach to debt that our government is doing is unwise
Did you ever think you would live to see the day of the debt clock hitting 40 trillion?
>> Chris Woodward: No, I didn't because, 16, 18 years ago, there was a large gathering of fiscally conservative people that were running as Tea Partiers, and they were going to get spending under control. And that did not happen, if it's a very timely topic, because there's all these people out there that are led to believe these Democratic socialists of America are going to be the solution to our problems. I would add that if you're worried about 40 trillion, if you put all these people in office, we're talking about 50 trillion in a couple of years time.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, this, Chris here's my perspective of it, all right? This, in my opinion, this approach to debt that our government is doing is unbiblical and unwise. And the reason I can say that is because there's no plan to pay it off. All right? Obviously the biblical teachings on this actually prefer no debt, but it's not explicitly unbiblical to have debt, so long as you have a plan to pay your debt. Now, they would say, you know, counterpoint to this and say, well, you know, we're paying Our bills, we're paying our debt. Well, okay, you're paying the interest. that's not. That's not having a plan to pay your debt and to pay your debt off. So with that being the viewpoint here, Chris that's the fundamental problem is that our leaders are operating under the assumption and the plan that we will always have debt and it will always go up. Right. So that's the problem here that I have with it. And then there are the secondary problems, m such as persistent inflation, et cetera. But as far as the apocalyptic side of things, Chris I just don't see it becoming apocalyptic. It could, especially if you have some massive economic disaster that's brought on by something else that could exacerbate our debt problem. But as long as the treasury can print the money, then the show goes on.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, it's, you know, government, as usual, they just, they keep on keeping on to put things in perspective for people that maybe don't understand what the government is doing. Basically, they're getting the credit card bill every month and they're paying that minimum. That minimum payment that the credit card wants you to pay.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And they're basically just doing that to make it go away for a period of time and then they'll deal with it again in the future. And the debt continues to pile and pile and pile and pile up. so that is basically what our government is doing. The, apocalyptic scenarios that some people have put out there from center right taxpayer groups is that if we continue to go down this path, eventually programs and benefits and stuff that people are expecting checks from.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: You're going to start to see smaller payments. While basically the American people work half the population that actually works taxes, they're just going to be literally working to service the debt.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. The reason those groups At this juncture are wrong is because we have the printing press. If we didn't have the printing press, I would agree, or if there were like a limit on how much debt we could have, I would also agree with them. The problem, what they're getting wrong is they're assuming, number one, that our elected officials care, but number two, that they're going to do anything about it. the fact of the matter is, as long as we have the printing press and we control the numbers on the Excel sheet, which is quite literally what they do to increase the debt and spending, is they go into the computer and add some zeros. and that's not an exaggeration, that's literally what they do. then if, you know, if, if the interest is a trillion or whatever and Social Security goes up and Medicaid and all these programs, or the Pentagon needs a trillion, and a half, as long as we've got the control of the printing press and Congress is willing to continually add to the debt, then we can ride this thing literally forever.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: now, once again, I'm not saying that there's no consequences to this level of behavior because their, their long term is, and we're living it now. I mean, we don't have to talk about the future. We can talk about now. The fact that 3 to 5% inflation is the norm. Why is that? Why does 3 to 5% of our income become, basically eaten every year, are, you know, consumed every year by inflation, is because we're running a persistent debt cycle. Yeah. so I think, I don't, once again, unless there's some economic calamity that I don't foresee, what makes 60 trillion different than 40 or 40 different than 20. as long as they can keep inflation At tolerable levels and they still have governments and individuals and people willing to buy the debt that's actually been a problem with the bonds right now.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: then this rodeo can keep go on.
>> Chris Woodward: One thing that works for us as a country is, you know, God bless us. We're, we're capitalists. We, we buy things, even when we don't need them.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: and so we go out and buy stuff and many products are made in other places. So let's say you're Japan, which has loaned us a lot of money over the years.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: you know, Japan goes, okay, well, you know, it's, it's money we might be devoting or could put towards our own problems, but these people are going to buy a lot of our electronics, a lot of our cars, things like that. So yeah, we're going to be giving them some money that they may never pay off because they're never paying off their debt. but they're going to buy stuff from us. We will continue to have those kinds of deals, and I think it's those kinds of deals that have caused countries to not call us on our debt. Even China, you know, China needs us to buy their stuff. Yeah, we can, we can spend another conversation on whether or not we need to make stuff in China. That's not what I'm talking about. China knows and needs us, to buy their stuff. so that way, if they were to learn us money or something, like that. That's. That's the wink, wink, nod, nod, handshake thing.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And I don't know, Chris I know I'm sounding kind of flippant about this and, like, I don't care about it. I really do care. It's. It's utterly frustrating that we're in this position, but I think I'm somewhat desensitized to it because we've been doing this game for, like, 50 years.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: As far as the persistent deficit, debt, et cetera. And we've all been outraged before, like the Tea Party movement. And then here we are, you know, At 40 trillion, and both parties are responsible. To be fair, Republicans and Democrats do this. They just spend money on different things. Very true. And I would argue Republicans spend the money on more responsible things. Democrats want to give out, you know, handouts for, getting an electric vehicle and send the money to all these NGOs that then campaign for them and all these kickbacks and stuff. So I would argue Republicans At least spend the money more wisely. But either way, both parties are adding to the deficit. But, Chris this is really an experiment in human history, where we're controlling as a central government. We're not relying on, like, a limited resource like gold, and instead we're relying on a printing press and numbers and Excel sheet. It is rather an experiment in human history. So I don't know how long this can go. It's anybody's guess, but we're in it.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: I mean, we're 40 trillion in it, baby. And neither party seems to care about it, so. But how long does the show go on? 50 years, 100 years? I don't know.
At the beginning of this century, 2000, national debt was only $5.67 trillion
It's just. It's going to be quite interesting to see, and I don't want to be here when it all comes crumbling down.
>> Chris Woodward: I don't either. I hope the good Lord, comes back soon and, you know, I get promoted to the, Good News Network. But, just out of curiosity, I didn't know this. I live Googled it while we were talking about it. At the beginning of this century, 2000, the national debt was only $5.67 trillion. Wow. And today we're $40 trillion in debt. If we continue down the path we are on with a much larger population, that we have compared to the start of the century, I mean, we're going to be 100 At 100 trillion
>> Walker Wildmon: probably in the next decade, decade and a half, maybe.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. so something does need to be done, and people need to actually pay attention to it and make sure that solutions thrown out there by lawmakers don't lead to the apocalyptic situation like we've already discussed.
>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely.
Chris Woodward: I think housing market is cooling, but not necessarily a correction
Chris what about the, let's talk about the housing market. I know you may not have prepared for this, but the housing market is seeing somewhat of a cooling, if you will. I wouldn't even say necessarily a correction. I just think it's normalizing because housing prices have been so elevated for so long. I think, an easing of the pricing pressure and the upping of the inventory is really just a normalizing of the housing market in general.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I think you're definitely onto something. I'm looking At a couple of numbers from earlier this week. On Tuesday we got housing starts which came in just below expectations. Market, watch thought we would see 1.3 million. We got 1.2. So just below expectations. When you look At ah, pending home sales, we had negative 2.3%. We thought we might see a positive 0.6%. So there are some, signs there, big stories involving housing. And as we've talked about before, a lot of people have jobs depending on housing. so these numbers do impact you, even if you are fortunate to be in a home that you've paid off or you're about to pay off, stuff like that. the housing market impacts you even if you don't think you should care about it or pay attention to it.
>> Walker Wildmon: And I do, I am, I do feel sorry for people who overpaid for a house during the COVID era. and then now they're trying to get out from under it. I really do feel bad for them. That's a terrible spot to be. but, but looking At the prices, Chris the housing prices over the last few years, you, I mean you and I talked about it umpteen times. It's like, this is ridiculous. You know, in a place like Mississippi, people pub. Listing houses for 200 a square foot. Are you kidding me?
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: it was just so outlandish. So this, this normalizing of the housing market is so overdue. And it's honestly healthy. Like we've got to get back to a place of sanity when it comes to what we think our houses are worth.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. People really need to put some thought into it because a lot of people still, and I think this is the right way to go about it. A lot of people still enter a home thinking that they will At some point be able to, to sell it, and use that for retirement.
>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.
>> Chris Woodward: in my case, I'VE got, I don't know, 24 more years of payments. Okay. And one of these days, you know, we're going to have it paid off, if not before then, and we'll be able to use that for a nest egg, to, you know, put towards our retirement and things like that. So people do need to really think about, a house. I know everybody has a dream house. I know everybody wants to be in a house or maybe in a bigger space. but you do need to really talk about it with people, pray about it, and, you know, ask the Lord for wisdom on what to do in these areas as you should do with anything in your life.
>> Walker Wildmon: Well, At this point, Chris also for young people, I'm talking people out of college in their 20s. just get in a house. I mean, if you can just get in something.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: even if it's not, obviously what your quote. My wife and I, now, we laugh At this, but we quit using the word like forever home. It's like, I don't even know where I want to be in five years. I'm not gonna say this is my forever home.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: so we quit using that phrase because, you know, your, your desires change, your expectations change. I mean, we're always kind of on the lookout for what's next. but, but if young people can just get in a house early on, even if it's, if it's not what they want or not in the location they want, At least they got in, right? You start building equity and then you can build from there, right?
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, people. Well, number one, two people, need to quit being picky. I'm not saying you should just buy whatever, you know, whatever you can find.
>> Walker Wildmon: If it's a starter home, it's a starter home.
>> Chris Woodward: A lot of people kind, of turn their noses up At starter homes, but in a place like California, where clearly they need to deregulate and open up lands for construction of things like starter homes to help people that can't afford to get into a home right now. believe you me, 1000 square foot starter home is way better than a studio apartment that you're paying the equivalent of, like, mortgages for every month.
>> Walker Wildmon: Exactly.
>> Chris Woodward: You're way better off.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And there's no equity there.
>> Chris Woodward: Sell some stuff. If, if you haven't worn something or looked for something in six months, get rid of it. And there, there, there's your space problem for a thousand square foot starter home.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And that, and, and what? We're, what we're alluding to is this. Yes, yes, inflation has been brutal. yes, things are not as affordable maybe as they once were. And so I'm not completely excusing our economic policies and the tough situation some of these young people are in. But At some point, Chris and this is why I try to balance this talking out is At some point we have to accept personal responsibility and we have to just do the best with what we've been given and the hand we've been dealt. And I think that's the message we need to send out to America's young people, is if you don't like your situation, let's work our way out of it. but unfortunately a lot of young people are falling into this trap of socialism because they are disgruntled, they are upset, they, they don't like their economic setup or whatever. And so instead of working to fix it and working to do free market capitalist ideals that increase human prosperity, they're reverting to socialism. So we've got a message that's right to capture their attention but also give them reasons for optimism.
>> Chris Woodward: They also need to get a good accountant because if you're working remotely like a lot of people are, you can write things off like your Internet and your phone and other things that you're required to have as part of your job.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And you know what, really go through all the things that you think are necessities. A lot of things aren't. You could save up a lot of money quickly if you didn't pay for all kinds of apps and stuff.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, exactly. And, for first time home buyers, there's various incentive programs out there, backed up by the federal, government that help young people first time home buyers get into a home. Chris thanks so much.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, folks, we're going to keep tracking all the news, all the economy, etc. Go over to afn.net and subscribe to the newsletter. That's American Family News. Afn.net subscribe to their newsletter. Subscribe to their podcast as well. We'll see you next time.
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>> Jeff Chamblee: Welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. I'm, Walker Wildmon. The show's hosted each week by myself and Rick Green. Once again, it's good to be with you on this edition of At The Core on American Family Radio. Well, we've made some updates to the afr.net website, afr.net and, one of the great tools now is that you can watch the program directly from afr.net so if you go to our website afr.net on the top left hand corner, you can click, listen live to the audio only. But if you want to watch the show, you can click the watch video tab on the upper right hand side as well. So, that's a quick and easy way to get the program live on your smartphone, your tablet, your browser, on your desktop, etc. Just visit afr.net afr.net and we do live stream the video as well over on YouTube on the American Family Radio YouTube channel and our video platform stream.aca.net stream.aca.net Acts chapter 17 is where we have been this week. Let's, conclude our time in Acts chapter 17. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessaloniki, where they were in the synagogue of the Jews. Paul, as his custom was, went to them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas. And so here we have early in Paul's missionary journey here, him preaching to and converting, these, Greek Jews. And so, it just further, emphasizes this day and age, the significance of, and the biblical mandate to witness, to and convert the Jew and the Gentile alike into the household of faith and the teachings, of Christ. That's Acts chapter 17, verses 1 through 4.
ivoterguide is looking for volunteers to help with candidate evaluations
Well, I want to mention this for our good friends over At ivoterguide. They are heading into the heaviest season this year of election evaluations. Candidate evaluations and they need your help. They need your help here. So let me give you the high level view and then I'll tell you what you can do and how to find out more information. But ivoterguide is going to be evaluating almost 15,000 candidates this election cycle and they need you to help them with these candidate evaluations. They are looking for volunteers to help participate in candidate evaluations and they provide all of the training, all of the steps necessary in order to carry this out. So here's the more information. all you need is a computer, biblical values, a willing heart and about 15 hours of time over a three week period. So about five hours a week. We're looking for the states where we are currently in the most need of these volunteer panelists and these evaluators is West Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Nevada, Minnesota, Oregon, Missouri, Idaho, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan and Oklahoma. Ideally, if you currently live in these states or you once did, this is preferred but not required. And so, we are looking for volunteer panelists for ivoterguide over the next month or so, to help us finish up some of these election evaluations. You're looking At the candidates. Once again, we'll provide all the training, all of the information needed for you to participate. It's about five hours a week over the course of three weeks, so 15 hours total. And here's how you can fill out the form and sign up to be a volunteer Panelist. Go to ivoterguide.com click on, ah, the Take action button and then become a panelist. So go to ivoterguide.com, click the take action button in the menu bar and then click Become a panelist and go ahead and fill out the form. This will be greatly appreciated. I know we have thousands of you listening each week, each month, each day on the program. And sometimes you're thinking, you know, what can I do to make a difference? Well here's a tangible way to make a difference. Become a volunteer panelist with ivoterguide and let's help them finish this midterm election Strong. Go to ivoterguide.com click take action and become a panelist. Fill out the form and we will be in touch. And if we could get 12, 20, 30 of you right now to go over to ivoterguide, uh.com click on the become a panelist tab, fill out the form. That will be excellent, excellent, excellent. So we appreciate the work of ivoterguide and I promised them that we'd make sure we get to that and pitch it over the next several days.
American women now hold 176,000 more payroll jobs than American men
Well, let's turn our attention to the news of the week. We are a lot going on, a lot to cover as as is the typical news cycle. But one thing I wanted to make sure we got to is, is what's going on, with men and the workforce because for some time we've been warned about the number of men, working age males that are completely checking out of the workforce. And this shocking statistic and this shocking report from the Wall Street Journal hit my inbox this week that there are now more women in the workforce than men. This was absolutely shocking. But let's listen to this Wall Street Journal report about the number of women currently in the US workforce.
>> Announcer: Where did all the guys in the office go? American women now hold 176,000 more payroll jobs than American men. That's a far cry from three decades ago when men held nearly 7 million more jobs than women. What changed? The largely male dominated industries of manufacturing and construction have lost employment for decades due to automation and offshoring. Meanwhile, the healthcare industry, which is 78% FEMA thriving. The male unemployment rate is actually relatively low right now. But the number of men who aren't even looking for a job has reached a nearly 20 year high. Gen Z men grew up witnessing the effects of the Great Recession and corporate America's push to bring more women into male dominated fields that left many of them feeling pessimistic about their own employment prospects. So for the guys who aren't working or even looking for work, what are they up to? Many are living At home. Some are even embracing the trend of being a stay At home boyfriend with a breadwinning girlfriend. This is all while more and more of life is happening through a screen. So social media, video gaming, sports betting, further isolating men from real life. But we can fix this. We can encourage more men to enter education, healthcare and administration. Just as women were encouraged to pursue careers in stem, we could also expand vocational training and apprenticeships for men who are skipping college. It's time to bring a generation of young men back in from the sidelines.
Seven million working age men not in the workforce, according to Wall Street Journal
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, there you have it folks. That's the Wall Street Journal report on this shocking statistic. Women now hold 176,000 more U.S. payroll jobs than men, reversing a gap that favored men by nearly seven jobs in the 1990s. All right, here's why this is a problem. We have currently 7 plus million working age men on the sidelines. From an employment standpoint, that is a major problem. What on earth is going on here. Seven million working age men between the ages of, 25 and 54 are sitting on the sidelines, not engaged in any way in the labor force. Meanwhile, the number of women in the workforce is now surpassing the number of men. And, closing a 9 million 7 to $9 million, gap from the 1990s of, men versus women in the workforce. This statistic, paired with what else we know, creates what I'm calling a five alarm fire in American culture. And this isn't partisan, this isn't just conservative. This isn't ideological. This is civilization survival priorities. And the five alarm fire that I'm talking about has to do with this degradation of the American family. I mean, the utter, utter falling apart of the American family as we once knew it is the five alarm fire. And then things like seven million men not in the workforce. Well, that's just adding to the problem here, because how can you expect marriage and family rates to increase if we have that many men not being breadwinners? It's a fundamental problem. Another shocking statistic is the number of unmarried men now. And so, as of 2025, between 2000 and 2025, the number of unmarried men between the ages of 20 and 39 has gone from 20 million in 2000, 20 million unmarried men ages 20 to 39 to now in 2025. That's increased by 10 million over 30% to now 30 million unmarried men ages 20 to 39. These are prime years of marriage, of fatherhood, of parenting, of working. This is the prime in multiple categories for young men 20 to 39. And you have 30 million in America that are also not just checked out of a job. They're checked out of marriage as well. The number of married men M ages 20 to 39 dropped from 2000 to 2025, from 18 million married men ages 20 to 39 in 2000 to now 15 million in 2025 married man ages 20 to 39. All right, so, so we have 7 million. Let's put this together. We have 7 million men of working age, prime working age 25 to 54 sitting on the sidelines, not even applying for jobs. We have more women now in the labor force on US Payrolls than men. For the first time ever, we have 30 million men aged 20 to 39 not married. And that number is continuing to rise. And then lastly, we have birth rates At historic lows below 2%, which is the number required 2.1% to be At replacement levels for a culture and a civilization. And we've been At below 2% since the mid-1970s. And nearly every time I cite that statistic, someone in the room says, I don't believe you. To that I say, go check it out. We've been below replacement levels since the 1970s. From a birth rate perspective, that's a fundamental problem. But if you notice the trend here, the trend here is a destruction of the family. And so the ultimate solution here is we have to have, we must have a culture wide society wide, economic wide emphasis on the fact that we need young people getting married and having babies. That's just a fact. And if you want to word it in a fancier manner, if you want to pitch it in a different way, At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day we need to go back to what we were doing before the 1970s and that is we were marrying young, meaning we were marrying At 18, 17, 19 and we were having children, we were having two, we were having three, we were having five children. That was the norm. We are going to have to go back to that because the alternative is that we have a continual degradation and reducing of the native born American population and we have a continual rise in the importation of foreigners to supplement the offset that we have in our own birth rate. What does that mean? We have foreign cultures being imported into America that eventually take over America and then we have no more America. That's how serious this is.
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Walker Wildmon and Rick Green encourage listeners to subscribe to American Family Radio podcast
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to At the with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. If you're looking for the podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, you can type in the name of the show just as it was cited At the with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. We would greatly appreciate it for the fans of the program, the fans of American Family Radio to subscribe or follow the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. We have over 700 between 7 and 9,000 each month depending, on the month that download or listen to the shows, the various shows on American Family Radio. Throughout all the podcast and the platforms and all the different shows that we produce on American Family Radio. We have sometimes near a million people total, subscribe to and download and listen to the various podcasts that we offer here on American Family Radio. So be another one of those individuals that subscribe to the podcast and share it with family and friends and get the word out so we can continue educating people, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and Lord willing, transforming culture for God's glory. Well, let's jump into some economics. We'll have Chris on with us in the last segment as well. We can talk more markets and interest rates and housing market and labor force participation, et cetera. But I wanted to talk about the war on American Energy, how that can hurt the American economy and how it has hurt the American economy. And then we'll talk about the outlook on these data centers on the role of AI with potentially deflationary pressure in the economy.
Jimmy Talarico: Students at UT Austin passed resolution against coal power plants
so to start this out I want to play this clip of candidate James Talarico from the State of Texas running against Ken Paxton for the U.S. senate seat there. But Talarico's been a lifelong liberal and he has there's been so many clips resurfaced of his, his Marxist left wing, you know, socialist viewpoints. But this one was a beauty from his time in college At the University of Texas in Austin where he was on the student government body leading them in this war on American energy and actually passing resolutions against building coal power plants in Austin. and so out of all the states to be anti energy, boy, Texas is not the right one to hold that position. Maybe California but not Texas. So let's listen to this flashback clip of James Talarico and his war on American Energy.
>> James Talarico: I'm Jimmy Talarico. I'm a university wide representative with the student government At the University of Texas At Austin. we passed on Tuesday night, AR18 which is a resolution supporting the city of Austin's efforts to divest from the Fayette Power Project. It was a great success for environmentalists on campus, students and also students who want to pay less with their energy bills and who want a sustainable economy and a green collar economy when they come out of college. M We passed the resolution with a lot of support. Student government At UT Austin is the voice of students, the voice of 50,000 students At the University of Texas, We're a big part of the community here in Austin. We want to make sure that when we leave here, when we graduate, we have a sustainable economy and one that attracts businesses from all across the country and all across the world, and also a city that's healthy when it comes to our environment to make sure that we can breathe quality air. It's a student issue, but it's also, an Austin issue. We encourage the city council to do all they can to divest from the power project, and we're glad that students are taking part in their process, engaging with a dialogue with their, city officials. So thank you all for coming out here, and we look forward to, talking with our city officials. So thank you all so much.
James Talarico urges Austin City Council to divest from coal powered energy projects
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, there's James Talarico urging the Austin City Council to, quote, divest from. From the Fayette Project. What was that? It was an energy production project to bring in a coal power plant to lower energy cost for the folks in Austin, Texas. And, what do you know, the Green NewSong Deal tree huggers. What are they? They're against energy. Energy production. And they say we need. We need renewable energy. Well, folks, number one, all natural resources, including coal, oil, these are naturally occurring energy sources. And so, by definition, they are, quote, unquote, renewable. You know, the scientists and the energy industry have been studying for a century, how much oil we have under our feet, how much oil we have under the ground. And some scientists have concluded we have an unlimited supply of oil. Why? Because they would say oil is a natural byproduct of the Earth's cycle and the fossil fuels and how everything's biodegraded, that we pretty much the Earth is producing oil indefinitely as part of its natural process. And so, the problem here is that we've been sold a bill of goods that makes us believe that solar panels and windmills is, quote, unquote, renewable. Well, folks, that's not. That's not renewable. It's just, by definition, not renewable. How can I say that is because the windmills have to be replaced, and the solar panels don't last forever, and the lithium ion battery storage doesn't last forever. Those are products. Those are. That's hardware that has to be replaced. And so that is not, quote, renewable energy. And so from that vantage point, oil, coal, natural gas is technically more renewable than solar and wind. But let's move on. This war on American energy has cost American consumers, and we could have been At a place with pennies on the dollar. Energy production for our homes and our businesses. But we got stuck on this Green NewSong Deal scam for the last 50 years and we've completely neglected nuclear. Now we're leaning back into it. Nuclear is going back on the market very rapidly and that is going to lower the cost of energy in America.
Frank Luntz: I think the anti data center movement to its extreme extent is wrong
let's play this clip on how, the data centers and the rollout has been completely fumbled from a public perception standpoint. And we actually had Mississippi, agricultural commissioner on recently to talk about, the negative perception of these data centers amongst the general populace. And so we'll talk through all the pros and cons of that here shortly. But the reason I bring this topic up is because we need more energy to run these data centers. And so you can't be anti energy and expect us to build out these massive data centers to run AI. Let's listen to pollster Frank Luntz on how these AI companies have fumbled the ball when it comes to the rollout of data centers.
>> Frank Luntz: People who want to build these data centers are not explaining how the populations will benefit. They simply assume that they just offer it. And the public says, yes, it can pay for all sorts of stadiums, it can pay for health care, it can pay for, tax decreases. It can make such a meaningful, measurable difference in the quality of life of the communities. But the people who want to build them aren't explaining it. And so some populations across the country, Ohio for example, the public is turning against it.
>> Walker Wildmon: So there you have it. This polling, is not looking good for, for, for candidates running for public office. And, and the whole data center issue, voters are very upset about this. And let me, let me try to strike a balance here, all right? I think the anti data center movement to its extreme extent is wrong. I think it's not correct. I think it's ill advised. because the fact of the matter is that the AI build out is happening. It's going to happen. And I agree with President Trump, we have to beat China to this. There's just no doubt about it. We have to be the AI superpower on the world stage. And so in order to do that, we have to build out these data centers. And there is a tremendous amount of good, by the way, that is already coming from the build out of AI. And there is a tremendous amount of good that will come from this build out of artificial intelligence. All right? So that's one side of it. On the other side, I agree with Frank Lawrence. I agree with sentiments from Mississippi Agricultural Commissioner Andy Gipson that I interviewed recently that the Rollout of this has been sloppy and it's been rather careless. now it's all happened fast and sometimes this happens in industry. When you try to rapidly build out technologies, you miss some critical angles. But the first position I would hold is that we ought not be building these massive data centers next to neighborhoods and small communities. All right? Nobody wants to walk out in their backyard with their cup of coffee and look At this massive ugly building that is just pumping out noise and eating up local resources and utilities. All right? So I think these technology companies and these municipalities need to be very careful and intentional about where they're placing these data centers. For example, during the industrial era and still now many localities have industrial parks. They have entire elements, or, parts of the city or town that is for industry. All right? And so the, the coding requirements are a little less stringent, that the buildings don't have to look as pretty, but that's okay because it's the industrial park, it's the industrial part of the city or the town. The same standards should apply here. If we're going to throw up this big metal building, this big, you know, million square foot data center, let's put it in the industrial park, let's put it in the part of town that is for industry and not throw it up next to neighborhoods and schools and churches. so that I think that's just minimum threshold, just common sense as far as where you place these in the communities. But also there's going to have to be a convincing of the local populace that these data centers are going to pay for this infrastructure buildout. For example, all this new power, energy infrastructure, all of this water consumption that is being, that is taking place. The local, the tech companies are going to have to convince the community that they're going to cover their fair share, if you will, to use, one of these socialist talking points of the build out. because any other industry that comes in, for example, if you have a Toyota or Nissan coming into a community, well, they're going to pledge up front. Look, we're going to provide our own power, we're going to provide our own infrastructure. we're going to do new roads and bridges around the community. We're going to make this work to where it's not a detrimental impact to the local population. And so all of this is going to have to take place. And look, whether you're concerned about it or not, I'm just telling you what the polling says. This is going to have to be addressed. President Trump is going to have to address this as well. The National Republican Senatorial Committee just sent out a private memo, earlier this week. Listen to this. This is a story breaking this week that goes along the same lines. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a private memo this week to USAI companies warning them that the GOP is on the verge of losing the Ohio Senate seat over data centers. Unless something is done to improve public policy perception, political support will collapse nationwide. And so the Democrats are taking advantage of this. Of course, they're anti capitalism, they're anti productivity, they're anti human flourishing. So they'll just say and do whatever they have to do to win public office. But Republicans need to be very careful how they talk about this. There needs to be, a balancing act, if you will, and these technology companies are going to have to do a better job messaging with the public on why putting data centers in their communities is important, why it's valuable, and the benefits to the local community. So that's what the Republican Party is now concerned about. And they're even sending out private memos around the country on this very topic.
Steven Moore says we're on a trajectory for below 2% inflation
Do want to play this last clip here? This is Steven Moore, economist, formerly with the Heritage foundation and other groups as well, has worked with the Trump administration before, talking about how we're on a trajectory now with this Iran conflict easing and I build out, reducing inflationary pressures. We're on a trajectory for below 2% inflation. Let's listen.
>> Steven Moore, Economist: Sure it is. Sure. As anytime the energy price goes up, you see prices of everything else going up, like food and transportation costs, manufactured products, because energy, of course, is the, is the master resource and everything that we produce. But that also means that if we can get that price down, which I believe we will see over the next couple of months, because there's no shortage of oil in the world. You could see the inflation rate. I'm going to make a prediction to you. Within, three months, we're going to have an inflation rate less than 2% and closer to 1%. In part, Stuart, because of one of the things you've been talking about all the time on your show, which is that this AI productivity revolution is very real. It's happening right before our, very eyes. And you just, I mean, I listen to the people you have on your show, the businessman and woman who run these great companies and they're telling you I is reducing their costs of producing things. So I think the days of, you know, 4 or 5, 6% inflation are, ah, well behind us. Incidentally it was exactly four years ago today. Four years ago today, under Biden, we had 9.1% inflation.
>> Walker Wildmon: There you have it. That's Steven Moore, who has a pretty good track record of predicting things. He says we're heading to 2% or below 2% inflation. And I believe him. I think he's right. I think he's onto something. And there's a couple things coming together here, folks. you have the easing of the Iran conflict, you have the continual increase in production of energy. you have the modular nuclear reactor build out taking place now, which over the next decade is going to drastically reduce the cost of energy. and you have the full Trump economic policies really coming into play here and taking effect. And this is a path we were very much close to and on prior to the Iran war. And the Ran war was somewhat of a setback that we're now having to get back on track with. And so I think he's exactly right. Looking out long term, I'm not too concerned about AI taking jobs, all right? I think it will take certain jobs. But as far as the abundance of other jobs that will come from the build out of AI, I think there's a lot of optimism here. Let me give you some examples. All right? The number of electricians, the number of plumbers, the number of H vac technicians, the number of welders that are needed to build out these massive data centers is unheard of. I mean, you've got, you've got electricians making $300,000 a year building out these massive data centers. And so, I think, and then you've got, on the energy side of things, you've got this energy sector boom with modular nuclear reactors, new coal and new, gas power plants coming online every month. Those have to be built by someone, those have to be maintained by someone. And so I think the number of jobs in the electrical field and just in the overall industrial field to support this build out and maintaining of data centers and technology infrastructure and energy infrastructure in America. I think there's hundreds of thousands of jobs that are long term jobs, not temporary, that are going to come from this technological, industrialization in America. We'll be back in a few, Friend.
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>> : At the The Core podcast are [email protected] now back to At the The Core on American Family Radio.
Walker Wildmon welcomes back Chris Woodward with a few words
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, Chris Chris Woodward is with us. I'm, Walker Wildmon. Glad to have you back on the program. That was probably the quick intro for Chris ever in the history of radio to go to Chris before the music's even done. Chris welcome back. Hey, man. A few words.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: Hey, Chris the, we got a lot to talk about, but let's start with the $40 trillion.
Chris Woodward: The approach to debt that our government is doing is unwise
Did you ever think you would live to see the day of the debt clock hitting 40 trillion?
>> Chris Woodward: No, I didn't because, 16, 18 years ago, there was a large gathering of fiscally conservative people that were running as Tea Partiers, and they were going to get spending under control. And that did not happen, if it's a very timely topic, because there's all these people out there that are led to believe these Democratic socialists of America are going to be the solution to our problems. I would add that if you're worried about 40 trillion, if you put all these people in office, we're talking about 50 trillion in a couple of years time.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, this, Chris here's my perspective of it, all right? This, in my opinion, this approach to debt that our government is doing is unbiblical and unwise. And the reason I can say that is because there's no plan to pay it off. All right? Obviously the biblical teachings on this actually prefer no debt, but it's not explicitly unbiblical to have debt, so long as you have a plan to pay your debt. Now, they would say, you know, counterpoint to this and say, well, you know, we're paying Our bills, we're paying our debt. Well, okay, you're paying the interest. that's not. That's not having a plan to pay your debt and to pay your debt off. So with that being the viewpoint here, Chris that's the fundamental problem is that our leaders are operating under the assumption and the plan that we will always have debt and it will always go up. Right. So that's the problem here that I have with it. And then there are the secondary problems, m such as persistent inflation, et cetera. But as far as the apocalyptic side of things, Chris I just don't see it becoming apocalyptic. It could, especially if you have some massive economic disaster that's brought on by something else that could exacerbate our debt problem. But as long as the treasury can print the money, then the show goes on.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, it's, you know, government, as usual, they just, they keep on keeping on to put things in perspective for people that maybe don't understand what the government is doing. Basically, they're getting the credit card bill every month and they're paying that minimum. That minimum payment that the credit card wants you to pay.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And they're basically just doing that to make it go away for a period of time and then they'll deal with it again in the future. And the debt continues to pile and pile and pile and pile up. so that is basically what our government is doing. The, apocalyptic scenarios that some people have put out there from center right taxpayer groups is that if we continue to go down this path, eventually programs and benefits and stuff that people are expecting checks from.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: You're going to start to see smaller payments. While basically the American people work half the population that actually works taxes, they're just going to be literally working to service the debt.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. The reason those groups At this juncture are wrong is because we have the printing press. If we didn't have the printing press, I would agree, or if there were like a limit on how much debt we could have, I would also agree with them. The problem, what they're getting wrong is they're assuming, number one, that our elected officials care, but number two, that they're going to do anything about it. the fact of the matter is, as long as we have the printing press and we control the numbers on the Excel sheet, which is quite literally what they do to increase the debt and spending, is they go into the computer and add some zeros. and that's not an exaggeration, that's literally what they do. then if, you know, if, if the interest is a trillion or whatever and Social Security goes up and Medicaid and all these programs, or the Pentagon needs a trillion, and a half, as long as we've got the control of the printing press and Congress is willing to continually add to the debt, then we can ride this thing literally forever.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: now, once again, I'm not saying that there's no consequences to this level of behavior because their, their long term is, and we're living it now. I mean, we don't have to talk about the future. We can talk about now. The fact that 3 to 5% inflation is the norm. Why is that? Why does 3 to 5% of our income become, basically eaten every year, are, you know, consumed every year by inflation, is because we're running a persistent debt cycle. Yeah. so I think, I don't, once again, unless there's some economic calamity that I don't foresee, what makes 60 trillion different than 40 or 40 different than 20. as long as they can keep inflation At tolerable levels and they still have governments and individuals and people willing to buy the debt that's actually been a problem with the bonds right now.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: then this rodeo can keep go on.
>> Chris Woodward: One thing that works for us as a country is, you know, God bless us. We're, we're capitalists. We, we buy things, even when we don't need them.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: and so we go out and buy stuff and many products are made in other places. So let's say you're Japan, which has loaned us a lot of money over the years.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: you know, Japan goes, okay, well, you know, it's, it's money we might be devoting or could put towards our own problems, but these people are going to buy a lot of our electronics, a lot of our cars, things like that. So yeah, we're going to be giving them some money that they may never pay off because they're never paying off their debt. but they're going to buy stuff from us. We will continue to have those kinds of deals, and I think it's those kinds of deals that have caused countries to not call us on our debt. Even China, you know, China needs us to buy their stuff. Yeah, we can, we can spend another conversation on whether or not we need to make stuff in China. That's not what I'm talking about. China knows and needs us, to buy their stuff. so that way, if they were to learn us money or something, like that. That's. That's the wink, wink, nod, nod, handshake thing.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And I don't know, Chris I know I'm sounding kind of flippant about this and, like, I don't care about it. I really do care. It's. It's utterly frustrating that we're in this position, but I think I'm somewhat desensitized to it because we've been doing this game for, like, 50 years.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: As far as the persistent deficit, debt, et cetera. And we've all been outraged before, like the Tea Party movement. And then here we are, you know, At 40 trillion, and both parties are responsible. To be fair, Republicans and Democrats do this. They just spend money on different things. Very true. And I would argue Republicans spend the money on more responsible things. Democrats want to give out, you know, handouts for, getting an electric vehicle and send the money to all these NGOs that then campaign for them and all these kickbacks and stuff. So I would argue Republicans At least spend the money more wisely. But either way, both parties are adding to the deficit. But, Chris this is really an experiment in human history, where we're controlling as a central government. We're not relying on, like, a limited resource like gold, and instead we're relying on a printing press and numbers and Excel sheet. It is rather an experiment in human history. So I don't know how long this can go. It's anybody's guess, but we're in it.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: I mean, we're 40 trillion in it, baby. And neither party seems to care about it, so. But how long does the show go on? 50 years, 100 years? I don't know.
At the beginning of this century, 2000, national debt was only $5.67 trillion
It's just. It's going to be quite interesting to see, and I don't want to be here when it all comes crumbling down.
>> Chris Woodward: I don't either. I hope the good Lord, comes back soon and, you know, I get promoted to the, Good News Network. But, just out of curiosity, I didn't know this. I live Googled it while we were talking about it. At the beginning of this century, 2000, the national debt was only $5.67 trillion. Wow. And today we're $40 trillion in debt. If we continue down the path we are on with a much larger population, that we have compared to the start of the century, I mean, we're going to be 100 At 100 trillion
>> Walker Wildmon: probably in the next decade, decade and a half, maybe.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. so something does need to be done, and people need to actually pay attention to it and make sure that solutions thrown out there by lawmakers don't lead to the apocalyptic situation like we've already discussed.
>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely.
Chris Woodward: I think housing market is cooling, but not necessarily a correction
Chris what about the, let's talk about the housing market. I know you may not have prepared for this, but the housing market is seeing somewhat of a cooling, if you will. I wouldn't even say necessarily a correction. I just think it's normalizing because housing prices have been so elevated for so long. I think, an easing of the pricing pressure and the upping of the inventory is really just a normalizing of the housing market in general.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I think you're definitely onto something. I'm looking At a couple of numbers from earlier this week. On Tuesday we got housing starts which came in just below expectations. Market, watch thought we would see 1.3 million. We got 1.2. So just below expectations. When you look At ah, pending home sales, we had negative 2.3%. We thought we might see a positive 0.6%. So there are some, signs there, big stories involving housing. And as we've talked about before, a lot of people have jobs depending on housing. so these numbers do impact you, even if you are fortunate to be in a home that you've paid off or you're about to pay off, stuff like that. the housing market impacts you even if you don't think you should care about it or pay attention to it.
>> Walker Wildmon: And I do, I am, I do feel sorry for people who overpaid for a house during the COVID era. and then now they're trying to get out from under it. I really do feel bad for them. That's a terrible spot to be. but, but looking At the prices, Chris the housing prices over the last few years, you, I mean you and I talked about it umpteen times. It's like, this is ridiculous. You know, in a place like Mississippi, people pub. Listing houses for 200 a square foot. Are you kidding me?
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: it was just so outlandish. So this, this normalizing of the housing market is so overdue. And it's honestly healthy. Like we've got to get back to a place of sanity when it comes to what we think our houses are worth.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. People really need to put some thought into it because a lot of people still, and I think this is the right way to go about it. A lot of people still enter a home thinking that they will At some point be able to, to sell it, and use that for retirement.
>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.
>> Chris Woodward: in my case, I'VE got, I don't know, 24 more years of payments. Okay. And one of these days, you know, we're going to have it paid off, if not before then, and we'll be able to use that for a nest egg, to, you know, put towards our retirement and things like that. So people do need to really think about, a house. I know everybody has a dream house. I know everybody wants to be in a house or maybe in a bigger space. but you do need to really talk about it with people, pray about it, and, you know, ask the Lord for wisdom on what to do in these areas as you should do with anything in your life.
>> Walker Wildmon: Well, At this point, Chris also for young people, I'm talking people out of college in their 20s. just get in a house. I mean, if you can just get in something.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: even if it's not, obviously what your quote. My wife and I, now, we laugh At this, but we quit using the word like forever home. It's like, I don't even know where I want to be in five years. I'm not gonna say this is my forever home.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: so we quit using that phrase because, you know, your, your desires change, your expectations change. I mean, we're always kind of on the lookout for what's next. but, but if young people can just get in a house early on, even if it's, if it's not what they want or not in the location they want, At least they got in, right? You start building equity and then you can build from there, right?
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, people. Well, number one, two people, need to quit being picky. I'm not saying you should just buy whatever, you know, whatever you can find.
>> Walker Wildmon: If it's a starter home, it's a starter home.
>> Chris Woodward: A lot of people kind, of turn their noses up At starter homes, but in a place like California, where clearly they need to deregulate and open up lands for construction of things like starter homes to help people that can't afford to get into a home right now. believe you me, 1000 square foot starter home is way better than a studio apartment that you're paying the equivalent of, like, mortgages for every month.
>> Walker Wildmon: Exactly.
>> Chris Woodward: You're way better off.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And there's no equity there.
>> Chris Woodward: Sell some stuff. If, if you haven't worn something or looked for something in six months, get rid of it. And there, there, there's your space problem for a thousand square foot starter home.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And that, and, and what? We're, what we're alluding to is this. Yes, yes, inflation has been brutal. yes, things are not as affordable maybe as they once were. And so I'm not completely excusing our economic policies and the tough situation some of these young people are in. But At some point, Chris and this is why I try to balance this talking out is At some point we have to accept personal responsibility and we have to just do the best with what we've been given and the hand we've been dealt. And I think that's the message we need to send out to America's young people, is if you don't like your situation, let's work our way out of it. but unfortunately a lot of young people are falling into this trap of socialism because they are disgruntled, they are upset, they, they don't like their economic setup or whatever. And so instead of working to fix it and working to do free market capitalist ideals that increase human prosperity, they're reverting to socialism. So we've got a message that's right to capture their attention but also give them reasons for optimism.
>> Chris Woodward: They also need to get a good accountant because if you're working remotely like a lot of people are, you can write things off like your Internet and your phone and other things that you're required to have as part of your job.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And you know what, really go through all the things that you think are necessities. A lot of things aren't. You could save up a lot of money quickly if you didn't pay for all kinds of apps and stuff.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, exactly. And, for first time home buyers, there's various incentive programs out there, backed up by the federal, government that help young people first time home buyers get into a home. Chris thanks so much.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, folks, we're going to keep tracking all the news, all the economy, etc. Go over to afn.net and subscribe to the newsletter. That's American Family News. Afn.net subscribe to their newsletter. Subscribe to their podcast as well. We'll see you next time.
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>> : in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Economist Stephen Moore predicts inflation could soon fall below 2 percent, pointing to stabilizing energy prices and productivity gains tied to artificial intelligence. Walker Wildmon examines what that outlook could mean for the economy and American households.
Walker also looks at the growing number of young men leaving the workforce and the debate over how to draw them back into productive employment. Frank Luntz raises concerns that developers are failing to explain how communities will benefit from new data centers, while a flashback highlights James Talarico’s earlier opposition to an Austin energy project.
Chris Woodward of American Family News joins Walker in studio for additional discussion of the day’s headlines.
Chapters:
Religious Freedom and Civic Engagement
iVoterGuide Volunteer Opportunities
Women in the Workforce: A Shocking Shift
The Crisis of Unmarried Men
War on American Energy
Data Centers and Community Impact
Economic Outlook and AI's Role
Economist Stephen Moore predicts inflation could soon fall below 2 percent, pointing to stabilizing energy prices and productivity gains tied to artificial intelligence. Walker Wildmon examines what that outlook could mean for the economy and American households.
Walker also looks at the growing number of young men leaving the workforce and the debate over how to draw them back into productive employment. Frank Luntz raises concerns that developers are failing to explain how communities will benefit from new data centers, while a flashback highlights James Talarico’s earlier opposition to an Austin energy project.
Chris Woodward of American Family News joins Walker in studio for additional discussion of the day’s headlines.
Chapters:
Religious Freedom and Civic Engagement
iVoterGuide Volunteer Opportunities
Women in the Workforce: A Shocking Shift
The Crisis of Unmarried Men
War on American Energy
Data Centers and Community Impact
Economic Outlook and AI's Role
Live
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