Our Mission at The Conservative Treehouse is to be the premier assembly of freedom loving people. To that end we commit to:
(1) The highest standard of stewardship for our fellowship.
(2) Being intolerant of hate and division.
(3) Uphold faith in the purposes of a loving God; however you perceive him to be.
(4) Affirm the inherent dignity, value and right to privacy of our members.
(5) The accurate dissemination of truth; without fear or apology, because ultimately the Truth Has No Agenda.
The Conservative Tree House may be called a Last Refuge for each of us for different reasons. Whatever trail through the woods brought us here, we have shared the turmoil of storms as we have been finding our voices as individuals in this growing community
Perhaps you’ve had some truly shockingly cruel things said to you purely because you believe in limited government and fiscal conservatism. Perhaps you not only believe that we should be self-reliant and personally responsible, but also believe that when we are allowed to depend on ourselves, we are stronger, more successful, take greater pride in ourselves and our work, and are more likely to make positive contributions to society. And then we are happier people, or at least more likely to be happier.
Which lends to the following theory: Fear is at the core of modern liberalism, and love/trust is at the core of conservatism. Modern liberalism, most commonly evolved to leftism, is about control. Conservatism is about self-empowerment.
Control is a reaction to fear. Think in terms or politics and society – the fear behind liberalism is the fear that someone might withhold things (opportunities, money, whatever) from me, fear that if you live your life in a way I dislike that it might affect my life, fear that if you get that job, there will be nothing left for me. Fear that if you make tons of money, it’s means there’s less money out there for me. So people who believe in leftist ideologies seek control as a means of trying to create guarantees and safeguards against those circumstances they fear.
Modern “liberals”, leftists, try to control the world and people to enable their comfort and happiness. Which, as we know, is an endless quest. Trying to control others does nothing in the way of making oneself happy. By extension, voting in this mindset so that government can try to control others will also – shocking – not lead to a happier, more comfortable life.
The conservative (and moderate, independent, but for the sake of expediency, the conservative), on the other hand, relies on himself to meet his own needs. And the trade off of being free to live his life as he wishes is also understanding that he has to make peace with how you live yours. By extension, aware that he wants to be able to hold onto this liberty and freedom forever, the conservative votes accordingly, so that everyone can remain free and in charge of his or her own life.
But here’s the crucial difference, perhaps, particularly where misery on the left stems: The conservative does not worry, so to speak, about you. The conservative knows that you were born with the same access to self-love, self-empowerment, self-determination and self-reliance that we all were, no matter the circumstances into which you were born. (Think about the millions of people this country has allowed to crawl up from poverty into prosperity – the conservative KNOWS this is possible.) And the conservative believes that if you want prosperity, or a good job, or a good education, you can make it happen – but you have to work hard.
The conservative hopes and intends that the free markets bring you all of the affordable and positive opportunities and resources that you need. The conservative also knows that on the other side of that hard work is great reward – material and, more importantly, emotional, spiritual and mental.
The conservative understands that not only is it a waste of time to try to control you, it’s actually impossible. Humans were born to be free. And if we put a roadblock in front of you, you’ll find another way around it. So we see attempts at control as a waste of resources, energy and time at best, and at worst, creating detrimental results that serve to hinder people’s upward mobility or teach dependence. We see much more efficiency, as well as endless opportunity, in leaving you to your own devices. And we want the same in return.
This is where modern democrats mis-view conservatives as heartless. But really, the conservative believes that there is one and one path only to sustainable success and independence – and that is self-empowerment. All other avenues – welfare, affirmative action, housing loans you can’t actually afford – ultimately risk doing a disservice to people as they teach dependence on special circumstances, the govt, or arbitrary assistance (that can disappear tomorrow). And the real danger – they will ALWAYS backfire, and leave the recipient in equally or more dire circumstances. Any false improvement will always expire.
The conservative believes in abundance. The liberal believes in scarcity.
The conservative believes man is born free and will be who he is, no matter what arbitrary limitations or rules are put on him. The leftist believes man is perfectible, and by extension, believes a society at large is perfectible, and command and control is justified in the quest to a “perfect” utopian society. (Sounds familiar!)
The conservative tends to be more faithful – and not necessarily in God, but in the ability of the individual to find great strength in himself (or from his God) to get what he needs and to be successful. Therefore the conservative has an outlet for his fear and disappointment – trust and faith in something bigger.
The leftist believes the system must be perfected in order to enable success. Therefore disappointment is channeled as anger and blame at the system. Voids are left to be filled by faith in the govt, which they surely then want to come in and “fix” things.
And therein lies the roots of love and fear respectively. For the conservative, when life presents great struggles, he knows he has the power to surmount them. Happiness stems from internal strength and perseverance. For the modern leftist, when life presents great struggles, the system failed, therefore they were at the mercy of a faulty system, and they believe that only when the system is fixed can their life improve. Happiness is built on systemic contingencies, which they will then seek to control or expect someone else to.
One blames himself. The other blames anyone and everyone but himself.
And there it is. There’s where the meanness comes from. The leftist ideology causes that person to cast anger at the world when things go wrong or appear “unfair.” He constantly chooses only to see the “injustices” – and that makes for a very miserable, mean, blame-casting existence.
One last point that we have seen over and over and over with many (not all) of our leftist friends: Extreme stinginess and cheapness.
In our conservative community growing up, we were always taught that you give when people are in need – make donations to the Red Cross when there’s an earthquake, donate to charity when you can afford it, etc. Even if it’s just $50 here and there – it’s the right thing to do. Conservatives see this as the responsibility that comes with gaining from the capitalistic system; if you happen to benefit greatly from the system, it’s your duty to give back.
The liberal, on the other hand, does not seem to share this same viewpoint, at least not in my experience. And perhaps think this is linked to believing in scarcity, and that your dollar comes at the cost of mine. So it seems that liberals, on some level of consciousness, feel guilty about not being voluntarily charitable. Therefore, to write off their guilt, they outsource their “generosity” to the government by voting for wealth re-distributive policies. Thus, the liberal cheats himself of the joy and addictiveness of direct generosity. (Not to mention – re distributive policies ALWAYS end up dis-empowering those who they’re meant to help.)
However each of us got here, it’s probably a fact that we have the turmoil of those storms in common, perhaps some unease that we could share and always, we also find fresh ground to cover from day to day. We’re developing valuable relationships as we trust one another in our community in the woods. The chatting in the branches encourages, strengthens and equips for some serious walking.
We think the Treehouse is a good armory for those who doing long distance walking for the sake of our nation. We hope you’ll think so, too. Find yourself a good branch….or just pull up a rock to the campfire.
Posted originally on the CTH on October 1, 2023 | Sundance
This is good stuff. Brutally good stuff. I’m going to begin by repeating what I said last week.
I do not know if Matt Gaetz is the worthy Ty Cobb of Republican politics or not, but I do know he is currently one of the only people that is not pretending. That elevates him in my view. Oh sure, he’ll probably acquiesce to the pressures and sell out just like the rest of them, but right now – in his best form – Matt Gaetz has dropped the pretense, and that has sent the machinery of the DC Republican system into fits of apoplexy. Good.
I’m at the point of frustration with this nonsense where apoplexy, anger and visible ‘losing their sh*t’ makes me smile.
As CTH has outlined for well over a decade, the last federal budget that went through the appropriations process, passed both chambers and was signed by a president, was the fiscal year 2008 budget signed in September 2007 by George W Bush. Every single budget from that moment to today has been a series of continuing resolutions, omnibus spending packages (mini and regular) and baseline budgeted CR extensions. So, when Gaetz says it needs to stop, he’s holding the righteous high ground, and it doesn’t matter which congressional or media voice tries to say he’s wrong. He ain’t wrong.
Today, Gaetz said he’s willing to do whatever it takes, to see Kevin McCarthy taken down -OR- forcibly propped up by the Democrats in congress. Which, I might add, will highlight the exact nature of the UniParty construct with a clarity not before understood by the majority of Americans. Go for it, Matt… Make it happen. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on September 29, 2023 | Sundance
Spurred from several recent conversations, it becomes entirely necessary for this specific audience to understand a reality that is never discussed.
If you are reading this, wherever you are reading this, by self-association you are in a select group of high information people with a much larger understanding of the issues than your network. That means you know, comprehend, understand and have a level of insight and discernment that is far above average. Now, let me be brutally honest.
Factually speaking, all of the people within the mechanisms of DC, the people you associate with being key allies to fight back against the visible corruption, the people you assign hope toward, are not as smart as you.
Re-read that as needed.
One of the biggest shifts of thinking needed, in order to change our dynamic to the abusive relationship with government, is to realize these people you consider important are just not that smart. They are not wiser; they are not more strategic; they are not as well versed in the details at the heart of the crisis; they are not as well informed; they do not have special access to information that makes them more capable; they do not understand the issues better than you.
Again, RE-READ that with new eyes to evaluate and understand the challenge.
It doesn’t matter what position they hold, or what access they have, or what groups, interests, networks or information resources are at their disposal. You know more than them, and you understand the material at a much higher level of comprehension than they do. It does not matter what their rank or importance is, YOU know more. Once you realize this, then you begin to change how you look at the challenge and at their functional capability within it.
The informational context you assign to them does not exist. The things you think they know, they don’t. The very specific information you believe they are aware of, does not exist in their mind. The people in Washington DC, those allies who you think might have the skills to fix issues, have no concept of what material you are aware of. You are light years ahead of them in the scale of information you understand, and the context it means.
I am not being hyperbolic.
Here’s the kicker…. They think they are more aware than you.
The system around them reinforces a belief that they hold some level of knowledge that you do not have. As a result, when they engage with you, they talk down to you, or talk in a manner of unintentional intellectual condescension that stems from a place where they cannot fathom your level of knowledge.
If you have the opportunity to talk to them, I mean really get beyond the surface level stuff and dig into the weeds (even the shallow weeds), suddenly they start to get a strange look on their face – that becomes fear – as your knowledge starts to destabilize their prior view of you.
Let me be very clear and precise. It doesn’t matter who they are, or what title they hold; the same reality of material fact that I am describing applies to all of them – at every level.
If you think of a top apex-level person, currently or formerly inside government, that aligns with the principles of freedom and liberty – and has a keen awareness of the issues and subject matter that has created our current crisis dynamic, I have likely spoken to them. Those who fit that description, and may even be reading this right now, will tell you in a moment of brutal honesty, I am correct.
The people you think can fix this stuff have no idea how much you know. Additionally, it becomes destabilizing and unnerving for them to accept your level of information and understanding.
Another key and important element, beyond the knowledge, intellect, wisdom and discernment level… YOU care more about it than they do. The stuff that you know, the stuff that you yearn for them to address and fix, is more important to you than it is to them.
Why am I telling you this?
Because we all need to change your reference points when communicating with them. We need to confront their condescension early in our contact. We need to be deliberate, direct, and brutally honest in our delivery.
When we write to them, articulate the arguments. When we talk to them, pull them into the weeds of the issues and force them to see that our grasp of the topic far exceeds their ability to bullshit their way around the issue.
Being courteous, respectful and considerate for their role, does not mean you have to dumb yourself down or consider yourself subservient to their view.
I guarantee you two things. First, that you know the material better than they do. Second, I absolutely guarantee that you care more than they do. What that latter element says about the challenge is for another discussion, but these key points need to be emphasized.
Posted originally on the CTH on September 27, 2023 | Sundance
Long before the 2024 election was ever in the mindset of voters, CTH pointed out the specific moves the people who control Nikki Haley were taking in 2018 {GO DEEP}. It wasn’t difficult to predict, because Haley followed the Bush plan to an exacting measure.
The BUSH PLAN is the five-year roadmap that modern Republican consultants use to position their principal in the approved Republican lane. “This ‘Five Year Plan‘ was the same historic approach done for Ronald Reagan. With a candidate in the private sector, the professional donor-class make investments in the candidate while it is legal to do so. The investments are made in anticipation of future influence. This is simply how money influences politics.”
It is not coincidental that it was also 2018, when DeSantis exited his congressional seat to establish the 2024 agenda. The U.N, as an institution, is also in alignment with the high-brow Prescott Bush clan. Ms. Nikki Haley is regarded by this clan as a very valuable commodity. As I said in 2018, “If they can’t get Jeb, or another Bush (ie. DeSantis) over the finish line, they will be much better positioned with investments in Nikki Haley.”
To be sure, for the voters this is an impossible lift, but the RNC/RGA donor class do not regard the voters as part of the equation. For too many years they have assembled the illusion of choice, and they are still stuck in that paradigm. They did not feel threatened by the Tea Party, and they quite simply do not understand the larger MAGA movement.
The billionaires feel ‘above the fray‘ in their sheeple constructs; and remember, for them Newsom is just fine too.
Sept 27 (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley appears to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ faltering campaign, with more donors saying they are looking more closely at her candidacy as an alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump.
Reuters spoke to four donors and one source close to a major donor who were impressed by the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the first Republican presidential debate in August and said they were keen to donate should she continue to strengthen as a candidate.
They will be watching to see how she does at the second debate in California on Wednesday night among those vying to win the party’s nomination to run for president in the 2024 election.
DeSantis, once seen as the most formidable challenger to former President Trump, has struggled to catch fire amid missteps and relentless Trump attacks on his candidacy. Despite his campaign’s struggles he has retained the support of some major donors.
Donors are crucial to keeping White House hopefuls afloat, and the willingness of some to now look beyond DeSantis underscores his struggle to convince donors that he is the best alternative to Trump. It also shows the despair of some Republican establishment donors looking for a viable candidate who is not Trump.
Of the five donors looking at Haley, three have so far broadly sat out the campaign while one has donated to DeSantis and another was supportive of him but did not donate. Reuters also spoke to a half dozen Haley donors, advisers to donors, and even supporters of other candidates who said more donors are looking at Haley. (read more)
For a deep dive into the financial construct Nikki Haley put together {Go Here}; reference the CTH archives from November 2019, when she registered the Stand For America SuperPAC. For an overall summary of what she has been doing {GO HERE}, and see the internal citations assembled a few weeks ago. Haley’s superpac donor files have been leaked, and the funding pattern is similar to Ron DeSantis, only Nikki Haley has more rich democrats. (GO DEEP)
…”“I don’t think [Trump’s] going to be in the picture,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.” […] “We need to acknowledge he let us down,” she said. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.” (link)
Posted originally on the CTH on September 19, 2023 | Sundance
I should have presented this a week ago, but now it seems more important.
Joe Biden will almost certainly not be the DNC nominee in ’24 coming out of the convention. Most likely, in the next 90 days, something is going to surface that will indicate exactly why and how this move is going to take place.
Biden was installed by the Obama network for a single four-year term with multiple intentions – the rapid escalation of far-left progressive objectives and policies, in combination with a need to control the outcomes of DC systems to protect the Obama network from scrutiny. This is the reason why the Lightbringer maintained an operational residence in DC that was more akin to a policy and control command center.
The entire Biden administration is seeded with like-minded travelers from the tribe of Teh One. However, in/around the time Susan Rice was withdrawn from the Biden team in the White House, a shift was visible. Team Obama began a slow withdrawal of influence, and the shallower, less strategic, team of Biden became more autonomous. The shift was subtle, but people -even media- began to notice increased blunders and Biden contradictions.
If my suspicions are correct, we are likely to see a gradual Obama team exit from DC, culminating in a sale of his Kalorama neighborhood “residence.” Team Obama are very skilled at timing exits to avoid being impacted by collateral damage inside crises they create. Unlike what some might claim, there is not going to be an Obama approved ’24 candidate, and Big Mike is not part of the equation.
Inside the modern Democrat wing of the UniParty there have always been two factions of power. The Obama (progressive, activist) faction, and the Clinton (power, greed) traditional faction. The two teams hate each other, each seeing only a limited pie for sharing, but they align under common interests.
You might remember how it was Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, who dragged Barack Obama into the Libya/Egypt mess. Aloof and above the fray, Obama didn’t want to participate in what was going to be a predictable failure. Within that dynamic, Obama was focused on the radical transformation of domestic politics. Other than feeding the Lightbringer’s ego, foreign policy wasn’t really the Obama team’s focus.
After Clinton left the Obama administration, she and Obama agreed to insert John Podesta for the purpose of safeguarding her interests and relaying information back to team Clinton. Again, neither Clinton nor Obama trusted each other.
Fast forward to this current time of slow and quiet Obama withdrawal, while Biden remains tenuously in office. Team Obama have carried out almost three years of extreme transformation within the US body politic. Whether this transformation is reversible is an argument for another day, but now the consequence phase begins. This establishes the predicate for the Obama influence removal – the ‘exit’ per se’.
Anthony Blinken (current Secretary of State) and Jake Sullivan (current National Security Advisor) are/were part of Team Clinton – the more power/greed centric Democrat apparatus that sells govt influence to corporations as a business model. You will note this overall Clinton outlook aligns with the Biden family enterprise.
Put it together, stand back and look from the 30,000 ft level, and what you will notice is a lean backward by Team Obama (mission accomplished), and a lean forward by Team Clinton, opportunities exist now.
(Via AP) – […] The need to “Keep Going” is the theme of this year’s Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, as Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conference’s return last year after a six-year hiatus.
CGI plans to announce the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, as well as numerous financial pledges, to support nonprofits working in the country.
The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday,
In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference.
However, for nonprofits working in Ukraine, the spotlight CGI is offering them, 18 months after Russia’s invasion of the country, may be just as important as the monetary commitments.
The nonprofit Save Ukraine, which has opened community centers across the country to help families and especially children traumatized by the war and works to rescue Ukrainian children who have been detained in Russia, is set to receive commitments of support during CGI that it plans to use to open more centers, said Olga Yerokhina, spokeswoman for the charity. (read more)
Yes, the multinationals are always the controlling factor. After all, they control the politicians. However, the politicians control the distribution of the treasury assets, and the Clinton family legacy of affluence is driven by controlling the destination of those govt funds.
The fundamental change Obama initiated is deeply ingrained in the domestic intelligence systems now. DHS, CISA, and on down the line to FBI and Main Justice, are fully weaponized for political targeting. Into this status, enhanced Artificial Intelligence is about to be launched; the system is indeed overloaded, and social crisis will ultimately be the outcome as the threads that bind the republic are torn. Obama doesn’t need to stand close and watch; their mission is essentially complete.
Worrisome statutes of limitation have been purposefully run out. Energy policy is structurally changed. Pipelines destroyed, leases cancelled, green new deal embedded in the policy which will manifest the outcome of solar and windmill nonsense. The borders are wide open, and tens-of-millions of illegal aliens have flooded in. Lisa Monaco has the DOJ’s Trump targeting operation well under control with a compliant media to assist. The treasury is broke, and the military is woke.
Three years of extreme leftist agenda, and now the eyes turn to 2024.
Obama doesn’t want anything to do with that, but Clinton sees a financial opportunity.
Joe Biden will not be the DNC ’24 nominee….. and there’s no way in hell he will be the 2025 POTUS with Obama in retreat.
I saw a woman wearing a rainbow “I read banned books” shirt. Decades ago, less even, perhaps I would have asked what was in her library. Today, the banned books are merely woke propaganda intent on confusing the youth, steering them away from organized religion and tradition. The banned school books are vulgar tools to make children question their identity and GROOM them to understand sinister aspects of sexuality before they hit puberty.
Senator John Kennedy has never been one to shy away from the truth. The video above shows Kennedy reading from a book that has no place in the hands of children. The school board clutched their pearls and became irate with Kennedy for reading excerpts of various books. Why should we allow children to read pornographic books in school that are too crude for adults? It has absolutely no educational value.
The libs say claim that banning books is equivalent to the Third Reich burning all literary pieces that did not fit the Nazi agenda. They want the masses to believe that the right is simply banning books because they hate gays and are narrow-minded bigots. But just listen to the passages in these books – it is graphic pedophilia gay pornography. PEN America and the American Library Association has made it their mission to prevent future book bans. The organization states on its website:
“Books are under profound attack in the United States. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school boards, legislators, and prison authorities. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against the banning of books and the intolerance, exclusion, and censorship that undergird it.”
Pen America is even suing various publishing houses for not providing schools with this filth. Pen America is funded by numerous liberal philanthropists and organizations. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation donated $750,000 recently, and is hosting an event next week called “Reading, Power, and Freedom,” to discuss placing smut books in schools. One of the keynote speakers edits “Gender & Sexuality in Information Studies,” so clearly we know where her focus lies. All of their donors happen to be fixated on sexuality and strongly believe small children should be exposed to this deranged commentary.
Posted originally on the CTH on September 17, 2023 | Sundance
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) created the systems that permit intelligence weaponization. The SSCI is the organizational institution that supports the Fourth Branch of Government, the intelligence branch. Keep in mind, the SSCI previously created a bipartisan “Restrict Act,” to deal with what they deemed dangerous information on the internet (under auspices of TikTok ban). SSCI Chairman Mark Warner is the current enabler of the continued weaponized intel operations.
In this video segment below, notice how Chairman Warner leads off his remarks. Two flares triggered. First, you can tell by his response, that President Trump’s “classified documents” were exactly what we thought they were; evidence against those who constructed the Trump-Russia claims from inside govt. Second, notice how Warner now wants to block any President from controlling intelligence as defined by the Fourth Branch. This stuff is getting brutally obvious. WATCH:
“I’ve got bipartisan legislation that would reform the whole classification process. We way overclassify. We, frankly, should have a process in place so that no president or vice president ever takes documents after they leave office.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Virginia Democrat Mark Warner. He is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Great to have you here.
REP. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Thank you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I have to pick up where your Republican colleague just left off. Are the Trump and Biden classified documents that were in their personal possession, and not in controlled areas, equally egregious?
MARK WARNER: Well, Margaret, three things quickly. One, the administration took way too long to get us these documents. Two, while Mike and I have a great working relationship, I believe, based on the documents I’ve seen, that there is a difference in terms of the potential abuse that came from the Trump documents. And, third, it’s one of the reasons why I’ve got bipartisan legislation that would reform the whole classification process. We way overclassify. We, frankly, should have a process in place so that no president or vice president ever takes documents after they leave office. That is kind of the lowest common fruit.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
MARK WARNER: We ought to get that passed. We’ve got part of that in the intel authorization bill and I hope becomes the law of the land so we can prevent this from happening going forward.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve said based on documents you’ve seen, but you want to see more documents?
MARK WARNER: We have actually — I’m about at 98 percent satisfaction at this point.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, 98 percent satisfaction.
There’s a lot more on the national security front that we’re tracking right now, including this potential prisoner swap with Iran to bring five Americans home. Are you comfortable with the trade?
MARK WARNER: I’ve not gotten the brief. The Senate Intel Committee has not gotten the brief. We will be getting it shortly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Wasn’t the staff briefed?
MARK WARNER: Well, I can tell you, I have not been personally briefed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You weren’t? OK.
MARK WARNER: I think we need to start with the premise, it’s always the policy of our country to try to bring back Americans, who are held hostage. That was not only under Biden, it was Trump, it was Obama, Bush. I want to hear what kind of constraints are being put on in this exchange in terms of what has been reported of the $6 billion that was South Korean payments to Iran that would be released. I want to hear that and get those details before I weigh in further.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you have concern that money is fungible and there could be abuse?
MARK WARNER: I – you know, there is obviously — money is fungible. The administration has said there are guardrails. I want to get a better description of those guardrails first.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have been very active on artificial intelligence. And we talked about this back in January.
Microsoft just announced a few days ago that China has a new capability to automatically generate images for use in influence operations to mimic American voters across the political spectrum and create controversy along racial, economic and ideological lines. How much of a risk is this to our upcoming elections?
MARK WARNER: It’s an enormous risk. And artificial intelligence, I’ve spent as much time on this I think as any member of the Senate, and I never spent something where you — the more time I spend, in certain ways the more confused I get. The whole economics around these large language models, which used to be, you know, who had the most data, who had the most compute power would win. That fundamentally changed after Facebook released its so- called llama model into the wild in the spring.
We just had a major session, Leader Schumer put together, had the kind of the who’s who in the room. And what it – what I’m concerned about is even the AI leaders who say they want rules, guardrails, I’m concerned that when you actually put words on paper will those major tech companies support that? Because you’ve seen, we in social media have done zero.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
MARK WARNER: Now, in terms of China, China is a major player in AI. And where I think we ought to start, where AI tools, whether it comes from China or domestically, could have the most immediate effect would be the public (INAUDIBLE) in our elections –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. And (INAUDIBLE) legislative reaction.
MARK WARNER: Which Microsoft just cited. And hear — hear me – hear me out – hear me out on this. But the other area beyond elections is faith in our public markets. These same tools could completely disrupt the confidence in our public markets by using these same deep fake tools.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
MARK WARNER: So, I believe we ought to start. If we can put together an alliance between the capitalists and the small d democrats, we might at least get guardrails coming in the next year with the elections and the concerns about our markets.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you’re concerned not just about spooking, you know, the stock market. We’re talking about misleading people going into an election. Congress isn’t going to legislate ahead of the election, are they? I mean Leader Schumer said this is the most difficult thing we’ve ever undertaken.
MARK WARNER: I think this is – this is why the notion of trying to solve it all, the bias questions, the whole questions around deep fakes –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
MARK WARNER: The questions around what’s called hallucination, where you get answers that have no relationship to what the question was asked. But we ought to at least start with some guardrails around trust in our public election, trust in our public markets. There I think we can move before our elections. I think it will be bipartisan. Let’s start on that framing point. I think we can all agree there could be huge disruption in both of those areas. And that’s where I’m focusing my time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You may have heard our CBS polling there at the top of the program. And one of the data points I want to show you here. It says, when people compare their finances now to how they were before the pandemic, by two to one they say they’re worse, not better. And when they feel worse, they tell us they’re voting for Donald Trump.
How can President Biden win over those voters?
MARK WARNER: Well, I think we’ve seen from President Biden’s actual record, record amounts of job growth coming again after Covid. We’ve seen major legislation. There are now laws in infrastructure, in the so-called CHIPS bill, and transition in our energy economy, and most of that has only been about 10 cents on every dollar spent out. So, I think the positive effects of that will really continue to penetrate this coming year.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do the people in Virginia feel that, that you talk to?
MARK WARNER: I – listen, I think there is a general feeling, oh, my gosh, everybody seems to be at each other’s throats here in Washington.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
MARK WARNER: You know, the notion that we’re going to potentially go into a government shutdown. Mike Turner and I work very closely together.
But I do think – I wish the House leadership would be spending a little more time on what would happen with a government shutdown, which makes us look bad around the world, and, frankly, in a state like mine, in Virginia, where we have so many government workers, government contractors, it will be a disaster. And yet the attention coming out of the House leadership is on impeachment and putting forward things they know will not ever pass the Senate in any kind of bipartisan fashion. And I think that is part of the underlying unease that voters feel.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you believe we are headed for a government shutdown?
MARK WARNER: I would like to say no, but we’re eight or nine days away and we’ve not even been able to see the House pass the most basic defense appropriations bills. I hope and pray that Speaker McCarthy will say, hey, I’m going to throw over the far right, and I’m going to put together a bipartisan effort with the Democrats and mainstream Republicans to keep the government funded. I think that would get, again, 350, 400 votes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, good to have you here in person.
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