SIO97: Lonnie Miller, Republican Candidate for TN Governor

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors — the audio is the record.

0:00:29 Thomas: Hello, and welcome to Serious Inquiries Only. This is episode 97. I'm your host, Thomas Smith. All right, in today's episode, I wanted to take the spirit of the Thanksgiving talk to your family that doesn't share your political beliefs and try to do a little mini episode of that. So I did. A friend, a listener named Matt, referred me to someone named Lonnie Miller, who is running for Tennessee governor. Now, before you get too excited, he's certainly not a mainstream candidate and it's definitely a grassroots campaign, but interesting nonetheless. And he is a Trump supporter and a Republican. So I wanted to have a conversation. And I want it sort of in the spirit of Sarah Silverman's latest show, which you should check out.

0:01:16 Thomas: It's very interesting. I've enjoyed every episode of it. It's called I Love You, America, or something, or I Heart You, America. It's on Hulu. But, but it's in the spirit of trying to find some sort of common ground or just maybe trying to decrease the ill will and animosity in our divide. I know it's hard to do. It's hard do consistently. It feels fruitless at times, but it's something I wanted to try to do, so in that spirit, here's a conversation with a Republican Trump supporter, Lonnie Miller.

0:01:55 Thomas: I am joined right now by Lonnie Miller. Lonnie, how you doing?

0:01:58 Lonnie: Well, I'm doing okay right now, Thomas, thank you very much. I've been a little under the weather, and that's why my voice may appear to be a little scratchy. This this weather down here in Tennessee has gotten a little colder over the last week or so, and it's taking its toll on me and quite a few other people here.

0:02:14 Thomas: On our changing climate later, but I am very curious how you decided to run for governor, right?

0:02:18 Lonnie: Sure. Yes, sir. That's correct.

0:02:24 Thomas: And you were telling me before we started recording that you're a musician. I'm just really curious a little bit about your journey there. How did you go from traveling musician to wanting to run for office?

0:02:36 Lonnie: Well, Thomas, you know, I've been around pretty much all the states, I've been around the entire world playing music, it's it's what I've done from for most of my life. I started when I was 15 years old, um, since then, since I started playing professionally then, um, I've seen pretty much every type of culture, uh, just about every type, or just about, uh, every continent that's out there, and the people in them and how they live.

And being a Tennessee native, um, I kind of brought some of that back here to Tennessee with me, and and I started investigating and looking at what was, what was here, what we had, you know, we've got a very, um, got a very traditional sensed type of type of culture here in Tennessee, but also a very varied one as well, um. The thing about it is is that Tennessee is is behind in a lot of stuff, um, legislatively and also culturally, in comparison to some of the other states that are out there. And, you know, I look at it and I love Tennessee, I love Tennessee more than more than any other state that's out there, although they are all great, don't get me wrong, especially California out there where you're at.

0:03:46 Thomas: Pandering. No, I'm just kidding. It's okay. That's all right.

0:03:50 Lonnie: But for me, on August 31st, I woke up out of my sleep, and a voice just told me, it was like some sort of, some sort narrative that happened, that says, "Hey, you're gonna run for office, and you've got to get up and get busy right now because you got a lot to do." I, I said, "Okay," and it wasn't even one of those, "Okay, well, what, how, why?" It was like, "Okay, well, I guess I've gotta get up and get running for office because I've got a lot of stuff to do."

0:04:20 Thomas: August of this year?

0:04:21 Lonnie: August of this year, that's correct.

0:04:22 Thomas: Oh, wow. So when is the actual election then? Is it 2018?

0:04:26 Lonnie: Yes, it's 2018, the actual election happens on November 6th.

0:04:31 Thomas: So is this the first office you've run for?

0:04:34 Lonnie: It is the very first office that I've run for, the very first political endeavor I've ever ventured into.

0:04:40 Thomas: And I got to say, sorry, I've got a lot. I'm trying to go a few different directions here with you. But first off, from your description of how you led into this, it sounds like, you know, you ought to be running as a Democrat if you're trying to bring some wider culture to Tennessee and some updated some laws. But you're not running as a Democrat, correct?

0:05:00 Lonnie: No, that's correct, I'm running as a Republican. That tradition and everything that I've talked about before that's prevalent here in Tennessee, I'm very much a part of that, and I very much believe in that. At the same time, too, we have plenty of people here who are not so much traditionalists. So the tradition that we have here, I don't want to mess with that, but I want to give options for other people who don't follow that same type of lifestyle. Style.

0:05:03 Thomas: Okay. Oh, okay.

0:05:30 Thomas: How did you pick governor? Because one thing I want to tell you is I think it's really cool that you're running for office. And I think that a lot of people, yeah, And it's been something that I'm sure you've no doubt seen out of Democrats as a result of this last election. There's a lot young Democrats running for office, people getting involved who've never gotten involved before. And I think that's great. And I think that's great on both sides, because there is a huge sentiment of we're tired of the same old, you know, establishment people, people. And there's some extent that I don't exactly buy into that, but there's, there's a certain extent that I do, and like, I, I don't mind, you know, getting new blood in there, getting people with new ideas, and and maybe people who haven't been bought off yet into into office, so I

0:05:37 Lonnie: So thank you.

0:06:16 Lonnie: Absolutely.

0:06:16 Thomas: Just want to say that's a really cool thing that you're doing, um, but how did you pick governor? That seems like such a high bar. Like I would have started with, I donno, city council or something. How did you decide on governor?

0:06:28 Lonnie: You know, other people, well, as a matter of fact, many people have asked me the same thing. Lonnie, why didn't you start, you know, with city council? You know if you're going to shoot for the stars, maybe even go for mayor of the city that you live in, and I'll say this. First off, I don't think that the changes that I see that are needed are going to be able to be brought about by me going for something like city council, for mayor, for state representative, even, you know, there, there's changes that need to be made within this state that can only be made on the highest level. And without going to Washington myself, you know, actually, to answer your question a little bit more directly, when I first started this, I, I thought, Okay, you know what, I'm gonna run for senator. I see that Bob Corker is not doing so well. He's gonna be going out this year. So this is gonna bring an open seat.

0:06:40 Thomas: Yeah.

0:07:29 Lonnie: I'm going to run for senator. And then I realized something. I started researching the position a little more, and I realized that if I'm a senator, then I'm going to have to work with other politicians in order to get anything done. And I'm not exactly a politician, that's, that's not who I am, and I, I'm certainly not a lifelong politician either. Being said, I said, Okay, um, you know, I don't think that's for me. Let's see what else we got here.

0:08:02 Lonnie: Governor's position, hey, this thing comes with a house, awesome, Okay, let's try that. Not really, but, but, by the way, the government's position does come with a very nice mansion that's open to the public and has lots of, you know, lots of really cool stuff in it, lots of Tennessee history and stuff as well. Um, no, for me, like I said, the changes that need to be brought about here had to be brought around at the highest level, and one of the things that I'm looking at doing is exactly the same thing that you were talking about there, Thomas.

I want to bring more new people in, I want to get more people excited, I want to get four people like you and myself interested in politics, to get some of these, some of this old money, some of these elitist people who we've elected over the years that have been in there for for for decades, uh, to, you know, to get out, and, um, bring some new people in and and get the common people back, you know, the power is in the people, and the people is the ones who need to have the power.

And if we, if we keep the same route that we're going, then we're just running in circles and chasing our tail. So I want to bring about, uh, new people, and

0:08:15 Thomas: Okay.

0:09:09 Lonnie: If I've done this on, like you said, a, a city council level or such, uh, then, you know, the only people that I would be reaching would be the people that's around me in this area right here, whereas if I'm going for something a a little higher, that's going to, possibly, you hopefully influence more people on a wider range to be involved.

0:09:28 Thomas: Okay, well, very ambitious. I definitely respect your ambition, and I'm also wondering, actually, from what you said a minute ago, I mean, is this the first time you've kind of heard a bit of a calling, or is that something, because you didn't seem too, don't know, hesitant about that. It's as though you heard someone telling you to do something, And then you just said, oh, OK, is this something you have experience with before? Or is this the core to your kind of to your religious identity? Or is this a new thing?

0:09:33 Lonnie: Thank you.

0:09:59 Lonnie: Well, you know, times that I've spoken with God. I'm a Christian myself, and I've spoke with God and had, you know, numerous conversations, know, where he's helped guide me in, you know, a much better direction than the direction that I was going. That being said, I don't, I I don't, I can't say for certain one way or the other, if this was God speaking to me and telling me this, but if if it weren't, it was, it, it definitely was something that has every bit as much of authority and influence because there was just no question for me about it.

0:10:30 Thomas: Hmm.

0:10:30 Lonnie: It was, it was okay. Well, I've got to get up and do this. This is, this is something that has to be done. And, um, I guess I'm doing it.

0:10:37 Thomas: Well, that's cool. I wish someone would do that with me, but for like working out or something, you know, I need to hear I need to hear a voice that tells me you need to finally get to the gym. And I wish I had that resoluteness. I really do. I really I respect that. I don't I don't have that. I wish I did. But OK, so let's talk about the political climate now, because I imagine as someone who's running for office, as especially as a Republican, for a Democrat, I think it's pretty easy to just go in and say, well, Trump's a mess. But as a republican, you know, A, I'm sure you might not agree with that statement. And B, I mean, you really it seems as though you're going to have to kind of have your finger on the pulse of like, where's this going? You know, how's his approval rating.

0:11:23 Thomas: If his approval rating tanks to 10% or something, then I would imagine, I'm guessing you're going to run a Republican campaign that's more like, it's got to be a little bit against Trump. But if he's got that approval rating, if you think his message his kind of persona is working, then maybe you run on the back of Trump. Is that a calculation you're making right now? Are you waiting and seeing or what do you think about that?

0:11:46 Lonnie: Well, let me tell you a little bit about how this affects me, or how this affected me. Uh, I remember on November the 8th of 2016, at around uh 9:30 p.m., I was, I was watching the news, and I was just a hundred and fifty percent sure that whatever the powers may be, we're gonna make sure that Hillary Clinton became president. And I thought to myself, you know, my God, we're, we're gone, you know, this is, this is it. Um, it's not that I'm, you know, totally against the Democratic Party, uh, and what they stand for, but it's that I am totally 150 percent against, um, criminality running our, our, our nation, and that's exactly what I see when I see Hillary Clinton.

0:12:38 Thomas: What crimes do you, do you think she's committed, but

0:12:40 Lonnie: You know, there's... there's, there's so many that are out there that, you know, get speculated on, they get talked about, and, you know, I don't know if I can myself, uh, you know, I may have misspoke there and and called them crimes, I don't, you know, I don't really know, because, you know, without being able to look at hardcore evidence that's put in front of you, and God knows what that is anymore, um, really can't, you know, say a hundred percent what is, uh, you know, a crime or what is, you know, a deviation, um,

0:13:12 Thomas: You just have like a general impression.

0:13:15 Lonnie: For me, for her, there was, uh, you know, this, um, this thing with the DNC that, that she got caught up in, uh, there was, um, the, um, the, well,

0:13:25 Thomas: That Do you mind explaining, What, what about that, you think was possibly criminal?

0:13:30 Lonnie: I know that, let's see if I remember this correctly. I wanted to say that she had some sort of a hand in taking care of the affairs and giving money, to possibly, for the DNC. There was something there, although I'm not really 100% sure on exactly how it worked.

0:13:49 Thomas: Well, There was a joint fundraising agreement, and uh, it's, but it's the same thing that the Republicans did. I mean, it's both sides do that, because it's, it raises, it's a way, it's loophole that actually I, I wouldn't mind if we got rid of, but, uh, it's a loophole that came about in 2014, I think, where both sides can do it. But they can raise money like kind of ostensibly for the RNC or the DNC for all 50 states. And then they, that's, they're able to kind of get around the donation limits. So it's something, but it's nothing that Trump did as well. So that's kind of just both sides do that.

0:13:57 Lonnie: Sure.

0:14:25 Lonnie: Well, Well, that may be true. However, Trump did not have one of his opponents in his political party, you know, brushed off so that he could become the nominee for the Republican

0:14:40 Thomas: Okay. Well, I, I definitely feel like we shouldn't waste too much time on Hillary because Hillary is not running in 2020. So let's, I think we should talk about some, We should talk about some principles and we should we should talk about when let's say let's not even name a person. Let's just say when Democrat 2020 comes around, what are the things you're going to disagree with that aren't merely like a personal kind of, you know, reputational dislike of the person?

0:14:47 Lonnie: Right, she is not running in 2020. Sure.

0:15:08 Lonnie: Well, you that's the thing too, Thomas, is that right now we've got so much pit, you know, we've got so much animosity and anger and and hate between the Republican Party against the Democrats and the liberals versus the conservatives. There's no common ground for either of them to find. And I can kind of understand too, because at this point we've been made to choose between conservatives which hold family values and the liberals who hold social liberties to be as equally important. And I don't believe that either one more important than the other. And having to choose between those and pitting people with that against those is absolutely absurd. And that's one of the reasons we've got so much divide right now. Now, Democrats and liberals batting down good ideas by Republicans and conservatives just because they're Republicans and Conservatives, and I see it from the other side as well, and that's just not something that we need right now.

0:15:22 Thomas: Well,

0:16:19 Lonnie: We need people working together to build a better nation, a better future for us, because if that doesn't happen, then we're going to continue to chase our tail, just like I was talking about earlier. Well,

0:16:30 Thomas: What are the kinds of things, let's talk policy then, because one thing that I personally found frustrating in the election is that I think Trump campaigned on some promises that hypothetically I would certainly agree with. He promised that there wouldn't be any cuts to Medicaid. He promised that pre-existing conditions would be covered. You wouldn't lose any coverage and it would be cheaper. And then the Republicans, they come up with a plan and it does none of those things. It actually went against a lot of what Trump promised, and it had very little support. So what's the deal with health care? What did you think about what the Republicans tried to do with health care, A? And then, B, what would you do if you had the power to kind of point the party in the right direction?

0:17:19 Lonnie: That's a very big question, Thomas. I think that what's offered and what's been given has, of course, been a little bit different. Now, on the same token, there are changes that are being implemented. And I understand that there's a lot of stuff that's getting batted down, you know, just because of a person's, uh, party, for example. I, and I think that the, the reason that we're not seeing any kind of real headway in that particular area is because we've got so much fighting going on back and forth, and we don't have anybody focusing on what we really, really need here in America, which is, you know, a better health care system with a lower cost for families who can afford it and coverage for everyone, not just not just people who can't afford it, but even those who can afford it as well. Well,

0:18:09 Thomas: Coverage for everyone. Well, there's something you and I can agree on. I want coverage for everybody. But Obamacare took us a lot out of the way there. I think, the way I see it. Um, I think there's, there's a bit of an irrational hatred of Obamacare. Uh, and you can see that in the polls. I don't know if you've seen this, but when, when you ask Americans how they like Obamaca, they hate it. And then you ask how they like the American care act, which is the same thing, but just without Obama's name. And all of a sudden they love it. So do you think that's a problem there? The partisanship of just kind of hating whatever Obama did?

0:18:41 Lonnie: That's that's certainly a possibility, Thomas, and and it's the same way with Trip, you know, pretty much anything Trip does becomes the devil's work, you know, in in certain factions from from different people. You, for for the Affordable Care Act here in Tennessee, there were, I know, a a lot of providers here that refused to take the service, and there was, you know, different reasons cited for that, everything ranging from it takes too long for us to, um, get reimbursed from them, uh, to, uh, we just don't like what's, you know, like what this stands for and what this is doing, so we're not going to participate. And because of that, um, there were, you know, there were fewer people, people here who who really got on to the Obamacare Act. Um, I believe myself, I never did join up on the Obamacare Act either, uh, I didn't particularly like what it gave as far as, um, me, what it was allowed to give here in the state, uh, depending upon your, uh, your status and whatnot, uh,

0:19:48 Thomas: What do you mean by I give like how, how much help it gave you or what do you mean specifically?

0:19:49 Lonnie: For Me. Right, right, right, how much help you got and, um, what, just what it would do for you, um, I didn't, I didn't particularly, uh, agree with it myself. However, I've talked with a few people here, uh, who did have Obamacare and apparently still have Obama care, if that's, if that still a thing.

0:20:13 Thomas: It is. Yeah. Obamacare is definitely still a thing.

0:20:16 Lonnie: 100% sold on this Affordable Care Act, or on this American Care Act just yet. I know that there's still plenty of work that

0:20:24 Thomas: The Republican plan. Sorry. Which one are you talking? Which act are you talking about?

0:20:29 Lonnie: This is the new one, the new ACA.

0:20:31 Thomas: Oh, Oh, the, uh, the AHC or ACHA or whatever it was the, the new one. Oh yeah. I mean, that one's dead anyway, so I wouldn't worry about that.

0:20:36 Lonnie: Yes. Well, you Know, I see some promise in it. I see lots of promise.

0:20:45 Thomas: What are the things you like about it?

0:20:46 Lonnie: Obamacare had plenty of promise, But at the same time, there's still plenty of stuff in there that that needs to be that needs to be worked on. And I

0:20:53 Thomas: Well, let's talk specifics. Cause honestly, Lonnie, one thing that bothers me me so much about this is it's my belief and we can talk about, you know, we can do however much both sides and you want to. And I'll agree to a certain extent that people are judging Trump and everything he does. You know, of course, my opinion is that most of what he does is stuff I don't agree with. But we can we can talked about that. But I will have to say, if we were to zero in on health care, what bothers me is that I just don't think a lot of Republicans really knew what Obamacare. I think there was so much. I mean, you remember the death panels thing? I mean there was literally a senator claiming there was a death panel provision in the legislation when there wasn't. I means there was level of paranoia about Obamcare that I think sort of infiltrated into the Republican consciousness and it's really been harmful because the truth is what Trump tried to promise is just not compatible.

0:21:50 Thomas: Like he tried to promise everything. And it was based on the assumption that obviously whatever Obama was doing was wrong. So there'd be some better way to do it. And then lo and behold, they go and try to craft some legislation after eight years or more of saying, you know, repeal and replace, repeel and replace. And nobody has an idea for replacement because the truth is that's Paul Ryan doesn't want a healthcare for all. He wants to cut taxes on the wealthy and then take away health care from people like that's literally what the plan did was it it it took away a lot of the benefits and it use that money to repeal the taxes on the rich that that Obama in that Congress enacted and to me that that seems fundamentally opposed to what Trump promised, which is frustrating because when, what you just said earlier was healthcare for everybody and all that, like there's things we can agree on.

0:22:39 Thomas: And there's, there's a lot of things that I think a lot of Trump voters and a lot of like Bernie and even Hillary voters do agree on when they were promised by Trump. But then all of a sudden, when they tried to craft some legislation, it was, it was not, it was garbage. Like it didn't do any of the things that he said.

0:22:55 Lonnie: Well, here's the problem, Thomas, that that I found to be more prevalent than anything. And this can spread over pretty much just about any topic that you want to take it to. And that's that the people don't really have a voice anymore. That's why I was telling the story earlier about November 8th is that when I saw that you know I woke up at around 2:30 on November 9th after a little nap and I saw the Trump who had won and I my heart swelled with red, white, and blue because I understood at that point that the people had actually spoken, the people had talked, the people had put their voice out there, and they said that they didn't want a criminal, you know, in office. Now that's, you know, the thing

0:22:56 Thomas: Hmm. Yeah, let's wait.

0:23:49 Lonnie: About this is well

0:23:49 Thomas: Let's, let's see what Bob Mueller has to say about that. But okay, hmm.

0:23:53 Lonnie: Sure Uh, the thing about it is is that it is that the people have have not got a voice on a local level anymore, they don't really have a voice or a state level, and they sure don't really have voice on the federal level. And that's what I want to try to bring back to some of these people. I want to give the people, even the small people, a voice, because we hear everything about the middle class. We hear a little bit about the upper class, but the only time that anyone ever talks about the lower class people is when they're talking about a program to benefit them, which is like welfare, which is like some kind of act which will help them out in some way, and I hate to say it, but a lot of times when these are talked about it's usually said with a sneer, yeah, you know, like like it's some sort of a, um, like it some sort of a task, you know, and I think, I think these people definitely deserve just as much, uh, you know, as anyone, as any other American. Well,

0:23:54 Thomas: Yeah yeah well that doesn't sound very Republican. Are you, are you arguing for more, uh, more programs that benefit the poor, or what are you argument for?

0:25:07 Lonnie: You know, maybe not just that, but but you know, equal, Equal opportunity. Equal opportunity. You know, you've got people who, you know, just like this Obamacare thing. There were people who were able to pay, believe you me, some of the subsidies here, you know, some of the premiums that you had to pay in Obamacare here, for some people was completely outrageous, which made it not even an option for a lot of them.

0:25:40 Thomas: That's weird because I I don't see why that would be, because the, I mean, they weren't perfect, and I would, I would vote, if I had the power, I'd vote to just put more money into it so that that we could make the premiums even lower. But the Obamacare subsidies were based on income, age, and the level of how expensive the care is where you are. So I think what I saw, and again, fully allowing for, you know, there's going to be imperfections here and there, what I saw in the architecture for Obamaca was a pretty decent plan. And what I thought from Republicans was a terrible plan, in, which was it was no longer based on what state you were in. So states and locations that have one hospital within hundreds of miles, and therefore the care is really expensive, they didn't get, people in those states get no more money under that plan than people who live in metropolitan areas where there's plenty of access to medical care.

0:25:41 Lonnie: Um so sure

0:26:34 Thomas: And so the costs are lower. That was a huge problem I saw. But I want to go back to something you said. I had to cop. You said the people spoke, and you were glad that the people spoke. I have to say, I found that a little odd when what happened was 3 million more people voted for Hillary and then the Electoral College took care of it. I find that kind of weird. Do you think there's a tension there between the people speaking and Hillary winning the popular vote by a pretty big margin?

0:27:06 Lonnie: Well, you know, yeah, there's plenty of tension there, and I think that it, that tension really boils down to, um, you know, ignorance of how the Electoral College works and how that process works. Now for me, I saw, you know, I understand that the Electoral College takes and sweeps across the entire nation and based upon how many people in so many counties voted for a particular candidate, that's how the Electoral College votes.

0:27:32 Lonnie: So that being said, there was a much larger area of the red that that voted for Trump than there were the couple of extra million people in California, in New York, perhaps in Florida and in other states that voted Hillary Clinton. Which is why I'm so glad that we have the Electoral College and it does what it does.

0:27:32 Thomas: Yeah, go ahead.

0:28:00 Thomas: Interesting. Think this is something that's very difficult to separate from partisanship, because I think it's I think I don't know if humans are capable of sitting and thinking, OK, well, how would I feel if, you know, Trump had won because of the Electoral College or sorry, if Hillary had won because of The Electoral Colleges and Trump had lost, I feel like then likely the tables would be turned and Democrats would be saying, oh, you're not a great it's great system. I just feel like there's almost almost no way to evaluate that. Uh, but I will say that it's, it's getting worse is the thing when, when we talk about, you know, the government should be the people. And you've talked about the government serving the people you want people involved. And then you talk about the, you know, square footage, like area, like mileage that, you Know, I, I don't think that area that land is the key in terms of representation.

0:28:47 Thomas: I think that there there's a, there's a graphic that came out recently that LA County, just LA County is bigger than something, what was it, like 17 states or it might've been more. I don't have it off the tip of my tongue, but just LA County alone is bigger Than an incredible number of states, like a shocking number of states.

0:29:08 Lonnie: Well, right, and that's very possible. I mean, that's a very popular area out there.

0:29:12 Thomas: Hold on. Sorry. I vastly underrepresented that. I just Googled it. 41 states. So there are are 41 states who have fewer people than one county in California. And you got to, you got to ask, I, I get the purpose of the electoral college initially when it was set up, you know, I get that, but I don't know that back then our, our economy and our, the way people, there's more farming, there was more, it was more spread out. Like it wasn't as though so many people were concentrated in these metropolitan areas, but now, I mean, it's, it'S totally changing. Do you, do you think we ever would need to update that? I mean we could, we could look at a ridiculous ridiculous hypothetical. If, if, uh, if one dude lived in Colorado, he would have, he would still have all those electoral college votes. Uh, you know, and if ever, and if everybody else lived in one state, they wouldn't even count.

0:30:01 Thomas: I, do you think there's a limit to this system? Is there ever going to be a chance? How, how disproportionate should we allow it to get before we try to make an adjustment to it?

0:30:09 Lonnie: Well, you know what, I'll partially answer that first by asking you a question, Thomas. When was the last time that a Democrat won the election by electoral college?

0:30:14 Thomas: Sure. But won the election by electoral college? Well, I mean, Obama in 2008. Do you mean when it disagreed with the popular vote? Is that what you mean? Or just because I mean, Obama won.

0:30:33 Lonnie: Correct, when it disagreed with the popular vote.

0:30:34 Thomas: Oh, OK. OK. I don't know. Has that happened? I'm not actually sure that's happened.

0:30:38 Lonnie: Well, actually, that's why, to be honest, that's what I was asking you because I thought that I

0:30:39 Thomas: Yeah. Oh. I thought that was a Rhetorical question. No, I know. And I recognize that. Like, I do agree with you that I think you can't tie in. It's hard to evaluate the partisanship, but that goes both ways. I mean, that's going to inspire you to want to defend the Electoral College, and that's going to drive me to wanting to get rid of it. I think we're at a bit of an impasse though. I don't think you can anymore say that it's just because I'm a Democrat than I can say it's because you're a Republican. We have to try to talk about the principle of it, and the way I see it, I it to a certain extent. It makes sense to give smaller states states a little bit of an edge, but it's gotten so disproportionate. And I just, and I, it's only going to get worse. I mean, people are, you know, cities are getting more populated and these states are getting relatively speaking, less populated.

0:31:33 Thomas: And it just gives these places with tiny quantities of people, a massively outsized role, you Know, an outsized voice and, and now it's benefiting fitting Republicans. And so, yeah, I mean, I get why Republicans want to keep it, but I just, I just worry.

0:31:50 Lonnie: Have to disagree with you. I I have to agree with you on that, uh, you know, I've been doing this the old-fashioned way. In my campaigning, I don't have the money that all the rest of my opponents have in this race. You know, you've got Randy Boyd out there and Diane Black, who are racking up ridiculous numbers right now. And they're both very, very wealthy, very successful business people that have both, by the way, served in some way or another in politics before, for. Not to mention other people such as like May Beavers, Kay White. All these people have plenty of money and are able to put this kind of thing into the, you know, millions of dollars

0:31:51 Thomas: Okay, go ahead.

0:32:37 Lonnie: Into their campaigns already. I don't have that. I'm straight up grassroots. And so in doing that, I've been doing this the old-fashioned way, and I've been driving across the state and I been going to neighborhoods and I been walking to everybody's house and knocking on their doors and talking to them and telling them what I'm doing, asking them, as governor of Tennessee, what can I do to help you, what would you see, what would you like to see change here in Tennesse, what would like to stay the same. And I, I've gotten a lot of response from that. As a matter of fact, in one county alone, own, which was, uh, Rutherford County here in Tennessee, um, in one week being there, I knocked on 792 doors out of those 792, four of them closed the door on me.

0:32:43 Thomas: Yeah. Wow. So they were very welcoming. That's great.

0:33:33 Lonnie: Right. Uh, yeah, very, very responsive, um, and so to answer your question a little bit about that, um, there's still plenty. There's plenty of farming communities out there, rural areas that I've been to and talked with people. We had very super nice people in all of these. And they, well,

0:33:53 Thomas: Well, absolutely. And, and you know what? I, it's, there's, you're right. I mean when it comes to your election, we shouldn't be talking about the electoral college. I, I, just the way you put it with the people spoke and the fact that more people spoke for Hillary, I found odd. But maybe we should get off that topic since when it comes to your race, I get what you're saying. You care about your state. You're going to campaign that way. I get it. The electoral college doesn't really affect your race. So we can get off the topic if you want. But that's really cool that you've knocked on so many doors.

0:34:28 Lonnie: What, just one last little point on the Electoral College. My final word on that is I believe that the Electorate College basically works in stopping what could be conceived to be as tribalism. In other words, you know, you got a group of people in one area that believe this way, and anybody who doesn't believe this way is either shunned or they get somehow converted over to, or they work to try to convert them over to their way of thinking. Completely bad thing in all accounts, but the fact of the matter is, Of course, you've got more people in larger cities who are and liberal, whereas in the rural areas, you see a lot more of the Republican and conservative values.

0:34:31 Thomas: Sure.

0:35:23 Lonnie: Now, that being said, well,

0:35:24 Thomas: That cuts both ways, though. I mean, because right now what what happened in this election was those small town rural people are dictating, you know, their president onto us liberals here in the, in the cities. I mean, that cuts both ways. Don't you think?

0:35:37 Lonnie: Absolutely, that does cut both ways. However, even though the majority of people the other direction, the amount of people is in the entire bowl, know, so to speak, their support for President Trump. That right there lets me know that the people spoke. Folk?

0:35:54 Thomas: By that? What do You mean by that? I guess I don't understand what you're saying. More people in the bowl.

0:35:59 Lonnie: Well, you know, in the bowl, in other words, you know, you've got, let's say you've got a bowl of marbles, okay, and you got, you got one area of the bowl, that's, you know, a lot of blue marbles are compacted right here. And then, you know through it, you know, You've got another area, you got three or four areas, you know, throughout here that's got plenty of blue.

0:36:18 Thomas: Oh, so you're just talking about area. You're just talking About kind of square mileage here again, like like more, yeah, but I mean that, I don't know why having more area, like empty area in between people should give you more power. It seems, seems weird to me, but let's, let's get off that topic. Let's, Let's talk about something else. Cause I think it's not relevant to you. I think you put, you know, you summarized your argument. I summarized mine and we'll, we'll let people decide on that. So let's talk About this tax plan. Cause, I want to know what people said said when you knocked on their doors. Because what is currently the most pressing issue, it has to be the most pressuring issue nationally, politically right now, is this tax bill.

As you know, it cleared the House and it's being worked through in the Senate right now. And this could become law. And in my view, it would be a really bad thing. I want to know, when you knocked on those doors, did the people you talked to say, you know what we need right now? We need to get rid of a modest estate tax on the wealthy. And we need to get rid of the deduction for students who buy supplies for their school.

0:36:23 Lonnie: Right, right, basically.

0:36:38 Lonnie: Sure.

0:37:26 Thomas: We need to Get rid of that deduction for grad students. We need to count their tuition waivers as income in order to fund repealing the estate tax. Is that what they said? Be honest.

0:37:38 Lonnie: You know what, I'll be honest, Thomas, I I haven't had one person tell me that. And I've spoken with both liberal and conservative people during this.

0:37:47 Thomas: Yeah, I would think. I mean, who wants that? I mean, what are these Republicans doing with this tax bill? Like,

0:37:51 Lonnie: The Republicans in the tax bill is something that's more of a federal issue and a little bit more out of my political scope than what I've been looking at. I mean, don't get me wrong. I've, I've looking at it. And there's things about it that I like. But there's things about it that, you know, well,

0:38:10 Thomas: What What What do you like About This bill, give me, give it, just give me an example, what do you like, it

0:38:15 Lonnie: I like the proposition of getting rid of getting rid of the land tax or property tax, if you will. This is good.

0:38:25 Thomas: Get rid of Property tax, what are you talking about?

0:38:27 Lonnie: I'm not mistaken, there is a, there's a proposition in there to delete property tax and basically bring it into another area, you know, basically fulfill that with something else, uh, although I can't speak On that Right now Because I'm not 100, well

0:38:42 Thomas: There's Property Taxes Are State property taxes are state taxes. What there is, is there, it eliminates the ability to deduct property taxes. It's actually really bad. So this, uh, this will be really bad for people in, I don't know if it'll be your state, but for any state that has kind of higher property and state, state, and local taxes, this tax bill gets rid of the ability to deduct those. So when I pay my property taxes, when I go to pay my federal taxes, I'm not going to be able to deduct that money. So it's kind of going to hit me twice. I think that's a terrible part of it.

0:39:16 Lonnie: You know what, that very well may be. I'll say this, we here in Tennessee have it pretty good. Um, wages are a little bit lower than your ev, than New York wages, your LA wages and such. But at the same time, you know, our taxes are a little bit lower too. And the cost of living here is a little bit less than what it is. Well, actually a whole lot less than one of this.

0:39:39 Thomas: That's probably a lot less than for me.

0:39:42 Lonnie: Oh goodness, man. I tell you what I was out I

0:39:44 Thomas: You don't want to buy a house here. It's rough. It's tough.

0:39:49 Lonnie: Was at, in, I was in LA what, uh, about two, three years ago, and was talking with someone out there, and they were telling me they were spending, I think it was a thousand eighty dollars a month just on a one bedroom house.

0:40:04 Thomas: That is really reasonable sounding to me. That sounds low.

0:40:07 Lonnie: Right, and and out here in Tennessee, you know, we're playing, we're paying uh what is it, uh, I think maybe, uh, 550, 600 on a, on a one-bedroom house generally

0:40:13 Thomas: I'll buy you a kingdom. Oh man, those were the days. Yeah, that'd be nice. Yeah, no, it is more expensive. And actually, that's one reason that the tax bill is really going to screw over a lot of the people who live in those more expensive states, because now I can't deduct that. So that seems a little unfair to me, because I'm paying so much more in property taxes, but now I don't have to pay that. I can deduct it from my federal taxes. And also, I mean, I can't imagine, I mean, do you want grad students in your state to have their tax bill increased by 300%? I mean grad students, they don't make any money.

0:40:22 Lonnie: Right Um.

0:40:56 Lonnie: They generally don't make a lot of money, I, I will say that

0:40:58 Thomas: So it's going to take, what it's going to do is it takes what they get as a tuition rate waiver. So I'm sure you know this, but just in case, you know, they, a lot, most of the time grad students teach and then in exchange they get free tuition, but now this tax bill is going to have them declare their whole tuition, like the $50,000 a year or so that they don't pay, they're going to have to declare that as income and pay taxes on it. Where are they going to get that money to pay those taxes?

0:41:00 Lonnie: I, well Yeah, you know, that's something that I have not looked into, but I would be more than happy to look into it. The fact of the matter is, Thomas, is that here in Tennessee we've got issues that are a little bit more pressing for us than just the tax bill and stuff like that going in. Um, you know, one of my main things that I want to happen here in Tennessee, um, I want to work with legislators in helping to get medicinal marijuana here to Tennessee, because, because going back to that health care thing, that is something that we really, really need here in Tennessee. It's been far too long that people have been without their medicine here and the stuff that they need. Knowing myself that, you know, marijuana helps treat and cure over 34 different ailments.

0:41:53 Thomas: All right.

0:42:12 Thomas: Is this you bringing your musician experience into this?

0:42:16 Lonnie: No comment, Thomas.

0:42:20 Thomas: Yeah. Well, what do you think about legalization then? Is that something on the menu or you just want to start with medicalization?

0:42:27 Lonnie: Well, you know, I'm still looking into that. I, I don't know that that's, you know, really the way Tennessee needs to go, at least not just yet, uh, but I do know we do need at least medicinal well,

0:42:36 Thomas: But you're a a Republican, I'm very curious. You're a Republican from a liberty standpoint. Doesn't it seem a little weird that like, you know, this plant that I could grow in my backyard, the government's going to tell me that I can't, you know, I don't smoke marijuana, but hypothetically, I can just have a little plant in my back yard and then if I want to grow it and I want to smoke it on my own time, you Now, like in my own property, I've always curious as a Republican. I would think that you know that that seems like the nanny state, you You know, that seems like the government coming and telling you what you can and can't do.

0:43:08 Lonnie: Sure, you know, and, and the thing about that is, is how long have you had it out there in California, right?

0:43:15 Thomas: I'm not a good person to ask. I think it just because I honestly I don't I don't smoke weed. So I don't I don't remember. But I know it. I think I think It's pretty recent, right? And we well, we've had dispensaries for a while. And I can't remember. You know. We haven't legalized it yet, right. Gosh, I don't even know. I think. It's something I take for granted because it's virtually legal. Because if you want to get the, you know, like the medical authorization for it, it's really easy to get. So now I'm blanking on if it actually is. I think it's still illegal, but but it's it's easy to get that medical exemption. Why? Why do you ask?

0:43:28 Lonnie: Sure.

0:43:51 Lonnie: Well, Federally, it is still illegal, of course, uh, your state, however, and, and, and many other states which have opened up. California, I think Orange County, for example, there's something out there, if I'm not mistaken, it's called the Green Triangle or something like that.

0:43:53 Thomas: Yeah. Oh, yeah, I've heard of that.

0:44:10 Lonnie: Humboldt County, Orange County and something else. Anyway, these places have opened it and made a full decriminalization of it. So in other words, you can kind of do it at your own peril, but it kind of still falls under the same thing. Is okay, well, if you're caught, you know, by a, by somebody from the state or above with it, then okay, well, it's still the same thing.

0:44:19 Thomas: Right.

0:44:38 Thomas: Admit this is not an issue that I pay particular attention to. I was just curious on how you felt as a Republican about the liberty aspect of it. Like I would think a hardcore Republican or just any kind of Republican would think, you know, stay out of my business if I'm on my property, if I just want to do something with my body, you know, like why is there, why do you think that's something the federal government ought to tell you you can't do?

0:45:04 Lonnie: Absolutely, uh, you know, I think that the government does, the government does a lot for the people, but there's a lot that it also hinders the people with as well. Um, and when I think I'm not sure if it was John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, I want to say it was, it was John Adams who said the only true purpose of a government is to help its people, and when it goes past that, it becomes tyranny. So last little line, by the way, was my own little input. Um.

0:45:37 Thomas: So you modified him a little bit. Okay, so you and John Adams working in together, other-

0:45:38 Lonnie: But right right right Well, you know, there's a, there's a whole lot of, of wisdom to be found, you know, in, in the words of our founding fathers and what they instituted here, and I think we've gotten away from a lot of that. Um, my

0:45:43 Thomas: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

0:45:58 Thomas: Because it's the gateway drug, because it is a stupid war on drugs, you know, blame, blame Ronald Reagan, and blame, why, goes back a little further than that, but I, there's been a longtime Republican idea, idea that there's this, you know, we need to have this war on drugs. And, uh, honestly, I think that I think you and your party needs to, needs to figure that one out. I, I think we can agree on that, you know? I think I support that, and I hope that you can get, you know, that's an issue that I'm glad you're working toward. But, you know, I want to go back because I got, I reject the idea that this tax bill, that that's pending, is not a big deal to your state, or is not, you know, I think it should absolutely be a big deal to you. And I also, I have to imagine that when you talk to those constituents that you're referencing, I mean, what do you think they want to do in terms of moving wealth from the, you, where do they think wealth needs to be right now?

Because I did some research on this, and I'm just astounded by the fact that income inequality, and this is something that both Bernie and Trump ran on, well, and Hillary, actually, but no one likes to talk about it, but both Bernie and Trump, and there's some overlap there, that Trump campaigned on taxing the rich more.

He actually made that promise that people like him wouldn't benefit from the bill, and then they come up with a bill, and it 100% benefits people like, like him, like his, his family would stand to gain billions from it.

0:46:26 Lonnie: You well

0:47:22 Thomas: And I just, I can't imagine that that's what your constituents want, that that's what the people in your state, that they have been, you know, just hoping that we're going to cut taxes on the wealthy. Is that something you agree with? Is that's something that the people from your state agree with

0:47:37 Lonnie: Um, I don't disagree that, you know, the, the extremely wealthy should have to pay a 30 tax when someone like me who's paying 10 or 5 or, you know, whatever the, the amount is, uh, you know, in a particular state, um, know, I don't agree that that's right. I think that I think there should be, you know, one straight tax across the board for everybody.

0:48:04 Thomas: Tax? Oh, wow.

0:48:06 Lonnie: That's, that's the way that I feel. I think, I think a good, honest 10 to 15 percent for everybody would, would, would really you know benefit everyone Well,

0:48:12 Thomas: What do you even, what about people make $20,000 a year? Are you still in it? Are Are you for everybody or are you going to start at a certain income?

0:48:20 Lonnie: Well, yeah, absolutely, I think that excluding no one, everybody gets the same exact treatment.

0:48:24 Thomas: Everybody. Wow.

0:48:26 Lonnie: Well,

0:48:27 Thomas: That's even that's even more regressive than the the current tax bill the Republicans are doing. I mean, that's that's going to impact those poor families and those lower class families you're referencing earlier. That's good. That's goingto kill them because the cost of the stuff that they need, you know, food, rent, all that stuff that they can't those are non-negotiable. Those they have no those those 10, 15 percent flat tax impacts the people at the bottom most because the people At the top, they don't care. They have the money to burn on that. The people at The bottom, they have all these non-negotiable expenses just to live. And they're going to be very severely impacted by that. I mean, I mean that that would be I think that would Be a disaster.

0:49:09 Lonnie: I don't think so, Thomas, and let me, let me tell you why. Been, you, I guess you could put me in the level of lower class for, you, tax purposes, uh, for, for most of my life there have been instances where I've jumped a tax bracket, and you know, I've, I've come back down and I've went back up. You know, I think everybody may have done that at one point in their lives. Of it is, what I see happening here in America most is that, how I think that people have made it a norm to try to live beyond their means, and that credit has become something that is a staple, like insurance, for example. Know, I keep insurance myself, and I believe in the insurance plan. However, I don't fully believe that insurance and the, that that is based upon, is the best possible system for the people.

0:50:05 Lonnie: Now, what is the best possible system for that, outside of that? I really don't know. I'm looking into that, and I don't want to take it into something that sounds off the wall, because this is not something I'm really ready to talk about. Out. But I do believe that, you know, I myself have been in that lower tax bracket, and I've been able to sustain myself and do very well for myself and live comfortably with, while also paying my taxes and being a responsible citizen. I don't see, you know, I've also had medical ailments myself, my ears, for example, I've had tubes in my ears over 111 times now. I've Had I've heard hearing problems all of my life, ever since I was six months old. That being said, um, I myself don't understand why it would be so hard for everyone who who who's able to live anyway to be able to pay their 10 to 15 and still be able to live comfortably within their means. Well,

0:51:12 Thomas: Mean, for a, I mean, are you talking about, I mean, even, even Ted Cruz started it at like $36,000 or something. Are you, are you still saying you wouldn't start it? You would still have people make $10,000 a year, still pay 10 to 15%.

0:51:29 Lonnie: You know, what we could start there? I mean, why not start there? Because everything below that, everything in the lower class to the poverty class is not even really looked at by the United States government anyway. So why even bring that up? Why even bring it to those people?

0:51:47 Thomas: I just think here's how, here's how I look at it. I just think that income inequality is a, is a huge problem. Uh, and it's, it's only gotten worse. And if you look at the data, it's as bad as it's ever been. It was really bad in like the 1910s. And then World War I, they had to increase taxes and all that. And that kind of leveled it out. And then after World War One, it went back up to being horrible. And denn the Great Depression hit and it kind of went down. And then what I think is so interesting is that oftentimes, I don't know know if you will fit into this category, but oftentimes conservatives will pine for like the fifties, you know, as a good, it's sort of seen as like, oh, those were the good old days, you know, things were good in the fifties. And if you look at income inequality, it was at an all-time low for, for the United States, which is great.

0:51:49 Lonnie: And

0:52:38 Thomas: But the reason, one reason is taxes were incredibly high. And I think that it's, it's funny that, that conservatives often don't realize that in the the fifties, you know, the top tax rate was 90%. You know, there was deductions and stuff so that you didn't probably pay a full 90%, but the taxes were vastly different and people were happy and income inequality was down. And I just wonder why can't we sort of trend back in that direction?

Because when you look at the data in the, in the eighties, starting in the late seventies and eighties especially with under the Reagan tax cuts, income inequality just took off. And there's... there's also another chart that I think is really instructive, which is the growth in efficiency versus the growth and wages. I would think wage growth has got to be an issue that you would care about and that your constituents would care. It branched off sometime around The 80s. What happened was, and this is something Bernie campaigned on, and I think Trump might have agreed on, I forget, which is wages for the middle class stagnated and for the people at the top, they've just gone up and up.

And despite the fact that efficiency has gotten better, those gains and that income is only being realized by the top X percent of society. The wages aren't growing. And don't you think we need to try to do something about that? Don't you think we need maybe whether it's a minimum wage or something, like we can, we can argue about what it is, but don't you think that's, a that's a huge problem and and and the income inequality is just getting worse and worse?

0:53:31 Lonnie: Absolutely.

0:54:16 Lonnie: Thomas, actually, yes, I do believe something needs to be done about that. That. However, to fight that as you say it, as that particular format, is basically just like trying to the war on drugs or the war hate.

0:54:33 Lonnie: There's no way to take that on head first and possibly expect a good outcome. What people need isn't well what people

0:54:43 Thomas: Why do you say that? I mean we We can't we can't try go mean what so you just think there's no practical way to do it or Uh,

0:54:49 Lonnie: People need, a people need a new mindset, you know, you say that efficiency is up, and that's, that's without a doubt. The thing of it is is that efficiency has gone up because there is more, there is more people working for other people and not enough people out there creating their own businesses. People are, people are going to college now to work for other people and make them lots of money. I think if we had more people out there who had, who had different and grandiose ideas of their own and put them into effect, we would see, you know, people from the, the middle class, the lower class, even, you know, the upper class, wages go up because they're making a statement, statement saying, you know, okay, I've got, you know, I got this product, this idea, this invention, this whatever, you know, that, that I can put out there, and I can make it my own, I'm working for myself.

0:55:51 Lonnie: And, you know, I think, I think we need more of that. But pretty much, yes, I think, you know, we've got certain, we got lots of businesses out there right now, who have been, you know in, you know, in in business for, you centuries for decades.

0:55:53 Thomas: So you think the answer is more people starting businesses? Businesses.

0:56:13 Lonnie: And I think that business is very much a lot like politics. You need to have some new blood coming in every now and then and freshen up the pot.

0:56:24 Thomas: Yeah. But the only problem with that is, I mean, starting a business is tough and it's risky. The risk is the problem. I mean if you want to start a family, I don't know if you have a family, but if you wanna, if you to have kids, if want to have any sort of stability, I starting a business is just a real, I'm in most businesses fail. Uh, and, and oftentimes the only way you're staying afloat is you're not really paying yourself, you know? I mean that that's, it's a a tough, scary thing. I just don't think that realistically that's going to be a realistic solution to the problem. I mean, especially, and then the other side of it is we've allowed these monopolies to get out of hand. I means, one reason that the top 1% has so much is that they've got these corporate monopolies over everything. You know, the banking industry, the cable industry, all these industries. And this is something both sides have done.

0:57:16 Lonnie: You bring up a really good

0:57:19 Thomas: Yeah, go ahead.

0:57:19 Lonnie: Point there. You brought up a good point there, Thomas. These monopolies. We have a monopoly here here in Tennessee in several areas from a certain cable provider I'll go ahead and leave their name out just for purposes and that's something that I definitely want to try to get rid of, I think everybody should have equal access to, you know, their choice of utilities and where they come from. Uh, there's a there's a particular company here in Tennessee called the EPB and they run out of Chattanooga. They are a lots cable phone let's

0:57:33 Thomas: Yeah I don't I don't

0:58:04 Lonnie: This is basically a publicly owned company. And they're able to give people, you can start off down there and have a minimum, okay? A minimum of 100 megabytes per second download speeds on your internet, okay. You can have your lights. You can have your telephone. And I swear I'm missing that other one.

0:58:04 Thomas: Know well

0:58:27 Lonnie: It's a big one, too.

0:58:26 Thomas: You didn't say internet before So maybe that was the thing you were missing, internet

0:58:30 Lonnie: Maybe. Yeah, maybe that was the one that I'm missin'. But anyway, you can have all of this in a package hundreds of dollars less than what this particular company that is in a lot of these areas here in Tennessee and is the only option for these people in these areas, unless you want to go with something like satellite. A lot, and then all that's doing, that's not giving you any kind of other utilities, you know, that's only providing you with some sort of internet. I would like to be able to take and spread something like that across the entire state and give everybody an option, uh

0:58:42 Thomas: Hmm Yeah Yeah What Do you think about, uh, just federalizing the internet? Because that's that's something that, you know, with net neutrality, I don't know how much you've been into this, but I am horrified that Trump administration is going to get rid of net neutrality, which is just going to be a disaster. It seems like nobody is for it except the big businesses who are going to profit off of it. What do you think about maybe, well, A, what do you thing about net neutrility? And then B, I mean, what are you think of federalizing? I suppose in the same way we did with, I don't know, the phone companies with power or something, or somehow, you know, making that be an actual utility rather than just something that private companies provide.

0:59:44 Lonnie: Tell me a little bit more about this net neutrality. Yeah, excuse me

0:59:48 Thomas: Uh, here here's the net neutrality thing. It's it's actually, I, I would encourage you to look into it because it's something that I, it's purely corruption. I, there's, there is nobody who wants it except these companies, because what they're going to be able to do is throttle your internet. So if, if, uh, let's say you have Comcast or something, just to pick an example, uh, net neutrally, right now, as it sits, they're not allowed to charge you more or throttle throttle your internet depending on what you are accessing.

So if you're accessing Netflix, net neutrality, you know, it's neutral. They have to, they don't care what you're accessing. You pay X dollars, you get whatever the data plan is, you now, you can get whatever your internet plan is. Net neutrality, repealing it, which is what the Trump administration is going, is trying to do right now for God knows what reason, other than just corporate profits, that allows these companies to charge you differently depending on what you're getting on the internet. So if Comcast doesn't like Netflix, they can, they can dial you back, they can reduce your speed for when you're accessing Netflix. And if they want to just sell you an internet package that doesn't include YouTube or doesn't included, like, they can, they can sell different data packages that have different products in it. It's, uh, it's been a disaster for the people. In There are certain countries that have it that don't have net neutrality and they can't, they can just get on the internet like they have to buy separate packages for different groups of websites and stuff. Seems like a disaster to me.

1:01:13 Lonnie: This, this takes me back, uh, I don't know how old you are, Thomas, but this takes us back to the uh the days when you would go to Walmart and pick up the 100 free hours of AOL.

1:01:24 Thomas: Yeah, it is kind of like that, I remember that. I'm not that old, but I remember it. Oh

1:01:29 Lonnie: But now I know a little bit more about what you're talking about. And I know a little bit about this, too, because the company whose name I would not mention earlier is also one that I have worked for. And yes, and I know a little bit about how they work. I know some of their some of their inner stuff. And I know they've got a lot of backdoor deals that happened up in Washington and I am not a fan of those whatsoever, um I, you know, for for a, you know, a company like, uh, Comcast, I remember they would do a 300 gigabyte allotment and then they would throttle you after that. This was when I was working there around 2013. Can't say that I agree with this at all. I, I

1:01:41 Thomas: Okay, yeah Yeah Me neither Yeah Huh

1:02:16 Lonnie: You know, me myself personally, I can't understand why they would try to do this, uh, you know, to repeal this program that's already there, other than the fact that they're trying to make up for, um, profits that are lost in other places. Maybe they're, you know, trying to push, you know, basically they're basically pushing dirt, if you ask me, so not

1:02:38 Thomas: Yeah, I don't get it. I mean, I, I would, it's it's definitely, and you know, I'm just noticing thing. We've actually gone long here. We probably have to wind it down. But it's, it would cause me, if I were a Trump supporter, to really question that whole drain the swamp thing, because that's, that's just the swamp. I mean, he's just got lobbyists in there. You know, you know, he put all the Goldman Sachs people in his cabinet, which is not draining the swamp, and this is another example of that. I think that's got to go. Again, as much as it sounded like you were excited that Trump won, I guess my final question will be this, and all the the Goldman Sachs executives that he, he put in his cabinet, and the fact that the, you know, the tax bill is just going to benefit big business and all that. Is that draining the swamp? Is that, is that consistent? Are you, do you think he fell through in his promise to drain the swamp? What do you say?

1:03:27 Lonnie: At all. Not at all, Thomas. You know, there's been a couple people who've asked me about this. And from what I've seen, you know, Trump has been up there playing chess with a lot of these figures. You notice that certain figures are brought in and then another figure ends up leaving. And then right after that figure leaves, those figures that he brought in are also sacked as well. I believe 100% in President Donald Trump as a businessman. I know that he's got a lot of great ideas, and I know that without a doubt he's going to do something great for America, has already been doing great things for America. No questions asked there. I just hope he continues to, you know, fulfill his promises and make, and uh, you know, we see, uh, we see some of the stuff that, uh, that he's been talking about comes a lot.

1:04:26 Thomas: Well, I, yeah, I mean, I said it would be the last question, so I guess I better stay true to my word and maybe we'll have to, maybe we will have to go again sometime and talk about what he's done or what you think could be doing. Um, but, uh, Lonnie, thank you you for your time. And definitely, if there's anywhere you want to point people to learn more about you or your campaign, feel free to call that out now.

1:04:48 Lonnie: Uh, you can find me on Facebook under stuff. That's one thing I do want to point out, Thomas, is that, uh, you know, for me, I believe that the power of money is indeed powerful, but the power of people is even way more powerful. And the people that have had it, that have volunteered to come on and help me do what I'm doing right now, because I wouldn't be able to do it without them.

1:05:09 Thomas: I agree. But this net neutrality is an example of where we'll have to see that nobody wants it. No people want it. Only big money people want it. So we'll have to see if if if the president that you think is playing chess and doing a good job, I would be this is going to be highly disappointing. Please please look into the net neutrality thing and let me know what you think, because that would be a big, big blow.

1:05:30 Lonnie: Absolutely Uh, that's uh, that on Facebook, that's Miller for Tennessee or Miller4TN. And then you can find me on Miller4tn.com as well. I've got my site down right now. It's being reworked. I brought in some new people to help program my site a little bit better. They're wanting to put in some New Flash media and such like that. So that's down for right now, but it should be back up within the next day or two, hopefully.

1:06:02 Lonnie: And then Twitter, you can find me on Twitter, Miller for 10.

1:06:02 Thomas: Yeah, I know how that is.

1:06:08 Lonnie: And think they've got a Tumblr set up too. To be honest with you, I'm not really 100% sure what Tumblr is.

1:06:13 Thomas: Not a social media guy. Yeah, no. All right. Well, well, thanks, Lonnie Miller. Thank you so much for the conversation. I think in the spirit of, you know, the Thanksgiving coming together and having those conversations of two opposite sides of the political spectrum, I think, you know, it was it was fun. I think there's more we could talk about. But thanks for joining me.

1:06:34 Lonnie: Absolutely, Thomas. Thank you. Anytime, my friend.

1:07:01 Thomas: To thank Lonnie for the conversation, being willing to come on. I definitely think that perhaps Lonnie is training a bit in the politician's ability to try not to offend anybody, because I felt like we disagreed a lot, but it didn't really coagulate anywhere very serious. And I don't know if that's good or bad. I guess I'll leave that for you to decide. Part of me feels like, well, at least we had a cordial conversation. I don't know if maybe he'll be open to looking into net neutrality and other things where he might disagree with Trump. But on the other hand, I worry that is this just kind of a...

1:07:50 Thomas: I don't know. I'm not sure either way. I definitely would like to talk to Lonnie again about Trump's alleged accomplishments. I think that would be fun. And there's some other stuff in there that I wanted to get to, but the time did really fly by. I not sure what to credit that to, but I think I was enjoying trying to get to the bottom of exactly why and what Lonnie believes. But I hope you enjoyed it as well. And we'll see if Lonnie wants to speak again or if I find another Trump supporter. I guess I do want to try to get back to having conversations with people I disagree with because I just don't know how else we're going to make any progress. It's really tough. I definitely vacillate between wanting to merely engage liberals to vote in 2018 or even in special elections, which I think ultimately probably is the better use of time.

1:08:41 Thomas: But there's no reason that I can't also make some attempt to try to bridge the gap sometimes. So that's what I'm thinking about. Let me know what you thought of the conversation, and I will have to see you guys on Thursday.