does this particular report, Tom, matter to the Federal Reserve?

Well, they're deciding on what to do with interest rates coming up.

They have a big meeting on the Federal Open Market Commission where they discuss interest rate position, what they are going to do with the federal funds rate, which is kind of the, you think about it as far as interest rates go, it's sort of like throwing a stone into a pond.

The ripple effects there affect interest rates across the market, and that's personal loans, mortgages, you know, auto loans, and that is going to affect, you know, that's going to affect every sector of the economy.

So they are watching and waiting with bated breath to see what happens because they know that, you know, the Fed's action or even inaction is really going to, it's going to impact markets, you know, in a big way.

And even with a new Fed chair, Warsh, who's trying to say, okay, everybody, businesses should focus on the economy, not what the Fed is doing.

It's much easier said than done.

How much will the national debt affect affordability in the coming years? It's already affecting it now, isn't it, Tom?

I mean, what is left that separates the right and the left in this country? Republicans, Democrats? Like, I mean, what's

left? That's dead on, Vero.

You know, there really isn't a separation.

And to be honest, when I heard about first the $5,000 promise if they win, Honestly, I was reminded of some of the uglier parts of New York state politics.

For any New Yorkers out there might remember back in 2013, Governor Andrew Cuomo sent $350 checks to taxpayers, which those check those rebate checks just happened to land in their mailbox just before Election Day.

And that certainly helped them out there.

And now Governor Hochul is also talking about an energy rebate.

I mean, this is the same problem over and over again.

How so? How does it work, Tom?

Well, that's a great question, John.

And yes, as you mentioned there, it is not going to be a situation where we wake up and the sky is falling.

In fact, we crossed that $40 trillion threshold and everybody still had to wake up and go to work the next day, which I imagine will happen again with the next trillion that comes up, unfortunately.

But it comes about, you know, the U.S. issues debt, the Treasury issues debt by selling bonds to various investors.

When we're not talking about government entities, so that intergovernmental debt agencies, U.S. government agencies buying debt from the Treasury, we're selling it on the open market directly.

think about, you know, the key thing there is opportunity costs.

How do we begin, Tom?

How do we get out of

it? It is the difficult choice of having to cut spending.

The federal government, although it acts a little differently than a household, it should be budgeting with the same prudence of a household.

That has to come not just from political courage, but also from stringent budget rules rules that don't allow Congress and the executive branch, regardless of who's in power, to pressure the Federal Reserve into printing money.

It also requires strong limits, maybe even a constitutional amendment, limiting how much Congress can spend, that tying those budget rules.

And then also, it requires budget processes reforms.

If different sides can just push a bill through without, say, getting around a filibuster, And you don't need a majority.

Is that correct?

Thomas, what is cartel federalism?

So, cartel federalism is an idea brought out, uh, made po- made popular by legal scholar, Michael Greve, uh, where he compares the different types of federalism, uh, in a government system.

Think of the United States.

Basic competitive federalism is where states have that kind of healthy competition between one another, where they want to create the best legal institutions, whether that be, uh, low taxes, easy taxes, general, keeping the general peace.

Um, and different, uh, aspects of that that attract Americans.

Americans vote with their feet and say, "I want to raise my family here.

I wanna start, uh, I wanna start a business here.

What was that and would that work?

Is that what they're talking about?

Uh, that is potentially...

That's potentially what we could see and we saw this in the early months of 2020, in the early months of the pandemic.

Uh, Wire Points Illinois reported a letter that had been sent to, from the Illinois State Legislature to members of Congress from the state of Illinois, basically sending a wish list of fu- of bailout funds, several, several hu- millions of dollars for the, hundreds of millions of dollars for the pension fund and, you know, even there was one line item I'll never forget, you know, that several billion dollars, basically no strings attached, for general purpose.

They had asked just for several billion dollars, no strings attached, don't ask for it back, don't ask where it's going.

Um, and so they were...

Their backs were really against the wall at that point and, uh, given the fact that, I believe about, uh, om- believe about mor- greater than 10% of their state expenditures are covered by federal transfers.

What was that? And how would that apply to Chicago's situation?