 Well, the Democratic Party will soon retake control of the Senate, and the individual who will be the Senate Budget Committee Chairman is none other than Bernard Sanders. And this is really, really encouraging to see. And for the first time in a long time, I do feel somewhat cautiously optimistic. And it's part of the reason why I didn't want Bernie Sanders to become Joe Biden's Labor Secretary, not that he doesn't deserve a promotion, because of course he does. But because I think that he's more useful in the Senate to make sure that this centrist center-right party for being realistic here pushes out the most progressive legislation possible. If they, you know, put out this incremental policy, push them to be even further to the left. Push for whatever benefit they're putting out to be more comprehensive. Like we need someone who's going to hold them accountable. And that individual is not going to be Elizabeth Warren. It's not going to be Ed Markey. It's going to be Bernard Sanders, who has a lot of influence. And now, as, you know, Budget Committee Chairman, he could do a lot. And in an interview with Ali Velsche of MSNBC, he kind of talked about how he'd be using this role to push the envelope, to push Biden in a more progressive direction. And he has a pretty solid plan. Let's talk about health care. This is the thing you and I have talked about for a very, very long time, because we share a view on how there can be a better health care system. Maybe you and Joe Biden don't exactly share the same view of what should happen. But you do definitely share a view that a lot more Americans should be insured than currently are. And that situation is only worsened because of coronavirus. Because stupidly, we connect health care to our jobs in this country. So lots of people have lost their jobs. And a whole lot of people got coronavirus, which then puts them into the category of having preexisting conditions and making it harder for them to get insurance. What's the working solution to this in the immediate and even the midterm future? Ali, I agree with you. At the end of the day, this current cruel, dysfunctional and wasteful health care system has got to the end. We need to do what Canada does. We need to do with countries all over the world to guarantee health care to all people as a human right, not a job's benefit and the absurdity of spending 10 times more in some cases for prescription drugs than the countries all over the world. That has to be addressed immediately. That's my view. That is not the president-elect's view. But short-term, what we can do for a start is lower the eligibility age of Medicare from 65. I would go down to 55 in the first year. Joe Biden wants to go to 60. We can certainly expand health care coverage in a variety of ways. We can make sure that we have community health centers located, new community health centers all over this country. So that anybody without insurance will be able to walk into a medical home and get the care that we need. And also, we've got to have the courage to take on the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, lower drug costs in this country. One of these days, you and I need to sit and have a conversation just about community health centers and the remarkably important role they play in this country and how to fund them better. One of the things that Joe Biden has talked about is not getting too crazy about the deficit. Republicans always have this issue with we can't spend, we can't spend, we can't spend when it's on the backs of regular people getting money, but zero issue when it comes to tax cuts. Joe Biden seems to share a little more of your view on the idea that maybe we shouldn't be as perversely obsessed with deficit increases as Republicans are. Ali, you don't know how much this Republican rhetoric drives me crazy. When it comes to tax breaks, the billionaires, hey, no deficit problem. Spending 740 billion on the military, not a problem. Massive amounts of corporate welfare, that's just, that's fine. But when it comes to helping people who are struggling to feed their families or to prevent being evicted from their homes. Oh my God, we have this terrible deficit. Bottom line is Joe Biden is exactly right. Interest rates are now low. We've got to invest in the American people. We've got to deal with the pandemic, make sure these vaccines getting out in the timeline that they should much faster than it's currently the case. We have to create millions of jobs as we rebuild the economy. And it seems obvious, right, with interest rates as low as they are, we can have some current version of an infrastructure project. This last administration kept holding infrastructure weeks, but nothing ever happened. We know our health infrastructure is weak. We've learned that there can be some real ways in which you can utilize low interest money that can benefit America for 50 or 100 years. Ali, that is absolutely correct. In this, nobody in the United States Congress will deny that our infrastructure roads, bridges, tunnels, wastewater plants, water systems, affordable housing. We have desperate infrastructure needs in this country. And in terms of health care, we need more doctors. We need more nurses. We need more community health centers. So we can create millions of important, meaningful jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, combating climate change, improving our health care system. And that is exactly what we have to do that I should tell you. I will be the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. And when we put together a reconciliation bill, which will need only 50 votes, 51 votes, I have those ideas in mind. That is really, really great to see. I will be the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. And when we put together a reconciliation bill, we'll only need 51 votes. I have those ideas in mind. The ideas that Ali Velsche brought up, which are good ideas. This is great. Democrats really have an opportunity to get a lot done. And with Bernie Sanders as the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, if they squander these next couple of years, then they'll have nobody to blame but themselves. I mean, when you are a party that controls all branches of government, all eyes are on you. You get all the blame if something goes wrong. So Democrats, they really, they have a lot to do. They've got to deliver. Expectations are high. I mean, in actuality, my expectations are low. But what we want, I mean, the bar is very high. So they have to deliver. And I think that Bernie Sanders is going to make sure that whatever they put out, it's going to be better than if we had someone else as, you know, the chairman of the Budget Committee. Now, what I also liked is that, you know, he talks about the hypocrisy of Republican deficit hawks. And it's hilarious that these folks still pretend to care about the deficit after passing tax cuts for the rich and bailouts for corporate America. And it seems as if, according to what Ali Velsche said that, you know, after being pro austerity, Joe Biden is kind of leaning towards the Bernie Sanders approach. I'm going to have to wait and see what he actually does. But to have a Senate Budget Committee chair who doesn't buy into that garbage, that could really make a difference. And when it comes to health care, like I'm not under this delusion that, you know, Joe Biden is going to give us Medicare for all. Even if it passed, he said previously he would veto it. But what Bernie Sanders could do, what he could push for is to make a lot of progress. This is all short term progress, but it would really help. So if we got community health centers and more of them, that would be huge for people. It would literally save lives because right now, if you don't have health insurance, what you have to do is go to the ER. That's basically your doctor because they're the only people who will see you because of Mtala, which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan of all people. But we need something that's better than that. If you're uninsured, you have to be able to go to a community health insurance place and we need more of those. Like how many of you can point to a community health place in your area? Not very many people, right? Now, the problem with this is this isn't a long term solution. It's not the end all be all because, you know, when Republicans take power, it's inevitable they will at some point, I assume, you know, what they'll do is defund them. So these programs, so these centers rather are less effective. And so really the only long term solution is Medicare for all. And you don't stop in Medicare for all. After you get Medicare for all secured, you try to nationalize hospitals, move towards a national health system like the UK has. Because the thing about capitalism is that it acts like a virus, right? Even if you eradicate the threat, it's only a temporary victory. If you get Medicare for all, private health insurance companies, if we don't eradicate them and abolish them, are going to try to push for, you know, less comprehensive coverage. So it's a never ending battle. And if you get community health centers, that is a really good short term thing, especially now during a pandemic, but it's not a long term solution. But what Bernie Sanders can do here is get people's feet a little bit wet, let them acknowledge that these community health centers are actually great and they work and they're useful. And then they warm up to this idea of the government giving them health care. And I mean, it's not like we have to convince that much more people since we already have won the hearts and minds of Americans when it comes to Medicare for all. But, you know, this is a step in the right direction. And, you know, this wouldn't be possible if Bernie wasn't in the position that he's in, a position of real power. And not only that, he has a lot of influence. So he's better off now than if he didn't run for president. So this is really, you know, it's encouraging. And it's not it's not what I wanted. I wanted Bernie Sanders to be the president. I don't want to be debating, you know, how much more community health centers we get. I'd rather be debating, you know, the specifics of Medicare for all itself. But that's not the reality of the situation. And when people are hurting, we need relief. And when you have someone there who is truly an advocate of the people like Bernie Sanders in that position, you know, a lot can be accomplished. So Democrats better take advantage of this unique opportunity because if they if they fuck up, it's on them. If they lose ground in a couple of years, which all parties in power, you know, do, it's going to be because they didn't deliver enough. So I hope they use this opportunity to actually help people. Otherwise, we're going to be right back to square one with Republicans retaking control in a couple of years.