0:01

is the smartest way to save

0:03

money when you shop because you

0:05

earn cash back at over 3,500

0:08

stores. Fashion, beauty, electronics, home essentials,

0:10

travel, dining, concert tickets and more.

0:12

Your favorite stores like Lowe's, Levi's

0:15

and Nike pay racketant to send

0:17

them shoppers. And Racketin then passes

0:19

on a part of that payment

0:22

to its members as cash back.

0:24

You're already shopping at Membership is

0:26

free and easy to sign up. to your favorite stores. Why not save sign up.

0:28

while you're Get the Racketen app now

0:30

and join the 17 million

0:32

members who are already saving. Cashback

0:34

rates change daily. rates change.com for

0:36

details. That's R -A -K -U doing it? It's a no-brainer. -T -E -N.

0:39

Your cashback really adds up. up.

0:42

Today we're going to talk about Elon's

0:44

fatal mistake with Doge, and I have

0:46

three interviews. I speak with Congressman Jamie

0:48

Raskin about his own feud with Elon

0:50

and Trump's broader overreach. Senator Brian Schott's

0:53

joins to discuss his plan to stall

0:55

Trump's progress, and I interview Senator Chris

0:57

Murphy about Trump's effort to distract us

0:59

with his flooding the zone strategy. I'm

1:01

Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to no

1:03

lie. So the

1:05

talking point being trotted out about Elon is

1:08

that if you support getting rid of waste

1:10

fraud and abuse, then you would support him

1:12

and Doja's mission. And it makes sense on

1:14

its face, right? In fact, that's a mission

1:17

that I personally agree with. But here's

1:19

why what Elon is doing actually undermines

1:21

his own stated mission. Think about

1:23

where he started. Agencies like USAID

1:26

and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

1:28

So let's start with USAID. Probably

1:30

helpful to begin with this point.

1:33

The USAID Inspector General was investigating

1:35

how Musk's SpaceX Starlink satellite

1:37

terminals, which were purchased with

1:39

agency funds, were used in

1:41

Ukraine's war with Russia. So

1:43

Elon was under investigation by

1:45

the very agency that he immediately

1:48

moved to dismantle. Already reads as

1:50

a pretty massive conflict of interest.

1:52

But let's get into the practical

1:54

implications of his move to dismantle

1:56

USAID. USAID costs about half of

1:59

one percent. of the federal budget.

2:01

It offers essential life-saving programs around

2:03

the world like clean water and

2:05

HIV prevention, but it's not just

2:08

that. Just as importantly, from a

2:10

geopolitical perspective, it is a

2:12

tool for American soft power. When

2:14

you hand out food or medicine with

2:16

an American flag on the container, you

2:18

buy goodwill around the world. That's goodwill

2:20

that you can cash in on during

2:23

conflicts, that you can cash on for

2:25

favorable trade terms, that you can cash

2:27

in on for military or intelligence purposes,

2:29

that you can cash in on to

2:31

build up alliances. So it's a win-win.

2:33

But by dismantling that agency, not

2:35

only do we leave actual human

2:37

beings hanging across the world, which

2:39

will absolutely have real-life impacts on

2:41

people who require medical care, who

2:44

require water, who require food, but we lose

2:46

a very inexpensive and effective

2:48

tool for soft power. And guess what

2:50

country is going to fill that

2:52

void? China. They've got what's called

2:54

the Belt and Road Initiative, which

2:56

involves more than 150 countries and

2:59

organizations. When we move out, China moves in.

3:01

That means when it comes to

3:03

trade, to alliances, to cooperation, to

3:05

minerals, deference is paid not to the US,

3:07

but to China. Does that seem like it's

3:09

in our national interest? Not really, no.

3:12

But you know whose interest that is

3:14

in favor of? Perhaps a billionaire who's

3:16

invested a lot of time building

3:18

up his portfolio in China. Tesla's Shanghai

3:20

plant opened in 2019 is the

3:22

company's largest factory. It accounts for

3:24

about half of Tesla's global car

3:26

production. So, Elon has invested

3:29

interest in cow-towing to China.

3:31

In other words, while dismantling USAID

3:33

hurts America, it is a gift

3:35

to the country that Elon stands

3:37

to benefit from helping, and, again,

3:39

it ends an investigation into his

3:41

own possible corruption. Bad for America,

3:43

good for Elon. Another example,

3:45

the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,

3:48

Elon tweeted CFPB, RIP. Now,

3:50

I want to be clear about what

3:52

the CFPB does. It literally exists

3:54

to protect consumers from

3:56

predatory banks and financial

3:59

institutions. That's it. Its budget

4:01

is about $800 million, but it

4:03

has returned over $21 billion to

4:05

$205 million consumers so far. It

4:08

sent almost 7 million consumer complaints

4:10

to companies for response. 63 million

4:13

unique visitors used Ask CFPB.

4:15

That's an online resource for

4:17

answers to a variety of

4:19

common financial questions. And the

4:21

CFPB levied a historic $2

4:23

billion fine in one single

4:25

enforcement action against Wells Fargo

4:27

Bank for mismanagement of auto

4:29

loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts.

4:31

This agency, again, literally only

4:33

exists to help consumers. The

4:35

sole result of this move

4:37

is that Americans will have

4:40

no recourse when they get screwed

4:42

over by a bank. $800 million annual

4:44

budget for a $21 billion return. Talk

4:46

about an ROI. With the USAID example.

4:48

At least I could figure out

4:51

how Elon could derive some financial

4:53

benefit for himself. This one? I don't

4:55

even see an upside for him. It is a

4:57

handout to predatory banks. There

4:59

is no upside for anyone other

5:01

than financial institutions that are looking

5:04

to screw people over. So look, again,

5:06

getting back to the main thesis of this

5:08

thing, I am absolutely in favor

5:10

of rooting out waste fraud and abuse,

5:12

but when you start off... by dismantling

5:14

one agency that just so happens to

5:16

be investigating you, an agency

5:18

that barely costs anything, an agency

5:21

that offers invaluable resources to the

5:23

world, an agency that affords us

5:25

major soft power benefits, and another agency

5:27

whose entire purpose is to help

5:29

victims of financial crimes, then the

5:31

message that you're sending is that you're

5:33

not actually serious about your own state

5:36

admission of rooting out waste fraud and

5:38

abuse. That, like so much else that the

5:40

Republicans do, is nice branding. But once you

5:42

dig an inch beneath the surface, you see

5:45

that there's nothing there. I mean, hell, the Pentagon

5:47

has failed seven audits in a row. Seven

5:49

audits! You've got an agency that is

5:51

literally the poster child for financial mismanagement.

5:53

But you start with the CFPB,

5:56

the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

5:58

That's why Elon's commission. looks,

6:00

sounds, and smells like a sham. Because

6:02

thus far, the biggest beneficiary isn't

6:04

working-class Americans. It's not Trump's

6:07

own voters. It's not Americans

6:09

more broadly, but rather Elon

6:11

Musk himself. You do not

6:13

get credit for rooting out

6:15

abuse if your execution raises

6:17

more questions than it answers.

6:19

Next up are my interviews with

6:21

Jamie Raskin, Brian Shots, and Chris

6:24

Murphy. No lies brought you by

6:26

uplift desk. So I do massages and chiropractic

6:28

work every week for my failing body. But

6:30

going to these appointments is really just a

6:32

band-aid when it comes to my well-being. It's

6:35

taking daily, even hourly opportunities to move my

6:37

body that really does make the biggest difference.

6:39

And this has only been made possible for

6:41

me with this episode's sponsor, Uplift Desk. Uplift

6:43

Desk is at the forefront of ergonomic solutions,

6:46

promoting better posture and health through adjustable standing

6:48

desks, which are designed to help you live

6:50

a healthier lifestyle. And for me, just being

6:52

able to stand and move throughout the day

6:54

helps me focus and stay productive and stay

6:57

productive. I'm way more alert versus when I'm

6:59

slumped over in a chair all day. Plus,

7:01

they have all kinds of accessories and customization

7:04

options so you can build the perfect workspace.

7:06

I'm a particular fan of the added shelves

7:08

for my monitors that give me the entire

7:10

desk's real estate to use, and also, the

7:13

desk itself is just so sleek and I'm

7:15

a sucker for design. Make this year

7:17

yours by going to uplift desk.com/BTC and use

7:19

our code BTC to get four free accessories,

7:22

same day shipping, free returns, and an an

7:24

industry leading 15 year warranty that covers

7:26

your entire desk. and an extra

7:28

discount off your entire order.

7:31

That's upliftdessk.com slash

7:33

B-T-C and use code B-T-C for

7:35

a special offer. And it's only

7:38

available at our link. Start 2025

7:40

right, stand, move, thrive with uplift

7:42

desk. I'm joined now by

7:44

Congressman Jamie Rask and

7:46

Congressman, thank you for joining me.

7:48

All right, so we are in a

7:51

constitutional crisis right now where the

7:53

executive branch led by the unelected

7:55

richest man in the world is

7:57

basically usurping all power in government

8:00

and unilaterally accessing sensitive information, has

8:02

access to the Treasury, he's shutting

8:04

down agencies, deciding where congressionally allocated

8:06

funding can go and whether it

8:09

can go. So I want to

8:11

start off by channeling the voices

8:13

of millions of people out there

8:15

who want to know really what

8:17

the hell is going on right

8:20

now and what Democrats are doing

8:22

to push back against this. Well, thank

8:24

you, Brian, for putting the question

8:26

so clearly. I do believe

8:28

that. as despondent as it is,

8:31

we need to be very

8:33

clear about what's going on.

8:35

And I think the easiest

8:38

way to wrap your head

8:40

around it is that this

8:43

is a coup, which is

8:45

a seizure of state power

8:47

by unelected actors by taking

8:50

control over the central institutions

8:52

and functions of

8:55

government. So Elon Musk.

8:57

has essentially seized control

9:00

over the financial

9:02

payment systems of the

9:04

US government, much of

9:07

the communications systems of

9:10

the United States, the

9:12

data infrastructure,

9:14

and of course he's got

9:16

his clause also into

9:18

the military infrastructure

9:21

as well. You know in addition to

9:23

everything that Donald Trump is

9:25

doing to dismantle every part

9:27

of government That doesn't profit

9:30

him personally and his friends

9:32

personally We have this additional

9:34

problem of Elon Musk Essentially trying

9:36

to consolidate state power under him

9:39

and transform the nature of our

9:41

constitutional order. So as it relates

9:43

to Elon I know that the

9:45

answer is that he can't do

9:47

the things that he's doing but

9:49

the reality is the But the

9:51

practical reality is that he is

9:53

doing them. So given that we're beyond

9:55

the point where he and Trump are

9:57

respecting the law, what is our recourse?

10:00

then here? Well, we're going to have

10:02

to fight them in every

10:04

channel and social context and

10:06

governmental arena that we can.

10:08

We're going to fight them in

10:11

subcommittees and in the committees

10:13

of the House and of the

10:15

Senate. We're going to fight them

10:17

in court. There have already been

10:20

several setbacks dealt to the administration

10:22

in court. As you know, Donald

10:24

Trump tried to impose a

10:27

new birthright citizenship rule,

10:29

basically taking millions of

10:31

people who are United

10:33

States citizens in the

10:35

country and then making

10:37

them into undocumented immigrants

10:40

based on who their parents were.

10:42

That was shut down by a Reagan

10:44

appointed judge. They're appealing

10:47

it, but that's a win. As

10:49

you know, they froze federal spending

10:51

at the end of last

10:54

week and over. the

10:56

weekend completely nullifying congressional

10:58

power over appropriations. That's

11:00

the central power of

11:02

the legislative branch of

11:04

government, the power of the

11:06

purse. And again, a United

11:08

States District Court judge in

11:11

the District of Columbia shut

11:13

that down and enjoined it.

11:16

And there were arguments on

11:18

that yesterday that went very well

11:20

for our side. So we're

11:22

going to assert. the Constitution,

11:24

the rule of law, the

11:26

civil service rules as a

11:28

blockade against what they're doing

11:30

in every turn and public

11:32

pressure, public. vigilance about what's

11:34

happening are going to be essential

11:36

in this process. Congressman, among your

11:38

Republican colleagues, is there any red

11:40

line for them? I mean, to

11:43

see an unelected bureaucrat basically on

11:45

this, on the pretense of trying

11:47

to block other unelected bureaucrats, even

11:49

though that's what he is at

11:51

this point, to see him going

11:53

in there and putting his claws

11:55

into everything, getting access to sensitive

11:57

information, putting high school graduates in

11:59

charge of pay. processing systems that

12:01

that include Social Security numbers. Is

12:03

there any red line in public

12:05

or private among your Republican colleagues?

12:07

Well, we'll see Brian. I mean,

12:09

we weren't in session last week

12:11

and we weren't in session the last

12:14

couple days. I think that they sent

12:16

us out of session early, actually, because

12:18

there was such popular and political

12:20

rejection of their mass pardons of the

12:23

proud boys and the oathkeepers and the

12:25

insurrectionists. They wanted to change the subject.

12:27

That's what I think. gave a lot

12:29

of people the impression that our leadership

12:32

wasn't doing anything and people were beating

12:34

up on the Democrats. We weren't here.

12:36

I mean, for someone like me, whose

12:39

district is right next door to Washington,

12:41

it's easy enough for me to go

12:43

down to USAID and to protest and

12:46

to object. And we had a bunch

12:48

of the Maryland and Virginia people there.

12:50

But in any event, we have gotten

12:52

our fight back. People are ready to

12:54

fight this. Now as for the Republicans,

12:56

we don't know. There are one or

12:58

two. who have been uttering some

13:01

of their reservations and their

13:03

objections to what's going on.

13:05

But I've been absolutely

13:08

shocked and really devastated

13:10

the way that they've

13:12

fallen into line for

13:14

these completely corrupt and

13:17

unqualified cabinet nominees

13:19

that Trump has put through,

13:22

including Cash Patel and election

13:24

denier a J6. and supporter.

13:27

And, you know, an avatar

13:29

of mega lawlessness, who is

13:31

just about to become the

13:34

direct with FBI. I

13:36

mean, it's just dumb sounding

13:38

to me. This is taking

13:41

place. And Lincoln's party of

13:43

liberty and union has become

13:46

a Trump's party of

13:48

chaos and dysfunction. You'd mention

13:50

that there were all of one or

13:52

two who have been issuing some rumblings

13:54

behind the scenes. What do you think

13:57

that these same people, these Republicans, would

13:59

say if George Soros all of a

14:01

sudden was anointed some special government

14:03

advisor and got access to every

14:05

sensitive agency every sensitive piece of

14:07

information all of Americans private data

14:10

social security numbers what do you

14:12

think those same Republicans all of

14:14

whom are falling in line right

14:16

now would say about that well

14:18

bright I used to perform that

14:20

mental experiment all the time including

14:22

during the impeachment crisis where I

14:24

said imagine if Bill Clinton or

14:26

Barack Obama had excited a mob

14:28

of tens of thousands of people to go

14:31

and fight and fight like hell. And if

14:33

you don't, you're not going to have a

14:35

country anymore and sat back and watched it

14:37

eating hamburgers outside of the Oval Office and

14:40

not saying anything other than my vice president

14:42

didn't have the courage to do what need

14:44

to be done. And I would always flip

14:47

it over and I would pose it to

14:49

them. And then I realized that that represents

14:51

an obsolete mode of thinking, which is

14:53

that the GOP members will act

14:56

according to principles and

14:58

to principle reasons for

15:00

action. They have dissolved

15:02

into complete tribalism. They

15:05

believe, including the ones

15:07

they've stuck on the Supreme

15:09

Court, that Donald Trump can

15:12

do no wrong. Or as Trump, you

15:14

know, so vividly put it, you know,

15:16

I could shoot somebody. in the

15:18

middle of Fifth Avenue, and I

15:20

wouldn't lose their support. He was

15:22

right about that. He understood the

15:24

cultish dimensions of their support. So

15:27

I try to flip these over

15:29

in the mental thought experiment that

15:31

you proposed, but it's meaningless to

15:33

them. They don't understand it. For

15:35

them, whatever Donald Trump does goes,

15:37

they will defend it no matter

15:39

what. And whatever he says about

15:41

the foes or the enemies of

15:43

Donald Trump, they will believe and

15:46

they will follow that too. Right is

15:48

a complete moving target gone or the days

15:50

where there's any longstanding principles that you can

15:52

pin them to at this point to your

15:55

exact point it's just complete deference to whatever

15:57

Trump says and does and if that changes

15:59

by by the week, the day,

16:01

the hour, the minute, so be

16:03

it. They're just along for the

16:06

ride. It's a completely humiliating thing

16:08

to them. I mean, you have

16:10

members over there, like Marco Rubio

16:12

or Ted Cruz, whom Trump has

16:14

personally insulted, he's called their lives,

16:16

ugly, said Ted Cruz's father, assassinated

16:19

John F. Kennedy, or was in

16:21

on the plot to do it.

16:23

I mean, just outrageous things, and

16:26

they all come and they kiss

16:28

his ring. And that's not all.

16:30

And so it's utterly a basing

16:32

and humiliating and denigrating for them,

16:34

but they do it. So hours

16:36

in addition to being the party

16:39

of democracy and freedom now is

16:41

the party of self-respect. Yeah. You

16:43

know, you got into a public

16:45

argument with Elon Musk over the

16:47

last couple of days where, you

16:49

know, you were standing up along

16:51

with some colleagues to protect USAID.

16:54

Elon came out, he called it

16:56

a coup because of course he's

16:58

trying to draw some false equivalency

17:00

between January 6th and rightfully standing

17:02

up for an agency that Elon

17:04

Musk has no power to dissolve.

17:06

While you were standing up for USAID,

17:09

Elon Musk wrote back, and I'll

17:11

put the tweet right here on

17:13

the screen, what Raskin actually means

17:15

is that he wants his kickbacks

17:17

and bribes to continue. So that

17:20

was obviously a defamatory statement by

17:22

Elon. Because Elon and Trump and

17:24

Republicans now clearly have their marching

17:26

orders, and that is to destroy

17:28

everything that really doesn't serve the

17:31

ultra-wealthy, doesn't serve these Republican donors,

17:33

and so they're on this scorched

17:35

earth mission to just denigrate every

17:37

agency that doesn't help them, first

17:40

off, can you very briefly explain

17:42

what USA ideas and why

17:44

it's important? engage in what

17:46

today we call soft power

17:49

or the projection of American

17:51

influence and American foreign policy

17:53

objectives by rendering aid to

17:55

people. And that could be

17:57

anything from helping people build

18:00

effective water projects to

18:02

fighting HIV AIDS to

18:04

malaria nets and anti-malaria

18:06

campaigns to building up

18:08

development projects, democracy work

18:10

all over the world

18:12

with AID. It's less

18:14

than 1% of the

18:16

overall budget. It's the whole

18:19

foreign aid budget. It's around 40

18:21

billion dollars a year compelled. compared

18:23

to 900 billion that goes to

18:26

the Department of Defense alone without

18:28

getting into other national security agencies

18:30

and departments. So it's a tiny

18:33

fraction, but that money means something

18:35

has helped to buy lots of

18:37

goodwill for America and also helped

18:39

to prevent diseases that come back

18:42

in hot dust and also prevent

18:44

the disease of authoritarianism and autocracy,

18:46

which is one of the key

18:49

reasons that Elon Musk and

18:51

Donald Trump wanted to dismantle.

18:53

Right. Now at the risk of getting

18:55

too wonky here on that exact

18:57

point, this is a really important

18:59

point I think about USAID, China

19:01

has what's called the Belt and

19:03

Road Initiative. So why is USAID

19:05

important to combat Chinese soft power?

19:07

And what are the implications going

19:09

to be if we see that

19:11

ground to the Chinese? Well, we're

19:13

already hearing now with them having

19:15

pulled the plug on all foreign

19:17

aid projects on USAID all over

19:19

the world that China is moving

19:21

in. to say, well, they don't

19:23

want to help you, but we're happy

19:26

to help you. I mean, one of

19:28

the things people love about America is

19:30

the compassion of America, the democratic solidarity

19:32

of America, the fact that we're a

19:34

country with a big heart made up

19:36

of people come from all over the

19:39

world. And we stand with people. And

19:41

then suddenly we're sending the message that

19:43

we are going to stop programs to

19:45

help pregnant women and infants

19:47

all over the world. We're going to

19:49

stop programs to bring food. raised

19:51

by farmers in Iowa

19:53

and Louisiana and California

19:55

to starving people in

19:57

Asia and in Africa.

19:59

It is

47:14

the smartest way to save money

47:17

when you shop because you earn

47:19

cash back at over 3,500 stores.

47:21

Fashion, beauty, electronics, home essentials, travel,

47:24

dining, concert tickets and more. Your

47:26

favorite stores like Lowe's, Levi's and

47:28

Nike pay racketant to send them

47:31

shoppers. And Racketin then passes on

47:33

a part of that payment to

47:35

its members as cash back. You're

47:38

already shopping at your membership is

47:40

free and easy to favorite stores. Why not save sign up. Get

47:41

while you're the Racketon app

47:43

now and join the 17

47:45

million members who are already

47:47

saving. Cashback rates change daily.

47:49

See racketon.com for details. That's

47:42

doing it? It's a no-brainer. R-A-K-U-T-E-N.

47:52

Your cashback really adds up.

1:00:29

Thanks again to Congressman Raskin and and Murphy. and

1:00:31

That's it for this episode. this Talk

1:00:33

to you next week. you next week. You've been listening

1:00:35

to No Lie with Brian been listening to No

1:00:37

by Sam Graber, Music by Produced by Sam Interviews edited

1:00:39

for and interviews edited for YouTube by

1:00:42

If you want to If you wanna support

1:00:44

the show, please subscribe on your preferred

1:00:46

podcast app and leave a five

1:00:48

star rating and a review. And as always,

1:00:50

you can find me at me at

1:00:52

Cohen on all of my other channels

1:00:54

other you can go to you can go to.com

1:00:56

to learn more. to learn more. week.