Station: KHOW, 630 AM

Show: Dan Caplis Show  

Guests: Gardner, Cory 

Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9808592/200324-hour-2-senator-cory-gardners-take

Date: March 24, 2020

Topics: Self-quarantine, Coronavirus Stimulus Bill, Nancy Pelosi, Emissions for Airlines, Voter I.D., All-Mail Voting, Same Day Registration, Relief Bill, Green New Deal, Isolation, Social Distancing,  Federal Reserve, Treasury, Chuck Schumer, Haz Mat Suit, Senate Vote, Direct Assistance, Unemployment Insurance, Small Business Loans, Forgivable, Utilization Rate, American Hospitals, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Renewable Energy, Easter, Re-Open America, Health Experts, 

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[00:00:31]  

HOST DAN CAPLIS [00:00:33] Oh, and you better believe it, these orders — these orders taking away your liberty in major ways have not yet been fully justified by the governor or the mayor. And I want to talk about that a little bit later in the show. They may be justified, but they have to give us the information to prove that. And I’ll tell you about one part of the order that definitely is not justified. And that’s the one that quashes religious liberty in Colorado. In the meantime, hey, a privilege to have Senator Cory Gardner on the line with us, so much to talk about. But first, your health, Senator. I mean, how bizarre is it for you because you’re in the middle of things back there in D.C. — pretty extraordinary for a freshman senator — but what’s it like being in quarantine while all of this is going on?

U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CORY GARDNER [00:01:18] You know, I have been able to focus more in quarantine because I don’t have other meetings in the office that are taking me away from the exact subject on hand. And so I’ve probably bugged my colleagues over the last five days more than they have ever heard from me. [laughs]

CAPLIS [00:01:34] Yeah, it is unique. And I know a lot of folks are experiencing that right now. I mean, in some ways you actually can get laser focused. And I think everybody can imagine the demands on your time, the different directions you’re being pulled in. But let’s focus, Senator, of course, on what’s on top of most folks mind, which is we have this historically large relief bill — this coronavirus stimulus bill — that so many good folks now are relying on for the money they need just to stay afloat. And it’s being held up by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Can you update us on that?

GARDNER [00:02:06] It is. It is unthinkable that the Senate has had in its hands for days now, a bill that would have already provided Americans with real relief, put people back on payroll and dollars going out. But because of a decision that people want same-day voter registration, and they want to mess with voter I.D. laws when it comes time to vote, and they want emissions controls on airlines out of the Green New Deal included in this package, they have delayed this bill. The American people — you know, we joked about being in quarantine earlier. There are millions of Americans who were either quarantined or sick or self-isolated or caring for a loved one or out of work because their kids are out of school and take care of them, they don’t know how they’re going to make ends meet. They don’t know how they’re going to pay their rent or their mortgage to keep the small business open. And yet you’ve got a bill that could have provided some certainty and answers, but it hasn’t passed Congress. It is shameful! 

CAPLIS [00:03:02] Boy, it’s bizarre to me because, are they really in such a bubble? And I’m referring to the Democrats here, because the simple facts are it’s not partisan. The simple facts are the Republicans had a bill. They had it ready to go. They recognized the urgency. And bring us inside of this, Senator, because my understanding from media reports is that a lot of Democrat senators were involved in putting this bill together. And the reporting is that it was all ready to go. And then Nancy Pelosi flew into town and imposed all of these other demands. Is that true? 

GARDNER [00:03:31] Well, look, you have provisions that are written in this bill, major major loan programs and help through the Federal Reserve and the Treasury that Senator Warner had his fingerprints all over. You have Chuck Schumer on Sunday praising how Republicans brought in Democrats early on in this process to work together. And now, — this should have been voted on on Sunday! 

CAPLIS [00:03:52] Right. 

GARDNER [00:03:52] Look, the fact that this isn’t done, there are millions of people who’ve been laid off who don’t know how they’re going to get back to work, if the doors of their business open again. 

CAPLIS [00:04:02] Right. 

GARDNER [00:04:02] And this bill provides them with relief and a chance to get this economy to snap back. But Nancy Pelosi — you’re exactly right, and perhaps [she] got others involved in this —  is working on things that have nothing to do with Covid-19. And the American people, they don’t want to talk politics. They don’t want to talk Republican or Democrat. They want to talk results and how they’re going to get their family back on track. And that’s why we have to do this bill. 

CAPLIS [00:04:25] Yeah, Senator Craig Gardner, obviously, our guest. And when we went out on social with the fact you would join us today, I’ve been getting texts from folks saying, “Hey, ask the senator this and that.”  But the common denominator I think you’ve already addressed, at least in part. I’ll give you an example [from] friend of mine, Alex. [Reading] “Hey, Dan, please ask the senator what kind of pork spending they’re trying to pack into this.” And I think Americans get it right now that, you know, their fiscal lives are hanging in the balance. The Democrats are trying to load on pork. And is a lot of this — I’ve heard the president refer to it as well — coming back to the Green New Deal?

GARDNER [00:05:00] Well, you can see the talk that happened today, yesterday, where they wanted the emissions controls on airlines, and that certainly has to do with their efforts to limit — remember, you have Green New Deal that wants to eliminate airplanes entirely. And so you can see the steps that they want to take. There are some other kinds of provisions that, you know, when it comes to renewable energy, I support renewable energy. I think most Coloradans support renewable energy. But that’s not a reason to stop desperately needed aid from going to the people of our state who are out of work, who don’t know what to do tomorrow, and they don’t know what they’re going to do today. Have that debate. But in fact, you know, they won’t even let us debate the measure. 

CAPLIS [00:05:42] Right. 

GARDNER [00:05:42] They wouldn’t even let us get on the bill to talk about these issues. They wouldn’t even vote to say, “Okay, let’s talk about the emissions that we need on airlines.” [They] wouldn’t even get that far. 

CAPLIS [00:05:50] Senator, has reached the point in America where you’ve got people on the left, including some in leadership positions who despise this president so much they’d rather just burn it all down to try to prevent him from getting reelected? 

GARDNER [00:06:07] Look, I hope this is — I hope this is just something that Nancy Pelosi — how wrong she was, however wrong-headed she was in this decision — decided to do on her own. I don’t think this reflects the — I hope it doesn’t reflect the rank and file of her party. I hope it doesn’t reflect the rank and file in the U.S. Senate. It’s wrong. And it was wrong to hold this up. And the American people should hold them accountable for this, as they should hold anybody, Republican or Democrat, accountable for playing politics in a time of desperate need. And so, look, this — we’re going to get through this. This is an incredible challenge that none of us have ever been through. We’re gonna get through it. We’re gonna be stronger than ever. We rise together. But we got to get through the kind of — well, there’s a word I could use. I probably [unintelligible due to crosstalk]

CAPLIS [00:06:51] [hearty laughter]  Yeah!  Well, it’s being used a lot now these days. It think folks know what word that was going to be. Senator Gardner, our guest. Now, Senator, is this bill going to pass? If so, when? 

GARDNER [00:07:05] Yes, I had been saying all day in the countless phone calls I’ve been doing with people who are out of work, people who are trying to save their business,  that they would vote tonight. But apparently it’s not going to be a vote tonight. It looks like it’s going to be a vote tomorrow. And there’s just no excuse. This should have passed days ago. 

CAPLIS [00:07:23] Well, and I know, Senator, one question a lot of folks have been pondering — and I’ve been trying to picture you, you look very good in a suit. I’ve been trying to picture a hazmat suit. 

GARDNER [00:07:32] [laughs]. 

CAPLIS [00:07:32] So, let’s say, in the unlikely event it comes down to your vote, how do you cast that vote in your current quarantine condition? 

GARDNER [00:07:41] Well, this is how long they have stalled this bill. I will be voting on this bill now. I’ll be out of quarantine. 

CAPLIS [00:07:49] Oh, man! 

GARDNER [00:07:50] I might — So, I mean, you think about the fact that I have been in here for a week and they haven’t gotten this bill done. 

CAPLIS [00:07:58] Crazy! 

GARDNER [00:07:58] So, I will be voting tomorrow, you know? Because my quarantine ends, like, at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. 

CAPLIS [00:08:03] Okay, well, part of me is a little sad about that. I was picturing the drama. You know, one of those moments, coming in in the hazmat suit or whatever it took. 

GARDNER [00:08:12] [laughing] Right! 

CAPLIS [00:08:12] But Senator Gardner, obviously our guest. So okay, please tell folks what it means for them once this bill does pass, hopefully with as limited pork as necessary to get it through, it should be none, but but what’s going to be in it for the folks in Colorado? 

GARDNER [00:08:29] Yeah, so, there’s several provisions [which are] very important to the people of Colorado. There will be direct assistance to Coloradans. People will receive this based on their income. Wealthy people won’t get this. It’ll be means tested. And that’s a direct assistance up to, I think it’s around $1200 [for] an individual, $2400 for married couples, additional dollars for children. There will also be an increase in unemployment insurance benefits. This is an idea that I had been pushing and got incorporated in the bill that–.  This allows an existing program — a scalable program — to be used. [We] don’t have to create anything new. But — and if people are — and it doesn’t require you to be laid off. So, if you’re a Covid-19 sort of victim of reduced hours or because of Covid-19, you can go to unemployment insurance even if you haven’t been terminated and —  or excuse me, or, you know, furloughed — and have benefits through the unemployment insurance office. So this would create that kind of opportunity, get people back up and on their feet.  For businesses — small businesses — this allows a loan to a small business, 500 people or less, to — for eight weeks, as long as that loan is used for payroll, to get people back on payroll, to pay them, to pay their health insurance, to pay rent, to pay mortgage, that portion of the loan that goes to those things will be forgiven. That’s — you know, this is — it’s designed to get businesses rehiring, to keep their payroll already that they have, and to get this economy to snap back once this health emergency is over. 

CAPLIS [00:10:05] How long will it last? In other words, how much longer can the nation, can Colorado endure this kind of shutdown? 

GARDNER [00:10:14] Well, look, I mean, you can see the cost. I mean, it’s — this package is, you know, somewhere around two trillion dollars, as it is. And, you know, we have to do the smart thing for health. We have to do the smart thing to avoid the spread and to stop the spread, to flatten the curve. But we have got to get this right, because this country — we can’t go on like this forever. 

CAPLIS [00:10:36] Right. And it seems to me — and you know much better because you’re in the middle of all these numbers — but it seems to me that this amount seems to be an amount that can help people survive this short term hit. But, boy, you would have to think [if] this thing gets into May, June, July, how many two trillion dollar packages can we have? 

GARDNER [00:10:56] Well, that’s just it. And we we I just got off the phone with Scott Gottlieb, who was the former FDA director. And we were talking about what he thinks will happen. You know, with the seasonality issues, this starts tailing off. But we also have another season that we’re going to be going right back into. So what happens this fall? We have to be prepared, because we’ve we’ve we’ve done this once. We can’t do this twice. 

CAPLIS [00:11:20] Exactly, and you’ve heard the president now, and I know how many demands there are in your time. We’re grateful. I’ll just ask you another question or two, if I may. I mean, we hear the president now talking in more concrete terms every day about a shorter timeline, about at this point now, you know, targeting Easter to have much of America reopened. How will you judge, Senator? And I know you to be a very compassionate, caring, loving, respectful of human life, smart guy. You know how to balance things. How will you personally determine where to strike this balance between the economic survival of individuals and the nation and public safety? Because we’re never going to have perfect public safety. 

GARDNER [00:12:06] Look, we have to listen to our health experts. We have to listen to our public health experts, the people who have said we’re doing the right thing now to stop the spread. Because, look, if if we do — if we hit sort of the bottom end, best case scenario projections of what could happen — so if we’ve done the right things, if we’ve got this right — we will still see a 95 percent utilization rate of every hospital in America. That’s what I saw in one research paper that was done. 

CAPLIS [00:12:36] Yeah. 

GARDNER [00:12:36] That’s under the good things, the good outcome, right? 

CAPLIS [00:12:39] Yeah. 

GARDNER [00:12:39] And so, that is a huge challenge and burden. And we’re seeing young people — I just got off with Dr. Gottlieb, like I said. Fifty-six percent of people in the hospital beds in New York are young. They’re not, you know, your 70-, 80-, 90-year old people. And so, if we get this right, we will save lives. And that is absolutely critical. 

CAPLIS [00:13:02] Finally, what do the folks need to know that that maybe isn’t in the news enough, or isn’t being talked enough about, specifically when it comes to [the] Corona[virus]? 

GARDNER [00:13:13] Yeah. Look, that we’re gonna get through this. I think that’s the bottom line. We are going to get through this. We’re going to get through this together and united. And we have to remind each other that we’re self-quarantining and self-isolating and doing these things not out of fear, but we’re doing it out of love. We’re doing out of love for one another, for our communities, for our parents, our grandparents, because we want to stop this and do the right thing. And so I think that’s something that we have to remember. This is not a fear. This is out of love for our nation, and to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for our nation to get it back on its feet. And then the other thing is just that help is on the way with this legislation, but it needs to pass. And so any word they can put out there to support the legislation is critically important because we need to get this relief on its way now to the people of Colorado and this country. 

CAPLIS [00:14:00] Well, [I] appreciate your time today. Congrats on getting out of quarantine in time for hopefully a vote tomorrow morning and [I] look forward to the next conversation. 

GARDNER [00:14:08] Thanks very much, Dan. Thanks. 

CAPLIS [00:14:09] Thank you. That is Senator Cory Gardner. Appreciate his time today.