New School boards and the Democratic surge

Thanks for joining us on this Thursday, November the 5th. I'm your host, Charlie Langton. Welcome to Detroit Talk City. All right, let's get right into today's topics. He's a former judge. He's a former prosecutor, Carl Marlinga. He also ran for the United States Congress. He'll be here to talk about the possibility of a possible fallout in the state and Washington and Trump and a whole lot more. Why do the Democrats win so much? We'll talk about that. Plus. We're really excited about this one. The Detroit schools, they just got hit, perhaps, with a big political earthquake. The new fresh faces on the school board, well, is the superintendent's job? Is it on the chopping block? We'll talk about that. Brandi McGill is with us. You never know what's going to happen with her. All right, this brings us to our poll question of the day. Can new leadership inside the Detroit Public School Community District actually fix this? Some would argue are failing schools. Just scan that QR code that is right down there at the bottom, and we will show you the answers later on in the show. The show is all about hearing from you. We want to have a conversation, so here's what you do. Text us, call us, 313-765-8844. You can also jump in the Zoom room. Our meeting ID number, 892-4909-0290. And on social media, of course, hashtag us at Detroit Talk City. All right, let's get right next to the millennial manager, Brandi McGill. Always good to see you. Good to see you, too. Yeah, well, you've had a heck of a couple of days, haven't you? Yeah, it's been busy. It's been busy. 30, was it 31 people running for the school board in the city of Detroit? Yeah, it's about the number. They've got five new people, or some have been on the board before, I guess. Yes, some have been on the board before. Gut reaction, did you predict the people that won? No. I knew Aaliyah Moore, absolutely. I felt like Aaliyah Moore absolutely was going to win. I was rooting for her 100%. What I did not expect were the lemons. I did not see them at any events or really campaigning that much, so I wasn't expecting that, but they came through like a juggernaut. All right, so let's go through, without getting so super inside baseball here, one of the big issues for the Detroit School Board, there were five seats open, seven people on the board told me. Correct. Five seats were open. Correct. One of the big issues, as you talked about before, was the future of Dr. Vitti. Correct. And that really was pretty much the big issue. That was on the ballot. And that was really on the ballot. It was. He's been there for nine years now, so it's a time for him to go, and that's kind of what happened. All right. Of the five, how many do you think, say, Dr. Vitti, should go? I am for sure Aaliyah. I know for sure. I feel like she feels that way. That's one. That we need new leadership. The lemons from what I have been reading? Two and three. Okay, so the Lemons, by the way, we know these are Lamar Lemon and then his wife, Georgia Lemon. I don't know how that happens, but the two, husband and wife. Yeah, I've been looking into that to see what the law is about that or what the restrictions are on it, and there really aren't any, which is how we got to 30-something people being on the ballot anyway. There aren't really any guidelines. It's like the Wild Wild West. Well, but you can run for Congress, I mean, there's no real restriction other than age and a residency. Exactly. Actually, in Congress, there is no residency. No. In the state. In the state, yeah. Yes. But anywhere. But anywhere, for Congress. All right. School board, you probably have to live in Detroit, I would think. You don't have to live in Detroit? I don't believe so. To be on the Detroit school board? I don't think so. I did not see that. So I don't know. We'll look into it. Well, that's going to be ham traffic you do. I know that. Yeah, I've seen it. And that's an issue. I've seen it. Oh, my gosh. The courts are deciding these elections, not the voters. I believe Oak Park, too, is another district that you have to live there. I think most you have to, except Congress. But most you have to. Let's get back over here real quick. All right, so let's go down the line here. So, by the way, there's seven members, so five new ones. And I agree, the two Lemons, when Dr. Vitti was, actually Lamar Lemons opposed Dr. Vitti in the beginning. He did. And I think he opposed a renewal for Dr. Vitti at one point. He did. And Georgia Lemons, who had been on the board before, she voted not to extend the Vitti contract back in 2020. So I would say those three are pretty safe bets. Those are some safe bets. The other two, I don't know. We got some wild cards. All right, so the rest of the board, I'm not too certain whether or not they... are moving forward towards not renewing his contract, but from what I've seen in the board meetings, they're not particularly happy with him and with the success of the district. But I want to know about the millennial manager, Brandi McGill, who does so many videos. You're on social media every day with a few choice words for mostly the school district. I don't know if you're going to venture into politics or something, but... Yeah, I have, actually. Oh, no. Oh, all right, we'll do it. Got a long show, we'll get into that in a minute. But now we know the political makeup, there's definitely a leaning toward Dr. Vitti out. Should he be out, though? Yes, I do think so. To his credit, I feel like he is a stabilizer, and that's what he has been able to do. But now we need to elevate, and it seems like he is not able to do that. Give me two reasons why he should be out. Well, our literacy rates, after 10 years, or almost 10 years, we have not really moved the needle much. And while the state is declining, of course we're improving, but improving towards what, 0.3%? That's not real growth that we should be celebrating. We're celebrating mediocrity in the city. But the needle is moving up, though. If you take a look at third grade rates. Where else can we go? To the floor? You can't go down. Exactly. Will those tests fare, though? I mean, are those tests a real measure of progress? What is the literacy rate in the city of Detroit? I do feel like it's letting us know. It's giving us insight. It's not going to be, everything is not 100%, but it's giving us a good glance at what's happening inside of our schools. So I would say literacy rate is number one. Implementation of plans would be number two. It seems like there's a lot of big... So what was the number two one? Implementation, I think he really struggles with plans, like how to actually push forward ideas. So there are a lot of big ideas, but how does it happen, who's responsible for making sure these things happen? That's where I feel like he really falls short, because when you ask him about something, he's like, oh, I'm gonna talk to this person, but it never really goes anywhere. And I'm gonna support him for a while. He's got a 10% balance, a reserve balance. Correct, stabilization. Stabilization. That's good. He is good at that. That's a big deal. To his credit. Enrollment is up, I understand. Right. Where else are we supposed to go? Schools of choice these days? They could go to O'Hara, they could go to Oak Park, they could go to Southfield. School choice, I'm going to tell you, with my own experience, that is also a nightmare. School choice coming from the city of Detroit is not as easy as people make it sound. Other than you have to drive the kids. Well, you have to drive across the country, it feels like, and it's a huge inconvenience. So a lot of these kids are here because they have no other choice. I don't feel like if this was like the choice, like premier district, people would choose to bring their children here. The students that we have right now are because there are no other options. So, so you're saying it's, it's, it's, it's just so, but all right. No, what about expanded early learning? That's been a big, he's been talking about that quite a bit. The state was the one that actually put that into play. He had, he, what was he supposed to do? He had to do it. The state is the one. I'm just trying to give some, I know he's a stabilizer. I do believe that. I feel like to his credit, he is great at providing stability. But once we get past that. He cannot take us to a different level. Right now we're at 15%. The goal for this year was 30%, and we could not meet that. So this is nine years of how many kids have left this district and not reading on grade level, not being proficient, and then those kids leave the district. And you know where they go? Into our communities, into our city, and they're not able to read. They can't get jobs. So then we perpetuate poverty. So, now... Let me see if this stat is right, and I hope it's not. I hope I'm wrong. Only 10% to 13% can read at the grade level? It's 15%. 7,500 kids out of the 50,000 kids can read on grade level. Only can read? Yes. They are on grade level. 7,500 kids. And to put that into just view for you, Cass, I believe, has about 2,000 kids. Western has about 2,000 kids. OK, that's only two schools and it makes up half of this number that are proficient. Martin Luther King, though, you see what I'm saying? Like, well, those kids are I'm not saying that they're all proficient. What I'm saying is the amount of children in that school make up half of what is actually proficient in this district. If you take away those two schools, nobody can read it. Exactly. Just for example. All right. Hold that thought. Oh, we're not done yet. Talk about these Detroit Public Schools. Yes. Brandi McGill, the Millennial Manager. We want to hear from you. Can new leadership inside the Detroit Public School Community District actually fix our schools? There's the number right there. Give us a call. Detroit Talk City, back in a moment. So you want to zoom on Fox, too? We want you to zoom on Fox, too, but we want to make you look and sound really, really good. So four easy steps. First of all, take the phone and turn it on its side. We want you to fill up the entire screen. Then you've got to look around, and you've got to find the light. Remember, we want the light in front of you, not behind you. That's good. And then unmute... The Zoom mic. We want all of Detroit to hear you. And finally, turn down the television like I'm going to do right now. We want to hear you, not the TV. All right, let's review these easy steps. First, flip it, light it, unmute it, and turn down the TV. And then you are ready to Zoom. Let's do it. Remember, you can be a part of Fox 2's Detroit Talk City and the sports office. Just zoom in live. Detroit Talk City, I'm your host, Charlie Langton. All right, the new leadership inside the Detroit Public School Community District. Can they actually fix, some would argue, those failing schools? All right, time to get your text questions answered, your phone calls. We want to hear everything. Want to take a text real quick? Yeah. Brandi McGill, the millennial manager. Let's take a text. Here we go. How can DPS improve schools for exceptional students? Oh, interesting. Number one, I think a big problem with our exceptional students is that we're not able to support them through the IEP. That's been a big complaint of our special needs parents, is that there's just a huge gap for our children with special needs. So we have to look at the funding and see how we can bring more specialists into the schools. And now that we have the results of what just happened in the House and in the Senate, there really needs to be a huge campaign to discuss special needs education inside of the city. In the state, because it is a huge problem across the board. You don't think the IEP, Individual Educational Plan, if you are in need, you can get a plan? It's not... It's not happening. And then the ones that are being completed or started, they're not being followed 100%. And this is part of the parents. There's a huge issue that gets spoken about at every single board meeting where parents are coming in and talking about the IEPs and their concerns for their students. And so it's happening in those meetings and parents are complaining. And so I think that's one way that we can tackle it is maybe discuss how can we increase the volume of paras and maybe provide better training for our paras because there also was another situation a couple weeks ago. Is this an implementation issue? That's what I was telling you. You remember I was telling you about the implementation problem. So the The evaluation of the student is good. It's just the recommendations following through, not good. That's the problem. That's the implementation portion that I was talking about. Because he's a great stabilizer. I feel like as far as financial safety, he's done a wonderful job at that. And I'm just going to give Garfield his credit. However. He has not done a good job at following through, and that's where I think the kids and the teachers, the staff, they're really struggling with that as well, and parents. Let's take another question related to this. Dr. Vitti has failed the special needs environment, especially within the school district. All right, we kind of talked about that, but what can he do? What can he do? Isn't this a teacher issue, really? Well, he needs to create. He's the chief. He's the chief. So there has to be marching orders, serious ones, like real people ahead, like in charge of the special needs department. It's also a big problem. The person who was leading that department left, and they went to go and work for the state, I believe. And now the person who's running it was our CFO. Oh, and it's like, he doesn't know. Special needs. He doesn't know what those teachers need. He doesn't know what the required support looks like for the teachers, for the students, for the parents. And so it just seems like the implementation piece is really lacking in the district. And this is one of the things that I was talking to you about. How many students in Detroit? 50,000? Yeah. Just about. We're right, if not, right at 50,000, we're right underneath that. Do you roughly, I mean, you may not know, but do you know how many roughly students are, have an IEP or special need? That's also a problem. So at a meeting over the summer, there was like a request to ask that, to inquire about that, and we still don't have the numbers of how many children have not received the IEPs. The only thing that I know is that 87% of them were not completed at that point. And that was from the previous school year. Let's take another text. Even improve with services such as PT, OT, speech, that type of thing. The district offers these devices for nonverbal students and don't have the support to help them. How is that servicing the best education for our students? That's the implementation. So the training, the support for the staff of how do we support the students, how is this device supposed to, you know, make the student's life better, that's the implementation portion. All of these things that the people are asking about. They have to be implemented, and it's his responsibility to hire those right people because he can't do everything. Do you think it's a staffing problem? Oh, it's a staffing problem. You need more? Absolutely. The senior staff inside of the administration have to be held accountable for what they have not done. So I absolutely think there is a staffing problem in the administration. They have to get people who are serious about making sure that we fix these problems and really apply pressure to the job and get things done. So just so I'm understanding, There is, if you have a student that has special needs, some of the students, maybe not enough, but some of the students are getting the needs that they have to have. Some. Some, but not enough. But then there are whole communities being left out. And it's a huge gap for special needs education. Hold that thought. Brandi McGill, the millennial manager, keeping an eye on the Detroit public schools. Hey, our Zoom room is open. Uh, talking about Detroit Public Schools, Detroit Talk City, back after the break. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Lighton. Can new leadership inside the Detroit public schools fix the schools? Brandi McGill, the millennial manager, she's all over social media. She is here to talk about what might be Dr. Beatty's last days. I don't know that. Who knows? All right, let's go to the phones, okay? Yes. Lynn from Lake Orion, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Lynn. Hi. How are you? You know, I'm so glad, Charlie, that I saw this today because I'm a product of Detroit public schools, and I can't believe that they are graduating new kids and they're not able to read. That is just so awful to me, and something definitely needs to be done about that. It's just ridiculous, you know, and Brandi, I'm so glad you're on there, so at least somebody's trying to do something about this, and I hope something can be done and be done soon. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lynn. I appreciate that. I mean, I don't want to, it's not just the superintendent's blame, there's other blame to go around. Oh, it's blame to go around. Parent blame, and they get mad when I say it, but it's the truth. It's parent blame, pure laziness, ignorance. There's a bunch of things going on there. It's blame for teachers. I mean, teachers are great for the most part, but there are some teachers. That are struggling, and the reasons could vary. It could be because there is no implementation or real support from the district. And they could be better teachers if they had the right support, and that's where we struggle. So parent blame, administration, teachers, we all have to come together as a community to make it better. Let's take another phone call. Gerardo from Detroit. Hello, Gerardo. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, everybody. You know what? One thing is... There's, in school, I guess you could say one, I grew up as a kid in public schools, Detroit public schools, and the thing is, teachers who made it interesting, made it fun, you wanted to go to class, you wanted to go to class, but then, of course, the dreaded, and I'll say it, people, math, arithmetic, I was one of those kids, I mean, I was terrified, petrified, I mean, and then when you had the teacher that made you go up on the chalkboard Oh, my God. I mean, I never had a heart attack or a... panic attack. We've all been there. But now, I can do math. You know, it's like, I'm an adult, I'm older, I'm mature. I can do math, and I can even figure out a grocery bill, whatever. I even do people's math there in the store. My mom, she was a teacher. She did the same thing, too. But it's like, we've got to remember. You can get the kids into, it's like, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. Gerardo. Yeah, no, thank you for your comment. I mean. Some of the students do, right? Absolutely. Student responsibility, we all have a portion to play or to account for. But are we going to be like the Spider-Man meme where we're all standing here and pointing? Or are we going to figure out what needs to happen? So we have some tough decisions that have to be made. And it's time for us to do better with curriculum for our teachers because that is also an issue. And be better for our children. All right, we've got to wrap this up. We've got to do more. You've got a political future, though? Possibly, possibly. You want to go? In what area? School board or school? I don't know school board. What I have found with the school board is that there are a lot of issues that are at state level. Lansing might be seeing me. What? Well, I think we got a little something out of Brandi McGill, the millennial manager. Check her out. Thank you so much. Thank you. All this good stuff. All right, coming up this next half hour, could there be a fallout in Washington due to the Democratic wins here in Michigan? We'll talk about that next on Detroit Talk City. Ready? Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Light. Still to come this half hour, he's a former judge, he's a former prosecutor, he's also a former candidate for Congress. Carl Marlinga is here, and he's going to talk about the possible fallout in Michigan and Washington due to the many, many Democratic wins across the board. All right, here is our poll question one more time. Can new leadership inside the Detroit Public School Community District, can they actually fix our failing schools? To scan the QR code, it's right down there at the bottom of your screen, and we will show you the results later on in the show. Of course, this show is all about hearing from you, the viewer. It's going to have a little conversation, and we want to know what you think. You can text us. You can call us. That number is 313-765-8844. We'd also jump in the live Zoom room, our meeting ID number, 892-4909-0290, and of course, on social media, hashtag us at Detroit Talk City. All right, let's get going right now. Carl Marlinga is here. We'll Good to see you. Thank you for coming on the show. Good to be here. Thank you. You ran for Congress. Yes. Not this time. be Yes. Do you regret not running this time? No, no. It was a considered choice. right I figured that this would be the year that the seat would turn to a Democratic seat. Why do you think that? In Macomb County? This is a John James seat. back. Yeah, but what he was thinking, he was running for governor. And I also thought that if there was gonna be a time when the American people kind of I kind of got tired of the Trump antics this year. And I knew I could do it. I knew I could win the primary, and I knew that whoever won the primary would win the seat. I really did. I thought about this. Is this Trump fatigue we're talking about? Yeah, Trump fatigue. But John James was a strong candidate in the district. I didn't think that he could win statewide. I came within- That was close. 1,600 votes, but who's counting? Okay, all right. It was one half of 1%, all right, I could have made it. But Christina Hines had worked on my campaign. She had then run for prosecutor in the following year, and I knew that she was bright. I mean, she's a lot of things that I'm not, I'm not a mom, I'm not as smart, and I'm not as young, all right? And I thought, well, if somebody gets this, I was running when I thought that I was the only Democrat who could win. When I realized that somebody else as bright as Christina could win, I decided, made the conscious choice, I'm going to be 80. It's time for me to retire from public life, and somebody young who can hold the seat for a long time should be there. All right, let's talk about, that's the congressional district. What about the whole state of Michigan, the democratic tsunami, some people are calling it. Did that surprise you? Well, the size of it surprised me, not only in Michigan, but across the United States. I mean, Kansas, for God's sakes, Georgia. We won in places where we haven't won since Franklin Roosevelt, I mean- Let's break down the message. It seems to me the Democrats ran on the message of, I hate Trump. That was it. Is that all they had to do? Do you agree with that, first of all? I think that's all they had to do, yeah, because obviously that's what happened. I can't think, I mean, I realize that there's a Medicare for all, there's a desire for people People addressing healthcare and addressing issues seriously, but But I think that, I don't think it was a wise thing to do. I think that the Democrats won in spite of the message. They had to offer something positive other than we don't like Trump. But I think that the underlying sentiment in the country was so tired of the turmoil of the Trump years that the Democrats are going to win anyway, no matter what they did. Did you, now, the Democrats won, they're here. So let's, moving forward there, let's just talk about Medicare for all. Is that really what most Democrats want? Medicare for all? Well, I think that everybody would like Medicare for all. The problem is, how much will it cost? How much? Which, I mean, One problem with it is that it removes the check and balance of a free market system from controlling medical costs, from hospital costs, doctor's costs. And so ultimately. I think the sentiment is a great sentiment, but I don't think it's a good idea. But that's what progressive Democrats want, to get the public, the private sector out and put the government in. Yeah. You don't subscribe to that, do you? No, no, no. No, I mean, I would love it. So is this just a flash in the pan, as they call it? This is like the idea of the day to become progressive? I think it's a good slogan, because if you ask people, do you think that anybody who needs medical care should get medical care, the answer is obviously yes. Do you want anybody to be turned away? The answer is no. However, in the cost of what it's going to cost the government, the deficit, the inflation, that it'll break the budget, we'll never be able to pay for it. Those are the things that say, look, it's a great sentiment, but I don't think we can pull it off. And on a campaign issue, this is fantastic. Rich people pay for poor people's health care. How can you argue with that? There are a lot more poor voters than rich voters, right? Well, I mean, it just comes down. I'm not a progressive Democrat socialist. I believe in capitalism, free market. John Kennedy said that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. I still basically believe that's why I have a problem with the With the new progressive wing of the Democratic Party. You might not have won this race had you been in there now. Except that I come from Macomb County where most people agree with me. Well, I know, but that's a hard thing. Do you think this progressive is going to stick? I mean, do you think there's enough momentum? At least this is probably a congressional issue. No, I think that there will be some gains. I think there will be some compromises. There will be an expansion of medical care. To make sure that those who truly need it and can't pay for it will be covered. We tried to do that now with the Medicaid, but it doesn't quite cover all the corners. I think the compromise will work out that will expand Medicaid to make sure that it'll be a lot easier for everybody if they need care to get it. But I don't think Medicare for all, meaning total government takeover, I don't think that'll ever fly. Hold that thought. Carl Marlinga, former judge, prosecutor as well, candidate. We want to hear from you. Text us, call us, 313-765-8844. Could there be a political fallout due to the overwhelming Democratic wins? Detroit Talk City, back after this. Welcome back, Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Lighton. Could there be a political fallout now due to the overwhelming Democratic win? Karl Marlinga is here. He's been in politics for a long time. Let's go to the phones. Linda from Warren, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Linda. Uh-oh, do we have Linda? Can't hear her. So the question was, like, I can't afford to pay for Part B on Medicare, so I'm without. I'm without because... Uh-oh, I think, Linda, can we... Now we can hear you, Linda. Go ahead, Linda. Okay, so I can't afford the $280 a month, so I can only have Part A because I can't afford Part B. Right. Yeah. We have to cover... I want to make it clear. Cases like yours and millions of other people across the United States deserve the attention it deserves. Nobody should be denied medical care because of money. Nobody should be denied medical care ever because of money. However, there are ways to address that short of Medicare for all, where you cover everybody, those who can afford it and those who can't afford it. It comes in the expansion of Medicare, it comes in the expansion of Medicaid. And that's why as a simple slogan, the answer that when you hear Medicare for all, yes, it's a good idea. But to really pay for everybody. Whether they need it or not is just going a little bit too far, and you would feel it in terms of inflation, in terms of, it would not be good for the economy of the country. But yes, your situation needs to be covered, deserves to be covered, will be covered in the next Congress. But I don't think Republicans disagree with the concept of everyone should be covered. And we have that with Medicaid if you need to. No, except we don't have it with Medicaid because it goes to the states. The states have a lot of dinky, silly rules. And so it needs reform. It doesn't need to be thrown out. But you think that the political question is, are these progressives that want Medicare for all, is there enough momentum there to get it passed in this Congress? There's not enough momentum to get Medicare for all passed. However, there is enough momentum to get what I said, that everybody who needs care will be covered. All right, hold that thought. Carl Marlinga, coming up, we will answer more of your texts and your phone calls. Could there be a political fallout because of this big Democratic win? Detroit Talk City, back after this. Back to Detroit Talk City. Could there be a political fallout because of the overwhelming Democratic win? Carl Marlinga is here, former prosecutor and a judge. You like being a prosecutor better than a judge? Prosecutors are better, Chad. There you go. All right, let's go right to the phone calls right now. Anthony from Allen Park here on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Anthony. Hello. Hello. Hey, thank you. Medicare for all is what, you know, they were running on that, you know, the Democrats or at least that dual and also not, you know, Israel changing that situation. But the thing is, they're gonna that's what the voters want. But the leaders of their party in Congress don't want that. Jeffries and Schumer, they're against the agenda they ran on. So Well, you know, I was talking with Charlie in the break, and I mean, when Abdul ran, at least he had something positive to say with the Medicare for All, which I follow a lot of Democrats for not stressing some positive issues. Well, Christina Heinz talked about being a mom and the bread and butter issues as well. But look, I think just take this out of the realm of politics into now what's possible. I think with the new Congress, with the overwhelming Democratic majority in the House and holding the Senate as well, I think now is the time for serious people, Republicans and Democrats, to come together and say, for all of those people who can't get good health care right now, we have to have something. And I don't care what you call it, I don't care what they call it, all I'm saying is that a program where the United States government takes over the insurance industry's role in in providing health care coverage. While it would get good health care for all, well, it would get health care for all, might not necessarily be the best, but that can be accomplished by providing more money for specific programs to make sure that everybody who needs to be covered will be covered. Frankly, I don't know if Charlie or I need Medicare for all, I'm on Medicare myself, But there are people who Do not stay away from the emergency room or doctor's care because of the fear of money. Those people don't need to be covered. We don't need to be spending on them. All right, Sue from Melvindale. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Sue. Hi, Charlie. Hi, Carl. Hope all is well. I'm calling regarding Linda. There is a program through the state of Michigan, through the Department of Human Services. She can go online and fill out an application or go down to her local office. And they pay for Medicare Part B. Oh, yeah. And that's what I'm talking about. That if those things were better publicized, I mean, there's a fear out there. If you're not covered, you stay away from medical care because you fear that if you go in, you're going to get a bill and it's going to be with you for the rest of your life. What we need to do is to make sure that. That people who can get coverage through what you've just talked about know it's there, make it easy to get, make it an online application, make it as easy as possible so that the people who are deserving and need it could get it. That's the kind of solution I think that the Congress is going to go to. But the premiums are so high, too, and that's a part of it. All right, let's go back to Christopher from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Christopher. Hey, Charlie, thank you so much for having me. I just wanted to comment on some of the potential unforeseen benefits of universal health care, such as reducing the burden on employers who the right sees as individuals anyway, because if you have universal coverage, Then you don't have to provide healthcare from your employers so that people working part-time might actually get moved up to full-time because employers don't have to worry about the burden of the cost of healthcare. Therefore, they have more take-home pay and therefore you could even see a decrease in SNAP recipients and more money spent in the economy. So there are also other Benefits, I believe, to you. It's true. No, no, no, absolutely, absolutely, look, there would be a benefit to the United States auto industry if the automobile manufacturers didn't have to pay so much for health care coverage. We could sell cars cheaply more in the United States and overseas. So, I mean, it's not like Medicare for All is an inherently bad idea. It's just that- They gotta pay for it. Who's gonna pay for it? Someone's gotta pay for it. It's a give and take, it's a give and take. Again, I think I'm stuck in the same message because I believe it's true with that. That is that Medicare for all. As proposed by some is too expensive, a slimmed down version to make sure that everybody who needs health care gets health care is what the Congress is going to go to. I'm pretty sure that that's going to be worked out. But just given the amount of, I mean, this is an unscientific survey, but just given the amount of calls that we're getting here, it's on people's minds. Yes. From a political point of view, it was a dynamite issue for Abdul Al- It was brilliant of Abdul to stake that out. First of all, it didn't sound like everything he was doing was negative. It's basically why he He won. He said he had an identity other than I don't like Trump. That's exactly right. All right. Teresa from Mount Clemens, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Teresa. Teresa, are you there? Yes. Teresa, go ahead. What's your question or comment? Oh, thank you. Yes, I'm here. Hi. Go ahead. What's your question? My question is, those of us that had to wait until we retired, those of us that had We had to wait till we retired. I think you have to turn your television down there, Teresa. We can hear you. And paid into it until we reached a certain age where we... We got to call back there. We'll try to do it again. Let's go to Linda from Southfield. Linda, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello there, Linda. Hi, yes, I want to address what Mr. Malinga said about those who deserve it can get it. Everyone deserves to have good health care. We are in the richest country in the world. Universal health care should be allowed for everyone. They do it in Europe. They do it in Canada. What we need to do is prioritize. People, instead of NASA, instead of weapons, we spend billions of dollars on wars, and we do nothing for our seniors and our poor. The money is here. We're just not spending it on health care. Well, what I meant is everybody who needs health care must get it, has to get it. I'm just saying that a program which says we're going to cover everybody, whether you have an economic need or not, becomes so expensive that inflation goes up, taxes go up, people living on fixed incomes suffer because inflation eats away on their ability to pay for things. There's too much suffering that falls. You've got to think about people. It's absolutely true. But there are unintended consequences, namely that the people who live near the poverty level will find it harder to subsist because prices will be going up and they will be getting no additional income to cover that. Yes, medical care will be gone. But that assumes a Medicaid will be gone. I'm not sure that it will be gone. No, it won't be gone. Actually, people on Medicaid, they do get care. For everybody who is out, I think that the Democratic victory does assure one thing, And that is that. Whether you call it Medicare for all or put other some name to it, we will reach a point in the next couple of years where everybody, if you have any kind of medical problem, you're going to be able to get it paid for. But Linda's point, I think, and I want to speak for Linda, but the idea is that we have to prioritize our spending. And maybe, and I think what Abdul Alsaid was saying, is you spend less on foreign aid, aid to other countries, and instead take care of the people here in Michigan. Yeah, except the foreign aid is like that little. And what we're tired about. But it's that big. I mean, I get it. I can't take for one. I understand. No, no. Foreign aid is a big red herring because it's not that much money. And we're talking about Medicare for all. It's a whole bunch of money. But you got to keep that in mind. This is a dynamite political to get to get them elected. That's real good. I was going back to the phones real quick. Kevin from Clinton Township. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Kevin. Go ahead, Kevin. You're on. Yes, to my knowledge, I'm retired, and I don't know anyone who Medicare pays Part A and B. We all had to pay for Part B, so I'm just confused about, like, we spent all this money taking out our check on Medicare, but when we retire, we still got to pay something. Well, I'm not familiar enough with it. Well, yeah, no, it comes, look, I get Medicare, and so I know that there's a part that's deducted. And so it partially pays for itself, but it doesn't pay for it completely. Thank you. I want to stress again that it doesn't matter what you call it. We have to expand health care so that nobody stays away from health care because of economics. However, Medicare for All, in its purest form, Would be too expensive, it would hurt the elderly, it would hurt the poor because people on fixed incomes would find that they're being priced out of everything because the cost of everything would rise. What's the arch of Trump? What is that? I called because President Trump wants to build this arch. He's a draft dodger, yet he wants to build this arch, which is mostly a monument to himself, which will obscure the view of Arlington National Cemetery. I can't think of anything more bitterly ironic and unfair and unjust that he gets to build this monument, which is mostly to himself, who never served in the armed forces, who dodged the draft. And it's going to obscure the view of the graves of the people who gave their lives for themselves, for this country, whom Trump called suckers and losers. That is an abomination. If that thing goes up And if it doesn't go up, it has to be torn down. I think you're running for whatever you're running for. I don't know what it is. Oh, there it is. All right. Carl Marlinga, I appreciate that. Former judge, former prosecutor, breaking it down for us. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Stay with us. We've got the results of our question of the day, our poll. What's going on at 5? All right, we're gonna lock it. Tonight on Fox 2 News at 5, we're actually talking a lot about this particular story, a 16-year-old who was killed in a car crash. We're going to take a look at that story that happened earlier this morning in Dearborn. Fox 2's Ingrid Kelly has been following this story throughout the day, joins us live with the details. The news at 5 is just minutes away. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. It's time now for the results of our question of the day, our poll. One more time. Can new leadership inside the Detroit Public School Community District, can it actually fix our failing schools? Here's what you're saying. No. 56% say no. 44% say yes, but tell me then that there's a little something more that has to be done and we will follow the Detroit School Board because a lot of new faces and Dr. Fede's job maybe is on the line. All right, thank you for that. All right, that is it for Detroit Talk City. Remember, you can connect with us using the hashtag DetroitTalkCity on Instagram and X. And, of course, tune in Monday through Friday, 4 o'clock, right here. And join us on our website, Fox2Detroit.com. Of course, our streaming app as well, Fox Local. And right now, Fox 2 News at 5 o'clock, where the reprise is next. See you later.