Darrin Camilleri elected next Michigan Senate majority leader

All right, thanks for joining us on this Wednesday, November 11th. I'm Charlie Langton, your host of Detroit Talk City. All right, let's get right into today's topics. Our heroes fight for us abroad, but why is the battle even tougher once they return? Veteran Clarence McKinney joins us as we talk about the raw truth that the broken road home for Michigan vets. Tough story there. All right, plus, it is out with the old, it's in with the new, newly elected Michigan Senate Majority Leader, Darren Kamilali is here, he'll be in the hot seat, he'll answer your questions. He's the next generation, he's 34 years old and he's leading the Senate. Oh no, why is this next generation, can they fix what my generation may have broken? Which brings us, by the way, to our poll, our question of the day, will millennial politicians Actually do better. And the Baby Boomers, just scan that QR code right down there at the bottom of your screen. We'll show you the results later on in the show. And the show, it's all about hearing from you, the viewer. We're just going to have a little conversation, and we do want you to weigh in. You can text us or call us, 313-765-8844. You can also join us in the Zoom room, our meeting ID number, 892-4909-0290. And, of course, on social media, hashtag us at Detroit Talk City, all right, let's talk to the senator now. How you doing, Senator? How are you? Good to see you. Good to see you. Not only are you a senator, but you're the majority leader of the Senate. Soon enough. In January, but you're close enough now. There's a lame duck. Nothing's going to get done now, right? I don't think very many things will get done, no. Nothing will get done. No, no, no. All right. Why did the Republicans screw it up so much? Well, I can't speak to them and their failures, but a lot of it has to do with the reaction to Donald Trump, this insane war that he got us into that is a war of choice on his part that nobody wanted, nobody asked for. It has cost us more money at the pump. It has increased grocery prices and all while he has said during his first campaign or second campaign for president in 2024, that he wanted to lower costs for people. What do you do? He actually forced more increases on regular Americans. That was during the campaign. We heard all this stuff. Now you won. We did win. Did the Democrats really campaign on a theme other than hate Trump, hate the war? That's too easy. Now, what are the Democrats going to do now? What's the number one right now in the Michigan legislature? Well, you know, Charlie, I am the son and grandson of UAW autoworkers, so I'm always thinking of Michigan's working class families across Downriver, Western Wayne County, but now the entire state. We've always been focused on that in our role in the state Senate. Every Democrat who ran for office last Tuesday focused on the cost of living. We are all dealing with the high cost of gas and groceries, but the things that we can tackle in Lansing are really about the high cost of health care, the high cost of your utility rates, the high cost of child care. The high cost of housing. These are things that we've seen many needs for across the state of Michigan. So we expect to go into Lansing next term with our Senate Democrats in charge with a 23 to 15 majority in the House. We flipped the House as well with a 63 to 47 majority. And I believe that we were sent with a mandate. And that mandate was to lower costs for our residents. All right, let's talk about healthcare. That's a big one. Now, Abdul El-Sayed was talking about the campaign, Medicare for All. Thank That is actually, do you think that's doable in this Congress? Because that's a federal single-payer system in the Fed. Is that doable now? you It could be. I mean, we've seen some proposals already, even from Bernie Sanders, who's been one of the main authors of Medicare for All. very Debbie Dingell is an author of Medicare for All. Are you okay with Medicare for All? At the national level, I think it's a worthy conversation. Let's have that discussion. I support it personally. much. You're 34 years old, the youngest senator in the whole Senate, and you're the boss, which is incredible. Medicare for all is fantastic for you, isn't it? For a younger person. A hundred percent. I support that at the national level. But, you know, in the state Senate in Michigan, we've got to focus on the here and now. And right now, big insurance companies are denying care for our families. They are jacking up the costs of our premiums. All while big pharmaceutical companies are continuing to pull more money out of our own pockets to pay for medicine that is life-saving. So while Abdul goes to D.C. to fight for a Medicare for All, Debbie Dingell fights for Medicare for All in D.C., In Michigan, we're going to tackle what we can on affordability. Let's talk about Medicaid, because Michigan does spend quite a bit of money on Medicaid. Tell me if I'm wrong. If there's a national health care like Medicare for All, that might eliminate Medicaid. Medicaid, with the state funds, it's about $30 billion, I think, in your budget, right? You know, I haven't looked at the entire Medicare for All proposal, but Medicaid is a significant component of a national health insurance plan. So when they created Medicare, they also created Medicaid. They did both at the same time. For lower income people generally for the state, it's funded both by feds and the state, administered by the state. But if Medicaid were to go away. It frees up a ton of money in the state budget, doesn't it? Not so much. I mean, actually what happened- $10 billion, doesn't it? What happened with the big ugly bill out of DC is that Donald Trump's new law is going to force the state of Michigan to pay more for SNAP benefits and for Medicaid coverage for our residents. So we actually will be facing a budget deficit based on that new enacted law. That's that big bill- So it's something we're gonna have to deal with next year. Okay, but if Medicare for all, it's going to be a big saving to Michigan's Medicaid program, isn't it? Well, I think the goal is universal health care through potentially both a Medicare system and a Medicaid system. I'm not too deep in the details on how they will handle this in Washington, D.C., but the goal is that the federal government should be leading that program so that we can reduce those costs at the state level. Do you think young people, is that a big priority for young people to have free medical? Absolutely. I think that, you know, especially those who have are recently entering the workforce and might come up against that 26 year old cap on staying on your parents health insurance. If you don't have a job that has health insurance, that's a big cost on your own pocket. And so that's something that young families are dealing with. Young professionals are dealing with. And we do worry when our premiums are hundreds of dollars per month and you have to do out of pocket expenses on top of that. What is insurance coverage for? If you're still paying so much money and not even getting the coverage that you need. We had a proposal on the ballot to take money out of politics, at least with utility companies. But what about the Blue Crosses and some of those people? Should that proposal have been extended to maybe those corporations? The proposal does extend to them. What, $250,000? Because they get $250,000? Correct. So that proposal extends to the insurance companies, to the big utilities, as well as any other government contractor with the state of Michigan. Do you think that's going to withstand constitutional scrutiny? I hope it does. It should. You know, other states have enacted local campaign finance reform just like this, and so I do believe that the courts should uphold this at the end of the day. If the president of Blue Cross is watching this show right now, what should she be worried about? You know, I think the worry is about how we can build a health care system that can actually cover residents when they need it. One of the biggest fears that I've had- Well, they're doing it now, it's just- It costs more. It costs more, but they also deny coverage. They deny care. And that's something that I hear stories about as a lawmaker, where we've had families who are so concerned about their ability to get the coverage that they need for themselves or their kids that they're fighting with the insurance companies over whether or not they can actually get that test that they need for whatever diagnosis they might be going through or get the surgery covered that they already had. These are things that do worry so many of our families. Conceptually, do you think you and the legislature can put limits on what- Like a Blue Cross can charge? Absolutely. So I'll give you one example. I've introduced legislation to make EpiPens, inhalers, and insulin no cost, completely free. These are three types of medicine that we know are widely used and also very expensive. And so this is something that we believe can get done through the legislative process. Let's take a call right here. We got Joyce from Woodhaven. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Joyce. Listen, I've got a comment. For 10 years, we were promised by the Republicans that they had a concept of a plan. Unfortunately, that concept has never, ever come to fruition. So maybe we should talk about Medicare for all. That is a common Medicare for all. So that's in the works, especially for a younger person or any age now, they want that. Yeah, I mean, Joyce, great to hear from you, glad to see one of our residents calling in today. I represent Woodhaven, very proud to represent Woodhaven. You know, when we think about how Republicans have offered plans for healthcare, what is the alternative? People don't talk about it this way, but the Affordable Care Act was actually modeled after a plan that Mitt Romney, then the Republican governor of Massachusetts, instituted in the state of Massachusetts. That Republican-led plan is literally the Affordable Care Act. But because Democrats enacted the Affordable Care Act, Republicans started attacking the Affordable Care Act. And when we said, okay, you don't like this, you don't like the ACA, what is your alternative plan? Republicans have never offered an alternative plan on national health insurance. And the only other plan right now is how do we continue to expand Medicare for all so that more people can be eligible for that benefit. All right, we got a lot, we're talking more about, I wanna talk more about Medicare schools too. I know that you were heading the school committee, you know a lot about school funding. Now that you're the boss in the Senate, do you think school funding is gonna change especially for Detroit schools? One of the first things that we did in the Michigan legislature when Democrats took over in 2023 was that we fully funded the Detroit literacy lawsuit settlement. That Republicans had been blocking for multiple sessions. That was about $95 million directly into Detroit public schools to help support literacy efforts across the district. In addition to that, we've enacted an equitable funding formula for our students. We've done it with both Democrats and Republicans together, where we've injected more money in high need school districts across the state of Michigan. So not just Detroit schools, but schools in. Suburban and rural areas of the state as well. I want to get for infrastructure costs too, because you can't per pupil funding doesn't cover the infrastructure cost of building a school. We got a lot to talk about. We got the boss of the Senate here, the new leader of the Michigan Senate. He'll answer anything. This is the part of the show we do want to hear from you. Will millennial politicians like the Senator, majority leader, excuse me, will they actually do better than the baby boomers? Detroit Talk City back after this break. So you want to zoom on Fox, too? We want you to zoom on Fox, too, but we want to make you look and sound really, really good. So four easy steps. First of all, take the phone and turn it on its side. We want you to fill up the entire screen. Then you've got to look around, and you've got to find the light. Remember, we want the light in front of you, not behind you. That's good. And then, zoom mic. We want all of the... And finally, turn down the television like I'm going to do right now. We want to hear you, not the TV. All right, let's review these easy steps. First, flip it, light it, unmute it, and turn down the TV. And then you are ready to Zoom. Remember, you can be a part of Fox 2's Detroit Talk City and the Sports Office. Just Zoom in. Live. Live. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host Charlie Light and will millennial politicians actually do a better job than the baby boomers? We've got Senator Darren Cavalieri. He is the new or will be the new Senate Majority Leader which is the top person in the Michigan Senate. Always good to see you. Let's go to the phones right now. Bernie from Rochester. You are on Detroit Talk City. Hello Bernie. Hello, thank you for taking my call. I wanted to ask the question regarding a little bit ago, you said that there's legislation to make some of these medical products free. But we know nothing's free, so where's the money coming from and how is it going to get paid for? Who's going to actually pay for these things? Thank you. Thank you, Bernie. That's a great question. I mean, the truth is, is that it would be free to the user of the medicine, but it would force the insurance companies to actually completely cover that medicine right now. You know, because under current insurance policies, you have a copay. And that copay can be anything from $5 to hundreds of dollars, depending on the medicine that you have. And so our goal is to just have insurance companies do what they need to do, which is cover your insurance, cover your medicine, cover your health care. And if you have a zero-cost EpiPen, a zero-cost... Insulin, a zero-cost inhaler, these are life-saving medicines that will make a difference on whether or not you are here. My son has a ton of allergies, and so we have EpiPens at home for him. And we have not had to use them, thank God. But if you do have to use it, you have to go get another one. And for us, I think it was $35, but they also expire. So it's a lot of money over time. I just believe that insurance companies should cover something like that at zero cost to the consumer. Marie from Troy, you are on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Marie. Hi, Governor Whitmer recently approved a rate increase for insurance, I believe it was 14% and then 9% for small business. It's going to really hurt the small businesses and other people. I'm just wondering what the Democrats are planning to do about that increase. I'm not sure about whether or not the governor had any say on that type of increase, but we have plans to rein in costs for all Michigan families, whether that's on insurance, on your utilities. And we look forward to having that robust discussion in January with our new Democratic trifecta, because that's what you all sent us to Lansing to do, is to actually address these big issues and hold these big companies accountable, because I believe that they've been taking advantage of our residents for far too long. All right, let's go Kimberly from North Carolina. Kimberly, you're on Detroit Talk City. Good evening. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm just wondering if they could do something to make the process of getting the benefit when one reaches the appropriate age much easier because it has been very complicated. Are they going to look at that? That's a great question. I mean, delivery of service and getting the benefits that you deserve is something that I think is a right under these programs. And to have all these obstacles come in the way is such a shame because I think that for any benefit, whether it's SNAP, Medicaid, or any other type of insurance, we should not have big barriers between delivery of your health care. And your ability to get access to it. So we have done a lot of casework as legislators to help intervene with various departments when there are problems. But we should absolutely look at ways to get that service delivered as soon as you can. Because when we look at the way that government should serve our people, it really is about being effective and efficient. And Democrats are excited to have that conversation as well. I know that Jocelyn Benson is our next governor, because Governor Benson did make the Secretary Secretary of State's office. Incredibly efficient, and I look forward to see what she does with some of these other departments. All right, let's take a text right now. Let's do this one right here. This free-for-all health care plan absolutely must be for citizens that have earned it over a lifetime and have alternative plans for others that have never paid into any state or federal programs like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, et cetera. They never paid property taxes. They just sneak in there and hit the benefits and entitlements that we bought and paid for. You know, I think the goal of universal health care is that you can show up to a doctor or show up to a hospital when you need it and get that coverage. That has to be the North Star. I look forward to our national leaders in D.C. having this robust discussion of how we can make our health care system better, whether that's Medicare for all or continue to expand and improve the ACA. Senator Bernie Sanders has a plan to just lower the age down to 55. That's a great start. Let's see where they land. I understand, but the point of it is that people are suffering with With high cost of healthcare, and we gotta do something about it. Do you feel the pressure now that you're the boss in the Senate to get something done? You really only have two years, cuz there's gonna be a presidential election in two years. We have four years in the Senate, and- But two years for the president, though. You want the president, and you've got everything else except the president. Well, I- For me, it's really about Michigan and what we can do for Michigan and leading the Michigan State Senate. We can deliver on promises for Michigan families and that's what we're gonna do out of the Michigan legislature. I don't go away, got a lot more with the Senate Majority Leader, the new Senate Majority Leader. The Zoom room is open as well. Will millennial politicians actually do better than the baby boomers? Detroit Talk City back after this break. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Light. Tonight, will millennial politicians, like this one, actually do better than the baby boomers? Yes. Yes is the answer. The answer is going to be yes on that one. Senator Darren Camilleri, he is going to be the new leader of the Michigan Senate come January. All right, let's get to your texts. Let's try this one right now. Do we have a text? We sure do. Are Democrats going to push gun laws? That strip us of our gun rights while they call it gun safety, there you go. I believe in responsible gun ownership and what that means is that we need to ensure that we have things like universal background checks, safe storage laws, red flag laws, which we have passed under a democratic trifecta. I believe that there are some additional regulations and changes that we should take on. I don't have that full list right now, but the reality is there are far too many people From gun violence in America and right here in Michigan, whether it's a crime that happens over the weekend in the city or something that happens where someone takes their own life or a mass shooting. We've seen every type of gun crime and gun violence situation take place, and there are far too many people who are lost through that type of crime, including folks like people in my own family. My uncle was shot and killed in Detroit when I was a baby. And it was something that has changed the trajectory of my family's life. And so I very much believe that we've got to do more to protect people. And no one's rights are getting taken away. It's about how we can keep people safe. All right. We do a whole show on the gun control issue there. Let's go with Marlene from Livonia. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Marlene. Hi. Okay. I want to know if... We're going to have the same issue as the Canadians have to crucial heart surgeries and so forth. They come to the States because there's a two- and three-year waiting list to get important surgery. All right, that's another health care question. You know, we have the best medical professionals in the world. People come here from all over the world to seek care from our doctors and our surgeons because we have some of the best trained medical professionals anywhere. I don't believe that that's going to change. Americans are some of the most talented people in the world for a reason, because we believe deeply in our education systems. We believe in our health care systems. The problem, of course, is how we pay for these things. And too many people cannot afford to get the care that they need, which is why I believe A conversation around expanded health insurance, a Medicare-for-all system is really important because nobody should have to worry about that. And similarly with this type of concern that you're raising, I don't believe that we'll have something like that happen. But at the same time, we need to have the discussion about what Medicare-for-all does look like before we can get into some of those finer details. Let's see if we can get a couple more calls in in a couple of minutes. We have Dave from Clinton Township. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Dave. Hey, how's it going, Charlie? Good. Good, good. I just wonder, every year we hear this. Every year it's about health care, insurance, all the time. And every election, every time, the politicians keep repeating this over and over again, and we never see results. All right, well, we got the boss right here, healthcare. I can't speak for national politicians, but in Michigan, you elected Democratic leadership in the State House and the State Senate, as well as a Democratic governor. And we intend on delivering on the promises that we made during this last election cycle. And I expect us to do that exact same thing starting in January. We get one call here, Jim from Clinton Township, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Jim. Yeah, how you doing? I was just wondering, you know, the premium increase is cool, and I feel like you kind of just glossed over any kind of plan to actually get the stuff to be more affordable or cheaper. How do we know this isn't just going to go into somebody's pocket for a new boat? All right, go ahead, we've got about 30 seconds. We believe in transparency and holding big institutions accountable. And so when it comes to the reforms that we're making, regular people are gonna be at the top of mind. And we've gotta ensure that that money actually makes it to your pocket. That's going to be the charge of Senate Democrats coming up in the next term. Senator Darren Cavallari, always good to see you. We've gotta do this again. Yeah. We'll do it. So do we answer the question, are millennial politicians better than baby boomers? At the end of the show, at the end of the show, I already know your answer. All right, coming up next half hour, government taking care of veterans. What should they do? That's Detroit Talk City after the break. All right, thanks for joining us here on Detroit Talk City. This is Wednesday, November the 11th. All right, let's get right into today's topics here. We've got the millennial, let's do our poll question one more time here. Now we'll talk about the today's topics over here. Clarence McKinney is here. Veterans, we're talking about veterans' benefits on this Veterans Day. But before we get to that, our poll question one more time. Will millennial politicians actually do better? Then Baby Boomers, just scan that QR code right down there at the bottom, and we will show you the results later on in the show. Of course, this show is all about a conversation we want to hear from you. You can text us or call us, same number, 313-765-8844. Jump into the Zoom room at 892-4909-0290. And, of course, on social media, hashtag us at DetroitTalkCity. All right, on this Veterans Day. Let's meet a veteran. First of all, thank you for your service, Sergeant Clarence McKinney, also the Vice President of Kappa Lambda Chi Military Fraternity. Yes, sir. Alpha Rome chapter Yes, sir. Thank you. What's a military fraternity? Never heard of that. Well, it's first of its kind, for starters. What we focus in on is brotherhood. You know, one of the things that we talk about on a consistent basis is making sure that we're in the community, that we're advocating for ourselves, because nobody can advocate for us like we can advocate for ourselves. So as a military fraternity, that's what we do. What are you advocating What's the biggest, what is the biggest issue right now facing veterans today? Mental health. Mental health, you know, you have 10 to 12 veterans every day kill themselves, you know, commit suicide. That's a huge issue. Fighting to make sure that we can get our service connections, do the military service. Can I go back to the veterans? I thought it was higher than that. In 2024, 6,400 vets commit suicide. That's 17 per day. Is that, you believe those numbers? Yes, because the numbers fluctuate depending on the given year. The numbers fluctuate depending on what's going on around the world, conflicts that are happening. Sergeant, why are they so high? Because it's tough coming from military life to civilian life. Why is it so hard? Because it's different. You're taking a lot of 17, 18, 19, 20-year-olds whose brains are not even fully developed yet, okay, who are proud to serve their country. We're all proud to serve, but you're putting them in tough conditions that we volunteered for. Okay, see, we don't have, we're not being drafted. We are volunteering. All right? And we're volunteering to serve the country, but when you serve the country, that can be very tough on men and women a lot of times. Are you also told that you're tough, you're in the military, you're in the Air Force, so tough people don't ask for help? Is that kind of the thing? Well, that's kind of bred into us, suck it up mentality, keep moving, but that catches up with you over time. What years did you serve? I served from 82 to 92. Was that the mentality there? You suck it up? Yeah, definitely. When I first came home, you know... Looking at getting my service connection wasn't really something I was focused on because I was like, you know, I was 28. I served 10 years in the military. I had just became got custody of my son. My primary focus at that point in time was just moving forward. But one of the things when you're a younger veteran or a retiree, you don't realize that the effects of things that you experience on your body or your mental health that start to play on you. When you Get into the military when you're recruited. You were 20, how old were you, 20 years old? I was 18. 18 years old. That's a proud moment, isn't it? Yeah, because my father served, my uncle served, all three of my brothers besides me, we all served. So, Sergeant, help me understand, what is it, when do you start to maybe question what you're doing? It wasn't so much while I was in service, I loved being in the service. I've traveled across the country, overseas. The challenge for me, for a lot of us, is when we exit service. Because one of the things, one, you're trying to transition to take care of your family. A lot of employers don't really understand the language that you're speaking because it's foreign to them. How we speak in the military is totally different than civilian life. What's the difference? Just how we explain our jobs, some jobs that you can't fully explain. You gotta be able to write down on a resume what you did. And it's one thing to tell somebody, well, thank you for your service, and then there's another thing to say. What did you actually do? What did you actually go through? You know, and some people, some employers don't really want veterans around. I know a lot of people talk a good game, but a lot of folks don't. I never served in the military. I somewhat regret that, actually. And I kind of, I don't know if we talk about the draft later if we want to, but do you think non-militaries? People who have not served in the military, understand what you went through in the military? It's hard to do that because we have a separate language, it's filled with acronyms, there's a lot of secrecy to things that we've done in the military that you just can't be completely open about. You couldn't be able to tell what you did, a secret secret? No, there's things that had to be done that I worked on that I can't talk about. Does that play with your mind? It depends on what the situation is. That's one of the reasons why the fraternity is important, because that gives us a brotherhood where we can sit and have those conversations together. We automatically understand the language. Even with our families, we can be telling us a story. To us, it's funny, but to other folks, it's like, mm. And when you get out, then you start having these things. Was the military there for you when you needed that something after you got out? Well, things have changed. When I was in, mental health was something they kind of avoided. You know, if you talked about you were having challenges with your mental health, one of the things they would do, you know, you were almost shunned, where it's different now. Let's hold that thought. I want to pick up on that, and we want to weigh in. We want to hear from you. Is the federal government taking care of the veterans how they should be today? Taking care of Detroit Talk City, back after this. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Langton. Is the federal government taking care of veterans how they really should be taken care of, especially on this Veterans Day? Sergeant Clarence McKinney is joining me right now. Ten years in the Air Force. Let's go right to the phones, all right? All right. Linda from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Linda. Hi, Charlie, and thank you for your service, young man. My call is a statement. I think that the federal government is not taking care of the military population like they should. I see so many of them homeless and do have mental disabilities. They should set up something like Eloise to open up a mental facility so these veterans can get help, and no veteran should ever be homeless. Yeah, we didn't get into the homeless question, but you brought up about a facility. Are there facilities out there for vets that need it? Yes, there's plenty of facilities. I mean, you have the different hospitals that are available to us. When she was talking about the facility, we actually have one of our fraternity brothers now is building a $5 million facility right here in Detroit. Right. It's off of West Grand Boulevard and I believe Euclid area. Gentleman, Vietnam vet, Delmar Quick. He fought for years to provide housing for homeless veterans. He's not just providing housing, he's making sure that those veterans are gonna be able to get trained. They're gonna get mental health counseling because he's a mental health counselor himself. I guess there's homeless issues besides the mental health issues. We kind of covered this, the homeless for vets, unbelievable. Unbelievable. 32,000 veterans, about 5% of all the population. Why is it so many homeless? Because when you don't feel Loved or understood. Things happen when you can't connect with your family or you're just in a dark place. Some people can't cope with what they've experienced or seen. You know, we see on TV, we have a lot of our military members who serve overseas in combat. You know, we see different things that happen. Those scars you carry home. You might have made it home, but you're carrying those scars mentally, spiritually, and physically when you come home. Is it scary being in the military? It can be. It can be, but that's a part of what you sign up for. One of the things I want to make sure we understand, we're serving the country and there have been promises that have been made to take care of us after we serve the country. But once we get out of the military, it's a fight to get your service connection. Let's take a text here. I think we have time for a text right now. My father was a vet and he passed, but I'm still in school. Do I get benefits? That's gonna be on a case by case basis, okay? And that's one of the things that they have to reach out, call the VA. And get in contact with the people that will help them walk through or call a VSO, a veteran service organization, to help them walk through. That's not something that you can just take on the face of it and answer. It has to be done on a case-by-case basis. Yeah, there's a lot, and there's some organizations like you. You've got the Kappa Lambda Chi Military Fraternity. Yes, sir, incorporated. Which is your, incorporated. It's actually a national organization, isn't it? Yes, sir, international. We have members all around the world. Everywhere there's military bases, we're there. Yeah, and one of the big projects here is you're trying to educate veterans on what benefits they do have, can have, and then help them with homelessness and depression. And one of the things we're doing next week, we have 25 people who are certifying for suicide prevention on November the 21st. On December 5th, we have another 25 that are certified for adult mental health certifications. Those are three-year mental health certifications that our members get to help us go out into the community and reach out to other members, reach out to other veterans. So when we're talking to them, we're not just talking off the cuff. We've actually been trained to have those conversations. But people, they've been trained and they're trying to help. That's the idea. It's not when you're in the military. That's okay. It's when you get out, transitioning into the civilian world. All right, hold that thought, Sergeant. Is the federal government taking care of veterans how they should be taken care of? All right, coming up, we'll answer more of your texts and more of your calls. You are watching Detroit Talk City, back after this. Detroit Talk City, I'm your host, Charlie Langton. Is the federal government taking care of veterans? How they should be taken care of on this Veterans Day? Sergeant Clarence McKinney is here, Vice President of the Kappa Lambda Chi Military Fraternity. Thank you. Ten years in the Air Force. All right, let's get right back to the calls, okay? A lot of people want to talk to you. Let's go to Cindy from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Cindy. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can. I'd like to know why don't the government provide veterans with life insurance? Good question. That is something that is provided. So that goes back to you want to talk to a VSO or you want to reach out because those things are available. A lot of times veterans don't know what's available to them. So that's why you need to be speaking with your veteran organizations, because they can provide you that information. But it is available to veterans. There's a lot of resources out there that's available. But when you get in that dark place, you kind of just walk away from everything, you get fed up. You know, you're fighting for your service connection and you just get fed up and you walk away because you're tired of being told no, even though you know you're carrying the pain or, you know, this mental health, physical health, you just get tired. And a terrible stat of the 17 veterans that commit suicide per day. 62% did not get any medical treatment and hadn't for a year and they could have. And a part of that is when they first get out of the service, it's not that it's not available to them, they're just disconnected from the community at large. Willis from Detroit, you're on Detroit Talk City, hello, Willis. Hi, I just wanted to say happy Veterans Day to Mr. McKinney, I can't- Thank you. And I hope I'm pronouncing your names right. Someone like you should have been came on TV. And happy veterans to my father. My father is almost 87 years old. He's a veteran. And I just wanted to say this is kind of sum it up because I've been so upset every year fighting for my father. My father has PTSD. Before that, he had the ringing in the ear. My father has been denied. Even right now, we're still fighting for benefits. He was denied in 2004 and we're still fighting for that. And I take care of my dad. My dad has had mental breakdowns, been in the hospital. And I'm so glad that you all are talking about this because, no, they do not care. When my father first got out of the military and came here to Michigan and bought a home, he was not even told about the mortgage. We just found that out years, and Rock Financial, I mean, Rock Mortgage just took over. I wrote them a letter last year and said, look, my dad's a veteran, never knew anything. Can you help with his mortgage and maybe bring down the percentage? They refused to help. But what I'm saying is that a lot of the veterans and my father, he did not know about a lot of things. And it's just very sad. It's just sad. And like I said, we're still fighting. Even yesterday, I was on the phone for a whole hour trying to get the veterans to reimburse for my father paying out-of-pocket prescriptions when he went to emergency urgent care. And they sent him over there. And we're still fighting for a whole year. So it's just been a battle. And it's been so stressed out to be able to see my father go through this. Please thank your father for his service and keep on fighting. What do you say to that, where they're going to fight for these benefits so much? It's hard to hear, because for us, that's a brother who served even before me. They set the groundwork for the things that we're trying to do now. And that's one of the things that we're saying. We have to advocate for ourselves, because if there's going to be a fight, the one thing the country needs to understand, we know how to fight. See, we're also, it's a lot of us that are very educated, building businesses, coming up with different solutions, because what we feel at this point in time, nobody's coming to assist us unless we assist ourselves. You know? And there's a lot of talk going on, but when you look at the real numbers, when you look at the lady that just called in about her father, that's hard to hear, because you're really talking about a family whose family members served, but they're suffering. The family is suffering, and it becomes generational because it starts to just carry over. Let's go back to the phones. Michelle from Detroit, you are on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Michelle. Hi. My father and uncles served in World War II. I have uncles who served in the Korean War, one was killed, and I have cousins who served in various wars thereafter. It concerns me that the veterans are not being taken care of. The federal government can find money to award Musk 52 active contracts. He was just awarded a $10 billion contract. They need The federal government needs to eliminate some of Musk's redundant contracts and take care of our veterans and Social Security. Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Do you think the federal government has dropped the ball on veterans? Thank you. Are you going to come on the drums? I think a lot of folks have, honestly. . . But there's a lot of good people who are. You can . . . look at our local congresspeople like Ms. Dingell. . . . Obviously, you have her husband, . . My husband, you know, . . a tremendous congressman who fought for us, also a veteran. . . . . There's a lot of veterans who in the . . It's not everybody, we have to be real clear with that. This is not a . . . . dump on every congressman or every senator type situation. . . . But if you can't get in the room with . . people to have the conversation, . they can't help you or they don't want to. I can say clearly, if it's been Ms. Talib, if it's Ms. Dingell, obviously now we're looking at Mr. Donovan McKinney being there and obviously our new senator that had just been elected. Those are opportunities for us to have conversations, you know, at the national level, but just like you just had a senator here, you know, on the state level, things have to be done because obviously with Ms. Benson going in the office, there's an opportunity, there's going to be somebody that's going to be assigned to the Veteran Affairs Office. Those conversations need to really be had. Debra from Detroit, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Debra. Hello. I want to say that my daughter is a veteran. And she had post-traumatic stress disorder, and I had to go all the way to Atlanta, and I had to talk to her and tell her that she had to check herself into the hospital. They don't know that they have to check themselves in the hospital. Nobody else can check in the hospital. And once she checked herself in the hospital, she had to check herself in about three times. But once she did that, she started getting her benefits. They don't know they have to check themselves in the mental hospital because they don't really know that they mentally. When you were talking, like Debra is saying, why is it the vets don't know that they need help often? Because it's how we're trained. We're trained to be self-sufficient, even when we're hurting. You know, the mission is to keep moving, always keep moving. Is that a fault of the military, though? I mean, should that be part of the training? It has to be because, you know, one of the things I think folks miss, Because when young men and women go into the military, You're training for combat. We can't act like we're not training to push paper. You're training for combat. So there's certain things that go along with that. And we have to have a reasonable conversation with that. So there has to be certain survival skills pushing through as a survivor skill. Gerardo from Detroit, you are on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Gerardo. It's from even your past guest on the show when he's claiming that medical care for everyone, if you cannot take care of veterans, how are they going to take care of everyone with medical care and needs? It's either they can do it or will not do it. Democrats have been in control of Michigan and Detroit for decades. And even the country and parts and still haven't done anything, but they blame the Republicans, they blame Donald Trump. And it's like, no, it's, you know, they have to, if enough, they got elected, don't make hollow promises. Don't pretend they cannot do it. Either that or they were just lying to us. Not to me. I didn't vote for them. So, all right. Thank you, Gerardo. I appreciate the call. That's a different pool of resources, so we have to be clear on that. The money that's set aside by the government that's voted on by the Congress and the Senate is a totally different pool of money and resources from the other subject that he's talking about. Right. Medicare for all. It's not the same. It's not the same. Veterans will get medical. Yes. They have medical, right? They have medical. Depending on the situation, yes. Is it for lifetime? But you could have medical for life. You can go in there and get... Yeah, I mean, as a veteran, you can go into any facility and ask for care. Yeah. But you got to do it. Yeah. Gloria from Bloomfield Hills, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Gloria. Hello. Yeah. Okay. Yes, yes, Gloria, you're on. Thank you. Now we can go home. You can go. I know. Yep. Thanks, everyone. Turn your television down, Gloria. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Go ahead. The military does not have a program to help the... See you tomorrow. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Can you hear me? Bye. I can hear you. Bye. Yes. Bye. We may have lost Gloria there. Bye. Bye. All right. Bye. I think we lost Gloria. Bye. All right. Bye. Yeah. Bye. Turn the television down. Okay. But yes, veterans do have to. Are you looking at the politics? I mean, are you saying who's in the office and who's better for you or Democrats, Republicans? Is it a partisan issue? For me, it's a veteran issue. It doesn't matter what Parties in, we still have the same concerns. It doesn't matter if it's Democrats, Republicans or independents, the concern is the same, period. On this Veterans Day, what do you want the public to know about veterans? That we're in the community, that we're still serving just like today. We went over to the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy. We helped with Forgotten Harvest. We're going to serve regardless, even though we're fighting. That's just our makeup. We're going to serve the community, but we're also going to fight for the benefits that we were promised. See, nobody's given us anything. We've earned it. It's just that simple. You knew that when you went in. Yeah, that it was a possibility. There's a possibility when you sign on that line, when you raise your hand and you swear oath to the country, there's a possibility that you're going to meet harm. Sergeant Clarice McKinney, Vice President Kappa Lambda Chi Military Fraternity Inc. Thank you, yes, for your service. But what you're doing here today, that's important. We have to know that. We appreciate you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. All right, stay with us. We've got the results of our question of the day, our poll. But first, Rufrage, what's going on at 5? We thank you for your service, sir, and we thank everyone out there who has served on this Veterans Day. We're honoring the men and women who have served our country. Fox 2's Scott Wolchek is live at East Point where the community is coming together for its annual Veterans Day dinner and celebration. We'll take a look at that and what else is happening around town. The news at five is next. And welcome back to Detroit Talk City. And it's time now for...