Venezuela, Cartels, and Trucking Nation Debate

In this episode, we talk about the growing crisis facing truck drivers and the trucking industry, and how global issues—like the ongoing situation in Venezuela—are impacting fuel prices, supply chains, and everyday Americans.

Truckers are the backbone of this country, yet rising costs, low freight rates, government policies, and economic instability are pushing drivers to the edge. While politicians debate and foreign issues dominate the headlines, truckers are struggling to keep their trucks on the road and food on the table.

This episode breaks it down in plain language: how international problems connect to the trucking crisis, why drivers are fed up, and what it all means for the future of American transportation.

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Transcript

Dolores 0:00

and welcome back to The Trucker’s Radio Podcast. This is the voice of the working driver. Where real truckers talk real life, real business, and real truth. If you’re running hard, trying to keep your wheels turning, your family fed, and your sanity intact you’re in the right place. Your host is Stacey Yearout. Tonight we’re stepping into Part Two of a conversation that goes much deeper than regulations and taxes. We’re talking about Venezuelan cartels, national debt, and how global corruption is quietly spilling into American trucking. This is about security. This is about money. And this is about what every driver on the road needs to understand. Let’s get into it. Welcome to the Trucker Radio podcast. Today we got Daniel from Florida. We're going to talk about the Venezuela issue, part two. You see you with us, Daniel? Yes. Yes. Alright, good deal. Kind of back to where we were talking about earlier, this is part two of Venezuela and. United States economic situations and everything of where we're going and what we're doing and the taxes, tariffs, and everything else we can find to kick a Rockette. We're going to talk about finish up, and I think we were talking earlier about a lot of the tariffs and the things that they could do and the sales tax and property tax and all that. With all the oil and stuff that they compensated with Venezuela, if we did sell that, think about where we would be financially as a country, if we didn't let a lot of our government embezzle it like we have in the other right. Situations. Well, it's not just the oil from what I'm gathering and a little bit here. I mean, this is all very fresh. Basically we're gonna run the country for a while. We're probably not going to let it go until we've got the right people in place, a friendly government to the United States, but there's, it's more than oil there. If I'm not mistaken, they have some very large lithium deposits. There, there's all kinds of other resources there that we were trying to do a deal. I believe Trump was trying to work out a deal on some, mineral rights and oil, rights there with, Maduro. This last past year actually. And, things fell through. It didn't, didn't work out right. So I mean, we got some control there. I hope we're not just going in and robbing them. Those people deserve to have their country back. They were once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I think there's a shining example of what socialism does. We saw'em go from, I think, what one of the top 10 richest countries in the world to one of the poorest. So just in a matter of what, 15 years, 10 years, you got people chasing garbage trucks trying to get whatever food scraps they can, dogs, people eating dogs because they can't, there's just nothing. There's nothing there. Few years ago, I was watching the average, Venezuelan lost 45 pounds, because of they're starving. And, I hope we go in there and build a good democratic government, let these people vote for who they want. Somebody, they gotta stand up to the narcos. So that's the problem with cartels I foresee us having to have, troops there boots on the ground for a long time. Right? I see a lot of skirmishes there. I mean, I'm an old dude. I remember the eighties. A lot of these truck drivers out here, remember the war on drugs, that was a big waste of money. Just say no is gonna fix everything and that, just do this. Just take the jab. Just wear the mask. Just keep six feet. Just say no. That fixes every, no, it costs this country trillions of dollars. Wasting dollars. We didn't go to the source. They thought, let's just arrest the drug dealers. Let's arrest, that'll get the drugs off the street, take away the customers, the dealers will go away, didn't work. These cartel, they're smart and they figured out ways to keep pushing it through. That's where you gotta, you gotta cut the head off at stake. Otherwise, any of these, south American or Central American countries, they're not going to be able to do. They're gonna be controlled by that money. Who has that money is the cartels. That's gonna be our biggest problem right there. And, if we can stop that, well, maybe people will quit leaving Mexico. Maybe they'll quit leaving Guatemala and Honduras and trying to come up, for a better way of life in America. Maybe we should invest more of this money back into those countries instead of overseas. European countries and places like, African countries where they burn our flags. Let's invest it back into the Americas and, maybe make it better to health. Maybe we'll move down there to Venezuela. Maybe there'll be beautiful and and wealthy again, and it might be a good place to move to. Yeah, you never know. You never know. I mean, the thing about it, this is, I think their biggest problem is, like you said, the cartel. And their biggest export right now has been probably fentanyl and anything they could get, right. The drug boats and everything else. I mean, we've been hitting them drug boats and of course, a lot of the news media is just, they're criminalizing what he's doing with, those are fishing boats, Stacy. Yeah, I know those are fishing boat. Yeah. According a OC. Yeah, I get it. Poor fishermen. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, those are boats that come here and hit our country with hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fentanyl. And not to mention all the people that fentanyl kills on a daily basis. That's the War on America right there is, killing off our people, getting people hooked on drugs, they're not as many people get hooked on drugs by choice about 20% is pretty self-inflicted. Other one is mental. Condition, mental disorders and things that, well, you got the opioid starts with a lot of, there's always a gateway. They used to say it was, drinking led to weed. Weed led to cocaine. Cocaine led to heroin, and so on. I know a lot of people growing up through the years, they broke their leg. They did, had some major back problems or surgeries. On Ltab you back in the day, especially living in Florida, you could, they called it doctor shopping. You could have multiple doctors prescribing you hundreds of Lortabs a month and Right. 95, I 95 went from being called cocaine alley. The hydro, a hydro highway. Everybody was coming down and, that led into things. So when they finally stopped, where, if I go to my doctor, I'm 57 years old, my back shot out, I need surgery. I'm looking at getting that done. I can go in there, crawl into my doctor's office in pain. She's not gonna gimme more than 10 or 12 LOR tests. They can't do it anymore. They can't even prescribe refills. So what's the next option? This fentanyl stuff, how does it work? And it does lead to, the betterment of, beating the opioid addiction just caused it, help the cause of Spark. Another one with the Fentanyl and, a lot of these celebrities, Michael Jackson, they were all on it. I believe Elvis messed with it, back before anybody knew what it was. There's always going to be something. Do away with one. I mean, people come up, they create, or you could go under your bathroom sink there, your kitchen sink, and there's enough chemicals in there, you can create a drug. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, without a doubt. But I mean, the stuff that they're deliberate bringing over and everything, man, I mean, it wreaks habit. I mean, I deal a lot with the rehab centers and stuff as a recovery coach and I mean, I see a lot of it firsthand. It's unreal that the people that just, they were family men and women, they had a, major surgery, they got hooked on these pills, back surgery, my wife has had a major surgery and, she's a pretty tough bird, but them pain pills just wasn't doing anything. And I can see where people will take more and more and more just to make the pain stop. I mean, she knows the outcome of that, so, she don't really do that. But how easy that could be, yeah. When you're in that kind of pain, you don't care. You don't think about the consequences until the hook said, when the hook said, here we are now. Taking over a country, basically, managing it. That's how I like to look at it. Not taking up, but managing it. Mm-hmm. That's basically like ground zero, right? We're, we're talking about South America and, I mean between there and Mexico, it's gonna be a challenge. It's gonna be a real interesting challenge to see how. Trump administration handles this. The use of our military. I'm hoping that we don't have to blow up any more drug votes. I'm hoping that we can go in there and shut that down, maybe take control of their ports, that could slow the situation down. Because I, I'd sure like to see some oil rigs go up, some drilling rights, some mining rights, and not have to worry about, I've got sons. What if they wanted to go down there and, learn to work in the mines or oil rigs or something. I don't want them getting killed or blown up or kidnapped by some Marco terrorists, because they're Americans and these, marco cartels, they're losing money. They're gonna lose a lot of money over this. And, and how's that gonna affect America? Are we going to be, sitting there watching a football game one day and the stadium blows up? Is it gonna be a tax on DC and our federal buildings around the country, because, these cartels are sending people in, and if anybody old enough remembers the eighties, especially in Miami, I remember a time when Miami was just, sunburnt Jews and seemed like overnight it's full of Colombians and they're, they're having shootouts in the streets, right across from the police station and, it happens that quickly, and it's just what you see in some of those movies is dead accurate, right? I don't wanna see that spill over, another repeat of all that around the world, or around the country, I should say. Hopefully a lot of good comes out of this for the Venezuelans, as well as us. We definitely deserve the profit off of this. We free these people. They're in the streets. Right now waving American flags while we've got Democrat leaders up here condemning what's been done, we've got tens of thousands of people dancing in the streets in Venezuela.'cause they know they're gonna get their country back. They're gonna get their wealth back. And well there, there's one thing right there I'd like to add just for a second. If those people are so happy to get their country back, and we have Democrat senators and politicians up here that are forbidden it, condemning it, whatever it may be. Maybe they have a little special interest in the drug boats and all that, like they've had a special interest in a whole lot of the fraud. That's a little bit of food for some thought. Mado, he's been around a while and A lot of celebrities thought he was a great guy. He liked to hang around with'em and, and I guess like politicians as well. Maduro was not a president, he might have been at one point, but he returned it to a dictator. They just, they had, an election and, he lost, but he refused to leave. He refused to step down. Basically, I mean, I think Mark Rubio just called it out today that he's the leader. I can't remember the name of the cartel, but they said that Mado is actually the leader of that cartel. Right. So I'm sure, yeah, he's dealt with a lot of politicians, not only in America, but probably, all across Latin America, probably European countries, China, I know China was, they were trying to get their hands on that oil and li another mineral minerals over there, Russia as well. The, I pretty much the, the cartel, I feel like has, has been allowed to get way too big. They've been overlooked and in bed with certain leaders of a rare country over the years, not mentioning any names. I wouldn't want to get shot in the back of the head and said, I committed suicide or anything. Yeah, but I was watching a big documentary where a, it was a Homeland security guy. He was talking about that after Epstein stepped down, that the cartels took over all the sex trafficking. So, no, not to mention the drug trafficking, but you know, they pretty well carry most of the drug trafficking around the world. And now they carry the sex trafficking around the world for the most part. And he even confirmed that he said they have took over the sex trafficking after Epstein Allen got shut down and Epstein was put in jail and all that. And that's the renewable drug that they can sell over and over and over again, and they can bring these little girls. And that was a big thing with the borders being kicked off the hinges, not only to bring illegals here in their country, but they're bringing these kids. Oh, they've got, they need to be took to this address. What do you really think that was for? You think they were being brought here to be sold as sex slaves. You damn right. They was. And you can't prove it. But somewhere along the lines, somebody's gotta say, enough's enough, and it's sickening to know there's even a market for a little girl on the sex market, sex slave. That's sickening because we have people here that's willing to think that's okay, that they will buy, that they have to have a buyer to have a market, and obviously there's a hell of a market for it, right? That means there's a lot of sick ass people out here. Well, a lot of it too, it goes all the way over to the Middle East, the Saudi Arabians and the rich oil. She over there. They have multiple wives and, harems, I guess you call. Mm-hmm. But, they're big on that and they don't see a, anything unethical with that because if you're not Muslim, you're an infidel, you're not human. And it doesn't matter what they do, there's, it's not that they're demeaning another human being. So yeah, it reaches out very far. Yeah, you go back to the Pablo Escobar days and things like with the, the Colombian cartels and they controlled, all the cocaine and everything. Well, we, they lost control. They, it got harder and harder to get the drugs into the country. So what did they do? They went to Mexico. They started selling and they struck deals with the Mexican cartels and, the Mexican mafia, so to speak. We can make this cocaine and sell it to the Mexicans for the same price. We were selling it to the Americans for, we don't have to deal with transportation or, getting caught, losing the load or anything. We'll just sell it to the, let them import it into the country and spread it around the world. And that's how the Mexican cartels got a lot bigger. It used to be they were just pumping in, girls and weed and, horrible weed at that. And I know now with the legalization of marijuana, especially like in Colorado, that's affected a lot of the Mexican cartels. There's been a lot of issues there because there goes a big chunk of their money. Where they were coming into the United States with a lot of the weed that they were actually going into our national forest and growing it. Well you're from Kentucky. At one point that was y'all's biggest cash crop and, everybody loved that Kentucky Bluegrass back in the days. Yeah. You know how that's going. Yeah, that's for sure. Well, and the thing about it is too, I see where Trump, he downgraded that the other day. I wonder how that's going to affect everything across the board, especially in trucking. I mean, I know some people like to partake in marijuana or stuff like that, and they had to make choices. That's not something that I've ever really particularly cared to. Well, one little I read on it, DOT kind of flipped out. The minute it was announced that he lowered it down to a schedule, they had it listed as a Schedule one, which is right up there next to heroin. It's been ridiculous. Cocaine's a schedule two, they lowered it down. Dots flipped out because now that means anybody with a medical marijuana card, you can be a truck driver and get a medical marijuana card. So as for right now, it's on hold. No, you cannot do that. But they're going, there's going to be legalities. They're going to have to figure it out because at some point or another. Some truck drivers gonna hire that lawyer and they're gonna fight it in court instead of precedent. We're gonna have drivers out here. I don't use marijuana anymore. I, when I don't need my CDL, you damn right. I'm gonna be out there smoking again just like I did when I was a kid. If you, anybody that knows it, just like you take aab, at the end of your shift when you wake up in the morning, that's not affecting you. But the problem is it's still in your system. And, we've got that stigma about drugs. That, oh my god, look how bad marijuana is and the effects it's gonna bri your brain. Now there's a reason they call it medicinal. It can be helpful too. Bottom line is there's a reason they all call it dope, because it makes you a dope. I wouldn't want some guy riding next to me or my family, high. And unfortunately this younger generation of drivers out here can't, they can't control it. They don't see the problem with it. They haven't gone without it. Six months ago they were rolling blunts with their buddies. They got clean for about 30 days and went and took their CDL test at some, CRST or England or someplace like that. They're fighting urge on their home time to go smoke again. Because all their boys are doing, we're gonna be sitting at truck stops before long and smelling it real strong, coming from the truck next to us. I'm quite sure. And if they brought it down to where it's basically on the same level as alcohol or beer or anything like that, it's going to be real hard to just. Put a damper on it all together because I mean, it starts trampling on people's rights and everything else. So DOT is going to have to figure it out. I mean, like I said, I'm not a big marijuana fan at all. I don't like the smell of it. It's just not my cup of tea. But I don't get mad if somebody else wants to do it. That's great. Knock yourself out. But it's just not something I care to do. Problem is I got a family to support. You're damn right. That's my thing. I can't, that's more important, and the after effects of a marijuana, you can't say that. It doesn't leave an after effect. If you smoke a joint tonight, when you got done with your shift by morning, are you going to be coherent? A hundred percent. Yeah. And I say no. I say no. I've seen it too many times outta people. They're spaced out. They're, I think that's just me, but I just don't really think, and, and, and that even kind of goes with alcohol. I mean, you could go to a bar and drink, a half a bottle of bourbon or you going to be able to drive in the morning, and I say no. This is where I think a lot of people get in trouble with the 0.04. they blow a little bit the next day after they've been drunk. Mm-hmm. Because they say, well, after eight hours you can drive. Okay. Well that depends on the person. That's a, there's a lot of things there that depends on the person. I mean, I'm a big dude. I'm six foot three, 300 pounds. I could put some liquor away if I wanted to drink. I don't drink anymore. But when I did drink, man, I could put a half a bottle of liquor away and still walk straight. Right now, after eight hours of the amount of alcohol that I drunk, would I be able to drive? No, there's no way. Because the amount of straight bourbon or the percentage, if I was drinking a hundred proof bourbon, I, that's not gonna be outta my system in eight hours. I'd be lucky to be on my system in 12, and I think that's, that's gonna be a thing there that. It's gonna be a lot like the alcohol. You get caught with alcohol in your truck. You know you're going to be fired, you get caught with marijuana in your truck, you're gonna be fired. Those are going to be one of them things. To where if you're going smoke marijuana and drive a truck, you're probably going to have to do it on your time off and make sure you are coherent in so many hours before you get back behind the wheel of the truck. It ain't. And, and, and that's probably going to be the biggest solution. And it's gonna have to be the solution. They're just not gonna be the guy rolling the blunt, driving down the road. And it wouldn't be any different if I'm sitting there with a beer in the cup holder. That's wrong, period. It ain't gonna happen. They're never gonna be okay with that. Right. They're never going to downgrade it to like where a cigarette, you're smoking a cigarette, it ain't gonna happen. And I don't think that they're gonna allow it in the trucks. Because they wouldn't allow, they wouldn't allow liquor in a truck. It is just, it is gotta be as they, there gotta be some standards there, and I think it definitely can make you forgetful or, you forget little key things and tear something up. Forget to unhook your air hoses or, I mean, hit, definitely hit would give you kind of the effects of, I mean, I've took. Melatonin and got up the next day, and man, I'm kind of groggy, kind of foggy headed. And if that could do that, what do you think marijuana's going to do? Yeah, it could be alcohol, it could be marijuana. There's going to be incidents. There's no doubt about that, but I mean, if they gained to where you could do it on your off time. Kinda like bourbon or alcohol or whatever, a beer. And when you come back to work, you need to have so many hours before you get back in the truck. I mean, that's a big win considering Yeah. That's still a big win for the guy that wants to smoke weed. If the guy wants to smoke driving down the road, he needs to take his ass home. Working at McDonald's. Yeah. I think the biggest way to solve this issue when it comes up is, like you said, you're not gonna be allowed to have it in the truck. Just like you're not gonna be allowed to have alcohol. There's companies out there that won't let their drivers carry a firearm. Right. And if they get caught with one, they're fired or terminated, exactly. That's gonna be the thing. There's still gonna be people that do it. Sooner or later you're going to get caught and, nature will always takes care of it itself. Right. Marijuana is definitely one of'em things that's real hard to hide when you're smoking it because hell, they can smell that shit. Yeah. Well, it's not that today half, it doesn't, you don't even have to smoke it today. That's true. I mean, I, I've walked through a Walmart before and smelled an employee walk by. I mean, and you could tell he's got a big bag of weed in his pocket or something. Right. That stuff's strong today. It's not like it was back when I was a kid. This episode is powered by Sabren Group LLC providing trauma-informed coaching, recovery support, and real-world owner-operator consulting built for drivers who are tired of being treated like numbers. If the road has worn you down mentally, financially, or emotionally help is closer than you think. Visit SabrenGroup.com and TheTruckersRadioPodcast.com to take back your direction. Alright back to the show. All right. Yeah, that's for sure what I hear. It's a lot more pop. Yeah, probably. Probably you more, you may have a bigger point there with the forgetfulness. Mm-hmm. Things like that. I just don't think it's going to, I just don't think they're gonna allow it like that. Not like what people's hoping for. I just don't really think so. Yeah. I just don't think they're gonna allow it like that. A lot of people think they're going to do, but we just gotta see how it all works out. I mean, either way, it ain't gonna really affect me one way or the other, it ain't something that I choose to do. So, I mean, it's something that everybody's gonna worry about. Like back what we were talking about with the Venezuela stuff. I mean, I think. This is still kind of fresh and I really don't know if everybody knows exactly how the outcome of this is going to be, but something tells me that there's a bigger plan going on behind the scenes that's just not being told in this kind to stand to reason. I mean, it's national security. Secret service and the whole nine yards, the president and everything. I mean, we're not gonna know everything. Right. Yeah. I think, i's a good sign right now. Those people cheering in the streets and then, they're really happy, they're waving American flags over there and that's where it really matters., They're supportive of what, what we've done for'em. And, like I said, they gotta get somebody in. There's gonna be some good, there's gonna be a lot of good, there's gonna be some bad. I'm anticipating some riots over here, probably by non Venezuelans, probably by, a bunch of young white Antifa kids, protesting it. But, I see a lot of the cartels over there. Maybe there'll be some bombings of the US Embassy, things like that. How it always goes. They're not gonna be happy unless they have, a leader in there that, is favorable for them and we're not gonna be happy unless it's somebody favorable for us ultimately these people gotta stand on their own, right? At some point we we're gonna have to leave there and, I feel better about helping the Venezuelans and leaving them with, money or guns or whatever they need know, training to fight their own battles. And I did the Afghanis, look how that turned out. Charlie Wilson floor there. We helped them with the Russians and they flipped on us. That's where Al-Qaeda, I don't foresee that happening so bad with the Venezuelan. So again, you never know, man, you hand somebody a bunch of weapons and teach'em how to use it. They might, you might have just created a new cartel they're gonna have to stand on their own two feet. I just, what I'm hoping the best outcome for the United States is, is that we make some money off of this. We get some resources that, we get those deals that we were trying to make that's good for them and good for us. I don't wanna just take advantage of it, it's their resources. But if it helps our economy, if it helps ease, the burden off of American citizens and what we gotta pay, man. I think it could be a good thing all the way around and, who knows what this could do for trade mm-hmm. Between Latin America and the United could create some more lanes for us, could create some more freight and better pay. Yeah, a lot of good that could come out of it. So yeah, most definitely. I mean, I'm not sure. You know exactly how long all that's going to take. But I got a good feeling that it's, there's definitely a reason, we may not always know the reason, and of course, the powers that be is not necessarily going to just throw it out on See the inner Fox or anything like that. And, and not that you get the truth even at that. You never know the truth until you see it for your own two eyes. That's the biggest thing the news outlets I mean, they've gotten better. I give them that when it comes to Trump and this, I don't know. I go that I think it's'cause they're forced to. There's just no other way around it at this point. There, yeah. It was killing CNN to comment on the Minnesota thing, but they finally had to break down on that one as well., That Minnesota thing, man, that makes me so mad. I want to see some Somalians and all of'em locked up'cause they flat ass. That was nothing but fraud, period. I don't give a damn how you slice it. That is fraud. They can hide, they can make all the excuses and say, well, there just wasn't any guardrails up there. They organized at the time, when this first came out, they were showing, I seen the video. Of course it's all been scrubbed off of YouTube now, but I've seen the video where they were talking about they were feeding that money to these Somalian. Organizations where they were, have them training camps with weapons and guns and everything else. What the hell was that? Right now they've hid that shit. I don't know if you can still find it. I know I can't find it anymore, but when that first came out, that was on there. I think I sent it to you. Well this is all organized crime and with that, we've got Rico, we could go after law and Omar, we could go after a lot of their. They're, leaders because they are Muslim and, they are, that was their plan was to infiltrate, city council, city government, oh. There could be a lot of connections from Minnesota. Could just be the start of it. And, there's no telling how far this expands. I mean, I have to think it didn't just stay in Minnesota. It probably trickled into a lot of pockets down there in Washington too. So, I mean, all that could be, I mean, it was obviously an organized crime one way or the other. And, anybody connected should be indicted, whether they live in Minnesota or California. Most definitely. I mean, I think that they've gotta get this under control. I mean, the amount of fraud that we found just since this administration's been in office with Doge and everything else, and I know there was a lot of people that was against that and against Elon and all of that. But you know, dude, this is our money we're talking about here. Why is people mad at kicking back against. What we're doing, and I know there were some programs that got cut and they were a lot of smoking screens there that was throwed out there. Oh, they're doing this, they're doing that. You're gonna starve. You're not going to get this. And a lot of that was just fake news. Did they cut some things? Did they change some things? Absolutely. And I think some of the people that did. Get cut may not have been fairly, but there was a lot of people that was abusing the system. I mean, look at how many illegals that was on the food stamp system alone. Millions. Millions and millions. And we've already had Americans abusing it for, generations. Now we've got, or three, four generations deeper people born into the welfare program and, and I'm gonna say this and I know it may not be right, but if you're an American and you were, abusing the system, we all have to be accountable and it's there for a reason. It's there for people that need it. And I'm all for that because, I've been down on my luck. I've been down outta work, sick down in my back, this and that. I mean, I remember a time where I actually went to work every day and by the time I paid my bills, I had$20, literally 20 bucks to eat for the rest of the week. And of course it was, thank God, it was just me at that time. And I remember living on, little pizzas that you get out of the grocery store. At that time, I think they were 80, 90 cents a pop. I live on'em. That's all I could afford to buy. Well, now I'm about$20 worth. Wasn't no, wasn't no two liters of pop, any of that. I mean, you had to basically, find something to eat. That was all you had. And I lived like that. That ain't no joke. That was the truth. I know what hard times are. I've lost more than my ass. More than once, and I didn't ever get any assistance. And unfortunately, even when I did need it, I would never qualify because I had previously made good money. And they would always tell you all, no, you can't do that. We can't give it to you. And that always used to make me so mad. I remember a time that. It was probably in my earlier driving days, probably, I wanna say probably within the first three to five years. I got into an accident that hurt my back very badly. I was off work and my wife at the time was pregnant. And we went down to seek assistance and we were turned away. We don't have anything for you. And by the time I left that office, I was probably one or two ways. I was about to have a stroke from blood pressure or I was about to get arrested. But I left there with, they, they, I left a piece of my mind with that office. I'm gonna tell you that and. They sent me a letter about a week later and said that I needed to reapply because they had been some oversight and, I, I just be honest with, I didn't even fool with it. A lot of our family had kind of pitched in and helped at that point. A lot of pride kinda gets in your way sometimes. You're used to working and providing for yourself and then getting treated like a third class citizen when you do need the help of the things that you've worked and paid in. And I think some people like that it is a slap in the face when that happens, but I know the system is there, right. For people, and I preach day in and day out. About veterans and, the help that they need. I mean that's, that should be an open checkbook as far as I'm concerned. That should be an open checkbook that they need, they get, because after all, if it wasn't for them, ain't none of us be here. We all probably be speaking Chinese or Japanese or something. But I mean, I guess basically my point is I don't want to. Disrespect anybody that's on assistance and that's a very touchy subject. And I have by no means wanted or tried to do that or anything like that, but when we have illegals that come here from other countries, they're not documented. They have no legal right to be here and they're milking up air resources. We have resources for a reason and that's to help our American people. And you have millions of dollars going to healthcare, to illegals. I mean, what do you think would happen if we went to Canada and say, how do I get this healthcare up here? If we went to Russia and said, Hey, we want signed up on your healthcare. They'd laugh, they weren, they're illegal. We'd be arrested. Yeah. There is that. I forgot about that part. We would definitely be arrested. Not to mention probably a whole lot more than that time we got outta executed in some countries, and it's just a level of shit that has gone on in this country that needs righted. Period. And and it's, and it is not our place to prop up everybody that wants to sneak across one border or the other, or swim or however the hell they get here. It's not our place to prop them up. They come here, they need to work just like we do. They need to pay taxes, so therefore they need to be documented. And they need to be regulated the same way as we are. We're regulated. The IRS makes sure they pay you pay your taxes, don't they? Daniel, if you don't, what are they gonna do? That's they're gonna come back. Take your paycheck. I gotta gotta take everything I got. You're damn right. But see these people come over, they don't, if they're undocumented, they don't pay taxes. They find some way to make money under the table, however it is, they do well, obviously, if you live in Minnesota, they just embezzle the shit. They don't have to work, right? They just embezzle it. I mean, maybe we in the wrong business, but I was always in the business of trying to make my money, honestly. But maybe we doing it all wrong, bud. I don't know. Well, maybe we should sneak into, India somewhere and get CDLs and drive trucks. I got a fill that crash in the stuff. I got a fill. That wouldn't work out. So good for us. I really don't. No, I don't think it'd work out so good. No, for one, I can't read the language, man. So where in the hell am I gonna go? I wouldn't know where to go. We just follow our GPS. We can change the language on our GPS. There we go. I never thought about that shit. There we go. That's what they do. Hey, you know what? Let's go. I wonder what they pay over there. You reckon they pay anything any better than America does? I was talking to a real good friend of mine. He's got a son that, he met a girl online in Australia, Sydney, super nice girl and everything, she with her career and everything, I mean, it was easier for him to move there. And they don't play. If you're gonna come to their country, they'll swing the door right open, come on in. But they're gonna tell you real quick, you're gonna get you a job. You're gonna work'cause we ain't gonna support you. You're going to eat. Mm-hmm. You, you're going to, you're gonna support yourself. They don't openly. Welcome you in with a free pass with a loaded credit card with money and food stamps and rent free. And here, let's put you up in the hotel in New York and, let you destroy it while we're paying for everything. Right? the level of shit when you really say it out loud that's happened in this country is disgusting. It really is. People has the audacity to get pissed when it starts to be cleaned up. And I'm sorry I've said it time and time again. Anytime there's massive change in things that has to be redone and straightened out, there's going to be some discomfort on everywhere at one point in time or another, but for things to get better, it always is going to get a little worse. Right. Yeah, that's what I meant earlier about, generations. People born on the welfare system, nobody should live off of welfare their entire life. It's supposed to be a helping hand. Okay, we're gonna help you get back on your feet. So you get money coming in or, we can subsidize it, but we've got too many people living in this country that don't wanna work that would rather get a free check or work under the table so they can get more of that free money from the government. You go into most housing projects, these people are paying 40, 50 bucks a month to live in these, and no, they're not the greatest apartments, but they don't care. It's cheap. Right. And that. It allows them to have that$1,400 iPhone and all the jewelry and everything they want. Because they're getting free. Free all of it. Utilities, everything. So the money make under the table or dealing drugs goes in their pockets. Right. And I get it, but, the biggest thing I see with a lot of this is it's not always the generational thing. I mean, if you're raised in the situation like that. It is real hard to rise above it. And I will say they are a lot of cases where the system is a trap. Let's say two generations ago you got in you, your grandparents or somebody got into the system to where they could never get out. I think they need to be an overall. Re reboot of the system because it is designed to keep you there. And if it wasn't designed to keep you there. Well, and that being said, I've seen it, I've seen it a million times, is okay. Yeah, I have too. It is fine. If you go from$10 an hour to$20 an hour, even 20 bucks an hour, you're gonna lose all of your benefits, but you cannot make that leap. Make your bills, it ain't gonna happen. You can't do it. It's designed for you to follow. Right. Or that's beyond their means. But, here's the thing, Stacy, we, we've seen this, early two thousands. I mean, look at anybody can get a CDL, right? We saw an influx of, I, I know a lot of American men were going and getting their CDLs. I trained a lot of these guys. Over the years and they all told me, I always thought, Hey, you guys make babies and you don't stick around, and it, and then I came to find out, it's like, we wanna be around but we can't because the welfare people are telling their women that, Hey, more babies and no man in the house gets you more money. I was like, wow, I didn't know that. So they've learned to manipulate the system. There's jobs out there. There's been jobs out there and opportunities. I mean, anybody listening to this podcast that drives a truck has been doing it long enough, knows they're doing it because there's money. We're not trapped into this. I mean, I can quit driving a truck. You can quit driving a truck. I think that's your goal from discussions we've had before. But you know, anybody that needs a job needs something, a career.'cause this isn't a job, it's a career. We gotta clarify that. They could get into it, right? There's plenty of places out here that'll say, Hey, come on, we'll pay for your training. You just drive for us for a year and we'll pay you while you're, I mean, that, that's like going to college and them paying you to be there. I get it. And you're gonna come out making more money than a college graduate. In a lot of cases, maybe not that first year, but the potential's there and it is there and I get it, you can do better and they are programs out there to educate and the system still is set up to fail. They set you up to fail and they are, and I know multiple people that work hard, they don't wanna live in the system. They work very hard, but they can never get to where. Without the assistance with the amount of money that they make, they can never overcome that gap to pay all of their own bills. And there's, the sliding scale is so divided that they fall in the hole and fall right back down to where they were at when they try. And I do see that, and you would think if the system was set up to get people off of food stamps, welfare and all that. It would be set up as a reward system. If you don't work well guess what? You don't get shit unless you're disabled. Now, if you're disabled, hey, not a, not a problem. We understand that. But if you're able-bodied, you know what? I gotta get out of the bed at four 30 every morning, five, six, starting my day, nobody tells me when I gotta go to work because. If I don't do it, ain't nobody else going to do it. I got bills to pay. I got a house to pay for. I got a wife. I agree that these people on the, that are living on the welfare system, yeah, you should be made to get a job, right? And if you get a job and you're making 20 bucks an hour, no, you shouldn't be complete. No. Not cut you off the welfare, but you're not gonna get as much, you're not gonna get$800 worth of food, stamps or EBT. You're gonna get maybe half of that. Because you are making money now. Right. But they do need to make that transition a lot smoother because the way it's set up now is a deterrent. And I feel like that in some cases you're kept there for a reason because we'll look at unemployment space. I mean, if you go on unemployment, you gotta show them that you're actively looking for a job. Right. So why not apply that same mentality to the food stamp welfare system? You gotta start helping yourself and change, because it's gotta start somewhere to change this new way of life that it's become, to stop this generational. Welfare, gap that we got, we gotta get it going and, it's gotta start somewhere and it's gonna be painful. Because like I said, I got denied too. I'm my mom. When we were kids, I think I've told you this story, or my mom was a full-time nursing student raising me and my brother with no child support coming in our dad was deadbeat. She worked full time, graduated top of her class, and we went with her one day to the welfare office. We sat there, got there early that morning thinking we'd beat the crowd, which, no, we were still one of the last groups. And, my mom went up there and this large lady looked at us. She could tell she did not like us. We were one of the only people in that office. And, she told my mom, you're just gonna need to get a second job. Even though she was a reg, in school to become a registered nurse and working full time and all that. My mom fell out in tears and we sat back over there in those chairs. She couldn't, we couldn't leave. She couldn't drive. She just kinda like you when you got upset. But she probably was 15, 16 years old and already had three kids, and she walked out of there with a fist full of money. She got everything she needed. And that was back in the day when they actually gave you the stamps, the little books. It's like, there wasn't any money a minute ago, but now you got tons of it. Right. This girl didn't have a job. She wasn't in school. She had no intentions of doing either. She just was making babies and, that was all she was ever gonna do. You're right. It did entrap it, she was trapped in the system. I didn't see any desire to get free of it either, but, that's what I'm talking about though, you're in school, you're working, trying to provide for yourself, the system will slap you right back down in the ditch. I've seen it happen many, many times, but yet you do have the people that wants to lay in the ditch. They don't want to get up, they want to lay there and, do nothing, why can't they be asked to do something just like I do? And I think another thing their as needs to pass drug test just like I do every time that I'm asked to step up to that plate. Because if I gotta pass a drug test to make that, well, you need to pass it to get it. Exactly. Maybe I'd say blood and alcohol. I'll tell all that. Para follicle period. If you don't have the money Yeah. You don't have the money to feed yourself or pay your bills. You shouldn't have the money to buy drugs. Hell no. And, that's fair. But if you bring that up to certain groups of people in this country right now, and you're gonna be called a racist, you're gonna be mm-hmm. You're the bad guy. And, I wouldn't want to go get brain surgery knowing a guy walk in with bloodshot eyes, just smoke a joint out back. Hell no. You're not cutting on me. We all got jobs. Ain't different than smoking a blunt going down the road. Exactly. There's a time and the place for everything no matter what. You know you want a recreational drink, liquor. But there's a time and place for that. You want a recreational smoked marijuana? Well, you know what? There's a certain time and place for that, and hopefully they'll get that figured out where they'll lease that up for people. I do understand the people that, like that just ain't never been my cup of tea. But I don't say that it ain't okay. God made it the Indian, smoked it. I mean, what the hell? I see a lot worse stuff out here on a daily basis, and it is medicinal. There's nothing wrong with it just because I don't do it. I don't forbid anyone else from doing it, but I do think they need to be some regulation when it comes to driving an 18 wheeler, 80,000 pound down the road. There are time and a place for that shit, and that ain't it. Right. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it is medicinal. There's a lot of, a lot of guys out here, diabetic, neuropathy, they have. A lot of bad circulation. I mean, we all know the elements of driving a truck we got the gummies and stuff like that. Things that can help relax. There's stuff that's more of a body hive than it is of, a head hive. There's a lot of things that, that could work out from all of that could be good. But most part, you're right, do it on your home time. It shouldn't affect what you do anywhere else. Yeah, I think you're right. I think we'll definitely see as time goes on, how this is all gonna play out and everything. I mean, and it's, it, it is gonna work out for everybody involved. I'm pretty sure. There's not a lot they can do once they lowered the schedule on it. They just gotta work it all out and I think everybody just needs to be patient. Don't jump the gun, don't create. Career, suicide or any of that, just because, you hear that, oh yeah, now you can smoke weed and, everybody takes it and runs with it and driving down the road and all the above. I mean, that's just not something that they need to do. Just let, let time take its course and, and everybody be safe and abide by the rules. It ain't no different than drinking or any of the above, regulations or regulations than they're made to be. They're put in place for a reason. They really are. We're gonna wrap this up for the Truckers Radio podcast for the day, and we'll see y'all next time keep it safe out there, and we'll catch you on the flip side. What’s happening isn’t random. And it isn’t accidental. Money moves systems. Corruption follows money. And trucking sits right in the middle of it. Stay informed. Stay alert. And don’t let the system blindside you. You’ve been listening to The Trucker’s Radio Podcast. Keep it safe out there. Keep the shiny side up. And we’ll catch you down the road.