The conversation shifts to U.S. energy policy, where Congressman Ellzey critiques the push for net-zero emissions, arguing it harms vital industries like oil and gas. He discusses the influence of OPEC, Russia, and Iran on oil prices, as well as the challenges American producers face in fluctuating markets. Touching on broader political issues such as socialism and censorship, Congressman Ellzey warns of the dangers of prioritizing green energy solutions without considering their feasibility. He also asserts that Texas will remain a conservative stronghold, underlining the need for reliable energy sources to ensure the nation’s energy independence and security.

Highlights of the Podcast

00:01 – Introduction

01:30 – Reflection on 2024 and Introduction of the Guest

02:57 – Congressman Jake Ellzey’s Background

04:40 – Congressman’s Military Career

06:49 – Biden Administration & National Security

09:57 – Challenges of Fentanyl and Border Security

13:34 – Geopolitical Power Struggles

17:34 – Reflection on U.S. Leadership and the Future

22:45 – Trump’s 2016 Campaign

25:59 – Impact of Energy Policies

33:49 – Bipartisan Cooperation

35:34 – Texas Political Landscape

Please reach out to Kristy Kerns on LinkedIn

Check out StatusJet HERE

Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Rey Treviño [00:00:00] From the Panhandle to the Metroplex. How one congressman is making major changes not only in the great state of Texas, but across America. We talked to him on this episode of The Crude Truth.

Narrator [00:00:13] In 1901 at Spindle Top Hill near Beaumont. The future of Texas changed dramatically as like a fountain of fortune. Thousands of barrels of oil burst from the earth towards the sky. Soon Detroit would be cranking out Model TS by the millions. And America was on the move thanks to the black gold being produced in Texas. Now, more than a century later, the vehicles are different, but nothing else has truly changed. Sure, there may be many other alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric, but let’s be honest, America depends on oil and entrepreneurs. And if the USA is truly going to be independent, it has to know The Crude Truth.

Narrator [00:00:56] This episode is brought to you by LFS Chemistry. We are committed to being good stewards of the environment. We are providing the tools so you can be to. Nape Expo, where deals happen. Air compressor solutions. When everything is on the line, Air Compressor Solutions is the dependable choice to keep commercial business powered up. Sandstone Group. Exec Crue. Elevate your network. Elevate Your Knowledge. Texas Star Alliance. Pecos Country Operating Fueling Our Future.

Rey Treviño [00:01:30] Well, hello again, and thank you, as always, for tuning in to another episode of The Crude Truth. 2024 has just been a tremendous blessing. It has been a great year of ups, not too many downs, but there’s always a few. But it’s also been just a great year of change and anticipation and excitement, not only in the great state of Texas, but for America as a whole. And with me, as always, is my co-host. Kristy, how are you?

Kristy Kerns [00:01:58] Amazing as always.

Rey Treviño [00:02:00] Well. I tell you what, we have been nonstop, I think I think since at least 4 or 5 weeks we have been out in the oil field. We have been in Austin. We have been in Houston. As I’m surprised, we haven’t got out to West Texas yet. So shout out to us Texas. But also we have been interviewing people left and right. And today we’re also interviewing another great person, but another congressman. Yes. I mean, would you did you ever think that that this was what we’d be doing? I feel like it’s almost becoming regular now. We’re just always talking to these individuals that are actually overseeing policy and writing the policy to help change the direction America is going.

Kristy Kerns [00:02:40] It never in a million years. What? I actually love it.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:02:42] Yeah.

Rey Treviño [00:02:43] And you are. I love you like never in a million years. I think I would. And you have been just doing awesome with all of this. And so I just cannot thank you enough.

Kristy Kerns [00:02:51] Thank you.

Rey Treviño [00:02:52] So today, our guest is Congressman Jake Ellzey. That’s right.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:02:57] You did.

Rey Treviño [00:02:58] Okay. It’s E L L

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:03:00] Z E Y.  our family ranch brand is ellzey.

Rey Treviño [00:03:04] Ellzey.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:03:05] Makes it simple.

Rey Treviño [00:03:06] Makes it real simple. Well, congressman, thank you so much for coming on. You are from district six, which covers which counties here in the great state of Texas.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:03:13] There’s now nine counties just south of Dallas, but it also includes Dallas and Tarrant County and several other rural counties, seven rural counties, which is just my my style. I grew up in a rural county, Oak Tree County, Pennington, two hours north east of Amarillo. So I have a large mix of of folks in the district, but it’s mainly rural, you know, counties with 40,000 population, a beautiful courthouse right in the middle of the county and some incredible people that I get to serve. Ellis County is my home county. Midlothian is the town that that I live in, my wife and I. Shelby We have two beautiful children, age 15 and 12, and we have ten acres, two horses, three goats. Until recently when the coyotes got two of them and two dogs.

Kristy Kerns [00:03:59] What kind of dogs do you have?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:04:00] We have one runner and a Boston terrier.

Kristy Kerns [00:04:02] Neat. A great Pyrenees

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:04:03] the Boston terrier as well. But they run. We had great parodies when we raised sheep for about two years in the Panhandle on our family farm and they run. So I don’t have the bandwidth to go chasing down a great Pyrenees.

Kristy Kerns [00:04:15] I had one. but

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:04:16] they’re beautiful, but they when they get they get the wandering eye they’re. I get. Yeah.

Kristy Kerns [00:04:21] They don’t listen.

Rey Treviño [00:04:23] No. You see some of those those deal unfortunately you see a run around on the country roads all the time and there there are here’s a little man because it been gone for a week or two.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:04:32] Perfectly happy I the Allman Brothers Ramblin Man is the perfect theme song for a great period.

Kristy Kerns [00:04:38] I agree. I know this.

Rey Treviño [00:04:40] Well. You know not only are you, you know a father of two and a husband, but you’re also a Navy fighter pilot, retired. You spent 20 years in the Navy, is that correct?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:04:50] Spent 24 years, if you include the Naval Academy. But they don’t include that towards retirement ruined. That is correct.

Rey Treviño [00:04:56] My gosh. I did not know that. Right. Holy. Carol. And you were during that 20 year span. You have seen quite a little bit of action, is that correct?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:05:04] I did nine deployments, which is pretty high above the average, but I couldn’t decide what I wanted to fly or the Navy couldn’t decide what I flew well. So I started out in helicopters and then I flew jets of all different types, so H6 Tomcat, Super Hornet and Hornet. And then I did a tour on the ground with Seal Team five because I did a tour short tour in the Pentagon, which I absolutely despised. And I volunteered to go to Iraq. And that’s how much I did not like. The Pentagon was volunteering to go back to war.

Rey Treviño [00:05:32] Whoa.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:05:32] Yeah. So I was in Ramadi and Fallujah with Marcus and Morgan Luttrell. Morgan is now a colleague of mine in the house. Yeah. And there’s a long story attached to that. But then it’s just, you know, I don’t believe there’s any coincidences. I believe God’s got a plan. And so when people so no matter what we talk about today, when people talk about where are we going as a country, we’re in severe threat threat. What does what if Kamala Harris gets elected president? God’s got a plan. He put this bright, shining city on the hill together for a reason 250 years ago, and we’re not going to we’re not going to disappear. We’re still we’re still the gold standard for what people like. I went to the Baltics a month ago. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Lithuania celebrates July 4th like we do. Wow. For us. Really, because we set the gold standard for freedom loving peoples around the world. And you don’t see it on the media. You will not see that on a mass media except maybe Fox. Yeah. But there you know. But it has widespread appeal. Otherwise you wouldn’t have seen the Democrats carry us sides, which was a complete farce. But they know the American people have been on that. And so that’s why they’ve changed. Change the makeup on their their candidate. And that whole thing was just a closed movie set in Chicago.

Rey Treviño [00:06:49] Well, you talk about changing the candidates. You know, you being there in the House and seeing President Biden over there. And I’ll, you know, give the man the respect to the president of the United States, President Biden, just in the three years that I have seen I mean, he has deteriorated or he’s I don’t know I don’t know the proper terms, but he’s gone down. Like any older person would, you know. What were you saying to to your colleagues here over the last three years before he decided to, quote unquote, retire?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:07:19] I thought once he did declare that he would run for the presidency again, that he would not be the nominee and that they would replace him with somebody else. And I’ve been fairly public about that. As you said, you give the man the respect that that is, you give the office respect. The office, which I did fly with President Biden on Air Force One from D.C. down here to go and visit a VA facility in Arlington, Fort Worth area. And I saw one level of concentration on the way up and a different level of concentration on the way back. That is as far as into it as I’ll go. But Joe Biden’s been in politics for 50 years and he’s been on TV for all of it. So somebody who ran for president in 1988 and watched Joe Biden then watching the Joe Biden now to say that there’s been no change in him health wise or mentally is literally telling you that black is not black and white is not white. It’s it’s a farce. So everybody’s looking around going, yeah, he’s declined. And and in his hacks would say, No, no he hasn’t. He’s just fine. He’s just as good as he’s ever been. We all knew that wasn’t true. Yeah, we all knew that wasn’t true. And then they waited until the Republican convention to make their move. And. And I understand that he’s not happy about it. And they shoved him off the stage and they haven’t talked about him since. He hasn’t been in the media at all. We have a very dangerous world. Hezbollah threatens regional war in in Israel, in the Middle East. Saber rattling from China continues apace, going after our ally, the Philippines, not to mention Taiwan, Russia in Ukraine and of course, North and South Korea, which are technically still at war. And meanwhile, Joe Biden’s been shoved off the stage. She’s the sitting vice president and hasn’t answered a single question in a month.

Kristy Kerns [00:09:14] Scary.

Rey Treviño [00:09:15] Right? I mean, what do you think about gerrymandering?

Kristy Kerns [00:09:19] I have my own opinions, obviously, that I don’t want to go there.

Rey Treviño [00:09:24] You know, with with him in the decline and the way the world is right now, you know, our national security is at is in some ways, I would say, a threat right now. We are at the we are being threatened because of the broad China, because of Russia. And food and energy are key components to continue to have a successful America. And those two things seem to be at threat not only abroad, but here at home as well. Right. Elaborate on a little bit of that.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:09:57] Anybody who says that America needs to collapse within itself on shore, everything isn’t speaking in reality. Like it or not, the economy is global. Like it or not, our allies depend on us. You can’t completely withdraw. And I would argue that in in the founding of our nation, we wouldn’t be here were it not for 10,000 French troops and 29 French ships at Yorktown. Okay, So let’s start there. Yes. We’ve never done any of this on our own. But but our our our industry, our farmers rely on international trade, too. So you can’t separate yourself from the rest of the world. Let’s start with the border. Real quick. Yeah, because when we talk about war, I’d say we’re already in it. And I mean that literally. Now, if you know anything about my time in politics, I don’t use the word fight. Not when it comes to politics. But I will say that killing 70,000 Americans every year via the poison of Sentinel and I say poison, not a drug, because most of those people aren’t trying to either get it or not trying to kill themselves with a poison. So if you’re losing 300 Americans to drug overdose and poisoning every day. Do you call that a war? Because we were losing 305 Americans every day in World War two fighting tyranny overseas. So if we’re losing that from then on, which is constructed by the cartels, which effectively have control of Mexico, let’s just call it for what it is. It’s a narco state with compound shipped from China. Chinese are engaging in all different types of warfare. It doesn’t you don’t have to go ship to ship or man to man on the battlefield or a plane to plane in the sky. It’s cyber. It’s biological. Call Covid what it is. It’s chemical called fentanyl. What it is, it is stealing of our intellectual property. And it is making rumblings taking over lands and islands in the South China Sea, where one third of the world’s commerce is shipped through. So it isn’t just about Taiwan. It’s about Japan, Korea and the Philippines, the South China Sea in controlling the means of commerce, just as it is with Russia controlling the lithium and natural gas fields as well as the the wheat in Ukraine. This is neo colonialism. It’s empire. And that’s what China and Russia are doing, conducting genocide at the same time as is Iran interested in genocide of the Jews. Putin has said that Ukraine has never existed, nor will it ever exist. The Russians killed 8,000,000 in 1931 and they’ve already kidnaped. Through starvation, I might add. They’ve kidnaped 19,000 children from parents in Ukraine and shipped them off to Russia for reeducation, which is the genocide, which is the definition of genocide. The North Koreans are now saying they’re going to overtake South Korea. And so and then you’ve got the wiggers in China. Over a million of them that the Chinese have enslaved. So we’re talking about evil regimes. People are afraid of escalation. We’ll call it what it is. This isn’t they’re not nice people and they’re all dictators, so they, heck, they can play the long game because they’re in complete control. We play on a two year or four year or six year basis here in the United States because we have elections. Once you’ve become the effective dictator, which now Xi Jinping is. His previous presidents weren’t. They had a term limit. Putin had a term limit. Now they’re dictators. They can do whatever they want and completely outlive a number of American presidents or prime ministers throughout the world. That’s how World War Two started.

Rey Treviño [00:13:34] You know, at the time of our recording this episode, President Trump just yesterday was at the memorial for the 13 we lost in Afghanistan three years ago because of that horrific withdrawal. Like the withdrawal. Good, better, different. Could we all sit here, maybe agree that shouldn’t be in Afghanistan? Maybe. But the way that that withdrawal happened was not right at all. Right. And the reason I bring it up is because you mention Russia. You mentioned China. All right. Afghanistan is technically between America, between Russia and America. And I also heard another rumor that China China has a base somewhere within just a couple of hours of that base. Is there any truth to that? And you know, that that was a very key strategic spot for us to be at in some awful fashion that we’re now even allowed.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:14:25] I had been in office for three weeks. I got elected in a special in 2021. So I’ve been in office for three weeks when Afghanistan fell. And that happened because the Biden administration was weak. And they have done all these nations do psychological studies on all of our leaders. They know who they are. And when Joe Biden was the only member of the administration in the Obama administration who was against going after Osama bin Laden, they all went, I can’t wait for him to be president. All of our adversaries said, let him be the president and I can do what I want. And they have. And so the withdrawal plans never included given up Bagram. As an aside, when I retired in 2012, I flew for a local contractor company flying ten years in Afghanistan out of Bagram. So when we did the evacuation and by the way, Secretary of state was in charge of shutting down of Afghanistan, not the DOD, and they abandoned Bagram, which has two runways for the one in the capital, which has one runway and chose to do their evacuation. That way you can’t land and take off aircraft simultaneously at a one runway airport. I was also an airline pilot, too. So 20 years of Navy flying. And then in an airline pilot. I know a little bit about this. Bagram has two heavy lift runways. You can simultaneously land and depart from aircraft from that airport. Our evacuation would have been much more efficient and safe for all involved and much more controlled because that was a military base we could have controlled who got in and out as opposed to disaster that occurred. They were not interested in listening. But once once Afghanistan fell the way it did. And if you watch TV a week and a half ago on the anniversary and the Taliban paraded all of our military equipment to include age 60 helicopters, this administration has always been weak. The sitting vice president, the Democrat nominee for the presidency, has been in the room for every one of those decisions. And in addition, she doubled down on being proud of being the last one in the room for the debacle that was the fall of. Aniston and the withdrawal. She’s proud of it. There are adversaries, all those four I mentioned. They cannot wait for her to be president because then they can do whatever they want. And they kept her under a rock for three years. But she hasn’t said a word and she still hasn’t. Now, you look at Chicago and that convention. They boarded up downtown. They manufactured a movie set. This was a Hollywood production of repurposing the city and her as a candidate to be something that would appeal to middle America, the mushy middle that she’s going to require to win this this election. And they’re pulling the wool over their eyes and it’s extremely dangerous. The use of joy as a campaign plan is creepy. It’s the same people that did the Obama campaign hope and change. Yeah, well, those were used up by Obama. So what are we going to fall back on? Joy. Joy. At a time like this. What joy are you speaking of? Laughing uncontrollably? Because you don’t know the answer to a question is not joy. And they’re trying to repurpose the whole thing. That’s what is in the media is going right along with it.

Rey Treviño [00:17:34] You know.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:17:35] They have pushed Biden aside. They have made her into something that she isn’t. And that is a middle American. She is to the left of Bernie Sanders. And the leftists in this country are just hoping that they can fool enough of middle America to get that 5% that they need to win this election. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s going to work. I think we’ve been aware of Kamala Harris for a long time. But I think the final irony is and I know you want to get to some other question. No. When you proclaim yourselves to be the defenders of democracy.

Rey Treviño [00:18:06] Let’s go there.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:18:07] And use a new stage for what some people have called it, a putsch. I’ll call it a coup. A silent coup where you sweep aside the sitting president for someone who hasn’t won a single vote in a primary for president ever. And now she is by acclamation the nominee. And you’re going to still say you are the protectors of democracy. That is very 1984. That is doublespeak. And you know, it’s not true. So if people are fooled by that. That’s what concerns me. I don’t think it’ll ultimately work. But that’s what they’re trying to do.

Rey Treviño [00:18:44] Well, you know, you talk about it not ultimately working. Okay. 81 million people. And for my listeners and people on our watch, I’m using quotations. 81 million people voted for President Joe Biden with this last election. And, you know, President Trump gets almost 78 million or so, you know, whatever it was, it was a lot as well. What can we do to prevent any questions about the integrity of the election? And more importantly, how can we actually get a president elected in one night? This is America, for goodness sakes. Why can we not get this done in one night?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:19:23] I think the answer to that is number one. Since 2020, the Republican Party has learned its lesson on both ballot harvesting, which is legal. It has taken on a pejorative because it we because of 2020. But voting early and rounding up people to vote is a good thing. And and we have learned that lesson we also have are not going to be fooled again. And it’s legal for both parties to have election observers. And I think the Republicans have have stood up at the grassroots level in a very strong way to be present at vote counting. And I think you’re going to see that be much more transparent. I think if Biden had been the nominee, it would have been a landslide, a massive landslide, which we haven’t had since before W. And so a close election in 2016. The Democrats said it was stolen. They have conveniently forgotten that when they talk about Donald trump saying in 2020 it was stolen and an election deniers exist. From Hakeem Jeffries on down in the house. So they’re not telling the truth when they say they didn’t object. But we need a landslide victory. We need a Reaganesque victory this time where it’s 49 states. I think we can have that in this case, the minute the Democrat nominee starts talking extemporaneously, everybody’s going to remember. But I also you guys are very involved in politics, right? So you pay attention every day. So every day for you is might as well be Election Day. That’s that’s not true. Most of America are worried about Labor Day. Sending their kids back to school. Football season is about to start. They’re paying attention to preseason football. The election is in November, so most people are not geared up for this election. If you’re a political junkie or it’s your job like us, then you’re paying attention to it every day at the proper time. The Trump campaign has good people and they will start replaying on a constant stream the things that that Vice President Harris has said as a as a candidate and as vice president over and over and over again to obliterate any doubt on whether or not she’s middle of the road. And they will play that at the appropriate time. It’s too soon right now and it costs a lot of money. So wait until the sweet spot, because the folks who run these campaigns, they’ve done it for years and they know the right timing at which the people who aren’t necessarily paying that close of attention are going to start paying attention and that’s when they’ll run it. The polls are already showing that she’s behind where both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were in 2016 and 2020, respectively in 2020. Joe Biden at this point was ahead seven and a half points. Wow. Hillary Clinton was ahead four and a half points. Right now, Kamala Harris is only at one and a half point. And that is with a massive propaganda campaign by the mass media to make her look like something she’s not. You know what? The American people are smart and they’re smarter than the Democrats give them credit for. And they’re paying attention. They’re just kind of rolling their eyes right now. The people who aren’t deeply involved in this. And come election time, they’re smart enough to figure this out. You know, they they can’t remake this section into truth. And that’s what they’re trying to do here.

Rey Treviño [00:22:45] Did you. You are dropping something. Congressman, I’m enjoying this so much. You know, let’s I’m trying to think, you know, how you know, to stay with this little bit because, you know, you mentioned that, you know, she didn’t get one vote in in our pre meeting. We briefly talked about Haiti in 2016, in 2015 when President Donald Trump ran. You know, I was I didn’t share this, but a lot of people know this. And if you go back and look at my guests and, you know, I talked to you probably so be not surprised that I was a Jeb Bush supporter at the beginning of 2015. I knew why would be safe and at least America would be strong. Okay, that’s it. And then as as Trump and then again I’ve talked to is pushed him out the door. You know, I was Ted Cruz because you Texan guy this way and that. So President Trump had to earn my vote. But I mention all these different people because he beat out a legacy guy. Yeah. He beat out a guy that is probably one of the greatest debaters that you’ll ever see. He had to earn that spot to get the ticket. Okay. It was Hillary’s turn in 2016. Okay. There was a deal, I’m sure, that was maybe made one day until 2008 where it was like, Hey, let’s do this and then we’ll you’ll be next. But 2020, there was really no there was the election on the Democratic side. They did have their. Process. But it wasn’t. It was Joe Biden’s going to be the guy. Put him in the center stage the whole time.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:24:17] Well, that’s cause Bernie was doing well. Yeah. And then they made a deal. Yes. Bernie would never get elected president of United States as a social. As an avowed socialist. No, Joe Biden’s always wanted to be president. He didn’t have any guiding policy or moral compass that drove him other than standing behind that seal. So they all made a deal. Joe’s that Joe is going to carry the water on the message. But he said, look, I just want to stand here. I’m thinking for him, I hear this. But the way that process ended, Bernie was picking up steam and then suddenly it was over. And they said, okay, the cognizant the machine because the Democrats are a machine and they have been for a long time, arguably since after Bill Clinton, they become a machine. Hope and change now, Joy. And so they said, no, no, no, no. The American people are not going to go for Bernie Sanders. The American people are not going to go for a senator now. Vice president who’s to the left of Bernie Sanders? We have to remake her. So let’s make a deal. Will kick everybody else out. No, you can’t get in there. We’ll give you something else, Gavin. But back in 2020, you know, Joe just wants to stand there and read from the teleprompter. And Bernie and his people are going to be making the policy. We’ve seen it. You know, all these policies that have come about, listening to Elizabeth Warren and all the anti-energy anti-freedom, this censorship, so leftist. And now Zuckerberg came out yesterday and admitted that the Biden administration censored Americans. Yeah. You. The American people are smart enough to know that just because you keep the vice president quiet does not mean they don’t know what’s lurking behind or not.

Rey Treviño [00:25:59] Yeah, I know the irony. You know, the inflation reduction Act did more harm to the oil and gas industry than it did to help the inflation that we have. The oil and gas industry itself is what fought the inflation that we have right now. And, you know, we’re fighting OPEC right now with the barrels of production that we and we know that at some point OPEC is going to open back up. But right now, we are producing all this oil to keep the price of oil at $70. When you actually go, look, we’ve averaged 70, 75 now for months, which is consistent, which has done what helped us lower the inflation. Yes. Here in America. And I just don’t know why this administration only continues to wage war and come up with these ridiculous net zero ideas.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:26:44] Do you really not understand? I think you do. I think we all know. But as Americans, we don’t want to believe that somebody is willing to tear down the United States. Yes. The through the three letter agencies, this administration has both made laws and taxes to destroy American businesses across the board. That is their track record. I don’t care if you got an already these policies already next to your name. These policies have destroyed American business and have limited the America, the American economy, but also that of the world. And it made it it’s made it a less safe place. There seems to be a belief on the left that if you strive for net zero, not only are Americans omnipotent. But they can control the weather. They can control undersea volcanoes. They can control the jet stream. And if we just build more windmills and solar panels, we can have dependable energy. It’s not true. Everybody is learning it. New Zealand now knows as they’re trying to be a country that is that is independent on its own, right. They are not because they’ve put all of their money on wind and solar. It’s not constant. Water is not constant. So you need a dependable if you want to get away from if you want to get away from from fossil fuels, then you need to engage in in nuclear. So it’s. And that takes a long startup time. So the reality is when people talk about the grid, fix the grid, do you think they even really know what that means? It means power generation. And the only dependable power generation in Texas is gas. And until we can build small modular reactors or build some bigger ones. And I’m a huge proponent of small modular reactors. All of the above, I like to say, except for renewables. And here’s why. Renewables are renewable. And when they age out, they renewals aren’t dependable. And when they age out, they cause a lot of problems. Let’s take, for instance, the sale of a arable Texas land that used to be used to raise crops. You put solar on those fields. They will never be used for crops again. The solar panels will eventually erode and be useless. But all the concrete and metal that you poured into that field will never allow it to be arable again. As well as the the the windmills, these gigantic 100 foot long blades made of fiberglass and composites they age out to. They don’t last forever. And when you when they fall off or they burn up or they break. What do you do with them? You can do two things. Either leave them outside on the ground or you can bury them. You can’t recycle them. It’s a farce. So and the rest of the world is dependent on dependable energy sources. And they’re figuring out that building all these windmills and then having the government pay for them. Once somebody else comes in office. So we’re not paying for those anymore. Suddenly they don’t get built anymore. Then they go away. But Europe right now is dependent on Russia. Otherwise, this war in Ukraine would have been over earlier. They’re making billions, as is Iran, on fossil fuels. So what is what have the eco folks done? They have outsourced our guilt. And all of those fossil fuel fuels are being used to fund the very wars that we’re trying to prevent now.

Rey Treviño [00:30:06] And that’s the thing that worries me as I talk about OPEC is you mentioned Russia and Iran. And right now, we’ve got sanctions on Russia where they’re getting $60 a barrel, I think across the board from the oil. They’re selling you like hotcakes. So they’re selling quantity over, you know, anything else. So they’re making money left and right. And that’s where OPEC is starting to go. We need to cut this off. And that’s where I’m afraid that as an American and of course, as an American producer, that OPEC’s going to open up those spigots again, bring the price down.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:30:40] And then there’s no money in exploration. Yeah. You can’t afford to explore because it won’t pay off.

Rey Treviño [00:30:46] Right.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:30:47] So everything for the leftists is simple. Just net zero. Do you even know what you’re talking about? You have no concept of reality.

Rey Treviño [00:30:55] Yeah. You know, you mentioned it during our pre meeting that you’re helping out the Ted Cruz campaign. In one of the many times we’ve had a chance to talk with him, he goes, you know what? If the left could flip a switch, kill oil and gas tomorrow, they would do it in perpetual pay bottle and then have to figure out how to get back to their districts.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:31:13] That’s correct. That’s right.

Kristy Kerns [00:31:15] That was perfectly said.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:31:17] He does that a lot. Yeah, he’s very good at that. And that the in these in these reading rooms in Washington, D.C., all these things sound great and they pat each other on the back for these great ideas. We’re going to save the planet. Well, China and India are not interested in saving the planet. Well, they’re interested in having a strong, vibrant economy and overtaking us, specifically China. And so, again, they think Americans are omnipotent. And and here’s a little newsflash for you all, the new coal power plants that they’re building in China. When those when when the smoke rises and the winds blow around the earth, it lands right here. Yeah, they don’t they don’t even gauge in science. No. And and it’s all a farce.

Rey Treviño [00:32:02] Isn’t it, that they’re opening up one coal power plant a week.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:32:05] Every week.

Rey Treviño [00:32:06] Every week through.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:32:07] Every year, and their coal isn’t. Isn’t nearly as clean as ours. Neither is India’s. No. And I’ve been to India, and I’m not allowed to go to China. I am literally forbidden from going to China or Russia.

Rey Treviño [00:32:19] Okay,

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:32:20] I’m Okay with that.

Rey Treviño [00:32:20] Yeah.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:32:21] But I’ve been to India and yeah, they do have some they do have a small problem in Mumbai. They don’t care because they’re building an economy and they’re providing for jobs in a populace that can turn the lights on economically and still build grow their businesses. What the left and the ego folk fools are doing is trying to limit that capability. And at some point, people are going to have to answer it just like they are in New Zealand. They’re going to have to answer for these silly policies. Germany used to be the number, the powerhouse economy of Europe, and now it’s not anymore because of their reliance on Russian gas.

Rey Treviño [00:32:55] Yeah.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:32:56] And they shut down the nuclear power plants, too. So Angela merkel, who was in charge for 15 years, you give somebody power that long, they can most likely destroy whatever you’ve built, and that’s what you destroy their military and their ability to be energy independent and reliant on somebody that they foolishly thought was their friend. And that’s Vladimir Putin, who, by the way, has been in charge now for 25 years.

Rey Treviño [00:33:19] But it’s a democracy.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:33:21] But it’s sure is in it. The ayatollahs have been in charge since 1979. Xi Jinping has been in charge for, I believe, eight years now. And the Kim family has been in charge since the 40s.

Rey Treviño [00:33:31] Yes.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:33:32] So they. Everything they do no longer. They’re playing the long games and they’re all evil.

Rey Treviño [00:33:41] Well, I want to bring you back to back to Texas, if that’s all right for many to talk about. And I may butcher it, but the four county cards

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:33:49] for country. country. Yes, sir.

Rey Treviño [00:33:50] It’s the number four country.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:33:52] No for.

Rey Treviño [00:33:54] For

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:33:54] That’s okay. That’s all right. It. For country caucus. It’s all a bunch of veterans. Yes. And and we all get along well. Good. We we it’s bipartisan. We disagree from time to time. But the shared sentiment of defending our country in an all volunteer force supersedes politics. We don’t we don’t badmouth each other by name. Maybe party to party will say something from time to time. But we have the shared goal of of ensuring a safer, more prosperous United States. And you’ll find a lot of moderate Democrats in that group. By the way, there’s very few there’s a couple of liberals about things that we can agree on. We will try to do legislation that we can cosign on that that actually helps all Americans. Then we will do that. And it doesn’t get a whole lot of attention because mass media today is not about what is good because sometimes that’s boring. The the the dopamine rush that people get from getting angry is is far greater than that of the dopamine rush of well this is good legislation but and it we build more roads yawn that doesn’t get a whole lot of attention. Yeah so that’s why you see some folks on both sides of the aisle on those parts of the party who get all the attention. But my chief of staff who I’ve known for 33 years. And served with in the Navy, went to flight school together. He says you can be loud or you can be effective, but you can’t be both at the same time. Yeah.

Rey Treviño [00:35:20] Wow. Well, you know, speaking of being effective, you know, you are running for reelection right now. Always. Always. Yeah. Where do you see Texas going? Where do you see your district going here for the next 2 to 4 years?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:35:34] Well, of course, we had redistricting a couple of years ago, and that strengthens districts on both sides of the aisle. So there aren’t really any Democrats in trouble or Republicans in trouble. There is one South Texas seat that is always up for grabs. The Valley districts are the border districts are usually tighter because they don’t fit any modern profile of right or left. And so all of those members, both Republican and Democrat, generally have tighter races. But my district is in our plus 16. And and so Texas is still red. I don’t think that in the Senate seat that the Ted Cruz race that you see what happened in 2018 with Mr. O’Rourke. I refused to use his popular moniker because I believe that’s. What do you call that, social ultraviolence. No, no. Where where you used somebody else that you used that start with the B

Rey Treviño [00:36:28]  Yeah.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:36:31] Anyway, he got and he.  Was he was not for some reason he took, you know, his campaign caught fire. That was a close race. I don’t think this one is going to be close, but I am helping Ted Cruz to ensure that it’s not good. And I don’t see Texas turning purple or blue anytime soon. People worry about folks coming from other states. Right. And saying, well, you’re bringing your X politics with you, perhaps liberal. 70% of the folks that are coming here from California are conservative. So that vastly outnumbers so we’re getting in any case, we’re getting redder. I think this campaign, this election will show that Texas is actually getting redder with the people that we’re bringing in from other states that are that are choosing to come in. Where I bring in about choosing to come in from other states. We’re getting redder, not purple or blue.

Rey Treviño [00:37:15] You know, that’s that’s funny you mention that, because here in Dallas, you know, comparatively speaking, Dallas County and Tarrant County are politically different. You know, now anybody looking out, they always say that, you know, Texas is this Texas and it’s all red. But we all know that Dallas County for years now. Well, not just for years or decades. I mean, Texas was at one time a Democrat state. I mean, we you know, until George Bush in 92, I think we had a Democrat in as governor.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:37:43] Right.

Rey Treviño [00:37:44] For 30 or 40 years. And don’t don’t fact check that. There’s rooms along that. But even Dallas now getting back to it. You’re seeing a more strong Republican movement in Dallas County and to where hopefully we can have another big metropolitan county in Texas that maybe can go red, because right now, Tarrant County is still the only last large metro producing county. And for our listeners out there, what I mean is Bear County and San Antonio is Democrat Harris County and Houston.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:38:13] they all are except for Fort Worth.

Rey Treviño [00:38:14] They are.except for Fort Worth.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:38:16] Right.

Rey Treviño [00:38:16] And so but.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:38:17] The mayor of Dallas, just switch party.

Rey Treviño [00:38:20] It did. In fact, I think I will visit with him here later. And so we’ll see what what he’s up to. And I think that was definitely a political move on his part. But I think it was because of a lot of the movement that’s going on in Dallas right here, where, you know, we want to get businesses back to Dallas. If you haven’t been to Dallas lately, walking the streets of downtown is not something you want to do. But you walk downtown Fort Worth, you know, no problems at all. And again, we saw how that strong, you know, Republican feel out there. So I guess what I’m saying is it looks like we are getting more people here in the Dallas County.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:38:53] Public safety is job number one of any government, municipal, county, state or federal is protection of her people, of her citizens. And any cut in any city San Francisco is with is imploding because they don’t care about public safety. And the Soros backed district attorney, district attorneys throughout this country have obliterated that because they’re not prosecuting. And so businesses are getting up and leaving. It’s just a fact. This isn’t political. If you don’t provide safety for your businesses and they can be looted often at the tip of a gun, then those businesses are going to fold up, close up shop and they’re going to move somewhere else. That’s why so many people are coming to Texas. So. The addendum to that is Texas has to plan ahead for water and power and food. And if if we’re not doing those, those are those are long lead time projects. So especially water. So if you’re going to put in buy up land and put in. A reservoir. You have to do that ten, 12 years in advance. We’re growing so fast. And when you talk about not only the population growth, but in Ellis County, we have count them, two data centers. Now, most people. That’s kind of an imperfect idea for a lot of people. That requires water and electricity. Massive amounts because they’re running 24 seven and they draw on a lot of electricity. So we need to have more power generation in Texas. We need to have more water capability in Texas, too, because 20 years ago, who thought about Google having a data center in Ellis County? Now we got two of them that are going in and there’s a draw on that. So we need to be blocking and tackling, taking care of our people, providing ample law enforcement, paying them very well, and providing for that infrastructure that is so required by every Texan, every citizen of Ellis County, every citizen Midlothian, that that goes across party lines. And we need to be thinking about that right now. I think the growth of Texas kind of caught a lot of people off guard. And with a legislature that only meets six months out of every two years, you run a real risk of if you’re not going after that stuff. Right now, land prices are shooting up in value. So if you’re going to buy some land, but a reservoir on it, the clock’s ticking and so is the cost that.

Rey Treviño [00:41:16] Well, Congressman, I cannot thank you enough for coming up here. As we wrap up, I’d like for you to go ahead and show.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:41:24] Don’t we have another half hour?

Kristy Kerns [00:41:25] I know.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:41:26] Can we do it another hour? I we’re just getting warmed up. We’ve got a second cup of coffee my fourth of the day. But I’m a Navy guy, so I could walk around with an I.V. with.

Rey Treviño [00:41:35] But if I do that goofy movie down Periscope, I don’t know if you ever saw that Navy movie with Casey. Go. No go. So Grammer, Kelsey. Kelsey Grammer. Yeah, I do. Like, are you going to wake up in the morning and have a nice big hot cup of lard or a cup of coffee? Because I think you’d like put all the lard where you have to cook those. I don’t know, sir. Depends on if it’s cold there.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:41:56] Well, when I was their boss on the Reagan, I lived off of Redmond chewing tobacco and black coffee.

Rey Treviño [00:42:01] Hey, man.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:42:02] I don’t even mess with putting anything in it. It’s a tool for me.

Rey Treviño [00:42:04] Yes, sir. I think, Jerry, I think everybody out of the oil field could definitely relate to that other. And he said, But, you know, as we do wrap up, I’d love for you to, you know, ask your constituents again or tell them why they should vote for you again here. This election.

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:42:19] I bring the principles of Quite conservatism, quite professionalism to my district. The folks in our district just want to work hard, worship the way they want to send their kids to good schools, feel safe in their own homes. And those are principles that are that are not only conservative, they’re American. And I believe in praising in public and criticizing in private. And that’s how you get the mission accomplished. And I believe in good constituent services every day because the federal government, since Covid really isn’t working. And that’s why the staff that I hired work on behalf of our constituents with the RCA and and any other federal agency that’s really not working for the American people right now. Additionally, finally, my years of 20 years of military service seeing time in combat, I believe in this country and what we do and it’s and I believe in defending our nation at all costs and protecting our veterans and helping them every day

Rey Treviño [00:43:12] And for those out there that are looking to volunteer or donate to your campaign, where can they go for that?

Congressman Jake Ellzey [00:43:18] That’s a good question. And I just tell them where, you know, right now it’s about service. So it’s Ellzey.house.gov Ellzey dot House.gov and and if they really want to give down the road, we can sure have them contact me. And we got a campaign website. Ellzey, Ellzey for House dot com or something like that. Is that what it is, Ellzey for congress.com.

Rey Treviño [00:43:43] Okay. Well, Congressman Ellzey we cannot thank you enough for coming on. We’re going to have to do this again. I think I think what I’d love to do is I’m a shout out to Genevieve over at Americans for Prosperity. Maybe we can try to get a big group discussion after the election to kind of just do a big panel on what we can do to move forward after the election. That sounds good. So so thank you as always, Kristy. I mean, what another other.

Kristy Kerns [00:44:09] Sometimes I just with that I just like taking it back like all the knowledge.

Rey Treviño [00:44:14] And to all our listeners out there, we cannot thank you enough and we’ll see you again on another episode of The Crude Truth.

Narrator [00:44:21] Again, The Crew Truth would like to think today’s sponsors LFS Chemistry, Nape Expo, Air Compressor Solutions, Sandstone Group, Exec Crue, Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country Operating and Real News Communication Network.

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