Sen. Tommy Tuberville on College Football and Budget Insanity
29 Jul 2021
CLAY: We are joined now by Senator Tommy Tuberville from the great state of Alabama. Senator, I appreciate you giving us some time. I know itโs been a crazy day and days and weeks that are coming in the Senate. Weโre going to get into the budget process and everything else here in a moment. But first, you coached in Ole Miss. You coached at Auburn. You also coached in the Big 12 at Texas Tech. What do you think about Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: I think itโs very interesting. Iโm kind of surprised. But you know Texas would really want to be in. I was a little bit surprised about Oklahoma, and will still be surprised if they will be able to pull out of Oklahoma without Oklahoma State. Itโs hard to divide schools like that, but sometimes the legislature gets involved and sometimes it doesnโt.
But it will obviously enhance the SEC. Now, it will make it tougher. It will probably bring more TV money, which is what theyโre looking at with this NIL coming up and all the extra costs. So, I think itโs good. I think itโs good. I hate it for the Big 12. I coached at Texas Tech. They will have to scramble to see what will happen, but Iโm not sure SEC is done taking schools. They might continue on, but weโll see what happens.
BUCK: Senator, itโs Buck, here. I want to know what your sense is of how this process of the budget is moving along. Yesterday, we said on the show, there was that breaking news about bipartisan agreement. But now weโve got Sinema saying she wonโt go along with the $3.5 trillion, and we donโt even know what is in this. But what are you seeing and hearing, and what should we be focused on, in terms of what really feels like the only piece of the Biden agenda, from a legislative perspective, that could still happen?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: Well, first of all, every American should know, this is the reckless, tax-and-spend agenda theyโve had. Iโve never seen anything like it. Of course, Iโm just a normal American and someone who has been up here six months and Iโm shocked by whatโs going on on the other side and all the spending they want, all the new programs they want to start. You know, when you start a program up here in Washington D.C., they never go away.
They say, โOh, itโs gonna be a year, two years,โ and they last forever, and weโre gonna put more and more people on a paycheck. They donโt want anybody to work. They want to continue working towards socialism and Marxism. Thatโs the direction theyโre headed. But I think youโre seeing Sinema and Manchin looking at the situation going, โWait a minute. This is getting out of hand. I know that weโve all voted together as Democrats in the pastโฆโ
I know Sinema has probably has got a number in her head of what she wants to do and how far she wants to go, and I know Joe Manchin does. I donโt think theyโre on the same agenda. So weโll have to wait and see what happens there. But we have to have a true infrastructure bill.
All the mess they got in this thing, Iโve looked at some of the things theyโve been talking about. Number one, itโs laughable what they want to put in there. I just donโt understand it. Theyโre not going to get $3.5 trillion. Thatโs not going to happen. Theyโre gonna probably try to get at least half of that and weโll see what happens from there.
BUCK: Senator, do you haveโฆ? I just thought it was interesting. You said youโve only been out there six months, and you mentioned Sinema and Manchin who seem to be the most reasonable of the Democrats. Do you have any kind of relationship with either of those people at all? I mean, do you sit around and talk with them in any way that would be sort of a collegial nature, or is it very exclusionary Republicans and Democrats in the Senate so far in your experience?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: No. With probably about a dozen, we sit down and talk and tell jokes and have fun when weโre off the floor and business is not going on. Weโve gone to parties together and weโre quite cordial. But thatโs not a lot. And, you know, thereโs a group in the Democratic Party thatโs on the far, far left that, of course, Iโm not even talking to any of them.
And Iโve been here six months. Itโs just the divide here is what had surprised me more than anything, the divide not just in between Republicans and Democrats, but also the divide, really, of what the Democrats are looking at with two or three separate groups. You know, the liberals, the basically Marxists and communists โ and, you know, the tax-and-spend folks. I mean, itโs justโฆ I hope we just wake up and understand what weโre doing to the future of this country and to the kids, our grandkids, that are going to pay for all this stuff.
CLAY: Name, image, and likeness. I know youโve been working on it. Itโs a big story. All 50 states trying to figure out how to pay college kids. Different rules, different places. Is Congress going to pass a bill here? Should they?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: I wish we would stay out of it, but it looks like the federal government and the Commerce Committee is going to have to do something to make sure we balance this thing up. The NCAA canโt seem to get the job done, canโt seem to do their job and get everybody just to agree to one thing. But Iโve talked to the Commerce Committee. Of course, Iโve been in the business for 40 years and know a little bit about it.
Iโve talked to the ranking member, and the chairman โ madam chair โ of the committee, and weโve worked a little bit on it together. But what we have to have, Clay, is we have to have equality in terms of everybody doing it the same way. If you donโt have a rule, and you donโt compete for championships, everybody has to go by the same rules, and this is a rule that scares me.
I think itโs more of an experiment than anything. I think theyโre looking at this. And I was a coach for years, and I wanted to give as much money to every player, man and woman, in every sport we possibly could. But itโs almost impossible. I mean, there might be a half a dozen to a dozen teams that can really afford the things thatโs coming down the pike. But thereโs a lot of teams that canโt.
We canโt ruin athletics in this country, especially high school and college. If we do thatโฆ Thatโs one of the true things weโre holding on to, where people learn discipline, they learn values, they learn how to work together. And weโve got to be able to hold on to that. And when we get politics involved, things start to disintegrate a little bit. But when you look at this going? My goodness. This is just an opportunity to do things that we couldnโt do. We couldnโt even come close to doing some of these things that theyโre allowed to do now.
BUCK: Senator, getting back to politics for a second: Are you concerned that given the inability, it seems, of the Biden White House to get their agenda through on Capitol Hill that there may be some of the more extreme measures that have been talked about all along here, like, for example, getting rid of the filibuster so that then they can ram through the agenda? How confident should we be that the handful โ or, really, just a couple โ of Democrats that have been a bulwark against eliminating the filibuster will hold the line on that?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: Yeah. I donโt think that will ever happen. And, again, talking to Manchin and Sinema and visiting with them about what they believe about this country and the process, both have said to me quite consistently that they want to keep the process. They do not want to cross that line and allow the Senate to turn into the House where itโs just the majority.
And if we do that, thereโs going to be some huge problems. There will be some changes back and forth. Sooner or later, the Republicans are gonna get football back, and if you break the filibuster, then itโs going to be total chaos when the Republicans take over โ and the American people donโt deserve that. They deserve less government, less decisions made up here.
You know, we could go home for about three months; it wouldnโt hurt my feelings, because it would save the American taxpayers money. And all we want to do up here is spend money. And thatโs not what weโre up here for. Weโre up here to help. And weโve done very little help with the pandemic, with the borders, with crime, all the things that are going on. Thatโs what we should be talking about. Thatโs what we should be working on, but weโre worried about spending money.
And thatโs not what we need to do right now. Inflation is getting ready to hit us right between the eyes. Itโs already started and itโs going to get worse. Thereโs no way we can stop it. You have your old pal out there, spending $100 billion a day or a week on all these Treasury bills, and things are going to go sideways on us, and when it does, weโre at a 0% interest rates! Where do we go from there? We got nowhere to go. Europe tried that and it didnโt work. Weโve gotta be very careful of what weโre doing, and if inflation keeps going, weโre all going to be in trouble.
CLAY: Last question for you, Senator. I want to know: More anger in the state of Alabama when you were coaching college football or now that youโre a politician? How would you compare the vibe at those two different jobs?
SEN. TUBERVILLE: (chuckles) Well, thereโs a divide in both of that in coaching college football. But at the end of the day, you look each other in the eyes and say, โHey, you did the best for what you were supposed to be doing for your team.โ Up here, itโs two separate teams and itโs two separate Americas.
I mean, weโre not fighting for the flag. Weโre not fighting for the anthem. Weโre not fighting for the Constitution here. Weโre fighting each other on a different type of America, and thatโs not what this country is supposed to be. If we start dividing it and if we continue to keep dividing it, you know where weโre headed and itโs not going to be pretty. And we have got to all come together, quit dividing each other.
Get away from this stuff weโre teaching in these schools to the kids. Thatโs one reason Iโm up here is because of education, because Iโve seen how weโve downgraded: thirty-seventh in the world in math. Now, that makes a lot of sense. The United States of America. China number one. Education is what put us here and education is what is going to ruin us if we continue down this path of teaching kids something about division and about hate.
BUCK: Senator, thanks so much for joining us from the great state of Alabama. We appreciate it.
SEN. TUBERVILLE: Thank you, guys.
Recent Stories

Georgia Dad Arrested for Leaving Kids in McDonald's to Attend Job Interview
A story out of Augusta, Georgia sparks debate. Should this man have been arrested or given a break?

VIP Video: What the Elections in Florida and Wisconsin Mean
The GOP won both Florida special elections, but dropped the important Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

Jim in Virginia Tells Riveting Story of His Father at Hacksaw Ridge
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Okinawa. iHeart radio app Talkback listener Jim in Virginia tells the story of his dad's service at Hacksaw Ridge.

Florida Congressional Candidate Jimmy Patronis Joins Us on Special Election Day
On Election Day in two key Florida special elections, the Trump endorsed FL-1 candidate talked to C&B.