Republican Marsha Blackburn Previews 2024 | 12.27.23

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Speaker 1
You.

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Speaker 2
As we approach the year's end and start 2024, the political landscape remains unstable. With two wars going on abroad, a crisis at the southern border, and a presidential election upon us, lawmakers are crafting their strategies to address these issues in the new year. In this episode, we speak to Tennessee Senator Marcia Blackburn about what she expects 2024 to bring. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor in chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, December 27, and this is a special edition of Morning Wire.

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Speaker 3
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Speaker 2
The following is an interview with Tennessee Senator Marcia Blackburn and daily Wire investigations editor Brent Scherr.

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Speaker 1
We're here with Tennessee's republican senator Marcia Blackburn. Thanks so much for being with us in studio today.

01:21
Speaker 4
I'm delighted to join you. And I love it that daily wire chose Nashville. And here you are.

01:29
Speaker 5
Yeah, we love it, too. All right, so we're entering 2024, and there's a lot going on. We got an ongoing war in both Middle east and Europe, sky high inflation at home, wide open southern border, crime spiking in cities across the country, and it's also the last year Joe Biden's first term. Can we expect this administration to change.

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Speaker 4
Course on, know, one of the things that Republicans have done so well this year is to play that block and tackle that has been necessary to be sure that bad things don't get on the books. So there have been some successes. I think right now the area where people are looking for something to be done and Democrats are beginning to say we have to do something, is on the issue of the border and changing our asylum laws, going back to building a barrier. Those are steps that should be taken now with it being this administration and knowing how intentional they are on having an open border, how intentional they are on raising taxes, how they don't care about the impact of inflation, you're probably going to see them stay the same course and choose not to make any corrections.

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Speaker 1
So in the Senate, what can you guys do?

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Speaker 4
We've been able to stomp some bad things I had legislation that repealed the vaccine mandate on our troops that got through. We have passed our kids online Safety act out of commerce committee. I also was able to pass the legislation that would freeze the $6 billion that Iran was getting. So there are things that we can do, but it requires that we build that bipartisan support. And I think that's important that we continue to push forward and explain what conservatives would do and then build that public support for the position that we hold and do our best to pull those Democrats our direction. I think a lot of Tennesseans are really frustrated when they feel like Republicans don't have a backbone and they want to see us stand up for the Constitution, stand up for the rule of law.

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Speaker 4
And that means getting our arms around some of these issues and saying there is a better way. There is a way to reduce taxes. There is a way to reduce federal spending. There is a way to secure that border so that we know who is in the country.

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Speaker 5
All right, you touched on this before. One of the issues you think there can actually be bipartisan support is changes to our immigration system.

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Speaker 4
I do. I think that Democrats are beginning to hear so much from mayors in their counties and cities. And you look at the fact that we've had under Biden upwards of 8 million people. That's more than the population of, what, half of our states. When you look at the number of people that are coming across that border every single day, 1012 thousand a day, the Border Patrol cannot handle those individuals. So changing asylum laws, and that is something this administration could do right now. And that is an issue where there's beginning to be bipartisan support. The remain in Mexico policies of the Trump administration, saying your asylum has to be applied for and adjudicated while you are in a safe third country or your home country, that is the right type change to make.

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Speaker 4
And then, of course, enforcing the law, people that enter the country illegal cannot come here. If you as A-U-S. Citizen, went to Mexico and then tried to just walk back across the Rio Grande, you would be jailed. But people are walking in, being waived, in being processed, and then given a plane ticket to wherever they want to go in the country. And Americans are tired of this. Big cities are now tired of this. So addressing that immigration issue is going to be an imperative.

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Speaker 5
2024 is also a reelection year for you. You talk a lot about playing block and tackle to stop the Biden administration.

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Speaker 1
Which is a big win for republicans.

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Speaker 5
But is that the sort of thing Tennessee voters want to see, or do they want to see actual legislation.

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Speaker 4
We've had some wins. Like I said, my kids online Safety act, the vaccine mandate, freezing that $6 billion, all of those are things that are wins. Some pharmacy reforms so that drugs are more affordable for senior citizens. But this means talking about what you're for and working on what you are for. And conservatives need to put more of our time, effort and energy into pushing for things we're for. Yes, we play block and tackle, and we've got to do that. As long as you've got democrats around that are pushing bad ideas or Democrats around that are trying to put unqualified judges on the federal bench. But I think also those policy provisions and building support for that, building support for tax cuts, not tax increases.

07:11
Speaker 4
That is something where we should be working every single day, making certain that we are protecting kids in the virtual space, that you have the ability to protect your privacy online, that we have qualified judges on the bench, that we are going to have health care more affordable for people, that health insurance is more affordable, that we get the cost of living down by working to reduce those inflationary cost and pressures.

07:46
Speaker 1
So some of these big conservative wins in Tennessee have succeeded to make Tennessee a very desirable place to live. And you have people flocking here from California. Everywhere I go, when I tell them that I just moved here, they just guess I came from California. Do you see that as a challenge for your reelection? Know, people coming from blue states, obviously, because of the wins that you guys have succeeded to make this a great place to live?

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Speaker 4
Yeah, it is. It's a great place to live, to work, to rear your family, and to know that your kids are going to be able to come back here and have great jobs, great careers in whatever they want to do because of the growth in this wonderful, fabulous state. And you do have a lot of people that have chosen to move to Tennessee because we don't have a state income tax. We have a very well managed state. Our tax burden per citizen is in the top three lowest tax burdens in the country. So, yes, it's so interesting. When I meet people that have moved from California and Illinois and New York and Colorado and some of the big blue states, they will immediately say, we're conservative.

09:08
Speaker 4
We came here because we wanted a more conservative environment, and they are ready to get out from under that tight grip of a state government and high state income taxes and high state property taxes.

09:27
Speaker 5
So you've actually found that the people moving here are already conservatives. So those states are becoming more blue because their conservative voters are fleeing, people.

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Speaker 4
Are voting with their feet. You look at California last couple of years, they've lost 900,000 residents. Think about that. And Gavin Newsom wants to say they're a success and people are voting with their feet, and they're choosing to move to states with a lower tax burden, states that are safer, states that are right to work. Those are the states where people are choosing to make their home.

10:03
Speaker 5
Yeah, that makes sense. Well, Senator Blackburn, thanks so much for sitting down with us today.

10:08
Speaker 4
Sure. Thank you.

10:09
Speaker 1
Thank you. Good to be with you so much for being here.

10:12
Speaker 4
Absolutely.

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Speaker 2
That was Tennessee Senator Marcia Blackburn with daily Wire investigations editor Brent Scherr. And this has been a special edition of Morning Wire.