Brian Lehrer: [music] Brian Lehrer on WNYC and yes, it's time now for our daily quiz segment for the fall membership drive. It's a game we call, "Is it the truth or is it a lie?" Each day some of the questions will be on our Democracy In Peril 30 Issues theme for the day. Today, that's the Senate and some of the questions will be on what we hope will be an interesting variety of other things.
Yes, there are prizes. If you get three in a row right, we'll send you our brand new Brian Lehrer Show, Pro-Democracy tote bag that says Brian Lehrer Show on one side, Pro-Democracy on the other side. If you want to try your hand, 212-433-WNYC. No cost to play. A pro-democracy tote as a prize if you win. 212-433-9692. Let's start right off with Diana in Chatham, New Jersey. Diana, you're on WNYC. Hi there.
Diana: Oh, hello Brian. I'm excited.
Brian Lehrer: Good. These first questions do relate to the Senate. Is it the truth or is it a lie? Each state is represented by two senators regardless of population size.
Diana: That is true.
Brian Lehrer: That is true. We start each of these quizzes with a pretty easy obvious one. The House of Representatives is the body that provides representation based on population size. The Senate is just two per state. All right. Is this the truth or is it a lie? The Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate but doesn't get a vote.
Diana: That's false because the vice president gets to make a deciding vote sometimes.
Brian Lehrer: You are correct. That was a lie that I just told. The vice president does get a vote in the event of a 50-50 tie. All right. That's two. Get one more and we'll send you that pro-democracy tote bag. Is this the truth or is it a lie? Democrats are the majority party in the Senate today, even though they hold only 48 seats. Is that the truth or is that a lie?
Diana: Wow. That's tricky. It's true that the Democrats are able to hold a majority in the Senate. I'm going to say it's true.
Brian Lehrer: It is true. Why is that true? People are thinking, "Wait, I thought the Democrats had 50 seats." In the 2020 election, Democrats became the majority party despite holding only 48 seats. Two independent Senators caucused with them. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, remember, he's not a Democrat, and Angus King of Maine, who's also an independent. They caucused with the Democrats so that gives them effectively a 50 vote. Even split and vice president Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote. That is true. Diana, congratulations. Hang on, and we will take your address off the air and we'll send you that pro-democracy tote. Arnold in Brooklyn is our next contestant I think. Hi, Arnold. Are you ready?
Arnold: Yes. Good morning.
Brian Lehrer: Good morning. Is this the truth or is it a lie? The Senate elects a speaker as their leader at the start of a new term.
Arnold: False. That's false.
Brian Lehrer: That is false. The Senate is led by party leaders from both the majority and minority parties, and also it's called the majority leader, not the speaker. Next question. Is this the truth or is it a lie? Senators have term limits, but longer than the president. Three terms rather than two.
Arnold: That's false.
Brian Lehrer: That is also a lie. No term limits for Senate or a house. Next one, and you'll win a pro-democracy tote if you get it right. Is this the truth or is it a lie? A senator's term is four years, after that, they run for reelection.
Arnold: That's false.
Brian Lehrer: That is a lie as well. A senator's term is six years. By the luck of the draw you had pretty three easy questions there, and we're going to send you a Brian Lehrer Show, Pro-Democracy tote. Arnold, hang on, we'll take your address off the air. Up next, Jesse in Brooklyn. Hi, Jesse. You ready to play?
Jesse: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Is this the truth or is it a lie? The Senate has an age requirement. You must be 30 years old to serve in the Senate. Is that the truth or is it a lie?
Jesse: I think that's true.
Brian Lehrer: That is true. 30 years old. Is this the truth or is it a lie? The Obama birtherism lie began when he was in the Senate because you must be born in the United States to become a US senator. Is that the truth or is it a lie?
Jesse: That is false. I think you need to be born in the US to be president, correct?
Brian Lehrer: That is correct. You need to be born in the US to be president. You can be a citizen for nine years as a naturalized citizen before you can run for a seat in the Senate, but you don't have to be born here. I think a lot of people didn't know that one. One more and you win a tote. Here's some questions coming up next for you and the next contestants on current senators. Is this the truth or is it a lie? Vice President Kamala Harris was one of the senators from California before she became vice president.
Jesse: That is correct I think. True.
Brian Lehrer: That is the truth. Yes. Guess what? You win a tote bag. Hang on, Jesse, we'll take your address off the air. We will go next to Raddy. Is it Rady in Manhattan? You're on WNYC? Hi there.
Raddy: Yes. Hello?
Brian Lehrer: R-A-D-D-Y. Is that your name?
Raddy: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Just making sure I got it right. Is this the truth or is it a lie?
Raddy: Perfect.
Brian Lehrer: Kirsten Gillibrand replaced Hillary Clinton as New York Senator after Clinton left office to become US Secretary of State. Gillibrand was not elected.
Raddy: That's the truth. Oh yes, she was--
Brian Lehrer: Yes?
Raddy: She definitely replaced her. I don't know-- There was an election, I think so it's false.
Brian Lehrer: Unfortunately you're wrong. Sorry, Raddy. Thanks for trying her hand. She was in fact not elected. She was appointed by the governor of the state at the time to fill out Hillary Clinton's term, then, of course, she's won several elections since then, but we're going to go on to our next contestant. Tim, in Brooklyn. Hi, Tim. Are you ready to play?
Tim: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Let's start with an easy one. Still on current senators. Is this the truth or is it a lie? Mitch McConnell is the current Senate Majority Leader. I think it's easy.
Tim: False.
Brian Lehrer: That is false. He is the senate minority leader. Chuck Schumer is the majority leader. Is this the truth or is it a lie? California Senator Diane Feinstein is the most senior woman in the Senate.
Tim: Yes, true.
Brian Lehrer: That is true. She took office in 1992 and has been serving ever since. Is this the truth or is it a lie? Get this one right and you'll win the pro-democracy tote. Texas Senator Ted Cruz read The Cat in the Hat during his filibuster against Obamacare in 2013. Is it the truth or is it a lie that he read The Cat and the Hat by Dr. Seuss on the Senate floor?
Tim: I know he read something, a children's book. I'm going to say true. I think that was it.
Brian Lehrer: Sorry, Tim. Nice try. This was a tricky question that we snuck in there. Ted Cruz read Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, not The Cat in the Hat.
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We'll go to Phil on the Upper West Side. Phil, are you ready to play?
Phil: I'm ready.
Brian Lehrer: Senator Chuck Grassley of Indiana has cast more than 10,000 votes while in office. Is that the truth or is it a lie?
Phil: It's a lie. He's in Iowa.
Brian Lehrer: No, I-- You know what? That was my error. That's not what we were testing. I'm glad you're knowledgeable enough to have busted my typo. I'll read it again. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has cast more than 10,000 votes while in office. The truth or a lie?
Phil: I'll say it's the truth.
Brian Lehrer: It is the truth. Chuck Grassley has been in office since 1981 and has cast what I've seen reported as 14,288 votes during his tenure. The next set of questions are historical Senate questions. Is it the truth or is it a lie? Senators were always elected by the people directly.
Phil: I'll say it's a lie.
Brian Lehrer: That is a lie. Under the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, Senators or-- What did I say? Until the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by State legislators not directly by the people. I think there are those in the Republican Party right now who would like to go back to something like that. That's a show we're going to do in a number of days. Let's see, you've got two in a row right, one more and you win a Pro-Democracy tote bag. The number of electoral votes that each state gets is the two senators plus the number of House members from that state. Is that the truth or is it a lie?
Phil: That's true.
Brian Lehrer: That is the truth. You win Brian Lehrer Show, Pro-Democracy tote and of course, people may not realize this when we say the Electoral College isn't the perfect example of democracy. That's the main reason the Electoral College is unrepresentative of the population. It's because the Senate is unrepresentative of the population and the Electoral College is the House members plus the two senators from each state. Phil, hang on. We'll take your address over the phone off the air and send you the tote. We gave away a lot of totes today. You did really good folks and we cut through a lot of questions. Glad we gave that stuff away. That's our pledge week quiz for today. We'll do another one on Monday. Brian Lehrer on WNYC much more to come.
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