That's

great.

This issue gained a lot of traction in 2019 after the business roundtable purported to redefine the purpose of corporations to fall more along the stakeholder model.

But to me...

This dichotomy is almost a false choice.

Most stakeholders that people think of immediately are your employees and your customers and your suppliers.

But recently we've seen categories like the environment become a stakeholder and that sort of makes no sense.

It's a it's a big problem.

They have never been able to lick the absentee ballot kind of game in this state as long as I've been around.

Yeah, well, my article opens with that.

Situation and Fort Deposit, which is a tiny little place.

I've been there several times, actually.

And it actually has more ballots cast in its votes than there were adults.

So it's just a bizarre situation.

And clearly, when you have that type of discrepancy, people are going to look into it.

This is the way we've always done things, and you want to do something with it? Well, you better bring the attorney general in to handle it.

Coming off that last report, why don't we start with human rights? Will this make it into the agenda with Trump and Xi?

Well, I think everything is on the table, but I don't think that that is at the top of the list.

We've got this trade truce that expires in November.

It was reached last October.

And given the expiration date, how soon it's coming up, I suspect that's on the list.

I believe AI will probably be on the list.

And why do I say that? We already know that AI executives have been invited to attend part of this summit on Thursday.

Have a look at that.

How much, if at all, could this impact oil prices?

Well, it almost undoubtedly will, and this could also explain, in part, the sudden demise of LIV Golf, which was backed by the Saudis.

So volatility in the region can affect even unexpected industries like professional sports.

There's a port on the Red Sea called Yanbu, and that's where this pipeline runs, and I honestly didn't know much about Yanbu until, uh, all this happened.

But it's basically a way for Saudi Arabia to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Since the conflict with Iran began, Saudi Arabia has been using it as a major route for its oil exports.

So about 4% of the world's oil supply moves through this Yanbu area, which is probably why, uh, what appears to be an Iranian-backed militia operating in Iraq targeted this area, and the goal for them would be to disrupt supplies and put economic pressure on Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, to your point there about the US war on Iran's nuclear facilities, nuclear capabilities, could this attack on Saudi Arabian oil affect US efforts to keep pressure on Iran and prevent the regime from regaining strength?

economics, national defense, or domestic policy because of these factions that continue to be loud, but I think in the minority of what they're actually arguing for.

Yeah, well, I hope they're in my minority.

My fear is that this is what the Democratic Party has been standing for for some time, and it's just now coming to the surface.

But you mentioned these midterms, in particular, the Senate.

I mean, the Republicans are really in danger of losing the House, but they're also in danger of losing the Senate.

There are six or seven toss-up races.

But let's say you're Iowa or Georgia or Michigan or places where you have a lot of red voters.

doing?

But I think in the minority of what they're actually arguing for.

Yeah, well, I hope they're in the minority.

My fear is that this is what the Democratic Party has been standing for for some time, and it's just now coming to the surface.

But you mentioned these midterms, in particular, In particular, the Senate, the Republicans are really in danger of losing the House, but they're also in danger of losing the Senate.

There are six or seven toss-up races, but let's say you're Iowa or Georgia or Michigan or places where you have a lot of red voters.

I would be pointing to the DSA and pointing to that radicalism and saying, This is what the Democratic Party has become.

This is what they stand for.

And I'm hopeful that while they may be vying for the dominance within that one political party, I'm hoping that independents and Republicans go, we can't let any of these people get anywhere near office.

So maybe they're just kind of looking for options as we speak.

Yeah, so it's really interesting that you brought that up because I just put the finishing touches on an op-ed because yesterday I spoke to a reporter from The Hill, and she basically used almost none of my answers in her piece, but she was asking me, how soon do you think all these moves are going to kick in? Like the administration's doing this with pharmaceuticals and this with Venezuela and this with XYZ, and how long do you think...

you know it'll take for this to kick in and my answer was sort of like you know no nobody knows you really can't predict the economy it's not like a dial you can turn and just say you know all of a sudden this is how it's going to shake out like the economy is really unpredictable something could happen in Iran that is unexpected, or we could have an earthquake, or, you know, even with the beef prices, a hurricane or whatever, the beef prices have to do a lot with, you know, sort of agricultural and drought issues that were outside the control of any herder.

And so they reduced, the farmers reduced their cattle supply just because they had to keep the numbers down so that they could feed all the cows.

And that's not something that any person really had control over beforehand.

and so my point being the economy is an incredibly complex thing you know nobody can predict why one family in kansas sitting at their dinner table chose this substitute for beef rather than another prices are really just signals on a free market they're just signals that tell you what it is people are valuing, but the economy itself is so complex that all this knowledge is embedded within it, and you can't just centrally plan or direct.

So my point in that piece is basically just to say, no one actually knows how long it'll take for things to kick in, but affordability is a genuine concern.

Yeah.

And then both sides now blaming each other for the implosion.

Yeah.

Well, I wish I had insider knowledge to know, but I suspect, you know, Canada probably didn't want to do something with the Keystone pipeline.

There were all these rumors that we may get some kind of a deal involving the Keystone pipeline, which had been sort of lying of energy product lying dormant since 2021.

So that could have been part of it.

And yeah, You know, I think what's interesting about the situation is we're talking about Section 338 tariffs, but we already have Section 232 tariffs going on against Canada with steel and aluminum and with lumber.

So all these different tariffs are ongoing at the same time.

How does our relationship with Canada then affect sort of sort of a backdoor way of dealing with our relationship with China and the aggressiveness that we're trying to counteract?

The candidates, they seem to be kind of the same in a lot of aspects.

Yeah, I agree.

So I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that we did not have, for example, someone like Corey Mills, who's under investigation, ethics investigation.

And so he's he's an incumbent that's getting challenged or we didn't have a DSA candidate.

You know, to me, that's not necessarily a bad thing that we didn't have that.

I do agree with you.

If we let's just say that we did have a DSA candidate in Alabama or something, I suspect people would have turned out.

Why on earth would you ever vote? change the public service commission or devote to do the veterans affairs this way or whatever it may be it is very unpopular but look that's not going to matter in the long run what you got to do is you got to go back home and tell how much you love donald trump and that's going to get the job done

So why do Americans, for the most part, remain pessimistic when there's so many economic indicators out there that says we're doing good?

Yeah, well, I'm not going to sugarcoat the jobs report.

They weren't great, but if you're looking for positives in it, that 4.1% unemployment you mentioned is one of them.

But also, if you look where the job losses occurred, which were in government payrolls and government education, but we're seeing positive news.

Manufacturing jobs are up.

Private sector added 30,000 jobs.

So, I think the reason why people are pessimistic about the economy is mainly just gas prices.

So where do you think we are when it comes to monthly budgets for most people?

So, um, do you believe that the socialist/Marxist/communist/democratic social- all of these people, all right, are on the rise, or is it just a trend?

Well, I think it's both.

I think they're on the rise and it's a trend.

So my background, Bill, is I'm a lawyer with a PhD in English, and I had to come up through all these humanities programs and had to read a lot of Marxism in order to get a PhD.

And obviously I reject all this Marxism, but you look at the 19th century classical Marxism of Marx and Engels, and they're advocating for the proletariat to rise up against the bourgeoisie.

But what happens? The workers don't rise up against the capitalists.

So all these Marxist humanities figures in, in Europe basically convene and reformulate Marxism.

So what is the difference? What is the mentality difference that we have now?

So, um, do you believe that the socialist/Marxist/Communist/Democratic social- all of these people All right, are on the rise, or is it just a trend?

Well, I think it's both.

I think they're on the rise and it's a trend.

So my background, Bill, is I'm a lawyer with a PhD in English, and I had to come up through all these humanities programs and had to read a lot of Marxism in order to get a PhD.

And obviously I reject all this Marxism, but you look at the 19th century classical Marxism of Marx and Engels, and they're advocating for the proletariat to rise up against the bourgeoisie.

But what happens? The workers don't rise up against the capitalists.

So all these Marxist humanities figures in, in Europe basically convene and reformulate Marxism.

So what is the difference? What is the mentality difference that we have now?

This still exists in Alabama, and it's in the law.

Yeah, there are, as far as I could tell, eight statutes that require hard quotas.

So a minimum number of the members of these different boards and commissions have to be made up of people of a specific racial or ethnic group, which is very obviously a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

So as just like an example, the Alabama High School of Math and Science Board of Directors requires at least two of the nine appointments to be minorities or the Board of Occupational Therapy requires at least one member to be a minority.

And then like the State Board of Podiatry requires a vacancy specifically for a black member.

And these are all racial quotas.

So they all basically on their face discriminate on the basis of race.

virtue signaling exercises built into government, and they're just all throughout.

Just let's begin with your initial response to the report.

Well, my initial response to the report is that it's troubling.

So think about this.

We've had 45 individuals hold the presidency.

We say commonly that there've been 47 presidents, but Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump had non-consecutive terms.

So we've had 45 individuals be president, and four of them were assassinated in office.

That's just under 9%.

What, if anything, from a legal and enforcement standpoint would you advise for prevention?

And, you know, the last thing we want to do is lose the House and potentially the Senate because nobody can afford their regular bills every single month.

Yeah, no, you're exactly right.

And that's the only thing that really the Democrats can latch on to is Iran and this inflation.

But it is important to keep it in context.

I mean, yeah, we've got 4.2%, but it was 9.1%.

Yeah.

under Biden with gas prices over $5.

What is it? What insight can you tell us moving forward from that late when the latest report I think came out with yesterday, today, yesterday?

And, you know, the last thing we want to do is lose the House and potentially the Senate because nobody can afford their regular bills every single month.

Yeah, no, you're exactly right.

And that's the only thing that really the Democrats can latch on to is Iran and this inflation.

But it is important to keep it in context.

I mean, yeah, we've got 4.2%, but it was 9.1%.

under Biden, with gas prices over $5.

We have short-term memories, and we forget that.

What insight can you tell us moving forward from the latest report? I think it came out yesterday, today, yesterday?

And, you know, the last thing we want to do is lose the House and potentially the Senate because nobody can afford their regular bills every single month.

Yeah, no, you're exactly right.

And that's the only thing that really the Democrats can latch onto is Iran and this inflation.

But it is important to keep it in context.

I mean, yeah, we've got 4.2%, but it was 9.1% under Biden with gas prices over $5.

So we have short-term memories and we forget that.

And it's important to bear that in mind just to contextualize things.

What is it? What insight can you tell us moving forward from that late when the latest report came out with yesterday, today, yesterday?

Alan, is he right? I mean, what version of history is being pushed by those, particularly on the left?

Well, I think he's right, and I think America is great because of a combination of things, because of the people and because of the governing institutions.

So if you don't have one, you don't have the other.

So I guess you could say it's one thing, which is a symbiotic interplay between the people and the governing institutions.

And what do I mean by that? If you take our Constitution and try to plop it down somewhere else in some other part of the globe, the people that it would govern wouldn't operate under the same circumstances that we do.

So in that sense, our Constitution is not a self-executing blueprint that can just be transplanted to some other place with equal effect.

And it's because there is like a deeply ingrained political culture in the United States.

But what, say, for instance, young kids being taught in the classrooms about America's history, is there that threat of this modern ideological indoctrination that you referenced?

The world's a chaotic place, and you can't export... a set of values, a set of systems into another place and just expect it to work.

Well, that's true, and also the values and systems that they advocate are bad.

I mean, what's so ironic, and I point this out in the piece, is that the economics that people like AOC and Bernie Sanders promote actually have a lot more to do with sort of the progressive era southern populist demagoguery, not populism as we understand it today, but some of it like literally the populist party in the South.

People like Thomas Watson from Georgia, Tom Watson from Georgia, and James Vardaman from Mississippi, Pitchfork Ben Tillman from South Carolina, and Jeff Davis from Arkansas.

Jeff Davis, not the Confederate president, but he was a U.S. senator and a governor of Arkansas.

But what these guys did was inflame racial tensions, which is exactly what AOC and Bernie Sanders do, and they advocated for regulating industry and for basically socialist politics.

And they tried to you know, lead revolt against business and to institute all kinds of economic reforms that were burdensome to the economy.

and understand it's chaotic you know it's of the world it's it's a bunch of different things and if you try to institute like a one-size-fits-all government style anything you don't you take out that human factor you you can't ever get to where they say they can get because that is just not how human beings are unless you want to live in a place like north korea where the government has to impose their will and tell you this is how you're going to live your life

The world's a chaotic place, and you can't export... a set of values, a set of systems into another place and just expect it to work.

Well, that's true, and also the values and systems that they advocate are bad.

I mean, what's so ironic, and I point this out in the piece, is that the economics that people like AOC and Bernie Sanders promote actually have a lot more to do with sort of the progressive era southern populist demagoguery, not populism as we understand it today, but some of it like literally the populist party in the South.

People like Thomas Watson from Georgia, Tom Watson from Georgia, and James Vardaman from Mississippi, Pitchfork Ben Tillman from South Carolina, and Jeff Davis from Arkansas.

Jeff Davis, not the Confederate president, but he was a U.S. senator and a governor of Arkansas.

But what these guys did was inflame racial tensions, which is exactly what AOC and Bernie Sanders do, and they advocated for regulating industry and for basically socialist politics.

And they tried to you know lead revolt against uh against business and to institute uh all kinds of economic reforms that were burdensome to the economy they wanted to regulate the railroads and um and they combined this sort of socialist economics with racialist politics and what's ironic is all those types of Southern things which don't exist anymore, that has much more in common with what AOC and Bernie Sanders are advocating.

and understand it's chaotic you know it's of the world it's it's a bunch of different things and if you try to institute like a one-size-fits-all government style anything you don't you take out that human factor you you can't ever get to where they say they can get because that is just not how human beings are unless you want to live in a place like north korea where the government has to impose their will and tell you this is how you're going to live your life

Yeah

... map in Alabama is a federal court-ordered map, and it has two primary Black districts, and it was drawn expressly on race.

It prioritizes racial quotas over neutrality.

So what had happened is in 2020, after that census, Alabama drew a new map, and it was actually drawn using race-neutral criteria.

It used things like communities of interest, geography, county lines.

Well, what are communities of interest? It's if there's shared economic interests or geographic features or transportation, print media, all that kind of stuff.

So Mobile, uh, uh, Mobile and, and, and Baldwin Counties down there in the Gulf Coast or the Wiregrass region where Dothan and Enterprise and Troy are, that's in the southeastern part of the state.

Right

Your reaction to what just happened in the last hour?

Well, it's amazing.

I was just sitting back in this waiting room and I get the news that this has happened, but it's difficult to explain it in media race.

You almost have to have a little bit of the backdrop.

So the current map in Alabama is a federal court ordered map and it has two primary black districts and it was drawn expressly on race.

It prioritizes racial quotas over neutrality.

So what had happened is in 2020, after that census, Alabama drew a new map And it was actually drawn using race neutral criteria.

Is that one that the Justice Department or someone can go successfully and challenge under the Louisiana Calais ruling?

Seems like a good idea on its face.

Yeah, well, I mean, right now we're not nearly in as bad of a situation as Europe.

I mean, there are reports now that Europe has six weeks of jet fuel left.

And guess where they're going to get it? They're going to get it from us.

So we're actually in a pretty good position.

We are the number one producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas.

And we're a net energy exporter.

So it seems to me like it would be common sense to tap into that market and to try to benefit from it, to try to take advantage.

Your take on it from a legal and constitutional perspective.

So what the court held is that IEPA, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, did not authorize the president to tariff imports during a national emergency.

So it's important to realize right off the bat what the decision did not do.

The decision did not give any opinion whatsoever on whether tariffs are good or bad economically.

And the decision basically conceded that we're in a national emergency.

Trump Trump issued these tariffs under the grounds that we had a public health crisis.

We have illegal drugs coming in from Canada, Mexico, China.

He simply has to reshape them or use other measures.

Wow!

At any given time, we own about six hundred public equities, and we can kind of go through that portfolio and figure out which companies are doing what, and therefore, which companies we need to engage with.

Now, one thing we've discovered in this process is that most of these engagements end up being pretty friendly.

We say, "Hey, you're doing X, Y, and Z," and they say, "Well, we'll want to...

We, we-- What do we need to do to stop? Because we've had all these institutional investors on the left for so long, pushing us to do political things that are on the left, but we haven't sell-- had that same pressure from the right.

So just tell us what to do, and, and we'll fold." And so we're, we're seeing that.

We've, uh, we've engaged on a number of issues this year, um, corporations where, uh, they have unmitigated China risk, corporations using ESG and DEI in their executive me- metrics.

Uh, real quickly, how do folks, uh, get involved with all the great work you're doing at Heritage if they wanna learn more about this or get involved with it?