🎨 Tucson Conservative Radio Exposed: DiLorenzo's Tax Fantasy, Schweikert's Contradictions, and the Truth About Public Art
🏙️ Tucson's Tale of Two Cities: DeSimone Complains About Urban Problems While Supporting Policies That Worsen Them
This is based on Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone, a maga-conservative podcast in Southern Arizona, which was broadcast by Live The Dream Media on 4/17/25.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🎙️🎨 A podcast in Tucson featured three lively guests discussing 💰money, 🏛️government, and 🎭art.
The first guest argued against taxes, which would make it difficult for 🏫schools and 🛣️roads to function smoothly.
The second guest, a politician, blamed crime on "liberal government," yet admitted his party’s struggle to make genuine budget cuts.
The third guest, an artist known for painting murals, pointed out that most of the 🖼️art around town is funded by businesses and donations, not taxes.
The conversation shed light on how some people criticize issues like 🏚️homelessness and 🕵️♂️crime, yet endorse ideas that could worsen these problems. 🤔
🗝️ Takeaways
💰 Tom DiLorenzo from the Mises Institute advocates eliminating income tax without replacement, revealing the extreme libertarian vision behind conservative economic policy
🏠 Congressman Schweikert, speaking from his custom-built deck, dismisses Tucson's crime with "You get the liberal government that the liberals put in office"
🖌️ Local muralist Joe Pagac debunked the myth that taxpayers fund most public art, stating 95% comes from private donations and businesses
🤔 The show exposed the central contradiction of conservative politics: complaining about urban problems while supporting policies that make them worse
🚫 Both host and guests displayed a "get them out of there" attitude toward homeless people, rather than addressing the root causes of housing insecurity
The Desert Dispatch: DeSimone's Conservative Carnival Exposed
In Tucson's sweltering political landscape, Chris DeSimone's "Wake Up Live" podcast continues to serve as a megaphone for the same tired right-wing narratives that have kept our beloved desert city thirsting for real change. Thursday's episode (April 17, 2025) showcased a parade of perspectives that perfectly illustrate why Tucson remains caught in the crosshairs of regressive politics despite its potential for vibrant growth and inclusive community building.
Today's breakdown pulls back the curtain on DeSimone's conservative circus, featuring economist Tom DiLorenzo, Congressman David Schweikert, and local muralist Joe Pagac – a trio representing the ideological tug-of-war playing out across our sun-baked streets.
Tom DiLorenzo: Trickle-Down Fantasies in the Desert Heat
The show kicked off with economist Tom DiLorenzo from the Mises Institute, an organization named after Ludwig von Mises, an Austrian economist who fled Europe during World War II. In a moment that perfectly captured DeSimone's shallow engagement with economic matters, he couldn't even pronounce "Mises" correctly until corrected by his guest.
"For the rookies out there, am I still saying it wrong by saying My Seas Institute?" DeSimone asked.
"Mises," DiLorenzo corrected, setting the tone for an interview where basic facts seemed negotiable.
While critical of Trump's proposed tariffs, DiLorenzo revealed the libertarian fantasy lurking beneath his economic analysis. When asked about his ideal economic policy, DiLorenzo didn't hesitate:
"I would eliminate the income tax, and I wouldn't replace it with anything."
Sure, and I'd like to eliminate my utility bills without replacing my electricity source. Let me know how that works out for basic infrastructure.
When DeSimone, in a rare moment of clarity, asked how we would fund necessary government functions, DiLorenzo's answer exposed the hollowness of the libertarian vision:
"Well, historically we had, we didn't get the income tax until 1913. But the government was so small that tariff taxes covered almost all of it."
This nostalgic fantasy for 1912 America conveniently ignores that we no longer live in a world of horse-drawn carriages and telegrams. Schools, highways, airports, medical research, social security, Medicare – all the infrastructure of modern society that allows businesses to thrive and citizens to survive – would collapse under this regressive vision.
What DiLorenzo proposes isn't economic freedom; it's economic abandonment, a retreat to a time when poverty among the elderly was rampant, education was limited, and infrastructure was primitive.
This is the foundation of MAGA economics—not making America great but making it regress to a time when corporations and the wealthy had even fewer responsibilities to society, which enables their prosperity.
David Schweikert: The Congressman of Convenient Contradictions
Next up was Congressman David Schweikert, speaking from what he described as a "cantilevered deck" at his home—a perfect metaphor for the precarious and unsupported positions he would advocate.
When DeSimone mentioned Tucson's escalating crime problems, including a recent hatchet attack on visitors that made national news, Schweikert's response was callously simplistic:
"You get the liberal government that the liberals put in office."
Because conservative-run cities never have crime, right? It's not like eight of the ten states with the highest murder rates are Republican-controlled.
This dismissive one-liner ignores the complex reality that crime rates are driven by economic inequality, lack of opportunity, insufficient mental health services, and inadequate community investment – all problems exacerbated by the very budget cuts Schweikert champions.
Schweikert's discussion of federal budgets revealed the fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of Republican economic policy. He criticized both Democrats and "MAGA folks" who "want to cut government, which is wonderful. They just don't want to cut anything that they like."
This rare moment of accidental honesty highlighted the hollow core of conservative budget hawkishness – fierce demands for cuts to programs that help the poor, disabled, and marginalized, but sacred protection for corporate subsidies, military spending, and programs benefiting the wealthy and connected.
When DeSimone asked for examples of sacred cows, Schweikert cited veteran spending:
"We have almost doubled veteran spending in the last decade... So last year for every veteran that used the VA system... we spent, I think it was $28,800."
The congressman, comfortably ensconced on his custom-built deck, seemed to suggest that spending on veterans who sacrificed for our country was somehow excessive. Yet when pressed on how to achieve meaningful budget cuts, he admitted that even Elon Musk (his apparent efficiency hero) could only identify about $150 billion in potential savings – a fraction of what would be needed to address the deficits Republicans claim to care about while simultaneously cutting taxes for the wealthy.
The selective fiscal conservatism on display was breathtaking: apocalyptic warnings about debt regarding healthcare or climate action, but shrugs and mumbles regarding military spending or tax cuts for the wealthy.
Joe Pagac: A Creative Perspective in a Concrete Desert
The final segment featured local muralist Joe Pagac, whose artistic contributions to Tucson provided a refreshing counterpoint to the economic and political distortions that dominated the earlier discussions.
Pagac shared his journey from art student to successful muralist, including an amusing anecdote about how an early mentor, teacher Sheila Pitt, encouraged him to pursue art professionally, only to completely forget him when he returned years later to thank her for changing his life.
His explanation of how public art is funded demolished one of the common conservative complaints about "wasteful" government spending on arts:
"In Tucson, about six public artworks a year are funded with taxpayer money... 95% of all the murals you see in town come from either private donations or businesses wanting to improve the look of their neighborhood."
Pagac explained that businesses invest in murals because they see tangible returns: "On average, a business will see a 10% increase in sales if they put a mural on their building."
This concrete example of how art creates economic value contradicts the conservative narrative that treats arts funding as frivolous compared to "serious" investments like corporate subsidies or tax cuts.
The discussion with Pagac also revealed the absurdity of Tucson's regulatory approach – strict sign codes that prevent businesses from advertising their own products on their buildings, but rampant neglect of basic infrastructure and public spaces:
"When you're doing the, one thing I want, just want to say this, so other than your murals, right, when we talk about all the sign codes and things that Tucson said and even the 1% for art, right, because they don't take care of the basics, the overall product being the city doesn't look that great," DeSimone observed.
While DeSimone intended this as a critique of government regulation, it actually highlights how conservative governance prioritizes the wrong things – obsessing over petty rules while neglecting fundamental investments in infrastructure, housing, and community development.
The Underlying Current: Neglecting Tucson's Real Problems
DeSimone's commentary on Tucson's problems throughout the show revealed a superficial understanding of urban challenges. He complained about homelessness, crime, and infrastructure while supporting political voices advocating for policies that would exacerbate these very problems.
"I'm sad that we harsh your groove, Joyce, but you sounded like a three-year-old," DeSimone sneered, referring to Joyce Jones-Ivy, who had apparently criticized church members for showing up "in droves" to a local government meeting. The irony of a grown man using playground taunts to call someone childish was apparently lost on him.
The most revealing exchange came when Pagac shared an anecdote about a city official who suggested a mural depicting the struggles of homeless people. DeSimone and Pagac both found this idea absurd:
"This is like one of our main entries into town. You want to put a giant homeless joke," Pagac said.
"Can I get the sad horn right now?" DeSimone responded, before Padgic continued:
"I was like, what, I was like, you work for the city, right? And she was like, yeah. And I was like, I think you've got a couple of years before I paint this mural. What we should really do is have you guys figure out a way to help all these homeless people and get them out of there."
This "get them out of there" approach encapsulates perfectly the conservative approach to homelessness and poverty – treat it as an eyesore to be removed rather than a human crisis to be solved with compassion and systemic change.
Because nothing says "solving homelessness" like making sure we don't have to look at it or think about it. Out of sight, out of mind – the conservative policy platform in five words.
The Contradiction At The Core: Deploring Symptoms While Supporting Causes
The fundamental contradiction running through the entire episode was DeSimone and his guests' inability to connect the problems they complain about with the policies they support.
They want better infrastructure while supporting tax cuts that defund public works. They decry crime while opposing investments in education, mental health, and economic opportunity that would address its root causes. They lament homelessness while backing policies that make housing unaffordable and social services inaccessible.
DeSimone's broadcast exemplifies the conservative worldview's greatest weakness: a refusal to acknowledge that collective problems require collective solutions. Instead, they offer an incoherent mix of individual responsibility rhetoric (for the poor) and corporate welfare (for the rich), all while wondering why society's problems persist.
DeSimone's show represents the old Tucson – a place of entrenched interests, short-sighted policies, and resistance to the kind of inclusive, forward-thinking approaches that could transform our city into a model of desert urbanism that works for everyone, not just those with cantilevered decks and connections to power.
A Path Forward: Beyond the Conservative Mirage
Despite the discouraging rhetoric on display, Tucson's future isn't written by conservative talking heads or regressive politicians. Our community continues to write its own story through grassroots organizing, mutual aid networks, and progressive local initiatives that address real needs with practical solutions.
As Joe Pagac's murals demonstrate, beauty and community can flourish even amid challenging circumstances. His art transforms blank walls into spaces of connection and shared experience – a metaphor for how progressive policies can transform neglected communities into thriving neighborhoods when we invest in people rather than profit margins.
The path forward isn't through dismantling public services or retreating to an imagined past. It's through strengthening our democratic institutions, expanding access to opportunity, and building a Tucson that works for everyone – not just those fortunate enough to build luxury decks on their homes or fund their own private services.
Let's reject the false promises of trickle-down economics and "small government" rhetoric. Instead, let's build a Tucson that invests in its people, celebrates its diversity, and creates infrastructure for a sustainable future in our beautiful desert home.
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What strategies do you think would be most effective for addressing Tucson's housing crisis while respecting the dignity of unhoused community members?
How can progressive voices more effectively counter the economic misinformation spread by libertarian think tanks like the Mises Institute?
Share your thoughts in the comments below – your voice is essential to building a better Tucson for all.
Quotes
Tom DiLorenzo - President of the Mises Institute, libertarian economist who advocates eliminating income tax: "What is named after a man named Ludwig von Mises, who was an immigrant to America around the beginning of World War II."
David Schweikert - Republican Congressman who spoke from his home deck: "I've built or remodeled nine houses in the same neighborhood."
Joe Pagac - Tucson muralist who explained art funding: "I don't paint anything that's political because no matter what, you're pissing off 50% of the people, whichever direction you go."
Chris DeSimone - Host of Wake Up Live: "I'm sad that we harsh your groove, Joyce, but you sounded like a three-year-old."
Joyce Jones-Ivy - Local official criticized by DeSimone; according to DeSimone: "you think you can just show up in droves. And this is more important than the people who live in that neighborhood."
Elizabeth Robb - Local official mentioned regarding church expansion vote: "she was, wanted to do a reconsider. She voted yes."
Sheila Pitt - Art teacher who encouraged Pagac: "She took me out in the hallway... and she was like, 'you know, are you an art major?' And I was like, 'no, nobody makes a living as an artist.' And she was like, 'I think you could do it.'"
Elon Musk - Mentioned by Schweikert regarding government cuts: "apparently Musk last week in a cabinet meeting said there may be only about $150 billion of savings for next year."
Cindy Johnson - Interior decorator who hired Pagac but took credit for his work: "The catch was she signed all my work and said she did it."
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