March 5, 2025 • 29 mins
Dr. Premilla Banwait talks about the rise of blindness brought on by juvenile diabetes, then Dr. Roberto Rodreguez Ruesga talks about the importance of screening for colorectal cancer and early treatment. Lastly we talk with AL Sec of State Wes Allen to talk about the corporate transparency act.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's no secret that we love to cook and we
love to eat here in the South, especially in Alabama,
and the best tasting recipes are Southern recipes. Unfortunately, as
good as these things taste, they're also causing an obesity
crisis in our state. Hello, I'm John Mountson. This week
on Viewpoint Alabama, we're looking at an alarming new trend
with diabetes and the rise in young people, sadly causing
(00:24):
some secondary issues, including blindness even in kids. Joining me
now is doctor Permlabamwait. She's the vice president for Clinical
Programs at United Healthcare Vision. Doctor Bamwaight, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I'm so excited to have you on because this is
an important issue and it touches so many people in
our state. Let's talk about diabetes. We all know the term,
but exactly from a clinical standpoint, what is diabetes?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, So, diabetes is a disease of that affects the body,
and it's usually due to an increased level of blood
sugar levels and that typically can come from how we
ingest it right through foods and whatnot. But what's important
to know is that there's two types of diabetes type one,
which is something that tends to run in families. It's
more genetic, and that has to do because of the
(01:12):
fact that there's damage to an organ in our body
known as the pancreas, and then it can't produce a
hormone that allows it to convert the sugar into energy.
So that's type one. But there's type two, and that's
the most concerning and alarming here. And type two has
been increasing in prevalence, especially in young children here in
(01:32):
the United States. But that's more acquired, so it's something
that is brought on from lifestyle changes, not eating healthy,
eating high sugar foods, not leading an active life, and
so that's the one that we're mostly concerned about today.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And most of the diabetes you hear about tends to
be the type two diabetes. In other words, like you said,
the kind that's environmental or you know, lifestyle related.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
M hmm.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And it's unfortunate because you think about diabetes, it used
to be that it was something that your grandma had.
For the most part, there wasn't a lot of young
people with it, but now there's more and more of them,
and this is not a catching thing. This isn't like COVID.
This is something that can somewhat be not in everyone,
but a lot of people be controlled. But it's it's
caused in a lot of cases by people's you know,
(02:20):
choices in what they decide to put in their.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Mouths exactly exactly. And so just to share like kind
of an alarming stat to be put into perspective, type
two diabetes cases and kids are definitely on the rise,
and it'll increase by about seventy percent by the year
twenty sixty if the current rate continues, you know, And
that's been an exponential increase from just a decade or
(02:43):
so ago. So yes, it's been an an alarming increase.
And back to what you mentioned there, Yeah, it used
to be something we would hear about and you know,
individuals who are older age, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, whatnot. Right,
But sadly, you know, if there's families who are partaking
in more unhealthy lifestyle choices, it trickles down to the
(03:04):
kids and so they obviously are impacted by that. And
due to the types of foods they eat at a
younger and younger age, we're seeing that the diagnosis of
diabetes is happening at a younger ages.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
And in younger people. These diabetes. It's not just a
problem with the pancreas. Most people don't know even what
the pancreas is or where it is. But it's a
problem because in addition to you have a lot of weight.
Thus can you have additional problems with a circulatory system.
It also affects other things like your.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Vision correct correct So with diabetes, whether it's type one
or type two, what happens is again the blood sugar
levels increase in the body and it directly affects the
blood vessels. What happens is that it actually damages the
blood vessels and causes leakage, so leakage of blood into
other parts of the body, fluid collection, inflammation, and diabetes
(04:02):
will affect the blood vessels, but it targets the smallest,
most delicate blood vessels first right in its process. And
when that, when you think about the eyes, there's it's
a very small organ of the body, although it does
quite a lot, but there's a lot of very small
delicate blood vessels in the eye, specifically in the back
of the eye in an area called the retina, and
(04:23):
that's where we get the source of kind of where
we get our clearest vision. So you can imagine that
damage to the blood vessels in the back of the
eye can cause a lot of effects to the vision itself.
It can cause blurriness, kind of blind spots, big gloss
of vision in when it gets to very severe stages.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And the big word for this is diabetic retinopathy. What
are some of the one of the early symptoms of
diabetic retinopathy you mentioned You mentioned the blurriness and that
sort of thing. Are there any other telltale signs?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You know, anyone can develop diabetic retinopathy and not know
that it's there, that's happening, right, and it's earliest stages,
the symptoms are not noticeable by an individual. It's truly
not until someone a doctor is looking into the eye
through an eye exam right that they can actually see
(05:18):
if there's damage occurring in those earliest stages. When an
individual start learning, you know, act is in the vision,
lost the vision, that's when it's getting to a point
of very severe stages. And we don't want to wait
till that before we're doing something in terms of managing things.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And when we're looking at trying to manage the illness.
I guess is it too late at that point to
modify your diet at that point? Is there something additional
needed from a maybe a pharmacologic standpoint or how does
that work?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, I think you know, when most people forget the
diagnosis of diabetes, depending on you know, where their numbers
are in terms of how high the blood tigger level
is or how high their A one C is, they
may be put automatically instantly on medication to help bring
those numbers down right, to help get the body to
a manageable point where it can it can start to
(06:13):
kind of recover to some degree. So medications for some
folks is very necessary a lot of the time. But
there are folks who can manage their diabetes by again
changing their lifestyle habits, eating better, healthier choices, being more active,
and that alone can help them manage their diabetes where
they don't have to actually go and use medication. But yes,
(06:38):
it's really, you know, it really is the assessment of
the primary care physician or the pediatrician to make that determination.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Doctor ben Waite. How often is diabees actually diagnosed specifically
by a eye exam?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It can be diagnosed for the first time in a
lot of individuals who don't regularly go to their primary
care physician.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So there's many cases, you know, and some again it
depends on maybe demographics, like where you are, like you said,
more in the self. You know, where there's higher rates
of diabetes, there's probably higher chances of diagnosing diabetes through
an eye exam first, right then maybe before they go
(07:20):
to see their primary care physician. So the numbers vary
on that. But there is a lot of cases where
diabetes can be diagnosed by the eye doctor looking in
the back of the eye and seeing those signs of
inflammation and then saying, hey, you know, we should get
you back to your primary care physician to get some
blood work done to see where you're at so we
can start managing this.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And once you're on a treatment plan, is it completely
reversible or once the damage is done, we're just trying
to keep it from being damaged further exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So diabetes is something that doesn't necessarily go away. It's
not really curable, you know, in so many ways, but
it is manageable. So once it's diagnosed and you know,
depending on where you're at with it, it can be
managed very well with medications, whether or without medications, but
it's something that doesn't entirely go away. It kind of
is always there underlying because your body's when it reaches
(08:11):
that level of inflammation or having that kind of chronic disease,
it's something that always is underlying, and you just have
to be extra careful to not to ensure that it
doesn't progress and increase and cause more symptoms and signs
of damage to your body.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
What are some foods that we say high sugar foods?
And obviously candy is a high sugar food, Cookies high
sugar food, but there are some other ones that are
surprisingly high in sugar. You might actually think, you know
they're good for you, Like you say, well, I was
always told you eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but
there are some fruits that have a lot of sugar
in them and it can potentially cause problems too, right, Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yes, and I think you know it depends on the
form or the source of it, right, you know. For sure,
fruit drinks right, sugar fruit drinks, I mean even your
orange juice and all that, it has a huge number
of grams of sugar in it. And if that's what
you're relying as a source of fruit. That's definitely not
the best path because you're that source doesn't have the
fiber and everything else that your body needs right to
(09:12):
support other systems in your body. But you know, individuals diabetics,
they do have to watch their fruit intake some degree,
you know, they do. They can eat fruit and it's
a good thing and it's very healthy for them, especially
fruits with a lot of fiber like bananas and whatnot.
But they just have to make sure they're eating it moderately. So, yeah,
fruits is a big one.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Doctor Bam Wade. If anyone suspects they might have something
some form of diabetes or they know somebody has one,
I assume you should go to the doctor. Are there
certain questions that you need to ask specifically so the
doctor can get right to the business at hand. They
know right where it is they should be they should
be checking.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So, I mean a doctor obviously can determine a lot
through tests, right, you know, your blood sugar levels, your
A and C and A and C is a measurement
that shows kind of the state of how your body
has been over the past several months, and so they
can tell a lot by that. But you know, information
that you should obviously be willing to share up to
a doctor is what your diet is like, what your
(10:11):
health activity is like, if it runs in the family,
things of that nature. So it helps the doctor understand. Okay, well,
what are the types of sources that maybe we need
to bring in here to help you manage it? Like
are there is there dietitian or other management kind of
sources that we need to bring in here to help
you and the family kind of overcome and kind of
(10:34):
consider healthier lifestyle choices.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And you mentioned the A one C there, and this
kind of gets back the issue of cholesterol. We hear
a lot about cholesterol, and we know there's good cholesterol
and there's bad cholesterol. I guess they call it LDL
and HDL. What are the difference is? What makes them different?
And why is one good and the other bad?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Well, there's two types of cholesterol, Yeah, LDL and HDL
and HDL. You know that I kind of remember HDL
being kind of the better type of cholesterol. Is h
standing for happy is something that you want to produce
more in your body. But those are things that can
be detected through kind of blood tests as well, and
determining kind of the levels of your cholesterol, and that's
(11:13):
important to be looked at when you're doing blood tests.
But again, eating healthier diets where there's less of those
bad cholesterols than triglycerides and more of the healthier cholesterols
and healthier fats is something that a dietitian or your
primary care physician can kind of guide you on as well.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And so these are all things that you should be
looking I was going to say, I was I was
waiting for you to use the phrase high density lipoproteins.
I was thinking of oy, we're we're going to have
a hard time. But yeah, if you think about that
whole h at high it's a good thing. So hi,
I'll remember that the HDL is the good one.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yes, that's correct. Yeah, you want to see a higher
number of that in your blood work compared to the LDL.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And definitely stuff you find out from your regular visit.
That's it's important to make that check up at least
once a year two your primary care physician to make
sure everything is still on track so that we don't
get in a situation where you're out of control. It's
a lot easier to prevent it rather than it is
to cure, especially something like diabetes, where as you point
out that you kind of live with it for your
whole life, although I imagine you can lifestyle your way out
(12:18):
of it if you have the type two diabetes and
it was just a matter of you, you know, you
consume too much of the of the sugary stuff you can.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I mean, I think that there's always like a certain
level that is very you have a very sensitive level
between you know, reaching the blood sugger levels that are
more detrimental versus good when you have had diabetes, even
if you manage it really well. So it's something that's
always kind of working there. But you can definitely live
a very great, long, healthy lifestyle if you do manage
(12:51):
it to the best of your ability, Doctor.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Ben Waite, If people want more information about the things
we're talking about today, is there a source online? Because
I know if you put stuff into Google a lot
of time, doctor, Google will take you astray. Where's a
good reliable source to find information on these issues?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, we love this organization called Prevent Blindness. They're the
nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization. Dedicated to
fighting blindness and saving site. But they have a wonderful
website and thank you. You can learn more about information on
diabetes and ihealth. But the weblink there is Prevent Blindness
dot org forward slash diabetes.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Doctor permla Bandwait, thank you so much for joining us
this week on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer in
men under fifty and the second leading cause in women
under fifty.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I'm John Mounce and this week on Viewpoint Alabama, we're
exploring why the statistic hits so close to home for
so many people here in Alabama and what can be
done about it. Joining me now is doctor Roberto Rodriguez Roesco.
He is an MD and a fellow at the American
College Assurgeons. Roberto, welcome to Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Thank you, John.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
This is coll rectal Cancer Awareness Month, and it's not
just something that all people get. In fact, there's an
alarming rise of colorectal cancer being diagnosed in younger adults.
Why is that?
Speaker 5 (14:08):
Well, I think John, there's many factors contributing to that.
There's no one specific factor responsible for this of all
the factors. I think there's a lot of influenced by
the things that we are eating that we are exposed to,
and that probably is the number one contributing factor, things
(14:31):
that we eat, things that we drink. Probably the other
contributing factors are genetic factors, you know, family history, things
of that nature. All of them together contribute to the
increase in rise in colorectal cancer in people younger than
forty five.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
You mentioned lifestyle like things you consume. Are there any
particular foods that we and drinks for that matter, that
we should stay away from that they contribute to chlorectal cancer.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, I think the the thing that we need to
stay away from our processed foods. Also, high intake of meat,
red meat is also a contributing factor.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Excessive consumption of alcohol.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Is another thing. In terms of lifestyle. Sedentary lifestyle also
is not helping this increase in the influence of col
rental cancer.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And what's interesting is, in spite of the fact that
it's on the rise with younger people, there are a
lot of insurance plans who will not pay for colonoscopy
if you're under the age of forty five. Is do
you see that changing.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Well. I think that the laws are different in different states.
I'm not sure in Alabama how the insurance works there,
but we definitely need to raise the awareness at the
(16:04):
legislative level to make.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Them aware of this problem.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
For instance, people that were born in nineteen ninety and
later from nineteen ninety they doubled their chance of develop
colon cancer if you compare them to people that were
born before nineteen fifty. And that's very alarming, and so
(16:34):
we need to raise awareness to change the rules so
that coverage by insurance companies is needed.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
When we talk about screening, there are a couple of
different ways that it's done. Of course, there's the traditional
colonoscopy I understand there's also other tests that can be done.
A at home mail away test. Is that one as effective,
especially in younger people.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Nothing is one hundred percent. Uh. The gold standard is
screening colonoscopy to this day. Uh. The stool tests that
can be done at home, they're very good, but again UH,
they're not one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
There are other means.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Uh to do that, you know, detect blood and stool
also uh with home kids, and those are a little
bit less effective unless they're combined with flexible sigmadoscopy or
bariermnima or X ray to increase the accuracy and detection
(17:43):
of coal cancer.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This is You Point Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mounts, and I'm speaking with doctor
Roberto Rodriguez Rasco about colon cancer and the early detection
thereof when we talk about the next step, Let's suppose
you had a colonoscary doctor Coresca, and you've they've discovered
something a pow up or something like that. What is
usually the next course after there's a diagnosis.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Well, hopefully if they find a polyp, it's removed completely
and then's submitted to pathology and hopefully is benign. But
if there's cancer, or if a big cancer is found,
then there's several things that are done, blood work, imaging
studies like CT scan and sometimes MRI depending on the
(18:29):
location of the tumor like in the rectum, and then
that will determine the stage of the cancer. And based
on the stage is the treatment that is indicated. For
early stage cancers, typically the recommendation is removal of the
(18:51):
disease segment surgery sometimes polypectomy, removing the palot alone with
a colonoscope, it's all that it's needed. But for later stages,
chemotherapy would be. Sometimes even radiation could be For instance,
(19:11):
if it's an advance rebook, cancer and radiation may be
indicated prior to surgery. So the treatment in summary, the
treatment is dictated by the stage of the cancer.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Are all polyps cancer or are they just indicative that
there could be cancer.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Not all polyps are cancerous. Polyps are the precursors of cancer.
They start as the nine lesions, and that's why it's
so important to proceed with its screening, to detect those
polyps and remove those.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
In that way, you eliminate the risk of.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Cancer during the screening. Is it a two and one, Like,
while they're in there they see one, they go ahead
and take care of it, or they do the colonoscopy
and then come they reschedule you and they go back
in and get it a second time.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
No, in most instances, the polyp is removed right there
and then unless is too big or too difficult during
a area that is you know, the colon wall is
very very sane, and sometimes you know, the removal, the
endoscopic removal is a little risk here, but in most
(20:26):
instances the polyps are removed right there and then at
the time of the screen colonoscopy.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Doctor Rodriguez Risca, what what are some of the reasons
why younger people especially don't get the colonoscopy done. Is
it fear of the doctor, is that they don't want
to know? Is it a financial problem? All the above?
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I think it's only above. Probably the number one, uh
factor that I've seen in my practice is that we're
just too busy to get things done and and and
you just procrastinate on getting it done. And there's two
other many things going on, too many things keeping you
(21:08):
busy from from scheduling.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
But I can tell you that.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
It's it's totally worth it. When when you can detect
cancer an early stage or even before it before it
becomes cancer, it's it's a uh it's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
You know, you've done a big bullet, so it's worth.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Taking the time to do it. I think that's the
main thing.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
And what about family history. You touched on that briefly.
How important is it to know that you know your
grandfather or your grandmother or someone like that had some
history of cancer. Is that helpful? In diagnosing and or
you know, predicting when they should seek treatment.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Absolutely, family history is very important the incidents of colon
cans or general population. No family history, five percent risk
of colon cancer. If there's family history, it could go
up to twelve or fifteen percent. If there is a
(22:14):
family history, and if there is a genetic mutation, then
the percentage increases significantly. The other important thing in terms
of family history is that we use the information specifically
(22:36):
the age of the first individual diagnosed with colon cancer
and then detect sorry the doug ten years from the
age of that individual, and then that would become the
age where we would recommend the kolonaska.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
To the rest of the family. For instance, let's say your.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Dad was when he was diagnosed with colon cancer in
the duck ten years, so in your case, you should have.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
A klunaskap at age thirty.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
Now, if there's a family mutation lynch syndrome, for instance,
that age of surveillance changes because the incidence of colon
cancer and those individuals is much higher.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
That's and that's important, I guess to understand those things.
It's a tough conversation to have with mom and dad.
But it's an important one because, as you've pointed out,
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of court here,
especially when it comes to cancer, because the more it grows,
the harder it is to get correct. If you want
to pursue colon asky, is this something you would bring
(23:49):
up to your regular physician and they would refer you
over to a specialist.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Yes, that would be that would be the most common approach.
I suppose that you can contact directly any individual that
performs colonospies, for instance, especially if you're having symptoms.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
And then.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
The recommendation at that point would be just to proceed
with evaluation.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
And for people who want to find out more about
either the treatment, the procedure, any of that, where's a
good place Because there's a lot of bad places on
Google you can go to get medical information. Where are
some good places people can go to find out more
about corectal cancer.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yes, American College of Surgeons is the best website where
you can get that information, and the website is www
dot FACS dot org slash co of Rectal Cancer.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Doctor Roberto Rodriguez Rosca, a corectal surgeon at Texas Oncology.
Thank you so much for joining us this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
Thank you for the invitation dead screen.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Joining me right now is the Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen, to talk about the Corporate Transparency Act and
why we might not want it to be around much longer.
Welcome to the show. Wesson.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Hey, good morning, John, How are you good morning?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm great. So you're not alone on this. You've actually
signed up with what about nineteen other attorneys general to
see if maybe our secretaries of state to see if
we should maybe repeal this thing.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yeah, it's been just a train wreck from the very beginning,
and proud to sign on with nineteen other conservative secretaries
of state. He recognized how important small business is and
you know just the burdensome red tape that the federal
government puts in front of small business. And so we
sent that letter to the President Trump. You know, this
law was passed back there in his first administration, but
(25:52):
he vetoed it and then Congress overrode him on that,
and you know it's listen. This CTA Corporate Transparency Act
is a classic example of the disastrous policies that you know,
we're championed. You a while back and during the previous administration,
and it's a blatant government overreach, and you know, we
(26:15):
just need to have this thing repealed. And it's just been,
like I said, a train wreck from the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
What are some of the most egregious things in the act?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Well, John, listen, it requires any kind of business corporation
LLC to report this irrelevant information to the Department of
Treasuries Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network. But if you think,
if you look at it, if you read the law,
it says that high grossing companies and tax exempt nonprofits
(26:43):
are exempt. So it's really turning the focus on American
small business owners with less than twenty employees and five
million dollars in revenue. So under this law, the bad
actors will either simply not comply or they will find
loophole to slip through, while legitimate, hard working American small
business owners will shoulder the additional burden of navigating unnecessary
(27:08):
red tape in an attempt to comply, and they could
face up to two years in prison and ten thousand
dollars in fines. And so that's that's just agregious. We
just think it's terrible this law was written and putting
into place to try to catch the money laundering, but
the bad actors are never going to comply. It's only
going to harm the law abiding citizens.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's sort of the same thing with like gun control regulations,
where we created laws, but the only people who follow
laws will follow the laws. So people who don't follow
laws aren't going to follow these laws either.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Right, exactly right, And you're right on track with the
same type of thinking with the Second Amendment and Gune
laws as well. But bad guys aren't gonna comply. It's
only gonna be law abiding citizens.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And the cost, like you said, the cost will roll
down because it's not like these businesses are going to say, well,
I'll just eat this cost. They're going to pass it
on to us, You and I, the consumers who are
going to actually have to buy stuff that is the
price is jacked up because of these regulations, and compliance
with regulations that buy and large do not benefit us.
They benefit some bureaucrat who dreamed up in this regulation.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah, and if you look it back at some of
the testimony before the US Senate Committee back in when
they were getting ready to enact this law, it estimated
compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act would require twenty five
million small business owners to expend over about thirty million
hours of staggering costs, you know, just under one hundred
(28:29):
and forty five million dollars. And if you look at
fence In that's the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that's going
to be enforcing this. Their entire budget is you know,
two hundred and thirty million dollars. So I mean it's
over half and that's just unheard of. It's crazy. And
hopefully this administration will and the Congress will overturn the
(28:53):
assigning into law. And I want to thank coach Senator
Tuberville for introducing on the repealing Big Brother Overreach Act.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
And you guys by coach, and I think you can
call them coach.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
It's okay, yeah, coach, yeah, coach Overville. Senator Teberville. Repealing
the Big Brother Overreach Act, which we'll repeal that CTA
what we're talking about and to protect small business owners.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Our Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, thank you so
much for joining us this morning and really exposing this
for what it is. And yes, we should definitely be
in contact with our representatives in Congress who might be
able to come up with craft some legislation to undo
this act and maybe we can actually get somewhere. Thank
you so much for joining us this morning, Wes.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Yes, sure, Thank you, John.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
Appreciate you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs
program from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on
Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management,
or advertisers of this station.
It's no secret that we love to cook and we
love to eat here in the South, especially in Alabama,
and the best tasting recipes are Southern recipes. Unfortunately, as
good as these things taste, they're also causing an obesity
crisis in our state. Hello, I'm John Mountson. This week
on Viewpoint Alabama, we're looking at an alarming new trend
with diabetes and the rise in young people, sadly causing
(00:24):
some secondary issues, including blindness even in kids. Joining me
now is doctor Permlabamwait. She's the vice president for Clinical
Programs at United Healthcare Vision. Doctor Bamwaight, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I'm so excited to have you on because this is
an important issue and it touches so many people in
our state. Let's talk about diabetes. We all know the term,
but exactly from a clinical standpoint, what is diabetes?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, So, diabetes is a disease of that affects the body,
and it's usually due to an increased level of blood
sugar levels and that typically can come from how we
ingest it right through foods and whatnot. But what's important
to know is that there's two types of diabetes type one,
which is something that tends to run in families. It's
more genetic, and that has to do because of the
(01:12):
fact that there's damage to an organ in our body
known as the pancreas, and then it can't produce a
hormone that allows it to convert the sugar into energy.
So that's type one. But there's type two, and that's
the most concerning and alarming here. And type two has
been increasing in prevalence, especially in young children here in
(01:32):
the United States. But that's more acquired, so it's something
that is brought on from lifestyle changes, not eating healthy,
eating high sugar foods, not leading an active life, and
so that's the one that we're mostly concerned about today.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And most of the diabetes you hear about tends to
be the type two diabetes. In other words, like you said,
the kind that's environmental or you know, lifestyle related.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
M hmm.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And it's unfortunate because you think about diabetes, it used
to be that it was something that your grandma had.
For the most part, there wasn't a lot of young
people with it, but now there's more and more of them,
and this is not a catching thing. This isn't like COVID.
This is something that can somewhat be not in everyone,
but a lot of people be controlled. But it's it's
caused in a lot of cases by people's you know,
(02:20):
choices in what they decide to put in their.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Mouths exactly exactly. And so just to share like kind
of an alarming stat to be put into perspective, type
two diabetes cases and kids are definitely on the rise,
and it'll increase by about seventy percent by the year
twenty sixty if the current rate continues, you know, And
that's been an exponential increase from just a decade or
(02:43):
so ago. So yes, it's been an an alarming increase.
And back to what you mentioned there, Yeah, it used
to be something we would hear about and you know,
individuals who are older age, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, whatnot. Right,
But sadly, you know, if there's families who are partaking
in more unhealthy lifestyle choices, it trickles down to the
(03:04):
kids and so they obviously are impacted by that. And
due to the types of foods they eat at a
younger and younger age, we're seeing that the diagnosis of
diabetes is happening at a younger ages.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
And in younger people. These diabetes. It's not just a
problem with the pancreas. Most people don't know even what
the pancreas is or where it is. But it's a
problem because in addition to you have a lot of weight.
Thus can you have additional problems with a circulatory system.
It also affects other things like your.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Vision correct correct So with diabetes, whether it's type one
or type two, what happens is again the blood sugar
levels increase in the body and it directly affects the
blood vessels. What happens is that it actually damages the
blood vessels and causes leakage, so leakage of blood into
other parts of the body, fluid collection, inflammation, and diabetes
(04:02):
will affect the blood vessels, but it targets the smallest,
most delicate blood vessels first right in its process. And
when that, when you think about the eyes, there's it's
a very small organ of the body, although it does
quite a lot, but there's a lot of very small
delicate blood vessels in the eye, specifically in the back
of the eye in an area called the retina, and
(04:23):
that's where we get the source of kind of where
we get our clearest vision. So you can imagine that
damage to the blood vessels in the back of the
eye can cause a lot of effects to the vision itself.
It can cause blurriness, kind of blind spots, big gloss
of vision in when it gets to very severe stages.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And the big word for this is diabetic retinopathy. What
are some of the one of the early symptoms of
diabetic retinopathy you mentioned You mentioned the blurriness and that
sort of thing. Are there any other telltale signs?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You know, anyone can develop diabetic retinopathy and not know
that it's there, that's happening, right, and it's earliest stages,
the symptoms are not noticeable by an individual. It's truly
not until someone a doctor is looking into the eye
through an eye exam right that they can actually see
(05:18):
if there's damage occurring in those earliest stages. When an
individual start learning, you know, act is in the vision,
lost the vision, that's when it's getting to a point
of very severe stages. And we don't want to wait
till that before we're doing something in terms of managing things.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And when we're looking at trying to manage the illness.
I guess is it too late at that point to
modify your diet at that point? Is there something additional
needed from a maybe a pharmacologic standpoint or how does
that work?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, I think you know, when most people forget the
diagnosis of diabetes, depending on you know, where their numbers
are in terms of how high the blood tigger level
is or how high their A one C is, they
may be put automatically instantly on medication to help bring
those numbers down right, to help get the body to
a manageable point where it can it can start to
(06:13):
kind of recover to some degree. So medications for some
folks is very necessary a lot of the time. But
there are folks who can manage their diabetes by again
changing their lifestyle habits, eating better, healthier choices, being more active,
and that alone can help them manage their diabetes where
they don't have to actually go and use medication. But yes,
(06:38):
it's really, you know, it really is the assessment of
the primary care physician or the pediatrician to make that determination.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Doctor ben Waite. How often is diabees actually diagnosed specifically
by a eye exam?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It can be diagnosed for the first time in a
lot of individuals who don't regularly go to their primary
care physician.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So there's many cases, you know, and some again it
depends on maybe demographics, like where you are, like you said,
more in the self. You know, where there's higher rates
of diabetes, there's probably higher chances of diagnosing diabetes through
an eye exam first, right then maybe before they go
(07:20):
to see their primary care physician. So the numbers vary
on that. But there is a lot of cases where
diabetes can be diagnosed by the eye doctor looking in
the back of the eye and seeing those signs of
inflammation and then saying, hey, you know, we should get
you back to your primary care physician to get some
blood work done to see where you're at so we
can start managing this.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And once you're on a treatment plan, is it completely
reversible or once the damage is done, we're just trying
to keep it from being damaged further exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So diabetes is something that doesn't necessarily go away. It's
not really curable, you know, in so many ways, but
it is manageable. So once it's diagnosed and you know,
depending on where you're at with it, it can be
managed very well with medications, whether or without medications, but
it's something that doesn't entirely go away. It kind of
is always there underlying because your body's when it reaches
(08:11):
that level of inflammation or having that kind of chronic disease,
it's something that always is underlying, and you just have
to be extra careful to not to ensure that it
doesn't progress and increase and cause more symptoms and signs
of damage to your body.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
What are some foods that we say high sugar foods?
And obviously candy is a high sugar food, Cookies high
sugar food, but there are some other ones that are
surprisingly high in sugar. You might actually think, you know
they're good for you, Like you say, well, I was
always told you eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but
there are some fruits that have a lot of sugar
in them and it can potentially cause problems too, right, Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yes, and I think you know it depends on the
form or the source of it, right, you know. For sure,
fruit drinks right, sugar fruit drinks, I mean even your
orange juice and all that, it has a huge number
of grams of sugar in it. And if that's what
you're relying as a source of fruit. That's definitely not
the best path because you're that source doesn't have the
fiber and everything else that your body needs right to
(09:12):
support other systems in your body. But you know, individuals diabetics,
they do have to watch their fruit intake some degree,
you know, they do. They can eat fruit and it's
a good thing and it's very healthy for them, especially
fruits with a lot of fiber like bananas and whatnot.
But they just have to make sure they're eating it moderately. So, yeah,
fruits is a big one.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Doctor Bam Wade. If anyone suspects they might have something
some form of diabetes or they know somebody has one,
I assume you should go to the doctor. Are there
certain questions that you need to ask specifically so the
doctor can get right to the business at hand. They
know right where it is they should be they should
be checking.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So, I mean a doctor obviously can determine a lot
through tests, right, you know, your blood sugar levels, your
A and C and A and C is a measurement
that shows kind of the state of how your body
has been over the past several months, and so they
can tell a lot by that. But you know, information
that you should obviously be willing to share up to
a doctor is what your diet is like, what your
(10:11):
health activity is like, if it runs in the family,
things of that nature. So it helps the doctor understand. Okay, well,
what are the types of sources that maybe we need
to bring in here to help you manage it? Like
are there is there dietitian or other management kind of
sources that we need to bring in here to help
you and the family kind of overcome and kind of
(10:34):
consider healthier lifestyle choices.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And you mentioned the A one C there, and this
kind of gets back the issue of cholesterol. We hear
a lot about cholesterol, and we know there's good cholesterol
and there's bad cholesterol. I guess they call it LDL
and HDL. What are the difference is? What makes them different?
And why is one good and the other bad?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Well, there's two types of cholesterol, Yeah, LDL and HDL
and HDL. You know that I kind of remember HDL
being kind of the better type of cholesterol. Is h
standing for happy is something that you want to produce
more in your body. But those are things that can
be detected through kind of blood tests as well, and
determining kind of the levels of your cholesterol, and that's
(11:13):
important to be looked at when you're doing blood tests.
But again, eating healthier diets where there's less of those
bad cholesterols than triglycerides and more of the healthier cholesterols
and healthier fats is something that a dietitian or your
primary care physician can kind of guide you on as well.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And so these are all things that you should be
looking I was going to say, I was I was
waiting for you to use the phrase high density lipoproteins.
I was thinking of oy, we're we're going to have
a hard time. But yeah, if you think about that
whole h at high it's a good thing. So hi,
I'll remember that the HDL is the good one.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yes, that's correct. Yeah, you want to see a higher
number of that in your blood work compared to the LDL.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And definitely stuff you find out from your regular visit.
That's it's important to make that check up at least
once a year two your primary care physician to make
sure everything is still on track so that we don't
get in a situation where you're out of control. It's
a lot easier to prevent it rather than it is
to cure, especially something like diabetes, where as you point
out that you kind of live with it for your
whole life, although I imagine you can lifestyle your way out
(12:18):
of it if you have the type two diabetes and
it was just a matter of you, you know, you
consume too much of the of the sugary stuff you can.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I mean, I think that there's always like a certain
level that is very you have a very sensitive level
between you know, reaching the blood sugger levels that are
more detrimental versus good when you have had diabetes, even
if you manage it really well. So it's something that's
always kind of working there. But you can definitely live
a very great, long, healthy lifestyle if you do manage
(12:51):
it to the best of your ability, Doctor.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Ben Waite, If people want more information about the things
we're talking about today, is there a source online? Because
I know if you put stuff into Google a lot
of time, doctor, Google will take you astray. Where's a
good reliable source to find information on these issues?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, we love this organization called Prevent Blindness. They're the
nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization. Dedicated to
fighting blindness and saving site. But they have a wonderful
website and thank you. You can learn more about information on
diabetes and ihealth. But the weblink there is Prevent Blindness
dot org forward slash diabetes.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Doctor permla Bandwait, thank you so much for joining us
this week on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer in
men under fifty and the second leading cause in women
under fifty.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I'm John Mounce and this week on Viewpoint Alabama, we're
exploring why the statistic hits so close to home for
so many people here in Alabama and what can be
done about it. Joining me now is doctor Roberto Rodriguez Roesco.
He is an MD and a fellow at the American
College Assurgeons. Roberto, welcome to Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Thank you, John.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
This is coll rectal Cancer Awareness Month, and it's not
just something that all people get. In fact, there's an
alarming rise of colorectal cancer being diagnosed in younger adults.
Why is that?
Speaker 5 (14:08):
Well, I think John, there's many factors contributing to that.
There's no one specific factor responsible for this of all
the factors. I think there's a lot of influenced by
the things that we are eating that we are exposed to,
and that probably is the number one contributing factor, things
(14:31):
that we eat, things that we drink. Probably the other
contributing factors are genetic factors, you know, family history, things
of that nature. All of them together contribute to the
increase in rise in colorectal cancer in people younger than
forty five.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
You mentioned lifestyle like things you consume. Are there any
particular foods that we and drinks for that matter, that
we should stay away from that they contribute to chlorectal cancer.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, I think the the thing that we need to
stay away from our processed foods. Also, high intake of meat,
red meat is also a contributing factor.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Excessive consumption of alcohol.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Is another thing. In terms of lifestyle. Sedentary lifestyle also
is not helping this increase in the influence of col
rental cancer.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And what's interesting is, in spite of the fact that
it's on the rise with younger people, there are a
lot of insurance plans who will not pay for colonoscopy
if you're under the age of forty five. Is do
you see that changing.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Well. I think that the laws are different in different states.
I'm not sure in Alabama how the insurance works there,
but we definitely need to raise the awareness at the
(16:04):
legislative level to make.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Them aware of this problem.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
For instance, people that were born in nineteen ninety and
later from nineteen ninety they doubled their chance of develop
colon cancer if you compare them to people that were
born before nineteen fifty. And that's very alarming, and so
(16:34):
we need to raise awareness to change the rules so
that coverage by insurance companies is needed.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
When we talk about screening, there are a couple of
different ways that it's done. Of course, there's the traditional
colonoscopy I understand there's also other tests that can be done.
A at home mail away test. Is that one as effective,
especially in younger people.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Nothing is one hundred percent. Uh. The gold standard is
screening colonoscopy to this day. Uh. The stool tests that
can be done at home, they're very good, but again UH,
they're not one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
There are other means.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Uh to do that, you know, detect blood and stool
also uh with home kids, and those are a little
bit less effective unless they're combined with flexible sigmadoscopy or
bariermnima or X ray to increase the accuracy and detection
(17:43):
of coal cancer.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This is You Point Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mounts, and I'm speaking with doctor
Roberto Rodriguez Rasco about colon cancer and the early detection
thereof when we talk about the next step, Let's suppose
you had a colonoscary doctor Coresca, and you've they've discovered
something a pow up or something like that. What is
usually the next course after there's a diagnosis.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Well, hopefully if they find a polyp, it's removed completely
and then's submitted to pathology and hopefully is benign. But
if there's cancer, or if a big cancer is found,
then there's several things that are done, blood work, imaging
studies like CT scan and sometimes MRI depending on the
(18:29):
location of the tumor like in the rectum, and then
that will determine the stage of the cancer. And based
on the stage is the treatment that is indicated. For
early stage cancers, typically the recommendation is removal of the
(18:51):
disease segment surgery sometimes polypectomy, removing the palot alone with
a colonoscope, it's all that it's needed. But for later stages,
chemotherapy would be. Sometimes even radiation could be For instance,
(19:11):
if it's an advance rebook, cancer and radiation may be
indicated prior to surgery. So the treatment in summary, the
treatment is dictated by the stage of the cancer.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Are all polyps cancer or are they just indicative that
there could be cancer.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Not all polyps are cancerous. Polyps are the precursors of cancer.
They start as the nine lesions, and that's why it's
so important to proceed with its screening, to detect those
polyps and remove those.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
In that way, you eliminate the risk of.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Cancer during the screening. Is it a two and one, Like,
while they're in there they see one, they go ahead
and take care of it, or they do the colonoscopy
and then come they reschedule you and they go back
in and get it a second time.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
No, in most instances, the polyp is removed right there
and then unless is too big or too difficult during
a area that is you know, the colon wall is
very very sane, and sometimes you know, the removal, the
endoscopic removal is a little risk here, but in most
(20:26):
instances the polyps are removed right there and then at
the time of the screen colonoscopy.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Doctor Rodriguez Risca, what what are some of the reasons
why younger people especially don't get the colonoscopy done. Is
it fear of the doctor, is that they don't want
to know? Is it a financial problem? All the above?
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I think it's only above. Probably the number one, uh
factor that I've seen in my practice is that we're
just too busy to get things done and and and
you just procrastinate on getting it done. And there's two
other many things going on, too many things keeping you
(21:08):
busy from from scheduling.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
But I can tell you that.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
It's it's totally worth it. When when you can detect
cancer an early stage or even before it before it
becomes cancer, it's it's a uh it's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
You know, you've done a big bullet, so it's worth.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Taking the time to do it. I think that's the
main thing.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
And what about family history. You touched on that briefly.
How important is it to know that you know your
grandfather or your grandmother or someone like that had some
history of cancer. Is that helpful? In diagnosing and or
you know, predicting when they should seek treatment.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Absolutely, family history is very important the incidents of colon
cans or general population. No family history, five percent risk
of colon cancer. If there's family history, it could go
up to twelve or fifteen percent. If there is a
(22:14):
family history, and if there is a genetic mutation, then
the percentage increases significantly. The other important thing in terms
of family history is that we use the information specifically
(22:36):
the age of the first individual diagnosed with colon cancer
and then detect sorry the doug ten years from the
age of that individual, and then that would become the
age where we would recommend the kolonaska.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
To the rest of the family. For instance, let's say your.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Dad was when he was diagnosed with colon cancer in
the duck ten years, so in your case, you should have.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
A klunaskap at age thirty.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
Now, if there's a family mutation lynch syndrome, for instance,
that age of surveillance changes because the incidence of colon
cancer and those individuals is much higher.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
That's and that's important, I guess to understand those things.
It's a tough conversation to have with mom and dad.
But it's an important one because, as you've pointed out,
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of court here,
especially when it comes to cancer, because the more it grows,
the harder it is to get correct. If you want
to pursue colon asky, is this something you would bring
(23:49):
up to your regular physician and they would refer you
over to a specialist.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Yes, that would be that would be the most common approach.
I suppose that you can contact directly any individual that
performs colonospies, for instance, especially if you're having symptoms.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
And then.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
The recommendation at that point would be just to proceed
with evaluation.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
And for people who want to find out more about
either the treatment, the procedure, any of that, where's a
good place Because there's a lot of bad places on
Google you can go to get medical information. Where are
some good places people can go to find out more
about corectal cancer.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yes, American College of Surgeons is the best website where
you can get that information, and the website is www
dot FACS dot org slash co of Rectal Cancer.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Doctor Roberto Rodriguez Rosca, a corectal surgeon at Texas Oncology.
Thank you so much for joining us this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
Thank you for the invitation dead screen.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Joining me right now is the Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen, to talk about the Corporate Transparency Act and
why we might not want it to be around much longer.
Welcome to the show. Wesson.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Hey, good morning, John, How are you good morning?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm great. So you're not alone on this. You've actually
signed up with what about nineteen other attorneys general to
see if maybe our secretaries of state to see if
we should maybe repeal this thing.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yeah, it's been just a train wreck from the very beginning,
and proud to sign on with nineteen other conservative secretaries
of state. He recognized how important small business is and
you know just the burdensome red tape that the federal
government puts in front of small business. And so we
sent that letter to the President Trump. You know, this
law was passed back there in his first administration, but
(25:52):
he vetoed it and then Congress overrode him on that,
and you know it's listen. This CTA Corporate Transparency Act
is a classic example of the disastrous policies that you know,
we're championed. You a while back and during the previous administration,
and it's a blatant government overreach, and you know, we
(26:15):
just need to have this thing repealed. And it's just been,
like I said, a train wreck from the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
What are some of the most egregious things in the act?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Well, John, listen, it requires any kind of business corporation
LLC to report this irrelevant information to the Department of
Treasuries Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network. But if you think,
if you look at it, if you read the law,
it says that high grossing companies and tax exempt nonprofits
(26:43):
are exempt. So it's really turning the focus on American
small business owners with less than twenty employees and five
million dollars in revenue. So under this law, the bad
actors will either simply not comply or they will find
loophole to slip through, while legitimate, hard working American small
business owners will shoulder the additional burden of navigating unnecessary
(27:08):
red tape in an attempt to comply, and they could
face up to two years in prison and ten thousand
dollars in fines. And so that's that's just agregious. We
just think it's terrible this law was written and putting
into place to try to catch the money laundering, but
the bad actors are never going to comply. It's only
going to harm the law abiding citizens.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's sort of the same thing with like gun control regulations,
where we created laws, but the only people who follow
laws will follow the laws. So people who don't follow
laws aren't going to follow these laws either.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Right, exactly right, And you're right on track with the
same type of thinking with the Second Amendment and Gune
laws as well. But bad guys aren't gonna comply. It's
only gonna be law abiding citizens.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And the cost, like you said, the cost will roll
down because it's not like these businesses are going to say, well,
I'll just eat this cost. They're going to pass it
on to us, You and I, the consumers who are
going to actually have to buy stuff that is the
price is jacked up because of these regulations, and compliance
with regulations that buy and large do not benefit us.
They benefit some bureaucrat who dreamed up in this regulation.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah, and if you look it back at some of
the testimony before the US Senate Committee back in when
they were getting ready to enact this law, it estimated
compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act would require twenty five
million small business owners to expend over about thirty million
hours of staggering costs, you know, just under one hundred
(28:29):
and forty five million dollars. And if you look at
fence In that's the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that's going
to be enforcing this. Their entire budget is you know,
two hundred and thirty million dollars. So I mean it's
over half and that's just unheard of. It's crazy. And
hopefully this administration will and the Congress will overturn the
(28:53):
assigning into law. And I want to thank coach Senator
Tuberville for introducing on the repealing Big Brother Overreach Act.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
And you guys by coach, and I think you can
call them coach.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
It's okay, yeah, coach, yeah, coach Overville. Senator Teberville. Repealing
the Big Brother Overreach Act, which we'll repeal that CTA
what we're talking about and to protect small business owners.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Our Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, thank you so
much for joining us this morning and really exposing this
for what it is. And yes, we should definitely be
in contact with our representatives in Congress who might be
able to come up with craft some legislation to undo
this act and maybe we can actually get somewhere. Thank
you so much for joining us this morning, Wes.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Yes, sure, Thank you, John.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
Appreciate you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs
program from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on
Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management,
or advertisers of this station.
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