and learn how to use a.i.. i think it's really mart. i'm very curious to see where that goes. thank you so much for your insights, jeffrey small. happy new year and fingers crossed for a 10% increase next year. thanks for your time. [laughter] >> happy new year with, kelly. cel e cel happy new year. there's just seconds to go for trading in 2023. no new record for the dow today. the s&p 500's 5-day winning streak is over, but if you look at all the major indices, they have had a stellar year, okay? the dow is up over 10%. the nasdaq powered by a.i. and big with tech, over 43%. the s&p 500, 24%. i just want to say have a happy new year, etch. i know it's been a tough year, but many happy returns. "the claman countdown" is over. ♪ ♪ david: hello, folks, and welcome to a special edition of "kudlow." i'm david asman in for larry

kudlow. maine has now become the second state to disqualify former president donald trump from the 2024 republican ballot. secretary of state bellows citing ap insurrection clause in her decision. critics though are calling for the supreme court to ten in and stop what they -- to step in and stop what they say is a partisan push to block trump's campaign. our own grady trimble is standing by with the latest on this for us. >> reporter: hey, david. maine's secretary of state unilaterally made the decision to remove former e primp from the state's primary -- president trump from the primary ballot. the trump campaign saying we're witnessing in realtime the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the american voter. the campaign also says it'll appeal the decision to maine's state court. bellows suspended her ruling until they rule on the case. republicans, including those running against the former president in the primary, are slamming bellows' decision.

>> it opens up pandora's box. can you have a republican secretary of state disqualify biden from the ballot because he's let in 8 million people illegally in. >> i will voluntarily as a republican candidate remove myself from any gop primary ballot where one of my competitors, donald trump included, is forcibly removed through this unconstitutional manuever. >> in the end, donald trump should be defeated by the voters at the polls and defeated by someone like me who's willing to tell the truth about a him. that eat the way we defeat him. >> reporter: maine's senator, susan collins, who defeated bellows back in 2014, says maine voters should decide who wins the election, not a secretary of state chosen by the legislature. secretary of state's decision, she says, would deny thousands of mainers the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice, and it should be overturnedded. more than a dozen states are dealing with lawsuits seeking to

bar trump from the ballot. the former president is back on the ballot in colorado as the state gop appeals the colorado supreme court's decision to the u.s. supreme court. we should also point out, david, that a senator angus king, an independent, also spock out out against -- spoke out against bellows' decision, and and if memory serves, both senators from maine voted to impeach trump on the january 6th case. now they're speaking out against bellows' decision which is related to that. david: grady, thank you very much is. joining me now is will valve, missouri attorney general candidate, and tom dupree, former deputy assistant the attorney general. thank you for being here, happy new year with. will, let's get right to it. what right does the secretary of state operating op her own, he did -- unlike colorado, she did not go through the state supreme court. it was a uniwith lateral decision, ad hoc by her, and she's not a lawyer, by the way,

to do this. she's disenfranchising at least the 44% of voters who voted for trump in 2020. what right does she is have to do this, if any? >> she has zero right. i mean, that's the point here. shannon bellows is a washed-up political hack. he lost the u.s. senate race to susan collins by about 40 points, and now she's seeking to seize her moment in the sun by engaging in blatantly unlawful conduct. that's going to end up top floor as soon as a competent the court takes one look at a it. but it just speaks to the danger of this movement all over the country to try to wage this campaign against trump -- president trump, keep him off the ballot, keep him tied down with legal case after legal case. this is the not the way elections in america are supposed to be fought and won. it's a really sad day for the republic. david: tom, that's why we have a constitution, to prevent things like this. [laughter] her attitude was so frivolous. she was on msnbc which, of

course, was very sympathetic to her. here's what she said about how she came to the decision. roll it. >> i could not, unfortunately for -- or fortunately, wait for the united states supreme court to make a decision. david: tom, i could not wait for the supreme court. i had to do this. all on my open. i mean, it's -- can her at a tuesday towards the constitution is so frivolous, it kind of gives me goes bumpsing make -- goose bumps, makes me worried about whether people have any respect for that wonderful document. >> well, look, i had a very similar reaction when i saw that interview. i mean, typically when you have a public official rendering what's the equivalent of a judicial decision. they don't then go on television and kind of explain themselves in what i think a lot of americans perceive as a partisan way. and that's the real concern here is that i think a lot of people, including but not limited to the people who are prepared to vote for president trump, you know,

mainers who disgee with president trump are criticizing this as a partisan decision. and when you have the secretary of state kind of making the rounds of talk shows to explain her decision and justify it, i think that just further feeds the perception that this was a decision that was not guided by the law, but by a desire to reach a preferred political outcome. david: right. and, will, that's the point. wills a disregard for the rule of law -- there is a disregard for the rule of law in this nation in so many different areas, and now the chickens are coming home to roost and we're seeing how it has the possibility of upending an election. i mean, you see it at the border, no rule of law at the border. you see it op our streets, no rule of law. these criminals who should be in jail are getting out and killing people. and now you see it in our election campaign. do you think we have finally reached a point, the american voters, to which they're saying, stop, this has gone too far? >> i think the radical left willing to shred the constitution, is willing to shred the rule of law as a long as a it allows them to advance

the cause of leftism. i don't think they care what the constitution says as long as their spurious interpretation of it allows them to keep president trump off the presidential ballot. and as you said, that is the just such a dangerous attitude, one deeply at variance with the u.s. constitution, with american traditions, with the very idea of the american republic. fortunately, i think their efforts are going to fail, and i think in 2024 we are going to see a conservative revolution the likes of which this country hasn't seen in a long time as voters reject exactly this sort of left-wing approach to our cup. david: tom, i'll tell you one group of people that care at lot about the constitution is the supreme court. i hope the supreme court cares about -- how soon will they take this on? i mean, the sooner the better. this is, there are a total of and states now -- 13 states now that are trying to take trump off the ballot using this ruse of obviously something that totally undermines the case of rule of law and due process in

this country. when will the supremes take this on? >> yeah. and that's interesting, because that is actually one issue on which everyone in this debate can agree, is that if the supreme court is going to weigh in and decide it, and i think they will, they need to do so quickly. a lot of these states, colorado, these ballots are about a to be printed, so the supreme court doesn't have the luxury of time. it doesn't have the ability to take what typically would be months if not up to a year to decide a case. they're going to have too this quickly and decisively. i think they are going to accept this case for review. i think they're going to issue a decision in the next week or two says they will take the case, and then i think they will issue a decision on the merits which in all a likelihood will reverse what the colorado supreme court originally did within the next month or two. that is my very, very strong hunch here, david. david: will, what concerns me is if it's not a unanimous vote, we're going if to have these calls and screams from the street to pack the supreme court, that the supreme court is antiquated, it's an old body, it

should be much big e or, much more representative of our democracy, maybe 12, maybe 15, maybe 30 people should be in the supreme court. unless it's a unanimous decision. what do you think? >> yeah. this is exactly why the left has launched these sorts of unprecedented attacks on the supreme court in recent year wheres. they need to delegitimize the court because their views, their approaches don't have anything to do with the constitution and the rule of law, and they see the supreme court as a real stumbling block to their ability to enact their agenda. fortunately, if history is any guide the democrats have been trying to pack the supreme court since 1936. thus far they've fade. i think the american people -- they've fade. i think the american people know that sort of political ploy for what a it is. at the end of the day, the supreme court is going to speak here, and i hope it speaks decisively and as one with because these efforts are so

radical and so extralegal. david: and, tom, what about all the other attempts to keep trump off the ballot? all the -- particularly these local cases. i'm thinking of the one in new york, the so-called fraud case in which there's not an aggrieved party to that fraud. i mean, are -- will they eventually -- i mean, the supremes are going to be dealing with a lot of election -- they don't like to deal with one, let alone a half a dozen or more of them as heir going to have to do in the coming year. >> well, that's true. i can't imagine that any of the justices have any desire to wade into the election craziness -- david: but they're going to be forced to, right in. >> well, i think they have no choice at this point at least the with regard to this 14th amendment theory. i think that what the colorado supreme court has done and now what maybe the maine courts are posed -- poised to do the leaves the united states supreme court with no choice but to get involved. that said, i think what all of this lit are division really shows is that you do have, i think, a tendency for a lot of people now to try to achieve through the court system what

they have not been able to achieve at the polls. and that's one of the real concerns about all of this disqualification legislation, is you just can't have a system in which you have 50separate states, you know, secretaries of state, elected officials, making their own decisions as to whether particular people can be on the ballot important. that that's not a -- or not. that's not a workable system, and i don't think it's one with that the united states supreme court is going to ins doer. david: could be a very messy year, no getting around it. will and tom, have a wonderful new year. appreciate you coming in. coming up, a record number of illegal migrants have crossed into our country this month, and the biden administration may be letting mexico dictate what we do with them. is that right? we're going to be talking about it with our open griff jenkins and charlie hurt when "can kudlow "continues. ♪

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david: well, another day, another record at the southern border for migrant encounters, but biden appears not to have a care in the world about this or just about anything else from his vacation perch down in the caribbean. meanwhile, secretary of state blinken and dhs secretary

mayorkas are spending more time9 with the president of mexico than they are with the u.s. congress in dealing with this crisis. will the administration ever get serious about responding to cries from both parties now about closing the border? joining us in studio is charlie hurt, washington times opinion editor and fox news contributor. and i just found out a longtime friend of charlie's, our open griff jenkins, fox news' national or correspondent if who is on virtually every show that fox news has right now. [laughter] gentlemen, great to see you. it's extraordinary, these numbers, griff. we actually have the december numbers at 275,000, but we've still got a few days left, and if we get 10,000 migrants a day until the end of this year, we're going to come up with over 300,000 for the month of december. >> it's stunning, david. and you know, here's the thing, the american people, i think, are becoming numb to numbers. it's just another number, another number. and maybe that's what the administration hopes. to put it in or perspective,

you're looking at the highest month ever of crossing illegally. and what that does is it takes the resources of every border patrol agent to process and transport these migrants leaving hundreds of miles of wide open border. that's why the other number, and i'll break it here with you, i'm going to be reporting it tomorrow, but there were more than 82,000 known gotaways since the fiscal year began on october 11st. david: unbelievable. >> so 8 2,000 people have crossed the border illegally, undetected, we don't know where they're from. the dallas cowboys' stadium holds 81,000, so an entire cowboys' stadium has only across. david: god knows what's in very much by the way with, the others are essentially free anyway. they have these notices to return five or six or seven or eight years from now. >> the notice to appear. quickly on that. in the last 24 hours, since yesterday with, there were about 9400 migrant encounters across

the southwest border, just over 8,000 were released. so they're coming and coming because they know that 8 in 10 are going to be released with this notice to appear for a court date 5-10 years from now that they may or may not go to. that's fueling it. david: charlie, we've crossed another rubicon and not just in the raw numbers. put up that chart, i saw it earlier, american births versus illegal immigrants. the number of illegal immigrants coming in now exceeds if the number of births we have in this country. tell me about the cig e enough cannes of that. >> oh, i think it is extremely significant. and as you were pointing out earlier during the break, you simply -- you can't have a society that the offers a generous welfare program and then have a wide open -- david: the fist person to say you cannot have an open border if you have a welfare state, and that's what we have now. >> it's a basic economic argument. it's a basic math argument.

and it should be obvious, but it's not. and it doesn't sort of make you stop and. wonder if all of this isn't is intention aal. david: yeah. >> and, you know, you hate going in that direction because you don't want to, like, question the motives of people, but clearly this, you know, they're -- if you talk to voters, there is a will to do something about this, to end this. david: by the way,ing you have to question the motives of minute like mayorkas who looks at this wide open border and says it's closed. obviously, there's a motive for him bare-faced lie, bald-faced lie. >> and, of course, nobody pays a higher price for all of this than the very voters that democrats claim to be representing. if you're working class, if you're poor and it's sort of -- david: or if you're milt class, hard working middle class migrant who's jumped through the all the hoops that you have to in order to get a green card and then in order to become a citizen, it takes years very often, and these people come in illegally and, boom, they have a work permit. >> and ma -- what's the stroke

on the internet -- joke on the internet, if all these people carom coming across the border were lawyers with briefcases? the immigration problem would end tomorrow. >> 59%, 3 out of 5 illegal alien households are on welfare of some sort. david: amazing. >> so is ultimately, the american taxpayers are paying for this. and you talk about, you know, skipping the line, going right to the front. the takeaway of that blinken-mayorkas and mechanics can president lopez obrador meeting was the mexican readout said that they discussed amnesty. david: yep. >> specifically, regularizing the situation of long-term migrants and daca recipients, and that's just stunning, to realize that we've got this problem where we need the migrants to stop coming across mention mexico --ing mexico's soimp border. >> by the way, you and i nomex coe pretty well. -- nomex coe pretty well. the way things work down this,

the mexican government is always on the take on one end of every deal or sometimes on two or three ends -- >> that's right. david: in this case, some people s. that the cartels are paying off members of the mexican government to pet geim and trucs across the border, but now they want it from the other end. am-lo wants all the remissions coming back from the people working. that's why he wants an amnesty for the millions of mexicans that are now in the united states. >> you bet. and, you know, president trump when he was in office went down there and said, look, i'm going the bring serious economic consequences on your country, and we're going to shut down trade -- david: right. right. >> and we're going to implement remain in mexico which migrants didn't like. 25eu6 david and, charlie, that's the point. you don't go down to mexico and have them dictate terms to you. we are the bigger government, we are the ones that dictate -- and that's exactly what donald trump did. he said unless you do the remain in mexico policy, we're going to

cut off trade the. >> regardless of us being the -- david: by the way, the same president because he's got a 6-year term. >> regardless of the fact that we're a bigger country, we're our own country. we're allowed to look out for our own interests, and what you're seeing at the border over the past six years has been a complete 180 from the america first agenda that is designed to benefit the united states of america with immigration. versus this america last thing that the biden administration -- david: and there's something even deeper than that which gets to the whole issue of what's happening in our judicial system. there is a constitutional process. you don't go to mexico to decide how you are going to deal with mexicans in our country. you go to the u.s. congress. if you're talking amnesty, which is what it can be interpreted to mean, this communique that came from secretary mayorkas and blinken yesterday, it's a constitutional process. you deal with congress to come up with a solution, not with the president of mexico. >> exactly. and, you know, the whole concept

of asylum which a lot of people are pointing to for people coming across the border, the united states is not the answer to every asylum problem on the planet. but if you place america's interests last, you wind up with the situation where we do wind up -- >> and just to add quickly to that, listen, the caravan we've been showing top channel, you know -- on the channel, you know, you see this giant caravan? they're carrying a sign that says -- [speaking spanish] freedom from poverty. they're not coming for credible fear, they're coming for jobs. david: yeah. >> they know they're going to get release ared in the u.s. and get those jobs. david: i've got to say one more thing. i'm going to kill the producers because they want me to jump, but, charlie, i'm doing the cavuto show tomorrow on fox news. they give you this list of saturday live events, and you've got vivek ramaswamy and about a six or seven events in iowa, ron desantis, he's in new hampshire doing different events. you've got nick key haley in

several ah events and then you have you have president joe biden. you know what he's doing? nothing! biden in st. croix with no public events scheduled at this time. i mean, he thinks he can sail through 2024 the same way he did in 2020, but in 2020 we had a pandemic,. he could stay in his basement without being too much criticized. and also he didn't have a record. now he has a record that a ain't so hot. >> yeah. the basement strategy is not going to work this time. david: that simple. >> maybe he's looking into root causes in the virgin islands. [laughter] david: right. sure, the roose caught z -- root causes of how to become a billionaire. charlie hurt and griff jenkins, i can see why you guys are good friends. have been for 30 years stwhroosm coming up, officials quiet after pro-pal a stipjanuary protesters block the entrance to the 9/11 world trade center memorial. imagine. this is a sacred place. they were defiling a sacred place. shouldn't have happened. we're going to discuss this with new york congresswoman claudia

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♪ david: well, house speaker mike johnson was outraged to discover that secretaries blinken rain mayorkas sent out a communique after their meeting with the president of mexico that appeared to show the two sides discussing plans for amnesty for illegal aliens in the united states. the speaker's strong statement said in part: at a time when america is experiencing the worst board or crisis in our nation's history, it's up conscionable to hear the biden administration's announcement that secretaries mayorkas and blinken discussed with the president of mexico amnesty for illegal immigrants. the united states must focus on policies that deter, not attract

people attempting to come here illegally and the smugglers who profit from the catastrophe at our border. let's bring in new york congresswoman claude ca ya tenny about this. congresswoman, great to see you. hope you had a great, merry christmas and you'll are a -- have a good year. i've got some bad news to talk about which is this open border. has either secretary blinken or mayorkas spoken to congress about the idea of an am a necessity for the -- amnesty for the migrants who are here illegally? >> well,ing they don't speak to congress. we've passed one of the most important and most secure border bills, h.r. 2, which is sitting on chuck schumer's desk waiting for them to act on it and, of course, the administration's not working with us because they know we're looking at potentially impeaching secretary mayorkas and also impeaching president joe biden for his dangerous policies on the border which are, which these policies are hurting americans economically, they're making us less secure, they're enriching these cartels as you cited, and

the speaker said e they're making billions of dollars off human trafficking and drug trafficking and hurting our communities even if -- in upstate new york. and as you know, we've talked about it, we have over 85% of the people on the terror watch list have come through the northern border, and that's my district in upstate the new york because the customs and border patrol agents have been diverted to this entire mess down in the southern border where we're seeing almost 7.8 million encounters with illegal immigrants. and we know that at least 6.4 million have come across the border since joe biden was elected. and what has joe biden done? 99 4 actions in the first $94 actions in the first 100 days to reverse the policies that were working under president trump. this is a catastrophe, and in no way should we be trusting joe biden or secretary blinken especially in providing amnesty. it's just more incentives. david: by the way, there was another -- i'm sure you're aware of this, but there was another arrest up by niagara rah falls.

an iranian national with ties to terrorism, they say ties to terrorism. don't know exactly what that mean, but this is the second time he's trying to cross up there. we know they're trying to get in. we know they're coming in to do damage to this country way way or another. so it is a national security crisis. but i want to get back to this meeting down in mexico, because they're not -- as you just said, they're not meeting with you, mayorkas, blinken or any of the people from the administration on the border, but they're having a jolly time down in mexico. they were all smiles, hobnobbing with the president of mexico and the people that was with him. you see mayorkas there with a big grin in his face. here is what the communique among the friends, the president of mexico and these guys, said. the delegation -- and this is, again, from them, the delegation, quote: discussed the benefits of regularizing the situation of long-term undocumented, that means illegal hispanic migrants and dak

daca -- daca rep recipients who are a vital part of the u.s. economy and society. that sure sounds like amnesty to me. doesn't it to you? >> yes. and what is regularizing? that means we're going to continue this inflow. and, by the way, we're seeing people from over 130 different countries. the cartels are bringing people in from everywhere. they're going the mexico, they're getting a fake passport, they fly into canada. and in canning a da there is no visa requirement, and the cartels meet them at the border, and they come right into the united states, and they get a license in new york state thanks to kathy hochul and, actually, thanks to governor cuomo. and they're given this special status like under the green light law which means that we can't even inspire quire, the police -- inquire, the police and border patrol can't even inquire as to the status to be an illegal immigrant to be prioritized over our own citizens and taxpayers. look, this is a real crisis. this is the number one thing i hear about. and let me tell you, david, when

i hear people in new york city who are democrats talking about mass deportation, you know this is a problem because you don't often hear that from democrats especially in new york city. and mayor adams and others are sound ising the alarm. this is a huge problem, and it's costing us dearly not just security, but also the taxpayer money. david: they're getting a driver's license, and in short order we're going to have a driver's license be all you need to go to vote. so once they have a driver's license, all kinds of questions about that. i quickly though want to get to the issue of these protesters, tease fro- pro-hamas protesters all over the country. we had lax airport, jfk blocking traffic, lord knows why they want to do it. what you're looking at right now is an outrage. this is at the world trade center. i believe that's -- yes, this is the world trade center where so many, where 2,000 americans were killed, over 22,000 americans. this is -- 2,000 americans. this is sacred ground, by the way, because there are still remnants of people who were killed there that were buried in

all the rubbish. and here you have pro-terrorists, not just pro-palestinian, they're shouting things about how the yemens are good people for blocking the red sea, etc. they're obviously pro-hamas. i mean, there is nothing more outrageous, to see them really sullying the site which is a sacred site where so many americans were killed. >> yeah. well, this country's overrun are. and don't ever believe that any that any of this is grassroots. this has all a been planned over many years by a group called american miss lumbars for pal student. -- muslims for palestine. they have subsidiaries all over the country of they have several chapters, and if they also have students for justice for palestine which is why you're seeing all these i call astroturf organizations. david right. >> look, a bunch of students on campus, thousands of them across the country with 300 different chapters don't all of a sudden have beautifully placard signs and palestinian nags overnight.

these are -- flags overnight. these are all planned, they've been part of a non-grassroots effort that a has been funded by billions of dollars coming from overseas terrorist groups like hamas to try to bring our country down. and that's exactly what they're doing. their manipulating -- they're manipulating the process. they're anti-semites. they're causing students to question everything that's happening with our great ally, israel. these are really dangerous people, and we have got to pay attention because, by the way, they're coming through our border. they're just walking awe cross, and they're able to spread this hatred, spread this anti-semitism, and we're allowing that to happen. we've got to pay attention -- david: well, you know -- >> these are very dangerous situations. david: i've snuck into some of these rallies myself just to see who was there. there's a lot of americans there who have been a product of our education system which has all of these radical ideas. and they are just doing as much damage. and i think of the workers -- >> you're right. david: the clean-up workers at the world trade center who had

such reverence for every little piece that they were picking up, remnants of bodies, etc., and to have them trampled op by hemoshouting allahu akbar, it's just too much. we've got to run are. great to talk to you again. have a wonderful new year and best to your ma if reap son as well. switching gears, almost 10 million workers in 22 states are going to be getting raises on january 1st. kelly a saberi is in illinois with more on this. >> reporter: illinois is one of the 2 states that will increase -- 232 state. all workers in the land of lincoln will see a $1 increase to the minimum wage, so it'll be $14 an hour. but that's not even among the highest wages around the country. as of next week, washington and california will be in the $16 an hour range while connecticut, new jersey and new york will all have increases to $15 ap hour or more. the federal minimum wage has not

changed since 2009. it are remains at $.25. for people -- 7.25. for people like russ are, a minority co-owner of a bubble tea shop, this wage increase could affect the quality of his product. >> -- understand the need for a good wage for people. i don't think anybody in business is hiring and looking to not pay somebody a quality, a quality wage. it is a detriment when the increases continue to come and you're trying to absorb at the same time you're trying to establish and grow. >> reporter: on the other hand, supporters of the hike say this will help businesses hire and retain employees saying, quote, they help workers put food on the table can and keep a roof overhead, and they boost the consumer spending that businesses depend on. fair wages help businesses hire and retain employees and deliver the reliable customer service that leads to repeat customers instead of lost customers.

over in california two pizza hut franchises already have said they'll lay off drivers as a result of the state increasing fast food wages to $20. in new york city uber, doordash and grubhub drivers will now be paid $18 an hour. many workers will see a raise in pay, businesses could be seeing that hit to their bottom line, david. david: kelly, thank you for that. let's bring in steve forbes, "forbes" media chairman and if editor-in-chief and author of "inflation: what it is, why it's bad and how to fix it." we'll get into that in a second, steve. there's nothing wrong with rah raises, i mean, nothing at all wrong with raises. we should all get raises, but it's the mandate and this whole idea of fair to have the government dictate what fairness is always is trouble, in my use. >> it's about productivity. when you have a more prosperous, productive society, wage as go up. that's been the whole history of this country. when you raise wages artificially, you hurt other parts of society. you raise costs which raises

prices which means less sales. and so in california, you know, those businesses have low margins. they're not feast at the trough, so to speak, so they get hit hard. and so they go out of business. how is that helping? 1200 pizza hut drivers ab to be laid off. and so -- about to be laid off. forced mechanician if -- mechanization, who gets hurt when these low cost restaurants get shut down? david: the point is one size doesn't fit all. some people for whom -- people who are struggling with a family, etc., it's going to be good for them, but people who are trying to get into the work force still living at home -- >> but it destroys jobs. many people get their first entry job at minimum wage, and research shows that after the first year their pay goes up because they're becoming more productive, more reliable. that's how the economy works. but to do it artificially, you throw hundreds of thousands of people can't get the needed, necessary first-step jobs to move up the ladder of

opportunity. david: steve, met me pull back a little and talk about some maximal, what's happening with our economy in a general sense. the dollar has been taking a beating recently. gold is way up. usually when the dollar's down, gold is way up. what does all in this mean? shouldn't our dollar be as a good as gold? >> once upon a time it was. we had the latest long-term growth rates in american history. since we went off the gold standard, the growth rates in this economy are about two-thirds to half of what they were. if we had maintained our average growth rate as we did for 20 20200 years, the immediate -- 200 years, the median household income would be $115-120,000. $45,000 of income has been lost because of less growth in our economy. so a stable dollar means you get more productive investment, but they wouldn't even know how to do a system today. all i ask is a little bit of stability in the value of the dollar.

the fed is deliberately weakening the dollar because other currently es is -- david: a lot of people look at the record of the fed particularly op their prediction of inflation and the power that they have to manipulate rates. if we had a gold standard, we could get rid of the fed. we could go to turn the fed into kind of a currency board that would just be for trading currencies, etc. what's wrong with that? >> nothing. we now have $5 trillion we're trading a day in currencies. back when we had a gold standard, david, it was vir e chilly zero because of currentlies being stable. what do you do with all the people at the fed? they could become uber drivers -- [laughter] or do something productive. dave david right, right, exactly. paint if houses. that'd be more productive than what they do. speaking of wonderful solutions, we figured out how to deal with the currency. taxes, you have been a longtime fan of the idea of everybody getting a flat tax, paying the same percent. you'd deduct the first, say, $20,000 for people who couldn't afford to pay taxes at all, so the first $20 20,000 you

wouldn't pay taxes at all, but after that everybody would get a flat rate. could the republicans in 2024 come out with this big idea of getting rid of not just, not supersizing the irs, but getting rid of the irs, turning it into a collection agency, getting a flat tax and everybody would be happier? >> well, imagine, you could do your income if tax return with a few key strokes on your exciter or on a postcard. -- exciter. a family of four under a flat tax, they'd a pay no federal income tax on the first $43 -- 53,000 of wages and no tax on your savings and things like that. so the only losers would be all the special interests that clog up this tax code -- david: the accountants, the lawyers, etc. -- >> well, and all the politicians. they love complexity because if it means contributions. so a number of countries is have done it. it works in the real world. a number of state in this country have a low income tax

rate, flat tax rate. in illinois, they tried to get rid of it, and it lost in a referendum -- david: but to turn the irs into a collection agency rather than something that takes a bunch of accountants to try to figure out how to do your own taxes -- >> and it's a moral issue. in the last 20 years, we've spent over a trillion dollars, several trillion, billions of hours. imagine if if all that brain power, all that money had gone to something productive. imagine more medical devices, more good drugs, more services, more products that people want how much better off we'd be. it's a moral issue as a well. all this waste on a corrupt tax code that nobody understands. david: you should run for president. wait a minute, you did. [laughter] >> i'm an agitator. david: are you ready for another go at it? >> i'm ready to educate the candidates. what's so surprising, david, is none of the republican candidates have come up with a signature issue like the flat tax -- david: here it is, it's so easy. and it's understandable -- >> i wrote a book on it, and

i'll be glad to send it to them for free if. david: steve forbes. coming up, when is president biden going to make iran pay for spreading chaos in we're going to be talking about it with richard a goldberg when "kudlow" continues. ♪ ♪ (adventurous music) ♪ ♪ ♪ be ready for any market with a liquid etf. get in and out with dia.

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david: well, former israeli prime minister naftali bennett writes in the "wall street journal," quote, the u.s. and israel need to take iran on directly and make the ayatollahs pay for sow ising chaos through their e hamas, hezbollah and houthi proxies. joining me now to discuss is richard goldberg, senior adviser for the foundation for defense of democracies and foreman white house nsc director. here's what he says, he says the evil empire of iran must be brought down. can we do it? >> we absolutely can, and we were actually on the way to doing that as of the end of 2020. remember, iran came into 2021 with just $4 billion in accessible foreign exchange reserves. it was on the restreet. instability was on -- retreat.

instability was on the rise inside the country because of the economic and political pressure. military deterrence had been restore thed after the killing of soleimani. the israelis had been taken out, the godfather of the nuclear weapons program as a well. but then maximum pressure disappeared and replaced with maximum deference. and so we need to get back to that posture of putting iran on defense, not allowing iran to play offense. david: you know, i want to talk about the maximum deference or appeasement that we get from the biden administration, but the people of iran, i just can't imagine that the people of iran support this regime and what it's doing around the world, turning it into a pariah state. there was a time when iran was a very prosperous country, where it had a strong entrepreneurial class. yes, it had a dictator who had really some awful sides to him, but it seemed to be on the road to getting better. now it's just has no if road at all in front of it. are there people willing to help

the united states take it down? like we saw in eastern europe at the end of the cold war? >> well, this is a country that is relatively young, and the young population is very pro-western. they hate, despise their regime. and remember, this is just a little bit over a year after a national uprising began that almost took down this' regime because of how they -- this regime because of how they treat woman and the killing of a young woman named mahsa amini. there are protests every day going in iran, hay don't make the front pages of the newspapers anymore, but there is absolutely a desire among the population to see that regime fall. we could help them try to achieve they are aspirations. we shouldn't, obviously, look at an invasion like iraq. i think that would be a disaster for the united states in the middle east, but if you look at the reagan model that you're bringing up, political pressure, economic pressure, covert activity, military deterrence, we can absolutely show this regime the same door we showed

the soviet union. david all right. let's talk about the maximum appeasement of the biden administration. i only have about 45 seconds, but this guy rob malley who was bind's envoy to iran. he was suspended, suspicions that he was sharing documents with iran that he shouldn't have been maybe about the security of israel. 40 knows what. he had a lot of ties with the left wing in the middle east. is that group still have influence at the state department? if we've only got about 30 seconds, go ahead. >> listen, the malley policies of appeasement are still the policy of this administration. i think one thing that people need to understand is that even though we're living in this post-october 7th world, our policy wees are still stuck in october 6th. $10 billion made available, oil shipments continuing to china, no snap back of the u.n. sanctions resolution trying to avoid pressure on the houthis in yemen, in iraq, other proxies of iran. so let's understand that maximum appeasement is still in effect, and we need congressional are

legislation to lock down their -- david: right. richard goldberg, thank you very. more "kudlow" after this. - wounded warrior project has been with me every step of my journey. - they've helped me realize it's possible to rise to the top again. - it's possible to get the help i need for me and my family.

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david: wedgier thank you for watching this special edition of "kudlow." larry is back next week. have a very happy new year. ryan brenberg is in for liz macdonald on "the evening edit." and here he is. talk it away. ryan ryan have a great night. see you soon. i'm brian brenberg in for elizabeth mac don, "the evening edit" starts r