3.25.26 Government control and public tolerance, Muslim converts to Christianity, a drop in Memphis violent crime, and Nebraska families battling wildfire

Good morning, border claims, ballot deadlines and pressure on Iran and U.S. airports.

When you get a two or a three-hour line in a place like Atlanta, that becomes a soft

target in and of itself.

That's a head-on Washington Wednesday hunter-baker standing by.

Also today, World Tour a bishop charged with leading converts from Islam.

Their families on the front lines fighting wildfire.

Everybody has a part to play and the wives that have to stay home are doing a lot of

praying.

And commentator Cal Thomas on the Great Wealth Migration.

It's Wednesday, March 25th.

This is the world and everything in it from listener-supported world radio.

I'm Lindsay Mast.

And I'm Nick Eiger.

Good morning.

Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

President Trump said once again on Tuesday that things are looking up with regard to possibly

ending the war in Iran soon.

We're in negotiations right now.

They're doing it along with Marco JD.

We have a number of people doing it and the other side I can tell you they'd like to

make a deal.

The president there referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD

Vance.

Trump pointed to an unspecified goodwill gesture of some kind from Iran, which he said was

quote, oil and gas-related as evidence that his administration is now dealing with the

right people.

The gift they made to us was very significant and they said they were going to do it and

it happened and they're the only ones that could have done it.

The president has backed off a threat to order strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure

because of what he said was Iran's willingness to make a deal that would end the country's

nuclear program.

Iran initially denied that it is holding talks with the U.S., but Iran's foreign minister

has held separate calls with his counterparts in Egypt, Oman, Pakistan and Turkey and those

are the same countries reportedly trying to mediate with the U.S. to end the war.

That comes as the U.S. military is reportedly set to deploy around a thousand troops from

the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days.

Meanwhile in Israel, a familiar sound.

Sirens blared over Tel Aviv yesterday as an Iranian missile was spotted over Central Israel.

Crews picked through debris after a missile hit several residential buildings injuring

at least a dozen people.

But Israel's military says Iran is now firing fewer and fewer missiles.

Their general every different says Iran fired fewer than a hundred missiles on the first

day of the conflict, half that the second day, and is now firing an average of about ten

per day.

Meanwhile, Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Denon, issuing a challenge to other world

leaders to tighten the screws on Iran.

Where are you?

Where is the moral clarity?

Where is the urgency?

Where is your leadership?

Israel is already in the arena.

This is your moment to step up, to recognize the common enemy, to act now before it's too

late for your people, to act with unity, with resolve and clarity.

The non-sold reporters at Iran's recent missile launch toward the joint U.S. UK base on Diego

Garcia Island could demonstrate that Iran has a greater missile strike range than previously

known.

At that, he says makes Iran a global threat.

At the White House, attorney general Pam Bondi administering the oath of office to newly

confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, World's Benjamin Iker reports.

The former Oklahoma GOP Senator takes over the Department of Homeland Security 40 days

into a partial government shutdown.

Senate Republicans are optimistic about landing a deal to pass DHS funding later this week

after meeting with President Trump on Monday.

Republicans are also talking about passing additional funding for ICE operations and some

elements of the SAVE America Act through a process known as budget reconciliation.

Mullen explains, there's a framework that we can do through reconciliation, pay and

for it puts some of the policies that cost money in because there's nothing more important

than SAVE America Act.

That legislation aims to require voter verification, including photo ID in national elections.

Trump over the weekend said he would not support breaking up the DHS appropriations bill

to handle ICE separately, but when asked about it on Tuesday, he told reporters the process

is up to Congress.

Lawmakers are planning to fly home on Friday for a two-week recess for Easter and Passover,

so the incentive is strong to land a deal soon.

For World, I'm Benjamin Iker.

And Oklahoma's governor has chosen a temporary replacement for Mark Wayne Mullen in the Senate.

Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has appointed Energy Executive Alan Armstrong to fill the

newly vacant U.S. Senate seat through the end of the year.

Few people have done more to champion America's first agenda to keep Oklahoma at the center

of domestic production so that we can deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy to American

citizens than Alan Armstrong.

Armstrong is the chairman and former CEO of Williams Companies, a major pipeline operator

based in Tulsa.

I will admit to you, I feel like I'm stepping off into the abyss with not exactly sure

what I'm getting into, but I've confident got great team around me, great support around

me, and I look really do look forward to making a difference for the short time that I'm

in the Senate.

Under Oklahoma law, Armstrong must agree not to run for a full term in November's general

election.

America is aiming to not only go back to the moon, it's planning to set up shop on the

lunar surface.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman just announced a $20 billion plan to build a permanent base

on the moon within seven years.

To free up resources, the agency is canceling its planned lunar gateway space station, which

was designed to orbit the moon, and it will direct those already constructed components

toward a surface base instead.

America will never again give up the moon.

That brings us to the next step, building the moon base.

It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing gateway in its current form and

focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface.

The first crude moon landing is now targeted for Artemis 4 in 2028, with annual lunar missions

to follow.

The urgency is driven in part by China, which is targeting its own crude moon landing

by 2030.

I'm Kent Coveington, and straight ahead on Washington Wednesday, the political importance

of two major Supreme Court cases, under Baker, is standing by to talk about it, plus fighting

wildfires becomes a family affair for Nebraska ranchers.

This is The World and Everything In It.

It's Wednesday, March 25th.

Glad to have you along for today's edition of The World and Everything In It.

Good morning.

I'm Lindsay Mast.

And I'm Nick Eichert.

Time now for Washington Wednesday and joining us is political scientist Hunter Baker.

He is a world opinions contributor and our regular Washington Wednesday political analyst.

Good morning to you, sir.

Good morning.

Well, Hunter, two really big Supreme Court cases this week will cover the legal arguments

in due course after our legal affairs team has had a chance to get at them.

But today, two in a row here, Tuesday and Monday, I want to talk with you about the political

importance of both of them, because I think they are politically important, Hunter.

Because whatever the court decides, these are huge issues.

So let's begin, I think with the most recent one first, the asylum claims case.

Now, the legal question is going to turn on when someone has quote unquote arrived in the United States.

But politically, this is more about control of the border.

These claims can take years to resolve and do take years to resolve.

And in the meantime, people may be here in a kind of limbo.

Simply, you know, beyond effective control.

So politically, is this case likely to reignite the immigration debate regardless of how it goes?

It's just going to add to the ongoing controversy.

I mean, it's interesting that there are many of us above a certain age who can remember

when immigration was a very minor issue in American politics.

And that has obviously changed, just become a really serious one.

I mean, there was a time in the past when the border was relatively porous,

and people came and went, but now things are different.

And part of that is because we have, you know, a much broader social safety net

and more ways to provide for these people.

And people are sending tons of money back across the border.

So it has a much larger impact, not to mention the employment competition

than perhaps it once did.

And, you know, this case about asylum, well, asylum laws make a ton of sense,

particularly when you think about the old Cold War context.

People might be seeking asylum and we would want to help them.

But I think that what's happened is, is like many parts of our immigration system,

it's become unmanageable.

You know, people have realized that claiming asylum is a sort of a magic key

that opens the door to being here for some indefinite time,

knowing that the administrative and judicial overload is there.

It's going to be a long time before anybody is able to adjudicate it.

And so now they're trying to decide, right?

You know, can you, can you actually prevent people from stepping foot into the country

and therefore making some kind of asylum claim?

When is somebody actually in the country able to make such a claim?

My view is, is that we need to step back and re-look at the whole immigration system.

I think that we probably need some kind of comprehensive legislation to address these problems.

But until then, we're going to continue kind of peace meal working through these issues.

And of course, the Trump administration's approach has been just to make it real clear

that it's not going to be easy to cross the border.

And therefore, to discourage a big part of that mass of people trying to come over.

Well, Hunter, similar thread, but different.

I'd like to jump to the case argued Monday.

That one was a case about mail-in voting.

The legal issue is going to revolve around deadlines.

But this seems, again, like part of a much larger argument,

not unlike the debate over the Save Act, election integrity, public confidence,

and what the rules of voting are supposed to guarantee.

So again, regardless of what the court does,

the court isn't going to settle the issue.

It seems more likely it may reawaken it at some level, don't you think?

It really could.

I actually think that a ruling from the court on this will be welcome.

You know, we've talked about the Save Act.

We've talked about when you discuss the idea of a really solid voter ID plan for Americans.

We all know that the polling has indicated the support is high.

In my time, working with a political depolarization project,

one of the things that we talked about was elections.

And we gathered a diverse group of people.

And one of the things that they were pretty united on

was the idea of being able to have election integrity

to be sure that the result is a real result

to be sure that citizens are voting and to have voter ID.

So this is the same kind of a thing, right,

when we talk about votes that come in after an election.

And when you have close elections,

and we're having an awful lot of close elections these days,

it's just devastating to have this idea

that late ballots could come in and affect the outcome in some way

that we could have electoral votes of a state

decided effectively after the election,

after we sort of think we already know the outcome.

And so I think the court has taken a really hard look at this idea.

Well, what does election day really mean?

And trying to, I think they have the opportunity

to really improve the confidence of Americans

in the electoral process.

There are other things in the SAVE Act addresses

some of those other things.

But to me, this question of how late our ballots

gonna be allowed to come in, this is a huge question.

The court, I think, can really help us with this one.

Well, Hunter, let's talk about the government shutdown.

You'll remember, of course, the record setting

shut down toward the end of the year

that nobody really noticed.

This is a much smaller one,

but it is really hitting people

and we're getting a lot of news about it

because ordinary people are showing up at airports

and seeing the effects of this.

Now, of course, we've reported about the pressure

that's building these long, long lines

at airport security checkpoints.

TSA reported that more than 400 agents have quit

since the beginning of the shutdown.

41% on Sunday called in sick in Atlanta.

That's one of the world's busiest airports.

Of course, now President Trump has deployed ice agents

to try to keep the lines moving and to some success.

But let's listen to a former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.

He served in the first Trump administration

and he talked about sending ice in

and what that was all about.

When you get a two or a three hour line

in a place like Atlanta or any other major airport,

that becomes a soft target in and of itself.

Those baggage claims in a lot of the places

where you see those lines are not secure areas

of that airport, meaning anyone from the public

can come into those areas.

And so again, ice is being surged into there,

making sure that those travelers are safe

before they even get into that secure part of the airport.

So Hunter, do a political risk assessment here.

How does that work in a situation like this?

First of all, I just want to say that

you are talking to a three hours early to the airport guy.

Even before, right?

And I think that the reason that I am that

is because I remember that post 9-11 period

when the security thing could really stretch out long.

And so here I am, over 20 years later,

still reacting to that.

So it really affects people and certainly people like me.

With regard to this question about putting ice

into the airports to help with TSA,

I think this is kind of a political masterstroke.

I mean, it's a different look for ice.

You've got them helping out in a situation

that is very frustrating to a lot of people.

So here they are, they're present,

they're helping to alleviate the burden on the traveler

and on those brave TSA agents who are showing up

despite their paychecks not being delivered.

And so this kind of takes the focus off of Minneapolis

and gives you a different sort of a look, right?

It kind of pushes the idea of ice back into our vision

of the regular federal workforce,

the regular law enforcement, you know,

they're not just out there on those icy streets

of Minneapolis, they're doing something that probably

just about everybody is happy that they're doing.

Now in terms of the broader issue

of what's been going on with the shutdown,

I mean, I think that most Americans are probably

deeply frustrated with government not taking care of business,

not dealing with the nuts and bolts

of what they're supposed to do.

If the government cannot handle TSA,

we could just as easily hand this over

to some sort of a private workforce to handle,

but instead the government has taken control of this function

and now everybody is subject to when government breaks down.

So what I would say is I think that we're seeing that politics

is eating government as taking the American people hostage

with what I think are ridiculous battles

that should not be going on.

If you want to change policy,

don't use shutdowns to impose changes of policy.

Campaign on your change and make it obvious

what the change is that you want and win elections.

Don't create misery in the midst of an administration,

but that's what's going on so far.

Well Hunter, the president continues to indicate

that a deal might be near with Iran.

He's said in the Oval Office yesterday

that talks with Iran are ongoing

and that leaders there agree to never have a nuclear weapon.

But the Wall Street Journal is reporting

that the president will deploy 3,000 troops

from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East,

officials the journal talked to say

that doesn't mean there will be boots on the ground,

but this also doesn't seem to indicate

we're nearing the end either.

Is this boiling down to a test of who can outlast?

And if so, which side do you think has the will to keep going?

Yeah, this is some very high wire stuff

for the American president.

And I think that Donald Trump,

when he managed to win that second term

after losing in 2020 comes back in 2024 and wins,

I think that it just made him believe in himself

more than he ever did before.

And that was already a lot.

And so he was able to take on this very ambitious plan

of tariffs and then Venezuela and Cuba

and now tackling the big bad guy, Iran.

And you asked who can outlast?

Well, that's for Iran, that's the only question, right?

I mean, if this was a straight up military battle,

they lose.

It's over, right?

Most of their military is destroyed.

Much of their leadership has been killed,

but that's not the game in the modern world.

The game is an asymmetric one.

And everybody understands that if you're going to beat

the United States of America,

you're going to do it in an asymmetric fashion

by creating discomfort,

particularly among American citizens

and facilitated by the American media.

So that's the game.

You're right.

Who can outlast all of this pain and discomfort?

But one thing that our founders knew,

and they talked about the things that you had to take

account of, reason, revelation, and the law of fashion.

And when I say the law of fashion,

I do not mean the length of skirts

or the type of hats that men might wear.

I mean public opinion.

And Americans have always recognized

that public opinion is a powerful force

that may be the most powerful force

that we deal with outside of the sovereignty of God.

And have the American people been convinced?

Not yet, it appears.

Pulling indicates that probably below 40% of people

support the action.

They may not like Iran.

They may think it would be better

if Iran was gone, destabilized, defeated.

But they're not sure this was necessary.

And so they're encountering pain in the pump,

pain in the 401K.

And those gas prices will also eventually

hit the stores if they have it already.

So people need to believe in a successful ending

to this thing.

They've already been traumatized by our failures

in the Middle East.

And they're dying to believe that he's telling the truth

about productive talks with Iran right now.

If that happens, it's going to be a tremendous win.

But if we're still where we are,

or anywhere close to it at the midterms,

I can't even imagine how painful that will be

for Trump and the Republicans.

Hunter Baker is provost at North Greenville University.

Hunter, thank you so much.

We'll see you next week.

Thank you.

Additional support comes from Water's Edge, competitive rates

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ST Dunstins Academy dot O.R.G.

Coming up next on the world and everything in it, World Tour.

A Sudan-born convert is now leading an Anglican diocese

of Muslim converts around the world

without restrictions of borders.

World's Africa reporter, Oniseya Dua,

brings us this special report.

Bishop Yasser Eric vividly remembers

when he lost his childhood.

He was eight and carted away to an Islamic school in Sudan

without explanation.

We were beaten up every single day, you know,

because the education system there is not being done

by educators.

He learned to memorize the Quran,

though he barely understood the text.

He waited for two years before his father

finally returned to pick him up.

Eric comes from a reputable Islamic family in Sudan

and was trained to also follow the faith.

I was not taught to tolerate.

I was not taught to accept diversity.

Within our community,

but I was taught to hate Jews, to hate Christians,

but even other sector of Muslim Doshia,

because I was a Sunni Muslim.

That began to change after he visited a hospital

where his cousin was gravely ill.

There, he met two captor Christians

who asked to pray over the sick boy.

He listened as they prayed with compassion

and intimacy with God.

I was watching all of this,

and the minute they said I'm in,

this child opened his eyes for the first time,

and life came back into him.

But he says the biggest miracle that day

was not the physical healing, but his change of heart.

That was 1990, when I gave my life to Christ,

and I said to Jesus,

if you're really the one that this person is speaking about,

I would like you to come into my life and change me.

And this is what he did.

His conversion only marks the start of his journey.

Eric describes the Islamic culture as a collective community,

or Uma, where one gets identity,

but also pays the price for defying the norm.

So I was caught off from the Uma, from my family,

and then I was also in prison because of my faith.

But this is not only my story.

This, you could say, the story of converts

across the Muslim world.

Eric eventually left for Kenya to study theology.

He met a German family that eventually

took him to their home country.

He continued his studies there and now lectures

at Columbia International University in Germany.

Eric is also tasked with leading a non-geographical province

from Muslim background believers

under the Global Anglican Communion,

a group of conservative Anglicans.

The diocese is unusual without a fixed location or cathedral.

Its members run from West African nations like Senegal

to Central Asia and as far as Afghanistan.

Some worship in underground house churches for their safety.

Eric says the community has become a spiritual lifeline

for the Muslim converts.

They would lose their homes.

They would lose the Islamic community.

But then the Christian community is not

open to receive them for different reasons.

Sometimes security reasons.

Sometimes social reasons.

Sometimes it's also cultural reasons.

And so you leave your home, you leave your home,

and you belong nowhere.

And for those people, God have called us

to establish a home.

He says what he's doing now is a natural extension

of what was done for him.

You know, I'm talking to you today

because of people who opened their homes,

people who opened their hearts, people who accompanied me,

who discipled me, and who showed me who Jesus Christ

and what I'm doing now is exactly what I received.

I'm just giving it back.

Eric says he isn't so much lead in a church

as he is integrated in a family

within the body of Christ.

That's this week's World War.

I'm Anisea Dua in Abuja, Nigeria.

Coming up next on the world and everything in it,

safety in Memphis.

That city in Tennessee has long had a reputation

as one of the most dangerous in the nation.

Six months ago, the Memphis Safe Task Force arrived

in the city, and this week, President Trump hosted a roundtable

there to tout its success.

World's Mary Muncie reports.

The FBI says Memphis has been in the city for a long time.

The FBI says Memphis had the highest violent crime rate

of any city in the U.S. in 2024.

It had been steadily climbing for a decade

and reached an all-time high in 2023.

And while it had been trending downwards since then,

it remained alarmingly high.

That's bird president Trump to launch the Memphis Safe Task Force.

It's the same tactic used by Washington, D.C.

It combines the FBI, DEA, National Guard, and others

to try to make the city safer.

Without question, the public safety outlook in Memphis

has improved dramatically.

In the past six months, collectively,

our efforts have resulted in a 43 percent reduction

in total serious crimes, 37 percent reduction in murder,

56 percent reduction in robbery.

Jay Krish has owned a convenience store

in downtown Memphis for the last 10 years.

He sees the National Guard everywhere

and says he thinks the increased presence

is helping tourists feel safer.

We got a new public safety guard.

It's a new team.

So they're doing a really good job right now,

like they've been helping every day,

checking on the business, taking on the people,

taking care of the two recent everything.

Another Memphis worker told World

World the difference in the last six months

has been night and day.

But others see it differently, protesting the task force.

Democratic State Representative Justin Pearson told WNC TV.

Some people accuse the task force

of harassing minorities.

And the mayor claims it's having a chilling effect.

Others, like Democratic Congressman Stephen Cohen,

say the task force isn't doing what Trump says it is.

The task force came into Memphis in September 25.

Prime was already down 25 percent

because the good worker were very young

and are police director Davis.

They continue to do their good work.

In his view, the Surgeon FBI and DEA agents was helpful.

But the National Guard and ICE need to go home.

Back at the round table,

U.S. Marshal Service Director Gaddi Sarolta

says public events have gotten safer.

He points to the St. Jude marathon in December.

We're 22,000 runners gathered

without a single reported downtown burglary

compared to multiple incidents in the prior year.

Meanwhile, President Trump says

he wants to expand this tactic to other American cities.

Another two or three months,

you don't have no crime.

He encouraged Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton

to keep focusing on tough on crime bills.

Some of those measures include denying bail

to some violent offenders

and increasing penalties for both adults

and juvenile offenders.

Reporting for World, I'm Mary Muncie.

It's opening day for Major League Baseball.

Yes, baseball is back and with it one more branded interruption.

MLB rolling out for 2026,

an all-new ABS challenge.

Automated balls and strikes,

each team receiving two chances per game

to show up theump without getting kicked out of the ballpark.

Only the batter, pit,

or catcher gets to challenge by tapping his helmet or cap.

The system tracks the questionable call.

The scoreboard shows the result

and we all get a little closer to living inside a video game.

They even tried it out at last year's All-Star Game.

Ball down, what do you think?

Yeah, I like that.

Made it balls and strikes.

It's similar to his network.

There are a lot of things that you can do

to make sure you don't have to worry about it.

It's similar to his network.

There it is yet another revenue opportunity

brought to you by your name here.

It's the world and everything in it.

Today is Wednesday, March 25th.

Thank you for turning to World Radio

to help start your day.

Good morning.

I'm Nick Eiker.

And I'm Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on the world and everything in it,

fire in America's heartland.

Last week, Nebraska experienced

the biggest wildfire in its history.

The moral fire decimated an area

of the size of Rhode Island,

burning up the food supply of roughly 35,000 head of cattle.

World correspondent Elizabeth Shanks spoke

with a ranch family on the front lines,

fighting back the fire for days until help arrived.

Christine Maloy's six kids know

how to do what they're told.

A lot of kids out here are raised

to listen to their parents really well

because of safety.

Christine is loading hers

onto ATVs on the family ranch in Angora and Nebraska.

Each armed with a shovel.

Her husband Koo is leading a search to find the fire's edge.

That's where they'll begin working.

Their second day in a row.

The family documents everything with videos.

This fire started on March 12th

when Hurricane Force wins down to Powerpole.

That lit the San Hills grasslands

about six miles from the family's ranch.

It erased 12 miles in the first 10 minutes

and kept growing.

No containment on this fire.

No containment on this fire.

The fire blew through five counties over four days.

The only thing that stood between the area ranches

and that fire were the people who lived there.

And without water,

dirt was the best way to extinguish it.

We put out a whole bunch

and then came back over the hill

and what we had already put out had flared back up

because something smoldered and took off again.

So we had to put it all out again.

For the older folks, it's nothing new.

Since just after the Civil War,

generations of Maloy's have fought off fires

on this stretch of native prairie,

perfect for grazing cattle

but easily decimated by fire and wind.

Carmen Maloy is Kooch's mother.

He has a part to play

and the wives that have to stay home

are doing a lot of praying

and trying not to worry

will my man get hurt.

You know, will my kid,

will my child get hurt?

Okay, I'm kidding.

Kooch volunteers with the Bridgeport Fire Department

and he trains all of his kids,

Carmen's grandkids.

Eleven-year-old cameo.

You take your shovel

and if there's anything smouldering

you want to kick this stuff back.

This is cameo's second fire.

So then it's at least three feet

and that might still not even be enough

because of the wind.

So you also put dirt on it.

And she says it's worse than her first.

It was scary because it was bigger.

But then you think about it and it's like

you feel so good that you helped your neighbors

instead of sitting at home.

Megan Thoreau is cameo's 15-year-old cousin

and this is her first fire.

I kept wondering about

if we had to get the fire out

because it was coming towards our house

and then I kept on waking up.

Nebraska rinks right behind Texas

in beef production and much of that

comes from these family-owned ranches.

Half of the ranch land in Nebraska

is in the burn zone,

an area roughly the size of Maryland.

About 30 neighbors

and volunteer firefighters

work alongside Kooch and his family,

judging up dirt with shovels

and tractors to cover burning yucca,

you can't go very fast,

especially in a lot of the terrain

where it's real hilly.

There's no time to lose in a fire like this.

Lives and livelihoods are at stake.

One elderly woman died trying to flee the fire.

The total cattle loss is being tallied.

The land can't be grays for one to two years.

And those who can't afford to feed their cows

will have to sell them.

38 miles away,

Naomi Lumis is considered a neighbor.

Well, she was fighting fire

at another ranch,

flame swept through her yard.

The Maloy kids showed up the next morning.

And they're just so willing to help us

put that fire out,

because the wind did change

and we did need their assistance for sure.

The Lumis has lost everything

but their house and barn.

Neighbors and friends are bringing semi-loads of hay

so they can feed their livestock.

They're just there because they love you.

They love you because of Jesus

and they want to help you.

They've read the Bible, they know,

like, you know, we're friends in Christ.

So that is so uplifting about...

Over the weekend, locals raised funds

for the volunteer fire departments.

Today, the fire is at 98% containment.

Christine Maloy again.

I mean, it would have burned to Lincoln

if we would have waited.

It would have gone

clear to Kansas.

It just would have kept going.

And while the smoke clears,

another generation of tough Nebraska ranchers

has been tested by fire

and come out more confident in themselves

and each other.

Reporting for World, I'm Elizabeth Shank.

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Good morning.

This is the World and everything in it

from Lucifer-supported World Radio.

I'm Lindsay Mast.

The latest IRS data simply confirm what we have all known,

that upper-income people are leaving high-tech states

and heading for lower-tech states.

Here is commentary from World's Cal Thomas.

New York Governor Kathy Hocal has provided

one of the clearest demonstrations in recent memory

of what happens when political rhetoric

collides with economic reality.

Back in 2022, campaigning against Republicans,

Hocal had this to say,

the era of Trump and Zeldin and Moanero,

just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong.

Okay? Get out of town. Get out of town because you don't represent our values.

You are not New Yorkers.

That was then. Here is Hocal last week.

I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs

that we want to have in our state. Right?

No, there are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up.

Okay, cut me the checks.

I mean, just if you want to be supportive,

but maybe the first step should be go down to Palm Beach

and see who you can bring back home,

because our tech space has been eroded.

So this is how you woo people back.

First, you tell them they do not represent your values

and do not belong.

Then when their departure begins to pinch the treasury,

you demand they come back to resume paying the bills.

I can't imagine that sales pitch succeeding with many people.

Perhaps Albany should try something more realistic,

learning to live on a tighter budget like everybody else.

Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of economics should know

that if you tax a business or individual beyond their level of tolerance,

many will pack up and leave for a state with lower or no state taxes

and a friendlier climate for success.

One cannot escape the long arm of federal taxes,

but at the state level, people have choices.

And many are making them.

The latest IRS migration data highlighted by the group Unwish Prosperity

show the pattern continuing.

Income is still flowing out of high tax states

and into states with lower taxes.

California leads the list of states losing tax revenue to migration.

New York is a close number two,

followed by Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The destinations are familiar too.

Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona.

None of this should surprise anyone except politicians living in denial

who cannot seem to help themselves when it comes to squeezing more money

out of successful individuals and businesses.

The only surprise is they're saying the quiet part out loud.

Come back and fund the welfare state, but that's precisely the point.

For government to grow and spending to rise,

somebody must pay.

And if the people expected to pay decide they have paid enough and leave,

that starves the tax and spending machine.

This is not complicated.

Incentives matter.

People respond to them.

Businesses and investors do too.

Democrats in Washington state seem determined to learn the less in the hard way.

They've adopted a 9.9% state tax

scheduled to take effect in 2028.

That gives those affected ample time to study a map and call a realtor.

As this is the centenary year of our 30th president Calvin Coolidge,

his words remain instructive, quote,

a government which requires of the people the contribution of the bulk of their

substance and rewards cannot be classed as a free government

or long remain as such, unquote.

That may sound old fashioned in an age of ever-expanding government,

but it has the advantage of being true.

A state may raise taxes, it may expand programs,

it may even convince voters both are necessary,

but it cannot insult productive citizens, drive them away,

and then plead for their return once the going gets tough for world on Cal Thomas.

Tomorrow, end-of-life chaplains prepare to respond as assisted suicide becomes more prevalent.

We'll have a report.

And members of a tight-knit community cope with a soldier's death in Operation Epic Fury.

That and more tomorrow.

I'm Lindsay Mast.

And I'm Nick Eiker, the world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio.

World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs,

educates, and inspires.

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which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

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but keep his commandments, versus five through seven of Psalm 78.

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