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Partial Transcript:
David Bozell: Why go through Congress? Why go through... why take on the burden of doing it via executive order? It would just be a lot easier if the agency, an unelected bureaucratic agency, could do it. So, this is what they've stumbled on. So, Pete goes on to explain the lawsuit.
Making sure there's clarity on the public health authority that the CDC has. In other words, they want to be able to use the CDC to mandate masks. But if they can mandate masks, they can mandate needles. And if they can mandate needles, they could potentially mandate what doctors you use. Remember that one? You can keep your doctor. But if CDC has the authority... to quote Cartman from South Park. If CDC has public ... this is why they're suing. To get this thing, this judge out of Florida's decision reversed. Because they want CDC to have the authority to mandate things. It's not just masks, folks. You guys are smart enough to realize that. It's not just masks. It's not just, "the vaccines." It's not just that. Could be anything.
Yeah, I mean, that's what they're really hoping for. It's like, oh, well, if we can get a judge to side with us, the CDC has the authority. Then, what, you think they're just going to stop there? You think they're just going to stop on masks on planes and public transit? No, no, no, no, no. Come on. They're more aggressive than that. Much more aggressive. They're going to go for the jugular. They're going to see how far they can stretch it. This is why this judge's decision out of Florida was so vital. This is why I don't have any respect for much of Congress.
I mean, I think I saw a tweet from John Cornyn, like, oh, so great to be on a plane without a mask. And thank God the country chose freedom over tyranny, or some such silliness. Okay, John. You did nothing. You did nothing. The judge basically did this herself. The United States Senate, particularly Republicans, aside from a few that tried, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz. When they had those votes to stop federal enforcement of the vaccine on public employees, of course, four Republicans failed to show up for that. And they lost. Outside of those couple of efforts, Republicans in Congress did nothing. They funded all this stuff, with your money. John Cornyn's out there saying, oh, yay for freedom. Okay, dude. You never did anything.
But back to Buttigieg. I mean, occasionally the truth serum comes out with these guys. And they're basically looking to find a way to give agencies...them. Secretary Pete. The power over your health, over what you wear, i.e., should you put a mask on? And maybe that might extend to what you need to put into your arm. It's a... to suggest it's a heavy constitutional question is an understatement. It's the whole ball of wax. I mean, it's that serious. Can an agency really dictate behavior? And it's not just healthcare vis-a-vis Commerce Department and what Obamacare did, which is basically forcing commerce. This isn't just... which is what they accomplished, but through the Commerce Department. This is CDC deciding what's good for the collective public health.
Pete Buttigieg: Even if they're not going to use it, right? Even if they determine, whether we're talking about trains, planes, buses that the mandate's no longer needed, and as you recall, it was actually set to expire within a few days of right now anyway.
Bret Baier: I know, but just let me... If you're sitting at home... You just told me you're going to the White House Correspondents Dinner.
And he goes on to talk about the dinner, but the preface to that is the most important. Even if we decide not to use it, we just want the authority to declare it. That is some hubris. That is some hubris. So, they're going to try to go for it. Secretary Pete's basically telling you why he wants that authority within an agency. And then the political dynamics are such that does Congress have the gumption, the guts? Are you willing to elect a Congress, are you willing to work to elect a Congress that's going to reassert its authority over runaway government agencies?