Now, on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor and Company. It's 5.07 on this snowy, snowy Monday morning in your nation's capital, February 23rd. Thanks for tuning in here. We got you. We're here. We're live. We're going to get you through this commute. It's not as bad as you might think, but it's not great. Obviously, it depends on what street you live in, in what county, in what city, and in what state. But we'll get you there with Jamie Whitten every 10 minutes on The Five, some weather updates, and hopefully we'll survive this last winter storm of 2026. Can I make that prediction? I'd like to make that prediction, please. At 635, we're going to speak with journalist Kevin Mooney. He's got a brand-new book about how offshore wind actually undermines national security, those windmills, the turbines. 705 Joe DeGenova will join us at 805. Steve Moore, economist on that tariff decision Friday, and then at 835, and President Trump's reaction to it and Plan B already in place. And then at 835, Virginia State Delegate Tom Garrett. I'm sure he has an opinion on Abigail Spanberger representing Democrats at the State of the Union response. I'm Larry O'Connor. It's Bethany Mandel with us. Well, you moved heaven and earth to get here this morning. I can't believe you flew in during this mess yesterday, last night. How was that landing at Dulles? I held my friend Lindsay Fifield's hand on the way down. So I was nervous about skidding on the runway. That was my fear. It wasn't the bumps on the way in into Dulles. We landed at like 830. It was sliding off the runway. But the good, fine folks at Dulles treated the runway. Yeah, they wouldn't let you land if that was a danger. Although I guess it did happen at Laquardia. Yeah, it happens. It happens with the worrying amount of frequency, actually. Yeah. But the approach wasn't bad coming in with all that visibility? I freak out about it. I guess pilots know what they're doing. They can land in the dark, obviously in the dark. But, I mean, they can land blind with just instruments, I suppose. But, I mean, I had issues with visibility just driving last night, let alone flying through it. Because those snowflakes were just huge. That giant, mesmerizing snowflake. I was more nervous about the drive home, honestly, than I was about – I mean, I was worried that they would delay my flight, yada, yada. That concerned me because I was already like – I mean, it's 5 a.m., y'all. I was a little nervous about getting home very late and then having radio the next morning. But, you know, so far I'm awake. When I fly back – I go back there a lot, as you know. But I usually, just because of that, I've sort of got my kids into the habit of knowing that, you know, I can see them early in the morning on Sunday and then I'm out of there. If I don't leave by noon California time, I'm just absolutely wrecked for Monday morning. So you took a later flight. You must not have been in Southern California, or were you? No, I was. I was in L.A. What time was my flight? I think I got there at noon. No, I got there at 11. Okay. Yeah, no. I'm hoping to have a post-show nap. We'll see if my six children will let me do that. Good luck with that. Yeah, because it's a snow day, everybody. It's a snow day. We don't know what the snow totals are going to be eventually because it is still coming down, but it's not as bad as it was early evening last night and into the night. I checked it around 2 in the morning, and it was still coming down pretty heavy, too. But then it started to lighten up around 4. It was one of those nights where I was up a lot. But as of now, Maryland, Anne Arundel County at BWI Airport, you're looking at about a 1 inch. Everybody's got just about an inch. Cecil County is close to 2 inches. um frederick county there's some areas where they've got as much as four inches of snow um this storm is definitely hitting harder north of us yeah in new york is definitely feeling the brunt of it and we can get to that a little bit later in the uh comical preparations by zaron mom donnie arlington county in virginia is looking at about an inch right now at false church um uh fairfax is looking at about close to two inches um fairfax city i think i got two but two inches in montgomery county where you are i think so yeah i i in my in my ganderings i didn't go out there with a ruler and get all official but it looks like a fair dust the measurements we're looking at gaithersburg is about one and a half inches right now in montgomery county where you are i don't have a measurement but it's possible it's possible anywhere between one and two and also depending on where you are and what the wind is looking like and stuff your road famously does not get plowed until well the snow basically melts it's it's a self-plowing road so i'm guessing you're in the same situation because my again where i live my street my my streets right now are completely clear either they they pre-treated it perfectly or or i don't know what it is no i i first of all i want to give a shout out to any plow drivers who are listening Thank you very much for your work. You help us survive. If you want to come to my block, that would be great. Oh, I see. I see why you're doing this shout out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in Montgomery County, so sorry, on my drive back from Dulles, it was slick, but it was fine. There was visibility, but, you know, lots of snowflakes coming out my window. It's like slurpy snow, this snow. It's like driving in a slurpy. But when I hit my street, I literally slid down my street. And that scared me. that really scared me because i hit the brakes and it was just all the way down my street yeah that's that's very scary yeah um but other than my one street montgomery county i think we're okay yeah well good so we do have mostly um the schools are i'm trying to look at the listings here and it looks like most everybody is closed there's there's some areas where you've just got some delays but not you know um not in this immediate vicinity it looks like in our immediate vicinity all of the Public schools are closed today. Well, Spotsylvania is delayed two hours. They are never going to have a summer break. Yeah. They're trading in all those snow days, aren't they? It was like this about 10 years ago, I remember, and everyone was freaking out because school lasted past June 15th. It's like that's going to be okay. Don't worry about it, everybody. I think I saw June 26th in Montgomery County. Wow, that's pretty late. That's really late. That's pretty late. I always used to gauge it when I was a guy. I grew up in Detroit area. So, you know, we had a lot of, we very rarely took snow days, partly because of that. And because we were just tougher back then. You know, we raised hockey players in Michigan, as you know. But if we had to delay the end of school, whenever it reached right up against my birthday, which is the 23rd, I always knew that it was a rough year. If you go past the 23rd, that's nuts. That's like going into July 4th week. Yeah. That would be amazing if that's. Well, that's because they have so many other teacher faculty days or whatever they call those days where basically the teachers say they come in and reset their calendar and sort out their files. And they call it a day off for the kids. Well, we will see. Like I said we be giving you updates all morning long every 10 minutes on the fives for your roads as well as for the weather updates as to when this snow will end It looks like we still going to have some snow showers until about late morning honestly At this point, my latest weather update says that it's, well, you'll hear it, in fact. You'll hear it in 45 seconds. So just hold your breath, and I'll tell you what my latest weather update is. Hold them tight, baby. But first, it's 5.15. Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. 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Protect yourself now at aura.com slash secure. Stacking Benjamins. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. This is the second snowstorm to get Zoran Mamdani's attention. Although, honestly, the first one didn't really get his attention. I think that's the problem. The last snowstorm was giant ice, you know, paralyzed the city. And, you know, they treated it like it was, oh, look, it's just like our home motherland in Moscow. So this time they had this big orchestrated press conference ahead of time. To let everybody know that Marxism works and we've got everybody deputized. They were all in matching uniforms. They love their matching uniforms. And then while explaining how he was going to deputize all his comrades throughout the five boroughs to clear out snow on the sidewalks, you know, they've got the highest taxes in the country in New York City because you get income tax on the city, income tax on the state, and, of course, you pay your federal income tax. And yet that still doesn't pay for people to clear out the snow in your sidewalk or in your driveways or in the street. So he's trying to deputize New Yorkers to do that job. And then some sharp-eyed viewers and sharp-eared listeners noticed something about what you need to do to be one of those New York City snow shovelers. Take a listen to this. We're utilizing 33 DSNY vans and two DSNY buses to transport shovelers where they're needed faster. And for those who want to do more to help your neighbors and earn some extra cash, you too can become an emergency snow shoveler. Just show up at your local sanitation garage between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. tomorrow with your paperwork, which is accessible online at nyc.gov slash snow. And you can get started right away. Wait, wait, wait. Paperwork? Why do you need paperwork? Yeah, the paperwork turns out to be two small photos, half inch square. You know, like you would get for a passport. and then two original forms of ID and a social security card. In other words, and I kid you not, it is literally the exact same kind of identification that the SAVE Act would require to register to vote. Because, well, because that's the law anywhere you go to get a job right now. How sexist is it that he's not letting married women shovel in New York City? Because I have been assured that married women cannot obtain two forms of identification in our names. That is correct. And yet, he's boxing us out of earning extra money. Only single women, not married women. That is correct. And, of course, all the men because of patriarchy. Are you literally shaking, Bethany? I am literally shaking. You can see it. How will you explain this to your daughters? Well, they'll have rights. I mean, it's such a shame because as a married woman, I need to be able to earn money under the table without my husband to know in order to go shopping at Sephora. Because that seems to be what liberals have told me I need. And I can't. I've been boxed out of shoveling. I'm going to have to be shoveling under the table illegally. And also, I mean, honestly, maybe that makes sense, though, because Zora Mamdani is going to tax everyone in New York City out their ears and, you know, on their way down to Florida. There will only be an underground economy there. Yes. Yeah. So I do need to be shoveling under the table. You'll actually be trading cigarettes as monetary devices like prison. So let's just be clear here, because, you know, those of us who are trying to push back on this ridiculous. And by those of us, I mean most people in right of center media with a brain. Sadly, I haven't heard Republican senators other than Mike Lee making this point. But we've been trying to scream from the rooftops that if you have a job in America, you can fulfill the exact requirements needed for the SAVE Act, whether you're married or not. When you show up at work on your first day, you fill out an I-9 form. And that means a birth certificate and or a passport or two other forms of ID like a driver's license and a social security card. And that language is literally right there in the SAVE Act. And it's already federal law when you get a job. So when Zoram Mamdani was challenged on this by a reporter, and good for the reporter, by the way, saying, hold on, what are you talking about? An ID just to shovel snow for the city? Here was his answer. There's been this controversy over the snow laborers and the sort of what some see as onerous need to have documentation. Onerous. Can you just talk about if that's new and what you make of the controversy? This is all longstanding. This is a longstanding program and longstanding requirements. and this is a way that New Yorkers get paid to shovel snow in assistance with the city's response to a winter storm event. Federal law requires that employers get authorization and documentation to pay people for their work. We are not allowed to just cut checks to individuals for their work. Thank you. And these are the policies that we've had in place, but I understand that for many it's the first time that they've ever heard about it. Is it the first time you've ever heard of having to provide ID in order to legally work? Well, if you're an undocumented snow shoveler, I suppose, who else is going to shovel our sidewalks and pick our strawberries? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The bigotry of low expectations I can wait until that segment It should be like a running segment actually Like we have Critter News it should be the bigotry of low expectations Or like liberals are the most racist I don't know. We're going to have to figure out the messaging on it to figure out. The most important thing, though, ladies and gentlemen, this is what you need to know. As of this moment, February 23rd, 2026, it is harder to shovel snow in New York. Than it is to vote. Just think about that. It's 523. Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app. O'Connor and Company. It is 537. And if you're taking a sleigh to work, you know, classy. Thanks for tuning into O'Connor and Company this Monday morning. as we start the dig out. Not too bad of a snowstorm, really, although I'm seeing a lot of big snow accumulate on tree limbs, and that's always dangerous. We already have some trees down for your commute, so keep it here for Jamie Witten every 10 minutes on The Fives. Also at 635, journalist Kevin Mooney will join us. He's got a book exploring how offshore wind turbines are impacting our national security. 705, Joe DeGeneva, former U.S. attorney, will be our guest. 805, Steve Moore on the tariff decision. And then at 835, Virginia State Delegate Tom Garrett about Spanberger giving the State of the Union. Bethany Mandel, I wanted you to give the State of the Union response, although. Who knows? Maybe I am. You could be. There's like 16. I love it when they do that. It sort of splits the messaging, doesn't it? That's Bethany Mandel. I am Larry O'Connor. And as we just mentioned, Zora Mamdani, requiring multiple types of identification so you can get paid minimum wage to shovel sidewalks in New York. There used to be a kid down the street who would do it for like half that for cash. And it was good because it kept them honest. But that's OK. New York is Marxist now. And of course, the ID requirements to shovel snow in New York are your typical ID requirements. You need to have a job in America. That's why all of the objections and protestations over the SAVE Act are, well, a bunch of bunk. unless those Democrats who are claiming that it's impossible for married women to obtain any sort of identification that validates who they are and that they're a citizen, unless all of those Democrats are morons or they think those women are morons. It could be both, I suppose. And I'm leaning toward both because here's Bernie Sanders asked about this over the weekend. Cut for. Go ahead, Bernie. No, you're not talking about voter ID. That's the way Trump defines it. But you're talking about, now I don't know about California's initiative, but I do know what's going on in Washington. Is that some geniuses think that before you can, maybe I have it wrong here, register to vote, you need a passport or your birth certificate. Do you have your, do you have a passport or your birth certificate? At the moment? Do you? I do. But millions of people don't. I don't have my birth certificate. God knows how I get it. You know, so, and again, it's so tedious. The real argument here has to do with their, you know, sort of pretending like they don't know how to find a birth certificate or get any sort of ID. But I guess they've market tested this. And apparently there are plenty of people in this country at any given moment who don't know where their birth certificate is and don't know how to get a copy. But here's the thing. You ask and then you get it if you need it. And I want to talk about this phony talking point in a second. But we need to go back to the foundation just momentarily, Bethany. There are certain things in this country that are exclusive to U.S. citizens, right? I mean, there's certain things, and voting is one of them. But there are a couple of things here in this country that you can only do if you are a U.S. citizen. And here we have a senator, a United States senator who could very easily have been president if Hillary Clinton hadn't cheated and ripped the nomination out of his hands. And he is claiming that there is literally no way for anyone in this country to prove that they are a U.S. citizen. Does that not frighten anybody here? Okay, so my parents died when I was 16 and 19 years old. I was like out in the world without no paperwork no yeah yeah and somehow I have my birth certificate in a fire safe in my living room right now if if someone whose parents were dead can figure out how to keep and and keep track of a birth certificate I'm sorry anyone in America can do it it's not hard. You just Google or chat GBT where you were born and how to obtain a birth certificate and bada bing, bada boom. And even before Google, we could figure it out. I remember, you know, when I had to get a job, when I got married, when I, you know, I needed all of these things. So here's my question for you. Do we think Bernie Sanders literally has no freaking idea as a sitting U.S. senator how he would obtain his birth certificate? Or do we think this is just the talking point that's out there to try to make americans go yeah that's right i can't find my birth certificate either those republicans are racist i so he has been serving in congress for 33 years i think that being in office for that amount of time has a way of making you dumb as to how everyone lives because yeah like i was it hillary clinton who was at the supermarket it famously and was like, how much does milk cost? How do I do this thing? George, George Bush, the George Herbert Walker Bush, who had been vice president for eight years, had been the director of the CIA, had been ambassador to China. I had obviously he hadn't been to a grocery store, but they held it against him. I think that they I think that when you've been in office for that long, it renders you stupid and you can't figure out how do people put pants on? I in my office, I have people who put my pants on for me. Well, I have no doubt with some of them. They certainly have people who take their pants off for them in certain congressional offices. It's still the 5 a.m. hour. A whole other topic. Okay, I think you're right. I think you're right. I think that they're so protected and they have people who do things for them that they literally think that sounds outrageous to have to make people find their birth certificate. Okay, I'll take that. But he had a counterpart this weekend who also promulgated this message. He's the governor of California. He wants to be president. He's Gavin Newsom. He says the same thing. And I want to make a larger point about these people and this new talking point that how dare they? They're so out of touch. No one knows how to find their birth certificate. Well, almost every normal American watches this and says, you're an idiot. You're a moron. I want to get into Gavin Newsom in particular because he's actually trying to be president. And I've lived in Gavin Newsom's California in my lifetime. We'll talk about it in a moment. It's 543. Every week on the Stacking Benjamins podcast, we talk personal finance trends. Not paying attention to the headlines is the strategy proven to work One headline economists fear global recession Literally the next headline stocks at all highs investors optimistic on the future They're even doing it to the weather now. 28 million people in the path of this snowstorm. That means 340 million people have got good weather. It's just weather. Layers, people. Layers. Stacking Benjamins. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. And of course, we're not talking about the other aspects of the SAVE Act that go well beyond ID, and it goes to the, I mean, which is also part of Jim Crow, the history, and that is when it comes to registration, you've got to find your birth certificate. If you know where yours is, I have no clue where mine is. Or you have to passport, and two-thirds African Americans don't even have passports. Passport, I was blocking on just then. But not only that, how many people go out, get married, and then square their married name with their birth certificate? And that would be thrown out under that law. Under that law. Yeah. So that's what just passed the House of Representatives now needs to get the 60 in the Senate. So I like what Schumer said, dead on arrival. That's Gavin Newsom on his podcast because he has a podcast because, you know, he's got a lot of time on his hands because it's so easy to run California as successfully as he has. With James Clyburn, and maybe you can speak to that last point there. Is this a phenomenon in certain ethnic or racial communities in this country that when you get married, women who take their husband's name don't go to the DMV and get things squared away or other government agencies to sort of show their marriage certificate? Because I just figured that was the typical thing to do. Yeah, there's actually an entire industry. There are companies who do this. They'll do it for you because it is a pain in the behind to go around. But this is something that you have to do when you change your name. I've changed my name twice, actually. I changed my name when I was 18 and then again when I got married. And, yeah, you have to have matching IDs because it's a nightmare otherwise. Yeah, of course you do it. Here's what makes me – and this is sort of the broader point here, if I could. Or actually, before I get to the broader point, because Newsom did it again. He was at some conference where he was being interviewed about it. And he expanded on this. I do like it when they add layers to their mythology. And now not only has he no idea where his birth certificate is, but he does remember where he lost it or when he lost it. Take a listen. Not a joke. So this is madness. Voter ID. It's not about voter ID. The Save Act is not about that. It's about registration. It's about proving your citizenship with a passport. Not everyone has a passport. I don't know where my, you know where your birth certificate is? I lost that at seven. I mean, I don't even know where to begin to get it. Okay, okay, okay. So, a couple things. If he lost his birth certificate at seven, how did he get that passport that he has? Unless he had it before he was seven, I suppose. Does anyone really believe that he hasn't had a birth certificate since he was seven? Honestly? uh number one uh number two again the follow-up question needs to be then how do you propose people prove they are a citizen or do we just throw out the concept of being a citizen to this country because obviously there are some things that only citizens should do and he just said this is about registering to vote yes that's correct and that should only be u.s citizens so how do you propose we prove that somebody is a citizen we're open to your ideas gavin But finally, Beth – oh, yeah, go ahead. No, no. If you lost it at seven, then how are you enrolled in a public school? Passport, I suppose. Or a birth certificate. Right. MCPS, birth certificate, passport, physician's assistant, hospital certificate. Like you need this. To function in society. Yes. And he claims he hasn't had it. And, again, maybe his parents got him a passport when he was two years old. Although if you get a passport as a child, as I'm sure you know, Bethany, when you become a teenager, you need to get a new passport because you don't look the same as you did when you were four years old. They expire after five years. That's right. But then there's this, and honestly, this is the most important part of this. Ben Dominich has a pinned tweet that he put up there many, many years ago that is so applicable to so many things, which is consider the possibility that we are led by idiots. Yes. It is quite possible that all of these people are in fact morons and they have no idea how to do the basic functions of society, which is fine. You can be an idiot and still become a governor. Here's my biggest problem with this. I've lived in California before. And frankly, I've lived in Bernie Sanders style, Washington, D.C. and New York City and in the United States of America under the Barack Obama left wing quasi Marxist socialist rule. think about the hoops they make us jump through for anything bethany good when you have to pay your taxes what kind of paperwork do you have to bring to the table to prove that you are allowed this deduction for this meal and this day four years ago when the irs comes knocking and as much as you might think the irs is bad try gavin newsom's california franchise tax board because I've had to deal with them. You need to bring every scrap of paper and save it all in a box, in a closet. We all become hoarders. We're all hoarders because we have to keep every document for every freaking thing in our life because of the government mandating it. And this one piece of paper, they're all laughing and saying, I don't know where it is. Who the hell knows where my birth certificate is? Try that when the IRS comes knocking. Try that. I don't know. I don't know where those receipts are. I don't know where those transactions are. Trust me. Just trust me. My income is exactly what I'm claiming it is. What? I need a W-2 to prove that? Who knows where my W-2 is? Go ahead and try that. These monsters. I hate these people. Yep, yep. And you have to keep it in a fire safe in California because they might let your house burn down. Because of Gavin Newsom's great management. Yes, thank you. I'll add that to my rant next time. Yep. That that's I have rendered speechless by this because every every single big government bureaucracy that they try to create from Obamacare to to, you know, Medicare for all to the environmental policy. Everything requires paperwork and they make you jump through all those hoops. And now you ask for one thing when you register to vote, prove that you're a citizen. And they're acting like you are absolutely from another planet. Screw them. It's 553. 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