Don't Let The Facts

Ryan Ray and Ben Samuels are at it again (not on LinkedIn LIVE yet though) #DLTF.

Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts (only hot and fresh) are the GOAT.

How much does a shoulder surgery cost out of pocket?

How does healthcare operate in this country?

How did the Ever Given get stuck and unstuck?

What is China focused on as we continue to reset globally?

Follow us:

Ryan @ryanraysr on Twitter
Ben @baspermian on Twitter

Ryan and Ben take another run at solving the socioeconomic landscape of America and abroad in less than 90 minutes.

Ryan - https://twitter.com/ryanraysr

https://twitter.com/baspermian


Some questions that come up:

Is having access to power in your home a right?

Who’s to blame for the Texas power grid failure?

Should ERCOT (et al) winterize their infrastructure now?

What is wrong with the free market principle?

Why is poverty seemingly engrained into any climate change model?

…tune in to see what else we get into!

Support the show - https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF

Ben puts Ryan in the hot seat today as they take a trip around the geopolitical globe on topics ranging from rare earth metal mining, China’s near term agenda, oil prices, domestic renewable initiatives and more...



What would you do if you were President Xi?

What’s President Biden’s Middle East play?

Join Ryan Ray and Ben Samuels as they dig into the latest Mike Lindel, CEO of my pillow, Video about the recent claims on election voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election cycle. Where there’s smoke, is there fire or just more smoke?




https://www.factcheck.org/2020/12/audit-in-michigan-county-refutes-dominion-conspiracy-theory/

https://michaeljlindell.com/


https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/feb/05/mypillow-ceo-lindells-film-not-intended-be-taken-f/

Join Ben and Ryan as they take a break from the political punditry to talk sports. Is Tom Brady the GOAT? What would Ken Griffey Jr’s career look like if he had been injury-free?

RED SOX NATION

2/1/21 DLTF rundown

Pedroia retires

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30816259/boston-red-sox-dustin-pedroia-announces-retirement-mlb?platform=amp
Pedroia, 37, a four-time All-Star who was named American League Rookie of the Year in 2007 and AL MVP in 2008, played his entire 17-season professional career in the Red Sox organization. He won three World Series rings and was a four-time Gold Glove winner.

"Dustin is so much more than his American League Most Valuable Player award, his All-Star game selections, and the Gold Gloves he amassed throughout his impressive 17-year playing career in our organization," Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement.

"Dustin came to represent the kind of grit, passion and competitive drive that resonates with baseball fans everywhere, and especially with Red Sox fans. He played the game he loves in service to our club, its principles and in pursuit of championships. Most of all, we are forever grateful to him for what he brought to our club and our region as an important role model showing all of us how much one can accomplish with determination and hard work."

Congressional Term Limits

https://t.co/0QYSqFKPTs
https://t.co/3xRgwMEyjg

We dig into the debate over congressional term limits a bit and discussed some of the ways America might be able to become great again.

Can the swamp really be drained?

Exxon/Chevron & Tesla (Has the stock market decoupled from reality?

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/exxon-chevron-ceos-discussed-merger-11612126203

https://www.barrons.com/amp/articles/exxon-chevron-merger-seems-like-a-stretch-heres-why-51612211492

$GME Robinhood and Wall Street

We follow the story of GameStop and Robin Hood a bit here. Who should be held accountable and how?

https://www.thestreet.com/.amp/investing/robinhood-ceo-to-testify-before-congress-report

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-29/reddit-traders-on-robinhood-are-on-both-sides-of-gamestop

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/business/robinhood-needed-3-billion-to-cover-risky-trades-its-chief-told-elon-musk.amp.html

https://amp.ft.com/content/790324e0-8526-4d9e-9717-a4430e1be034

On today's episode, Ben Samuels and Ryan Ray discuss the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage.

Support the shoe - https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF

Show notes:



In 2019, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to gradually lift the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to take it up. The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009.



Florida is the eighth state to adopt an eventual $15-an-hour pay floor, joining California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York—plus Washington DC, according to the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. The Amendment 2 proposition calls for gradually raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone-oil-idUSKBN29R1RB

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-a-15-minimum-wage-would-mean-businesses-workers-employment-2021-1

https://qz.com/1959766/why-joe-biden-plans-to-raise-the-federal-minimum-wage/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/business/economy/minimum-wage-15-dollar-hour.html

https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

https://www.inc.com/magazine/201603/norm-brodsky/15-minimum-wage-consequences-for-businesses.html



The Keystone XL Pipeline is the fourth phase of the Keystone Pipeline System, an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States solely owned by TC Energy, commissioned in 2010.

Keystone XL is a 1,210-mile (1,947-km) pipeline capable of safely delivering 830,000 barrels per day (Bbl/day) of crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it will connect with TC Energy’s existing facilities to reach U.S. Gulf Coast refiners to meet critical needs for transportation fuel and useful manufactured products. The pipeline project will invest US$8.0 billion into the North American economy.

Pipelines are the safest method of transporting crude oil and natural gas over long distances, and we are constantly striving to make them safer. Every day, our teams across North America work tirelessly to proactively maintain our pipelines, adopting innovative solutions in energy transportation and incorporating past learnings to push us closer to our ‘zero is real’ goal.

Each day in the U.S., more than 2.5 million miles of pipeline transport energy safely to intermediate and end-use markets. That’s enough pipe to circle the Earth 100 times.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone-oil-idUSKBN29R1RB

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-01-24/what-s-next-keystone-xl-pipeline-video

Want to hear more from Ben Samuels and Ryan Ray? Support the show by subscribing to the War Room Newsletter where Ben and Ryan both publish regular opinion pieces.

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The U.S. government contributed just over $10 billion to the United Nations in 2018, the most recent fiscal year with full data available. About two-thirds of this total was voluntary and one-third was assessed. This represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States spends annually on foreign aid. By comparison, that is about what the government allocates annually to the U.S. Coast Guard.

For example, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which previously relied on the United States for about one-third of its budget, said it would be forced to cut 250 jobs in 2018 after the Trump administration halted contributions to the agency. In a September 2018 letter [PDF], more than thirty U.S. senators warned the administration that the cuts could prevent 140,000 people from receiving food aid and more than 70,000 people from accessing clean water, though European and Gulf donors have helped to make up for the shortfall.



And in May 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO completely—a move that would deprive the agency of nearly $900 million biennially—over concerns about Chinese influence. However, some legal experts have argued Trump doesn’t have the authority to pull out of the international body without congressional approval.



Is this a new debate?



Past U.S. presidents and lawmakers have sought to decrease payments to the United Nations. In the late 1990s, for example, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led an effort to force reforms at the United Nations by withholding U.S. contributions. The United States nearly lost its vote in the General Assembly as millions of dollars in unpaid assessments accrued. The instability ended in 2001 with a compromise between Congress and the United Nations. The deal, struck by Helms and then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), reduced the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25 percent to 22 percent.”



https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/un-turns-seventy-five-heres-how-make-it-relevant-again

https://www.vox.com/22187132/joe-biden-united-nations-china-trump

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/oct/28/12-steps-to-a-more-effective-un

https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs

https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29352/how-to-make-diplomacy-more-effective-and-inclusive-in-the-new-age-of-pluralism