SHUT UP JOE ROGAN! YOU DON’T EVEN GO HERE!

Welcome back to the pod. I’m Mike Dreyden Figueroa and this Unscripted and Unrehearsed, where I share my take on events of the day, things that I’ve seen, heard and experienced.

Ok, so listen. You gotta listen to what people with a platform are sayin so you can educate yourself. When I’m listening to one of the many podcasts I follow, whenever I hear something that makes me stop and think or question what I just heard, I either know right away it’s wrong or I do a little investigating of my own. That's what I mean by “educate yourself”. I search for the facts, the truth. More on that in a sec, but first…

Reviewing the week. T-Rex Handbag unveiled in Amsterdam Read more here but why? No humming on Youtube?! What does it mean… Content ID Claim and Copyright Strike

TOPIC 1: TAX THE RICH!
TOPIC 2: Send the rich kids too!
TOPIC 3: Loosing a tax base…

NOW YOU TELL ME: How do you feel about taxing the rich more? What do you think about Trex handbag, the draft and AHS Coven? Do you even care… No judgements.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

You don't even go here. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the pod. I'm Mike Draden Figaro, and this is Unscripted and Unrehearsed where I give you my take on things that I have seen, heard, and experienced in the last week. And this has been a week. It's gonna be a little bit of a boring episode, possibly for some of y'all, but hey, I need to get this out. But first, sort of. There's another first. But first, I forgot to mention last Sunday was uh first contact day in Star Trek Laura uh it marks the the first time Vulcans make contact with humans for the first time. Thanks to Steph from Cochrane's inaugural, inaugural warp drive flight. Uh so we're actually 37 years from the date that that happened. So, you know, that wore this today, just you know. And for all my trucky friends out there and friends from Starfleet International and um my fellow USS North Star alumni, I miss you, I love you. Happy first contact, belated. So, okay, listen. Um, you gotta listen to what people are saying who have a platform, regardless of which way you lean or what have you. You just gotta listen to what they're saying so you can make informed decisions. I mean, that's what you learn for critical thinking and being a functioning person in society, right? So um, when I'm listening to one of the many podcasts I listen to, um, you know, when I hear something that makes me stop and think or question what I just heard, um I either know right away whether it's true or false, or I go and look it up and do a little bit of research. And I don't mean like research, like research, research, but I look it up. I mean, you do the it's what you learn in school. When you have a question and you don't know the answer, look it up, research it. Okay, for the lane in terms. So, and that's what I mean by uh educate yourself. Uh, you know, I search for the facts, the truth as is out there, and what the common agreement is on facts and truth. And yeah, but more on that in a second, because I'm gonna dive a little bit deep in there first. Um what the fuck is this? A T-Rex handbag?

SPEAKER_00 2:28

I mean listen.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

So some scientists in Amsterdam decided they were gonna um they're behind the initiative to create this thing, and what they did was uh they took um I want to get this correct so that so you guys see. So uh the material was developed using ancient protein fragments extracted from dinosaur remains that were inserted into unidentified uh animal cells to produce a collagen that was turned into leather. Okay Why? What would what what would be the benefit of that? But and and then okay, let me not let me not digress. Um, so there's a link in the show notes, I'm gonna have it there so you can read the the article that because when I first saw this on the news, I was like what I don't understand the purpose. Like, why would you want to reconstitute prehistoric dinosaur DNA to create a handbag? Like why who thought that that would be the fashion statement of the century? I don't I don't understand people sometimes. Uh but you know, read the article. Tell me what you think about that because I think this is the of all the things I could, you know, think is it are they planning to use this new science to graft skin for people who are burn victims or um I don't know. Oh, create a real life Jurassic Park. You too can go home with a piece of T-Rex. This is crazy. This this I don't know. I don't understand in the article, and I've looked around for more reasoning behind why they did it, and there was no real reason why they just did it because why not? That's it. So uh speaking of uh Joe Rogan the first time, um he I was okay. So I was listening to his podcast because it was in the news where uh people were um giving him shit because he and uh Theo Vaughn were talking about the current administration and how they didn't vote for this, and they understand that this, that, and the other, and people are like, shut the fuck up, you know. So I wanted to listen to to the podium, find out. And for some reason, in the two hours and blah blah blah minutes that are up on on that I can find, that segment is missing. And I've listened to it a few times. I looked for the video, that whole segment has been cut out, so I guess Joe cut it out or his team did. I don't know. But um, something he said was um uh uh Vaughn was gonna, he was humming music and he was like, Joe said, no, no, don't do that, we'll get a strike. I'm like, what? And they were talking about it, and he's like, Yeah, apparently you can get a strike. So I looked into that because I mean, humming a tune should not I mean what what what's going on here? I mean, you can't express yourself, you know, just everybody's I think everything has become so damn strict that you grown adults can't even live a friggin' life. So I looked into it, and so he said, um he began Joe s uh humming and Joe stopped him, saying it could uh strike or we can get a copyright infringement. Um and but it's not entirely the case because uh content creators can't hum. But if you know Joe Blow, you know, whatever, making a video or what have you. Uh YouTube has uh now a feature in the algorithm where if you're not sure of a song, you can hum a few bars and maybe it'll find it'll find the video or or song that you're looking for. That's kind of cool. Um great. But why would a content creator be given a copyright strike just for humming a tune? I'm like, it's not like they intentionally want to make money off of that song or that piece. I mean, there's and how do you express your fandom anymore? For you know, you're I'm a huge DePesh Mode fan. I love um uh Duran Duran, I love uh, you know, a lot of Kern La Prof. You know, I love all kinds of music. If I'm humming along and not, you know, having a good time, I'm like, why should that penalize me? I'm not intentionally infringing on these people, and I'm sure they can tell the difference between someone who is infringing on their art and their work, or someone who's just enjoying themselves, right? So I don't know. I just feel like a kid being restricted again and that's stupid. So um, so yeah. Uh it is true though that you know when it comes uh down to it, you could run the risk of getting um what they call a content ID claim. Yes, sir. Hi. For those of you listening, Max has just joined the chat. What do you want? We went outside twice already this morning. All right, here we go. Yes, sir. What? Let's say hello to everybody. Say hello. No, don't knock the lights down, please. All right, he's he's he's jealous because Tony was up here a minute ago and now he's he wants attention. All right, so all right, so we could get uh content ID claim on the on the post, I guess. So humming, whistling, or singing a copyrighted melody uh legally is legally considered a cover. Okay. Um or performance by the material composition. All right, um humming is considered a cover. Alright, no more humming, y'all. Don't don't have a song. All right, so but just to to uh to uh oh yeah, so it says you can hum to search music for if you're you know regular member YouTube watcher, um, and in the YouTube music app you can do that if you can't don't know the name of the song or what have you, you can do it like that. But you know, what does it mean to get a content ID claim? Uh so this would be a most likely uh situation, and uh the copyright holder allows the video, uh your video to uh can allow your video to stay up, but they may place an uh an ad on your on your video and take the revenue. So if you hum someone's song and they're like, oh yeah, you can leave it, or if you're you know just sing a few bars. Oh my god. I don't know if you can hear that sirens. You may not hear that, but I can't hear myself think and talk over it, and it's ridiculously loud. I'm on the second floor, and it's like every time I try to get some work done, especially shooting a video, that happens. It's really frustrating. Anyway, uh let me start again. So in some cases, uh right holders, rights holders uh may issue a strike, which can lead to the video being removed. And if you get three strikes, uh the termination of your channel. So that's a copyright strike. The content ID claim, again, uh the copyright holders uh will allow your video to stay out, but they they're allowed to put put an ad on your video and uh get paid for it, get get all the revenue from that. So I'm like I remember the Napster days and you know how you know people were just like uploading their CDs and their music. Just it was to me, it was like a convenience thing because back then all the rage was we used to walk around with these CD packet bundle thingies, right? And then our big giant CD players, and you know, before we had um uh iPods and you know, or Walkman would, you know, you have your carried your favorite cassette with you. It was a pain in the ass, yeah. I mean, and then it was like all the accessories that came along with it, you know, it was ridiculous sometimes. Um, and I always thought one day it's all gonna be in one little device, and lo and behold, boom, there it was. Um and so you know, people were uploading their stuff to Napster, and you could trade with friends and download it and you carry it on your on your phone, and you know, it was really cool. But then it just takes one bad actor to screw the whole thing up, and you know, there it got, I don't remember the details, but it got so out of hand that they they ended up in court, and I believe the guy who started Napster ended up with Facebook, right? Um, whatever that the Justin Timberlake character, I think, and in all of that. Um yeah, it just seemed like some something that is, I guess, I don't know, like part of your your DNA, music is a part of all of our DNA. Like how how it's become so restrictive, you know. Like I personally don't want to make money off of somebody else's music. I would like to say if someone's a song I like, like back in the um the uh MySpace days, you could have whatever song you wanted on your main page, and it was pretty much you know your your identity, your feeling, your your vibe, and you know that was your song, you know, and everybody came to your page and they got can't even you know can't even do that anymore. And I think that was beneficial to the artist because if you were uh an up-and-coming artist and nobody knew your music and someone chose it to put it be like their their MySpace featured song, you know, that would get a lot of people excited, I suppose. I don't know. So yeah, I I thought that was really interesting. So you can't hum on YouTube, you could get a strike, or you could get an ID claim. Either way, there's plenty of um um what do you call that? Uh royalty-free music out there. And I I have a I have a new membership that I'm trying out. Um yeah, and you know, with Cap Cut and a lot of stuff that comes with its own library of music, which is really cool. So, you know, I'm gonna I play with that stuff. That's you know, that's like the music to this video that the opening intro is came with CapCut and all that. So, anywho, so okay, the other thing that just blew my frigging mind, and I'm okay, so again, I'm 57. Um, back when I was 18, it's mandatory you sign up for selective service. You have to do it. If you don't, you can get in trouble. What I didn't know was is between the ages of 18 and 25, I just thought everybody so you have that time frame to do it, right? I thought you had to do it on 18. If you didn't do it, you get you got found out and you're in trouble, right? Um, but no. Uh so uh Aaron Parnas posted, and um I thought I had the link here, but just go to his uh his uh Instagram. Uh posted that uh starting December, um automatic registration for the draft is gonna start for guys 18 at between 18 and 25. Um so you already have to still register for selective service. That doesn't that's that's technically and it's selective service, so you get to choose yes or no, right? So they can't force you to, but according to to Aaron Parnas, there the the administration is going to uh institute a draft. They also uh pushed up or pushed back the age the the age to be to to join the military, which I think is now 45 instead of 35, if I'm not mistaken. I heard that somewhere. I forgot to write the notes down, but so I'm thinking this idiot has started this conflict. Um I'm still learning the word you can and cannot use, so this way your videos don't get shadow banned and restricted or whatever. And I'm trying, even when I curse sometimes, it may be a factor because you know I'm from Brooklyn, and sometimes part of the vernacular is an F-word bomb here or what have you. Anywho, um the draft is no joke, and what historically has happened, and this is a fact in all the films that we've seen, and all the history that we've uh seen, all the documentaries, especially during Vietnam, they send all the colored folk, all the poor folk, black, white, and in between, all the Asian folk. But if you had a bone spur, allegedly, um, you got deferred. Um interesting note. Um, I asked my father, I'm like, did you serve in Vietnam? And he said no, and he didn't want to talk about it, and he wanted to go. Turns out um he has a disability. I'm not gonna say what it is, but it is um detrimental if you were in in um basically his vision sucks, so he could not go. Um he's also an only son. That was a thing back then. I don't know if that would count anymore. Um, and so my mother and my grandmother, you know, fought for him not to go. And apparently, according to his side of the story, he didn't know they did that because he was he wanted to go. Um, I think he had friends who who were going. They got drafted and he felt like he wanted to go with them. I don't know. This is his story. Um, according to my mom, uh, she was like, I didn't want his ass to go. I knew what they were doing. They're gonna draft the drafting everybody who's not white. I'm not losing my husband. I think I was I wasn't even born yet. I think this was like right before I was born. So um, I think 68. Yeah. Uh so I forgot my train of thought here. Uh oh, so drafting, it's always everyone who's not white. And I'm not being racist here. I'm just trying to say this is what happened back then. It was very rare. If you were white and you were drafted, you were the poor kid. Um, anyone with money, that didn't happen to. So now there's uh this thing going around where even Theo Vaughn, and I'm gonna come back to that, but he was like, send the rich kids. Um, there's a meme going around, uh, yes, sir. A meme going around where they're saying send uh Don Jr. and Eric. Listen. Whatever. Um yeah. They uh they're trying to do this shit. No one's talking about it. It's not getting a lot of coverage because of all the other bullshit happening, so you get the cursed again. Um this is messed up. This is messed up. And from coming from a man who called people in the military losers and suckers. I heard the hot take. Um do I have to say allegedly there? I'll say allegedly because I can't immediately prove it, but I heard it. Some interview he had, he didn't know he was on a hot mic. Anyway, um listen, if you know anyone of that age who can be drafted, you know, first of all, make sure you register for selective service because I don't think that I definitely, definitely believe this idiot is not gonna be in office for much longer, and then the the administration well the regime is gonna change, and but still the laws apply. And I think that once uh other people are in leadership, things are gonna be far better. It's gonna be a shit show getting out of the trouble that we're in, but I think it'll be better. So yeah. I'm upset about this really, because I remember when I was I think it was during the Gulf War, um I see I was 21 at the time, and I was afraid that you know they were gonna call me up because let's see. I turned 18 and 18. No, I was twenty uh eighty seven. So eighty-nine, I was 20, I think 1990, I was 21, yeah, 1990. Um it was craziness, and it was like they were they were showing this on television, not like now. I don't know if they show all the bombing and the rating and all of that, but back then they showed everything on TV, and it was uh I was scared because I didn't I didn't one, I was a raging mo just discovering himself. Um, I'm colorblind, and I didn't was overweight. I didn't want to go through boot camp. I was no, I was scared.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Um so yeah, okay, something lighter. The witches are back, baby! Yes, sir. I saw the ad Angela Bass and Jessica Lang, Stevie Nicks, Francis Conroy, my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Oh my god, I can't wait. I can't wait. But apparently, I think I just saw a trailer that's merging two storylines together. I think Jessica Lang is playing Murder House character, and the witches are because I think she's dead and haunting this house, right? I don't remember. I gotta go back and watch. But yeah, it's coming back. Um they're all coming back. That's really cool. And they're adding um, uh, what's her name? Um uh oh shit, I forgot her name. Uh oh shit. It's coming, it's coming. I'm losing my mind. Uh her brother's name is Frankie. Her, that girl. It's gonna happen later. I'm gonna just say it's shouting her name. So yeah, I'm excited about that. I'm still trying to remember her name. You know what? In the comments right now before I'm not gonna try anymore. Put in the comments, say hey Mike, her name is. Oh, I can still see your face. Anyway, all right, so tax the rich. Yes, tax the rich. So listen, I was listening to the to Joe Rogan's podcast, and uh he's like, so he said, look how many people are fucking moving out of all these states that are trying to impose a wealth tax. They're trying to steal money from the people that are the most successful. All right, so let me let me let me unpack that a little bit. They're steal, they're trying to steal the money from the people that are most successful. From my perspective, sir, um the tax code has been manipulated and changed so much that people are able to, if they have money, hide it and hide it and ship it and not claim it for their own benefit. I'm not mad at them. They're working the tax code. If I had the wherewithal and the whatever, I would probably do the same thing. Just, you know, a nice little cushion for the end of from the rest of my golden era and and relaxation days. But I mean, I don't agree with you there. I mean, they're not trying to steal the money from people that are most successful. They're trying to get people who are successful to pay their fair share in taxes. Now I'm I meant to look up what the tax codes were like in the 50s and before, you know, Reaganomics and trickle down, blah, blah, blah. But if you made a certain amount of money, that's that's what your tax rate was, and you put it back into the system that allowed for everybody to have these uh what they called, I guess, atomic homes back then, and you know, the the fam the beaver leave it to beaver era, all of that, the prosperity that came out of the Second World War was based because part in part of the tax code. You paid your fair share. If you weren't making that much, you weren't gouged. Right? If you made a lot, you weren't hoarding it. It's all symbiotic and and there's a delicate balance. And of course, you know, most some people don't want to like, why should I, why should you know this and there's maybe some racism. No, there's racism in there. You know, why should I help this family who, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps? 99.9% of people inherited a lot of what they got and helped and built on top of that. The other 1% didn't have much and they're still scraping by and trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, in my opinion. Um, you know, I've had times where I've had a little little money here and I lost it there, had a little money there, had to pay for this there. You know, I'm there are people still trying to make it in the 21st century where things I think should be a given. So, yeah, I don't think that people are leaving because of the the the the expense of it all. Because if if it was the case, I mean people who weren't making a lot of money would be like trying to hightail it out of here to go somewhere where they could make more money and have live a better life and not have to scrape by every day, you know, or choose between they're gonna buy their groceries or you know, get uh pay um another a utility or put gas in the car. You know, I think people who do have all of that money would stay right where they are because they have a good. You know, they're not being tech, I mean, well, you got to change everything from state to state to state. I'm sure when you left California, and let me let me not be specific here, when Joe left California and moved to Texas, I think you know, he had to change a lot of stuff. He a lot he held on to a lot more because everybody knows it's expensive to live in California and the taxes are high for the people who make a lot of money. You know, and it's high for a lot of people who don't make a lot of money. So why should the rich have their money taken? Okay, well basically because tax code that's how come they're able to keep all that all that they have and not pay their fair share, I think. I don't want to take something that's not mine. I don't want to take anything that I haven't earned, I don't expect anything that I haven't earned. I don't even have that expectation. I try if I get something, great. But what I don't want is to, you know, every time I make a dollar, 99% of it is blown out because, you know, of an expense that really shouldn't be that that high. Right? And you like I said, using the loopholes for your benefit is not a bad thing, but when it's at the detriment of society, that is a bad thing, I think. I don't because look, I was a fan of Joe's, I'm somewhat still a fan of his from when he was on radio days. And uh is that the name of the show? Whatever, that that comedy. It was great, it was great. He was a good stand-up comedian. I enjoy I enjoyed his shows, I would come across him periodically. Um, I enjoyed some of his podcasts back in the day. I even was even more of a fan when he was calling the UFC fights because of his his animation, how he's into it, and all of that. It made it exciting for me, you know, as a gay jock to like, yes, I love this, you know. Uh but sometimes, like many of us were wondering, like, where the fuck is your brain going? You're either over here or you're over here, and then you're you're all over the place, and then you say stuff like this that I'm like, I understand where you came from, and nothing was handed to you, muzzle top, bro. But I don't say something like that, people are leaving states because people are the government's trying to steal you, but no, no, I don't I don't think that's fair at all. He's uh uh equating uh or mentioning waste and fraud. Look, I'll agree that working in real estate, I have seen a lot of of how bureaucracy works. How you start a project and it just drags and drags and drags, nothing really important is getting done. There's a lot of paper pushing, but people are getting paid, you gotta get everybody's gotta get paid, bills got to get paid, stuff has to happen, but you know, you're stretching it out. Bureaucracy sucks. There should be a beginning, a middle, and an end. Get this done. And I think that comes from a mentality like, how can I milk this shit so I can make the most out of that? But what am I gonna have to do? Well, I'm gonna have to pay all of these people and do all this stuff, and there's all these other people involved. It drags on. If the mentality would change, we need to get this done because there's other stuff we need to get done, move your asses. Yes? Okay, that's how I feel. I agree that there there are the bureaucracy stuff sucks. But how do we change that? I think that if if people with money weren't okay, I'm gonna remember the title of my podcast. If white people with money weren't so discriminatory and cared about their fellow human beings rather than the outward appearance of people, of course the world would be a much better place. So um and we would be that great country that we're we're we're selling that bill of goods. Oh no, that came out wrong. The great country we claim to be and not selling a bill of goods. Um so yeah. Can you imagine? Uh anyway, yes, we can imagine. I was gonna say, uh, can you imagine like what it would be like if you know a lot of militar military men of color and women of color coming out of military got their full GI bills or even got them, some of them got stiffed. Um imagine what the what this country would be like if uh Tulsa uh never happened, you know. It just always baffles me, and this is as a side note, how someone's racism would they would rather see someone fail than see everybody rise. I hope that came out right. But yeah, that's that's the sense of it. Anyway, I'm I'm I'm diverging here. Um so yeah, send the rich kids too. That's what Vaughn said. He was like uh in in I'm paraphrasing. Um he's like uh the rich should send their kids to fight in wars too. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Uh where's that same energy with paying their bills and and uh not paying their bills, paying their fair share in taxes? It's the same energy. You know, don't leave it all on the poor or the people of color to carry the weight. I mean, even these these uh uh data centers that are using up so much electricity and water that it's their the elect the electric companies are putting the costs on everybody else so they can power these data centers. If I'm understanding this, of course, how I think the way all of this always gets done is we'll put this this revenue generating thing in your backyard, we'll we'll bring jobs and this and that and the other, and uh we won't we don't charge us taxes, but we'll give you the people jobs, and all we need is you know the electricity to run it and uh the water to da da da. Who's gonna pay for all the water and the electricity? We are, and that's what's happening.

unknown 29:54

I digress.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Uh again, because of the tax code, they're not gonna they're not gonna pay anything or send their kids to do anything. They'll do whatever. I mean, I think there was who was it? Somebody was saying that they should send Baron to to uh to uh to fight in this war. You know, also as a side note, um, I remember learning that um like I don't think it is all of Europe, but in uh in Israel, um or the Middle East Israel, uh you're required to serve two years. Like we we we sign up for selective service at 18. I think at 18 or 17, um everyone of age has to serve two years in the military. Some stay, some move on to other things, but they and then and there's their I think it's because of their the nature of their where they are and who they are um as a society in that part of the world, um, everyone stays on as um a reservist, right? Um I always thought that in as much as I didn't want to, I I think people here in this country would find it, find their their uh it would mean more to be an American citizen and have American citizenship um if you had to serve in the military for at least two years. I think it was three years over there somewhere else. Well, two years, right? Here. Um and it was across the board, no matter who you were, your socioeconomic situation uh or background, everyone should have to serve. And I found that very fascinating because it would change a lot, of course, you know. And I think along with that comes with if you served, you got all these benefits, and it would help you get a leg up in society. I think that's a great idea. You know, I think that's a great idea. It would really help. And there's a lot of people who I suppose, I don't know, they get themselves in trouble because they don't have a uh uh a goal in life or a path, or you know, they they get wrapped up in the wrong things, you know. Maybe the the military for some is a lifeline. Um as you can tell, I'm kind of like on the fence with uh like what I think is is uh beneficial and what I think is um not. Um and so you know for me it's I was gonna say common sense, but not that. It's um a theory, maybe? I don't know. What I think would make would help. Yes, sir. Do you have to go out again? Because we we went out twice already. Okay. I think Max has to go out. Alright. So yeah, that that was that was that part. So, okay. Losing the tax base. Let's let's dive into that. Um when it comes to New York, and he was talking about first of all, what really prompted this uh this this episode was um they were being rude about my governor, Kathy Hokel. Hokel, gentlemen, Hokel, not Huskell, Hulk, I don't care because you know, of course you don't care because you don't even go here. But okay. You know, your governor is I'm a kinder person, I won't say it, but hey. Um, Kathy Hokel. Look, I'm not a fan of everything she's doing, but she's been doing good by New York State. And she's been doing good by New York City, by all the counties, you know, whichever way you lean, she's fighting for everything in New York and making sure that we are successful and standing up to the regime that we have to deal with now. With that said, again, I don't agree with everything she's doing and how she's going about it, but I don't, and I've looked for it, but I don't see where she was begging people to come back from New York. And you mentioned something about her sending people to Florida to get those people to come out. What retirees who are like, okay, I'm done with the cold. I mean, once you get, I mean, you're lucky where you're where where they're living, where the the Rogan family lives, it's warm all the time, I suppose. Maybe they do get snow, I don't know. But you know, here in New York, we're just we're New England adjacent. You know, the winters here are rough. Like we're it's mid-April and well, almost mid-April, and it's still cold out. The heat in my apartment is boom. Anyway, um, the that the tax base is not necessarily leaving because of the policies of the state. There are a lot of people who are retiring out of New York. There are a lot of people who are looking for other opportunities. There are a lot of people who came here and you know, things changed and they moved back. You know, and I really did look this up because I wanted to be factual. I'm like, what someone not from here is talking about my house. And I'm like, um, my house don't look like that. Um so the question whether New York is losing its tax base is um a major topic of debate um over the past year. And the answer depends on whether uh you're looking at people or at the money. All right. So while New York is currently experiencing uh a decline in population, uh the number of taxpayers, uh the tax revenue, people actually, the actual dollars that are are collected has reached uh record highs recently. Um so I'm gonna break it down for you so you can currently understand the current situation. So the population drain losing taxpayers, New York has been consistent with uh the net loss of residents over the last few years. Uh outbound uh migration, IRS and census data shows that hundreds of hundreds of thousands of people have left the state since 2020. So when he said makes a comment like that, like how what is the the range and you know what is your data telling you, right? And in uh 2025 alone, which last year, um the state recorded a net loss of approximately 216,000 people. Okay. In the grand scheme of things, there are billions of people in our state, and then there's 8 million people in New York City alone. So and a lot of them, you know, living in New York City, it's you know it's rough. Um so high earners moving, okay. Uh the there's a specific concern regarding uh millionaire migration. And while the number of um number of addresses uh changed for high income earners, um that spiked during the pandemic and uh since and uh has since slowed down. So according to the data, uh the state remains as sensitive uh to the exit of even a small number of top earners as they contribute to a massive percentage of the state's total income and tax revenue. So, I mean how many how many of those people are there that are leaving? I mean it's say it says it right there. Look, I don't know if uh I don't know. It's a it's a fine line, and I think that you know we we don't want a lot of high earners to leave, but it's you know it's a sensitive situation. So it's not like the state's gonna collapse or this the state economy is gonna collapse, but I mean there's so much more coming in, I suppose. Uh so the revenue paradox is this um increasing dollars, ironically, despite uh uh losing people, New York's tax receipts have been stronger than uh projected. So the high call high collection state uh tax receipts totaled um 85.8 billion through the first three quarters of 2025 into 2026 fiscal year, uh which was uh 5.9 billion. Uh the market performance, this this is the growth that is largely driven by the uh the strong stock market and capital gains, uh, and significant wages, wage growth in financial sectors. Okay, that's great. Um in 2026, the 2026 budget, however, the state recently uh passed a$254 billion budget for 2026 fiscal year, the largest in our state's history and the largest uh I lost my spot here. Um, this is supported by um extending high-income tax surcharges through 2032. It's expensive to live in New York. And I'll say this uh living people come to New York for a specific reason, whether it's entertainment, finance, law, uh it's a cultural hub for the world. New York State is New York City is the cultural capital of the world. I remember reading somewhere once, but people are actually physically coming here from places like Texas. So I do remember there was a time where people were moving to uh Texas, a lot of gay friends of mine, and they were like buying property and you know, making it the new it's it's still not New York. So all right, so there was another point I wanted to make about that. Oh, and as far as um monetary income into this into the state and to the city, tourism is down because of our regime. All the stuff that this the the the rhetoric. I mean, what what was it? Uh it was last summer. There were some tourists minding their business, walking down the street, enjoying Times Square. They were speaking in was it Spanish or something? They were jumped by the cops. And this is before it got crazy, and they were like, no, the cops are not involved with with ice and all of that anymore. They they separated that. They separated this mother and the kid. They're tourists, and they don't know what's going on. They're not aware of our politics and this stuff going on. They it was that that went viral, and um because of stuff like that and what the rhetoric that's been spewed, you know, tourists are not coming here. Even the whole FIFA thing, I'm surprised it's gonna even happen. I'm so surprised it's even gonna happen because the other athletes from around the country, they're afraid to come here, from around the world. I'm sorry. They're afraid to come here. Like they could mind their own business, they're gonna be stopped by like are you anyway. All right, so emerging risks to the to the base. All right. Uh while the state is currently in a good financial condition, several factors are putting the future of the tax base at risk, and that is the no tax on tips policy. Uh, that's one. Um, the new policy shifts uh uh shifts in 2026, such as uh exempting taxes on tips and uh projected the cost to New York City and the state hundreds of millions of uh lost revenue over the the next few years. Okay, so you know income is is taxable, all right? Not taxing tips. I I'm on the fence with that, but I mean honestly, if it's a tip, why are you gonna take you know 30% of a tip that you know you didn't earn that? You're not here serving. And the thing is too, people who work in restaurants and bartenders, all that they make like I remember I asked a friend, like, how much you make an hour though? He's like$2.50. I'm like, no, I'm exaggerating here, but it was like$2. I remember him saying, I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, I make all my money in tips. And he had a beautiful apartment, he's living in Hell's Kitchen, and you know, he had nice clothes. And I'm like, bro, do you have an OnlyFans? He's like, no. I is I make my money in tips. I'm like, taxing tips would not would not be good, but you know, they'd be even better now that they're not taxing their tips. For him, you know, maybe I'll go back to parts and thing. Uh okay, and the cost of living. The surveys early 2026 show that the roughly 38% of residents have considered moving specifically because of the cost of living in New York and you know, uh drive driven by taxes and housing. And that's one of the major factors of people leaving New York City. Um, whether it's going outside the city, um upstate, like north of uh of Yonkers and all of that, or moving into Jersey, which is really ridiculous too, because the peripheral on the on the Hudson River side, you know, that it's like living in in New York City, the the rates there for rent, um, or to even buy something. But yeah, the housing is what's moving. People are going somewhere where it's least expensive, but it all washes out because you're what you're saving in your monthly rent expenses and utilities, in some places you need the car to get around, so there's that expense, and now gas is out the ass, and then you know, da da da da da da. You know, so it's all it all washes out and uh comes out and wash. So uh are you saving? Are you is it beneficial? I don't know, it'd be more of a more of a headache, if you ask me. And of course, remote work too. The the shift to towards remote work and hybrid work schedules has permanently decoupled, uh, according to this article, um working from uh working for a new york company from living in the New York State. So I mean. What's the point there? So what's the verdict? What's what's the the the takeaway? I think uh New York is losing its demographic tax space, the people. Um, but it has uh it hasn't lost the fiscal part yet, which is good, um, which is the money. Um, long-term concerns. Um, I think uh it's uh whether the state can continue to fund high uh record high budgets or the population outflow continues. I mean, it's uh my two cents is this. Um if I have to pay more in taxes every time I make more, get a raise, what have you, uh someone making seven figures should be it should be the same. You know, whatever that tax bracket is should be comparable to that. And I think that's the way it was, it should be we should all come back to that. And I think we would all benefit. And I'm preaching to the choir, I'm sure. Um but again, you know, if you're I don't know anything about Texas. For me, it's a flyover state. I have no interest. Um and Mr. Rogan is a New Englander. Uh I think he's from Boston. That explains it. Go Yankees. Uh no, I I do have a respect for the man in uh his uh accomplishments. Um I don't agree with a lot of his politics. I don't agree with a lot of his statements, I don't agree with a lot of his stance on things, some I do. We're human, um, but I do not endorse the guy, and I actually stopped listening to his podcast, but I looked this thing up because I needed to. Um I think that a lot of people like him are taking stock of when the the uh presidential uh campaign was going on, and all the stuff that was said in favor of one side and all the stuff that was say said against in the negative to the other side, I think they're all realizing we fucked up huge. I mean, do we not remember? Maybe we can inject bleach and that would get rid of it. Do we not remember? I pray every day that we survive this. I do. Um, so you now you tell me. I mean, I I really would like to know. This is a really dense topic, you know, and I I reason I I aside from him, you know, riffing on on my governor, um my real estate side was like, you know, the financial guy inside of me that's always thinking about because I in in in in in the the money world, a lot of things are interconnected, and real estate is really part of the foundation of that. Um so I'm always listening to the markets because it wherever real estate goes, it's an indication of how the financial markets are, the health of the the good or bad, um, how things are happening, how banking, what's going on with our money that keeps us from, you know, like I said last time, if you know everybody calls in their cards, we're screwed. Um, so I I'm like, wait a second, is that true? Uh is is the the the survival is New York gonna like wither up and die with with people of means leave? No one's leaving because they're all coming here. No one no one wants to leave New York. No one wants to leave New York, they want to hide their money. They might move their businesses somewhere else, but they're not leaving New York. Um, okay, so how do you how do you feel about taxing the rich and should they this is what I want to know from you should the rich be taxed accordingly? Uh should they be taxed fairly? Where it's you know beneficial for everyone, I suppose. Is that coming out right? I think that's my thought is I do you think that the rich should be taxed more? Um what do you think about the T-Rex handbag? Um I really would like to know what you think about that. That is the stupidest thing I have. You couldn't think of something else. I mean, come on. I oh, I just had a memory of like when they were the first in the first Jurassic Park when the egg is hatching and and pooch, pooch! Um yeah. Oh, what do you or tell me what do you think about the draft situation if that's happening at the uh at the end of this year? What do you think of that? I'd like to know your thoughts on that. An American horror story coming. What do you think of that? It's gonna be cool. Yeah, I can't wait. I honestly can't wait. I'm you know, a side note, um, I just started watching the boys, and it is so good. I'm like stretching out. Like I only watch like television when I'm eating. Because I I'll get I try not to do that because I will get stuck in a binge or whatever, and nothing will get done. I will sit there. Uh so only when I'm eating, and then I turn it off mid mid-scene or whatever, and I leave it for later. But last night I was watching, I think I'm into the second episode now. Uh, so far, so good. It's it's crazy. It's fucking crazy. The graphic nature, oh my god, it's fucking great. Uh anyway. So, I mean, there you have it, folks. That's today. That's that's this week's episode. I'm sorry if it was boring or whatever, but um, I felt I needed to speak up for New York, and hey, I have friends with a lot of money, and I have friends who are broke, and you know, I don't see my rich friends leaving at all. You know, they know they got a good cure, you know. Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you. I appreciate it. Um do me a favor, um, comment the flying money emoji in the comments so I know that you you got here to this part. Um and uh tell me what you think. If you don't even if you don't give a shit, just say I fucked that shit, Mike, you know, whatever. I want to hear that too. Um remember to like, watch, and share. Um subscribe if you can. Um if you're watching on YouTube or uh Patreon or uh where else. Hey, do you want if you're on uh uh Facebook, would you like to see these full episodes on my Facebook page, my fan page? Um I'll I'll upload them there if that's where you prefer to watch instead of going to YouTube. You let me know. Um and I'll I'll figure that out. It'd be just another click of a button to upload it there too. Um and if you're listening, wherever you listen to your podcast, five-star rating would be fantastic. I feel weird asking all the time, but I know that if I don't, then sometimes people don't consider it. Um but yeah. And you can always head over to the Patreon page for all the cool stuff that is uh uh the bonus features. I'm still working that part out. Um but it as I figure figure things out, it it's gonna evolve and it'll be really cool. See, because I started it without learning how to use it, so I'm learning how to use it as I go along because I feel like I'm just playing catch up or what have you, but anyway. But um, and I've got of course, you know, I'm trying to stay ads free. So, you know, whatever support on Buzz uh Buzz Sprout, you can support me there. That's uh the platform that I that is audio only on Patreon. Um if you if you join Patreon, you get to see episodes before everybody else, and um, yeah, we get all the cool stuff and nobody else sees. So have a great week. Uh let's see, what is what's going on this week? Uh nothing interesting. No, nothing on the calendar. I'm just working all week. Um, yeah. Oh, yeah, but I for Tartan Day was Monday. I put on a little so I don't fit into any of my kilts, so I couldn't. Because you normal okay, side note before I go. Um my birthday is March 16th. So it's right after the Ides of March and the day before St. Patrick's Day. So I have a a green and gold and white kilt as the Irish, I guess it's an Irish kilt or whatever. So I'm not Irish, but um that's the only tartan I have. And I have a Spanish tartan that I could wear. I like that one, but I don't fit in any of my kilts. They're a little snug. So all right, everybody. Have a great week. Thanks for being here. Love you.