Air conditioning and political dysfunction

Make Me Smart September 13, 2023 Transcript

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Kimberly Adams 

Okay, I’m good to go.

Kai Ryssdal 

Hey everybody I’m Kai Ryssdal. Welcome back to Make Me Smart where we make today make sense.

Kimberly Adams

And I’m Kimberly Adams, thank you everyone for joining us on this Wednesday. It is September the 13th.

Kai Ryssdal

How is it only Wednesday? How is it only Wednesday?

Kimberly Adams 

Have I ever sent you that Onion article “It only Tuesday.”

Kai Ryssdal 

No, but oh my god. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So we’re gonna do some news. We’ll do at least one smile because I am bereft of smiles today for whatever reason, nothing struck my fancy. And I figured better to you know, cop to it, then go out and find something that was just, you know, whatever. Anyway, we’re gonna get started. And since I’m saying this part, Kimberly gets the next part which is what is your news for the day, madam.

Kimberly Adams 

Now I feel guilty about my make me smile because I also was bereft of smiles and I was like, trawling the internet searching for drugs of happiness. Anyway, my actual news, two pieces, first of all, one in ProPublica. And it’s a piece about the looming crisis in used car loans that I’m just gonna read from the beginning. “For years, investors bought bonds backed by auto loans because they reliably produced handsome returns, even amid rocky markets and downturns in the economy. But now, for the first time in decades, that winning streak appears to be coming to an end, with half a dozen prominent used auto lenders facing either an avalanche, an avalanche of failed loans- or growing regulatory scrutiny.” So basically, what’s happened is lots of people are defaulting on these used auto loans. And if you will recall, during some of the supply chain shortages of the pandemic, used, cars became almost more expensive than new cars. And so people who were taking out loans for already more expensive than usual use cars, and then couple that with higher interest rates that have come along since then, it’s putting a lot of people in a bind on cars that are already going to be more likely to have problems because they’re used and they’re older. And so lots of people are defaulting on these loans. And then many of these companies that gave these loans are getting called out for predatory lending practices. And so the whole industry is a mess at the moment. And I’m sure you know, Kai. But what happens with car loan defaults is often sort of an early indicator of larger economic problems to come.

Kai Ryssdal 

And, and the thing about car loan delinquencies is that people, why it’s a bad sign is that people tend to pay them because without a car, should you not pay, you can’t get to work, you can’t get around, right. So that’s why people tend to prioritize those. And if we’re having delinquencies there, that could be a challenge. That’s what’s going on.

Kimberly Adams 

My other item is a long read from the Politico magazine, which is something I’d never thought about, it’s about air conditioning, and how air conditioning might be partially to blame for some of our government dysfunction. It’s a very long read, you’ll have to go back and look at the entire argument. But apparently, back in the day when the US Capitol was built, because they were so focused on designing it to be all like Greco-Roman and European looking, they did not plan very well for ventilation for Washington’s weather. And so it was so stiflingly hot and uncomfortable in there, that members of Congress did their best to be out of there all summer, and to keep their lawmaking to a pretty limited window every year. But Congress, Capitol Hill was one of the first places to get basically central AC, which allowed them to stay in Washington longer every year, and eventually move the dates for the budget process from ending the country’s fiscal year and bump it from June 30. Because remember, everybody wanted to get out before it was too hot, too, instead to September 30. But then, members of Congress got upset because they want to be able to go home. So they eventually got an August recess added back in there. But then, because now the financial clock runs out on September 30, and you have an August recess, that means every year we have this tiny window from when they get back from August recess, to when funding runs out, that leads to many of the problems that we have today, in addition to the fact that because Congress is here year round effectively, they can be, it makes them fill the time.

Kai Ryssdal 

That is amazing. And I will say, not for the first time on this podcast, history is cool. Come on.

Kimberly Adams 

Oh, come on. Interesting article, right, who would have thought about air conditioning as of the reason for our political dysfunction? I mean, it’s a little bit of a stretch, but it’s a fascinating read and includes a lot of things about members of Congress sleeping in their offices and things like that.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah. And look, it lines up. I mean, it’s not the causal factor, but it’s certainly, and certainly at this point in our political dysfunction cycle, any little thing can tip anything over. I think that’s awesome.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. All right. What’s yours?

Kai Ryssdal 

mind is also congressional in nature. By the time you hear this, you will have probably heard that that Senator Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney, sorry, said today he is not going to run in 2024 for reelection. So that he will be will be a one timer, and he will leave. And I mentioned that because also today time, serendipitously, I’m sure, minimum. I’m speaking today, The Atlantic dropped an installment from a biography of Romney that McKay Coppins of The Atlantic is writing. And I mentioned that because it’s being written with Romney’s full cooperation, Romney turned over journals and emails and documents and what have you from a lifetime in the public eye. He also sat for hours and hours of interviews with McKay. And the excerpt is fascinating. But I mentioned it because it from from the inside, pulls back the curtain on the canard, that is the Republican Party, and how afraid Republicans in the Senate are to speak up against the former president. And it’s really just remarkable. And it’s not something I didn’t know, because we’ve had reports from journalists who have talked and talked to Republican talking, who have talked to Republican senators off the record and say, you know, there are these, you know, Capitol Hill reporters will say there are many Republicans who say XYZ about Donald Trump, none of them obviously say it on the record. And Romney doesn’t name any names, but he was in the room. He was he’s the guy from the inside. And it’s kind of wild. And it’s also as well written and interesting. And, and Romney is kind of an interesting guy. So yeah, I think it’s interesting.

Kimberly Adams 

The there, there’s a lot to unpack about him making that decision. And I, I sent a clip of some of his statements to Marissa and Courtney, and I think we’re going to talk about it tomorrow on our audio clip show. But he was quite pointed in dropping some hints for his colleagues of a similar generation, in terms of their political ambition, shall we say.

Kai Ryssdal 

And also, you know, how old they are. You know, yeah, which which is especially salient right now.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay, let us move on to the one smile that we have.

Kai Ryssdal 

I think by the way, we should just embrace it. If we’re not feeling it, we’re not feeling it. You know, sometimes something hits you. And it’s funny and you chuckle and sometimes you’re not and whatever. Just saying.

Kimberly Adams 

Well I needed it for myself personally, because while I was like reading the news today, I was also reading about the tragedy in Libya, and also Morocco still trying to recover from the earthquake there and I was feeling rather down so I wanted to smile for my own mental health. And it’s about mental health actually, this this smile that I found, which is a piece in courts about Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles and how they are modeling how to stage a career comeback, because here are two women who, who knows if it’s their peak, but at very high points in their career, chose to stop and step back, take care of themselves, and now they’re returning and they’re fine. They’re fine. Right? And so you know, the subhead on this is the to show that quitting can be the right call, and that it doesn’t have to define your career. And I I think a lot of women in particular, are so afraid of the mark against you. If you take a break, whether that be women leaving the workforce to have a child to be a caregiver, which often falls to women, there’s a fear that if you stop and you step back, and it’s a justified fear, because for a lot of women, it does carry a penalty. But there are circumstances in which you can do it. You can take care of yourself, you can come back, and you’re going to be okay. And I love seeing it. And it’s a really nice piece sort of laying out how they managed it. And I hope that more women get the get the privilege to be able to stop and take a break and not be penalized for it.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, yeah. Fully endorse. That’s, that’s totally true. And the women part of it is amazing. That’s totally, totally right. And it’s just crazy that that’s still a thing that women feel. That’s terrible.

Kimberly Adams 

It is that way, unfortunately.

Kai Ryssdal 

No, no, no totally, totally, totally.

Kimberly Adams

We can fix it. I’m regaining my optimism.

Kai Ryssdal

Totally. I believe. Fair enough. Fair enough. We will go out on positive, there we go. We will go out on the positive note. Back tomorrow. With as Kimberly said, our audio show, keep sending us your thoughts, your questions, suggestions, we’re at 508-U-B-SMART. If you got a sound clip, We could do a audience submitted sound clip and we’ll see if we know what we’re talking about. 508-U-B-SMART. Write to us and makemesmart@marketplace.org

Kimberly Adams 

And in case you missed it, please go back and watch the video. It was super fun to mark our recent 1000th episode. We had a blast from the past on, it’s no secret anymore. It was Molly yay. And we also have these Make Me Smart bingo cards. So if you haven’t had a chance to watch the video or it just moves your spirit to go watch it again. You can get your bingo card and play along and you know it’d be fun. You can get yours by signing up for our newsletter at marketplace.org/newsletters.

Kai Ryssdal 

Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Ellen Rolfes writes our newsletter. Today’s program is engineered by Drew Jostad. Our interns Niloufar Shahbandi.

Kimberly Adams 

Ben Tolliday and Daniel Ramirez wrote the bop that is our theme music. Our senior producer is Marissa Cabrera. Bridget Bodnar is the director of podcasts, and Francesca Levy is the executive director of Digital. I say that because I actually bop each time, it makes me happy.