A 22-year active duty Marine officer. Four combat deployments to Iraq. A wife who couldn't open a laundromat because the state made it impossible. Now Chris Burnett is running for Congress in one of the toughest districts in the country — Maryland's 6th — against two opponents worth hundreds of millions of dollars. David Rutherford sits down with Burnett to break down what's actually happening in Maryland: a $1.5 billion state deficit, 25,000 federal jobs lost to DOGE, an economy built entirely on government dependency, and a regulatory environment that kills small business before it starts. Burnett lays out his "innovation corridor" plan — aligning federal highway funds with data center development, small modular nuclear reactors, AI and quantum research, and advanced manufacturing along the I-270 to I-68 corridor. They also go deep on Iran. Burnett spent his career watching Iranian proxies operate across the Middle East. His take: this military action is 47 years overdue, no boots on the ground, degrade the IRGC, open the Strait of Hormuz, and let the Iranian people determine their own future.

✅ Sponsor: ☕️ Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/

🏫 Get coaching by David Rutherford: https://www.froglogicinstitute.com/

📕 Get David's novel, The Poet Warrior: https://www.ballastbooks.com/ballast-bookstore/the-poet-warrior

📰 Sign up for David's newsletter for free coaching tips, updates, and more: https://davidrutherfordletter.substack.com/

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Cold Open

01:00 — Chris Burnett's background: 22 years active duty Marine Corps

04:12 — The campaign: running against two of the wealthiest members of Congress

08:06 — How Maryland's 6th District was gerrymandered blue

15:37 — His wife's American Dream blocked by Maryland regulation

17:39 — The innovation corridor: data centers, nuclear, advanced manufacturing

19:51 — 500 diesel generators next to a school — the data center problem

20:43 — Small modular reactors: what the Navy's used for decades, now commercialized

31:15 — Eminent domain abuse: destroying farmland for Virginia's data centers

33:44 — Term limits, no stock trading, no government shutdowns

38:58 — Iran: 4 deployments, the IRGC threat, and why this is overdue

41:02 — Strait of Hormuz: 20% of world oil, 30% of LNG

49:14 — Immigration, the Dignity Act, and the ICE facility fight in Washington County

55:48 — Where to support Burnett's campaign

Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.