Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at http://betterhelp.com/USEFUL and get on your way to being your best self.

Check out DeleteMe and use our code IDIOTS for a great deal: https://joindeleteme.com

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click here for the full interviews with Yanis Varoufakis: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-yanis-varoufakis-928?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

See Katie and Yanis live in Brussels on March 7: https://diem25.org/brussels-event-the-battle-for-europes-future-starts-now-yanis-varoufakis-katie-halper-grace-blakeley-and-melanie-schweizer/

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Brian Stelter: Voters Who Want Peace Are Illiterate https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/brian-stelter-voters-who-want-peace?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

Useful Idiots’ resident economist Yanis Varoufakis returns to the show this week to analyze Trump and Musk’s chainsaw cuts to Medicaid, USAID, and other government programs, answering the important question: is it actually bad for a government to run a deficit?

But before getting into the DOGE of it all, Varoufakis gives an economic explanation for how Trump reclaimed power, and whose fault it is.

“Donald Trump is the creation of the Democratic Party's spectacular, lamentable failures,” he says. “The first time he was elected, it was entirely due to Barack Obama. Barack Obama betrayed every single promise or principle that he put forward in 2008.”

And his reelection was a result of the same calculated missteps by the Dems. “The average American couldn't make ends meet. And yet the liberal establishment were saying you've never had it so good and you should celebrate the fact that we've had a recovery in the labor market and inflation. People couldn't make ends meet. And there was a Democratic establishment telling them that it was the best of all possible worlds. How dare you complain about your finances?”

Just as he did after Obama, Trump capitalized on this: “Trump comes again and says, I'm looking you in the eye and I can recognize your pain and I'm going to make you great. So he got elected as a result of very concerted efforts by the Democrats to lose.”

Share

But will Trump follow through on these promises to help the working class, or will the donors in Mar-a-Lago trump the voters?

“The Republicans,” Yanis explains, “are notorious for being exceptionally liberal when it comes to handing money to themselves, to their friends, to the financial and real estate community. They have no problem doing that. But they look at a single cent, nickel, or dime being spent on a poor person and they scream blue murder. Why? Because they are class warriors. They're in the business of conducting a vicious class war against the little people.”

But the even harsher reality, he says, is the reason it will be so challenging to fix any of these problems: “Unfortunately, the Democrats have been even more efficient class warriors than the Republicans.”

Subscribe for the full interview with Yanis Varoufakis where he explains this, plus why Amazon is “the wet dream of the Soviet Economic Planning Ministry,” how technofeudalism killed capitalism, and the real reason that Germany is so beholden to Israel (hint: it’s not Holocaust guilt like they say).

00:00 Intro

01:01 Dems are MAD about peace talks with Russia

09:20 Trump's totally gonna cut Medicaid

20:30 Jake Tapper lied about everything

24:38 Meet the Snowflake: Christopher Rufo

28:50 Yanis Varoufakis interview

29:54 Less evil voting

34:44 Will Trump lower the cost of eggs?

38:59 Does government spending cause inflation?

42:36 What is the impact of a deficit?

45:30 Is it bad to run a deficit?

51:15 They're lying through their teeth

53:44 What is Elon Musk doing?

58:22 What is technofeudalism?

1:02:34 How do we stop Amazon?

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com
* Check out DeleteMe and use my code IDIOTS for a great deal: https://joindeleteme.com


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy