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Ever Onward Podcast
The Ever Onward Podcast is your go-to business podcast, offering engaging discussions and diverse guests covering everything from business strategies to community issues. Join us at the executive table as we bring together industry leaders, experts, and visionaries for insightful conversations that go beyond the boardroom. Whether you're an entrepreneur or simply curious about business, our podcast provides a well-rounded experience, exploring a variety of topics that shape the business landscape and impact communities. Brought to you by Ahlquist.
Ever Onward Podcast
Senator Jim Risch: Leadership, Real Estate, & Global Politics | Ever Onward - Ep. 34
Ever wondered how a decades-long career in public service shapes a person's perspective on leadership? Join us as we sit down with Senator Jim Risch, a venerable Idaho figure, to discuss his journey from Ada County Prosecutor to U.S. Senator. Alongside Senator Risch, we catch up with Holt Haga from Alquist, who provides an insider's view of the thriving real estate market in Treasure Valley. From major projects like 10 Mile and Eagle View Landing to the driving forces behind the region's growth, Holt's insights promise to be eye-opening. Holt also shares the joy of celebrating a decade of marriage, adding a personal and heartfelt dimension to our conversation.
Shifting gears, we navigate the labyrinth of Middle Eastern geopolitics, examining the historical and contemporary relationships between Israel, its Arab neighbors, and Iran. Discover how past conflicts and peace agreements have shaped current alliances, with a particular focus on Iran's recent attack on Israel and the coalition response from global powers. This section also delves into the changing priorities of Arab countries striving for better futures for their citizens, highlighting key figures and the roles of Iranian-backed groups.
Lastly, we tackle the United States' involvement in the Ukraine conflict and the broader global political landscape. Explore the historical commitments that led to American support for Ukraine and how NATO's unity has been fortified. We'll also contrast life in communist countries with democratic societies, emphasizing freedoms often taken for granted in the U.S. Our discussion extends to critical issues like national debt, social polarization, and the debate over government roles, concluding with reflections on balancing professional and personal life. Don't miss out on this rich tapestry of topics, promising a thought-provoking and diverse listening experience.
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We are really excited today on the Ever Odd Word podcast to have Jim Risch. Senator Jim Risch, first of all, a really good friend and, as you'll hear, my ranching partner, which has become just a near and dear friend to me. But Jim is an Idaho icon legend pillar. The guy's been around for a long time with public service. After graduating with a bachelor's of science degree from the University of Idaho and a juror's doctorate degree from the College of Law, jim began serving here at a law firm and then serving in the Ada County Prosecutor's Office For a long time.
Speaker 1:Jim got involved in politics and served as a senator here at the Idaho State Senate for 11 terms. He was later the lieutenant governor, then the governor and then was elected to be Idaho's 28th US senator and has been in the US Senate. He's been married to his sweetheart, vicki, 51 years and they are a true partnership. They have three sons and nine grandchildren. It's going to be great to have Jim on today. I can't wait for you to hear from Jim. Before we hear from Senator Risch today, we'll hear from Holt Haga, one of our partners here at Alquist, and then we'll get on with Senator Jim Risch. This week for the Alquist update we have Holt Haga longtime partner. What's up, buddy?
Speaker 2:What's going on? Happy to be here, man.
Speaker 1:I know it's fun to have you on how things going out there. What are you? What are you seeing? What's going on in the market?
Speaker 2:well, it's been, it's been crazy actually. We were just talking actually, um, just when you look back and say it's been five years since we just over five years since we, you know, started, you know bva and now allquist, it seems like it's been, it's gone by like yeah, that right, but then you start to actually milestone it out, you're like holy crap, it feels like forever. Yeah, it does um with what we've done. And you know, you know just kind of summarizing where we're at today. It's like looking back and then looking forward, looking back at some of the incredible projects we've done with 10 mile and you know just thinking, hey, we had this 10-year plan for 10 mile.
Speaker 2:Well, three and a half years later we were 750,000 square feet of office leased and, and you know got, we're done with that project started eagle view landing two and a half years ago. Here we are over a half a million square feet leased in this project. You know just about done with this project. But both projects that you know 90, you know a hundred percent least, almost just under 99% lease now in our portfolio. Um, but just kind of like a whirlwind it's been, it's been crazy.
Speaker 1:Well, you guys, I always, I always describe you guys as killers, cause that's the mentality. It's like, okay, what do we have, let's go get it done. It's kind of this relentless action and work that you do and and that's all good. The market's been a little weird, right. I mean, I think with with just kind of this time so we're in, but there's still a lot of positive things going on here at treasure valley. Talk a little bit about that, because I know you stay pretty close to what's going on with micron and just growth and what are you seeing coming in the next few years here for the valley?
Speaker 2:you know, I think generally you know really positive and it's kind of interesting to see the duality, if you will, between the national sort of headlines that we've seen versus the local, and I think the local sort of tailwinds get overlooked by the national headlines in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2:And what's interesting is we all know what the national headlines are for the major primary markets. They're really bad. Those markets have been gutted. We were down at a conference in San Francisco, as you know, a couple of weeks ago and we're in the hotel you know, and I in my room was looking straight out at this big, I don't know 45 story office building, whatever it was, but I could see about 15 floors out of my hotel room and of the 15, I could see one was actually occupied. I'm like holy crap, it's just sort of this like really interesting sort of snapshot into that market because it's been gutted. San Francisco has been gutted. I mean they're like 50% vacancies.
Speaker 1:You bring up the word office to national brokers and it's like what? Yeah, no one's doing it right. It's crazy. Then you come here and you look at how healthy our portfolio is and there continues to be growth. I mean, you're turning away again 99% to 100%, at least in every building. You're turning away things. We're looking at where do we do the next building? So we're fortunate, and then I think you're going to have Micron, what they're doing and others. It's a great time to be in Idaho.
Speaker 2:It is and the Micron effect. I mean that conference we were in San Francisco for was kind of a Micron. It was a Semicon West conference. But we met a lot of the suppliers that are actually coming to this market. They're not just, hey, we do business with Micron, they are looking at planting a flag in this market and also in New York. But we're in front of a lot of those companies and they're huge, huge companies we're not talking about. In some cases we're talking about 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, but in a lot of them, you know, we're talking like 250,000 to 400,000 square feet. So they're like game-changing type requirements that are coming to our market and they are coming. So we're excited to be in front of those two.
Speaker 1:That's great. Personal note 10-year anniversary. Katie's put up with you for 10 years. Can you believe it? I remember my wedding. I actually do remember your wedding. Your wedding was awesome. I remember every detail about your wedding. And you guys celebrate your 10-year anniversary next month.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, this month we're gonna be. Yeah, so we're, we're doing a big trip you know, and Cleo is now, how old is she? She's seven, uh, and her big thing is, uh, is taekwondo. I mean, she does like swimming, some other things, but taekwondo she's got it. She just got her advanced blue belt and I kind of made her upset the other night and she kind of just did like a roundhouse kick and her foot went over my head. So she's getting pretty good.
Speaker 1:She's our home defense, she's not competitive at all, like you, though, right, yeah, no, I think she's so genetically loaded, it's not funny all right buddy well hey, appreciate you. Thanks for coming on giving us an update and we'll see you next time. Thanks absolutely, senator Risch. Welcome to the podcast. I've been wanting to get you on for a while. I've been bugging you.
Speaker 3:Well, we got it done. That's the important thing, right. You know if you'd come over and help me irrigate once in a while.
Speaker 1:I'd have more time to do it. Hey, can we start there? So I knew Senator Risch for a long time. Respect the heck out of you, as you know, senator. So I knew Senator Rich for a long time. Respect the heck out of you, as you know, senator. And before I get to our farming together, I'll never forget this is a true story and I've never told you this story. It's going to be the first time.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:So when I was running for governor I didn't know what I was doing. I just got into that thing and it was hard. And Vicki was Brad's campaign treasure, right. Yeah yeah, and Vicki was Brad's campaign treasure, right, and I'd seen you at a couple events. But I was down in Disneyland with my family and I was really feeling it's tough when you get into. I mean, I don't know how you do it. We've talked a little bit.
Speaker 3:I've run 36 times, I know how tough it is.
Speaker 1:So I'm down there and all of a sudden on my phone I had your phone number in there and you called me and I said, oh, shannon, senator Risch called me. I'm going to go take this call. So I went back up the room so it was quiet and you probably don't even remember this. But you called me and you said hey, I'm just checking in on you to see how you're doing. It could be hard going through this and I just wanted to tell you. You know, thanks for putting your name out there and it. I'll tell you that conversation. You probably don't remember it, but it was like 10 minutes and I thought I hung up and thought, man, that is one heck of a guy for you doing that.
Speaker 3:Anyway, Well, I admire anybody who does that and after you went through it, you you know how tough it is. I mean, it's not people I have good friends that that are are business people and it doesn't translate. You know, translate from the business side of things to the political side of things, it's not the same, it really doesn't translate. Meg Whitman is a good friend of mine. She was CEO of IBM and other things. Anyway, she ran for governor of California and I knew her before she ran for governor of California I had met her at the.
Speaker 3:Allen event that they have up in Sun Valley. And so she called me, had a nice conversation and everything, and then I kind of followed it through.
Speaker 3:She was devastated when she lost that race for governor and she you know she had, she had been so successful in business she worked really hard too, yeah she worked hard and and, and the fact of the matter is, what she couldn't understand was California's just in horrible shape, as you know, on so many different levels, but her thing was finances. You know, she thought she could get the state back on the rails again. You know, instead they took Jerry Brown over her and she just couldn't understand it and I couldn't explain it to her. You know what a horrible mistake California is making.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine the difference?
Speaker 1:yeah well, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump. So then I, I move out to cune after 22 years in eagle and uh, you call me and you're like, hey, I think we're neighbors, so you have a ranch out there, and and like there's a lot of people, there's a lot of people in the world that say, yeah, I farm and I ranch. Right, yeah, I'm a senator full-time and I farm in a a ranch. And what that usually translates to Senator is I've got someone else that runs my farm or runs my cattle, but you are the real deal.
Speaker 3:Well, I had a neighbor I thought I could enlist to help me over there, but it just hasn't worked out.
Speaker 1:Do you know how many times I've felt guilty Because you're there a lot, I think when you're not in DC, it's your place to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it, it. It is so different than what I do in dc. You know, everybody walks out with a toga back there and things there you know, out in the cows, don't care who I am, you know. So I've run on that place since 1983 was the first time I put cows out there and uh. And then I ran there for a while and eventually bought the place and so uh, but it's uh, it's an interesting, I enjoy it, I just enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Well, you're there all the time. I get to see you and, um, I tell a lot of people no one like physically it also is your, that's your, that's your exercise, right, I mean, that's that's what keeps you rolling. And, uh, I've done fencing with you a little bit. I've tried a little bit. I've tried to keep up. I've tried to keep up irrigating with you a couple times and physically you can't keep up with you.
Speaker 3:I'm in good shape.
Speaker 1:You're in great shape. Well, that's been fun. It's been fun. We actually tried to farm together.
Speaker 3:Let's not go into that.
Speaker 1:The way I describe it is. I had more fun losing money with you on our hay operation.
Speaker 3:Let me tell you about how bad it was. I got a letter of condolence from the IRS saying we were probably the two worst business people in the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that'll be one of my best stories to tell over the years. Well, senator, there's a lot going on in the world and we appreciate you coming on. I think you know we talked a little bit about what we could talk about today, but I farming story. One day we were farming together and I asked you a question about Israel and in about 10 minutes you gave me a background that was just unbelievable. So talk about that conflict and what's going on and your perspective on that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that probably most people who don't follow the international affairs closely and most people don't understandably. You know, we live a pretty good life here compared to other people in the world. Our existence, our quality of life, is not dependent on any other country. So we get up in the morning, we go to work, we take care of our families and that's what we're focused on. When you go around the world, it always surprises me how focused other countries are. There's almost 200 countries and you can go to virtually any other country. They are totally dialed in on United States policy. They watch what happens to us very, very closely. I'm always surprised at how much they know about our countries and how little we know about their countries. So, look, this situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically while I've been doing this.
Speaker 3:The Middle East has been a challenge for decades and primarily what you had is you had Israel on one side and you had all of the Arab countries on the other side and one non-Arab country, a Persian country, the Iranians and they all gained up on Israel and some were stronger than others. Israel was the most hateful towards the Jewish people and made no bones about it. They said that they wanted to eliminate Israel, kill all the Jewish people and eliminate these people from the earth. The other Arab countries weren't nearly as radical as that, and what's happened over the years is the Iranians partnered with the Arabs as they pushed back on the Jewish people for a long time. First thing, of course, what happened was many, many years ago, the Jewish state fought a war with Egypt and Jordan. Most people don't really focus on the fact that the peace that they made, after that very short war that Israel won hands down, they made a peace and that peace has lasted all of these years between Egypt and Jordan. Both of those countries have had a cool peace Some would argue a cold peace with Israel. They did not have a normal relationship, what you'd call a normal relationship with trade and travel and those kinds of things, but they had a peace and it lasted and it was Probably.
Speaker 3:One of the flashpoints is a place called Rafah, which is right on the border between Egypt and Israel, and I've been there and they have instances every day along that border and yet over all these years they've never had a blow-up. They've always sat down, talked it out, resolved it and moved on, and it's one of the great peace stories that never gets told. You know the situation with Egypt and Israel. Same way with the Jordanians. You know Jordan has a head of state, king Abdullah, who I consider a good friend. I see him at least quarterly. If every leader in the Middle East was like King Abdullah, that place would be a paradise it really would.
Speaker 3:He presides over a country where the majority there's two million Palestinian refugees. The second largest city in Jordan is a refugee camp consisting of refugees. Some of them are three generations in there. We contribute considerably, the United States contributes considerably to maintenance of that. He is part of a minority population of the country. He's what they call a Hashemite, which is one of the. It's Arab, but it's a separate entity and he's only there are only 14% of them. So if they ever held an election for king, he wouldn't be king, okay, but he's really a good person and has difficult time keeping all the balls in the air with that many Palestinians and Arab population, the Jewish state right next door and the Kosta Blok. But he's done really, really well. Move forward.
Speaker 3:Over the years the other Arab states have joined with the Iranians and pushed back against the Jewish state, have fought a number of wars with them and everything else, and they've always pretty much lined up together. But what's happened in recent years is the Arabs in the region, the other Arab countries like I said, egypt and Jordan are already there, but the other Arab countries have just gotten sick and tired of this and they are tired of the fight. They want better for their kids, for their families. The Palestinians have a very difficult problem because they have very limited land resources and they're right there, occupied for a long time by the Israelis, and the Palestinians are just full of hate and they just can't let it be. And we saw what happened on October 7th.
Speaker 3:I mean the film, which I recommend you don't see, is just atrocious. I mean the kinds of things that they did killing 1,200 people and then taking another couple of few hundred hostage was just atrocious. The other Arab countries have really moved away from this, with the exception of Iran, and the whole problem in the Middle East is Iran. You say well, yeah, but what about this? There's three entities, big entities Hezbollah, hamas and the Houthis, which are. One of them is in Yemen, the Houthis are in Yemen, hamas is in Palestine. They are sponsored by Iran. All their money comes from.
Speaker 2:Iran.
Speaker 3:All their training comes from Iran, all their training comes from Iran, all their religious stuff comes from Iran. And so, really, israel is fighting one entity, but it's four parts, and it's obviously Iran and then these three other entities. But something to demonstrate how this has changed. You recall, a few weeks or some weeks back, the Iranians got mad and decided they were going to attack Israel directly and they flew 300 rockets towards Israel 300. They went over 300. All 300 of those rockets were taken out by the Israeli defense system, which is very good. It's unbelievable to watch that thing.
Speaker 3:But, more importantly, we flew against the US, the Brits, the French, to be expected. But in addition to that the Saudis and the Jordanians flew against Iran. I mean, that's never happened in history In the history of the world that's never happened.
Speaker 3:So that tells you how things have changed in the region. They're just sick of it. They have no use for Hamas of any kind, and the Palestinians which Hamas, come out of the Palestinians? They just want to move on. They just want to move on, they really want to move on. So that's changed things in the region dramatically. This thing that's been going on, obviously everybody wants it over. But having said that, the Israelis argue that look, we can't. They say to me you remember World War II, the Nazis? Remember how you felt about the Nazis? You made a decision that they couldn't exist anymore as a political, military or cultural entity. What did you do? You went in and killed them all. That's what we have to do with Hamas if we're going to survive, and so that's what they've set out to do, and it's a difficult task, to say the least. But they're hard at it, but they're making progress. The most recent one they got was in a bedroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw that.
Speaker 3:On Iranian state property in Tehran. They took him out there. If they can get that guy there, they can get anybody anywhere, and the Mossad is really good at that. That's their CIA.
Speaker 1:Any comments on when you talk about Moss and the terror and all that, and then you look at in America the demonstrations yeah, what's your perspective on that? Someone who follows this, the committees you're on the experience you have, looking at maybe some of the misinformation they have towards what's going on.
Speaker 3:I hope it's misinformation, because anybody who could look at what Hamas did on October 7th you wouldn't want to have anything to do with these people. I watched these college kids say we're all Hamas. I thought to myself can this be? Can these people? I mean the horrors that they committed were just atrocious, you know, beheading babies and killing older people and setting people on fire while they were still alive and I mean this is not normal human behavior. I mean this is beyond the pale.
Speaker 1:What should we be watching for over there as average citizens? As you said, busy lives, everyone doing their thing, but you think geopolitically, what could threaten us and how big this could get. What do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 3:You hear people say, oh, we have to worry about a regional war. Well, there's already a regional war between Israel and its three terror components Excuse me, iran and its three terror components and Israel. That war is ongoing. It has been going since October 7th and, truth be known, it's been going on for decades. So people say, well, we don't want this to be a broader war. Well, there's nobody else going to get in this.
Speaker 3:The Egyptians don't want anything to do with this. They're a natural right there on the border. They used to own Gaza before Israel took it away from them. They've got that border sealed. They won't let the Gazans come into Egypt. They don't want anything to do with this. Obviously, the Jordanians don't want anything to do with this. The Saudis don't want anything to do with this. Obviously, the Jordanians don't want anything to do with this. The Saudis don't want anything to do with this. So who's this broader war going to be? Well, it's going to be Hezbollah, hamas and the Houthis. But that's already going on. You know, hezbollah is dropping missiles on them every day. The Houthis are taking the ships out in the Red Sea, which I don't get. That ought to be toughened up. So I don't worry about a broader? I truly don't worry for us as Americans. I don't worry about a broader conflict. I really don't. It's nothing we can't handle.
Speaker 1:Kind of more of the same thing that's been going on for a long time, long time. Yeah, can we shift to Ukraine? Sure, I know you know a lot there and have been very involved in our talk we've had. Again, thank you for coming on today, but I think your depth of knowledge and understanding is just incredible, and not very many people get to hear from you like this in such an intimate setting. So tell us about Ukraine.
Speaker 3:Well, first thing, on Ukraine. When I come home to Idaho, when I talk to Americans all over the country, I say what are we doing there? We don't care about Ukraine, that's got nothing to do with us. They're right on the doorstep of Russia. They're an ocean away. Why should we care about this? Well, we have to care about this, and the reason we have to care about this is because we agreed to care about this. Now, what do I mean by that?
Speaker 3:Ronald Reagan spent eight years bringing the Soviet Union down and he was successful. The Soviet Union collapsed and, of course, you had Russia and all those countries that were in its orbit, a lot of countries in its orbit that were controlled by Russia, but all those countries, when the Soviet Union collapsed, all those countries got their freedom. Most of them took it, Some didn't, but almost all of them took it. And when that happened, four countries came out of the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. One was Russia, one was Belarus, one was Kazakhstan and one was Ukraine. On that day, the second largest nuclear power on the planet was Ukraine. On that day, the second largest nuclear power on the planet was Ukraine.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:The second largest nuclear power on the planet was Ukraine. It was the policy of the United States government then. It is the policy of the United States government now. It has been the policy to Republicans, democrats, liberals, conservatives that as few countries as possible have nuclear weapons and have as few nuclear weapons as possible. That is not a bad policy. That is a really, really, really good policy, because we've all seen the mischief that causes. So what happened? These four countries came out. Well, we sat down with the Ukrainians on December the 5th 1994, in Budapest, hungary, and we had a conference roundtable and we said, guys, you shouldn't have nuclear weapons. These things do nothing but cause you trouble, they're hard to maintain, they're going to cause you nothing but grief. Give up your nuclear weapons and enter into a bilateral defense agreement with us. We got lots of those. We're experienced at it. Nato's the biggest one, the most important one. But we have bilateral agreements with Japan. We have bilateral agreement with South Korea. We have bilateral agreement with Austria.
Speaker 3:We have all kinds of bilateral agreements. Ukrainians listened to us and said and we said if you get under our umbrella, if something happens, we'll be there for you. What'd they do? They gave up their, surrendered their nuclear weapons. So what happened when, in February of 2022, when Russia marched on Ukraine Ukraine turned to us and said hey guys, remember, we got a paper here, you know you signed it. You said you'd take care of us, and so we stepped up, haven't put any boots on the ground. We aren't going to put any boots on the ground, but we have been keeping them in the fight. You got to think about this fight. You got little old Ukraine, 40 million people Fighting a country of 145 million people that are nuclear armed, that are allegedly a superpower. They stopped them dead in their tracks right in the first two weeks of the war as they marched on Kiev.
Speaker 3:And Putin made a bunch of horrible mistakes and he thought a number of things would happen. First of all, he thought NATO would split as a result of this. Nato is tougher and stronger than it has ever been. We've added two great countries to it. We've been wanting to get tougher and stronger than it has ever been. We've added two great countries to it. We've been wanting to get Finland and Sweden in in uh for a long time.
Speaker 3:Vicky and I had dinner with the Swedish or with the uh Finnish ambassador uh, about three weeks before the invasion. Everybody back there was talking about this and arguing it back and forth and I said you know, you guys got an 800-mile border with Russia and you really ought to be in NATO. He said, ah, senator, he says our polling 70% say neutral. They've maintained a neutral position. They've actually fought with Russia before, but they made peace with Russia and they've been in a neutral position. So, anyway, they said, ah, we're going to stay neutral in this thing.
Speaker 3:So about a week after the invasion I ran into him at a function in DC and I said how's that neutrality thing working out? He says we're in. I said I gather the polling has changed. He says the polling is not only reversed, but reversed substantially. So it was a hard fight to get. They're great partners. With Sweden and with Finland we brought two big countries, two solid countries, two countries with really really good defense mechanisms, money to the table. And so now it was a tough fight because we have a couple of recalcitrants. Turkey and Hungary are always a problem for us in NATO and it has to be unanimous to let somebody in. So they dug their feet for a long time and I fought tooth and nail primarily with Turkey, because the Hungarians will do whatever Turkey tells them to do. But anyway, we finally got them in and it was a great day.
Speaker 1:So a couple of follow-up questions. So great, I think, an explanation unlike you'll get anywhere else about the fight. And now it's the funding. It's been shocking to me because I think for years we've heard about Putin, we've heard about his intentions, we've heard about what a bad guy is, you hear the horror stories and you know everything about him. So watching some people here in America take kind of the Putin side of this has been an interesting thing to watch. And then I think you had Zelensky and kind of you know it's almost become well. Why are we protecting? What about the dollars we're spending? And it's been shocking for me to hear some of that. How do you respond to some of those concerns?
Speaker 3:I'm really not shocked at it. I got the same concerns. I mean, as you know, I'm a fiscal conservative and spending money for anything bothers me by the government. But look, I tell people, look, tell me what you want to do. Okay, we got the Budapest Agreement. Can you imagine today if you sat down at a table with them and we said give up your nuclear weapons? They'd say are you crazy? You know we're on a doorstep of Russia. We're not giving up nuclear weapons. We coaxed them into doing that and promised them a defense. So here we are. I want out as bad as anybody.
Speaker 3:About a week ago or two weeks ago, mike Pompeo and David Urban published a editorial in the Wall Street Journal. It was on a Thursday evening, and this was a week ago or two weeks ago. I really recommend people pull that out and read it. It lays out and both those people are very close to Trump, as you know and they laid out a step-by-step of how this thing ends and how we get out of it, and it's very instructive. There was really nothing new in there, but what it did is it brought together a lot of ideas and put it in a step-by-step thing. You know Trump has promised me, he's promised the world that if he gets in he's going to end this. And you know what? I believe him. And number two he has a history of doing what he says he's going to do and we may not like how it ends completely. The Ukrainians might not like how it ends completely. I guarantee it. Putin will not like how it ends.
Speaker 3:He's already lost this war. He was going to march on that. In Washington DC. We've got 17 intelligence agencies. I sit on the senior Republican in the Intelligence Committee. We had them all in right before the war. Some of them thought it was three days, some of them thought it would be three weeks, but it was going to be over quickly. Putin was going to march in, he was going to take over the country and he was going to turn it into a vassal state, just like Belarus and worked. Russia has already lost as well. Ukrainians have oneness. The Russians have losses. I deal with the Ukrainians regularly. He is never going to occupy Ukraine. I mean that would be the most dangerous job in the world going to Ukraine to be an occupier. Those people are, you know, actually, before Russia invaded well, in 2014,. They took Crimea. Before that, the polling in Ukraine was. They had a pretty decent relationship with Russia and the polling was eh, you know, they're not so bad.
Speaker 3:They poison people once in a while, you know, and that sort of thing, but you know, today I cannot, there aren't words to express the animosity that the Ukrainian people feel against the Russians. This is when this ends. This is not an end. This isn't going to be like us making peace with Japan or with Germany. That animosity is going to go on for generations after what they've done?
Speaker 1:I've never asked you this, but is there any?
Speaker 1:I listened to a demographer, probably 15 years ago, a talk at a conference I was at, and he talked about world demographics and one of he had took it down by region.
Speaker 1:He talked about China and what they had done with kind of the when they killed all the babies that were females and what that was going to lead to down the road. He talked about our immigration from South America and what that does for us and he talked about the immigration of Africans up into Europe. And then one of the things he talked about and this is 15 years ago, he's like he was right. He's like you know who's got the biggest problem is Russia. And he went through and he said, hey, they've got an aging population that is not replacing itself and all of the young people and all of the resources are in Ukraine and they're and they're all leaving and he's like they're going to be forced into action. You're going to see a war start, but since it's begun I've never heard anyone really talk about that. But there's more to this. For them, they're a country with a lot of challenges.
Speaker 3:They really are. The first thing I'll say about that is, if you took a globe and you look at the globe and you didn't live here, you came from Mars. You'd look at Russia, where it goes all the way around the size of it and with the resources that it has, the natural resources it has, you'd think, boy, this has got to be some country. And then you realize there are only 140 million people and it's going downhill. Why is that happening? It's happening because of the government. It's happening because the people can't get control of the government, and if you are successful at all, you don't want to be there, you want to be gone. They have stolen out of Ukraine thousands and thousands of babies and children that they've moved into Russia, who will now become Russians. They have a national make-a-baby day. You know where they want all their women pregnant to get. They are having real difficulties, and that was right.
Speaker 3:On the other side of the coin you've got Africa, which is going to add a billion people to the planet over the next seven or eight years, you know. So it's a different thing there. So it's a different thing there, obviously. I mean, if you lived in Russia, and particularly in today's world, why would you want to bring children onto the planet? You know, I mean, you wouldn't want to do it. This guy was right. He called that exactly right.
Speaker 1:So one of the things we don't hear anything about is North Korea, has that quieted down?
Speaker 3:You still probably hear, but I think at least in the media we don't hear much about it. North Korea is North Korea. Has that quieted down? You still probably hear, but I think at least in the media we don't hear much about it. North Korea is North Korea. It hasn't changed. It is one of the most bizarre stories on the planet. They are closed. I mean totally closed. Incredibly brutal, typical communist country, much like China, but even more brutal. They control everything. The Communist Party controls everything that happens in that country. You know Americans I've talked to people that grew up in the old Soviet Union, you know and the Eastern countries, the Eastern European countries that came out of the Soviet Union and it's bizarre, vicky's got a cousin that lives in one of those countries.
Speaker 3:And we went and visited with him and this fellow grew up under communism and I said well, what was life? He said well, what do you mean? I said well, you don't have to worry about anything.
Speaker 3:The government, your government, took care of you Housing, food, education, whatever. The government took care of you. Having said that, your block had a captain and he made the decision, for instance, if you wanted to go to school or what have you. When you got up in the morning, he told you where you were going to work. And I mean, that's it. And you know what he said. We never gave it a second thought. That was just the way it was. We were taken care of, but we had to do what they said. And if you didn't do what they said, there were serious consequences.
Speaker 3:And I said well, you, probably the biggest thing, I suppose, coming out of it is now you get a chance. You get a chance to vote. And he says oh, we always had a chance to vote. He says, but there was only one name on the ballot. I said, well, free speech must be wonderful. Now he says oh, we always had free speech. You could say whatever you wanted to once.
Speaker 3:And I said well, what is it that? You, what is it? He says? You know what he says we couldn't travel. We were a prisoner in our own country. He said I have a passport today. I can go anywhere I want in the world that'll give me a visa, you know, to go there. So it was it. But we as Americans this is I mean you sit and listen to these stories. It's just we take our. If I could do one thing, if I could have one wish every American child who went to school would spend their junior year in a third world country that was a communist country. They would go to school there for their junior year. They would come back to America. They would kiss the ground when they, when they got off.
Speaker 1:I was just. I was just sitting here thinking we, we take.
Speaker 3:We take all of this for granted. We really do. As you were talking I was thinking there's very few people in of this for granted.
Speaker 1:We really do. As you were talking, I was thinking there's very few people in the in the world that have the experience you do on the committees, you sit on the briefings, you get the travel you're able to do. A lot of these names are names or faces we see on, but you've met with many of these world leaders and are in all these meetings and and I was just going to ask you that question, you hit it already. But but just the freedom of this country, the, the, the, the, the thing we take for granted more than probably anything else we have, is just the it's, it's, it's phenomenal and it's a and and the.
Speaker 3:The world, the world is really uh, generating to a point where we're going to have two poles. We're going to have the countries, like us, that are democracies or Close to democracies. On the other side, you're going to have the countries that are autocracies, where they have a dictator, thinly disguised sometimes, and some of them just outright communist countries, like North Korea and China and Russia and Syria and all these other countries. We're going to wind up with two poles. And, I've said, the challenge for the 21st century is how we learn to live together on the same planet, because we're going to be here, we're not going to change, they're not going to change, but we're going to have to figure how we keep from killing each other. And to me, that's a real challenge of the 21st century because, you know, I mean the kinds of things that happen in these communist countries. I mean good examples in China, you know we trade, they're the biggest trading partners yet they have 2 million people enslaved over their religious beliefs. They're called the Uyghurs. Most people in America have never heard of them. They're confined to an area. They do. Most people in America have never heard of them. They're confined to an area, they're prisoners in their own country, they do forced labor and those kinds of things and yet we trade with them, you know, and they're a country you look at Russia. I mean Russia's going to suffer from what they've done in Ukraine for a long, long time.
Speaker 3:You know we all were mistaken when the Iron Curtain came down. All those countries got their freedom. We thought, you know, russia is maybe going to mature and they're going to take their place on the international stage. And, like I said, you know how they poison people once in a while and they interfere with elections. You know other countries do that. But we thought, you know, maybe we can all live together. Who would have guessed Russia was going to start a medieval war in the 21st century? I mean, you know the United Nations, which is a separate thought I have. I'm no big fan of the United Nations. I mean their charter put together. All of us got together and said look, we're going to have a charter, we're all going to have our own countries, we're all going to have our own borders and nobody's going to march on another country again. We all sign and we're all happy. They can't even pass a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine. Don't get me started on the United Nations, but in any event, russia's going to hurt for a long time.
Speaker 3:The result of that, I think it's going to actually accelerate that polarization I'm talking about, because nobody wants to deal with Russia anymore. I mean all those European countries that became dependent upon them for energy. We thought it was going to be an absolute disaster. After they invaded, they disconnected or started to disconnect with Russia. They were very successful in doing it. We were very helpful. Other countries were helpful. Russia's becoming isolated. So they're trading with China, they're trading with Iran. They're trading with North Korea. They're trading with China. They're trading with Iran. They're trading with North Korea. They're trading with Venezuela. They're trading with all the no-goodniks on the planet. You know Syria. They've got a base. I mean, and I think because of what they've done and because we are putting all these sanctions on them and isolating them, I think that group's going to get tighter and the problem is they don't trust each other. I mean they are not natural allies by any stretch.
Speaker 3:They're not like we ally with people who have the same values that we have for democracy and for freedom and for the free market and the free enterprise system and basic human rights and freedoms. They're not so much like that on the other side, so they're not natural allies.
Speaker 1:It's fascinating, senator, listening to you talk about all of that. I want to come back to Idaho, but I have one more question internationally. So we had Mike Boren, had General Mattis at his ranch for a talk, mad Dog.
Speaker 3:Mattis, mad Dog Mattis.
Speaker 1:Mad Dog Mattis. I'm sure you know him. What a character, what a character.
Speaker 3:Great guy. You know what Donald Trump said, jim? He's got the perfect guy. He says he's right out of central casting. And Trump was right, he was right out of central casting.
Speaker 1:It was fascinating listening to him talk, but he told all these stories like really great stories for a couple of hours about china, north korea and, you know, terror, dealing with terrorists everywhere around the world. And then someone asked him what's the greatest political threat internationally right now? And he he really somberly said hey, it's not international. We know what you're gonna say. We have this chance. Where we're, we are the leaders of the free world, we are the shining light on the hill, we are the United States of America. And he said our biggest problem is just we're tearing ourselves apart here. And so I've never again a question I've never asked you. I mean, you see it, how do we?
Speaker 3:I thought his challenge was going to say our greatest challenge is national debt, which it truly is. I'm so optimistic about America on all fronts. I mean, look, bring it on, we're Americans, we can handle anything. I don't know how we get out of this thing on the debt situation, I really don't. You know, there's some scenarios I've seen where you know maybe, but all I know is we'll find a way.
Speaker 3:We've been through a revolution. We've been through a revolution. We've been through a civil war. We've been through two world wars. We've been through Jimmy Carter as president. Look, we've been through everything. We can handle this. All right, we will get through it. It's going to be painful. It's going to be painful to a degree, but we can and we will get through that. As far as the polarization look, there's two things causing the polarization in America. Number one are the social issues. You know abortion, gay rights, the trans stuff. All of this is on one side and, look, you know, that's going to sort itself out. It really is over a period of time. I think we hit the low watermark on the trans stuff. I get that, that there are people who have issues.
Speaker 3:But when they said that the boys can swim against the girls, my Democrat friend said you know, I think we've reached the end of the line here as far as how woke we're going to be. So I think that stuff's going to. I really think that stuff's going to sort of stalf out. The other side of the coin is a fight. That is absolutely nothing new. It's been around in our country since it was founded. It's been around in the world forever. Nothing new. It's been around in our country since it was founded. It's been around in the world forever. And that is what is the proper role of the United States government.
Speaker 2:Are we a?
Speaker 3:nanny state where we will do like a lot of countries in the world We'll pay for your birth, we'll pay for your food, we'll pay for your housing, we'll give you a job, we'll bury you and pay for your funeral. We will take care of you from beginning to end. Or are we what the founding fathers here said, and that is, we are a capitalist society where we own the capital, not you government? We, the people of America, own the capital Free market entrepreneurs, people who take risks, people who can go out and get a job and make money maybe a little, maybe a lot, but they can keep it, with some paid to the government to take care of what are absolute government necessities, the defense of this country.
Speaker 3:Nobody can argue with that. There's people who can't take care of themselves in this country. You can't argue with that. We're the richest country in the world. We can take care of people, not people who won't take care of themselves. I'm talking about people who can't take care of themselves. Where does that go? So are we the nanny state or are we the free market, capitalist society of the world? I don't know how anybody can argue with that. It had to be divinely inspired. I mean, look what capitalism's done to us.
Speaker 1:Well, it's a great shift to former governor of Idaho, lieutenant governor, longtime state senator. Back to Idaho. Look at our budget. Look at the way we, our people, look at our heritage. Look at that, the spirit and ingenuity and lack of regulations and government control we have in Idaho. I think we're a shining example for the rest of the country we are, of those principles.
Speaker 3:When COVID hit you couldn't believe. All my colleagues up there, people from not just blue states but from red states wringing their hands oh, this is so terrible.
Speaker 3:Oh, we're having to cut our budget, we don't have enough money. We've got to raise taxes in order to pay for this. And they said we're going to give a tax rebate tonight. And they said how can you do that? I said this is real simple. We've got a balanced budget requirement in our Constitution and it means what it says. Now, most states actually have it. Some of the states have found ways around it. Believe it or not, california has a balanced budget requirement, but they got their Supreme Court to boot.
Speaker 3:The thing so yeah, you know this is I again. I wish people could spend a couple days in my shoes back there in Washington DC and talk to people from other states. We are different, we truly are different, than people who live in other states. And you know, in the summer, when they were having all the riots and all that sort of thing, I looked at that and people said, well, what's going on in Idaho? I said nothing. You know they're looting, they're burning, they're doing this. And I said you know that's not going to happen in Idaho. They said well, how can you predict that? I said you know that's not going to happen in Idaho. They said well, how can you predict that? I said you know I watch these things on TV where people go in and loot these stores. You know what would happen in Idaho. That would end quickly and the police would have nothing to do with it. I said you know this is. You know it's a different value system.
Speaker 1:Law and order.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's neighbors right. It's a different value system, law and order. Yeah, and it's neighbors right, it's like neighbors that just don't do that.
Speaker 3:I watched a city councilwoman, a woman from Seattle, and she says I told the police they cannot arrest for looting. Looting is a First Amendment right. It's your freedom of expression to loot, I thought to myself and you wonder why they got problems over there. You know I mean that's crazy.
Speaker 1:They've destroyed them. I hope you know. You hope that they I mean they have their own evidence to learn from. I mean we were over in Seattle at our company over there and we were in a Nike store not too long ago and we watched a guy walk in and walk aisle to aisle throwing things over. It was probably 40 different items and we all notice it, our whole group, were there and we went and told the employee hey, that guy's, he's going to steal all those things and he said don't worry about it.
Speaker 1:We said don't worry about it and they said yeah, we. The policy is in the city, uh, that their police won't come anyway. And he literally went downstairs and left and I thought this is you know they.
Speaker 3:What troubles me with this is when the business owners say, well, there's nothing we can do about this, or what have you? You bet there's something that you…. There's a lot of ways you can do something about this, but they don't care a lot of these companies because they're on a cost-plus basis, that is, a cost of doing business. They just add it to the bottom line. Who?
Speaker 1:pays for it, you and me. Hey, we're almost out of time. Tell us about Vicki.
Speaker 3:She's doing great. We've married 56 years, so a long time. We've been through 36 elections together. Vicki says it's longer than 56 years because she counts election years in dog years, so it's a lot longer than 56 years. That's well, you've been through it, you know she's not wrong.
Speaker 1:I hear that number for you, I'm like oh hell on earth. No, I know you guys are partners in all you do, we do, and that's, we are partners.
Speaker 3:She comes, she comes back to D. I come home every weekend, as you know, and that's a long trip there and back. You know she comes with me about half the time, maybe a little bit more. She's got stuff she does back there. She's got things with the Senate spouses, that she started a book club and she's got all kinds of stuff going on back there.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we are partners and that's a good thing, a really good thing, well, and your kids are, are all here, and your grandkids are here kids are here.
Speaker 3:They're all close by two of them. One lives on the range, one a block away, one about a mile away, but we're we get together frequently and they they've all got their own things that they do. But you know, on on branding day everybody shows up, you know, and it's, and it's a family.
Speaker 1:That's actually. I came to branding day this year. You did that's right, but I'm going to tell on you a little bit. So I saw it going on, I thought I'm going to go down and help him, and so I went down.
Speaker 3:You didn't come down to help. You came down to take a lesson. That's what you did.
Speaker 1:Very true. But I go down there and you've got this whole crew there and everyone's getting ready. I said where's Senator Risch? They're like oh, once we get everything ready, then he shows up.
Speaker 3:So they were giving you a bad time. They didn't see what I was doing at home. I was laying out the stuff and gathering the stuff. As you know, when you're branding, it takes a lot of work to get all that stuff together.
Speaker 1:Hey, listen, I'm going to let you go, but I just want to tell you how much your example and friendship means to me personally. It's been fun the last several years. Great having you as a neighbor, Becoming friends and neighbors and thanks for your service. It's wonderful having someone represent us back there. You think of the position that you and Crapo were in on the Senate side. For us and the committees you lead as Little Idaho, it's pretty incredible there's four Super 8 committees.
Speaker 3:You know there's a lot of committees but there's only four of them that were started at the beginning. They're called Super 8 committees and Crapo and I had two of those four. So out of the 50 states, crapo and I have half of the Super 8 committees. He's on finance, I'm on foreign relations.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks for looking out for our people and for your service. Appreciate you, buddy. Thanks for coming on.