Guests - Betsy Smith, Katey McPherson, Scot Mussi, Eb Wilkinson

Tesla Owners Face Politically-Motivated Attacks Amid Heightened Tensions

The political divide in America has taken a dangerous turn as Tesla owners across the country face vandalism and violence. Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, warns Tesla drivers to remain vigilant amid a disturbing trend of attacks targeting their vehicles.

"It's insane that we have to have that conversation," Smith explains. "People are driving their Teslas and they're getting keyed, getting spit on, getting spray painted. And yes, they're getting blown up."

These attacks appear to be politically motivated, with perpetrators expressing their frustrations with President Trump and Elon Musk by targeting Tesla vehicles. The situation has become so concerning that Tesla owners are changing their behavior to protect themselves and their property.

"What I have been seeing around the county is Tesla drivers are plugging in their cars at the Tesla charging stations and they're sitting in their cars," Smith notes. "They're working on their computers, making phone calls, things like that because they're unfortunately afraid to leave their vehicles alone."

Smith advises Tesla owners to be cautious but not paranoid—being aware of their surroundings, especially at stoplights, and considering parking their vehicles in garages rather than driveways when possible.

The attacks on Teslas coincide with increasing revelations about government waste and fraud. Under the Doge administration's oversight, significant financial irregularities have been uncovered, including PPP loans issued to non-existent entities. "There were people who don't even exist yet who have not been born who were getting big loans," Smith reveals, pointing to a broader pattern of "unfettered government with no checks and balances."

Federal funds are also being scrutinized at the local level. Smith points out that Pima County has received substantial federal funding for programs to house illegal immigrants, and the County Health Department is now facing staff cuts as COVID-era funding finally runs dry.

Illegal Immigration and Crime: Preventable Tragedies

The connection between illegal immigration and violent crime remains a contentious issue, with a recent high-profile case highlighting its human cost. Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez was found guilty of the premeditated murder and rape of Rachel Moran, a 37-year-old mother of five, in Baltimore last year.

"This is another case of an illegal alien who came to this country with a murder charge already on his head from his own country," Smith explains. "And yet the Biden administration allowed him to come here and allowed him to stay here."

Moran had disappeared while jogging on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail, and her body was later discovered off-trail. DNA evidence linked Martinez Hernandez to the crime, and after a nine-day trial, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding him guilty.

Hartford County State's Attorney Allison Healy described the crime as premeditated: "Martinez Hernandez had a plan to drag a woman off the trail and rape and kill her. That woman was Rachel Moran. Rachel never got to wake up from her nightmare, but her body told us what happened."

Smith emphasizes that this tragedy was "entirely preventable" with proper immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, a separate case has sparked controversy as the Trump administration is being legally pressured to facilitate the return of a man deported to El Salvador who has been identified as an MS-13 gang member.

"The Trump administration has been ordered to facilitate his return to the United States," Smith notes with frustration. "My husband and I were just talking about this this morning because, okay, so we're going to return him to the United States. We have to facilitate it and pay for it. So that's your and my tax dollars going to bring this guy back to do what?"

The situation is further complicated by the Salvadoran president, who has compared sending the man back to "smuggling a terrorist into America." The White House has filed court documents arguing it is not obligated to facilitate the return despite a Supreme Court ruling backing a federal judge's decision that it must do so.

National Guard Deployment: A Solution to the Fentanyl Crisis?

In neighboring New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is deploying 60 to 70 National Guard members to Albuquerque to assist with the fentanyl epidemic. However, Smith questions the effectiveness of this approach, noting that the National Guard members will primarily be helping with transports and paperwork rather than addressing the root causes of the crisis.

"We have a fentanyl epidemic in this country and it really manifests here at the Southern border," Smith says. The challenge is particularly acute for understaffed police departments in cities like Tucson and Phoenix, where drug investigations are "laborious and difficult to do."

Smith contrasts this with the Trump administration's approach, pointing out that "Pete Hegseth has said we're going to send troops there and we're going to arm them and they're going to help with border security."

"The fentanyl crisis, it's a very complicated issue," Smith acknowledges. "It has to do with the cartels, it has to do with politics, it has to do with diplomacy, but we need to get a handle on it and 60 to 70 National Guardsmen are not going to cut it."

School Safety Concerns: Contrasting Cases Highlight Inconsistent Standards

Two contrasting cases in Arizona schools highlight troubling inconsistencies in how educators are disciplined for misconduct. Katie McPherson, a child advocate and former school administrator, joined the discussion to share deeply concerning updates about a teacher allowed to retire after allegedly molesting multiple girls in the Chandler School District.

A new police report from the city of Phoenix shows that Patrick Power had pending charges for sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl approximately eight days before he surrendered his teaching certificate. This revelation raises serious questions about whether school administrators were aware of his behavior before allowing him to retire.

"It lists pending charges for a sexual assault against a minor about eight days before he surrendered to his teaching certificate," McPherson explains. "It says sexual assault intercourse with opposite sex, 13-year-old."

McPherson notes that Phoenix PD had reached out to MCSO (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office) about the pending charge, meaning the information was available in police reports three years ago. Despite this, Power was allowed to retire rather than face discipline.

"This teacher was allowed as opposed to being held and disciplined. The teacher was allowed to, right before he surrendered his credentials, his way before he gave up his credentials was to have sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl," Winn says with evident frustration. "And we're just supposed to believe that no one knew this was happening."

McPherson and Winn both express outrage at the lack of accountability for Power and school administrators who knew about his inappropriate behavior but described him merely as an "over-touchy teacher."

"What is an over-touchy teacher? What is that? Oh, we have over-touchy teachers. Is that a new teaching? Does that go on your teaching certificate?" Winn questions. "He's over-touchy. They're over-touchy. They're hyper-sexualizing these kids."

McPherson suggests Power may have a longer history of misconduct than is currently known: "He's been teaching for over 35 years. And he left to California for 20-plus years and came back to Arizona and lied on his job application, which Chandler didn't flag either."

In stark contrast to Power's case, the conversation turns to Alyssa Plaza, a cheerleading coach and certified teacher from Summerton, Arizona, who was terminated by the Yuma Union High School District and had her teaching certification suspended for five years for allowing a bullied male student to change clothes in an enclosed bathroom in the coach's office inside the girls' locker room.

The student was reportedly being bullied by athletes in the boys' locker room to the point of contemplating suicide. Plaza ensured no girls were present in the locker room at the time and was supervising the situation.

"She didn't allow him just to go into the girls' locker room. She let him use a place to change so he could not be bullied. And there were no girls in the locker room when he did this, and now she's going to lose her teaching certificate," Winn says. "This is the same state system that allowed the other man to grope and touch 14 girls."

McPherson notes that Plaza "was never contacted by anyone from the district to get her side of the story," suggesting the process was fundamentally unfair. Both the student and his mother have publicly supported Plaza.

"If I were her administrator, I would of course redirect her like, 'Hey, we can't have him in there. Let's find another option,'" McPherson says, suggesting that the punishment is disproportionate to the offense, particularly given that "the man at Castile that was manhandling 13 girls was given a letter of direction."

Arizona Free Enterprise Club Secures Election Integrity Victory

Scot Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, joined the discussion to share a significant legal victory regarding election integrity in Arizona. The organization has successfully secured agreements from all 15 county recorders in Arizona to verify the citizenship status of voters who haven't provided proof of citizenship.

"We know exactly how many registered voters in Arizona have not provided proof of citizenship. And right now it's about 50,000," Mussi explains. "These are voters who are allowed to vote for the House, for the Senate, for President, but they've never provided proof of citizenship."

Arizona pioneered requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration in 2004, making it the first state in the country to implement such a requirement. However, federal law mandates that states accept the federal voter registration form, which doesn't require proof of citizenship.

This created a bifurcated system where voters can register using the federal form without proof of citizenship but are only eligible to vote in federal elections, not state or local ones. In 2022, Arizona passed a law requiring county recorders to conduct monthly checks to verify the citizenship of these registrants.

The Free Enterprise Club identified a 1996 federal law requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to answer inquiries from state and local officials about individuals' citizenship status for lawful purposes. After initial resistance from county recorders, the Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit.

"Initially, Yavapai and Mohave County recorders settled and submitted requests to DHS, though the Biden administration reportedly did not respond to these inquiries," Mussi notes. The situation changed with executive orders from both the outgoing Biden administration and the Trump administration directing DHS to follow the law.

Following these developments, all remaining county recorders have agreed to settle the lawsuit and have submitted requests to DHS to begin verification of these voters' citizenship status.

"We're really excited because that means that these 50,000 people, their citizenship can be verified," Mussi says. "Probably some of them will end up being citizens, which is great because that means that those people will now be able to vote full ballot... And any foreigner who's registered to vote, and we know that this does happen... we'll be able to find those people more easily and make sure they're not on the voting rolls anymore."

Mussi also discussed the Free Enterprise Club's efforts to reform Arizona's election system to ensure timely results on election night, similar to Florida's model. A bill addressing this issue was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs, but there is now discussion about referring the legislation to the ballot for the 2026 election.

The Free Enterprise Club has also been active in other areas, including challenging provisions in the state's Election Procedures Manual that they believed violated free speech rights and fighting EPA regulations targeting Arizona's ozone levels.

"Our own levels are actually lower than they were 20 years ago, and that's in a course where our state population has nearly doubled," Mussi explains. "What happened though is there's two things. One is that the EPA raised the bar on what it meant to meet the threshold. But then the second thing was that it turns out that most of the ozone problems that we have in Maricopa County in Arizona are actually not being caused by human activity."

Mussi warns that such regulations are often used as pretexts for implementing broader environmental agendas: "It's actually to solve other problems the left is trying to implement. In this case, it's the Green New Deal. They were using ozone as the excuse to come in and implement all of their radical environmental policies."

The Free Enterprise Club is also scrutinizing Governor Hobbs' financial management after revelations that she diverted approximately $120 million to fund a COVID-era program that lacked legislative approval.

"Katie Hobbes knew after the last budget cycle that there was a COVID-era program that was getting federally funded, but that funding was going to stop, that there was no additional funding for the program. And it was never approved in last year's budget," Mussi explains. "Well, she decided to let the funding continue anyways into that program and diverted funds from existing programs to fund that COVID-era program. And so now we have $120 million shortfall that the legislature is now trying to go and have to fix."

Market Volatility: Staying Calm Amid Political Fearmongering

Financial advisor Eb Wilkinson joined the discussion to provide perspective on recent market volatility and counter politically-motivated fearmongering about the economy. Responding to claims that the market is down 20%, Wilkinson offers hard data:

"As of about 45 seconds ago, from January 1st, the Dow Jones is down 4.46%. That's nothing," Wilkinson states. "The average rate of decline of the market from peak to trough during any one year period of time is 15%. It'll go from the high to the low 15%. But it will always come back and make new highs."

Wilkinson notes that the current market decline from its peak this year is only 9.95%, which is "two-thirds of the way to a normal annual fluctuation. We're not even normal yet."

He cautions against panic selling: "For anybody who says, 'Oh, I'm going to pull my money out and wait,' they're idiots. They're being driven by fear."

Putting current volatility in historical context, Wilkinson points out that over any five to seven-year period, the market typically fluctuates 30% from peak to trough before recovering to new highs. He cites previous significant market downturns that eventually recovered:

"The last time was first quarter of 2020. It went down 37% and recovered before most people knew it had gone down. The time before that was 2007, 2009. The time before that was 2000, the Y2K fiasco. The time before that was 1994. And the time before that was October 19th, 1987, Black Monday, where it went down 25% in one day."

His advice for investors is clear: "These are savings. These are investments. These aren't bank accounts." For those managing their own investments, he recommends finding "an advisor that you know, like, and trust and listen to them."

Wilkinson, who serves as chair of the finance committee for the NRA, also mentioned the upcoming annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, noting that "Every time there's an NRA annual meeting, violent crime in the city that we hold that drops about 95%."

His parting investment advice combines humor with practicality: "For anybody who wants to invest in precious metals, lead copper brass," referencing ammunition as a tangible asset.