The World and Everything in It: September 27, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us, coming to you from Taipei, Taiwan. My name is Li-lian Ai, and I'm a Kingdom worker with Gospel Outreach in East Asia. And I enjoy listening to The World and Everything in It about 12 hours after most of you do while I exercise in the mornings. I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! GOP candidates are campaigning county by county in Iowa. And an indicted Democrat faces calls to resign.

CORTEZ: I do believe that it is in the best interests for Senator Menendez to resign.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday. Also today, WORLD Tour. And, a pastor and a sheriff team up to turn wayward young people around.

AUDIO: I don't think it's just a one community thing, or one church issue, I think it's everybody's problem.

And WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas on what’s really wrong with threats to shut the government down.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, September 27th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Trump ruling » A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump and his family business committed fraud by deceiving banks, insurers, and others.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that the Trump Organization is liable for overvaluing assets on paperwork used in business deals.

Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James filed the civil suit last September. She wants Trump’s company to pay $250 million dollars in penalties. The judge has yet to rule on that.

Trump’s lawyers say they will appeal the ruling.

SOUND: [Picket line]

Biden in Detroit » President Biden joined autoworkers on a picket line outside General Motors plant near Detroit Tuesday.

Biden wore a ballcap emblazoned with the United Auto Workers union logo and grabbed a bullhorn, telling picketers that U.S. carmakers are doing “extremely well.”

BIDEN: You should be doing incredibly well too. [Applause]

He told striking workers to “stick with it” until they get the pay raises and other benefits the union is demanding.

The White House and Biden’s reelection campaign say the visit is further proof that Biden is the most pro-union president of our time.

Former President Donald Trump is slated to speak to a crowd of union members today in suburban Detroit.

Debate preview » Trump flew to Michigan … as his Republican rivals flew to California … for tonight’s second presidential debate, which Trump is once again skipping. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN: At the Reagan Library in Simi Valley seven lecterns await the candidates who qualified to take the stage tonight.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson did not make the cut this time around.

Former governor and ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will look to build on their performances in the first debate. Both have since enjoyed a bounce in the polls … now 3rd and 4th place, respectively, with just over 5% support.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be the only participant now polling in the double-digits. Trump still has a commanding lead.

The debate will air on the Fox Business network and stream online at 9 p.m. Eastern.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

DEA fentanyl » Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department will never stop working to hunt down and prosecute anyone who brings fentanyl into the country.

He spoke to the families of fentanyl overdose victims at the headquarters of the DEA in Arlington.

GARLAND: We will remember them and we will remember all of the victims of the poisoning and overdose epidemic. We will never give up our efforts to pursue justice for them and for you.

Authorities say the drug killed more than 110,000 Americans last year.

Garland promised hundreds of millions of dollars of funding to fight the fentanyl crisis.

U.S. sues Amazon » The U.S. government and 17 states are suing the biggest online marketplace in the world in a landmark monopoly case.

The suit accuses e-commerce king Amazon.com of illegally throttling smaller competitors.

Connecticut Attorney Gen. William Tong says the company effectively chooses whom we buy from and that sellers pay massive fees.

TONG: They pay effectively an Amazon tax, and these fees are passed on to all of us. And the sellers that don’t play by the rules, they get punished by Amazon.

The suit also accuses Amazon of burying lower-price listings from other sites  and favoring its own brands over alternatives.

But Amazon says the plaintiffs are “wrong on the facts and the law” and that if the suit is successful, it would mean higher prices and fewer options for consumers.

Missouri pro-life ballot rejected » A Missouri judge has rejected a pro-life description of a measure legalizing abortion on the state’s 2024 ballot. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Cole County Judge Jon Beetem sided with the Missouri ACLU and allowed the group's pro-abortion wording to remain on the ballot.

The bill would legalize and protect abortions under the State's constitution.

But on the ballot, it will be described as “the right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion.”

The judge rejected Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s proposed revised wording. It would have asked voters whether they want to approve “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.”

Ashcroft is appealing the ruling.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: A trip to Iowa on Washington Wednesday. Plus, helping delinquent youths in small town America.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Wednesday, September 27th, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST:  And I’m Nick Eicher. It’s time for Washington Wednesday. Today, a conversation with WORLD Opinions contributor Hunter Baker. We’ll talk about the potential fallout from the indictment of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez.

REICHARD: But first, campaigning for president in Iowa.

Every four years, presidential hopefuls make their case to the American people…but some Americans have easier access to the candidates than others. This is particularly true in Iowa, where candidates not only visit every major city, but also every county looking for votes. It’s one-on-one politics.

EICHER: Why is Iowa such a big deal, and what’s it like these days? Carolina Lumetta works in WORLD’s Washington bureau, but she decided to get outside the beltway and find out.

SOUND: [Jethro’s Diner]

CAROLINA LUMETTA: On an average fall Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, a hungry crowd gathers at Jethro’s Barbecue n’ Bacon Bacon…eager for scrambled eggs with a side of presidential politics.

On a makeshift stage in the corner stands Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations.

HALEY: Thank you so much for coming out! It’s a good Saturday morning here in Iowa.

For new Iowa residents Brad and Cathy Bennett, Haley wasn’t their original favorite. But her performance at last month’s Republican National Committee debate has them reconsidering.

BRAD BENNETT: We listened to her in the debate. Actually, I was kind of leaning towards Ron DeSantis earlier. But I watched the debate, and I was very impressed with what she did and what she said. And I've been following her since and we've just committed that we want to support her.

Haley spent roughly 2 hours pitching her brand of politics focusing heavily on “kitchen table” issues like fixing the economy, securing the border, and maintaining religious liberties. Guests came ready with their questions:

MAN IN AUDIENCE: Yes, I've not heard anything that you've said today that I don't totally agree with. But one thing that–

HAYLEY: Get this man to caucus for us! [laughter]

MAN: One thing that you've skirted around just briefly, is the fact that the academic community …

Winning caucus votes in Iowa isn’t for the faint of heart. To make the cut, candidates like Haley are expected to meet voters in all 99 counties by January 15th. That’s when caucus voters will convene at their local precincts for a 2-hour Republican Party meeting. Instead of visiting the polls at any point in the day, Iowans gather in the evening to hear the ballot list and cast their anonymous votes. These are counted on site and then added to the rest of the precincts.

Polk County Republican Chair Gloria Mazza works behind the scenes to run caucus night. In the lead-up to January, she introduces White House hopefuls at town halls across the county, including Haley at Jethro’s.

GLORIA MAZZA: We know that we're here to help vet the candidates for the rest of the country. And we're proud of that moment…

Later in the day, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appears as a special guest at the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ.

SOUND: [Worship service]

Pastor Mike Demastus hosts DeSantis and various evangelical figures who issue a call from the pulpit for religious liberties.

DESANTIS: So people say you know, what do you need to do to be a good leader? Well, one of the things I would recommend? Put on the full armor of God if you want to– [Bystander: “Amen”, applause]

Jasper County resident Rosemary Nikkel likes to spend election season watching several campaigns. She hasn’t yet made her choice for president, but she does commit to caucus every year.

ROSEMARY NIKKEL: We've heard Tim Scott speak in person. We've heard the debate, Ramaswamy speak in person. This is the third time we've heard Ron DeSantis. I like some of the other things I'm hearing people say. But I think that he's delivered on a lot of things that he's promised and that's I think that's important.

Wooing Iowa’s many Republicans takes more than a single appearance and a handshake.

MODERATOR: And now, Nikki Haley, who will interviewed by Ralph Reed.

Across town, Haley, DeSantis, and eight other candidates also appear at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition banquet. They take turns sitting for 10-minute interviews in front of the massive banquet hall.

INTERVIEWER: What are we really going to do to get spending in the federal government under control?

TIM SCOTT: There are a few things you have to do. First thing you have to do to get the federal spending under control is to fire Joe Biden. That’s number one.

Jen Turner, a local organizer for Moms for Liberty, says she likes living in a state that offers so many opportunities to interact with candidates.

TURNER: Well, I like this afterwards, right? You walk around and the candidates are just walking around the lobby, right. I'm like a political geek these days, right? This is our Super Bowl!

There was just one “Super Bowl” level candidate missing from the banquet: Donald Trump. He’s currently sitting at a comfortable 41 point national primary lead and so opted to skip the event along with the next RNC debate in California. Here in Des Moines, some Trump campaign staffers did host a table in the lobby. And volunteers handed out yard signs at the exit, telling Iowans they may as well be prepared for the general election.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta in Des Moines, Iowa.

REICHARD: Now let’s turn our attention to Capitol Hill.

Last week, federal prosecutors from New York charged New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife with a years-long bribery scheme. He’s also accused of using his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit the government of Egypt. The unsealed indictment released last Friday details what federal agents found at the senator’s home: gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in closets and jacket pockets.

EICHER: No surprise Republicans were quick to call on Menendez to resign, but they found agreement from AOC.

Here’s Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on Face the Nation on CBS.

CORTEZ: The situation is quite unfortunate, but I do believe that it is in the best interests for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment. And while, you know, as a Latina, there are absolutely ways in which there is systemic bias. But I think what is here in this indictment is quite clear.

So what’s going on in D.C.?

Here to talk about it is Hunter Baker, professor of political science at Union University. Hunter, thanks for being here.

HUNTER BAKER: Thank you. Happy to be here.

REICHARD: Menendez says he is innocent, but he is relinquishing his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What does that leadership role entail, and who will his successor be?

BAKER: Well, he'll be succeeded by the the next most senior Democrat, Ben Cardin of Maryland, who is well known for his advocacy of human rights. So I think that will be fairly seamless. But this is a really big deal. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is one of the most important committees in the Senate. A number of former presidents, including President Obama, previously served on that committee. And so this is a committee where people are working on high level treaties, diplomacy, appointments of ambassadors and diplomats. And there would be intense lobbying of that committee at all times. And so these allegations would be involving, perhaps under the table lobbying of Senator Menendez by officials from Egypt.

REICHARD: Well, just yesterday, there were several Democratic senators, including fellow New Jerseyan Cory Booker, who called on Menendez to resign. Hunter, why is that? Shouldn’t they want their guy to stay in office?

BAKER: First of all, it's kind of funny that it's a New Jersey Senator, this is almost like something out of a Hollywood movie, right? The corrupt New Jersey politician. But why do they want it to go away? I think that the big answer to that is, first of all, it's never good for your party to have a major corruption scandal in the front pages. But second, there is a an ongoing controversy that's been literally since the last election regarding Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. And the question of whether Hunter and Joe are president now we're working together then to influence policy in Ukraine, was Hunter selling access to his father and certain public policy outcomes in exchange for what may have been millions of dollars? And I think that I think that it's understood that Hunter did profit. The question is whether his father actually cooperated in that or not, that's what is yet to be understood. But this Menendez situation is the same sort of a thing, right, that people might draw an analogy. And the fact is the senator had enormous amounts of cash on his person in his dwelling. And typically, when somebody does that, that's because they're avoiding banking reporting requirements, which almost always gives rise to an inference of some kind of crime or wrongdoing. So the Democrats are eager to put away the Menendez story because they don't want that to add fuel to the fire on the Biden story.

REICHARD: Shifting gears just slightly here, last week Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer finally brought some individual military promotions to the floor for confirmation. For tk months now, Sen. Tommy Tuberville has voted against these batch promotions as they call them due to an abortion travel reimbursement policy the Pentagon implemented last year. Where do you think this showdown ends?

BAKER: I mean, what they're going to have to do is to settle on some kind of more enduring policy. I fear that where we're headed is in the same kind of direction that we have with the Mexico City abortion funding policy, where every time you have a new president, a new president from a different party, they issue a new executive order and change the policy. We don't want to have a situation where the Pentagon policy on this is changing with presidencies. So what we really need to do is to have some leadership to work this thing out. The Pentagon should not be a source of ideological gamesmanship. And I really think that some of that's what's going on right now.

REICHARD: And finally, tonight we’ll be watching the second Republican National Committee debate, hosted at the Ronald Reagan National Library in California. Are you going to be tuning in, and if you are, what are you going to watch for?

BAKER: I will absolutely be watching. I'm intensely interested in the interplay of these candidates. Based on the last debate, I find that the people I'm watching the most are, first of all, Vivek Ramaswamy largely for entertainment value. He was so incredibly provocative in that last debate, it was just fun to watch. But also, Ron DeSantis, who has a lot to lose as a potential major challenger to Donald Trump, you know, he was a little bit absent in that debate. I think he did okay with voters, but he didn't make a big impression. He may want to consider whether it's time to take a risk. But also Nikki Haley, I just thought that Nikki Haley looked like a candidate who could win a general election. And if Republicans are trying to find the person who could really win a general election to win it convincingly to do a lot for the people who are running down ticket. Nikki Haley kind of looks that way to me. She looks very competent and serious, and she probably could win back a lot of those suburban women that Republicans lost in the last election.

REICHARD: Well, we’ll be watching too, then. Hunter, thank you so much.

BAKER: Thank you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Nigeria, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Crowd]

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Nagorno-Karabakh — We begin today in Armenia where local responders are assisting thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees fleeing the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

RESIDENT: [Speaking Armenian]

This resident says her village was heavily shelled and nearly no one is left there.

The majority-Christian Armenia and mostly-Muslim Azerbaijan have long disputed control of the region. Azerbaijan took parts of the region and other surrounding territory during a 6-week war in 2020.

A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended that conflict. But an Azeri blockade that began in December restricted the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

A week ago, Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire against ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian forces agreed to lay down their weapons and reintegrate into Azerbaijan. But many in the region are fleeing in fear for their safety.

PASHINYAN: [Speaking Armenian]

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says the attacks show that Armenia’s foreign security alliances are no longer effective, signaling a possible foreign policy shift from Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan on Monday in a show of support for his ally.

AUDIO: [Blaring horns]

Niger - France exit — We head over to Niger, where residents who have been blaring horns outside a military base for French soldiers welcomed news of their planned departure.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the impending withdrawal on Sunday, saying the gradual process could wrap up by the end of the year. France also recalled its ambassador and several other diplomats.

France retained some 1,500 troops in Niger since a July coup that ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.

Tensions have worsened since the French ambassador missed the military’s deadline last month to evacuate the country.

RESIDENT: [Speaking French]

This resident in the country’s capital, Niamey, says he welcomes the departure of French troops. He adds that terrorism has only worsened under their watch.

French troops have also withdrawn from Mali and Burkina Faso after they also faced coups in recent years.

Egypt elections — We head over to Egypt, where electoral officials announced a presidential election will take place in December.

Waleed Hamza is chairman of the National Election Authority.

HAMZA: [Speaking Arabic]

He says here that the voting process could extend to January if it enters a runoff.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has been in power since 2014, has not announced his candidacy but is widely expected to win.

Constitutional amendments in 2019 added two years to his second term and also paved the way for him to run for a third term.

AUDIO: [Dancing]

Thailand-Chinese tourists — In Thailand, music and smiling dancers welcomed hundreds of Chinese tourists on Monday.

The celebration marked day one of a new five-month visa-free entry plan.

Thailand’s tourism sector has struggled to jump back since the pandemic. China alone accounted for more than 27 percent of visitors to Thailand in 2019.

THAVISIN: [Speaking Thai]

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin says he is confident the policy will boost the economy.

The visa plan also applies to tourists from Kazakhstan. It will run until the end of February.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

RICHARD BROOKS: One, two, three...

NICK EICHER, HOST: That is Richard Brooks. He’s counting out hundred-dollar bills right into the hand of his server at IHOP, and the count went on for awhile.

Brooks and nine other diners pooled their tip money and they gave Tulio Maldonado a gratuity for the ages: 13-hundred dollars.

TULIO MALDONADO: This is awesome. We got a lot of bills to pay. So that's sure gonna help me out.

Yeah! Brooks belongs to something called the “Thousand Dollar Breakfast Club.” Every few months, they do this. Audio here from WCVB-TV:

RICHARD BROOKS: We know what’s going to happen to him, but he doesn’t know what’s gonna happen. It’s kinda like being Santa Claus.

Of course, most of the club members don’t have Santa-level resources, but as teacher Jeffrey Paris points out...

JEFFRY PARIS: You know, when you add us all together, it turns into quite a big amount of money.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, September 27th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Fighting juvenile crime. 

According to a recent article in the the New York Post, youth crime in New York City is on the rise. Juvenile robbery arrests have nearly doubled. Felony assault—up by a quarter. Whether it’s carjackings or kids just randomly punching people, the crimes are brazen.

But it’s not just a big city problem. WORLD Senior Writer Kim Henderson recently met a father and son who know a lot about youth crime in a small town.

Here’s her report.

SOUND: [NATCHEZ VISITOR CENTER]

KIM HENDERSON, SENIOR WRITER: Natchez, Mississippi, is a tourist town. The visitors center promotes tours of its antebellum mansions. And there’s the Mississippi River, too.

SOUND: [MISSISSIPPI RIVER]

You can walk right down to the river’s edge. Water will lap your feet as barges pass, carrying freight to New Orleans. It's picturesque. But a block away, something’s always happening on Natchez streets.

AUDIO: [NEWS CLIP]

Two men—who share the same name—have a passion for helping youth caught up in crime. They just work at it from different angles.

STANEY SEARCY: My name is Stan Searcy. Stanley Searcy.

That’s Stanley Searcy, senior, the pastor. He’s 63.

OFFICER: Major Stanley S-T-A-N-L-E-Y Searcy S-E-A-R-C-Y. Adams County Sheriff's Office.

And that’s Stanley Searcy, junior, the law enforcement officer. He’s 41. The pastor’s son. Officer Searcy deals with young people and crime every day.

OFFICER: It started off as petty crimes that we always saw. And now we’re seeing kids commit violent crimes. Murder, the manslaughters, the aggravated assaults, the deadly weapons.

He says more than half of the youth that officers stop have guns on them.

OFFICER: That's crazy. When I was growing up, the only time I had a gun, that I came in contact with a gun, was when I went hunting.

SOUND: [FLAG FLAPPING]

Outside the red brick sheriff’s office, an American flag flaps in the wind. The building hasn’t changed much through the years. But the town sure has.

OFFICER: I saw a kid riding a bicycle last week, on a bicycle, with a pistol on his side. And this kid is in high school.

Searcy’s father, a Natchez pastor for nearly three decades, sees the changes, too. After a murder involving a teenager last year, Natchez held a town hall panel discussion. Pastor Searcy took part. He remembers the suggestions people offered during the discussion. Things like: take the guns away. Enforce a curfew. Demand stiffer punishments. Pastor Searcy wasn’t impressed.

PASTOR: There may be some things, you know, that we might take a look at and need to take a look at. But when I looked at it, it's going to have to be somebody getting in the trenches, getting out here with them.

That’s why Pastor Searcy and his church started youth camps. Renovated apartments for low-income housing. Helped at the local youth court.

PASTOR: I would try to get the mindset of the youth, and say well, why are you killing one another? You know, why all the gunplay? Why all this? “Well, he disrespected me, and you can't let people disrespect you.”

Searcy shakes his head over that.

PASTOR: We don't talk. We don't communicate with one another. You know, a lot of our young people just blow up, and they go straight to the gun.

SOUND: [TRUCK AND MACHINE]

In their retirement, Pastor Searcy and his wife have started a new automobile repair shop. They hire local students and mentor them.

They detail cars, change oil. Even recover seats.

SOUND: [TRUCK AND MACHINE]

That’s the sound of a trained upholsterer using a sewing machine in the shop. He’s there to pass on his trade.

PASTOR: We're not trying to basically give them a fish, but we’re trying to teach them how to fish, and that there is a benefit in doing things the right way, not having to wake up at nighttime, the doors being kicked open, looking over your back. Because you know you're making money in the right way.

SOUND: [SIREN]

Officer Searcy has a different kind of rapport with Natchez youth. He says very few offenders can tell him why they commit crimes. But he knows the reason. They’ve made bad choices. They’ve turned away from God.

OFFICER: You choose to make the streets your god, drugs your god, women your god.

Both of the Searcys believe youth crime represents a spiritual battle.

Officer Searcy quotes from Second Chronicles.

OFFICER: I'm a firm believer that “if my people, which are called by my name, humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then God will hear and heal the land.” But if they don't turn from their wicked ways, then this, what we're seeing, is like a snowball going downhill. It’s just going to continue to increase.

His father agrees. He wants God to use them to bring about change.

PASTOR: It's overwhelming, but it's a task that we've been called to. And I don't think it's just a one community thing, or one church issue, I think it's everybody's problem.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Natchez, Mississippi.

EICHER: If you’d like to read deeper, Kim wrote about this in our sister publication WORLD Magazine, publish date October 7th. We’ll put a link in the transcript and you can read it right now.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, September 27th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Today on Concurrently: The News Coach Podcast, Cohosts Kelsey Reed and Jonathan Boes talk with God’s WORLD News Managing Editor Rebecca Cochrane. They talk about writing the news for kids and building news literacy to better live out the gospel. We’ve got a short preview for you:

KELSEY REED: We need to consider this idea of what it means operate in the Lord’s world knowing it’s His world in its entirely. We are meant to go out and walk all over you know to claim this earth for the Lord. Cochrane: Habakkuk says tread on. Reed: That’s where it comes from. Tread on this earth. Go out. So also reminds me of another thing that was very influential from the days that my dad was training to be a pastor. This idea that a pastor should have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. And some people need that to be unpacked a little bit more. It is still in keeping with that idea from Kuyper that we need to know about this world in order to bring the Gospel into it. And so we’re really taking that idea seriously with everything we do in this discipleship branch of World News Group. Cochrane: Our God told us about Himself through story. When you pick up the Bible and the very first page He’s telling the story of creation. The Gospel writers recorded the story of Jesus who also used stories, parables to help us understand what he is there for, who we are in his sight, and what our very good news for living is. So story is a thread that’s just important to humanity.

EICHER: Listen to the entire episode on the Concurrently feed wherever you get your podcasts. More info. at concurrentlypodcast.com.

REICHARD: All right, up next: WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas on the possibility of another government shutdown.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap is the longest running show in the world. It opened in November 1952 at The Ambassadors Theatre in London. The second longest “play” appears to be the one we see with increased frequency in Washington. Call it the government shutdown. It’s less entertaining and costs far more to watch than a ticket to the thespian version.

If a shutdown occurs October 1, both parties will share the blame. Democrats usually force the issue, but now a few House Republicans are refusing to agree to appropriations bills unless they get their way on spending cuts. While their goal is noble, it is a fool’s errand because the votes aren’t there in the Senate and the president retains his veto power.

What aggravates is the refusal by members of both parties to address the whopping $33 trillion debt and the effect it will soon have on the country’s fiscal health. Social Security and Medicare have long been the main drivers of debt, along with other unfunded mandates, but politicians don’t want to reform these programs for fear it will hurt their prospects for re-election.

There are other less controversial ways to begin the process of reducing spending. The conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington came up with seven examples of outrageous earmarks in just the Senate spending package. While miniscule, it’s a start.

Heritage Policy Analyst David Ditch lists them:

1) New York Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand want to spend $1 million to the “WE ACT for Environmental Justice.” The program would link intersectionality to grievances based on race.

2) $35 million for balloons in Michigan.

3) $300 thousand for the NAACP’s Baltimore headquarters.

4) Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is sponsoring an earmark to give $4 million to the tiny city of Pelican, Alaska, which is home to just 98 people. That equals $40,816 per resident.

5) Pennsylvania Democratic Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman back a $1 million gift to the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia.

6) Senators Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine have earmarked $20.5 million for the tiny Presque Isle International Airport.

7) New Hampshire Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen wants $2.5 million for the small town of Franklin to create “in-river features for Olympic-style competition” for sports such as kayaking and slalom.

As David Ditch notes “While stopping one or all these absurd boondoggles would not make much of a dent in the national debt, it would mark a rare victory for common sense and fiscal sanity.”

Sanity is not the first word that comes to mind when dealing with congressional spending. They can’t help themselves because they aren’t spending their money. They’re spending our money and borrowing the rest. It’s a form of vote buying.

The Federal government takes in record amounts of revenue, so income isn’t the problem. Unrestrained spending is the problem. One can choose not to see a repeat performance of a stage play, but this seemingly perpetual scenario will only “close” when voters turn out the profligate spenders. That is unlikely to happen until more of us stop relying on government as a first resource, instead of a last resort.

Writing as Poor Richard, Benjamin Franklin said: “The second vice is lying; the first is running in debt.” If only more members of Congress would heed his warning.

I’m Cal Thomas.

NICK EICHER, HOST: The second GOP primary debate is tonight at the Reagan Memorial Library in California. Tomorrow, we’ll bring you the highlights.

And, the ethics of killer drones. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible records that the Sadducees charged [Peter and John] “ not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’” Acts 4, verses 18 through 20 .

Go now in grace and peace.

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