💸 TACO Tuesday: When Markets Mock Presidential Tantrums and Water Wars Rage | BUCKMASTER
How Buckmaster's Tuesday show connected the dots between political incompetence, market mayhem, and environmental disaster
Based on the Buckmaster Show for 6/3/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, interviewing local newsmakers. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
Imagine if the people running our country were like kids who only listened to friends who always agreed with them 🤷♂️🤷♀️, never cleaned up their messes 🧹, and let bullies take all the water from the playground fountain 🚰💧.
That's kind of what's happening right now - the president surrounds himself with people who don't tell him when he's wrong 👂❌, the money people have to guess what he'll do next 🤔💸 (they even made up a funny nickname for how he changes his mind 😂), and meanwhile, companies are pumping up all the underground water in Arizona faster than rain can replace it 🏜️🛢️🌧️.
It's like three big problems all happening at once, and the grown-ups who are supposed to fix things keep arguing instead of working together 🤦♂️🤦♀️.
🗝️ Takeaways
💊 Elon Musk described as "a mess as a human being" living on "ketamine and all these drugs" while influencing national policy
🐔 Markets coined "TACO" (Trump Always Chickens Out) to describe presidential backdown patterns
💧 Arizona faces the worst water crisis in 1,200 years while the legislature plays politics with groundwater regulation
🎖️ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth characterized as "TV actor" with "tattoos all over" who "doesn't have a brain in his head"
🏜️ Saudi-owned farms pump Arizona groundwater while 80% of alfalfa stays in U.S. markets
📉 International investors abandoning U.S. debt due to Trump's isolationist threats
⚖️ Attorney General Kris Mayes is targeting foreign water extraction while the legislature fails to pass regulations
Buckmaster's Tuesday Truths: Power Players, Market Mayhem, and Water Wars
Tuesday's edition of the Buckmaster Show delivered a triple threat of insights that would quicken any progressive's pulse—from Washington's yes-man syndrome to Wall Street's "TACO" tactics, capped off with Arizona's aquatic apocalypse. Host Bill Buckmaster assembled an impressive triumvirate of truth-tellers who peeled back the layers of our current political and environmental predicaments with surgical precision.
The show's progression from political incompetence to economic volatility to environmental catastrophe felt less like a coincidence and more like a roadmap to understanding how interconnected our crises truly are. Because nothing says "stable democracy" quite like a ketamine-addled tech bro whispering sweet policy nothings into the president's ear while our groundwater vanishes into Saudi Arabian alfalfa fields.
Terry Bracey: Dissecting the Yes-Man Machine
Washington insider Terry Bracey pulled no punches in his scathing assessment of Trump's inner circle, delivering what can only be described as a masterclass in political reality. Bracey, whose four-decade career spans four presidents and includes a stint with the legendary Morris Udall, brought gravitas to his gut-punch analysis that would make even the most cynical Beltway observer wince.
The conversation began with Bracey recounting a "top secret meeting" with a potential presidential candidate who was "struggling to keep his health" yet being encouraged to run by prominent Washington figures. "It just reminded me of this hunger for power and the kinds of people, unfortunately, who kind of attached themselves to power and become quite adept at it," Bracey observed, setting the stage for his brutal takedown of Trump's current coterie.
Ah yes, the classic Washington tale: ambitious sycophants convincing a sick man to pursue the most stressful job on the planet. It's like watching vultures circle, except the vultures have Georgetown degrees and think they're patriots.
But Bracey's most chilling observations centered on the current administration's crisis management capabilities. When discussing potential Cuban Missile Crisis scenarios, he painted a terrifying tableau: "This guy, Elon Musk, God bless him, he may be a scientific genius, but boy is he a mess as a human being. The guy lives on ketamine and all these drugs, and he's here making decisions that affect all of our lives."
The former Carter administration official didn't stop there, describing Musk as "like a grenade thrown into a room." And not the fun kind of grenade that explodes into confetti and candy - more like the kind that destroys democratic institutions and enriches billionaires while ordinary Americans wonder why their healthcare costs more than a Tesla.
Perhaps most devastating was Bracey's assessment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: "We have a defense secretary who's a TV actor. He's 44 years old. He's a tough guy. Tattoos all over everything. He works out with the boys and so on. He doesn't have a brain in his head." When your military leadership's qualifications peak at looking intimidating on cable news, perhaps it's time to reconsider your personnel choices.
Bracey's historical perspective proved particularly damning when he noted how Trump "stripped away all of the people who told him no in his first term. General Milley, he now wants to prosecute the person who told him no." The contrast with successful presidents couldn't be starker: "Going back to FDR, you know what FDR was like, he had a lot of Harry Hopkins, he had Burns, he had a lot of really critical players next to him giving him advice."
It's almost like surrounding yourself with people who challenge your worst impulses leads to better governance. Revolutionary concept, really. Too bad the current occupant prefers his advisors with the intellectual backbone of overcooked spaghetti.
Shelly Fishman: The Market's "TACO" Syndrome
Financial advisor Shelly Fishman served up perhaps the most delicious acronym in recent political memory: TACO - "Trump Always Chickens Out." This brilliant bit of wordplay encapsulates the market's hard-learned lesson that Trump's bombastic threats typically deflate faster than a punctured balloon at a kid's birthday party.
Fishman's analysis revealed the sophisticated dance Wall Street has learned to perform around presidential unpredictability. "There was this billiards game going on and investors, both institutional investors and individual investors, were bouncing back and forth every time Trump opened his eyes, mouth, and changed his mind," he explained, capturing the exhausting reality of governing by tweet storm.
Because nothing screams "stable economic leadership" quite like having to develop specialized strategies for presidential mood swings. The fact that "TACO" is both an accurate assessment and a nickname Trump reportedly hates just adds the perfect chef's kiss to this whole absurd situation.
The conversation revealed how international investors began abandoning U.S. debt as Trump threatened economic isolationism. "The bond market started reacting in ways that are not traditional. And what we saw was a significant tendency on the part of those who hold our overseas debt, the overseas holders of that debt to not renew it," Fishman noted, describing a phenomenon that should terrify anyone who understands how global finance actually works.
Yet markets have developed what Fishman called a "workaround" - essentially betting that Trump's bark exceeds his bite. "Every time the market reacts to a zig and a zag, Trump backs down," he observed. This led to the unflattering but accurate TACO designation, representing a stunning indictment when your own supporters nickname you for cowardice.
It's fascinating how the supposedly brilliant business mind has managed to make American economic policy so unreliable that international markets have developed specific protocols for dealing with his tantrums. This is what happens when you elect someone whose idea of negotiation involves threatening to take his ball and go home.
The looming threat of the "big, beautiful bill" extending 2017's tax cuts particularly alarmed Fishman: "By continuing those tax cuts, what we're doing is investing or we're sacrificing the future of the country for some feel-good things right now." He identified this deficit-spending disaster course as potentially catastrophic: "Without those tax revenues, deficits will rise at a rate and to a percentage of how we're paying the debt that's outstanding. That is going to be very hard to sustain."
Dr. Jeff Silvertooth: Arizona's Aquatic Armageddon
University of Arizona's Dr. Jeff Silvertooth delivered the most sobering segment, methodically detailing how Arizona is facing its worst water crisis in 1,200 years. His calm, professorial delivery made the devastating statistics even more impactful, like having a doctor explain your terminal diagnosis in the same tone used for discussing the weather.
The Colorado River's decline represents an existential threat disguised as bureaucratic statistics. "For the 20th century, it was about 14.8 million acre feet of water... For the 21st century, that's dropped to about 12.5," Silvertooth explained, translating to a "16% to almost 20% reduction in flow of the river." This isn't just numbers on a spreadsheet - it's the lifeblood of the Southwest literally disappearing.
And here we are, watching our most precious resource evaporate while politicians argue about who gets to profit from the last drops. It's like watching the Titanic sink while the band plays stock market tickers instead of "Nearer My God to Thee."
The discussion of Attorney General Kris Mayes' lawsuit against Saudi-owned Fondomonte Farms revealed the maddening complexity of Arizona's water woes. While Silvertooth acknowledged legitimate concerns about foreign entities extracting precious groundwater, he also highlighted uncomfortable truths that complicate the progressive narrative.
"80%, more than 80% of their crop is actually sold locally here in the United States," he noted, puncturing the notion that all this alfalfa ships directly to Saudi Arabia. Moreover, "Those are producers. That's an Arizona company" that "does benefit the economy of Arizona," contrary to Mayes' claims.
It's almost like complex environmental issues resist simplistic solutions. Who would have thought that pointing fingers at foreign bogeymen might be easier than addressing systemic regulatory failures?
Perhaps most frustrating was Silvertooth's revelation about the Arizona Legislature's continued inability to address groundwater regulation effectively. Outside urban corridors, "if you and I own a piece of land and we can drop a well, drill a well, and pump the water, we have every right to do it." It's literally the "wild west" for water pumping - a regulatory vacuum that invites exploitation while precious aquifers disappear forever.
"This legislature has been trying for two years, and they have been unsuccessful in coming to an agreement with the governor," Silvertooth explained. "Some argue in the political realm... that Republicans just will not allow this democratic governor to have a win on something as big as water."
Because nothing demonstrates conservative governance quite like refusing to regulate a finite resource that sustains human life just to own the libs. It's petty partisanship elevated to an art form - if that art form involves potentially dooming future generations to desert nomadism.
The professor's closing plea for cooperation rather than finger-pointing resonated deeply: "All of us have to be conscious of conservation... we all need to eat." His reminder that "70% of the fresh water on the planet goes to agriculture" because "plants require water, animals. That's life" cut through the political noise with simple biological reality.
The Interconnected Web of American Decline
Tuesday's show illuminated how political incompetence, economic volatility, and environmental catastrophe interweave like the world's most depressing tapestry. From Trump's yes-man administration stumbling through foreign policy to markets developing TACO strategies for presidential unpredictability, while Arizona's aquifers evaporate under legislative neglect, the common thread remains systemic failure of leadership.
It's almost poetic how perfectly these crises complement each other. We have leaders too incompetent to handle environmental emergencies, markets too spooked by political chaos to invest in long-term solutions, and environmental problems too complex for politicians who can't even agree that water is important.
The progression feels less like a coincidence and more like inevitability under late-stage capitalism, where short-term profits consistently triumph over long-term sustainability. Whether it's surrounding yourself with sycophants, implementing tariff tantrums, or ignoring groundwater depletion, the pattern persists: immediate gratification over existential planning.
For progressive readers, this trifecta represents everything wrong with our current system. We're watching democracy deteriorate under the weight of plutocratic advisors, capitalism convulse from its own contradictions, and environmental destruction accelerate while regulators fiddle. It's enough to make you want to scream into the void - except the void is probably owned by a billionaire who'd charge you for the privilege.
Seeds of Hope in Darkness
Despite these daunting challenges, shows like Buckmaster's prove that informed voices still cut through the noise. When journalists, financial experts, and scientists collaborate to illuminate the truth, hope persists in the most unexpected places. Each expert brought not just problems but solutions - from Bracey's implicit call for better advisors, to Fishman's market insights, to Silvertooth's plea for legislative action.
Knowledge remains our most powerful weapon against ignorance, and engaged citizens our greatest defense against democratic decay. The very fact that these conversations happen publicly, that experts can criticize power without fear, that progressive analysis can reach audiences hungry for truth - these represent democratic victories worth celebrating and defending.
Maybe that's the real hope here: not that our problems aren't serious, but that people still care enough to discuss them honestly. In a world of manufactured outrage and algorithmic echo chambers, substantive dialogue feels revolutionary.
The path forward requires the kind of informed engagement that Three Sonorans and similar outlets provide. By supporting independent journalism that connects dots between seemingly separate crises, readers can help build the informed electorate necessary for meaningful change. Every subscription, every share, every comment contributes to a media ecosystem that values truth over clicks, analysis over assumptions.
Real change happens when enough people understand the connections between their daily struggles and systemic failures. When readers understand how presidential incompetence impacts their retirement accounts, how regulatory capture endangers their water supply, and how short-term thinking jeopardizes their children's future, that's when democracy begins to function as intended.
Support Three Sonorans Substack to keep this vital news and analysis coming. Independent journalism needs independent support - your subscription helps ensure that voices like these continue to speak truth to power while connecting the dots that others prefer to leave scattered.
What Do You Think?
The interconnections revealed in Tuesday's show raise profound questions about the future of American democracy. How do we break the cycle of incompetent leadership attracting incompetent advisors? Can markets provide stability when political leadership offers only chaos? What will it take to force legislative action on existential threats like water depletion?
More fundamentally: What does it mean for democracy when expertise becomes partisan, when acknowledging problems becomes political, when solving crises takes a backseat to scoring points? How do we build the required political will for long-term thinking in a system designed for short-term gains?
Share your thoughts below. Whether it's Washington's wisdom deficit, Wall Street's TACO tactics, or Arizona's water wars - which crisis concerns you most? What connections do you see between these seemingly separate problems? How do we move from diagnosis to treatment?
Your engagement matters. Every comment, every share, every subscription helps build the informed community necessary for meaningful change. Because in the end, democracy doesn't save itself - people do, one conversation at a time.
Quotes:
Terry Bracey on Elon Musk: "This guy, Elon Musk, God bless him, he may be a scientific genius, but boy is he a mess as a human being. The guy lives on ketamine and all these drugs, and he's here making decisions that affect all of our lives."
Terry Bracey on Defense Secretary Hegseth: "We have a defense secretary who's a TV actor. He's 44 years old. He's a tough guy. Tattoos all over everything. He works out with the boys and so on. He doesn't have a brain in his head."
Shelly Fishman on Trump's nickname: "TACO. Acronym for Trump always chickens out. You know, it's one of the nicknames that Trump hates."
Terry Bracey on Trump's advisory purge: "What's happened with President Trump is he stripped away all of the people who told him no in his first term. General Milley, he now wants to prosecute the person who told him no."
Dr. Silvertooth on legislative failure: "Some argue in the political realm... that Republicans just will not allow this democratic governor to have a win on something as big as water."
People Mentioned:
Terry Bracey - Washington insider, former Carter administration official: "It just reminded me of this hunger for power and the kinds of people, unfortunately, who kind of attached themselves to power"
Shelly Fishman - Financial advisor: Mentioned "TACO" acronym for Trump's market behavior
Dr. Jeff Silvertooth - University of Arizona professor: "All of us have to be conscious of conservation... we all need to eat"
Elon Musk - Described as living on "ketamine and all these drugs" and "like a grenade thrown into a room"
Pete Hegseth - Defense Secretary characterized as "TV actor" with no brain
General Mark Milley - Former military leader Trump wants to prosecute for saying "no"
Kris Mayes - Arizona Attorney General suing Saudi water companies
Morris K. Udall - Legendary congressman Bracey worked for
Jay Powell - Fed Chair under pressure from Trump for rate cuts
Kristi Noem - Homeland Security Secretary with "quite a cruel streak"
Harry Hopkins - FDR advisor cited as example of good presidential counsel
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
