Bald Ambition
An expert in consultative selling talks to specialists and shares the latest insights in branding, entrepreneurship, business technology, and sheer grit and motivation.
Bald Ambition
Jim Oberweis Brings Old-School Conservatism to the Age of Trump
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this 63rd episode of Bald Ambition, Mookie Spitz sits down with businessman, investor, and former Illinois State Senator Jim Oberweis for a wide-ranging conversation about the evolution of American politics and its future.
Oberweis represents a political archetype that’s becoming increasingly rare: an old-school, Reagan-era Republican thinker focused on fiscal discipline, economic growth, and pragmatic governance. Over decades in business and politics—from building the Oberweis investment firms and helping grow the iconic Oberweis Dairy brand to serving in the Illinois Senate—he has maintained a consistent emphasis on free markets, entrepreneurship, and balanced budgets.
In this conversation, Oberweis reflects on the GOP’s transformation in the Trump era, offering a perspective that is both supportive and discerning. He praises the administration’s priorities on issues like border security and challenging entrenched bureaucracies, while remaining critical of runaway federal spending and the destruction of productive discourse caused by growing polarization.
Jim also revisits a fascinating historical moment: Oberweis’s role in the 2004 Illinois Senate race that helped launch Barack Obama onto the national stage, illustrating how unexpected political turns can reshape the country’s trajectory.
Today, Oberweis is once again entering the political arena. Now living in Southwest Florida, he is running for Congress in Florida’s 19th District, a seat opening as Rep. Byron Donalds pursues the governorship. His motivation, he says, is the same one that drew him into politics years ago: a deep concern about the nation’s economic future, particularly the $37-trillion national debt and the long-term risks it poses to the next generation.
Along the way, Mookie and Oberweis explore the larger forces shaping the country today: political polarization, immigration policy, tariffs and trade, America’s role in global conflicts, and the economic disruption coming from artificial intelligence.
At its core, this episode asks a simple but important question: Can a traditional, fiscally focused conservative still help shape the future of the Republican Party—and the country—in an era defined by disruption and populist politics? Get some intriguing answers by tuning in for a candid, thoughtful conversation about policy, history, and the ongoing American experiment.
The Guest
Jim Oberweis is a businessman, investor, and former Illinois State Senator known for his long career in finance, entrepreneurship, and public service. A graduate of the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he built a successful investment management firm focused on small-cap growth companies and was involved for decades with the family-owned Oberweis Dairy, the iconic Midwest milk and ice cream brand. Oberweis served in the Illinois Senate from 2013 to 2021, where he rose to become Republican Whip and was known for his emphasis on fiscal discipline, economic growth, and immigration policy. A longtime conservative voice shaped by Reagan-era economics, he continues to advocate for balanced budgets, free markets, and government accountability. Now based in Southwest Florida, Oberweis is running for Congress in the 19th District, seeking to bring his business and policy experience to Washington as part of his ongoing commitment to public service.
Visit His Website: https://votejimo.com/about-jim/
Hello and welcome to the All the Ambition Podcast. I'm your very bald host, Mookie Smith. And the one with all the ambition today is Mr. Jim Ulverweiss. He is a former Illinois senator. And he's got some stories to tell and opinions to share. And I can't wait to dive in with you. Jim, welcome aboard. Thanks, Mookie.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate the chance to uh talk to your audience.
SPEAKER_00I am a Chicago native, born and raised. So I'm familiar with some Chicago, Illinois politics. Our governors end up in jail. That seems to be a common theme. How many of them went to jail? Most folks don't realize this. Four of them, right? Two Republicans and two Democrats. So we're we're bipartisan in our level of corruption.
SPEAKER_01And by the way, the uh uh most recent Speaker of the House, uh, who served for 40 years and was speaker for uh 36 of those 40 years is also on his way to prison.
SPEAKER_00It's a distinction. We we we own it, I think, in in Illinois for some reason. Now I now I live in California. I lived in New York for for over a decade, but you know, my heart, my heart is in Illinois, and uh and it's wonderful to have you on. I'm I'm eager to hear about some of your some of your stories. Did you ever have Oberweiss ice cream when you lived in Chicago? You know, actually, yes. Is there is it that's funny? I didn't I didn't put the two together, but now that you bring it up, uh is there any connection with that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my family, and I was chairman of the company, not executive chairman, I didn't work in the business, but I uh served on the board for 20 years or so.
SPEAKER_00Okay, terrific. And and I I did a little research into your background too. So you've been you've been funding your political career privately to a certain extent, too, which gives you some freedom and some leverage, I think.
SPEAKER_01Well, it it allows me to uh vote where my heart is instead of having to uh pay attention to uh you know uh big contributors.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, and and and big contributors, citizens united. It's it's been kind of crazy. Uh another another story that I've heard, which would be wonderful maybe to anchor our conversation in, is uh Barack Obama and those primaries going back a few years. But that that's one of the branches of history that I think a lot of people would be fascinated to hear about. Can you give us a little context for how that shook out?
SPEAKER_01I was uh encouraged, let's see, I'm trying to think that must have been uh about 2004 approximately. Uh I was encouraged to run for the U.S. Senate. Um Barack Obama was uh on the Democrat side, so I uh there were a few debates where they had both Republicans and Democrats. I got to meet him a little bit in that fashion. Anyway, I came in second to a very strong candidate, Jack Ryan, who you may know, and his wife, Jerry Ryan, is an actress. Uh and he was, you know, a former Goldman Sachs guy. He'd left his job to teach school on the south side of Chicago. I mean, he was a really good candidate. But uh after a few months, uh and I think it was June, um, he announced that he was uh going to withdraw because the Chicago Tribune had pried open his sealed divorce agreement, um in which there were some uh accusations from his ex-wife that were uh he just didn't want circulating, didn't want his his uh son to have to deal with. So, of course, the logical thing then would be to uh uh replace the first place guy with a second place guy who was me. However, um I had taken a very vocal uh stand against illegal immigration. Uh, and uh I was probably too early at the time for many people. I certainly was too early for the liberal press in Chicago. I mean, they went crazy. I actually had a commercial where I was flying in a helicopter over Soldier Field saying enough people are entering this company illegally every week to fill every seat in Soldier Field. Well, they went crazy. First they thought, no, he's gotta be lying. But then I produced a study from a professor at the University of Michigan justifying those numbers. Then it was, well, he must be biased, he must be racist or whatever. So as it turned out, the the head of the Republican State Central Committee did not want me on that ballot. Uh she bought this whole uh uh business about uh uh not wanting illegal immigration to be a major issue associated with the Republicans at that time. So they asked the third place person, uh, a fine gentleman, another state senator by the name of Steve Rauschenberger, if he would be willing to uh uh take the place. And my understanding is he told them, no, you should take the second place guy. Well, that didn't go over well with them, so they kept looking. Uh eventually they uh uh talked to uh the former Bears coach, considered being the nominee, and you know, he had a lot of name recognition, obviously. Uh he thought about it for a couple weeks and came back and said, no, he wasn't interested. He should take the second place guy. Um then in desperation, they finally came up with a brilliant solution. That is to bring in Alan Keyes from Maryland to move to Chicago. Uh and then, well, that would take race out, you know, and then we have uh an African-American against an African-American. Uh so that was their solution. Unfortunately, uh, about three weeks into the campaign, they got him talking about uh reparations, and it was all over. It was it was downhill from there, it was a disaster. Uh, and uh that kind of made Obama's career. You know, now he wins by a big percentage. He's now a national figure, uh, and that certainly was a major stepping stone to him becoming president. Some of my friends jokingly, thank God, uh, accused me of of helping elect uh Obama by uh not uh getting in there and and and running uh as the replacement. Wasn't my fault.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's it's an interesting, interesting story, and it's also evocative in the sense of how much our country oscillates from one extreme to another. So uh I sometimes like to think that uh Barack Obama would have been impossible without George Bush Jr. And it's hard to conceive of Donald Trump without Barack Obama. So you might have nudged, nudged the arrow one way and then created a reaction that produced a counter-reaction that engendered uh Donald Trump. So it's it's very, very interesting. Yeah, and your position on immigration was a harbinger, obviously, of uh immigration mandate reform that we're experiencing right now.
SPEAKER_01I find out throughout my life, I have uh uh frequently been a little ahead of my times. That's one example. Uh I started a uh uh a mutual fund uh um family in the uh 80s, and I was very strong on small capital stock. Again, I was a little ahead of my time there, but they had a very good period uh uh in the uh 10 or 15 years after that. Um I uh on a number of issues, uh I've been very concerned recently about the unsustainable growth in our national debt. And some people are telling me again, you know, I'm a little ahead of my time, but something at some point is going to uh come back. In our industry, uh, we've talked about uh what's sometimes referred to as a black swan event, which is a kind of an unexpected out-of-the-blue happening that triggers uh uh an unexpected reaction. And that's exactly what I'm afraid of with our national debt. Something happens suddenly, triggers something, and now we have uh much higher interest rates, uh much higher inflation rates. And to be honest with you, uh I was not looking to run for this congressional seat. Um I had no interest. Uh well, let me let me give you a little history leading up to that. Um in 2012, I was elected to the Illinois State Senate. Uh in 2016, I was re-elected. Uh, and in uh 2018 I became the Republican whip. In 2020, they asked me to run against the um incumbent Democrat Congresswoman, which I agreed to do, and I had the president's endorsement in 2020. And as it turned out, as of election night, I had won by 1,500 votes. However, this is Illinois, and three days later they decided to count a bunch of mail-in ballots that were never initial by an election judge as required under Illinois law. Uh after that, I said, okay, that's it. I am done forever with Illinois, and I'm done forever with politics. I'm going to Florida to play pickleball and golf, and I ended up playing some duplicate bridge. Uh and interestingly, I went from beginner to life master in three years because I really uh uh enjoyed the game and picked it up very quickly. Um so anyway, that that's that's kind of the background uh where I was coming from. Uh and uh uh I honestly had no intention of running for this congressional seat, but literally within the first week after Byron Donald's, our congressman, who's a great congressman, announced that he was going to run for governor of Florida. I had eight or nine people saying, Jim, please consider running for this open seat. We have concerns about our national debt. And they they hit me hit me in my my soft spot, if you will, uh, because that's a huge concern that I have as well. And I heard it enough times that I said, okay, I'm in.
SPEAKER_00Well, to give um viewers and listeners some context, the national debt is what, around$34 trillion. That is up. It's more than that now.
SPEAKER_01It was$36 trillion last year when they asked me to run. It's$37 trillion now on a grade at$38,000.
SPEAKER_00When people just toss numbers around, it's hard to conceive of, but that's$37,000 billion. And the interest on that is more than what we're paying the uh Department of Defense to maintain. It's close to a trillion dollars, is that right? Just the interest on$37 trillion.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and and that's with that's with our very low current interest rates. Now, if if this this uh so-called black swan event happens and those interest rates go up to six or seven or eight percent, look out. This this can start a whole cycle that would be very, very debt uh uh dangerous for our country. So uh we have to stop that, we have to get control of that. And you know, I think a lot of politicians will talk about that. And by the way, I don't consider myself a politician, I'm a business guy, uh, inside and out, an entrepreneur. I've started started numerous businesses, and uh uh I'm doing this as a service. Um, and then by the way, I've pledged that uh as long as I serve in Congress, I will donate my entire salary, the equivalent thereof, to charity. Uh so I'm not doing it for money either. Um and by the way, that's the other thing, and we can talk about it more, but uh I also consider myself a philanthropist. I started the Oberweiss Foundation 30 years ago, and we support conservative causes uh who are out to provide education on conservative things like uh Turning Point USA. That was one of the first uh that we uh supported. Uh I knew Charlie Kirk uh when he was a high school senior, uh just an amazing young man and never a violent bone in his body. He was a terrific guy, what an unbelievable loss. Anyway, uh those I I certain uh support those types of causes, and I also support um people in need, uh things like uh food banks, uh cancer research, uh caring centers, pregnancy centers, those types of organizations as well.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's a great overview. Um let's go back to the debt just for a second, because um your opinions and your actions on these issues, especially when they're harbingers of uh you know, policy to come, administrations to come, is interesting and it's timely. So um, you know, Elon Musk joined the Trump administration, as we know, and then the establishment of Doge. And the the breaking point for Musk vis-a-vis Trump, at least you know, from what we saw from the newspapers, was um was the debt. So he's he's slashing departments, he's jumping around stages with the chainsaw, figuratively and literally. And uh the big beautiful bill was passed, which just piled on more debt. So, regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on, from a matter of fiscal conservatism, right, from fiscal responsibility, the big beautiful bill just layered on more debt. So, do you find that frustrating in the same way that Elon Musk found it frustrating?
SPEAKER_01Very, and politicians talk about uh wanting to uh uh reduce spending, reduce the debt, so on, but nobody seems to be able to do or what it's all the common line is we'll get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse, right? Everybody uses those terms, but nobody seems to do anything about it. And I was hopeful, and we've heard this for what, 20 or 30 years. I was really hopeful with Elon Musk in there that we'd actually make some progress in that direction. Uh, I'm disappointed that things didn't work out better than they did, but uh uh I think he probably threw some good ideas out there, and hopefully there are people following up with some of those ideas. I have a few ideas of my own, by the way. For example, um Congress's job, one of their main jobs, is to pass a budget. Guess what? They haven't done that in more than a decade. I believe that um we should have a policy that if Congress does not pass a budget when it's due, they shouldn't get paid until they do pass a budget. And no retroactive pay either. Uh and I promise you, if that is the law of the land, Congress will pass a budget because they all want to get paid. Uh so it would mean that Republicans would have to work with Democrats, there'd have to be some compromises, but they would make those compromises, they would get it done, and I think that would be the right thing to do for our country. Furthermore, that budget should be balanced in every year, uh, except perhaps in in times of war, possibly in times of recession. Uh, and if it's not going to be a balanced budget, we should have to have Congress pass it by uh an extra majority, perhaps a 60% vote or something of that nature. If we did those things, let me tell you, it would begin to take care of that debt in a hurry. I believe it would start to reduce it, but even if it didn't reduce it, if it just stopped growing, as long as our economy can continue to grow, it would become less and less of a significant problem over a period of time. Right now, our debt is approximately equal to our entire gross domestic product. And in some other cases, for other countries, that's been a tipping point uh where people have begun to lose confidence in the uh uh the currency. And and by the way, uh if some of our viewers aren't aware, um our treasury debt has always been triple A for you know forever. Not anymore. Exactly. It's it's one notch below that. Uh, and there's of course some concern if we don't do something, it could go down another notch. And this is really uh not a good thing for our country. So the right thing is to get in there, to start to uh get control of that spending and uh uh get control of our debt. Another concrete principle that I've talked about that I think makes a lot of sense, and again, this would take a little compromise from Republicans and Democrats, but we're spending a lot of money on IC. Now, as we talked about, I'm very, very much in favor of uh controlling our immigration problem, securing our borders, uh, encouraging people who are here illegally to leave. Well, uh, you know, paying ICE agents uh and having 500 of them go into Minneapolis is not the right way to do that. Uh paying uh people$3,000 apiece to leave our country is not the right way to do that. The right way to do that is to stop government benefits to people here illegally. Stop paying SNAP benefits, stop paying unemployment compensation, stop paying Social Security for heaven's sakes. If people are here illegally and they pay into the social security system and they can't receive anything, maybe that'll help our social security system a little bit. Those are the right way to deal with this. And guess what? Over a period of time would make this country less attractive for people to sneak in here illegally to take advantage of those government benefits because they wouldn't be there. Uh so it solves all kinds of problems. It solves some fiscal problems and it solves some of our immigration problems. Why can't Congress see this? It's just common sense.
SPEAKER_00That's part of the problem. In order for Congress to enact reform, Congress needs to be reformed. So when it comes to congressional pay, they need to undercut their ability to be freeloaders in a sense. When it comes to congressional accountability, especially in this administration, Congress has abdicated its role to a large extent to the executive. Now, if you agree with Trump on certain issues, certain policies, and you want them expedited, sure, it cuts to the chase faster. You eliminate some of the congressional legislative bureaucracy. But aside from a handful of Republican senators who seem to be autonomous, Rand Paul, for example, there's very little pushback and there's very little legislation. So you come across in certain key ways as an old school Republican. And by that I mean you believe in the separation of powers, you believe in a powerful Congress who could legislate, and you believe in affecting change, which is not performative, but it's actual in terms of practice. So sounds like you oppose these blanket ice raids, and you're more for presumably targeted approaches and approaches that have to do with the money. Which is, by the way, I agree, it's not talked about enough.
SPEAKER_01Remove incentives for what I was saying about ICE. We need to have an agreement with all states and municipalities that if they have in detention somebody who has committed other crimes besides just uh immigration crimes, they must turn those people over to ICE. That's the way we're gonna get rid of that. That's what the whole idea was get rid of the criminals, stop these uh these uh murderers, these rapists, and so on, get them out of this country. So absolutely, uh that has to be an agreement. And if again, if they don't do it, cut off the federal dollars to them. Again, money in the case like that will get action. Uh, and uh it's it's the right thing to do. And by the way, if I can put a plug in, uh if uh if our viewers like the common sense ideas that I'm talking about, I would ask them to please go to our website, which is votejimo.com.
SPEAKER_00I'll put it in the uh podcast description so they can click on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, great, I appreciate it. Uh I think they'll see more common sense ideas. Uh you know, I'm I'm in a fortunate position where I'm not doing this for a new job. I'm a very strong proponent of term limits. I think if we have term limits, we'll get better congressmen, better senators, we'll get people who are patriots, who are doing it to help our country, not for a career, not for the money. Uh the whole idea of career politicians like I saw in Illinois is just disastrous for the state of Illinois. It's disastrous for many states that have that situation. Florida is a wonderful example of a state that enacted eight-year term limits for legislators and for the governor. Now, you can say, well, uh Governor DeSantis has done a great job. I hate to see him go after eight years, but guess what? We got another good one coming. Byron Donald's is going to be uh uh equally great governor, uh, so it's still the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean it's it's refreshing to hear your common sense um budget based approach to a lot of these policies and issues. And you must be frustrated and Certain ways. You know, when Donald Trump first came to power, yeah, he endorsed you. And obviously, you don't want to convey any disloyalty or you know, you know, fight against the mainstream. But um there must be some frustration on your part with regard to, as you mentioned, uh, you know, the ICE actions uh now with the raging war in the Middle East. Uh it's complicated running the country. But uh how do you feel about these kind of contradictions?
SPEAKER_01Uh let me make very clear. Uh, I think that uh our president has done some incredibly good things for our country. Uh securing the border is certainly one of those. Uh there are, you know, getting rid of this whole woke culture. I mean, we've turned the country into the right direction. I'm very supportive of that. Uh you mentioned that uh uh the big beautiful bill uh certainly didn't help balance our budget, uh, and you're correct in that. Yet if I were there, I believe I would have probably had to end up voting for it because it would have been a huge tax increase if we didn't do that. So it it wasn't perfect, in my opinion. Uh, and I would have hoped that we could uh deal with some of those measures individually uh after the uh passage of that bill. Now, unfortunately, not too much has really been dealt with yet, but I've just suggested to you a couple of solid principles that would help to uh get our budget uh back into balance, and I think there's lots of opportunities for that. And you know, we we talk about rooting out waste and fraud. There's plenty of money there. I mean, look at what look at what we found in uh in in Minneapolis, for heaven's sakes. I mean, that's just crazy. And and it's not just Minneapolis. Your state, California, by the way, I think is pretty guilty of a lot of that stuff too. So uh there's there's a lot of room to make progress there.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. No, no disagreement here. I think um Americans have become so tribal and polarized that it's very, very frustrating to get clear and actionable about issues and make sense in in that kind of in that kind of way. Why and how do you think we got here? You've been active for decades, right? So so you you are part of the old guard when it comes to the GOP, and you've seen the American political landscape change. Some would call it evolution, some would call it the opposite. But why do you think there's so much infighting? Why why can't we agree on key issues and make pragmatic policy that could benefit everybody?
SPEAKER_01We have started a great business, the Overwise family of mutual funds. And by the way, Morningstar, which ranks funds, just ranked our microcat fund as one of the top five funds in the entire country for the last 25 years. And that's helped us grow from zero startup to today managing over five billion dollars. I'm very fortunate that I have a son very capable running a business. He's been running it since I got involved in this uh political process. Um, it was not my goal. It was I felt a calling to try to help our country in that regard. Uh, as I said, it's certainly not a career, not doing it for the money. I'll I'll donate an amount equal to my uh uh salary. And I did the same thing in the Illinois Senate. I I donated uh amount equal to my salary back to uh the Overwise Foundation, which I started 30 years ago, which supports conservative causes and people in need of financial help. Uh so I I think I'm doing it for the right reason. I think we need more people uh following in that uh that direction, and term limits would help get us there. There are lots of common sense things that we could do. Uh, and I'll and I realize I'll only be one out of 400 and some. By the way, I want to mention this. I thought my idea of uh no budget, no pay was kind of a new creative idea. No sooner that I and I had an article on it written in the local press, I got a call from Rick Scott, our senator, and said, guess what, Jim? I've already filed that bill. So he's got that going in the state in the U.S. Senate, and I hope that if I can get into Congress, I can help to push that uh in the uh in the Congress. And by the way, if we pass something like that, it would end all these continuing resolutions. Uh, it would end government shutdowns. There wouldn't be any more. Uh so you know it's a win-win for a country.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So again, you're very much a pragmatist, and you and you look at it from a fiscal point of view, fiscal responsibility, fiscal action, money walks. But American culture seems to consider that secondary or tertiary. It's all about values now and deep emotion. And we're divided like never before. Why? What has happened to us where we've gone from being able to talk to each other about all these issues? The debt, immigration, the border, the presidency, and now it doesn't seem like we're capable of doing it anymore. What happened?
SPEAKER_01Well, it seems like uh um under Barack Obama, some conflict started to emerge, and it's gotten considerably worse since then. Uh, I mean, honestly, I have a couple of daughters who live in California, by the way, who uh we just can't talk about the president, we can't talk about politics. Uh what do they call it uh uh Trump uh uh syndrome, or they they they just can't discuss it. Trump derangement syndrome T T D S. Exactly. Uh and uh as a result, we really try to talk about things other than politics to the best degree that we can, but every once in a while something sneaks in and it uh it's a problem. So uh I hope we can uh get past this. Uh you know, 200 years ago, things were this bad or worse. If if you remember uh in the history books, uh uh some of the politicians, if they got into a real big argument, they would go outside and have a duel and kill one another. Um, so it's not that bad yet, uh, but it's pretty bad.
SPEAKER_00I I think part of it might be etiquette. Um, frankly, I find a lot of Trump's policies common sense. So, for example, a secure border. Right, you have a country, you need a secure border, right? Um power throughout the world, you know, staking the claim. The list goes on and on, where by any reasonable standard, I would say Trump's policies and worldview make sense, make sense for America. But there's a style to him, which comes across to many people as a little bit rough around the edges. The etiquette of the presidency has been, in a sense, turned upside down. You've gone from the banquet dinners to the McDonald's. Uh, you you've you've you've introduced a new type of polemic, if you will. And I just feel um I'm no spring chicken. I've I've seen a lot of evolution. I was in high school during the Reagan years, and I've seen this kind of pendulum go back and forth. Uh, Donald Trump seems like the unpolitician. Like 7 Up was the un cola. He's the consummate outsider. He came in. Uh, I've lived in New York, so I know that Queen's mentality too. And I think he was just so abrasive and continues to ruffle so many feathers deliberately, that uh a lot of people emotionally just can't handle it. It's short circuits, people sense that.
SPEAKER_01But on the other hand, uh if we look at the whole woke culture where they were, you know, pressing all kinds of silly nonsense. If if you believe that uh the government uh shouldn't pay for uh operations on our kids to change their sex, you were a bad person. Uh if if you believe that uh uh everybody should be treated equally and not special privileges, you are a bad person. You don't understand, you're not fair. So that's where it started, and it certainly got worse, and now uh we're we're reversing a lot of that in a hurry.
SPEAKER_00You got an action and then a reaction to it. Personally, I think one of the most ridiculous and most ubiquitous things is the she, he, him, her signature line. Now it would come across as least violative, and you would say, well, who cares? But I think to your point, it really epitomizes the overextension of what could be considered woke culture, and it really precipitated this backfire, which has is really uh you know gone against the self-interest of folks who really just mandated their own worldview in a way that comes across as undemocratic. There's a sense of hypocrisy and irony to all that, which uh absolutely. Yeah, which which again, which Trump's often acerbic manner uh appealed to a lot of people as much as he triggered folks, he got people said things that people were thinking but were afraid to say. And again, the libertarian me loves this kind of provocateur, which questions the most fundamental aspects of government, of policy, and even of decor. So, so I think, well, you know, even if you consider it an experiment, I think the country is better off for it for being able to experience this kind of counterpoint and this kind of shakeup, which goes back to Musk and Doge and re-evaluating core principles. Because again, to Reagan's point, uh, I'm from the government and I'm here to help is the last thing that'll really benefit anybody.
SPEAKER_01Speaking of Reagan, he was definitely one of my heroes. And I'll tell you one of the things that that he said uh something to the effect of show me somebody who agrees with me on 80% of the issues, he's my 80% friend, not my 20% enemy. And I I believe that 100%.
SPEAKER_00But that highlights one of the one of the gaps, I think, um, in in even the current administration, which is it's so provocative and it's so incendiary in ways that it doesn't necessarily encourage bipartisan action. It feeds off the polarizing fire of what came before it. And I would just hope that we can get to the point where we are talking about policy, and there is a sensibility on the part of the executive that he or she is a representative of the entire country and not just his or her own constituency. If I have one major complaint about Trump, and again, I'm I'm sitting here agreeing about the border and and about a lot of the policy that's there, is this feeling of built-in animosity and division? And I don't think it's healthy for the country.
SPEAKER_01You brought up another issue, and that's the whole gerrymandering thing. I am 100% opposed to that. Uh, Iowa does it right, where they have a computer program that does everything to try to keep communities concise and together. And you know, I came from Illinois, which is probably the uh uh one of the worst for gerrymandering. California is probably uh doing some things. Florida actually has a provision in their constitution to make it more difficult to do that. But now uh our president would like to see Florida redistrict right now. Uh I hope that doesn't happen quite frankly. That's one area that I disagree with. I I understand the politics. He wants to get Texas and Florida, which are strong Republican states, to pick up a few seats for Congress, but uh that's something where short-term benefit would there'd be a short-term benefit, but in the long term, uh I don't think it's good for our country.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh, I think the gerrymandering is a big problem, and it's become quid pro quo with Texas laying down and then Newsom in California getting the proposition passed. And that that's not good for anybody. It it really fundamentally destroys one of the one of the precepts of a democracy, which is we've got fair, balanced representation. And if you get rid of that, then then what? Big big issue. Um, looking forward though to 20, yeah, I mean, the midterms are one thing, 2028, the evolution of American politics, you've been in the game for quite some time. Where do where do you think we're headed and where do you want it to go? Like passing the baton to your kids, the next generation. Uh what what could or should America look like as we move forward?
SPEAKER_01Uh, first of all, um, I'm financially secure, I'm not worried about it for myself, but I have 21 grandkids, and I am concerned as to whether or not they will have the same kinds of economic opportunities that I've had, the same type of uh uh opportunity to start a business, grow a business, uh, and I want to do whatever I can to make sure that they do inherit that kind of a country. And I I think getting our our uh national debt under control is a huge step in in that direction. So that's why I'm involved in this race. That's that's one of the big things that I care about. Uh and you know, the the buzzword today is affordability and inflation and so on. Well, guess what? That's the biggest, best thing that we could do to keep inflation under control, to keep the value of our currency strong, uh, and uh uh allow us to uh have those types of opportunities for future generations. So that's why I'm doing this, that's why I'm here.
SPEAKER_00Balancing the budget is the least sexy thing the government wants to do because they want to spend, right? And you want to placate your constituents so they get more enthusiastic about voting for you. All the special interests, the tax code is a mess.
SPEAKER_01So balancing the budget is most people don't understand what$1 trillion is, much less$37 trillion. And it's not an issue that's right there on their forefront. They're worried about you know, what is the price of gasoline? What is the price of eggs and butter and milk? Um, so it, you know, from that standpoint, our our campaign teams that keep telling me, Jim, talk about affordability, not about the national debt. And I'm telling them, I'm doing this because I'm concerned about the national debt, I'm concerned about the future of our country, and this is the way we can solve it. I want to talk about the true things, the right things, not the politically slogan of the moment.
SPEAKER_00Going back to Rand Paul from Kentucky, he's one of the few who keeps harping on the debt, harping on civil liberties, harping on controlling the government in ways and keeping it accountable that most folks in Congress, at least on the GOP side, have abdicated. Conversely, if you look at Trump's global strategy, Venezuela, um, the Middle East now, I think it's about the oil. It's about global power. And the reason I bring it up within the context of the debt, if you can't really bring down that debt, although you know it's a problem, one way is to fill the coffers a little bit with with other sources of revenue and at least influence and power. How do you feel about this Monroe doctrine being re-reanimated in a sense? People are calling it the Donro Doctrine, where uh reinstating American hegemony and control in the Western Hemisphere and going even beyond that to ultimately, I think, secure one-fifth of the world's oil supply. Because between the Middle East and Venezuela, you're talking about half the oil on the planet.
SPEAKER_01Well, what the president has done, uh obviously in Venezuela was a masterful stroke. Uh, it showed uh some incredible planning and strategy and effectiveness of American military. Uh when you turn to Iran, um, it's a little different situation. Uh he has taken, in my opinion, a huge gamble. Uh if he is able to get regime change and get people who care about free markets and free elections uh in charge in Iran. He will get on in history as one of the strongest, best, most wonderful presidents ever uh by bringing peace to the Middle East and bringing true change to uh the whole culture there. But it isn't clear that that's going to be the result at this point.
SPEAKER_00That's a big if. It's a big if, especially without boots on the ground. And even if you bring boots on the ground, it's uh it's a big country and they have an entrenched infrastructure there.
SPEAKER_01And I'm not sure that you can bomb your way to a region.
SPEAKER_00You most likely cannot. So what what is it an outcome that that could be could be beneficial to the U.S.? Um, it's beneficial to Israel. Every bomb that falls on Iran is beneficial to Israel, but how could it be beneficial to us medium to long term?
SPEAKER_01Well, I would have to say uh Israel has been our friend. Israel is the only true democracy in the entire Middle East. Uh, I think it is, I think we need to continue to support them. I I support their efforts, and to the degree that we can uh uh make a difference in Iran, and it helps Israel and it it lessens the power of uh Hezbollah or uh Hamas, great. Um but it's it's what is the long-term strategy? What happens in Iran? Uh, and maybe it does take boots on the ground. Hopefully, maybe those boots are Israeli boots, uh, but that that would be very difficult uh for many Iranians to uh accept, uh even more difficult perhaps than U.S. boots on the ground. Uh and I don't really want to see U.S. boots on the ground either. So it it's it's a difficult strategy. The best thing we can hope for is that uh uh we get rid of the new uh Ayatollah, the son of the old one, and get a more uh uh accommodative uh leader eventually to uh rise up in that country. And the other alternative is that we find ways to start arming the millions of people who are opposed to the current regime and the current policies of the country, and that they're able to stage a, I don't know if you want to call it a coup, a takeover, a change, whatever you want to call it. Uh that is a possibility, but again, a difficult strategy to uh uh to enact.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the Kurdish people are 10 million strong in Iran, and they have a strong presence in Iraq. We have bases in Erbil, in Iraq to this day. They've been our loyal ally against Saddam Hussein, ISIS, and we just have a terrible track record of being opportunistic to the point that we we engage with them as partners, and when it's equally convenient, we'll you know discard them. So I think they're probably highly skeptical of engaging in an insurrection against the Tehran government, knowing that uh we've been fickle in the past, and and repercussions of it not succeeding are existential. So so an insurrection like that would be nice, um, but this kind of proxy army is pushing it a little bit. So uh we'll have to we'll have to wait and see. I personally think Trump, with the success of Venezuela, was hoping for. Not so much regime change, which is a long shot, but a similar kind of situation. Um, Delcy in Venezuela now does Trump's bidding about key issues. No oil to Cuba, for example, and bringing back the American oil companies to build up the infrastructure. And Delcy knows that with a snap of his fingers, um, you know, the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier will be back off the shore of Caracas. So that kind of force strength and getting Venezuela to behave or at least do Trump's bidding. I think Trump is hoping for something similar in Iran. That we pummel them to the point where they have to listen to us. So no more nukes, dismantle your missiles, we'll let you stay in power, or at least we'll stop bombing you, and we'll tell the Israelis to stop bombing you if you behave. And I think that that is probably a best case scenario out of all of this.
SPEAKER_01Well, second best. The best would be total overthrow and new government.
SPEAKER_00Again, that's just so unlikely. You know, fingers crossed, but um the second best is still better than civil war on the one hand, and here's the new boss, same as the old boss on the other. Right. So we'll we'll have to wait and see. Um, how much have you thought about international politics? Uh, you've obviously been representing the people of Illinois, you have your own business, uh, which is very much in a in a domestic focus. I'm sure you've got interests elsewhere too. But uh, what's your vision for America's role in the world moving forward? We've got Russia distracted with Ukraine, but China is always that sleeping giant that's woken up. And then you've got Taiwan. How do you feel about America's place in the world moving forward?
SPEAKER_01I I think we have taken a big step forward. I think uh the entire world has seen what we have been able to do in uh uh Venezuela and Iran. Uh and uh I guess we're not walking softly and carrying a big stick, we're walking loudly and carrying a big stick at the same time.
SPEAKER_00We're using the stick. Yes, right, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Um look, my expertise is clearly in economic matters. Um foreign policy, I certainly have a lot to learn, and I recognize that I don't have access to the same information that uh our president does or that uh our uh Department of War have. Uh so I have to kind of cross my fingers and hope that they have the information, they know what they're doing, and that the end result will be favorable. Uh but I will tell you one area that I do have a little disagreement with. Uh from my viewpoint, um, in the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia is the bad guy, period, end of discussion. They invaded the Ukraine. Uh, we should be standing firm to support the Ukraine. Uh, I do think the president's done the right thing to get the rest of Europe involved because it's Europe's even more important for the rest of Europe than it is for the United States. But we we need to continue to support them, and I believe the right thing to do is to give Ukraine long-range missiles. If they have the ability to attack Moscow, suddenly Russia's gonna be Putin's gonna be a lot more interested in negotiating a deal.
SPEAKER_00I can tell you're a Ronald Reagan fan.
SPEAKER_01You bet.
SPEAKER_00I think that's what Ronald Reagan would recommend. He's he's spinning right down there with regard to this issue. And he's like, what are you guys doing? This is clear cut. Yeah. What what about the tariffs? Not to pick on the Donald too much, but as a businessman, how do you feel about the tariffs? Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that the AIPA emergency designation is unconstitutional. Uh, the administration is going about circumventing that with individual cases against individual countries. But how how how did you feel about the tariffs? And how do you feel about such a controlling, restrictive, heavy hand on the part of the executive?
SPEAKER_01Well, let me tell you another part of my background. I'm a University of Chicago MBA, and they're certainly uh uh free traders, uh, and I tend to support that. I believe that we if we had free and fair trade worldwide, it would be the best thing for the entire world. Everybody would benefit. However, we don't. Uh, and again, growing up in the uh dairy industry, I'm aware that uh let's say a farmer in northern Minnesota or northern Wisconsin can't ship his milk 10 miles away or 20 miles away into Canada because of uh provisions that the huge tariffs that they had on U.S. milk and dairy products. So, to the degree that the president has been able to use tariffs to get concessions uh from other countries to either reduce their tariffs or to open their trade to make it more fair, um, more power to him. Again, uh he he's taken some gambles there, uh, but in many cases they've been successful and they've worked out. So I I applaud him for having done that. Uh with the Supreme Court ruling, though, we have certainly kind of a mess. Uh and we're going back down and they redoing them under different uh legal requirements. Uh, I hope he's successful. Again, I my ideal situation would be no tariffs for anybody and no trade restrictions for anybody. I mean, what the heck? We can produce soybeans and corn more efficiently than China can. China can build bicycles and toys and and other things more efficiently than we can. Let China build the toys, let us grow the soybeans and corn and trade. I mean, that that's the way the world would would benefit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I understand this need for emergency resources. So if we do go to war in a big way, we need to be able to, you know, cook up aluminum. We need microprocessors, we need to be independent when it comes to core infrastructure supply chain needs. I get it. I think that that that that is important from a manufacturing point of view, indigenous. But I I I love your point that why are we tariffing the hell out of Calcutta so that we can have t-shirt factories in Louisiana? It that that's not that's not what we do. So um, I think a little more common sense and and a little more maybe self-control might go a long way, but uh, you know, you you you can't have everything, nobody's perfect, and America is um figuring it out, I think uh in ways that is provocative, but also very, very healthy. Because I think we need this kind of disruption. We need to shake stuff up. And out of that disruption, I think we get insights, we get new experience, and we get new opportunities. Speaking of which, I have to ask you about the number one cliche, which is also true, which is artificial intelligence. Uh, how how you made a face, a lot of people are making a face. Uh do you do you consider it an existential threat, especially economically? And as a businessman, you see the cap X of companies, which are ridiculous. The ebidda, right? The the the market cap ratio of these companies are through the roof, and debt is at record levels. Do you see it as a bubble? Are you afraid? You're afraid of the debt, which you should be, which we all should be. But is the AI bubble overhyped or does it keep you up at night?
SPEAKER_01Look, if we go back uh, you know a thousand years or two thousand years, everybody was a farmer or a hunter primarily. Uh, and uh eventually uh we got a little specialization, and along came the wheel and other, you know, the automobile in the 1900s, and everybody was worried about the horses and so on, and the uh buggy whip manufacturers. Then, you know, we we got radio and TV and everything changed, and then you got the internet, and everybody was worried about oh, we're gonna lose so many jobs, and they're gonna be put out of business and so on. Look, these technological changes have historically resulted in some change, there's no question about it. Some industries lose jobs, other industries benefit, but on balance, uh the uh efficiency, the effectiveness of our economy continues to grow and grow very rapidly. AI is, I think, just a continuation of the same trend. Uh, there will be many people who will lose their jobs if they're in certain industries, but there will be all kinds of new jobs opening up. And if there aren't, you know, look, in a worst-case basis, we could adjust by uh uh having people work 30-hour weeks instead of 40-hour weeks. So still, again, we benefit by these types of innovations. Now, is there some risk um to somehow uh artificial intelligence taking over and you know doing things that are detrimental to humanity? I'm not enough of an expert in that area to have an opinion. My guess is no, I'm not terribly worried about it. I don't lose any sleep at night. Um, but it certainly is something we should pay attention to and and be aware of. Um, am I worried about uh companies uh being too levered in uh uh trying to grow their uh AI experience? Look, the stock market will determine that. Uh one thing I know is I can have my opinion, but it's the market gets it right over a long period of time. It sometimes gets it wrong in a short period of time, but eventually it gets it right. So uh we'll see what the uh what the ultimate decision is. There will be, no doubt, some companies that will be huge winners. Um we happen to own a stock uh that that that's in that area, the symbols AAOI, applied optical electronics, and that stock has gone from uh about 35 um just 30 or 40 days ago to it hit a high of I don't know 125 or so, like a day or two ago, it's down about 17 points today. So it's it's reacting to investors' beliefs uh very, very quickly. Uh so the market will help to determine the winners and the losers. There'll be some of each.
SPEAKER_00I'm Pollyanna about most of this, and I think to your point, there's gonna be a lot of disruption. But to the point I made earlier, shake it up, I think we'll be we'll come out better for it, but it it's gonna be tough, and there's gonna be major winners and even bigger losers, so you gotta put your chips in the right place, which is hard to do. But uh be optimistic. I think I'm hopeful for America, I'm hopeful for what we can do, and it's good to look forward to stuff and just the spirit of the country. Uh, I'm a first-generation American. Both my parents were Hungarian, left after the war. They emigrated actually to Caracas, Venezuela, of all places. I have a son who's a Marine at Camp Pendleton. So I was wondering if he might get deployed to Venezuela and then it would have been a full full circle, right? So I love this country. I think the experiment continues, and I think it's important that people keep that in mind: that there's no certain solutions, there's no one answer to things. And as long as we just treat each other with civility, we listen as much as we speak, and we embrace opinions, we don't just throw them off, and then we believe in values, work, focus on your family, be patriotic to the country. If you just get a few of these things right, we'll all be better off for it. And I think we'll solve 90% of our problems with just that.
SPEAKER_01Mookie, you're right on, exactly.
SPEAKER_00So thanks so much for joining us, Jim Oberweiss. When you when you mentioned your name and the ice cream, you know, I I knew about your businesses, but I remember the ice cream growing up in in Chicago. So that's really kind of wonderful. You hit a childhood memory with that.
SPEAKER_01Interestingly, that business was bought a couple of years ago by the Huffman family of Illinois and Naples and St. Louis. And uh I'm told they're gonna open a bunch of Oberweiss ice cream stores down here in the uh Naples to Fort Myers area. And they actually already have Overweiss ice cream at the Hertz Arena, which they own in this area as well. So I'm uh looking forward to uh having it.
SPEAKER_00It expands. That's what in California we're hoping is gonna happen to In N Out Burger, which is a California tradition, which is in Nevada now. Maybe it will hit Illinois and maybe Florida someday, so we can have the the worlds coming together. Thanks so much, Jim. I'm gonna put links in the description below for uh for all that you mentioned, your action, your charity, your philanthropy, and and your your your your political political activation too.
SPEAKER_01And I hope our viewers will take a moment and go to our website, votejimo.com, and on there you will see a list of over 700 Republicans who've already endorsed our campaign for Congress. And if you you look at my positions and you like what you have to see, I hope you'll uh click. There's a column for endorse or volunteer. And if you click on that column, and there's a tab that you can click on to endorse our campaign and add your name to the list. We're hoping to get to a thousand by the uh time of the primary.
SPEAKER_00It's awesome that you're still you're still cranking it. You've been you've been actively engaged most of your adult life in uh in service, and you continue to do so in in Florida too. So that's thanks again.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate the opportunity to uh talk to your viewers.
SPEAKER_00That's great. Thank you so much. Dim like, comment, share, folks, and hit the link below to uh learn more about Jim's campaign and help them along. It's a it's a worthy cause, and it's wonderful talking to someone who's got common sense and uh just believes in the country and wants everyone to benefit. That's terrific. Thank you. Thank you.
