Thank you for all the birthday wishes, guys! Enjoy the final part of the Trump series! I’m so glad you guys didn’t turn this into a political quarrel!
Me: Will he repeal and replace Obamacare or will he just amend it? What’s going to happen there?
Erik (nonchalantly): It’ll be gone.
Me: Will it transition such that people are not going to be without insurance?
Erik: Insurance will be more widespread and coverage will be easier.
Kim: This is what he’s showing me. I don’t know what you’d call it, but it’s almost like based on where you live. I can’t even imagine such a change. He’s talking about how you’ll pay a certain amount to the government—state of federal, I’m not sure—based on where you live. Whoa, he’s making my ear ring.
Erik: You pay according to where you live, and there’ll be widespread coverage. There’s security in that.
He’s talking about the people currently on Obamacare that will transition off of it.
Erik: If you want to go down to your zip code, you can. Your zip code will determine how much you pay.
Me: Okay. It’s almost like car insurance.
Erik: You’ll pay into this big pot.
Me: Like a risk pool.
That might be necessary to cover those with pre-existing disease.
Erik: That way, everybody is covered.
Me: Will it be cheaper than Obamacare? Because my sister got a notice that hers is going up to $1,700 a month! That’s just not tenable!
Erik: Compare it to Canada. Will it get more expensive? No.
Me: Will there be a public option for people who can’t afford it? Is that what you’re saying? Will there be a public and a private option? Or will it all be health savings accounts, insurance sold across state lines, tort reform and things like that?
(Pause)
Kim: He’s not really talking about that. It’s kind of scary. Okay, here’s your zip code. Here’s how much you’re going to pay a year, a month, I don’t know. And if you can’t afford that, it’s almost like you get punished. I don’t know if you get a fee or what.
Me: Well, if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it!
Erik: It’ll have something to do with your citizenship.
Kim: That’s so scary to me.
Me: So if you’re undocumented, you don’t get the insurance? Is that what he’s saying?
Erik: Yes.
Me: Okay, so that’s what it is.
Kim: His energy got stronger when you said that.
Me: What will he do, if anything, about the astronomical college tuition and student debt? Just a few more questions.
Erik: I don’t think he’s just going to wipe it clean.
Me: No.
Erik: It’s not going to be this thing where everything is going to be forgiven.
Me: Will he help in any way?
Erik: He’ll put systems in place that will make it more manageable and relieve it down to a personal level, but he’s someone who believes in cause and effect. If you created the debt, you should be responsible for it.
Me: Yeah, there’s still some personal responsibility.
Why shift that responsibility to the taxpayer who didn’t benefit by their education?
Me: Don’t be a poetry major and expect to get a job to pay off your debt! Well, what will he do, if anything, about the rising cost of college tuition?
Kim: This is going to change. He shows Trump breaking it down and capping it out, putting a cap on it.
Me: All right. Manage it like the utilities, maybe. What will his environmental policies be like? Will Mother Earth hate him? He says he wants clean air and clean water. I guess he wants the Keystone Pipeline, and environmentalists are all upset about that, but of course they can just clean up after themselves and plant some pretty azaleas around the pumps and everything will be fine. I’m just kidding! I’m just kidding, people!
No hate mail, please!
Kim: As far as being environmentally friendly, Erik doesn’t see Trump as an advocate for the environment.
Me: All right. Will he make our environment worse because of his policies? Just a yes or no.
Erik: You’re going to see a lot of waste, initially. He’ll exhaust some resources at first, but it’s necessary to go through that phase to change it around. Then you’ll see a complete turnaround.
Me: Oh, good! Okay. Thank god.
Erik: He’ll find more natural ways to achieve what he wants.
Kim: I don’t know why Erik finds this topic so funny!
Erik: Kim, we’re talking about Trump!
Me: Yeah, so that’s funny. All right, really quickly. Will he get rid of any departments like the Department of Education, Energy, blah, blah, blah?
(Long pause)
Kim: Um—
Me: Or the IRS! That would be nice! Get rid of the IRS!
Erik: He will, but after some time.
Me: So he will, but not right away?
Erik: Yeah, but again, it’s not a priority. He’s got a list. (Placing both hands out, palms up) “Here’s my priorities,” (motioning to his left hand) “And oh, yeah. Here are some other things.” (motioning to his right hand.)
Me: He can’t do everything he wants, I guess. Will he get rid of a significant amount of fraud, waste, duplication and abuse in the government? Just a yes or no.
Erik: Yes.
Me: Okay, last question. What will our relationship with Russia and China be like?
Kim: When he shows China, he shows us above them. I don’t know if he means financially or…
Me: Well what are you SAYING, Erik? Use your words.
Kim: He’s using image. He’s showing us above China but at the same level with Russia. It’s very interesting, though, because between us and Russia, he’s showing a lot of tension. Between us and China, there’s not. I think that’s why we’re at a level playing field with Russia. It doesn’t feel good, though. It feels like a lot of tension. It feels like a lot of mutual fear and mutual respect out of fear.
Me: Well, peace through strength, man. Peace through strength. Maybe that’s the whole idea.
Erik: And strength in numbers.
Kim: So I don’t know if we just buddy up. I can’t imagine. That’s not what it feels like.
(It’s probably strength because of an increase in a variety of weapons and military assets.)
Kim: But with China, it feels very friendly. I don’t know if it’s because they’ll respect us a lot out of fear because of him or what. He shows them a little bit below—
Me: Well, if he revamps the military, you know, if he brings our military back up to the 21st century, then maybe that’s where the fear is going to come from. That’s like with Reagan and his peace through strength. Is that what he’s saying? Hopefully? I just don’t like that there’s fear in the equation, but…
Kim: Again, he’s showing me we’re on a level playing field with Russia, but we’re also like a loose cannon, ready to blow at any minute because there’s so much tension between us.
Me: Well, will everything be okay?
Erik: Yeah, but you’ll feel the tension.
Me: Okay. One question that I did forget and that’s the Iran nuclear deal. What’s going to happen to that? I don’t like that deal. I don’t like that they’re on the path to—they HATE us, and I don’t like that they’re on the path to military nuclear weapons.
Erik: As far as us being involved, you’ll see Trump try to reform or change it. It’s a ticking time bomb that Trump will be able to disarm.
Me: Okay, good. That’s good! Great! Thank you, Erik! Thank you, Kim! This is a long YouTube, but people really need this to either, I don’t know. I hope it’ll make people feel better. Maybe in some ways it’ll make people feel worse, but we got what we got. So, everybody pray for Trump and our country. That’s all we can do. Hopefully he’ll do a good job.
Erik: Don’t forget to pray for yourselves.
Me: Yeah, exactly! All right. I’ll talk to you in a little bit. Thanks, guys, for watching!
Kim: Bye-bye.
Me: Bye.
