On the mic
Summary
Hosts Dave, Kool and NatNat welcomed U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton, who is running in Massachusetts against Elizabeth Warren. Deaton talked about his upbringing, his military and legal career, and his role in the XRP fight with the SEC, and he described himself as a "pro freedom" candidate rather than a crypto candidate. He covered his narrow path to victory, the debates on October 15 and October 17, term limits, a ban on regulators going straight to work for the industries they oversaw, stablecoins and the dollar, national debt and inflation, the accredited investor rule, and how voters outside Massachusetts can help his campaign. After Deaton left, hosts and community members talked about housing costs, hard assets, Warren's influence on financial policy, and how far behind mainstream crypto awareness still is. All of this is discussion, not financial advice.
Chapters
Opening intro for the guest and a mention of the Cointelegraph report on Bitwise's XRP ETF filingMomentAt 0:03:31 on X
Deaton recaps suing the SEC, the 75,000 XRP holders who joined, and Judge Torres's rulingMomentAt 0:06:35 on X
Deaton's background: Highland Park childhood, Marine Corps, two decades of asbestos litigationMomentAt 0:08:49 on X
"Pro freedom, not pro crypto," and how his mother's check-cashing fees drew him to BitcoinMomentAt 0:11:22 on X
His odds of winning: polling, name recognition, and the October 15 and 17 debatesMomentAt 0:13:56 on X
A military "mission accomplishment" mindset, stablecoins strengthening the dollar, Warren's crypto bill, and blockchain for Department of Defense auditsMomentAt 0:18:32 on X
Why crypto became partisan and how much influence Warren has over financial regulatorsMomentAt 0:23:46 on X
An asbestos bill story, lawmakers who don't read bills, and a proposed bar on regulators joining the industries they regulatedMomentAt 0:30:20 on X
How he's being received in Massachusetts: cost of living and the right-to-shelter lawMomentAt 0:43:47 on X
Warren's call for a 75 basis point cut, the accredited investor rule, and the 1980 Apple IPO storyMomentAt 0:49:26 on X
Hosts and community react: housing costs, hard assets, Warren and Gensler, and SAB 121MomentAt 1:07:10 on X
Key quotes
“I say I'm the pro freedom candidate and that the government shouldn't be able to tell you what you can and can't own.”
JJohn E Deaton0:11:22Share on X
“It's only impossible when you don't try.”
JJohn E Deaton0:13:56Share on X
“We're moving into the adoption stage, but we're still in the fighting stage.”
JJohn E Deaton0:25:57Share on X
“It's called public service, not self-service.”
JJohn E Deaton0:28:05Share on X
“difficult doesn't mean impossible, and I've overcome lots of things that people told me were impossible.”
JJohn E Deaton0:58:45Share on X
Excerpts
Opening intro for the guest and a mention of the Cointelegraph report on Bitwise's XRP ETF filing
- 0:06:08 Kool on, guys? Great intro. I appreciate y'all for being here, man. I... I'm looking forward to a great show, man. I am so freaking excited. Thank you for being here, Chad. Thank you.
- 0:06:24 NatNat I'm doing great. I am fantastic. The day is here. We finally have John. Massive XRP News. This is amazing. John, welcome. We are so happy to have you on.
Deaton recaps suing the SEC, the 75,000 XRP holders who joined, and Judge Torres's ruling
- 0:06:35 John E Deaton Well, I I appreciate it. Listen. The... Not many people knew who I was. I was not that big on x, formerly Twitter. Probably had, like, a 100 followers. Rarely went on it. And when I sued the SEC because of its gross…
- 0:08:11 Dave I'll give you this one. Well, let's go, baby. That's not what I wanna do. Let's go. Yeah. John, obviously, like, we're we're we're super thankful you made the time to come chat with us today. There's so much that we…
Deaton's background: Highland Park childhood, Marine Corps, two decades of asbestos litigation
- 0:08:49 John E Deaton Alright. Well, when you learn my story, you learn that I'm the walking, living, breathing embodiment of the American dream. I was born, Detroit, Michigan, a place called Highland Park. You can look it up. Ranked top…
- 0:10:32 Dave Let's go. I know that, you know, just like reading your bio, right, like, genuinely, like, you are, like, this summed it up for, like, marine veteran. I know that Cool's gonna... You know, I know that Cool served…
"Pro freedom, not pro crypto," and how his mother's check-cashing fees drew him to Bitcoin
- 0:11:22 John E Deaton Well, let me let me just jump in and tell you something that, you know, because you talked about sort of wealth building and whatnot. People ask me if I am a pro crypto candidate, and I actually say no. I say I'm the…
- 0:13:34 Dave it. Yeah, man. I mean, it looked like as far... Yeah. I I I appreciate the distinction at the end of the day to the to the crypto degen crew, but that makes perfect sense to me. It really, really does. John, I really…
His odds of winning: polling, name recognition, and the October 15 and 17 debates
- 0:13:56 John E Deaton Listen. It's it's it's the right question to ask. I can tell you this. I wouldn't have got in the race if there was no chance. I wouldn't have spent a million dollars in my own money if there was no chance. It's only…
- 0:17:16 Kool I am I am I am... I'm ready. I'm juiced up, man. So can we can we... Dave, can you put the link up for for John, you
- 0:17:24 Kool To to to receive donations and stuff like that. So, John, I I I I do know I do know of you. I I I I followed you doing the the the XRP saga. You were one of the faces of this stuff, and you actually... You're the one…
A military "mission accomplishment" mindset, stablecoins strengthening the dollar, Warren's crypto bill, and…
- 0:18:32 John E Deaton Oh, no. That's a great question. Listen. That's the thing. When you're in the military, you spent eight years, you said, on active duty. I spent seven years on active duty. It's all about mission accomplishment. And…
- 0:23:05 Kool Yeah. So, John John, my my second question is this. Right? So I know the Democrats are... They they used to be the party of the the small guy. Right? They they always look out for little guy. But them trying... Them…
Why crypto became partisan and how much influence Warren has over financial regulators
- 0:23:46 John E Deaton Well, I think it's more... You know, unfortunately, crypto, Bitcoin, all that has sort of become this partisan issue during election year. Often things that shouldn't be partisan during an election year become…
- 0:25:39 NatNat Wow. Great answer, John. As an XRP holder, first, I just wanted to say thank you so much for standing up for us, for giving us a voice, and fighting for us. I because remember when the news came out that the SEC was…
- 0:25:57 John E Deaton No. You're welcome. I I appreciate. People like you, you know, we... You've sorta been a part of this in fighting the government overreach for... It's going on four years now. And so, it's been a long time, but, you…
His first bill would set term limits
- 0:28:05 John E Deaton The first bill I would write would be a bill on term limits, and that that means that you get twelve years as a US Senator, two terms. If you can't bring change within twelve years of being in Washington DC, then it's…
- 0:29:35 Dave Let's go. So, John, let let me ask you this. I I I have two questions. Right? So first one being, like, do we really think... Like, or do people really expect, like... Just to kinda maybe give people... I don't know…
An asbestos bill story, lawmakers who don't read bills, and a proposed bar on regulators joining the…
- 0:30:20 John E Deaton I mean, listen. They don't even know what the bills say most of the time. I actually visited a US senator years back because they were going to pass a bill that was gonna end all asbestos lawsuits, which would have…
- 0:32:59 John E Deaton Yeah. No. This this is the first time I've ever done it, and, you know, I I tell this story. I I told my daughters, my two oldest daughters, Olivia and Jordan. I I said, listen. Dad's thinking of running for office…
- 0:34:22 Dave Okay. So that... I I love that answer, by the way. Yeah. Your daughter seemed to be brutally brutally honest with you. Just got me to raise the... You raised two good ones for sure.
Super PACs, Fair Shake, and Massachusetts voter registration numbers
- 0:35:23 John E Deaton Well, I I don't have... You know, I haven't had any, you know, contact with, like, Fair Shake or any of the super packs. Super packs are run separate than a a campaign. You know, I learned, for example, that there was…
- 0:38:48 Dave be careful. We are losing you a little bit, John. So I don't know if your your service might be going in and out, but just be careful. We might... We we don't wanna lose you. But I got a great question from one of our…
- 0:39:52 Dave We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this real quick. I'm I'm making a... An executive decision. Nope. Don't remove John Deaton. Okay. He went down as... Oh, yo. John is like an aficionado. He... Oh, he knows what's up…
CPI, national debt, deficits, and a pro-growth economic agenda
- 0:40:56 John E Deaton Well, first of all, you could never trust the government on the CPI, which is the consumer price index. That's what the government uses for their inflation numbers. But you wanna know what the two things they exclude…
- 0:41:20 John E Deaton And food and groceries. And so don't trust what the government says, first and foremost. Listen. I was very disappointed that and shocked, quite frankly, that... And maybe I shouldn't be that during the presidential…
- 0:43:29 Kool a question. What's what's been the the reception in in your home state trying to... On seats probably the most powerful, famous person, Warren... The door. What... What's been the reception for you?
How he's being received in Massachusetts: cost of living and the right-to-shelter law
- 0:43:47 John E Deaton It's it's actually been very, very positive. There is a lot of people that are dissatisfied. What people don't know about Massachusetts, and and they get surprised. First, we are the second most expensive state to live…
- 0:46:03 Dave I love hearing that. Good stuff. I mean, do they really believe this shit, though, John? Like, are they doing it, like, just to keep their jobs? I know that you talked about term limits earlier, but it's like, I have…
- 0:46:30 John E Deaton Yeah. I mean, that's a great question. I could tell you on the migrant crisis, I went to the border because I wanted to figure out, you know, how bad was it. And, you know, it's it's shocking, and you can't leave the…
Warren's call for a 75 basis point cut, the accredited investor rule, and the 1980 Apple IPO story
- 0:49:26 John E Deaton I mean, it doesn't surprise me that senator Warren, in an election year, wants the Fed to reduce it by 75 points, pump liquidity into, you know, the market so that come November, things seem to be, you know, much…
- 0:57:25 John E Deaton say the majority. I mean, yes. But, you know, we... People like to have signs, you know, signs in the front yard. It's more of people... To me, it's more of their First Amendment. Like, they want to put a sign out to…
- 1:04:33 John E Deaton Yeah. I'll... I mean, I... I'm not sure how that would work, but if I can, I will? But it will be, like, there'll be a link that people can watch, from your, phone or from your laptop, I'm sure. But we'll make sure that
Hosts and community react: housing costs, hard assets, Warren and Gensler, and SAB 121
- 1:07:24 NatNat He's a straight shooter. He's real Yes. And I love that so much. And I love the fact that he mentioned... That he stated... He mentioned around the economy and what will do well with these rate cuts, and it's the exact…
- 1:13:30 Dave That's what he said, d. Right? You heard him say. He was like, it's not off working salaries. It is off of investments. That's how you get the American dream. Right? Like... And the majority Absolutely.
- 1:20:54 Dave Yeah. That's what was gonna say. I was gonna see if he was... If he would be open to it. You know what I mean? Like, just to be... But I think, like, he made it he made it super clear in the beginning. Like, he's pro…
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