04-06-26 Part Two - California's Pricey Petrol

Now, it's Red Eye Radio, Gary McNamara, and Eric Hurley

talk about everything from politics to social issues and news of the day, whether you're up late or you're just starting your day. Welcome to the show from the Relief Factor Studios. This is Red Eye Radio. (upbeat music)

All the cross America, we are run out radio, he is there a curly and I'm curing Mack the Mara. Now, the one thing that we hate on the show, but unfortunately, we are forced to do it. Yeah.

As a times, we can sound awfully redundant for using the same argument over and over and over and over. And over again, because the left makes the same argument over and over and over and over and over and over. And it's true.

“So the only way that we can confront them”

is to keep using the same slam dunk argument

that wins every time against them over and over and over and over and over and over again. Yeah. Here's another one, because this happens every couple of years when Democrats say, and they've said it here,

we need to find out if the oil companies are price-gouging. Here we go. Right. Here we go again.

This is a six-month-long investigation. So it predates. Does it predate Barry Weiss? (laughs) Ah, yeah, right.

A six-month-long investigation from CBS News, California. All right, the California Division of CBS News. Okay. California gas prices are the highest in the United States, but there is no proof of price-gouging.

Now, the reason we bring it up is being redundant. They're like, that's redundant, because they do it every couple of years. Whenever gasoline prices go up, it's gouging. It's gouging. In the Democrats' scream, it's gouging.

Then they do an investigation. Has there ever been an investigation that has shown any widespread gouging in a state or the country? No. You might find a gas station that is doing it

or something like that.

“Yeah, I think there was one station on or at one point.”

I don't know, it was during an actual disaster, after a natural disaster or something that was accused of gouging. I don't know what happened with that investigation. But over the years, you and I have been looking at it and every time oil prices go up.

And gas prices go up. The oil companies need to be investigated. And, well, here we go. And in this case, CBS News doing it. And they don't have any interest,

certainly, pretty, very wise. I mean, I think this was pretty, very wise, really. And so they don't have any interest. And I don't think Barry Weiss would have any interest in giving any leniency toward oil companies in any way.

She would-- now, the problem with that is is that she would report it in the spirit of Barry Weiss, accurately. But that would be seen as bias, if it did not show any kind of gouging by the--

I mean, the liberals would think she was being biased. But just because it was her. We have to emphasize this again. Because again, we've done this over and over and over and over again. We started out with Bernard Goldberg way back then

when he wrote the book bias. Then we got to Barry Weiss and Michael Schellenberger, a man, Ty Eby, all part of the exfiles-- - Yeah, I mean, the ex-- - What?

- A Twitter file. - The Twitter file?

“- I think they shouldn't be the exfiles, no, no, no, no.”

And all people that are Democrats that just believe in journalism-- - Right, right. - Barry Weiss is not a conservative. No. She simply says, let's do journalism, basically pork.

If you do journalism, just like Bernard Goldberg, when he wrote the book a bias and a couple of years after that,

I'll never forget looking at USA today

when they had a print edition that you could actually find somewhere. But I still remember sitting-- And I was doing my local show at the time. So this is between-- in Dallas, so it was between 2000 and 2005.

And it was a couple of years after bias came out, so I'm guessing it was like 2004. And I think at that point, Anne Goldberg was writing a book every couple of weeks. And it was like--

It was like the front page of USA today, the right wing,

And it was like Anne Colter, Sean Hannity,

and Bernard Goldberg. And I went, Bernard Goldberg's not a conservative. I mean, he might be now considered because the left to everything that gosh, the plane field has changed so drastically with the left.

“And I remember at that time, because I remember,”

it was New Year's Eve. And I was doing something, because we used the stations to carry the Dallas stars, the hockey team. And I used to do something-- some of the entertainment stuff during the intermission

or during the periods. And I'd go down on the ice and do whatever, give away something to a contest or--

And it was New Year's Eve, and I was driving home.

I get a call from my buddy. They're having a New Year's party, OK? My buddy Jeff and Jim. And they're like, hey, Gary! Drive it, 'cause they're my driver driving on I30.

You're on page 254 of Sean Hannity's book. How the hell did you ever get there? [LAUGHTER] Hey there, I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible.

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“So I remember that I think that book was part of it all.”

But Bernard Goldberg was in there as a right-winger. No, he believes in journalism. But if you believe in journalism, you're a right-winger. Exactly. I guess that's a definition.

But California gas prices are the highest in the U.S. But there's no proof of price gouging. Here's why, again, this is from CBS News, California, a six-month-long investigation by CBS News, California, investigation revealed the complicated reality, shaped by state policies,

refinery closures, and global supply risks that uniquely impact California's isolated fuel market with CBS News California investigates found. Why California gas costs more? Higher taxes, higher labor costs, higher business costs,

combined with environmental programs, regulations, and the state's unique fuel blend drive up baseline prices.

“The political narrative is shifting after failing”

to prove price gouging and grappling with the impact of two shuttered refineries because Obama started that. And so the left, they grapple. Right, yeah, they're grappling. And after grappling with the impact of two shuttered refineries,

state leaders are now publicly acknowledging the need to incentivize oil companies to stay in California. Why are refineries leaving? Now, Eric, don't be too shocked over this. Okay, rising costs, increasing regulations, long-term policy

uncertainty, and shrinking returns. Huh? Did. Oh, what? Because all those things there that they mentioned, yeah,

everything that they mentioned, policy, comes from the state government. This higher taxes, labor, yeah, business costs, environmental programs, regulations, fuel blend, yep, all of it, our government.

These are decisions made ultimately by the majority

of people in California. If our conservative friends who live there fighting the good fight notwithstanding, but also have to pay the price because the left wins, it's a blue state. And they continue to do this.

These are all decisions. These are all decisions that go to this. The gouging is happening by the entity in this case, the state that controls all of these pricing issues by implementing these policies.

They're the ones driving all of this. They control industry.

then eventually companies like Chevron

“and I go back to this, I've said it recently,”

I don't know how many times I've said it. But to me, it's a massive deal that Chevron decided to leave California. That is a big, big deal. I have friends over the years, a couple of friends,

both conservatives believe it or not, that lived in the Bay Area, at work for Chevron. And they didn't talk much about it then. But I knew it was, I mean, they know the pricing issues in California.

And now watching this play out. All of this mass exodusive doesn't have to be. California has great resources.

California could be a massive, massive state

with the, it's a sizable economy as it is. Imagine if we had a pro-growth policy or set of pro-growth policies in play in California,

“in these blue states, the California is the one”

you and I focus on because of the size of this state. What a massive economic power it would be. - And California becoming an economic power, we're, look, we don't, the economies are not a zero-sum game. - Right.

- If California does better, Texas does better. - Yeah, we're not competing. - I don't believe no, because I look at the nation, where companies may be competing for people, but I don't, I don't look at anything

as a competition in terms of Texas versus California or New York or Texas, because they're losing, they're losing money, they're losing wealth, they're losing population, they're losing congressional seats.

But this is interesting last time, because they said California gas prices,

“now have risen over $6 a gallon in places.”

The last time gas hit $6 a gallon, Governor Gavin Newsom began accusing oil companies of price-gouging, California's super-majority, democratic legislator, held a taxpayer-funded price-gouging special session with legislation that was intended

to cap oil company profits and force them to open their books, more than two years later, state officials say they found no evidence of illegal price-gouging, of course. Instead, two refineries shut down,

taking nearly 20% of the state's refining capacity. When will the people that vote Democrat understand that when it comes to taxes, that the people that you vote for over and over again are the ones that are creating

the high gas prices, which means the gouging comes, it's self-gouging. - Yeah, it is, it is. - It is, it is. - Self-massage in itself, sexism.

This is self-gouging. The liberal voter of California is gouging themselves and then complaining about it. To the people that are that you instructed to goug you. - Yes, and we're seeing it in California.

What's going on here? It's gotta be price-gouging, gotta be the core. The biggest thing the Democrats get away with. Number one is that a corporate tax punishes the company and you make out better.

Biggest lie there ever was. It's a stealth tax on you and it hurts the poor and the middle class the most because they have less expendable income. - Yep, you know, but they sold it through jealous,

jealousy and envy and let's blame someone out. It's the, it's the plutocracy out there. The corporations are running everything. No, the reason gas prices are high in California is not because of greed of the oil companies

because they do everything voluntarily. You buy their product voluntarily. It's because of the greed of the liberal voter

who then when they finally realize,

well, how can I be greedy if I'm taxing myself? Thank you for waking up finally. - Right. And they won't wake up. It's not gonna change, no.

- It will not change in all that time. The pro-growth policy that I talk about would require top to bottom. - Well, the governor and all the lawmakers to be conservative pro-growth individuals

for office. They would have to vote for them. That's not going to happen. - Well, now they're trying to find ways in California to incentivize oil companies, which means now

“the far left is saying, how can we subsidize big oil?”

- Yeah. - We've gone full circle from Obama, they win fall profits tax to, well, we need to get them some subsidies. - Yeah, because they were different about it. - Democrats on Capitol Hill were talking last week

about a win fall profit tax for us again. - Right. - And that's the thing.

Punish them into submission, which of course never works.

And then how do you, how does the state attract them back? How does hopeful bring back the millionaires in New York? You're not going to. When you start talking about this,

when you, Oregon, Washington state, California, New York, when you get into this mode and you start, even if you haven't implemented these ideas, the conversation itself now is driving innovators, billionaires, millionaires, wealthy people,

but it's also driving individuals who realize I can't afford to live here anymore. And these aren't the rich.

“There are many people that are making these decisions”

because they can no longer afford to stay. - Well, you got people in California left right now because you got some of the members of Congress talking about a wins fall profit tax.

So here you have it again.

They know they've done all the investigation. Oil companies are in gouging. - No. - But the Democrats are saying they are gouging, even though they're on investigation show they're not.

But they're blaming it and saying, well, we're gonna put a win falls profit tax to take away the greed of the oil companies where government policy has already caused the gasoline prices to skyrocket.

And the politicians and Democratic politicians believe the people that vote for them are such idiots that we created the policy that is risen gas prices to the level that they are. Now we're gonna put a win falls profit tax

and increase the price of gasoline more. And you're gonna pay for it as the consumer.

“And they're like, thank you, sir, my head, another.”

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Look at our lifetime in our political lifetime. In our talk radio lifetime, how many of the private business and dozens of investigations really since the oil crisis of the mid-70s on oil gouging in the United States.

- Yeah, every single one is shown. There's not price gouging from the oil cut. It's not go out gouging from the oil company. - Right. - Every single time and then a couple years later

they bring it up again. And it's been going on for over half century. The difference is this time as CBS News California article a road said, nope, we did the investigation six months, no gouging from the oil companies.

The reason gasoline prices are high is because of state government. - Yeah. - That's why. - That's a thorough investigation by the way. - But there's one point that they bring up here

that really I think is the change that everybody is recognizing, including billionaires, CEOs and the people coming up.

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- That's red-eye radio live every night

on the red-eye radio app available in the app store, red-eye radio. - And he is there, Carlton, I'm curing McNamara. - So yeah, reading this article from CBS News California talking about the fact of they did a six month investigation.

And guess what? California oil companies or oil companies did not gouge in California. That's not why the gas prices are high, the gas prices are high, because of state policy.

That's it. The government is why your gas prices are high. Now, what I thought was interesting is because you're seeing this more now, when you see now the shift, and COVID might have started it.

“COVID might have started it, but I think the continuation”

of it and we've seen it, what 56,000 people left, Los Angeles County, I think, between 2023 and 2024. - Right. - The last that they had, that specific numbers out. But the thing that I think has changed everything

and you and I've talked about it, and they mentioned it here, why refineries are leaving California, rising cost, increasing regulations, long term policy uncertainty. That's the difference.

Companies and people are finally realizing

their state is not going to change. You're not going to change. - Kind of what I mentioned earlier. - Right. New York's not going to change. - Yeah.

- California's not going to change. The company and the billionaires are like, we're out. - Right. - Why should we invest here?

We're out. - Right.

“- We're out, because you're not going to change.”

And that's the difference right now in our politics, it may not be enough to save Republicans if prices aren't under control for the midterm, but I don't see the long term viability of Democrats, because even if you're a Democrat

and you're claiming that you're moderating, nobody believes you unless you go federalmen. You've got to go full-fledged federalmen and then they may say, okay, but nobody's willing to do it. And I'm reading here, this is from Axios again.

And Axios is doing stories being truthful about the Democratic Party. - And they tell you why it matters. Democrats weighing 20, 28 campaign run from 2020 positions. Democrats weighing run for the White House

want to forget many of the positions they took in 2020 and their hoping voters will too. Leaders and would be leaders in the party have shipped to their views on border security, DEI crime, climate change, COVID error lockdowns and more,

all with an eye on this year's midterms and the 20, 28 presidential elections. Many Democrats believe they lost a Donald Trump in 2024, because voters did not like some of their left-leaning policies, not just how they were communicated.

DEI, yeah. Driving the news, several potential 20, 28 Democratic candidates have spent the past year finding ways to distance themselves from the Democratic Party of recent years, including some of their own positions

and they go after Newsom, they go after Josh Shapiro, they go after Buddha Judge, and more. They talked about Buddha Judge here. Buddha Judge last year said that, when Democrats talk about diversity,

it can seem like they're making people sit through a training that looks like something not of Port Landia. In his new book, "Stand," New Jersey, Senator Cory Booker wrote, "We cannot cancel everyone who fails a purity test."

Here's the thing, they don't mean it.

Right, you and I go back to when Kamala Harris.

“I never forget, I still get people that go way, way back”

on my Twitter feed, my gosh, almost two years. I mean, it still was probably more over the summer when she was appointed to run by the Democrats. Remember, we said, "Wow, Donald Trump's is not in the nation." Kamala Harris has embraced all of his major positions.

Remember that? - Yeah. - And, you know, it's like, you know,

has let the border go to hell.

“- Right, I'll make sure that I stop the illegal integration”

at the border. - She wanted you to believe she was stronger on the border than Donald Trump. That it was Donald Trump's fault to begin with and that she was going to be stronger on the border than Donald.

- Right, nobody bought it. And that's the point where we're at now, is it believable if you're somebody who was a complete, well, maybe you were a moderate 10 years ago, then eight years ago, you went bad soup crazy.

And then you went more bad soup crazy in 2024 and now you're gonna revert to the position that you held 10 years ago. This is why we have said this. The Republican Party mistakes and all will debate

what they believe on the issues back and forth. They'll debate on the issues. Democrats, they don't criticize, you know, you can see Democrats take very different positions than what the current narrative is from the media

and the far left and they don't get hit too hard.

“You know, they don't get hit too hard really about it at all.”

Even if they change their position drastically and that's because nobody buys it. Nobody bought when Obama said he was grappling with gay marriage. - No. - Everybody knew Obama was lying.

Everybody knew Obama wanted gay marriage. - Right. - He was lying. - Democrats, and we said this in 2006. We said, "Wow, they're not trying to pretend "they're in the middle anymore."

Remember that? - Oh, yeah. - That's right. - And midterm, wow, they're now coming out and saying,

well, here's what we really believe.

And all of a sudden, it's like when the American public doesn't like what you believe. Okay, we got to change back again. Well, the whole point is, how are you gonna change back?

You go, you go into using the example of CBS news brought up that Democrats are trying to figure out in California,

“the fire left, how to incentivize oil companies to stay,”

which means the fire left is now saying, we need to subsidize, 'cause that's somebody's gonna come out with that. You just, I mean, we're gonna subsidize oil companies now. - 'Cause any incentive would be seen as a subsidy

by the rank and file Democrat, right? So it doesn't matter, you know, if you give whatever tax incentive, well, that's the subsidy. - Right, because a subsidy is a proverb that you don't have to give them cash, exactly.

If you give them a tax break, that's the subsidy. - That's not a subsidy, but no. - Since they've changed the definition of it, there's nothing you can do in California. What are you gonna do in California?

California can sit there and they're gonna say, okay, we're gonna go in this particular direction in New York State. - Yeah. - You know, last week, I mean, I was just dying laughing,

even over the weekend, the city council going back and we read one of the stories, but in New York Post, the name calling, the socialist are going after the communists. - Yeah.

- You know, they don't know what to do.

They finally, they knew it.

They knew that if you kept raising taxes and you kept forcing people out of the state, you were going to run into a budget problem because it's going to fall on the people that can't afford to move.

And when you see now, when you see these, we have brought to the black democrat groups that are furious, going property tax, I'm don't need what are you doing? Well, when you're only, when you get into elected office

and you're only goal is to raise taxes and other states don't. Huckle was right, we compete against other states. - Yeah. - Well, you compete against other states

because you put yourself at such a huge disadvantage. You created the necessity to look at other states as competition. Instead of we want all states, if every state is rising, not benefit every state,

you decided, no, we're going to tax the hell out of people and pretend we can provide everything to everybody. Trump over the weekend. Nope, we need to fund, we need to fund what the federal government should be funding.

I was surprised when he said it. We need to be funding with the federal government should be funding and that's defense. We need to increase spending to a trillion and a half and other things that help people here and there,

states, you gotta take that over. We don't have the money we can't borrow anymore. - Right. - And I sort of reminded me of what we've said, maybe the White House is listening to what we've said.

That's how you defend. When people say we need free health care in the United States, we say no, you can do it in your own state.

- California, Vermont, Colorado, all we're heading towards,

free health care for everybody. - Couldn't do it. - Why didn't they do it? 'Cause they can't borrow the money. - And so the funding mechanism in order

“on a state level in order to enact that,”

it would be massive, massive taxes. - Right. - And the public didn't want to pay the democrats did not want to pay for what they want now, they want taxation without representation.

- Yeah. - They want your children, your great grandchildren, your great, great, great, great grandchildren. They want them to pay for what they want today, for what you want today.

- Right. - That's greed.

What drives the democrats on a national level

to do these massive programs is greed. - I want mine and I want mine now. - Right. - And they want somebody else to pay for it. - Who has no representation

because the federal government can borrow and state governments can't. - That's the greed applied with the bubble of today. I want mine, I want mine now.

“I don't care what happens in the future.”

- Look, you and I might be long gone when all this reaches the tipping point. So in our personal interest, it likely won't affect me. Now, we're paying for it more and more.

And there is an effect, but when the crash happens, when we get to the point, we can no longer afford the interest on what we borrowed. Then that's where the tipping point is.

Program just go away. It won't be that we're gonna have to vote to do this and you just won't be able to pay for it. - Well, and it will be a massive cliff. - I know it's a different thing,

but you see it's Syracuse, the number of courses are dropping, they're just dropping courses. We saw a University of North Texas do it, right? They just drop courses. Sorry, it's gone.

There's no discussion as we don't have the money. Not enough people in it, can't do it. Gone, gone, gone, the money isn't there and you can borrow things disappear. - Gone, gone.

“And we'll see that on a national level with programs,”

it'll just be gone. And this is, but I look in the long term interest of the nation. These are all choices that got us here. From the national debt to the state level choices that are driving people out of those states

that could otherwise be booming. Massive, California would be unbeatable with their economy. Can you imagine if they went to a pro-growth economy, but it's not gonna happen in our lifetime? And that gets back to what they have found.

These companies know the long term uncertainty what they're saying is they know things won't change in our lifetime. They have to leave and leave now because we're getting closer and closer

to the point of them going even further and taking confiscating people's wealth that they've already paid taxes on. - And they, because it's been going on for such a long time, they created,

you got to that point of the long term uncertainty and companies and people are saying,

well, this is long term now, it's never gonna change.

- It's a policy called, yeah, we have no, this is the culture of our state. - Yep, we gotta go, right? We have to go, there's no way to stay. You, at some point, you can't afford to stay.

I've been saying that a lot and that's exactly what we're saying. - Well, we said a lot of people can't afford to leave but then when it gets so bad, you can't afford to stay. - We are right, I radio.

- We'll be right back with more, right, I radio. With every currently, you had Gary McNamara. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - We are right, I radio and he is our currently

and I'm Gary McNamara. The most, one of the most bizarre stories of the weekend was when Marco Rubio rescinded the green cards of the two of the Solomani family members that are here in the United States.

- Yeah, right. - Oh my gosh. And the fact that, they claim to silence from Iran. - Right. - And their pro-Auranian regime.

- Yes, they've been back there, what, four times. - Right. - And they're living the high-life in California. And he said, "Sorry, you've just proven you're not here for asylum because you're pro-Auranian regime."

- Right. - You're, sorry, you can't do that.

but then you think about, you know, the previous four years.

“And then, of course, and you put it all together.”

- You come over here, I need asylum to get out because if I stay, the regime will kill me but you go back four times. - And you go back four times and you take their position on everything inside the United States.

- Right. - Gone. - Yeah, see ya. Bye.

- So, just amazing, just amazing.

“And, you know, but that was one of those stories”

that I thought at first, it got to be reading this wrong. - It's just a battle on beat. - Right. It's got to be something missing here. (upbeat music)

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Follow and listen on your favorite platform. - Hi, I'm Joe Saucie. Hi, host of the stacking betchabin's podcast. - Most economists agree small amount of inflation is actually good.

2% is what you're going for. - Why is everybody freaking out? - Oh, because it's the fallout. People don't track their budget. You have this slow slipping that happens every month.

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