Rep. Buddy Carter: Prescriptions for Policy
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Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. Thanks for joining us. We're going to talk a little bit about what's going on in the news and then highlight the stupid because, of course, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. And then we're going to phone a friend, this time somebody who is actually a friend, somebody I spent some time with in the United States Congress. He's the congressman from Georgia's first congressional district. His name is Buddy Carter, and you ought to get to know him because he's a

He does something in Congress nobody else has a background in, so he offers a unique perspective, and he's just an all-around good guy. You know, you go out and you serve with people, and you see him at the meals and the conference meetings and in committee, and you kind of get to know somebody, and this is a really good guy. His name is Buddy Carter, the congressman from Georgia. So we'll dial him up too, but...

Let's jump right into what's going on in the news, because obviously a big portion of what's going to happen here for the next few months is going to be the selection of the Supreme Court nominee. Now, look, this is a historic one. They're always historic. Supreme Court, just not many of them, not much turnover.

And the justice who's retiring, Justice Breyer, he's served there for decades and had an impact on the court and has a unique voice on the court and been a liberal voice. Now, obviously, President Biden is going to select somebody who's going to give credence to that liberal voice. I wouldn't expect anything less of what the president's going to do.

And with the Democrats having the Senate, they've got a clear glide path. If they can keep everybody in line in being supportive of this particular nominee, but whoever that might be, but...

Getting there, I feel bad for whoever selected because I think it's minimized a little bit where qualifications and their thoughts and their thought process seems to get a backseat to making sure that they had the right gender identity and the right politics behind them. And I don't think that's a good way to start somebody who's going to be a nominee to the Supreme Court. Right.

I just don't. I just think saying that you're going to pick somebody of a certain ethnicity or a certain race or a certain gender sort of negates the overarching need to have the best qualified person to sit in that seat. And obviously, it's still the judgment of the President of the United States to make that nomination. But under advice and consent of the United States government,

they don't have to go along with it. They have a co-equal voice in this. Now, I think a lot of the senators probably disagree with that. I've seen a number of Republicans who I just vehemently disagree with on advice and consent. It is not the default position that

that you should and have to support the president's nominee. That's not the way the framers set this up. The framers set this up so they would have a co-equal voice in who actually gets to go there. Now, the president gets to whittle it down to one and nominate one, and then they have the debate and the discussion. But no doubt they are working furiously behind the scenes to vet whatever person's going to come up. There will inevitably be some degree of a surprise there.

But I want them to be treated honestly and fairly and talk about their record and their thoughts and how they make decisions and what precedent and their view on precedent is. But I think it's sad that Joe Biden had to gravitate immediately to making sure that it had to be somebody else.

who fit a certain demographic profile in order for him to continue to garner support rather than picking the very best person. So I've kind of made my point on that, but the Supreme Court selection by POTUS is going to be pivotal, and it'll be fascinating to see who he comes up with and why he picks that person. He's already told us kind of why.

Let's see. Let's hope that he gets somebody who's highly qualified. All right. The other thing I want to talk about the news is a great quote from Elon Musk. Elon Musk, obviously an impact player, a multi-billionaire, and somebody who's had quite an impact on our world, not just with SpaceX and PayPal and those types of things, but with Tesla as well. And he tends to get himself into trouble on Twitter. He tends to do some things that are a little bit controversial. So he took it a little bit easier.

And he sent out this tweet that said, quote, taking a break from politics for a while. Here's a nice photo of trucks. Now, this is one of my favorite tweets that he sent out because he

It wasn't just a photo of trucks. This was up in Canada, the convoy of trucks. Now, if you haven't seen this, the whole country seems to be driving a truck because these truckers are out there in force talking and making an expression of their displeasure on Justin Trudeau, the prime minister's approach to how they are actually doing the mask mandates.

And so what does Trudeau do in true weak fashion? Scoots out of town, avoids the whole thing. I'm glad that Elon Musk and the rest of the United States is paying attention because Trump,

it's not just us. There are other places around the world that are fed up with these mask mandates and how they're executed and why they're executed. Look, I understand that COVID is real. It is serious. I personally have taken the vaccine, the booster shot, all of that. But there is this degree of self-determination in this country. And I think Canadians are

are doing it justice too and expressing their displeasure on how this is going out. But boy, if you see those pictures of trucks, and I love Elon Musk's tweet, taking a break from politics for a while. Here's a nice photo of trucks. What a snarky way to do it because that's about as political as it gets. And

And kind of a cute, fun way to do it as Elon Musk does from time to time. All right. Time to bring on the stupid because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.

This time we have two. We have two that are coming up. An MSNBC tweet. They captured it. Like, I mean, they put this tweet up, then they took it down. Then they put it back up with a link to try to say, well, this is what somebody else was saying. I don't know who's running the Twitter account over there, but they kind of stepped in it. Quote, conservatives don't mind affirmative action hires so long as the people hired fit their preferred demographic. End quote.

Are you kidding me? That is just so stupid of them to do that. Again, they posted it, took it down, put up another link. What are they talking about? Come on. It should be self-explanatory. If you don't understand that one, we might need to talk.

But that was just a really, really stupid tweet. All right. The next one is from Ira Glasser of the ACLU. Now, Ira Glasser did not, did not make the stupid comments. He's pointing out the stupid of an organization he used to run, which is the American Civil Liberties Union. Now, like him or not, the ACLU has vehemently defended civil liberties and

on the most difficult of cases. Some people you just absolutely despise and they're out there defending them. But a couple years ago, they decided to morph and transition. I really saw it during the Obama years. It got amplified during the Trump years. And now they've taken a political position that is just untenable.

In fact, they got so bad there at the ACLU that the retired Ira Glasser, who's no longer there, he had this great quote. He was on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he said, quote, they just produced a couple of years ago new guidelines for their lawyers to use when deciding what free speech cases to take.

This is a requirement now for the national ACLU employers that before they take a case defending someone's free speech, they have to make sure that the speech doesn't offend or threaten other civil liberty values. The whole point, the reason this falls in the category of stupid is Ira Glasser is 100% right. The point of somebody protecting free speech is to protect it even if you don't like it.

That protects free speech. The whole point of the First Amendment is people in this country have the right to say things that maybe you don't like. Now, there's certain boundaries to that. You can't go into the theater and yell fire. Okay. Those types of things obviously are going to cause panic and potentially death like that. Okay. We understand that there are some boundaries, but.

For the ACLU to say, we're only going to take the cases that protect our political prerogatives, which is essentially what they're going to do, undermines the whole idea that the ACLU is out there to protect free speech no matter what. And I'm glad to hear Ira Glasser going out and speaking on this. He was a big voice in this country for a long time on a lot of controversial issues. It really made you think along the way.

But the ACLU of today has changed. It's morphed. It's a money-making operation that, in my opinion, is out there to try to move a political movement forward. It's no longer those that are out there fighting for your civil liberties. They actually even took a position that you must get the shots, you must get the vaccines because that protects your civil liberties.

Are you kidding me? That's the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite. The government poking you and injecting something into you forcibly is a position that they support. That's not free speech. That's not allowing self-determination. I think it leads to a bigger point. This is what I, without getting too deep on this, because we're talking about the stupid liberals, where are they? They've kind of gone away. This idea that,

Hey, we get to make choices. That wing of the part of the Democratic Party has gone away. Anyway, thanks to the assist by Eric Glasser and pointing out the stupid from the ACLU. All right, now it's time to call a phone and friend, Buddy Carter. Like I said, I served with him in the United States Congress. The guy works hard. He works smart. He's just an all around good guy. And I hope that we get to know him a little bit better. So let's dial up Congressman Buddy Carter.

Hey, it's Buddy Carter. Hey, it's Jason Chaffetz. Hey, thanks so much for agreeing to join me on the Jason in the House podcast. I really do appreciate it. Oh, thank you for having me. You and I got to know each other because suddenly you got elected to Congress and I was in Congress and then next thing I knew you were on the Oversight Committee. And next thing I knew you were chairing that committee. I know, the world was falling apart at that point in time. I...

That was a lot of fun. You know what? I really appreciate the energy you brought to it. And it is amazing, wasn't it? Where the people that came before that committee, I mean, some were good, serious people. And I really learned a lot. Others were just bozos. I just could not figure out how in the world they got into those positions and did some of the things they did.

Exactly. You're right. It does take all types. I think back about Farmer Bro and having him before us. And, you know, he wouldn't he wouldn't talk. And I have to tell you a quick story. I'll never forget your friend and my friend, Trey Gowdy, tricked him into finally answering something because he pronounced his last name. And he said, is that correct? And he said, yes, that is correct. And he said, well, see, you can answer questions. You don't just have to take the fifth on everything.

And I thought, well, there's an experienced litigator, an experienced lawyer. You know, I'm a pharmacist, as you know, so I didn't know to do something like that. But I always thought that was pretty neat. Yeah. So Buddy Carter is the only was the only pharmacist. I think that's still true today. Right. In the both the House and the Senate. Actually, that has changed. We've got another pharmacist in Congress now. We've got a much doubled up pharmacist in Congress. Yeah, we did. But if I could just share this with you real quick.

Our mutual friend, Representative Billy Long from Missouri, when I was the only pharmacist in Congress, he gave me the hashtag OPIC for only pharmacists in Congress. And then Diana Harshbarger from Tennessee came in and she's a compounding pharmacist. And Billy told me, he said, you know, you can still keep that hashtag, only now it means oldest pharmacist in Congress. So it goes.

You have to know Billy Long. In fact, we should probably have him on a podcast because there's only one Billy Long. But let's go back to the Pharma Bro. So this is the guy who audaciously bought this kind of orphan drug. It was not an orphan drug, but he had a small distribution. It served a small population.

And then he just jacked up the price. I think it was like $17 a dose. And then he jacked it up by like nearly to $500 a dose. I'm getting the numbers wrong, but it was something obscene like that. And he was making a ridiculous amount of money because it's very difficult for competition to come in on a drug that had such small distribution. And he was just arrogant about it. So we finally got him before the committee and he kept pleading the fifth in front of us.

Yeah, he did. Martin Skirilli was his name. And he's he's in jail now where he needs to be. You know, as a pharmacist, this really hit home with me because we have struggled for many years in this country and

Because of high drug prices. And here was someone who was just just gaining the system. And you have to keep in mind this medication that that he bought in the company that he bought that manufactured this medication was something that only very few people need.

And therefore, it was impacting a select group of people. And and it was just ridiculous the way he went up on the price. And that's the only reason he bought the company. And so he could do just this. I mean, it was it was truly a scheme, a scheme to to make money and nothing else but to make money. Yeah, it's kind of people if they didn't take this particular drug, essentially, you're going to die.

So the demand is just off the charts, but so small that a reputable company like a Pfizer or something like that wasn't going to go purchase it. And it was a good discussion. That's the kind of thing I think the oversight committee was there for.

But when you ran for Congress and you thought about what am I going to do once I get there? So you have the victory night. You win. Did you think that's what you were going to be doing or what was the what was the driving thing that you thought you would be doing versus what you're kind of doing in Congress?

Well, specifically, pharmacy issues were important and pharmacy price. The price of pharmaceuticals were certainly one of the top items on my list. So from that perspective, yes. But, you know, more so than anything, Jason, this was my opportunity to serve my country. I didn't have the honor of serving in our military. And my honor is to serve those who deserve

do serve in our military and who have served in our military. And I take this very seriously. As you know, I take this service in Congress very seriously. I work very hard at it.

And it's because, you know, look, I've lived the American dream. I truly have. My grandfather was a sharecropper. He did not own property. He didn't own land. He worked the land. I can remember my father taking me down a dirt road where he grew up saying, you know, we used to live here. We used to live here. We used to live there. And they just lived wherever the land was that they worked. And my dad worked shift work in a papermint. And

And I can remember he moved from the country to the city. And he told me when he got a job at Union Back that he took every penny he had in his pocket and he went and bought and filled his car up with gas. And he just rode around with the window down, just hollering, I got a job at Union Back. I got a job at Union Back. He was so proud to have a job like that.

And I was the first one in my family to graduate from college, not only in my immediate family, but my extended family. You know, I was able to get a degree in pharmacy. I built a business, a successful business there.

I've lived the American dream. I really have. And I wanted to I want my children and my grandchildren and their children to have that same opportunity to live the American dream. And that's why that's why I do this. And as you know, also, well, look, it's it's trying at times. I mean, it can be very, very frustrating. And there are times when you just shake your head and you say, what am I doing here?

But I have to tell you that the shine hasn't worn off for me. I'm excited every time I come back up here. Every time today I came up this morning and I was excited to be coming back up here.

So from that perspective, it hasn't it hasn't worn off. But, you know, we live in the greatest country in the world, but we got to we got to continue to work. We got to continue to make sure that that people have the opportunity to live the American dream, just like I have, just like you. No, that's so true. And I'm glad you got that that energy and that chill that runs down your spine when you kind of walk on the floor of the house where you see the Capitol and you think, wow, you know.

What an incredible opportunity, an incredible country, and what a rare opportunity to serve. Now, you've served in a lot of roles. I mean, I went back and read a little bit about you beforehand, but planning commission, right? The House of Representatives there in Georgia, the state Senate there in Georgia, the United States Congress. I mean, you've seen kind of it all. My first role...

and doing something political like that was on the planning commission for my little Highland city here in, in, in Utah. It's so funny. Cause I went to this planning commission meeting because I was a new resident there. And there literally was nobody in the audience so much. So that the mayor said, do you have business before the planning commission? I said, no, we just moved here. And I just thought I'd learn a little bit more about the city and,

where we're going and what we're doing. And he said, okay. And then he came down off the day as we started chatting. And before we got to the end of the meeting, I was on the planning commission sucker.

I learned more about curb and gutter and setback, but all those things that actually make the world go around for a city. You know, you make a great point because I was a mayor. I was on the planning commission, as you say. I was on the city council for a brief period of time, and then I was mayor. And I can remember thinking to myself, you know, when I was in pharmacy school, I never realized I'd know as much about water and sewer and everything.

And zoning and ordinance. How big a city? Which city and how big it was? Well, yeah, thanks for asking that, because I'm very proud of the fact that I was very fortunate. You know, I'd rather be lucky than good. But I just hit it at the right time. I was mayor of the city of Pooler, which is kind of a suburb of Savannah in South Georgia on the coast.

And I became mayor of the city of Poole in 1996, Jason. Our population was 4,500. And when I left in 2004, our population was 19,000. And now it's up around 30,000. One of the fastest growing cities in Georgia. And it's just phenomenal. And I was just, you know, I was in the right place at the right time. I mean, it was great. What's drawn that many people to that city?

Well, you know, location, location, location. You hear that all the time. And we were just we were located in a good area near the airport. Our schools were good. We were attracting a lot of people and people.

And it was just, you know, some developmental highways that really took hold and just an area that was just in the right place, the right location. And you were started. You were supposed to say, well, you were supposed to say because we had the best mayor in the country. That's, you know, everybody picks up their roots from their family and just looks at who the mayor is and then decides, yeah, that's where I want to live. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

But, you know, I don't think you can get any closer to the people than being mayor. I mean, you know, I've served in Atlanta. I've served in Washington. And when you're in Atlanta, you're in Atlanta. When you're in Washington, you're in Washington. But when you're mayor and especially if you want a drugstore like I did down the road from City Hall, I mean, they knew where to find you if they had a problem.

Yeah, that's true. That's so true. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Buddy Carter right after this.

Tell me a little bit more about growing up and what life is like. You tell us a little bit about your dad, but tell us about some of those life experiences and things that you learned that were impactful. You know, I think we all, you know, I'm getting a little bit older, you're getting a little bit older, but you look back at those times and you think, oh my goodness, that time just went flying by. But there's those points of impact where certain people or certain incidents happen. What, what do you think?

What were some of those life lessons that you learned early in life that you just think, wow, I hope everybody learns that sooner rather than later? Well, obviously, I grew up in a small town. I actually grew up near Savannah, near where I live now in Pooler and where I was mayor. But there was a city, it was Fort Wentworth, and it was, as I say, right near that area in West Chatham County, as we call it.

Small town, went to the same elementary school from K through seven. We went from kindergarten through seventh grade at the same school and, you know, then went to what we call back then junior high school and then the high school, you know, had the same nucleus of friends growing up. And they, you know, obviously, you know,

For us, the whole world was in Port Wentworth. I mean, we didn't know any better. Most of our families, paper mills were real big back then, and that was the main employer in Port.

And so that was the industry that was there then. Sports was a big part of my life, as I know it was a big part of your life, too. But, you know, it just depended on the season. I mean, whether it was football, basketball or baseball, you know, it was it just depended on the season that and sports had such a big impact in my life. And.

And my dad had a big impact on my life. I lost my dad last July 25th of last year. Sorry about that. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I was very blessed. I had him for 83 years and and except for the last week of his life, he was mentally sharp as a tack, which is a blessing. Right.

as we all know, I just met earlier today with representatives from the Alzheimer's Association and, you know, we're working hard up here in Congress on that and trying to find a cure for that and we need to, but I was very blessed and very blessed to have my dad for that long, but I

I made a deal with my dad because I wanted to be, I wanted to be a football star. Unfortunately, not only was I short, but I was also slow. So it just didn't work out and I couldn't kick the ball like you could. I was going to say, I was a place kicker. They, they touch me. They throw a flag. You know, I always, I always tell everybody there's, there's a spot for anybody on a football team. Well, I played tailback every time I ran on the field, the coach said, get your tail back here, you know? So, um,

Anyway, I just, you know, I promised my dad at the end of my junior year in high school that if Oklahoma or Nebraska had not sent a scout out to see me, that I'd get serious about what I was going to do.

in my life. And I don't know what happened, but they didn't show up. Anyway, after my junior year in high school, I decided, well, you know, I better get serious because this sports thing ain't going to work out. And I got a job in working in a drugstore, delivery driver, and just eventually, you know, sweeping the floors and finally ended up working in the pharmacy itself. And

And it was just as if God had put me in that place because it was perfect for me. I was able to work in health care and medicine that I wanted to. I'm obviously a very extroverted person, so I could interact with the public.

And I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And I went to back then we had junior colleges, two year schools, and it was kind of a preparatory school, if you will. And I went to a method of school, Young Harris College up in North Georgia mountains. And the first two years, then I transferred the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, got my degree there.

When I left home at 18 to go to young Harris, it just so happened. I left the day I turned 18. It wasn't as if I was, I'm out of here. It just so happened that I left, but I swore up and down. I'd never go back. I just swore up and down. I wouldn't. Well, the first thing I did when I graduated was to go straight back home. My dad grew in wisdom over that last five years than anybody has ever grown in wisdom. But, uh,

But I went straight back home. I didn't want to go back to my city where I'd grown up. So I went to what we had considered to be kind of a joke of a town in Pooler. And then as it turned out, you know, as I mentioned earlier, I lived in Pooler and

I worked for someone else for about eight and a half years and then decided it was time to go into business for myself. When I opened my business, I knew I needed to get involved in the community. So I volunteered, as you did, or you were drafted, but I volunteered to work on the Planning and Zoning Committee. And from the Planning and Zoning Committee, I went to City Council, and then I went to Mayor, and then I went to State Rep, and then I went to State Senate, and now I'm in Congress. So I've gone through the chairs. So what did your dad say when you got elected to Congress?

You know, he was he was proud, obviously. And I was I was very happy and proud that he was proud of me because I always worked hard to make him proud of me. And and I know he was. But, you know, there were times when he just shake my shake his head saying, can't believe you're in Congress. Yeah.

But it was good. It was, you know, what a blessing. What a blessing. What was the first job you had? Like going back before you had to get a job more to make a living and, you know, have some food to eat. What was the first thing? Did you have chores around the house where dad said, hey, you know, you got to mow the lawn. You got to do this. You got to do that. But then who's the first job you had working for somebody else?

Well, you're right. I had chores around the house. My mother was an immaculate housekeeper and she made my sister and I a clean house all the time. And my dad, of course, I had to muggle on, as you indicated. But my first paid job was as a landscape engineer. I cut grass. We had National Guard base, Travis Field National Guard near us and and

And they needed people in the summertime to cut grass. And I got a job working there cutting grass and worked there for two summers, worked my way all the way up to a riding lawnmower after the second year. I was very proud of that. And then when I got to college, my dad, who had worked in the paper mill, he said,

And again, the smartest man I've ever met, he had the wisdom to know that, you know, I wasn't the most astute student and I needed a little bit of encouragement. So he got me a job working in the paper mill on what they call a broke beater. And a broke beater in a paper mill is below the paper machine where they drop all the excess paper and all the paper that's been cut and everything. And then you put it back and

and actually recycle it, if you will, and put it back into production. And listen, there is no place on earth hotter than a broke beaver. It wasn't hell, but you could see hell from there. I can assure you. And, and my dad knew that that's what I needed. And I'm telling you, and once I finished there one summer, I couldn't get back to school fast enough. And I couldn't study hard enough because I did not want to go back to that broke beaver. And, and,

And again, I credit my dad with doing that for me, would put me in that position so that I understood how important school was and I needed to get back and get my degree. Yeah, it's like when I was in Arizona, my first paid gig for somebody else, I was working in landscaping. And I was so excited. I've told this story many times, but I was so excited because...

The ad said that it was going to be done by noon. And, but so when I called to figure out what time they, you know, where do I meet him and when do we start and that sort of stuff, he told me he was going to pick me up at three 45 in the morning. And I said, you know, I'm thinking to myself, well, I go to bed at one 30. So that's going to be a tight turn, but you start picking weeds and raking cactus and cleaning people's yards and

In the heat of an Arizona summer and you learn real quick that at least I did that I was a white collar guy and I needed to do the same. I needed a better skill set to get a better job. And, you know, it's those kind of young experiences, though, that I think you have to learn. And I think that's one of the things in society that's missing today is getting some of these young people good jobs, right?

Hard jobs, it doesn't really matter, I think, as much how much you get paid, as much as it is getting out and having that experience and learning to work.

I couldn't agree with you more. You know, now the kids getting out, they want a laptop and they want to use their computer skills, which they are very adept at. But at the same time, you know, just some pack breaking work, I think would do a lot of good for a lot of them. Yeah. No, I look at these fast food restaurants. There was a Taco Bell here in Southern Utah and they're advertising $20 an hour to start. And I'm like,

What the heck? I mean, I love the Taco Bell, so I want them to have as many employees as they need, but $20 an hour. I mean, anyway, the point is I hope that people learn how to work because I think it's those formative things. What did you learn early on that, I mean, it wasn't just, hey, I need to go get a white-collar job and make more money and have a better skill set, but there's some things that you learn by playing sports and having a job

you know, early on in your life that I think does set you up for the rest of your life. What, what for you would, when I say that, what T what for you comes to mind and thinks, yeah, those are some things that I just learned early on, but I, I, because I worry that there's a generation or a big portion of the generation that's missing those types of experiences. Yeah.

Well, I think you're exactly right. In fact, I'm reading a book now. It's called Hallowed Out. And it talks about losing generations, just as you refer to it.

But if I look back on my experiences, I think that for me, the financial part of it and you're right, it doesn't matter how much you're getting paid. But but, you know, I remember telling my dad, you know, Danny, I can remember when we didn't have much money. And he would look at me and he said, yeah, I know you can remember those days. He said, but son, I can remember when the only money I had was money I had in my pocket. And.

And just the financial responsibility that you learn and having to save and making sure that, you know, you paid your bills and all those responsibilities. Sometimes I think that we, I know I'm guilty of this. I mean, I give my kids too much and I'm, you know, you get to those helicopter moms and everything and we're probably all guilty of it to a certain extent, but

You know, my parents didn't have a whole lot to give me. I had to earn it myself. And that was very important. But but to your point about sports, you know, what a great there's so many great life lessons there in sports.

Just this past weekend, and I was hoping I'd be able to get this in, as you know, Jason, the Georgia Bulldogs won the National Football Championship. Did they do that? I missed that. Oh, yeah, they did do that. I had the opportunity this weekend to be part of a parade for Stetson Bennett, who was the quarterback of the Georgia Bulldogs, who, as I'm sure you know, was a walk-on.

at the University of Georgia. Didn't he? He walked on and here he goes from small town in Pierce County in Blackshear, Georgia in the first district, by the way, that I have the honor and privilege of representing. But he is a walk on and he goes there and and leads him to a national championship.

But he was talking about all the lessons that he learned through football and about how, you know, people have different responsibilities. You've got a different job and you've got to do your part and how it's important for everyone to do their part.

And the teamwork aspect of it. And that's so very and so vitally important in life, knowing that, you know, you've got a lane that you're supposed to be in and you need to stay in that lane and you need to get your part done and make sure that that gets done. And, yeah, we lift each other up and help each other. But at the same time, make sure that you get your part of it done as well. No, look, I.

You know, I understand there are people rooting for both sides, but I think that Georgia's story and certainly the quarterback's story should be inspirational to a lot of people. Overcoming adversity, getting

you know, being told no and not everybody having the confidence in him and, and yet overcoming and just, you know, putting hard work and determination and creating his own opportunities and then leading him to the national championship. That was, it was a remarkable game. I enjoyed college football. They think this year as much as, as most any year, I think there was a lot of good things that were happening, but I think you're right. Those, you know, if I've,

I've been fortunate to hire a lot of people along the way in different jobs and whatnot. And,

I find that the people who have been involved and engaged in sports, whether it's an individual sport like tennis or a team sport like basketball or football or whatever it might be or soccer, it's just they learn a lot about winning, about losing, about teamwork, about you've got to work hard and you owe things to your team. And I think there are a lot of life lessons there.

Absolutely. And just one last story about Stetson Bennett. Not only did he walk on at the University of Georgia as a freshman, but he left and went to a junior college for a year and then came back to the University of Georgia.

So he could be the scout team quarterback and ended up being a national championship quarterback. That's just a phenomenal story. I think we're going to hear more and more about his story along the way. I hope we do, because I do want it to be inspirational. And look, people have setbacks. People have heartaches. People don't realize how many times somebody who ultimately becomes a champion has

who's fallen down and smashed their face in the ground and got a little dirt in their teeth. And maybe it wasn't the most pleasant thing, but they keep, they persevere, they endure, they overcome, and they keep going. And those types of stories are just absolutely wonderful. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more right after this.

So you've been in Congress now a number of years. What do people need to know about Congress? What are some of the best moments, but maybe some of the more frustrating things about the way it works in Washington? Well, quite often I'm asked the question from people, you know,

What's the most surprising thing that you've discovered since you've been a member of Congress? And quite honestly, the most surprising thing is also the most rewarding thing, if you will. And that is that there are a lot of good people up here. There are a lot of good people, you know, Jason, who are up here for the right reasons.

to move our country forward and they want to do and give back to their country and they want to do the right thing. I think that, you know, what, you know, it's the I tell people all the time I went from being a pharmacist, the second most respected profession in America to being a member of Congress, the second least respected profession in America.

But truthfully, there are a lot of good people up here who are up here for the right reasons and are trying to do the right thing. Now, granted, you got some bad apples. There's no question about that, as you do in every industry.

in every profession and all over the world. But for the most part, there are good people up here. Yeah, we get frustrated. It's especially frustrating now. I know since you left, Jason, you've noticed how even more partisan it has become. And it really has become more and more partisan. And that's really a shame. However, I don't think that we get enough credit for the bipartisan things that we do. And we do do...

We do achieve quite a bit of bipartisanship, and especially I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee, as you know, and we get a lot of bipartisan bills passed in that committee. So I'm very proud of that.

But, you know, I think the one thing that people don't realize is that, you know, with very few exceptions, we're not we're not professional politicians. I mean, I'm a pharmacist. You know, you got preachers, you got you got almond growers, you've got doctors.

And just every profession you can think about is kind of represented there. You'd be surprised. As a citizen legislature, we got way too many lawyers. But at the same time, we do. We have one thing that I try to do, and I know you did the same thing when you were a member, is that we're not experts on everything. So we rely on each other. I mean, I have people come up to me all the time and say, I didn't know you were a pharmacist. I had someone in my...

office the other day said you were pharmacist and that I needed to talk to you about about this issue or about a letter I need to get on. And and I do the same thing. I go, you know, if there's an issue with with new car sales, I go to the new car salesman and I tell you, I say, come on, tell me about this issue. What's what's this really about here? Explain it to me. So we lean on each other in that respect. And that's that's good. And you should do that.

But at the same time, sometimes I think people forget we're real people. We've got real lives and real families and real challenges, just like everybody else does. Yeah, it really is.

Yeah.

working families. And I, you know, I hope they don't continue on in perpetuity forever. I think it's, it's important to Bob and weave and, and take on different roles and responsibilities. And you've done that throughout your, your service. And, and, uh, but you're right. You, you,

I remember we were talking about, you know, PBMs and we were trying to, you know, trying to figure out what in the world that was. But we had somebody there in you that had all this experience with it. Absolutely. And, you know, that's where we rely on each other. And I think it benefits all of us. And certainly when I first came into Congress, I bet you that 99 percent of the members of Congress didn't have an idea what PBM stood for. Yeah. But and I can remember, you know,

As the first pharmacist coming in, your friend and my friend, Phil Rowe from Tennessee, who is retired now, but he was chair of the Doctors Caucus. And I kind of had to elbow my way into the Doctors Caucus to begin with because they had never had a pharmacist before. Oh, we only have doctors. Well,

I elbow my way in and I'm in like Flint now. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm intricately involved in it and intricately involved in it and, and enjoying it and have a big role and a lot of input. And we do a lot of good work there. So, and I thank Phil for, for helping me to get in because, you know, I told Phil when I first started, I said, Phil, I'm not sure they're going to want me in here. He just looked at me and,

and you appreciate just knowing Phil. He just looked at me and he said, are you kidding? We need you. We need you in there. I said, all right, this is great. He was a good man. He was, uh, he, he was just, uh, salt of the earth, you know, like again, exactly from Tennessee way to put it. Yeah. He, Tennessee and just, you know, uh,

I mean, just wonderful, wonderful people. And I think that's the thing I like the most about it is just getting to know so many people that I would have never otherwise gotten to know. But if you could wave the Buddy Carter magic wand, what's one or two things that you would change in Congress if you could? Well, I think for all of us, we would change...

probably the partisanship that has evolved over the years. And, you know, it's kind of like you wonder who's going to be, who's going to take the first step? Who's going to make the first move to end this and to get us back to

And I don't mean to beat up on Congress too much. People tell me all the time, oh, it's as bad as it's ever been. I'm not sure about that. I mean, I can remember the late 60s and it was pretty bad back then. Give me a break. And

you know, not necessarily the partisanship, but the politics and Vietnam and everything that was going on back then. But, you know, I wish I wish we could work together more. You know, I'm concerned to a certain extent now that we are becoming becoming a unit that, you know, with all due respect to those who are

you know, have achieved outstanding achievements before they became members of Congress. I don't want it to become a celebrity Congress, you know, where, you know, I mean, like we just talked about Phil Rowe, you need salt of the earth people. And he was one of those. And, and it's getting, it's getting tougher and tougher to, you know, unless you've got name recognition already. And if you do, then that just gives you a leg up. And, and,

You know, the media plays such a big part of that. And so that concerns me some about the celebrity Congress, if you will, because not that, you know, these guys don't do or gals don't do a good job. It's just...

You know, you're just concerned about it. Yeah, no, it's hey, it takes a lot of money. And, you know, the congressional district's about 800000 people. And and, you know, it does become difficult in the way social media and whatnot works. And I think we do need to be paying attention to that and making sure that we got the right people in there who's got the right heart and the right connection to their district and

And I think that would make the world of difference. And look, the other thing is I, I think you need to vote more often. I, you know, this idea that Nancy Pelosi says that she will never bring a vote to the floor unless she already knows the outcome. I don't know that that's good for the body. I don't think that's necessarily the way it should, should work, but there are lots of things we can do to try to probably fix it. But I got to tell you, having seen you up close and personal, uh,

So firsthand, I'm just glad there are good people like you, buddy, who are willing to take it on, be away from their family. I think that's the hardest part for me is just the travel and being away. It's kind of jealous of guys like you that could fly there from the East Coast right up the coast and not have to change a time zone, you know. But good people who pour their heart and soul into it, give it an honest read and do what's right for the country and

We need more good people like it doing that, quite frankly, and I think the world will be a better place. Well, thank you. I appreciate those kind of remarks. And you're right. It's such an honor and a privilege. I mean –

to serve, especially for me representing an area that I've lived in all my life that I grew up in and I've lived in all my life and I intend to live the rest of my life in. And, and that's why I'm determined that I'm going to do a good job. I'm determined that I'm going to work hard and that I'm going to represent the people. Well, may not always vote the way that they like may not always, um,

you know, emphasize the things that they want me to emphasize. But at the same time, I'm going to always have my district, um, at the top and there, I'm going to always represent them the best I can. Yeah.

Yeah, you know, it's funny. I bumped into somebody sometime and they were being, he was being a little critical of me. And I said, you know, I appreciate it. I think you're saying that honestly and from a sincere heart. And I don't mind you sharing some criticism. I said, but you know, my eight and a half years in Congress, I cast thousands and thousands of votes. So which one did you not like? And then he couldn't name one. And I just started laughing. I just thought to myself, all right, well,

You can, you're entitled to your opinion, but yeah, inevitably, I mean, come on, you give somebody a couple thousand votes along the way. Of course, you're going to get a couple of them that are maybe different than somebody else's scorecard. But, but I don't, I, at the end we shook hands and it was really good discussion with him. And, and I think he understood that I was working hard and trying to do the right thing. And, and then I was willing to listen and, and I see that in what you've done. And I was glad to serve with you on the oversight committee and in Congress, but I,

Before I let you go, though, you got to answer the rapid questions. And, you know, quite honestly, I don't care how many prescriptions you have filled, how many pills you've counted in your life. You're not prepared to answer this question, these questions. But we're going to give it a go. All right. All right. First concert you attended.

First concert I attended. First concert I attended was a Billy Joel concert. And I have seen Billy Joel in concert a total of 10 times. And in fact, I named my first born Joel. So obviously I'm a big Billy Joel fan. You're all in. That's good. That's good. All right. That was definitive. What was your high school mascot? We were Grows High Rebels, but we weren't Southern Rebels. We were Scottish Rebels.

I remember they made us take down a statue of a Civil War rebel and they said, that's not what you are. You're Scottish rebels. All right. Fair enough. Favorite vegetable?

Favorite best, you know, that has changed, but my favorite vegetable now is broccoli. Is broccoli a vegetable? I hope it is. Anyway. Everybody struggles with this question. It's remarkable to me, but you did name a vegetable that was a vegetable that doesn't always happen on the Jason and I was podcast. So congratulations. Do you have pets growing up? I did. I,

I had a dog named Elmo. A dog named Elmo. And I tell my grandchildren Elmo stories now at bedtime. I have six grandchildren. I'm blessed. Well, when you were a little kid, Elmo wasn't really a Sesame Street character, was he? No.

No, no, no, no, no. This is long before Sesame Street. Yeah, exactly. I just want the audience to be clear. I tell them about Elmo, the talking dog. I tell them about Elmo's adventures. All right. Bedtime stories. What kind of dog was it? He was a Sooner. He'd just soon do it inside and outside. Oh, okay. He was generic. Okay.

A generic dog. I remember once seeing this movie and the character, it was a funny movie. I can't remember what it was. Somebody will send me an email or post it up somewhere. But the character in the movie goes into, he's kind of down and out guy. He was like a, you know, a detective or something. And he goes to the refrigerator and all it says is food. So he grabs one and just opens it up like it's,

I can't have just food. I just, I don't know. That's always stuck with me. I always thought that was just funny. All right. Unique talent nobody knows about. Buddy Carter. I don't know whether it's a talent. I'm not even sure you know, Jason. I do 500 push-ups every morning. Do you really? I do. I do. I do.

Now, we used to serve. I've reached the age where I'm scared not to do them because I'm scared if I stop, I'll never start back again. Do you do 500 in a row or do you do like 50? No, no, no, no, no. I space them out. It takes me about 45 minutes, but I do them correctly too. That's impressive. I remember we served with a guy named Mike Kaufman who was a congressman out of the Denver area.

And Mike liked to do pushups, but it didn't matter where you were in the world. He would stop when it was time and do his pushups. I remember once being on the tarmac. I think it was in Dubai. We were changing planes and it was a military flight. And so we were literally on the tarmac and he's over there doing pushups. I've seen him in the cloakroom doing pushups. I'm glad to not see you on the floor of the house doing pushups, but 500 a day. That's impressive. Yeah.

Thank you. I do mine in the gym, though. Well, I hope to do 500 this year. But since I haven't done any yet, I'm a little behind now that it's February. So I got to get going. All right. That's that's impressive. That is a unique dollar. All right. So that leads us to another question. Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no? No. Yeah. Good answer. Judges like that answer.

All right. Best advice you ever got. Best advice I ever got. I think it's when I became mayor and they told me, don't forget to duck. So if they start throwing things, don't forget to duck. How long were you the mayor? I'm sorry. Eight years. Eight years. Yeah. That would be a great job. That's it was. It was the best job I ever had. It was so good.

And last question, favorite menu item at Taco Bell? Beef burrito. Nobody's going to complain with a good old beef burrito. I happen to like the chalupa. But yeah, they don't always have it. But yeah, nothing like a good bean burrito with sour cream, no onions, nothing.

But, uh, but, but a beef burrito also sounds good. All right. Buddy Carter, Congressman Georgia's first congressional district. Um, uh, really an honor and a privilege to serve with you in the Congress, but I really do appreciate you, uh,

joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Thank you, Jason. Always good to talk to you, my friend. All right. Thank you. Can't thank the Congressman Buddy Carter, Georgia's first congressional district enough for sharing those thoughts and having a little fun with us here on the Jason in the House podcast. Really do appreciate need all of you to check those stars. We need some ratings out there. That would be great. Subscribe to it or go over to

Fox news podcast.com. Check out some of the other podcasts along the way. We hope you're able to join us next week when we have another dynamic guest joining us, but until then enjoy the week. And thanks for joining us on the Jason in the house podcast. I'm Jason.

Pull up a chair and join me, Rachel Campos Duffy, and me, former U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy, as we share our perspective on the discussions happening at kitchen tables across America. Download from the kitchen table, the Duffys, at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you download podcasts.