The American People Are SICK OF IT! Stephen A. Slams a Do-Nothing Congress

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]Straight shooter with Stephen A.

[00:00:22]What's up everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly, the one and only Jim A Smith coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of SiriusXM POS radio channel 124. Number to call up as always is 86696 POTUS. That's 86696 POUS. That's 866-9676887.

[00:00:48]Lines are open. I'm with you for the next two hours and I can't wait to get into some of this stuff because I want you to understand that this channel titled POTUS, it doesn't stand for a president of the United States. It stands for people of the United States. And a lot of times over the last few months there have been some serious questions as to whether or not the people were being taken into consideration when some of the things that have been transpiring have been transpiring. So I thought it was appropriate to put out a poll because we're about six months away from the midterms.

[00:01:34]We're about six months away from the Democratic Party potentially regaining power at least in one house of Congress and who who knows it could be both in the midterms. Anything to assuage the concerns of the American people to walk away from having an unbalanced government to refrain from giving all the power to one side is something that I think is good for America. So, I'm not going to sit up here and lie to you and tell you that I'm wishing and hoping that the president gets what he wants with all these Matt redistricting stuff and and everything that's been going on with his recent wins in Indiana where he supported one candidate, he supported a few candidates, you know, because he didn't like the folks in Indiana voting against them last December when he wanted them to you redistrict the maps and all of this other stuff back then. I love the fact that right now it looks up in flux for the GOP and the Republican party when it pertains to Trump because you don't get to do just what you want to do when you want to do it, how you want to do it without being answerable to anybody. I don't believe in the United States of America, you should be an individual or an administration in power and you should get to act with impunity.

[00:02:51]I believe there should be consequences.

[00:02:54]And who knows, for all we know, that's exactly what's transpiring. I know the reports emanating out of Indiana gives the impression that Donald Trump is indeed winning more than he's losing.

[00:03:06]And there's a lot of people that feel exactly that way.

[00:03:10]Whether it's the situation with Iran, that hasn't been resolved yet. He's sitting up there saying things are going well. Vice President Vance is busy out there asking farmers to be patient.

[00:03:25]Meanwhile, the American people have their reservations over Iran and a straight of amuse where you've got what is it 20% of the world's total petroleum liquids consumption.

[00:03:37]Roughly 20 million barrels per day passing through it.

[00:03:43]And yet that's been halted by the Iranian regime courtesy of drones and speedboats and all of this other stuff.

[00:03:52]People scared to move and it's compromised a lot of stuff. Whether it's that whether it's what I just finished speaking of the consolidation plus the maps and all of that stuff. Whether it's economic friction because of impending inflation. Whether it's that or a host of other things you can point to. If you listen to Trump as his and his people, they're playing the inside game right now and they're winning.

[00:04:17]And that's the way it looks to be quite honest with you.

[00:04:21]But we keep forgetting something that the polls that I'm about to show you are going to remind you about.

[00:04:29]And somebody wrote this to me earlier today. They said the question for 2026 is whether voters are grading President Trump on the map or at the grocery store, meaning those grocery receipts receipts. And we all know what the answer to that is. They judge him by the receipts.

[00:04:48]If the Democratic party had paid more attention to that instead of woke and cancelled culture leading up to the 2024 election, Trump might not be in office right now.

[00:04:56]But that was not what they did. and Trump was talking even though he's the supposed billionaire and you find yourself impossible impossibly imagining how he could relate to the common man and woman out there. They felt he was more normal than what they were hearing from the Democratic party. That's how they felt about him.

[00:05:16]But now he's in office and we get to judge his actions and whether it's the Epstein files or it's the war in Gaza or it's the war with Iran. Him to saying it wasn't a war but it really is a war and it's something he didn't go to a Congress to authorize and instead sent the secretary of state to speak to the gang of eight like that was supposed to be enough.

[00:05:41]Now, we've got a situation here where Americans are getting tired of it because there's a new poll out, in case you missed it, where it's talking about a few things that's been going on and it's talking about Donald Trump and it's looking at certain things and it's quite frankly, it's uncomfortable with it.

[00:06:01]And I want to point this out to you because I want to make sure that you see this kind of stuff, that you know what the hell is going on. Because right now, according to the polls, Donald Trump's at about 37%. Horrible ratings. It's not looking good right now.

[00:06:17]And this is a poll that I personally put out. Over 19,000 people answered this polling question.

[00:06:26]Top 2026 midterm issues heading into the polls.

[00:06:31]the White House ballroom, which obviously is very, very important to Donald Trump, particularly considering the White House correspondents dinner and what happened there a couple of weeks ago.

[00:06:41]That issue to the American citizen is at about 3%.

[00:06:47]the gerrymandering issue with the whole redistricting thing that's been going on from state to state, Texas, soon to be Florida, already California, because Gavin Newsome certainly is not going to sit idly by and do nothing while Trump does his thing. Because that's what Gavin Newsome wants to live on. He wants to live on the fact that nobody's going to fight Trump harder and better and more effectively than he will. as a governor of California who's leaving office at the end of this year. He doesn't want to come out like that.

[00:07:20]But nevertheless, the 20 the gerrymandering issue 28%.

[00:07:25]The two top issues is the Iranian war at 31%.

[00:07:34]And gas prices, which is at 38%. I got news for you ladies and gentlemen.

[00:07:39]They're pretty much one and the same.

[00:07:41]They're pretty much one and the same because when you look at it for what it is right now, the reality of the situation is that when you pay attention to these issues and you understand what's going on, you kind of know stuff ain't right and something's got to give.

[00:08:00]And we got to look at it from the standpoint that what's been happening and what the American people are concerned about is something that they're going to have to deal with as it pertains to these gas prices and beyond.

[00:08:11]Look at the polls 6 months ahead of the midterm elections.

[00:08:15]The Washington Post slash uh ABC News Ipsis poll shows Trump's overall approval rating at 37%.

[00:08:25]What's the number one reason for that?

[00:08:28]National average for gas prices rose to 4 thou $453 on Wednesday. Just a day earlier it was $448.

[00:08:39]It's still below California. That's the bad news if you're a Democrat cuz we all know Democrats run the state of California. So if you got the highest gas prices, you ain't in a position to talk.

[00:08:50]But California is not the country. Just like New York is not the country.

[00:08:56]There's 50 states in this union. And the reality is is that you got a lot of people that ain't too damn happy with some of the things that they're seeing and some of the things that's going on.

[00:09:04]It's just that simple. It's going to come down to the price. It's going to come down to the price of the grocery store. It's going to come down to the price of the gas pump. It's going to come down to these kind of things that Trump doesn't have to worry about. Not just because he was a billionaire coming into office, at least reportedly, but also because he's generated billions in revenue for himself and his family and his and his and his flunkies.

[00:09:26]since he's been in office and he hasn't been even been there for two full years.

[00:09:33]So, you got to look at it from that standpoint. That's what we're talking about here.

[00:09:39]Donald Trump is in a situation right now where he doesn't relate to the American people. And if he is alive and living and thriving, it's because of the loyalty from his base of MAGA Republicans.

[00:09:53]If you are a Republican leaning towards the center, you don't relate to Donald Trump.

[00:10:03]Governor Massie out of Kentucky will tell you that he votes with Republicans 90% of the time. Trump wants him out of there because of the 10%. He speaks on behalf of his constituents and not on behalf of Donald Trump.

[00:10:16]That's why Trump is after Governor Massie. I'm sorry, Senator Massie.

[00:10:21]So that's a situation right there that we have to pay attention to moving forward. No doubt about it.

[00:10:27]But when I look at it, I say to myself, excuse me, they say anywhere from 45 to 60% of the population, American population, the voting electorate that is, is now independent.

[00:10:41]Now, we know we only going one way. We only going one of two ways. We going we going GOP or we going to the left.

[00:10:48]Well, so why do people call themselves independents? Because they don't trust either damn party. Cuz both parties come across across as either sleazy, duplicitous, or just not on their game.

[00:11:02]And more interested in keeping their seats than they are in working while they're in those seats.

[00:11:08]That is what we're looking at as American people as we sit up here right now and we contemplate the election in 6 months from now. Me personally, call it what you will. It's not even about Trump. I'm hoping the Democrats win because as far as I'm concerned, I want to be very, very clear when I say this.

[00:11:31]When you have one party ruling, there's enemies at every gate, of course.

[00:11:39]But yeah, you have people wanting to keep their job and far more interested in that than anything else. But most importantly, I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about how you scare the living hell out of the American people.

[00:11:50]Because unless you're somebody who is doggedly supporting the incumbent and his administration, you want to know that the decisions that are being made involves checks and balances and that a government has come together and said this is what's in the best interest of the c of the country and that's why decisions are being made.

[00:12:14]And because that's the case, whatever decision that is made, there's a level of comfort even in a face of disapproving that you can live with. And you can live with it because you know, NO MATTER WHAT SIDE YOU LOOKED, each of them had an argument favoring that position that was put out there by our government to represent us as American citizens.

[00:12:38]That is what you're looking for. That is what we're lacking ON CAPITOL HILL.

[00:12:44]THAT is the problem. That's the level of divisiveness that we're trying to eradicate.

[00:12:51]And so Trump could be out here bloiating all he wants about what he wants. And people could be out here COMPLAINING ABOUT TRUMP. ME PERSONALLY, I'M sick and tired of it. I just want people to stop because to me, IT'S NOT ABOUT HIM. I understand he's the president of the United States. I understand he wields a level of influence and power that has stripped a lot of our representatives in Congress and in the Senate of ANY KIND OF SPINE WHATSOEVER. I GET IT. BUT THAT doesn't mean it's right. That doesn't mean that he's to blame. They're supposed to be strong enough to handle it.

[00:13:32]I don't give a damn what the president wants to do or what he can do with a few executive orders because Lord knows he's tried and he's been taken to court and he's lost many of those cases.

[00:13:45]What I care about is when our representatives in the nation's capital when both houses of Congress capitulate like wusses just because they're scared of him. He can't do a damn thing without their support.

[00:14:05]If they did their job, we don't have much to worry about.

[00:14:14]But when they're willing to capitulate to whatever he wants, when he wants to go on his vengeance tour, when he wants to sit up there and go against whether it's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whether it's his vice president JD Vance, or whether his security folks, whether it's the CIA, FBI, anybody else, when he's receiving advice, whether that be allegedly, reportedly from Benjamin Netanyahu, or anyone else, and he's doing the bidding of somebody else against the interest of the American people based on evidence that some would question.

[00:14:55]We've got ourselves a problem.

[00:14:58]And that's why this polling matters because this polling is the kind of stuff that reels you back in. That reminds you what the American people are really concerned about.

[00:15:10]The war with Iran. What's the is what's the biggest issue with that? You know what the biggest issue was that? It's not Israel.

[00:15:17]It's not nuclear weapons. It's not all of this. You know what it is? Is that you promised the people during the campaign no new wars and then you rend.

[00:15:26]Plain and simple.

[00:15:29]Point two, you bombed their nuclear sites last June. You swore they were obliterated. That turned out not to be true.

[00:15:38]Point number three, you attacked them again. You said this is not a war, but suddenly we in a war 20% of the world's oil supply strolling through the street of abuse compromised.

[00:15:57]You say that we're close to an agreement. We don't see it. We hear lip service. It gets resolved in the next few weeks. Trump doesn't look that bad.

[00:16:05]It doesn't, he looks disastrous. And the GOP will pay the price.

[00:16:10]Just because people will want his power, Trump's power, reeled in.

[00:16:16]Well, guess what? You should have wanted it reeled in to begin with.

[00:16:23]This is a democracy. We want politicians to get it done. We don't want one individual ruling us. We don't want an authoritarian regime.

[00:16:34]We want a democracy. We just want our democracy to run efficiently and effectively.

[00:16:40]This Iran conflict is entering its 10th week. Week 10.

[00:16:45]Week 10.

[00:16:48]And remember ladies and gentlemen, week 10 when it wasn't supposed to exist at all.

[00:16:54]Week 10 when a month was spent where TSA workers and others couldn't be paid $2 BILLION. BUT SOMEHOW someway we had THE TWO BILLION PER DAY for a war.

[00:17:12]These are the kind of things that have to be addressed, which is once again, put up that poll for me. Well, I want you to see what America's saying.

[00:17:24]Gas prices are the number one issue.

[00:17:28]The Iran war is number two.

[00:17:32]The Iran war and gas prices to me are one and the same regardless of how you look at it. Because if we weren't involved in a war with Iran, we wouldn't have gas prices being up as high as $453, which means 38% OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION WOULDN'T HAVE THAT AS HIS NUMBER one concern.

[00:17:53]But that's what's going on right now.

[00:17:57]And the issue ain't going to go away.

[00:17:59]It's only going to fment and grow and proliferate in the mind's eye of the American people the longer this goes on because eventually how long is it going to be before American soldiers, American troops, even more of them are there?

[00:18:14]How much more money are we going to spend? How much more debt are we going to build? Our debt is at 39 trillion.

[00:18:24]It's at $39 trillion.

[00:18:27]$39 trillion. inflation knocking at the door.

[00:18:35]So, I want to show y'all that poll.

[00:18:38]I want y'all to see for yourselves what the American people are saying.

[00:18:42]And while all of that is going on, I want you to listen to Vice President Vance at an a rally in Iowa talking about farmers and their suffering. I want you to listen to what the vice president said to these folks in Iowa today. Listen to this.

[00:19:03]>> We also know We also know that a lot of our farmers are struggling with high fertilizer prices. I'm aware of that. As the president of United States has said, we got a little a little blip in the Middle East. We got to take care of some business on the foreign policy side. But you know what we're doing simultaneously? We're working with the congressman and we're finding ways every single day to make sure that you guys and the farmers of this great state get access to the products that they need.

[00:19:30]We're working on it. We're working on it every single day.

[00:19:34]>> Really?

[00:19:36]And we're just They're just supposed to believe Vice President Vance, huh?

[00:19:43]Well, somebody oneuped them and that's the president who also spoke earlier today and uh he spoke about this war with Iran. Listen to what the president had to say. I built the military in my first term with the help of a lot of great admirals, generals, and everybody else.

[00:20:04]and uh I didn't know we'd be using it quite so much, but that's okay in whatever it is because in the case of Iran, we're not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon and we're not going to let that happen. And uh we won't let that happen. And so we're uh we're dealing with people that want to make a deal very much and we'll see whether or not they can make a deal that's satisfactory to us. We have it very much under control. The blockade is unbelievable. The Navy has been incredible. the job they did. It's like a It's like a wall of steel. Nobody goes through. In particular, the Iranians, they're not getting anything through one way or the other, so they're out of business. And we'll see whether or not uh they are agreeing. And if they don't agree, they'll end up agreeing shortly thereafter.

[00:20:51]Ain't that what he said about eight, nine weeks ago?

[00:20:58]I think it is. I'm pretty sure it was.

[00:21:00]What he just said was at the White House today at the military Mother's Day event, but I believe he echoed those words just weeks ago, like eight, nine weeks ago.

[00:21:13]For he said, "They're going to agree no matter what. Don't you worry. And there's nothing getting through and everything's fine.

[00:21:21]Then why isn't it over?"

[00:21:24]This is why he's slipping in the polls, ladies and gentlemen. This is why his poll numbers are awful.

[00:21:30]This is why the GOP is in trouble because they've capitulated too much and now they're going to have to live with their unwillingness to push back against him and some of the things that he's wanted to do out of sheer petulence.

[00:21:45]It just never ever stops until it does.

[00:21:51]Usually when an incumbent loses an election, if not for himself, certainly for the candidates in both houses of Congress he's rooting for.

[00:22:05]But in this case, there is no doubt the president would have brought it on himself.

[00:22:13]Would have brought it on himself.

[00:22:15]8669676887 is the number to call up. That's 86696 POT. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A.

[00:22:24]Your calls and more before Mr. Nick Shirley comes on to start off hour number two. Stick around. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with your boy. Be back with more in a minute.