Guests – Andy Biggs, Ava Chen

Congressman Andy Biggs Shares Vision for Arizona's Future

Congressman Andy Biggs brings extensive experience to his gubernatorial campaign, having served eight years in the Arizona House and six years in the Senate, including four years as Senate President. During his time in the legislature, Biggs was instrumental in writing the state budget and served as majority leader in the Senate.

"I was the transportation chairman in the House for about four years," Biggs explained. "One of our big projects that we tried to accelerate, which we did, was the widening of the interstate between Tucson and Picacho."

His legislative background has given him insight into how both branches of government operate. "I know how the executive branch works, I know how the legislature works, and I know what the lines are in the state budget," Biggs said. "I know that there's a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse there that we can attack."

Biggs plans to streamline the legislative process if elected governor. When he served as Senate President, the legislature had some of the shortest sessions "since man walked on the moon." His approach centers on organization, collaboration, and maintaining focus on the fundamental job of the legislature: the budget.

"I've been all over the state talking to my future colleagues who are going to be in the legislature," Biggs shared. "I have a plan I've been discussing with these guys and women about what we can do to make this work. We can pre-file some bills, not dither, immediately step into it, and work as fast as we can."

Economic Revival and Business-Friendly Policies

Biggs expressed concern about Arizona's economic trajectory under current Governor Katie Hobbs, stating that the state has been moving "exactly the opposite of what we needed." He outlined several initiatives to revitalize Arizona's economy:

"We need to eliminate our income tax," Biggs declared, noting the competitive disadvantage Arizona faces compared to states that have already eliminated their income taxes. He also emphasized the need to "reduce the size and scope of your regulatory scheme in the state" and "facilitate permitting" to help businesses operate more efficiently.

"When you slow it up with regulatory bureaucratic red tape, your businesses aren't doing what they're designed to do, which is to produce their product and produce their service," Biggs explained. "We need to make sure that the world knows that we're open for business."

Biggs highlighted that Arizona is already attracting high-tech businesses. He shared a conversation with a CEO who is bringing 400 new jobs to Arizona by December. When asked why they chose Arizona, the CEO responded, "Have you seen Southern California?" Companies are drawn to Arizona for its lifestyle, safety for employees, and the potential for a better regulatory environment.

Addressing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Biggs emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in state finances. He pointed to a report indicating there could be up to $6 billion a year in fraud in Arizona's Medicaid expansion population.

"We've got to get in and find out and determine if it is that high. We've got to stop it and claw it back, and people have to be prosecuted," Biggs stated. He referenced federal agencies' efforts to prosecute individuals who committed fraud with COVID relief funds, including a couple based in Gilbert who allegedly scammed about $550,000.

Biggs highlighted that while the state legislature budgets around $18 billion for the fiscal year, "there's another $40 billion that comes into the state that either goes directly to some agencies or goes to the governor's office, but the legislature doesn't even know what that is."

"Most folks don't know because governors aren't transparent about it," Biggs added. "My purpose will be to be more transparent about it, make sure that we're accountable to the voters, and make sure that we can use that in the best possible way."

Public Safety and Community Revitalization

Biggs emphasized that public safety is fundamental to freedom and economic prosperity. "When people feel unsafe, they feel unfree," he stated. "People want to be free, and they want to feel free."

Drawing on the example of Rudy Giuliani's approach in New York City, Biggs advocated for addressing even minor crimes to create safer communities. "What Giuliani did, he said, 'We're going to have a safe community.' That means that you don't let the little crimes go. You prosecute those. The result was the murder rate went down, the bigger crimes went down, because public safety was restored."

Biggs acknowledged concerns about crime and homelessness in Pima County, suggesting that while the governor can provide guidance and incentives, local communities must also drive change. "A governor governs for the state, but what really has to happen is the community itself drives a lot of this," he explained. "I'll have an open door, and I'll meet with the leaders in Pima County and Tucson and other areas around the state."

He added, "I'll give special attention, but you've got to promise me that the members of the Tucson community, people who live in Tucson, will look at it and say, 'We've got to change things,' because voters get the government that they vote for."

Biggs emphasized that Arizona has the potential to be "an economic juggernaut," but achieving this requires protecting people's individual rights and ensuring safety. "None of this stuff works unless we're making sure that everybody is safe and free. If you've got a community that's not adequately protecting the rights of its citizens, then we're going to have to look at it and see how we can help them."

China Watch Wednesday: Understanding the CCP's Global Chokehold

The Rare Earth Minerals Monopoly

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established a dangerous monopoly over rare earth minerals, producing 92% of the world's supply. These minerals are essential for electronics, technology, and defense systems.

"Rare earth minerals are the most critical materials required to build electronics, defense systems like the F-35 bomber - everything," explained Eva Chen from the New Federal State of China. "These are the materials that reduce and regulate heat when you're talking about high-end technologies."

While rare earth is an umbrella term covering dozens of precious materials, Chen revealed that the CCP's dominance isn't just about output but also about the critical processing steps that transform raw materials into usable components.

"Mining is step one, but turning it into something you can use requires processing," Chen detailed. "Most people have no idea how rare earth is processed and produced. It's an absolute environmental killer and causes serious health issues for people who live around the processing plants."

Chen explained why the CCP can dominate this market: "They have a pile of skeletons, and they're willing to destroy cities and states to do it. They're willing to destroy the planet and mother nature. They've already destroyed whole provinces in Mongolia. Multiple cities with two million people had to be relocated because the environment is so bad that people die."

The United States faces significant challenges in competing in this space because of environmental regulations and human rights protections that the CCP simply ignores. "America would not be able to afford that because you have environmental laws and you value human life," Chen stated.

Chen revealed that the CCP holds trade secrets for efficiently producing four critical elements essential for defense industries, including dysprosium (used in magnets, lasers, and nuclear reactors) and chromium (used in stainless steel and various alloys).

"The CCP has the chemical formula to do it. It involves a large amount of chemicals and destroying the earth," Chen explained. "Nobody in the world has the same formula to process these elements in the same way as the CCP, hence they cannot compete, not even mentioning the cost."

Expanding Global Control

China's rare earth dominance extends beyond its borders. Chen revealed that the CCP controls two major rare earth mines outside China - one in Myanmar and another in Cambodia. "Both of these mines produce about 60-70% of the raw mining material of rare earth for China," she noted.

Additionally, the CCP operates a major processing facility in Malaysia, further securing their control over the entire rare earth supply chain.

This monopoly gives the CCP tremendous leverage in trade negotiations with the United States and other countries. "CCP has this card. They know this card is going to hurt you and the entire world because they are the monopoly," Chen warned.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Connection

While China controls rare earth minerals, they need semiconductor chips to advance their AI, quantum computing, and next-generation weapons. This is why Taiwan, which produces over 90% of advanced chips, is strategically crucial.

"CCP needs chips to push all those AI systems, quantum computing, all the next generation of weapons which they've already stolen from you," Chen explained. "They just need the material, and the material is the chips. Now they're holding on Taiwan."

Chen warned that if the CCP were to take control of Taiwan, "we're done. This is one thing you have [to protect]."

The Alternative Currency Threat

Chen revealed a second "card" the CCP holds against the United States: "The second card they have is threatening to introduce an alternative gold-backed currency, maybe called BRICS currency."

Such a move could devastate the U.S. financial system. "If they did that, it's going to be another seismic earthquake to the United States and to your commercial might," Chen warned. "Everything changes. The world order completely changes."

Chen disclosed that the CCP has been accumulating gold reserves, currently holding approximately 32,000 tons, representing about 13-14% of the total world reserve. "The CCP has been secretly accumulating this since 2006," she said.

Recent agreements with Turkey and Egypt involving swap deals and central bank digital currencies backed by CCP technology further strengthen China's position. Countries evading U.S. sanctions could flock to this alternative system.

"When people don't understand, CCP is the evil force," Chen warned. "These people who go into that system, who adopt the CCP system - we see it more and more countries adopting that. What does it do to America? Your financial sanctions, your economic expansion would no longer be working. Your financial system is going to collapse because you have so much debt."

The Path Forward

Chen emphasized that Chinese people themselves must ultimately overthrow the CCP. "Fundamentally, it's up to the Chinese people to destroy the CCP, and only Chinese people can destroy the CCP. The United States, the leader of the free world, can help by not supporting the CCP."

She argued that American financial institutions must stop supporting Chinese military companies. "As of today, you still have American powerful companies helping the CCP, giving them money, giving them technology, allowing them to come from the backdoor. This is why Congress must act to decouple from the Chinese Communist Party."

Chen believes that cutting ties with the CCP would lead to its downfall relatively quickly. "If you cut your ties with the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese people will overthrow them in probably a hundred or two hundred days because the economy is already collapsed, there's so many unemployed people, and the dissent and resentment is already out there."

She noted that pockets of social unrest are already emerging in China, but the police state suppresses information about these uprisings. "They control, they delete everything on social media, and they control the propaganda so people don't know. They can't connect with each other."

Chen concluded that Xi Jinping "is not a president of China and his regime is not a legitimate government. Xi Jinping is the head of the CCP Inc., a transnational terrorist organization who supports and funds all other terrorist organizations and extremist groups around the world."

She expressed hope that one day the U.S. State Department would formally recognize this reality, potentially leading to Xi Jinping's downfall. "That means Xi Jinping can go down the next day. Anybody who eliminates him will be remembered in history as a hero."