Steve Forbes | 04-04-26

This is Greg Kelly. Donate now to Toys For Tots, which works year round. Go to ToysForTots.org.

Toys For Tots supports children in need throughout the year with programs like the Toys For Tots

Literacy Program. Established in 2008, it has provided over 63 million books to disadvantaged

children. The Toys For Tots Literacy Program is committed to providing disadvantaged children

with direct access to books and educational resources that enhance their ability to read and

communicate effectively. Go to ToysForTots.org.

To the Larry Cudlow Show, entertaining and informative from the Red Apple Podcast Network.

So I misspoke April 6th deadline for

a deal with Iran or not and for the military access to Monday. Monday. Today's the fourth,

tomorrow's the fifth, Monday's the sixth. I don't remember the time. I think it was 8 p.m.

Eastern time, but I could be wrong about that in any event. We're going to bring in my very dear friend

Steve Forbes, the great Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media

and his latest book, His Inflation, What It Is, Why It's Bed, and How To Fix It. So Steve,

welcome. Thank you for doing this. You're our lead and I will say happy, happy and holy Easter.

To you and to Judy. Yeah, Ben, to subign as well. You're great to do this. So anyway,

another Steve Forbes prediction comes true. For several weeks, you wanted a speech from President

Trump and you got it Thursday evenings. Of course, I retreated. I went on for a couple days of

vacation. I'm sure you were on the show. But what do you think of the speech and what do you think

of the situation right now? Well, I'm delighted to deliver the speech. I'm delighted to

hammer home in the speech what the stakes are. My only regret is that he didn't do this at the

beginning. So I would have drowned, I think, put the media in the proper perspective when all the

criticism started. In terms of where we're at, I'm hoping I think the President is going to see

this thing through. We have to keep hitting the Israelis have to keep hitting. And I think if they

keep hitting, especially the internal security mechanisms there, the revolutionary guard and those

of assets, you will get regime change. And then the key thing after that is to make it clear to

the world that the straight of hormones, the red sea, the East China Sea, the China Sea, South China

Sea. We believe in freedom of navigation goes back to Thomas Jefferson when we got rid of the

Barbary pirates over 200 years ago, freedom of navigation. And if we secure that, that will be a

huge victory. You know, I love that Barbary pilots and the freedom of navigation is so important.

As you say a couple of hundred years, it's really, it's a world wide principle for the high seas.

I want to read, I guess it was yesterday, yeah, April 3rd. I have my dates wrong. April 6th is

Monday. April 3rd was yesterday. April 4th is today. Yesterday, the President put out

on truth his media site, his social media site. Let me read. With a little more time,

we can easily open the Hormuz straight, take the oil and make a fortune. It would be a gusher

for the world. President Donald J. Trump, that was yesterday morning. That's essentially the

Venezuelan model. And that's what I hope he goes for. But he's been a little bit, you know,

sometimes he's ambiguous, Steve Forbes, on that. And I don't think he should be ambiguous

about liberating and reopening the straight of Hormuz. And frankly, controlling Iranian oil

sales, revenues, and disbursements. Well, and I think if you get a new government and eventually,

I think we will, if we keep hammering away, one of the things we have to be on guard against

as well, our military and the Israeli military are performing absolute miracles in terms of these

operations, is the Iranians and their allies, evil allies, think that they can win this with

politics, not on the battlefield, but with politics by undermining the resolve of the United States.

We've seen that ugly picture in the past. And I think President Trump making that

address, I hope, to help dissipate that illusion. But you have mentioned in the past the

Economist magazine, foreign policy, a big journal in the foreign policy world as an article, which

sounds like was written by the mollus about how Iran is going to win this war. And so they are

counting on a political victory. And we have to make very clear, there's going to be no political

victory. The essence of this regime is going straight, or Hormuz is going to be open, that oil is

going to be coming out. We'll be making negotiations and deals on that. But the key thing is,

the oil is going to flow. You're going to get a better Persian regime. I wish that changed the

name back to Persia. But anyway, it's going to be a better world. And one of the things that we

should keep in mind, even as we suffer now at the pump, is that those prices will be coming down.

As you pointed out, time and again, and others, there's plenty of oil in the world,

the system out of getting it delivered and refined. It's all there. And so that's why the futures

market prices are very still very different from what we have in the spot price. So again,

I think if people start to see in the next few weeks, when this thing winds up, as I think it

will in the next few weeks, they start to see gasoline prices start to come down. The key

thing is the trend. If the trend is right, then the fair American people will cut just slack

the thing. Okay, this thing is getting back to where it should be. Well, it's a small price to pay.

As you have said, I've said, Jack Keane, General Keane talks about this. So it's a small price to pay,

a temporary, a temporary blip up in oil prices, which actually, an inflation adjusted term, Steve,

is down around $60. It's not really over a hundred. I mean, we've had an inflation in real terms.

We had $200 oil back in 2008 and $140 to $150 oil for much of the first decade in 2000 oats,

as people say. So it's still a small price to pay to stop the nuclear and terrorist threat of Iran.

And that's why the president should go forward. You keep hammering home on this. And I think it's

a great idea to have a new bill, reconciliation bill. Part of it is two great tax cuts on capital

gains and personal corporate tax rates, but also 200 billion plus for the military. If we have

a disastrous world where the bad guys are seen as winning, that 200 billion or whatever we now

spend on the Iran war will be pennies compared to what we're going to have to do in the future.

And the president said in the past, and I wish he'd say it again, if he doesn't do this right now

and of truly open the straighter hormones and make sure that's never closed, we get a different

Iranian regime. Then two years, ten years down the road, his successor three years down there,

his successor is going to have a disaster and people are going to wonder, why didn't we do it?

We've avoided, as you've hammered home time and again, 47 years. We've always hoped for the best

with this regime. Now finally, we've got to deal with it and future generations will be grateful

that the big potential disaster, nuclear armed Iran, missiles for reaching the United States,

capability is gone forever. This is Roger Stone for American sovereign

billion. Since 2020, the US dollar has lost over 20% of his purchasing power. Meanwhile, gold

continues to rise. Call 844-272-2428 or go to ASBGold.com now to get your free gold and silver

guide and learn how to protect your wealth with physical gold and silver. Deliver to your door

or held in a gold IRA today. So go to ASBGold.com now. Don't wait for the markets to drop. That's ASBGold.com.

I just want to come back to the, and you're very kind on the on the reconciliation package. I want

to come back to that in a minute, but hormones, Steve Forbes, just thinking hormones as Iran's last

stand, right? It's really their only remaining deterrent. It's their Hail Mary, so to speak. That's

right. But the war, I mean, I don't want to, I don't know if this is true, but the article in the

Wall Street Journal was a pretty good article, the news article, but it was pretty good saying,

basically, you have to retake and reopen hormones in order to really win the war. I mean,

if you make a deal or you have a ceasefire, Steve, but somehow Iran is still on top of her moves,

it will be a false victory. That's right. And it will be seen by adversaries in China,

North Korean, elsewhere in Russia as a defeat for the United States. And other nations will say,

okay, the U.S. does not have this backbone, the stick to it,iveness to do things as we did for

most of the Cold War. And therefore, the U.S. is of declining power. Yes, hormones, the regime has to

go. Hormuz has to be open. Otherwise, amazingly, despite our great military, it will be seen as a

defeat. We'll lose politically what we gained militarily. Yes, I agree. I mean, that's my, but

I got feeling I have a lot of confidence in they present Trump, understands this. He knows how to

play his cards. And I know he sometimes says things that sound ambiguous, but I don't think so,

because we're, we're still held captive to world oil prices. We may not need any Middle Eastern oil

anymore, but we're still held captive to the global price. A hundred bucks, whatever it's going to be.

And that's not a good thing. So I agree with you. And I have a lot of faith in him that he'll

make the right call. Steve, I want to, I want to take a quick break for you. You're wonderful to do

this. Our lead here on Easter weekend. And I want to talk about your peace, love me peace.

And Republicans must laser focus on passing Cutlo's economic plan. Well, you contributed to that too

in the spirit, if not in fact, and was very kind of you to do that. We'll talk about some domestic,

you know, economic policies, a wonderful piece for which I am most grateful. Steve's the latest,

the Republicans must laser focus on passing Cutlo's economic plan. Well, it isn't solely my plan.

It's things that we believed in for years, years, years Steve Forbes, the great leader on

tax policy and monetary policy, including his important presidential runs, which in many ways

influence, had big influence on Republican policies. So Steve, we've got to raise $200

billion some odd for the Pentagon to complete their mission and keep our military strong.

That will include, I don't know, there's a $1.5 trillion budget proposal on the table.

We've got the Save America Act for the voter IDs,

photograph IDs and citizenship proof. There's no reason why some, you know,

imaginative hard work and that's going to require money and that makes it a fiscal issue.

No reason why I can't get through the parliamentarian if it's done right, as you note in this article.

And I think the potential, I know you do too, the potential for some pro-girl tax reform.

I mean, for heaven's sakes, why should we pay capital gains tax on inflated assets?

It's an illusion. It's long past due, right? We should get rid of that and just pay just the real

gains and then the possibility of some income tax reduction. I love that. There's no reason why

they can't. And by the way, there'll be offsets. Now, you've got this huge movement, Steve,

a fraud chasing fraud. They put JD Vance in charge of it. It's already, I heard M&O's talk about

on the Red Bear Show last night. Huge fraud, at least $550 billion in the GAO and who knows

how much for Medicaid and other social programs is there. The Republicans just have to do it.

They've just got to go after it. That's right. And especially as these things are scored, as you know,

over a 10-year period. And this, unfortunately, did not come through with doge, was that we're not

taking things away from people as much as we're finding out where the money actually goes.

And it's astonishing, especially with Medicaid and Medicare. How much money is actually wasted?

It does not go for the health of the American people. So if we take a 10-year perspective,

sort of a scalpel approach. Each year, you dig and dig and dig like that wonderful reporter did in

Minnesota with the Learing Center, you're going to find savings after savings after savings.

Another thing I wish our Republicans would get some confidence on is growth rates. You know, 1.8 percent,

two percent. If we go back to our historic average, which is no reason why we shouldn't have

three-three-and-a-half by Golly, it becomes a revenue gusher in the next generation, compounding.

So I wish the Republicans would act with confidence instead of getting snarled up in

parliamentary worries and this, that, and the other thing and be confident and say,

this is how we get America really moving again. People, I think, will respond, especially if you

cut those tax rates before the election. Come on. Oh, boy, do I love that. I just absolutely love that.

I mean, in fairness now, the big, beautiful bill has huge refunds and also a number of tax cuts,

which are offsetting in the oil shock in the first quarter. And then, of course, the 100 percent

depreciation. But you know, Russell Vote, the OMB budget director and our friend Kevin Hassett

at the NEC, they got a 3 percent growth rate in the president's budget that was just put out.

So good for that. It's 3 percent. I mean, we would have preferred three-and-a-half or four

laughter, thinks it's four plus. And he may be right who knows. But I'm just saying they did put in

3 percent. And you know, they have to be bold. You're right about that. It's an election issue.

It's a growth issue. And people would really even modest reductions in the income tax rates.

You know, down through the middle class area would be so well received. And it's an economic

booster shot. It's got to be. Yes. And you combine that with capital gains and it'll be a real

boost for the economy, sort of an Artemis version for the economy. And in terms of the Republicans,

though, we've got to keep hammering. They have to come across as actually believing this,

confident on this instead of tentative and faltering and trying to negotiate. No. Be, be, be firm.

When people see firmness and they like what they hear. And by the way, not to sound too nerdy.

But the two brackets that would really help middle class people are the 22 and 24 percent

brackets. Yes. What they should do is expand the band, so to speak, for a shoulder. And reduce

those two. If you just reduce those two to say 15 percent, boy, that would be real rocket fuel

for the economy. I also help our problems with the blue state with these deductions. I know we

raised them, but this would settle that once and for all. You know, the 15 percenting, I fought

for that when I was at the NEC in the White House. And if they're, you know, I fought for that,

by the way, in those, in the COVID giveaways, I mean, we got a lot of tax cuts surprisingly in

the COVID giveaways, particularly for corporations, particularly for the various loan loss issues

forward and backward. But we never got, we never got to the brackets in your right.

You can raise the threshold and then lower the rate a few points. You'd have a major, a major

incentive, work efforts and investment incentives for those middle income brackets. You know,

the other things, Steve. And one, one quick thing to keep in mind on that. We saw that in the 80s.

Once America starts really moving again, other countries, especially our distraught friends in

Europe will start to see this is the way to go. And we'll have a, this makes America more powerful,

not just in economics, but as an example to the world. We saw that in the 80s for 50 countries,

follow Reagan's example on reducing tax rates. So we got to lead the way. So we should do it for

global reasons as well. I know we may have to send you back to Europe and persuade them.

Well, you were doing what we, you were the, what was the job you had you were seeing over the

thing radio free Europe and radio liberty. Right. And using the freedom of information to undermine

the old Soviet communism. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, we got to get our friend Arthur, maybe you

and Steve Moore over to Japan and help our prime minister are there to get some supply side

policy. So Japan can be growing again, which would be a great counter to China.

Boy, I tried so hard. It's a tough. So I just want to say it's, it is a little bit nerdy.

And and process legislative process is not the issue. The issue is getting the work done

on saving America and the reconciliation and the Pentagon and the tax cuts. But the only way

they're going to do this and the only way they're going to get the money for a homeland security

and TSA and so forth and so on. The only way is through 50 reconciliation means 50 votes,

the vice president's the 50 first vote. So the only way they'll do it. They'll never get 60 votes.

The Democrats don't have any moderates left in the party. Maybe John Federman, but I doubt it on

taxes. And that's why reconciliation. I know it's nerdy and I know it's process. But that's the

way to do it. They can get 50 votes for a good package. It would be a compromise among different

wings of the Republican party. Okay. The growth wing and the citizenship voting and the cutting

you know fraud and waste fraud and abuse and all that. The only way is reconciliation. You just

have to get 50 GOP votes and then Vance, JD Vance will be the 51st vote. And that's how you get

it through, Steve. That's the only way. That's right. And people don't care about the process.

They want to know what's the result. And I think when it shows up in paychecks and with people's

pay, that will be the ultimate success. They'll be happy that it got done. So one other thing while I

got you, you think the stock market bottomed this past week? Yeah. One day was 1100 points. I think

on the Dow, I'm just looking at we do we do a half hours of stock market stuff later in the show.

But the Dow was up 1338 points and the S&P 500 was up almost three and a half percent for the week.

You think it's a bottom? You think the corrections over? I'm not sure. And I think investors,

unless they're good traders and getting the kind of information you will provide and we're going

to be providing this morning is that you know, you get some surprise in Iran. Something happens.

A plane gets shot down. A tanker gets a hit or something like that in the next two, three, four weeks.

So you're going to get these ups and downs. The key thing is to be steady. Have a sense of where

this country's old man is going to go when this war ends. Hopefully on a good way. And that should

be your guide rather than trying to rely on daily headlines. All right. Steve Forbes, the great

Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, me. Fantastic. Thank you, Steve.

Can't thank you enough. We'll take a break, folks. And do some economics with John Karney and

Mike Falkander. I'm Kudlow. We'll be right back.