Data Centers, Interest Rates & Fixing the Packers’ Offensive Line

0:00Broadcasting live from the Annex Wealth Management Studios. Happy AvAdayWin downtown Milwaukee. Let's start the week by going up front to get the latest on Wisconsin politics. Statewide with Channel 12 political director Matt Smith on Point Take It. Alright, welcome everybody. Happy Monday, victory Monday. We'll get to that valve stroke later in the show today and I want to say this I don't forget because I can be forgetful on occasions. Happy anniversary to my lovely wife Kathy 41 years married today. How about that? You guys do anything big for your 40th last year? We always go out to a nice restaurant. I think we're going somewhere this Wednesday night because her schedule is like how is her schedule busier than my schedule? She's retired but somehow it is so Wednesday night we're celebrating somewhere in Milwaukee. Is that the secret to 41 years she keeps a busy schedule? That's a good that's a bigger question than I'm gonna answer in this half hour here. Ruminate on it because I might ask you later. Oh boy what's the what's the success? What's the key to success for 41 years? I'll answer it this way quickly and this is relevant to what we all do for a living.

1:02Communication is key and she's a great communicator and I've said since day one on the radio anyone who's listening to me all those years almost 10 now. Women are smarter than men but acknowledging that is hard for men. I acknowledge it and I understand. Then he reaps the benefits for it. I do because she saved my you know what how many times I don't know. Anyway Matt Smith is in studio as he often is on Mondays. He is the political director at Channel 12. His big voice guy said at the beginning of the show. Obviously data centers always a hot topic. You had a great guest. The mayor. Is he a youngish mayor of Rapids? What do you consider young? 30? No. No, old in there. I don't know. He's not 30 but he's not your age. I think he's older than us. I think he's a new guy. Did you say three term mayor? I think you said or two terms. I think he's in his second. Okay. Start of a second. So I've been in Rapids a lot. You've certainly been up there. I have a lot of relatives in and around Rapids point. Pull over all those areas and this conversation

2:03is like ongoing. There's signage if you drive down the main drag. Signs everywhere. No. The big you know no data center. You had a guest down to talk about this. We went up there last week and they had a major public hearing. There's a proposed data center on the old paper mill site which closed in 2020. Essentially in the heart of the city. That's a good way to describe it. A massive plot of land. It would be a 200 plus acre data center along the Wisconsin River and folks are really riled up about it. So there was a public hearing on the developer's conditional use permit which the plan commission rejected that now goes before the council. But there was three plus hours of public testimony in the high school theater. They moved it out of the normal council chambers because they knew there would be a big audience. But it's this latest snapshot of big companies of developers coming into small towns like Wisconsin Rapids. We're seeing this all over the country proposing these major data centers promising a lot and some residents say with

3:08not a lot of details. Go ahead. I was just going to ask. So what did you learn about kind of the timeline because what I've absorbed from afar basically my mom is not super involved in it up there. But her friends are. And so she's kind of relayed information to me of why people are upset. And some of it is unlike a port Washington where the building while massive is not in the middle of the city. For people who have not been to Wisconsin Rapids, the paper mill is directly in the middle of town. It is it is it's use uses the Wisconsin River. Like that's why it was there in the first place as most of paper valley always uses the water. It's around. But as far as noise complaints air pollution like this would be in the middle of the downtown area. And so people are worried about noise pollution air pollution property values. But on top of that, isn't there a lot of concern as far as once again the lack of transparency around this project. Yeah. And the developer has not

4:09revealed who the tenant would be so to speak. So folks up in Wisconsin Rapids don't know the tech company or who would house this data center essentially PNK group this New York based developer Eric Adams is a spokesperson for now. He came into town in August. That did not sit well with residents. So they essentially build it. And then they say, all right, this is a Google face met of, you know, whoever they just don't know yet. So there are major concerns about so many unknowns with promises from the company. We actually have a clip from upfront with the mayor of Wisconsin Rapids Mads Sacrack. I actually like his honesty. Let's play the. Like it's reactive. Yeah. We don't know how to be proactive necessarily because no one he's really ever done. There's no playbook on this. Yeah. So they kind of throw it, throw it in our lap. They know that we're on qualms. I'm not saying a, you know, I'm doing pretty well. I guess if I do say so myself trying to juggle all these things, but I, you

5:13know, am I really qualified for this high level of of a situation and negotiation and trying to figure this stuff out? And I think if the data centers were being super like real and fair about what's happening, they would back off. They would give us time. What I love about that one is honest. And so I spent a lot of my away from the showtime watching interviews, reading a lot about AI. When the industry experts are confused and right now the CEOs are sort of battling over this issue. The video CEO doesn't agree with Daria Amadi from anthropic. Why would we expect a local mayor? I don't care how big your town is or city or village would know more than that. And you're throwing money at them. A massive change for, I wouldn't call rapids. It's not a small town, but it's 15,000. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it could be disruptive. Let's put it that way. And expect them to make decisions with very

6:15little input or knowledge or research as they make these decisions. So I appreciate the honesty. Let's take a break. I want to kind of revisit some of these things because I think there's a lot to learn for all of us in this AI discussion, especially when we're talking about Wisconsin, which is as we know, sort of the, the, the, the epicenter in the Midwest and where they want to put these things. Matt Smith, Kristen Brice, Deeska Fidion, this Monday edition, a point taken. Matt Smith joining us and does almost every Monday here on point taken with Kristen Brieve. Hey, don't forget if you've missed any or all of our shows or missed an interview. We got bonus content now that we've been providing, including the only way you can get the overtime a week ahead of time. Our great podcast is on the news letter. Just text the word extra to 8556161 620. You can find that in a lot of other bonus content, including the things that we didn't get to on the show. Some of the stories that we just didn't have time for. We are busy. We only have two hours. Some people say we should have three, but that's a management decision. I can't get into that. All right, Matt Smith. You don't want to get there into that either. All right. I'm this data center thing.

7:17The significance of what I see from the mayor of rapids is I think whatever the political context of this situation is, should we? Shouldn't we? Yeah, slow the roll. I think most people would agree on. I'm curious what you say that either side, it's like, put the brakes on. Is that a, do you think that's the assessment? I don't mean put the brakes on. Yeah, just the idea. I get that's what I'm getting. Yeah. I mean, if there's anything that it appears that Republicans, Democrats and independents agree on, it's their dislike right now for data center state, Rob Scott Krueg testified. He represents the area. He said, no, this is not the project. Francesca Hong, one wood county in the Democratic primary. That is where rapids is and people up there told me, I know Republicans who voted in the primary and voted for her strictly because of her data center. I think there was a New York Times article about a guy in Wisconsin rapids who was exactly that profile. Who's for this?

8:21Like, did you talk to anyone who's in support of this moving forward in the community? Some of the local union laborers came out in support of this for jobs five years of construction job. Yeah. And they need jobs. Yeah. Yes. And I don't think anyone necessarily is disputing the fact that something needs to fill this old paper mill side. If the community needs to remain viable, if you want this tax base, you need something there. I don't think that's where the debate is. The debate is around this data center specifically. Well, it's also the long term jobs because if you think about how many people were employed in that paper mill historically. Yeah. And to have five years of construction jobs, but then the amount of people who actually work in these buildings once they're built is not a lot. And so the long term, how do we bring more jobs to the rapids area? And I say that biased because of my connection to it. This is, this doesn't solve that problem. It maybe solves property taxes and short term construction jobs, but long term viability of getting people to stay and be employed is a different. I've heard that arguments before, but one of the

9:23things that happens sometimes with whatever your term is, if you think five years is a short term, those people have to generally live there work there. And if I know, I'm going to say it's still five years goes think about it. It goes really fast. Yeah. And so, yeah, I don't want to not going to open a different can of worms because we only have that much time. Short amount of time with Matt. Ultimately, let's fast forward to the to the debates, which is coming up on the so so there's 21st. Oh, the governor's debate. Yes, October 21st. That's going to be one of the I'm guessing. This is my question. I mean, that's going to be a hot topic. Yeah, I think this issue, whether a candidate or not brings it up, it has kind of become forefront in campaigns and the midterms. From what you can tell, how different is Tom Tiffany from David Crowley on this issue? Where they sit at this moment, I'm not sure they're that far off. The biggest thing I feel like I can glean if that's the differences where the energy comes from. Yeah. As one being, uh, they've probably been much more in favor of clean energy and renewable energy. And I mean, the record for Tom Tiffany is fairly

10:30anti environmental. A couple of the people I talked to up there who are helping lead this effort against the data center proposal, essentially said they don't like either of them in terms of what they're saying or what kind of got to pick somebody. Yeah. Um, they're essentially saying that none of the neither neither Tom Tiffany nor David Crowley are offering any real solutions that they say will help them. All right. Matt Smith, great journalist, channel 12 political director and host of upfront, long with Jared Jordan and host of the upcoming and only apparently debates with the gubernatorial candidates leading into the November election after the break freedom of the press being challenged and curious where Matt falls on that. I think I kind of know where he falls, but we'll see what his thoughts are about the banning of a few networks from the White House. And what that means for journalistic integrity and in the future of journalism in this country after this. Matt Smith joining us as he does every Monday. Here's what I know. The First Amendment does not guarantee every network of seat in the White House has never has done that, but it does prohibit the government from using press access to punish or discriminate against journalism because of his viewpoint. As of Friday, I believe CNN, political MS now formerly MSNBC not allowed,

11:38including I was watching CNN happen to be watching CNN because I watched per conish on Saturday. Their credentials all of a sudden didn't work. They showed up to work at the White House. A young reporter, no access. You're a journalist. You spend a lot of time in this arena. Yeah, you're thought it's going to be really fascinating to see what happens even just today. So those three organizations have now filed a lawsuit that is in federal court, which they're almost likely wins. Yeah, whether a judge acts immediately or what have you, that's going to be the first step. The second is, as we sit here at this moment, there is no national network television pool covering the president in terms of his movement today. All of the other networks, the major networks, agreed that they will not be in the White House. I know that. That's breaking news. That happened this morning. I love that just a short time ago, including Fox, including Fox, and you're spearheaded by Fox, who overseas, who overseas helps with the coordination of this. So, that's fascinating because as much as he he being the president battles with the press, including obviously this most recent action,

12:43he also loves the press, right? He loves the attention. So it'll be interesting to see let's stand off between this if he's not getting anyone to cover it. There's a lot going on today. So today was supposed to be a CNN day. So you look at the major networks, Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, they all take turns and distribute to each other whether you're in the White House or traveling. It's the pool system that's been set up for decades. So today, there is no pool camera from a national network covering the president as of now. So my question for you, Matt, have you maybe not to this scale, but have you had situations in the past where you've been blocked from needing to do your job? Probably. I don't, nothing to the level of this in terms of my spiritual selection, like party or something like that. Not a party. I'm trying to think if there's been a campaign event or something. I'm sure likely. I mean, those situations do pop up, right? No, I know. I was just asking for your personal experience or what that feels like. I'm just trying to do my job, man. Yeah. No, I can't think of a specific example, but I'm sure there

13:45has been one where that has happened. And then I mean, that's why you have lawyers. That's why you have, right? I mean, because there are legal precedents. And yes, in terms of a campaign event, campaigns do have the discretion to say, yes, and no, right? I mean, we saw that during the Trump administration, with certain networks, kind of what we're doing here. Campaign versus public event is different. Yeah. They can set the rules. You're often in a private place or a restaurant or something. Yeah. Yeah. And typically we haven't seen too much of that in Wisconsin. It has happened with different publications or different outlets. But this A, this court case is going to be fascinating to see what type of precedents this sets. If any. And what happens with all the other networks in the coming days, it's a really busy week for this White House. And I anticipate they would want that televised. I was at a family party yesterday and somebody asked about you because they listened on every Monday and they asked me to ask you this question. So do you feel like extra pressure? You already have pressure doing a debate because there's a lot of work. Yeah. You're the only

14:47debate. The only show in town before all of us are going to vote. And I just got my mail in ballot Saturday. So that process has started. Yeah. Like this has got to be insane. Well, you tell me, what's the, you're the show? This is the only debate. How is that feeling? No pressure. Yes. You're good. No, we do feel immense pressure in terms of, yeah, we grab it. The gravity of this. Well, you probably feel pressure regardless. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. You've done it before. Yeah. But every other race, there's been more than one, right? There's always been WBA and there's two between Michaels and Evers. No, there's just one just WBA. I feel like this has been an ongoing problem as far as I'm saying the last five to six years, there's, there has been this push to limit the amount of debates that candidates do across the board. We've been on both sides of it in different cycles. News organizations groups have been on all sides of this. So yeah, we do feel

15:48a lot of pressure in terms of helping the voters, those who are still undecided and those truly who will make a break this election for either candidate. Matt Smith, who's, who studies harder, Jared, no, you, we study a lot. You do. I, hey, you've got lauded for your great work on debates. And I would expect nothing less this time. Thanks for being here as always. I could have talked to you for like the whole show today. So million things on our minds. We'll get to some other great topics. You got a great thing coming up after the after the, after the news break here and and it's a celebration of birthday. Sixth birthday for somebody. Yeah. I love that. It's a great organization. She's been here before, especially, guess we'll get to that. We have local news with the fantastically talented Connie Weber. Before we get to that, the latest from ABC. Welcome back to point taken. I am Kristen Brie along with Steve's graffiti and it is the big give back. And if you have been following me or listening to this show for any amount of time, you know that I am a big supporter of the Milwaukee Diper Mission earlier this year. We had bowling for babies. But now Milwaukee Diper Mission has their annual big give back, which is their biggest fundraiser

16:52of the year where they try to raise $50,000. And today is a very special day because today is their sixth birthday and executive director and founder of Milwaukee Diper Mission. Megan Johnson is here to tell us all about it. Hi, Megan. Hi, thanks for having me. So six years. How much has changed in six years from when you first started this as just a concept to now at five million million diapers distributed? That's a lot of diapers. A lot of diapers. A lot of diapers. So much has changed. We started in my garage in the beginning of COVID. So if you just fast, you know, rewind back to that time in your life and try and remember what the world was like at that time. We were just getting off the ground as Milwaukee's first and only organization doing this work. So a lot has happened in the last six years and we're really, really excited that we've made it this far and we have so much to celebrate. So as you guys expand because you don't, for people who don't know how it works, you don't directly give diapers to families that need them. You have distribution partners

17:57that are food pantries and stuff like that. But you guys have a long waiting list of people who want to get on the partner list, right? That's right. So we have 28 partners across Milwaukee, which we started with five. So it's a huge growth there to be up to 28 partners. But we have a wait list of over 25 organizations that we've met with. We've identified them as a great fit for partnership, but we just don't have the resources to bring them into our network at this moment. So we're excited to be able to expand and grow with support from our community. And that's how it makes it all possible. We mentioned at the tease there that it's a special day birthday, but it's also especially because every gift will be matched by a company called Noona Baby, which I found out it manufactures a lot of the baby stuff, right? The luxury baby, luxury baby brand. I did not have any new to baby strollers or car seats. It's one of the bougie ones, yeah. And you're bored up to $6,000. So that's a great giving opportunity because it gets doubled. I love the fact that you have this very aggressive goal. And I love the fact that you're doing this because I think I asked this

18:58question last time, but just baseline it like I'm removed from when my kids are in diapers. How many diapers does the average mom go through with a child like in a week? Like how many would that be? It really depends on the age of the child, but a newborn baby can go through 10 to 12 diapers in one day. So you're talking dozens of diapers. Yes. And that's really the value here. If you can offset some of that cost. Yeah, absolutely. And so we know that families are spending between $80 and $100 per month on average per child on diapers supplies. And so that's why we provide this free source of diapers so that they can allocate those dollars toward their rent or food or whatever essentials they may need. With, we can talk a lot about the cost of everything. With tariffs and energy prices, have you seen the cost of diapers go up? Yeah, the cost of diapers is steadily rising over time. And that is, you know, also diapers are taxed. So diapers are taxed like luxury goods and they really shouldn't be because they're a basic necessity. Could we change that as a state law?

19:58Yes, we could. That's kind of like a period. Like when we talk about the period tax and so that is the same thing with period products, which you also supply. So yeah, like at the sale of a week, we could just change the state sales tax to not include diapers. Interesting. Yes, exactly. And that is part of our work as a basic needs bank is to bring awareness around the fact that these items are taxed and they are not readily available for families who cannot afford them. You know, I think we have a lot of work to do, but you know, we're only one organization providing these items. And so that is a separate goal of ours is to do that advocacy. And I know they don't, you can't use snap benefits to buy them. Can you use for the WIC benefits at all? You cannot. No. Okay. You can't use any of those benefits to purchase diapers or a period supplies for your family. You're going to stick around for another segment. But before we get to the second segment, how can, if they're listening in Wisconsin Rapids or Madison or Box Point, how can someone donate and get that match? Well, I actually just set it up today. Okay. So if you use text diaper to 855-616-1620, that's diaper singular, not plural. I'll send you the link

20:59selfishly to the fundraiser that Mike and I are doing for the big give back. But honestly, if you give just a dollar, it's going to be $2 today. If you give $5, it's going to be 10. So any amount today is great. Will be doubled. Will be matched. So text 855-616-1620 and text the word diaper. And we will send you that link. And Megan Johnson will be here on the other side of this. We are talking to Megan Johnson, executive director and founder of Milwaukee Dipper Mission. And today, if you donate anything to Dipper Mission, up to $6,000, it will be matched by Nuna Baby and their former and current board of directors. So just text diaper to 855-616-1620. I think if everyone who's listening right now texted diaper, we'd probably hit and just donated $1. Yeah, you don't have to donate a lot. We probably hit that $6,000 match. All right. So one of the other things that you're growing over at Milwaukee Dipper Mission is the training pants program, which is a pretty potty trained in our household, not at night.

22:01There's accidents every once in a while. But definitely made use of the training pants. And so tell me a little bit more about how you're growing this program and why it's useful. Yeah. So a lot of people call them pull ups, but their general term is training pants. And that is a diaper that babies wear while they're learning how to potty train. And it's something that we're really passionate about as an organization because we can get babies out of diapers if they're potty training earlier. And then those families have those extra funds that they don't have to spend on diapers. So it's a program that's in its pilot phase right now. We really, really want to grow it because we know how critically important it is for our families. And so when people support MDM, we're able to take those dollars and purchase in bulk and stretch those dollars even further by buying pallets and pallets of diapers and training pants for pants. What drove you to this mission? Like why do you do this? I do this because I believe that every family should have access to these very basic items that are helping them get through day-to-day life. And as a mom of two little boys and diapers, when I learned that families were struggling to be able to afford

23:02these items, I became very passionate about it. And fortunately, I was in a position where I was a stay at home mom. I had a little extra time on my hands. So I learned what a nonprofit was, how to put one together and how to get one off the ground in September of 2020. So fast forward six years and those early stages of research and development are really in the in the review mirror at this point. But it's just a testament to show that if you're a community member and you care about something and you put people around you that also care about an issue, you can make huge waves. So as far as policy goes, so we mentioned that the tax and how it could change the sales tax and that sales tax wouldn't be applied to diapers or period products. Is there other policy that you feel like could move the needle in this situation? I personally feel like these items should be free for everyone all the time. We talk a lot about period products in bathrooms and how those should be free just like toilet paper is free. In some bathrooms they are. Yeah, in some manner. The business, yeah. Yeah, it depends on the business. It depends on if it's a government building. I know the state capital has free period supplies, which I love to see when

24:03I visit there for lobbying efforts. But yeah, I think there's a lot of work we need to do as a society and as a country to make these items more accessible to families. In the meantime, we're here providing as much as we can for free to family members across Milwaukee right now distributing over 100,000 diapers per month. We need diaper ambassadors. Are you a diaper? That's what you guys are. She's the workhorse. She's doing all the work. I would say I'm a diaper ambassador. Are you a diaper ambassador? I mean, talk about the Milwaukee diaper mission affair amount. Yeah, we need that because this is such a noble effort, right? It's like there's a very simple. Yeah, it's like not that hard. And like you said, dollar, yeah, donate it or $2 or $5. We got $5, $10. And it gets doubled today, which is awesome on what is this? I should know that date. It's $121. Do you know why I remember it? It is 41st. It's my 41st wedding anniversary. No, but you know the song. Do you remember? Yeah, the 25th night of September. That's how I remember that. That doesn't make it easy to remember

25:03this day for me generally. There you go. We have that same benefit. All right, so donate. What are we waiting for? Yeah, please donate. Go ahead. I mean, we can double your dollars. So when we purchase in bulk, we can buy twice as much as you can at the store. So if you send us $5, $10, we're able to buy twice as many diapers as you could at Target or Walmart. They get shipped straight to our facility. They get hand packed by our love. We volunteers and send straight back out to families. That said, for families like mine who are transitioning out of needing diapers or their kids are getting bigger, if you have diapers left over, how can they donate the diapers that are left over so they don't just like throw them in the garbage? Yeah, if you're local, we have drop spots across Milwaukee at local businesses and libraries where you can donate your diapers, even open packages. We will inspect them, repackage them and send them back out to families. I love an inspiring work. Happy birthday. I will donate after the show. I think I donated last year as well. You're very generous. Yes. I try to be. And you did end up showing up for bowling. I came right from Egypt. And I think you were a good polar, right? I'm pretty good. He has sent back from I know it was all to be there for us. Yeah, I wanted to be there. It's a great cause. So thanks,

26:08thanks, Megan and happy birthday. And if you're out there listening, whatever it is, diaper 855, 6161, 61620. It's one of the most fun things and most, I think gifting things you can do, especially this time, I've always got stuff to do. They got stuff to buy. It's holiday season. This is, you could take it off someone's plate. It always sucks for, I don't know how long we'll have to do this, but for Frankie's birthday party, we the last couple of years, we never do gifts. We just, they give a donation, but I think we might be running late on that. I think it's pretty soon. She's demanding those birthday presents. That only goes so long. Where's that gift? All right, thank you, Megan. Thank you for having me. We'll take a quick break here on, as I was going to say, extra points. That's our newsletter. Point taken. Monday's show. Chris and Steve 620. The work week is here. Let's begin with your Monday market preview with annex, wealth management CEO, Dave Spano on point taken. Hello, Dave. Are you feeling the relief just like all of us after yesterday's game? Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I was a little nervous.

27:09Begin the fourth quarter. I gotta be honest. Were you angrily tweeting in the beginning in the first half? Nope. Nope. In fact, I told my wife, I'm not going to say another word, and then they came flying back. So I guess that was the, that was the, and I moved seats on the couch. That's the other two things that had Dutch direct response. So I was at a part ad to behave myself the whole time because there was other people there that, you know, would be offended by my language during a Packers game. Well, my cat, these uncle ad was actually the same age as me. He in the fourth end of the fourth quarter. Over time, he stayed in the kitchen because he thought he was bad luck. And it worked. So stay in the kitchen. Get out of here. Go stay in the kitchen. Bring me a sandwich after the game. Isn't that funny? How many people think that? I literally moved seats and I see, there you go. Yeah, that's it. That was just clearly what happened. Anything you could have it's in your control to make you feel a little better, right? Because speaking of things we can and can't control, interest rates went up last week. I know you have thoughts because it went up Wednesday by a quarter point. Your thoughts. Yeah, for sure. You know, it was it was pretty well, you know, that we saw this comment. I mean,

28:09they didn't say that it wasn't going to happen. So that that quarter point was something that was very understandable. And it moved 25 basis points. And I, and what I was saying all week long to some of our teammates is don't forget that in the end of 2025, they lowered rates three times. And so when when the Fed chair comes back and said we removed a bit of the accommodation, that's what he was talking about because there were three rate lowerings, if you will, at the end of 2025. So they took one of those back. And then probably the odds are that we're probably seeing another rate hike maybe in December in the December meeting. So 50 basis points higher is a way to try to be a little bit more hawkish because that target rate of that the self-imposed target rate of 2%. We aren't there. It's in its, you know, over 3%. And if you interpolate that all the way out, it's expected to be above 3% all the way through 2027 as well. So Dave, now that it's been raised as far as between now and December is what could we as a consumer be looking at that how it could impact us? Well, you know, the things that obviously that short-term interest rates

29:16do push up is for sure mortgage rates. I mean, that's the one thing that I would look for. Higher interest rates are something that makes it way, it makes its way through the economy, which isn't great. And so they have to fight this thing right now of higher prices. I know we went up to northern Wisconsin this past weekend and my friend has a diesel pickup and we were shocked at $6.79 for diesel. And I mean, that's a big deal. That's a big deal for farmers. It's a big deal for a lot that's happening. It's not just the straights of her moves, Chris, and that there's causing this. There's a lot of things. And in fact, if you read the the Milwaukee Journal today, there was a really good article in the paper today that talked about things that I didn't know. So South of Chicago, there's this this jolly at refinery and they had a power outage and then they had a flood. And a lot of that is the reason why they're higher in Wisconsin. And of course, BP had something as well. And they had a place in Indiana and they've had a lockout for nearly five months. So I know a lot of people are saying this is because of the straights of her moves issue, but it's

30:18more than that. There's you got lockouts, you got floods, you got electrical pricing. And that is because you were we're starting to see diesel prices go up and that goes right through it because of course, not only do farmers have to deal with that, but that's how you transport goods. And so you're going to see it directly in grocery store prices. I know you don't delve into the world of politics that much, but there is a there is a cause and effect sometimes to higher energy costs and what it does to people's thoughts about the election. Do you see any chance that these energy prices getting what you know about the markets and give it to what you know about the geopolitics in the world that energy prices come back a bit before the election? Obviously, predicting the future. Yeah, that's going to be hard. And I think it's less of a political question than a geopolitical question, right? And so the fact of the matter is, will you start to see some relief? You have things that are happening not only in the straights, but you have Ukraine, bombing some of the Russian refineries. And so those are things that we clearly don't have any control over. And that's probably going to come out in the election. You're starting to see some

31:21of these poll numbers showing Democrats winning the House and perhaps even the Senate. And so that could have a change in policy starting next year. And the market's going to react to that. There's no doubt about that. So, you know, can we see start oil prices start coming back down? And we'll have to see a change in policy. You know, it's not only just the things that are over in the Far East. And what we're talking about, but you're talking about Canada too. These things with the tariffs with Canada clearly are pushing through to prices. Now, you'll remember, we talked about this a lot that, you know, we'll, what our tariffs inflationary. And we talked about that there one time inflationary. But that was the idea that it was, it was not going to pass through it to the economy in that there was going to be some resolution. And the longer this goes, the more inflationary it becomes. Has there been any updates of any conversations with Canada? Yeah, sure. They want to be an associate member of the EU. Right? So that'll be interesting. But, I do think at some point you're going to have to say, I have a friend who is in the packaging

32:26business. And he was talking about the pricing for him to his customers because, you know, you get a lot of raw materials that come out of Canada. So, you talk about energy, you talk about raw materials. So, there's no question that that is pushing through to the consumer and the consumer, you know, generally votes their pocketbook, they're each, each of their own pocketbooks. And so, when you start to see higher prices, that could be a political conversation. Real life status on interview with the Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear on Sunday, Saturday or Sunday, the sale of Kentucky bourbon in Canada down 85%. Because of tariffs, that's a real life cause and effect. Lots more to talk about. Dave Spano, he is the CEO of NSW Management's. We got a great webinar tomorrow. We got, oh, they always have great webinars. But we've done this one a couple of times, Eric Strom, director of financial planning at Annix. And yours truly, it's the WRS system, the pension, the statements. We go through all of that. It's an interactive. You can ask questions. Eric does a fantastic job going through the questions. If you don't get your question answered. We'll answer afterwards. Just click the events tab at annexwell.com, a great educational

33:29resource as well as a great place to start at annexwell.com for your financial planning. We'll take a quick break. More Dave after this. The big guy, Dave Spano, he's not big, small and stature now because he's lost weight. You look, you lost weight, Dave. You lose weight? No. Shut up. You didn't do it. I just told Dave Spano, he shut up. No, he looks good. Don't talk about it. Just put it, I'll put it this way. Dave always looks good. He's always well dressed. He's a great guy. Smart guy. It's one of the reasons you're here every Monday. All right. So I just throw a couple of questions in here. I read and watch a lot of things about technology. AI obviously is the big thing. How precarious or not in your opinion is the technology-based economy because we're like all in when it comes to the markets. I mean, the video and all these other great companies. Do you ever worry about that? We're too far in or is that just the way it is? No, I think there's something to worry about. There's no question. The market goes up on a wall of worry, but you look at where the GDP has come and it's come primarily from the development of AI, the data centers, the businesses that provide them value. So there's no

34:33question that that is going to continue to be a conversation. At some point, you think it's overvalued would be another conversation, but you are starting to see that in 2027, the earnings reports for these companies are coming out in anticipation is that you're going to see another double digit earnings year in 2027, primarily driven by this part of the economy. So I do think that is going to continue in 2027. That doesn't mean that you're not going to get some type of slowdown. You generally do get that in year three of a presidential, their path. So, you know, after the midterm election, especially if there's a change in not only the Senate, but in the house, your probably is going to be changing policy as well. You could get a mid-cycle slowdown. That's something that's very possible, but that you can have a slowdown, but still have growth in some of these tech stocks. So that doesn't mean that you can't have a nice balance portfolio. And it goes back to the question you had about energy. You know, look at things that it could potentially hurt, by the way, would be things like airlines and transportation companies, chemical manufacturers,

35:36all of these can be hurt by either higher oil prices or higher interest rates, and we're getting both of those at the same time. Dave, I know you and Steve are not doomers. You tend to look on the bright side of the markets and economy. What on one hand worries you when you look at the state of things and then what has you bullish and excited? Well, let's start with the word. The market has continued to go up a wall of worry for decades. You know, I've started, I hate to say how long I've been doing this, but for decades worth, and the market goes up on a wall of worry. So there's always, there's things that do concern us. Right now, it does seem a bit tenuous with geopolitical risk. There's no doubt about that. And so we hope that there isn't an acceleration. You can see the things with Iran, you know, could certainly get worse. You know, China, Russia, all of these are our causes for concern. These are geopolitical risks. Does that lead into, for example, a slowdown or a recession? Those are always causes for concern. And then you manage your portfolio

36:38not only for your own, but you know, white, white, what your asset allocation should look like. What I'm positive about and what I feel good about is the fact that there has always been an opportunity. So whatever the company is, are they increasing their revenue and is their revenue equate into a higher ebit, right? Ernie's before interest in taxes. And so you look at then say, yes, they're growing. And then we can put a multiple on that. And there's always a, there's an opportunity in the markets. And sometimes it can be tech. Sometimes it can be healthcare, but AI is certainly going to provide a lot of benefits to things like healthcare and technology. And so that is really pretty positive, Kristen. That was my next question because we talk so much about technology in that sector. What's another sector that people should have their eyes on? Yeah, I mean, you know, just look at where can you provide value? And I think healthcare to me would be one of those things I'm pretty excited about. If we can start to see some AI try to, you know, get through and start to see, you know, research and development that's actually going to improve people's lives,

37:39I think that is really an exciting opportunity. And of course, can you be more efficient? Everyone's talked about, you know, all the way back what technology is going to do is going to take jobs and do all these things. But in the meantime, it's also creating opportunities. And that's what that's the most positive part is what opportunities lie in front of us. And it can be, it could be in healthcare, it could be in energy, it could be transportation. All of these things safety would be a part of that. Imagine if you had cars that, you know, we're safer that would increase that would decrease law enforcement driving you would you would you put, you know, healthcare would be part of that, you know, efficiency of getting people around. So there's always going to be opportunities. And so that hyper scalers would be another part of that. So these are the things that do that we look at and are looking for opportunities. He is Dave Spino, CEO of Antiswealth Management. Great. Always your visits are always information. And I love that you share your wisdom with our audience. I thought you were going to give me a little shot at a couple of these play in the brew players that look like. Oh, oh, you're welcome. Do you want to cast some brew players?

38:42Yes. Yeah. How about a young sale with, I mean, a sale with a young Pachino like sent of a woman Pachino. What do you think of that one? Yeah, absolutely. I think that fits. I think it's a, I don't know how we're going to do a real movie now with that. But, you know, I guess AI. This is like how many people? Mitchell. I mean, if you are watching the lioness, how about Kyle from the lioness? Dave dropped for Garrett Mitchell. Okay. I'll go look up a who that is. Oh, yeah. I know you'd like them. Okay. Always appreciate you. Dave, we got a great webinar tomorrow. It's one of our most popular ones. I've done it like three or four times with Eric Stromb. I'm going to ask all your questions about Wisconsin pension, Wisconsin retirement system. It's, it's a great webinar. It's one of the most popular ones. We answer questions. People always ask great questions. And all you got to do is click the events tab at angswealth.com. They got another one coming up and in next week in Brookfield. There's just great things. And the cool thing is they're free. And I love that I get to do these things with anis because there's such great opportunities for people. Right Dave? Yes, they are. And I'm glad that you're coming. It's going to be a great presentation. I appreciate that you'll come out

39:43here. And I know Kristen wants to come out one time too. So we're going to have to do my email that I met. Yeah, I got it. We had a lot of fun together. Yeah. At the end, dropped your name too the other day. This is just totally me. I was so impressed. I had a different meeting about the different topic at annex. And I got two notepads and a coffee mug last visit. I was so impressed. Actually, he took them. I'm going to give them. I didn't have to do it. You just put them in your back. I want it. My old annex mug was so the dishwasher wore all the annex off. I got a brand new one. We have we have more for you. I know you do. All right. Thank you, Dave. See you guys. All right, Dave Spaddle. See you at X wealth management. Our great partner here at WTMJ. Quick break. Seven in his point taken. She is Kristen Brie. She's a diaper ambassador for the lucky diaper admission. How much money did you raise last year? I mean, it was incredible. Well, I think we raise, I have to go look at how much we raised for bowling babies. I think bowling for babies was close to 20,000. I have to check somewhere. My first year, we raised almost 15,000. I don't know. It all blurs together. The goal this year is 2000,

40:47which already I might have to bump it because just since I posted my video this morning and from the generous listers of my taken, we are already at 4,420. Okay. And keep it coming. It's really easy. It's it's double. It's matching. That's all doubled. Yeah. Yeah. Today. So the 21st of September. So just text the word diaper. The link comes to you. Whatever you can give a buck five bucks, 10 bucks, whatever it is, it will get doubled up to 6,000 or something like that. So let's max it out. Let's make sure that Milwaukee diaper admission. They're great efforts to help people in need. And we know people are struggling. This is a great way to start that process. That's one of many things you can do to help people that need help. And we're making it easy for you. Trying to. Yeah. So so do that. All right. Real quick on the newsletter again. We're pushing it because it's the only way to get right now our overtime podcast, which is very popular. We know that because people tell me they've seen it. And we're talking about sort of a renta mom idea in colleges across the country apparently. Where other ethnologists a good idea. Yeah. We're talking about the rot. We couldn't

41:49really figure out the rise of helicopter parenting. Yeah. When it was like which I don't know. It's just not good. It's bad. I also think like there's more to dig in there is not only when did it start. But if it there's I would imagine there's probably some demographics and like class, different like differences. Because I feel like if you're a working parent, especially working single parent, can't really be a helicopter parent because you got a lot of other things going on. Where do you fall in the my kids are my best friends are because I that's something to get got popularized. Where they're my best friends. I think once there are adults, that's a a fine thing. Yeah. When are adults? Yeah. Not during the process. No, I think when I subscribe to a lot of the Michelle Bama. Look at you motherhood. A lot like the way she talks about being a mom is kind of how I aspire to be where it's like I'm not your what does she say. I'm not one of your little friends because you are laying down the law, especially when they're teenagers. Now my dad had the father four boys. His one of his models was a little fear is a good thing.

42:51So we were but we were tired. Well, I don't know, but I don't know if I subscribe to that. I'm just I think I don't want her to be afraid to tell me things that happen. Like if she gets into trouble, I don't want her to be afraid to call me because she thinks she's going to be in more trouble. I want her to feel like she can call me because she's safe. But also knows there's going to be consequences. Other dad isms of my great dad was 90 years old. Always do the right thing. And I don't this is the devil's workshop. Think about that one for a while. I know what that one is. It's too keep busy. Stay out of trouble. That's basically it. So get a job and we all got jobs. We all turned out just fine. Now we got a local news update after the news coming up here. Alex Trollf. Here's latest from ABC. Add another W to the bag for Green Bay. Go back. Go. And there's plenty to break down. His loves. Look at her first completion. He's got it to Watson. Timeline's he goes and Watson is not going to be caught. This is point after with Packers Insider.

43:51Alex Trollf. Look at that promotion. You got it. I was wondering. I was like, I actually don't know what your title is these days on your Twitter handle. I just saw it says resident Necklehead. But I don't think that is on your card that you probably hand out. I do it. People still hand out business cards. Is that a thing? Everyone's asking for cards. I do. You're an old man. I guess you're operating at a different timeline. I'm going to start. I got to work with you Thursday and Friday. Oh man. Come and have a old man stuff. I got season wisdom. So I have a confession to make as we start to talk about the Packers. All good intentions to snuggle in on a rainy, cloudy fall day yesterday. I was on the couch. You're watching. Frankie was entertaining herself. Wasn't demanding to watch. Bluey while we watched the game. Probably fell asleep about five minutes in and woke up for the winning field goal. So yeah. Literally I woke up and it said and I they saw the field goal that I heard my go way to get it done. Boys and I go wait. Is that it? Oh, that's it.

44:56So I missed all of the heartache and consternation over this game because I know there was lots of it. It was great. I got a lot done after that. We weren't napping. It's pulling your hair out. You watch these games. You talk about these games. What were your thoughts for the first most of the game? My thought for most of the game is still my thought. Today, Steve, they're just not a very good team. You know, that's what they are through two weeks. Now, there's plenty of time to change that, right? I mean, there's there's 15 games left to be played, but through through eight quarters, nine, technically with the overtime period, they're just not very good. The defense is fine. Yeah. To maybe even good, especially their run defense. Yes. Correct. The run defense is the best. It's been a long time. Obviously, the big stop on fourth and one in the fourth quarter that allowed them to get back into that game. But offensively, I didn't think love had a good day. I don't think the floor again had a good day. It's been a frustrating watch. Now, the good news is the good news is good news. I think they play the worst team in the NFL on Thursday. One of them. Yeah. Atlanta is terrible. They are terrible.

46:01Playing third string quarterbacks. It might even be fourth. It might also be second. Michael Penix might be back on Thursday. But regardless, they're terrible. So that said, they could get through three weeks, two and one record. I think most people have said, yeah, not bad. Yeah, right. Absolutely. Now what it's looked like is a different story. But if you're two and one, we'll take that. I think they have the makings of a good team. They're just not good yet. And that's the confusing part for me. So I know. So this is the first one we've had since the playoffs last year. What's obviously Michael Parsons is coming back. But what is the big difference? Or what is the missing factor? Because it's not like we were a bad team last year. No, especially before Parsons went down, right? I remember going to that game in Denver. Yeah. Which they were leading when he went down and thinking they're the best team in the NFC. There's a right answer to this question. It's the five guys that line up in front of Joe. Yeah. It's the offensive line. Yeah. And is that a big, this is my naive, a, is that a big change from last year? There's a couple of differences, but they weren't very

47:03good last year. And now this year, you see what was a play three, Zach Bakker-Buel, like goes down and it looks like that, that's the bad entry. Like he'll probably be out for the year, I guess. I just don't know that there's, they lack experience. They lack talent. And I think there's total coaching, malpractice amongst the offensive line. It's, it's amazing to me that Luke Budkiss, their offensive line coach, was back after last season because they were so bad last year. So yeah, they brought him back. I didn't understand that, you know, they made a lot of changes obviously with their coaching staff. But the one thing I don't understand is if a coach is a quality coach, and I think most people think Matt LaFlor is got a great regular season record. He's three and six in the playoffs, which is not a great record. But I think most people think he knows what he's doing on offense. I don't think he has a lot of great ideas about defensive. That's why you have defensive coordinators. But when you have challenges, typically a smart play caller will work around those challenges. His offense is uninspiring and not innovative at all. How do you explain this? Because he's considered to be one of the smartest offensive minds in the NFL,

48:06apparently, at least he was not anymore. Yeah. I'm going to answer your question. But first off, I want to say your demeanor is better this week. Of course, it's better after a win. We always despite despite the fact it was an ugly win and and a game that wins win, right? I mean, in the NFL, especially when you only had 17 games, a win is win. So her I'll give you a real life example of that last week. The Packers lost in miserable fashion. I watched no more football Sunday night Monday night. This week, I watched the whole Sunday night game because they won. So I was in the football mode. Once they do something, KB wasn't that she was asleep. I said, snore and up a storm. Who won the game? To go back to your point on the floor. That's my idea. You know this about me, right? Like I am a little floor defender, typically. Yeah. I think he is really creative. I think he's innovative. I think he's very smart when it comes to scheming and offense. He's been awful this year. Awful. Yeah. I mean, the best example is the end of the fourth quarter when they have the opportunity to win the game rather than tie it. First down in 10, run up the middle, second down in nine, run up the middle. That was the perfect opportunity to do

49:11what we talked about all season put the game in the hands of your quarterback that you're paying $55 million a year or two. Let Jordan love to go win the fricking game. And that never it seemed like it never crossed his mind despite the fact that we talked about the offensive line. The offensive line has been terrible this year. Why are you running the ball so much? And they they did better yesterday than they did last week in terms of establishing the run. Caleb Johnson might have something. But I just don't get where you're not putting the ball in the hands of your quarterback. I don't get that. And so he's been terrible. Maybe he'll get better. But why can't I do the home games with you and Gabe game night this Thursday. Four o'clock work. Yeah. Yes. Pan and teams. No, I think you see us. Pan for Thursday. It'll just be. Yeah. For that area. I'm going to crucify Matt LaFour. I you don't I don't think it I don't think it gets set set enough some of the stupidity that we're seeing displayed by his coaching decisions. Not just this year last year. Just really dumb stuff. And I know they just sign. I'm not I'm not going to say fire Matt LaFour. It's stupid. Now if he doesn't

50:12make the playoffs, he's going to get his you know what fired. Yeah. Yeah. Guaranteed. Yeah. I agree. But I'm going to crucify him on Thursday. I don't care if will he doesn't like it. I don't care if anybody comes in here and says what are you talking about? Stupidity's on full display when it comes to our offense. Even with all the challenges. Let's take a break. I'm just getting warmed up. I can tell Alex Trophy. Kristen Brie. Well rested. Kristen Brie because she slept through the damn game yesterday. It is point after without stroke. Kristen Steve six 20 point after with Alex Trophy. Our resident experts on all things. Pack you even though you're young lad. We throw that word of rep pretty loosely. I don't throw it along Lucy. And then one of the reasons you're sitting in that chair is because I respect your knowledge about the packers. You lived in that environment. You grew up in Green Bay. You work hard on preparing for both the before and after of games. You're our resident expert of all Wisconsin sports teams. Are you do you know the most about the packers? Oh yeah. Not even close. Right. Not even close. Exactly. All right. Caleb Williams got hurt yesterday. Another thing I slept through. It went from what your husband tell you about Caleb

51:18it was on the family thread because I actually think the game was maybe later in the day. Right. No it wasn't new. Okay. It was in our family thread and he wrote. Okay. Cubs lose and looks like Williams is out for the year. And then I asked him like what happened he goes he just had that entry. So that was all he said. I told my fiancee was the kill his seasons over. Yeah. He reacted. Yeah. I thought he liked someone someone told me that he ripped the hamstring off of his the bone which my brother my brother had that injury. So I think that's why in our family thread we're like oh that's what it is. Like we know how bad that is. The way he reacted. It certainly was my past season. And he's laying on his back his his freshly painted fingernails or nails were his pink fingernails. He was crying to his mom. I mean this is it sounded seasoned now apparently he's good to go like apparently. He may play Monday. But exactly. What is he's a drama queen. He's a drama. Is he known for being a drama queen. Yes. I think so. Yeah. A little bit a little bit dramatic. Well that matches the MO of most of the people that cover the bears. They're also

52:22drama queen. So I mean it's perfect. MO for that. You love Chicago. I worked in Chicago. I lived in Chicago. But the the immaturity of some of the people who are paid to talk about is beyond the pale. It is just stupid. Silveon is swing. Cap like needs counseling. I mean these guys are losing their minds over. Yes. David Kaplan of the Espinch Chicago. He's your buddies with them right. But he's probably strong. That is a strong word. That would be nice. I like him as a human being for the most part. He sent 59 cheeseburger. So what was that about? So he was trying to complete the stories. Right. So the timing it backfired on him. Terrible. So so finish the story. I give the guy. So he sent 59 George Webb cheeseburger. I saw them. I saw them. It also happened to time out with the day after the Brewer's clinical and all central. Right over the cups. I mean he's a cups and bears fan obviously. So just everybody's like, oh Brewer's on the division. That's so nice. He sent burgers. Everybody in the office. And he's down in Chicago laughing. 59 cheeseburgers. So clever. I wonder if we're going to get a delivery of three cheeseburgers.

53:25I'm hungry. So that would be that'd be nice here in a couple of months after they only scored three points. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Second all time for biggest swing from week one to week two points. I mean that makes sense. 59 to three. Yeah. That's that's. Yeah. It's minutes so does good I think. By the way. Yeah. They're better than we thought. I think they're good. I know I know, I know, Zim your producer is a Viking. Why are you a Viking fan? Yeah. What's the story there? My dad was a minister. So you got to root for the Paris team. You don't have to answer. Good answer. Good answer. Yeah. Fine. We can't. There's no way we can convert you. Absolutely not. Okay. Got it. All right. Moving ahead to Thursday night. We're going to be on about four o'clock I believe. Yeah. Four o'clock start on on 94 five. The trio some great broadcasting. You gave night's little and me. What do you think we're going to be talking about on Thursday? We will. We spent all three hours yesterday on the offensive one. All three. Now it helped. We had Super Bowl champ Brian Belaga with us who can give us a lot of insight on offensive one. But it's still bad. Now ZBV is out for the year. So Anthony Belton will take over.

54:25I imagine we'll talk a lot about the offensive line. I imagine we'll talk about Matt O'Flaher's play calling. Which I think I'm talking about. And then the positive stuff. We'll definitely talk about defense. I'm really impressed by Jonathan. They're game defense. They're two weeks. That's the one really encouraging piece of this packer's team despite the slow start. Christian Watson also off to a nice start. Yes. Yes. Yeah. He's a good receiver. Any updates on our injuries for yesterday after we were just talking about Caleb Williams. Yeah. Neither of them are good. Jayden Reed has movement in his extremities. He stayed overnight New York. He won't play Thursday. Hopefully it's not a long term thing. I'm seem like it just maybe a bad concussion. And then Zach Bakker-Bowell, I believe it's a broken leg. So I imagine he's probably done. So if you have any collegiate offensive line experience, just text the text line 8556161 620. We'll link you up to the packer. They may be looking for somehow. We'll take you. Yeah. We'll take you. Somebody's got a step. I mean, we tried to convince Brian Belaga to come out of retirement yesterday. Right. But he's down to like 240. So I don't know that that'll work. Yeah. Those guys always slim up. He's tight end size now. Not quite right tackle size. Brilliant analysis of the offensive line though. Yeah, he's the best.

55:28He's the best. All right. We'll see you Thursday. Yeah. And Friday. And Friday. I'm about you twice this week. We'll see you in person on Thursday. But off air. Yeah. Oh, I'm not coming. I'm going to the game. And then you're off on Friday. I'm not coming back. I'm not coming back on Friday. It's probably a good choice by. Hold on. I think that's wise by you. Because he's ornery after games. Yeah. Well, not if this one, because they should win that game. If they don't, I will be extra ornery. Yeah. I don't think you're doing politics Friday. If they lose something, I have to. I'm contractually. I'll get into politics, but I will not be in a good mood. Trust me on that. All right. Alex Stroff will see it Thursday. Sounds good. It's point after on 620 WTM. I love everybody to thank the Packers one. But especially my wife Kathy, because it's 41 years wedding anniversary today. What was your first dance? I have no idea. You don't remember the first song for your first dance. We're both drunk probably. No. Probably. You think so? Absolutely. At the reception. Oh, the wedding. Oh, I think we had a John Denver song. One of his famous songs,

56:33sort of a slow one. I think she loves John Denver. I can play John Denver songs in the piano. I love John Denver. So, but probably that you don't remember your first dance. I'm guys aren't wired like women are wired. I can barely remember my wedding reception. All right. Well, you have a minute. So I've only been married four years. You've been married 40 times. Ten times as long. What wedding, what marriage advice do you have? I don't care how long you've been married. You can always improve your communication. So if you're not talking, there's something going on. You got to start talking. Even as if it's awkward or ugly or you got to talk it out. And we do that a lot of that. Even now we argue about stupid things generally, but it's you got to talk it out. And the worst thing I've seen in mirror, and I've had friends who got divorced, I've had family members who got divorced, when the communication stops and that's a that sentence. So you got to talk it out as often as uncomfortable or hard that is. And that's like a life lesson too. I'm a big communication guy as you are. And if we don't have these conversations, these tough conversations, stuff doesn't get done. And I think that's the lesson I learned in 41 years. And I've

57:38known her a lot longer than that. So we've probably known each other for 48 years. So I mean, it's a long time. And it's a long time. Love Kathy. And I'd love being married. Hey. All right. See you tomorrow. See you tomorrow.