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Glenn Beck
The Trial of Liberty City Seven; Halloween, Christmas Under Fire
Aired October 03, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GLENN BECK, HOST: Tonight, the trial of the Liberty City Seven. Were these seven actually capable of blowing up the Sears Tower? And could they have really started a holy war against the U.S. called the perfect day?
Plus, Halloween and Christmas under fire. An Illinois school district adds Ramadan to its calendar. Where does the political correctness end?
And then, New York. Their plan to issue driver`s license to illegals, apparently, just a plan to drive me crazy. All this and more, tonight.
Well, hello, America. The media is talking about Hillary Clinton leading the pack in Democratic candidates in fundraising. I don`t know a soul in real life that is actually talking about that. But maybe that`s because the media is missing the point. The point they should be focusing on is the plan for a socialist agenda and big taxes. Elections have become about money and power. What really matters is winning by any means necessary. Candidates spend their way into office, and you and me, we the people, end up paying the price.
So grab your musket, because here`s the point tonight. I say no taxation without representation. It`s what our forefathers fought for, and it`s time we demand it again. And here`s how I got there.
First of all, let`s talk about the representation part of this whole scenario. The Democrats and the Republicans, as well, I mean -- they suck just as much. They`ve been hijacked by the big-spending fringe elements within their own parties. When it comes to the Clinton Democrats, we`re talking about the ultra-left socialists paying the bills and pulling all those strings. And I believe that regular Democrats are afraid of them.
Hillary and her new progressive philosophy aren`t representative of what the Democratic Party used to be. I don`t believe she represents what most of today`s Democrats believe is best for the country. Special interests and kooks like Michael Moore make noise and get attention and the Democrats think that they`re using those guys as fuel. I think it`s another way around. Do you really want those guys speaking for you? Does Michael Moore represent you?
Now, let`s talk about taxation here. Here`s what`s been proposed by Democrats in the last 10 days. One, the global warming and carbon tax. That`s going to tack on an extra 50 cents a gallon to the existing price at the pump. Then there`s the Clintons` baby bond. Five grand in the bank for every newborn. That cash comes from where? Oh, yeah, I forgot. Your pocket. How about the war tax? That`ll hit families with a 2 to 15 percent income tax increase.
Up next is the Democrats` S-CHIP medical subsidy with a price tag of $35 billion over the next five years. A bargain compared to Hillary`s big ticket socialized health care plan that would set taxpayers back an extra $110 billion every year.
So, tonight here`s what you need to know. People like Hillary Clinton, their plan on paying for their political agenda with your tax dollars. Unless you feel like footing the bill for somebody else`s radical ideas, I think we need to take our parties back. That comes from the Republicans and the Democrats.
The Republicans were hijacked by big spenders dressed up like conservatives while they were lying to us. And the Democrats are losing their soul to socialists dressed like JFK. I`d gladly take JFK today. They don`t care about your kids really. Those people in the shadows, they only care about the power and their power to spend. As of yesterday the U.S. is already $9 trillion in the hole, and Washington has hidden an extra $50 to $90 billion off the books. The last thing our nation needs is more spending. The last thing we the people need is more taxes.
Peter Fenn, former Al Gore adviser and current Democratic strategist, let me say it for you, here, Peter.
PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I`m ready.
BECK: Besides George W. Bush, and the last Congress, have you seen such a zeal to spend and tax?
FENN: Look, Glenn, you know, I have to say I agree with you on one thing, and that is that if you cannot pay for it you should not put it out there. And this president, as you point out, he sets "The Guinness Book of World Records" for spending and not paying --
BECK: OK, wait a minute.
(CROSS TALK)
BECK: Peter, I`m going to get to the Republicans. Believe me, I`m going to hit them real hard here in a second.
FENN: All right. OK.
BECK: But let`s talk about the Democrats for a second.
FENN: All right.
BECK: They are talking about -- I`ve been reading a lot about the Founding Fathers lately. I`ve been reading a great book called "The 5,000- Year Leap". Everybody should read this thing. It`s actual quotes from the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, they also all said, you shouldn`t do anything and borrow money unless that generation can pay it off. There`s no way we can pay for these programs.
FENN: You`re absolutely right. And one of the things that I think has happened in this country is we now for the first time have become more of a debtor, personal debtor nation, than a savings nation.
BECK: So then what are we doing? When we have a candidate, is she serious about a $5,000 savings bond?
FENN: No. Absolutely not. I will tell you one interesting thing about that because I checked on it today. I talked to folks. They said there is no proposal to do that, there is nothing in her platform to do that. She was asked a question about -- she called it an interesting idea, because she was trying to encourage the savings.
(LAUGHTER)
FENN: But I totally -- no. But the money --
BECK: That is just going into -- they`re just buying your vote.
FENN: Listen, here`s what I`m looking for. I`m looking for four years of a balanced budget, as we had during the Clinton administration. I`m looking for fiscal responsibility.
BECK: But Peter!
FENN: But you and I --
BECK: You and I are saying the same thing. You and I -- but let`s just break this into our own house. OK? Would you in your wildest dreams say, honey, we`re on the verge of collapse, we have far more bills out there than I make in 100 years. Would you say I`m going to get a second job? And then allow your wife, or have her not slap you across the face if you then said, and by the way, let`s go out to the fanciest restaurant tonight?
FENN: You`ve got it. I mean, we have -- in this country right now we have this ethic that, you know, you can have your cake and eat it, too. The average American family has a $9600 credit card debt. The average kid coming out of college has a $3,000 credit card debt. If we in the government can`t say look, we think we need national kind of health care that`s going to cost, whatever, $10 billion? Then how are you going to pay for it?
And you`re going to pay for it not on the backs of your kids, and your grandkids, but you`re going to pay for it -- if you`re going to raise taxes, tell people you`re going to raise taxes. If you`re going to change the tax structure, tell people you`re going to change the tax structure. But you know, the problem now is over promise, over promise, over promise. And that`s a mistake.
BECK: Peter, thank you very much for a spirited conversation. I`ve got to run. You know, like I said, not just the Democrats that have been hijacked.
The Republicans are overspending just as badly. I mean, they`ve abandoned their core supporters. I`m telling you, Republicans, you`re done. You`re done. Because I don`t believe you`ve learned your lesson. Here with more is Bruce Bartlett. He`s a former Treasury official with the first Bush administration.
Bruce, am I wrong? I don`t think they`ve learned their lesson. I haven`t seen a come-to-Jesus moment from the Republicans.
BRUCE BARTLETT, FMR. TREASURY OFFICIAL: Oh, absolutely not. In fact, I think that they`ve gotten themselves into a corner because, for example, the president`s veto of this S-CHIP legislation is going to be very politically unpopular. And he might not have had to do it if he had had more credibility, if people believed him when he said he was going to veto things he might have been able to negotiate something. So I think that they`ve gotten themselves into a terrible fix.
BECK: I mean, I find it interesting that -- for instance, I think right now, "Fortune" magazine just ran an article a couple of weeks ago with Hillary Clinton on it, and they`re talking about companies like IBM, they`re like yuck, I`m with Hillary Clinton. The reason why is they can get the monkey of health care off their back, and move it onto the government`s back. That`s never a good idea for business because they know they`re going to pay for it one way or the other. But they don`t trust the alternative. Republicans are just as bad. And they`ll leave them with health care.
BARTLETT: Well, I don`t think I agree with that, but I think there are other issues as well. I think a lot of corporate executives are very uncomfortable with the very hard right social issue agenda. I think that most corporate executives are very tolerant of homosexuals, and they`re not necessarily opposed to abortion. I think there`s a lot of people who are against the war as well, who just haven`t really come out and said so publicly.
BECK: I can take the war thing. But you know, I don`t know anybody in real life that`s talking about homosexual issues, or anything like that. I mean, the people I know are talking about the war. They`re talking about terror. They`re talking about the economy. They are talking about their health care. You know, they`re talking about real life stuff. And you know, I haven`t even heard a Republican come out and say that.
BARTLETT: Well, but every day when you pick up the paper you read about how James Dobson is dictating to all the Republican candidates, if you`re not totally with us on all of these social issues we`re going to oppose you, we`re going to run a third party and guarantee that you lose.
BECK: Yeah. I`ve got to tell you something. I doubt -- everybody says that. I`ll make you a bet right now. If they ran -- if they ran as the front-runner Mitt Romney, an evil Mormon, you know, James Dobson wouldn`t say a thing. We`ve got to start looking back at 80 percent. Do I agree with 80 percent of what somebody says? I can live with the 20 percent, as long as you`re not, you know, bellying up to the bar of socialism and evil.
Bruce, thanks a lot.
Coming up, while the dummies in Washington try to get their act together on issues like illegal immigration, local governments are take matters into their own hands. And some of the ideas, oh, they`re great. No, really. Drive safely, America. I`ll explain in just a second.
Plus, the Liberty City Seven goes to trial. They had plans to blow up the Sears Tower and start a holy war on our soil. But how close were they to actually pulling it off?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Coming up, a senior representative from Detroit is offering carbon tax legislation to combat global warming. Great idea, huh? Actually, the auto makers in that district kind of like it. More laws, more regulation, more taxes. Believe it or not, I`ll explain in tonight`s "Real Story." The triple threat coming out of Washington.
And first, we go to illegal immigration. You know how I feel about illegal immigration. I think it`s hurting our financial stability, national security. Considering that inconvenient truth, I really can`t understand how New York Governor Eliot Spitzer supports giving illegal aliens state- issued driver`s license.
Then I realized, it`s all about the money. It`s always, follow the money. Before I get to that I just want to ask you one simple question. What is the one form of I.D. that you use more than anything else? It`s the driver`s license, right? Universally identifies you as a citizen. That`s what officials at the airports, let me see your driver`s license. They stop you, the cops, let me see your driver`s license. It`s the way they guarantee you are who you say you are.
The two basic arguments in this issue are, one, under Governor Spitzer`s proposal the New York DMV would no longer require New Yorkers to show proof of legal residency or a Social Security number to obtain a license. An illegal immigrant could just show a foreign passport and get a driver`s license just like you or me. Spitzer says it`s going to reduce the number of unlicensed drivers.
Critics say, and I happen to be one of them, that what the scheme actually does is reward those who break our laws while also opening up a huge loophole that could lead to a national security nightmare.
Now, let me go back to the money. When was the last time that you renewed your license? What did it cost you? About $15 or $20? Now why don`t you multiply that by 12 million illegal immigrants already here in the U.S.? Not to mention the extra half a mil that comes in each year. You`ve got a giant pile of cash, don`t you? New York wants some of it. But does all of that money buy us safety or trouble? I think it buys us a lot more trouble than just a few unlicensed drivers. In fact, I believe it`s blood money.
Michael Cutler is a former special agent for the INS and now a senior fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies. And Frank Merola is the county clerk for Rensselaer County, who says he`s not going to carry out the governor`s policy at his DMV office.
Frank, let me -- or Mike, let me start with you.
MIKE CUTLER, FMR. SPECIAL AGENT, INS: Yes?
BECK: You testified today. And you say this is really, truly national security interest. Why do you say that?
CUTLER: Well, first of all, I`ve arrested terrorists in my career. I provided testimony to the 9/11 Commission. And I`ve testified before 15 congressional hearings since the attacks of 9/11. We know that the terrorists who attacked our nation on 9/11, 19 terrorists, in the aggregate, used 364 false aliases and they also used approximately 35 driver`s licenses under assumed names, in order to hide in plain sight. This is the embedding process that the 9/11 commission talks about.
The problem is if you give somebody official identity documents, you give them a level of credibility they`re not entitled to. To put it another way, the only thing worse than no security is false security. To me this is false security.
BECK: And Frank, your job is to match things up, right? You`re taking their Social Security number and making sure you don`t hand a driver`s license out to people who don`t deserve them. Is that your job?
MEROLA: That`s what we`ve done over the years, most definitely.
BECK: And has it gotten more stringent since 9/11, here in the New York area?
MEROLA: Yes, it has. Everything`s been about the security of the document, everything.
BECK: So you`re not going to issue these. If the state says you have to, you`re saying you won`t do it. Why? And what are the consequences?
MEROLA: Well, I`ve been the county clerk for about 10 years, and I represent 154,000 people in Rensselaer County. And when I say no, I mean on behalf of everyone from Rensselaer County. New York State can force this down some people`s throats but it will never happen in Rensselaer County. I am adamant about the fact that I`m not going to do it. It`s totally opposite of what we`ve been going through the last six or seven years to identify the people that are here illegally.
BECK: Let me go back to Mike. We`ve just talked about the 9/11 hijackers. You know, they had driver`s license. When you go to an airport, you give them the driver license. If New York starts taking any passport and says OK, this is who I am. And you get a driver`s license, you now have a false sense of security in the airport. Does that mean that the airlines now are going to start asking everyone for a passport? Are we going to have a different I.D.? Or are we just going to roll the dice with these driver`s license?
CUTLER: Well, the driver`s license, the way that Spitzer wants to do this, would no longer meet the requirements of the Real I.D. Act, which will take effect in another couple of years. It`s entirely possible that New York state residents will no longer be able to use their driver`s license in order to gain access to airplanes, to Amtrak trains, the federal office buildings. The bottom line is we need to learn by the things that go wrong -- my dad used to say there`s no such thing as a mistake, only a lesson if we learn from what went wrong.
The 9/11 commission learned from what went wrong. They said issuing driver`s licenses to people who are illegally in the country, people who can`t prove their identities, was the major -- a major vulnerability that contributed to the attacks of 9/11.
BECK: So why are we doing it?
CUTLER: Well, there`s a couple of possibilities. Number one, there`s lots of people that make lots of money off illegal aliens. There`s immigration lawyers, the advocacy groups like La Raza and the others. And also remember there`s the motor voter law. There`s the potential when you check the little box when you apply for the license that you`ll be able to vote. So there`s all kind of possibilities. But you know what, it`s impossible to read into Mr. Spitzer`s processes behind his ears.
But what I do know is he`s endangering our security and what he`s doing also is making it harder for the Border Patrol to do their job, because this attracts people across the borders and probably into New York state as well.
BECK: Frank, you know what kills me?
MEROLA: Yes?
BECK: Is I don`t agree with Bloomberg on anything. Bloomberg is the mayor of this city, and that guy, he`s a nightmare. But he agrees with you and me on this one.
MEROLA: Right. He`s right on the mark with this one here. I`ve got a son that`s in law enforcement. This is the just opposite of what they need to do in law enforcement. Every time a police officer walks up to a car, that they`ve pulled over, they will not know if that person is here legally or undocumented -- have no idea. You might as well put a blindfold on them. It`s totally the opposite of what way we should be going.
May Voletus (ph) the first implementation for Real I.D., and that`s what we should be pushing towards. And we`ve been doing that with the past administration, although I haven`t always agreed with them, but it`s always been about the security of the document. Always.
CULTER: By the way, there`s one other point I`d like to make real quickly.
BECK: Real quick.
CUTLER: OK, if you look at terrorists that have been arrested many of them have jobs that require them to drive. There was a school bus driver up in Toronto that used his abilities as a school bus driver to recruit the kids that he was transporting. There were cab drivers and so forth. A driver`s license gives you mobility. It gives you cover. And the driver`s license, remember, is a privilege, not a right. To give that privilege to people who shouldn`t be in the country in the first place is incomprehensible.
BECK: Thank you very much, guys.
CUTLER: Thank you.
Coming up, domestic street gangs recruited for jihad. FBI buildings bombed. Chicago Sears Tower in rubble, and the Liberty City Seven. They`re now on trial for these plots against America. The details are frightening and probably all too familiar if you watch this program.
And who wants to say no to health care to little children? Not me. Not anyone. But the president has vetoed the legislation. And you know what? He`s right. I`ll tell you why in tonight`s "Real Story."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, the trial of the so-called Liberty City Seven got under way in Florida today. A lot of people say these guys who wanted to blow up the Sears Tower and FBI buildings are just a collection of misfits and wannabes, nothing to worry about. I think this is actually an update of the Islamist extremist plan for "The Perfect Day". I think their plan for creating chaos and overthrowing our government sounds awfully familiar. And so does Brad Thor. He is the author of "The First Commandment."
Brad, when you really look into this case and you start to see what they`re talking about, they were really trying to carry out, without using schools, what we talked about on "The Perfect Day", which is what?
BRAD THOR, AUTHOR, "THE FIRST COMMANDMENT": Well, Glenn, they wanted to sew mass carnage across the country. It went from the Sears Tower all the way to poisoning saltshakers.
BECK: OK. And that sounds ridiculous, honestly, to poison saltshakers. But their idea was to create such a ripple effect, exactly what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, such a ripple effect that chaos would ensue, which is key language. And I`m not saying that this is at all Iranian attached, but it`s what the twelvers over with President Tom are looking to create chaos and it`s also what Al Qaeda is saying they`re wanting to do.
THOR: There`s no question, Glenn. What these guys said down in Florida, and this is what the FBI has on tape, is the war has to be fought here in America. And a bombing -- it can`t just be a bombing, there has to be chaos, there has to be blood in the streets. That`s exactly what these guys were after. Can you imagine after 9/11. if there were snipers in Lower Manhattan picking people off as they ran from the World Trade Center? That`s what these guys wanted to do.
BECK: Even if they killed a couple of people, even if one saltshaker in one city killed one person and then somebody who has a sniper rifle, you know, killed somebody else in another city. And then what they wanted to do in Chicago was to blow up the World Trade Center (sic) and they said no one would get out alive because they planned on -- if I`m not mistaken -- having snipers outside the building so when people came out they`d just start picking people off.
THOR: That`s exactly right, Glenn. And this all plays into what`s come out of interrogation rooms in Afghanistan and Iraq. This concept of "The Perfect Day", where these guys are doing -- maybe not stuff they went overseas and trained for in camps, but they are taking personal initiative to try to figure out how can we wreak the most death and havoc and destruction on the United States?
BECK: OK, there`s a couple of things that the media is saying. The media is again dismissing people. They`re dismissing these guys because they`re saying that these are just poor people that were living in a warehouse, and they didn`t have the expertise or experience, or anything else and they were just pledging themselves to Osama bin Laden just for the money. Do you buy any of that?
THOR: You know -- no, I don`t. I mean, this is an Islamic cult that was operating down in Florida. These guys were very specific. They went to a person, a Yemeni, and said hey, you`ve got contacts in Yemen, we want to do these terrorism plots, can you help us? That was the FBI`s first introduction to these guys, because that Yemeni individual went to the FBI and then they brought in another guy to pose as an Al Qaeda operative.
And the guy said, listen, Al Qaeda wants to hit the FBI building in Miami and some other government buildings, why don`t you take pictures for us? And these guys were like, OK, we`ll take the pictures. I mean, these guys are traitors. We`re talking treason here. And the FBI was 100 percent correct, stepping in, and doing what they did in stopping this at the point that they did.
BECK: OK, Brad, thanks a lot.
Coming up, expanding children`s health care initiative. It`s bad. Hear me out on this. I`ll explain why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Do you remember that whole war on Christmas thing? Yeah, yeah, it was funny for a while, wasn`t it? Now the P.C. police are after Halloween, Hanukkah, and pretty much every other holiday celebrated in public schools. And nobody`s really laughing anymore. I`ll explain in just a bit.
But first, welcome to "The Real Story." President Bush used the fourth veto of his presidency -- don`t get into any rush, I mean, you don`t want to use them all up -- and, apparently, his pen does work. He used it this morning when he nixed a $35 billion expansion of the States Children`s Health Insurance Program, otherwise known as S-CHIP. Oh, I knew it, the president really does hate children.
Well, if that`s what you were thinking, then at least, according to the media, you`re not alone, because of a recent "Washington Post"-ABC News poll found that 72 percent of Americans support expanding the program for low-income children. Well, the problem is the genius pollsters basically worded their question in a way so people had the choice between helping poor children by taxing evil smokers or just let the children die. Not really a fair representation of the issue, despite what the Democrats and the media actually are saying to you. It`s weird to say Democrats and the media because it`s pretty much the same thing, isn`t it?
No matter what they want you to believe, the "Real Story" is that expanding the S-CHIP program isn`t about poor children. It`s about socialized medicine. And how do I know? Because we already have S-CHIP for poor children. All they have to do is sign up for it. This isn`t about expanding the program for poor children. This is about expanding the program to the middle class. In some states, people making up to $83,000 a year, 83 grand, would be able to have their children covered, $83,000. When did $83,000 become low income? It`s not. It`s just the next step moving towards all full-out universal health care.
You bring up the income eligibility limit over here, 300 percent or 400 percent over the poverty line -- 300 percent or 400 percent -- then you raise the age limit, and pretty soon what do you got? Oh, look, we`re all covered by the government. Congratulations, America, you`re now on that four-year waiting list to have your brain tumor removed. I love this country.
If you`re a fan of common sense, I`ve got another fun fact for you. Democrats love to say that this plan would be entirely funded by higher cigarette taxes. They also say in a separate argument that they need higher taxes on cigarettes because it will convince more people to stop smoking. OK, I buy into that one. That`s probably right, since that`s exactly what`s happening as a result of huge cigarette taxes here in New York City.
Now, the problem is -- and don`t get me wrong, I`m no Congressional Budget Office analyst, I`m just a thinker -- but don`t you sort of need people to keep smoking in order to collect all those taxes that are supposedly going to fund their program? I`m just saying.
Democrats, you don`t need another $35 billion. You don`t need another $5,000 per child, like Hillary wants. What you really need is $18. I say use it to buy a dictionary and look up just three words: "poverty," "children," and "socialist."
Now, if cigarette taxes won`t pay for our health care, then what will? Well, I think I got a glimpse of that last week when Democratic Congressman John Dingell offered his plan to deal with -- wait for it -- global warming. "Wait a minute, Glenn, what does global warming have to do with socialized medicine?" Well, it`s just simple. All you have to do is think like a politician. See, you can use the taxes from one to pay for the other. That`s exactly what Congressman Dingell is proposing we do.
His idea is to tax CO-2 emissions and increase taxes on gasoline and people who buy those huge homes, you know, those homes over 3,000 square feet, and then use all of that money to fund programs like Medicare and Social Security and, yes, universal health care, if it passes.
Here`s what I have to say to Congressman Dingell. And, please, if you have children in the room, mute the television set for just a second. OK?
Congressman, thank you. Thank you. I know what you`re doing. The "Real Story" is, while I couldn`t disagree with more of his ideas, Congressman Dingell is the first person who is actually being honest with you. You see, the media loves to show you all those pictures of the Arctic ice falling. Oh, look, there it is, it`s falling, oh, no! And then the cute little homeless bears, you know, they`re holding onto that last little ice cube. They`ll show you that all day long. But when it comes to talking about the price tag on the solutions, you can hear a starving penguin drop. Right.
Virtually no media picked up on Dingell`s tax plan because no one wants to hear about it. As he puts it, the pain that it would take to fix this, nobody wants to talk about that. What a lot of people don`t understand about global warming is you can`t talk about fixing it without considering its impact on other important problems that we need to solve or we will create. It`s like if I asked you, "Do you love your dog?" You`d probably say, "Oh, yes, my dog, oh, he`s the best. I love him. He`s like a member of the family." But if I said I either kill you, your dog or your daughter, choose one, you`d probably say, "Gee, Ringo, I don`t like him so much, see you later, Ringo."
It`s kind of an important part of the equation here. It`s one thing to say, "Sure, I love the environment." But it`s a completely other thing to hand over billions of dollars that could instead be used for something else, like curing disease, building double-layered fences along all of our borders, or helping the poor. I mean, do you know how many families there are out there that are making $83,000 a year and just can`t afford health insurance for their kids? It`s an epidemic.
Stephen Moore is a senior economic writer for the "Wall Street Journal." Stephen, you know, there`s a debate going on, you know, about whether Dingell means this or not. I don`t think he does, but he`s actually the only one telling the truth. This is exactly what it would take if you wanted to get into any kind of global warming tax.
STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes. This is shock treatment by John Dingell. Let`s not forget that he represents the Detroit area of Michigan, where you have the car manufacturers. But the point here is that most of the environmentalists and a lot of the Democrats in Congress will privately tell you they want this 50-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax increase on top of the carbon tax, which would be one of the most regressive taxes we could put on the middle class and on poor people. And let`s not forget: This would come at a time when a lot of middle-class people are feeling a middle-class financial pinch. A 50-cent-a-gallon increase in gas is not going to help.
BECK: Yeah. And then you have the carbon tax for every ton of carbon that you use, you get taxed an extra $50. And then what`s great is they wipe out the mortgage deduction for your house, as well.
MOORE: Exactly. What a deal, right?
BECK: Where do I sign up for that?
MOORE: You lose your mortgage deduction; you get all these increases. And people probably don`t know what a carbon tax is. What that really means is that anything that you buy that has energy in it is going to cost more. But, Glenn, that`s everything that you buy, whether it`s food or clothing or a gallon of gasoline, and so the cost of living is going to go up a lot if they pass this carbon tax.
BECK: All right, now, tell me this. I mean, first of all, can you believe -- how is it that people can expect to get elected -- and I bet they do -- when they`re talking about tax raise after tax raise after tax raise? It`s incredible.
MOORE: This is the interesting thing, because the Democrats` message over the last six months is we`re only going to be raising taxes on the rich. And that actually has been a message that works for them. The problem is they can`t get enough revenues by just going after the rich people. So now they`re talking about something that goes right at the heart and soul and the pocketbook of the middle class, a gasoline tax increase. Remember, Glenn, that means about $8 or $9 or $10 more every time you go fill up your car.
BECK: Now, Dingell`s proposal -- I love this -- goes to pay for a highway tax. So I guess let`s build more highways. Goes to help out Social Security, health care, Medicaid, and here`s quite possibly my favorite: energy for poor, low-income families. So, in other words, the government is going to take money from gasoline tax to help against global warming and then give it to people who probably have the least efficient heaters in their house.
MOORE: Yes. This is a classic example, Glenn, of how Washington creates a problem or crisis and then they rush to a rescue to fix it.
BECK: It`s amazing! Stephen, what does April 15, 2010, look like if there is a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic Congress?
MOORE: Well, it means hold onto your wallets, folks, because we`re looking at a huge slew of new taxes. Let`s not forget: Just this week, the Democrats also passed this big massive health care bill. Lord knows where they`re going to get the revenues to pay for that. So the cost of living, the cost of taxes, is going up a whole heck of a lot in 2009 and `10 if we see that scenario of President Hillary Clinton.
BECK: Let me talk about the S-CHIP program here for a second.
MOORE: Yeah.
BECK: They`re lowering the age on one end, up at the top, with Medicare, and they`re -- am I mistaken? I`m pretty sure they`re saying now that a child is 25 years or younger. Is that right?
MOORE: Well, the House bill that passed would make eligibility for, quote, "children" anyone less than 25. By the way, Glenn, I sure hope my kids, when they`re 24, 25, aren`t still not living at home with me.
BECK: Oh, my God.
MOORE: But in addition to that, if you have an income in some states up to $82,000 a year, which is hardly poor, you would basically get free health care. So what`s going to happen is, this is going to move people out of the private insurance system into the government system.
BECK: I don`t know how people survive on only $82,000, $83,000 a year. Stephen, thanks a lot. That`s the "Real Story" tonight. If you`d like to read more about this or you found a real story of your own you`d like to tell us about, please visit our Web site. It`s glennbeck.com. Click on the "Real Story" button.
Now that I`ve shown you scenes about how we`re all going to be broke and, you know, eating dirt sandwiches in just a couple of short years, time to give you a spoonful of sugar. Yeah, you mix a little sugar and sand, and it makes the medicine go down a little easier. Tonight`s edition brought to you by Travelers Insurance.
And here`s the clip. We`ve got pictures here from China`s fourth annual Twins Festival. It takes place in Beijing every year, 500 sets of twins from all over China get together to share some Chinese food or whatever. And I think it is actually literally Chinese -- wouldn`t it be funny if they were serving Italian food there?
Anyway, there`s a lot to the look-alikes and the matching outfits. And I don`t know if -- I mean, is it a universal law that, if you`re a twin, you have to a dress alike? Look, here`s one that`s happy; one not so much. Anyway, that`s tonight`s "Spoonful of Sugar" brought to you by Travelers Insurance, in-synch.
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BECK: We`ve got to stop letting these parties divide us. You are a Republican or a Democrat, you must find somebody on the other side and join hands with and say, "Screw these people in Washington. You and I, we get it. We may not agree on everything, but if I can agree with you on 80 percent, there you go. As long as that 20 percent isn`t, "Well, I`ll compromise with evil, and I like socialism."
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BECK: All right, for years now, it seems like the war on Christmas has only been getting worse. First, it was the mangers; then it was the trees; and then the word itself. But now a school in Illinois narrowly escaped having to ban the entire holiday.
Last night, the school board in Oak Lawn held an emergency meeting with parents over rumors that children in the district would celebrate "Winter Festivals" instead of Christmas and a "Fall Festival" instead of Halloween. It reportedly all started when a Muslim parent asked for Jell-O to be taken off the school menu and for her children to be separated from others during the Ramadan fast. That was OK with the school board, but somehow or another it morphed into equal celebration of all the holidays and has resulted in some pretty outraged parents.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s wrong. You`re in America. I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To try and take our culture and wipe it from the face of the Earth is absolutely wrong.
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BECK: So where does practical religious accommodation end and catering to political correctness begin? Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, he is from the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, and Ahmed Rehab, he is the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago.
Let me start with you, Ahmed. You said -- and I want to get this quote right here -- you said that, "Some of the locals don`t come across as incredibly educated. There`s Budweiser anger there." What do you mean by that?
AHMED REHAB, EXEC. DIR., CAIR-CHICAGO: I mean it is not the type of America that we are aspiring to have. It is not the pluralistic, inclusive, educated America that we try to teach our children to embrace. They`re trying to exclude Muslims from celebrating their festivities. No Muslim involved in this raucous at any point wanted to remove Christmas or Hanukkah or even Halloween from the school festivities. All they wanted to do was to bring in Ramadan. And some of the parents -- who were essentially racist -- felt that this threatened their very being and decided to take the decorations down, couldn`t tolerate that.
BECK: It`s cool to throw around the "racist" word, but let`s try to keep this a civilized discussion here, because there are a lot of people that are a little upset, and it`s not just at Muslims. I mean, all the religions are upset at each other for trying to trample on the others. And I have no problem. If you want to be separated because of a fast for Ramadan or you want your children to be removed, that`s fine, but what about the Jell-O thing? I mean, you`re going to -- nobody can have Jell-O because your children can`t have Jell-O?
REHAB: Christians are welcome to have pork-fortified Jell-O if they want. Muslims don`t have to have that. Jews don`t have to have that.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: All right, so they don`t have to have the Jell-O.
REHAB: Well, exactly, but you`d need to offer a different type of Jell-O that doesn`t have gelatin, pork gelatin, in it, and give that option to the Muslim and Jewish students.
BECK: All right.
Zuhdi, the mom just wanted to hang decorations for Ramadan. That`s how it all started. She just wanted to hang decorations for Ramadan. What`s wrong with that?
DR. M. ZUHDI JASSER, AMERICAN ISLAMIC FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY: Well, I think educating people about Ramadan -- you know, I`m fasting. I always answer the question about, why am I not drinking water? Why am I not eating? I think education is important.
But decorations and trying to impose sort of a celebratory phenomenon I think crosses the line of church and state, not to mention that, in Muslim societies, we certainly celebrate the end of Ramadan, but during Ramadan, actually, I think what`s happening here is you have Muslims who are demanding to be American rather than Muslims that happen to be American.
And, you know, it`s interesting that they seem to find little battles to impose their political stances and balkanization of Muslim identity. And I really think it`s not the way to approach our current situation, when so many Americans are fearing so many things about transnational Islamism.
BECK: Would you like to respond to that, Ahmed?
REHAB: Yeah, there is absolutely no imposition of anyone`s culture here. I think Mr. Zuhdi Jasser is being rather hypocritical when he says that it`s OK to have Christmas in a 50-50 school -- 50 percent of the population in that school are Muslim, 50 percent are other things, including Christian. And if you can`t tell how the children...
(CROSSTALK)
REHAB: ... and turn around and tell to the other half of the kids, listen, you`re somehow second-class citizens, your festivities are not celebrated.
JASSER: So you`d like to see America turned into a competition of holidays, from the holidays for Buddhism and Sikh and Hindu? And should we have all of a sudden every other weekend a celebration for...
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REHAB: I will not even call that a leap of faith. That is a leap of folly. Nobody`s making that giant leap.
JASSER: There is one holiday in this country that has a religious base, and it`s Christmas.
(CROSSTALK)
REHAB: We`re not asking for malls -- listen, we`re not asking for malls to start celebrating Ramadan. We`re not asking for schools where there are a couple of Muslims to have anything beyond an educational...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: If you happen -- Ahmed, if you happen to go up where there`s 50 percent, let`s just -- I`m just making this up -- 50 percent Wiccan, and it was all Muslim before that, but there`s 50 percent Wiccan, you cool with, you know, doing the pagan stuff in the school?
REHAB: Well, I think it`s a preposterous comparison, because...
BECK: No, no, sir.
REHAB: Well, listen...
BECK: You know, 50 years ago, it would have been ridiculous to say -- it would have been ridiculous, sir, to say 50 years ago, to say that about America being...
(CROSSTALK)
REHAB: ... religion...
BECK: OK. So in other words, you`re saying that Wiccans -- are you saying, sir, that Wiccan is not a religion? Are you saying that Wiccans are not a legitimate religion?
REHAB: It is to some people, but it`s not comparable to Christianity, Islam or Judaism or any of the other large faiths in this country.
BECK: Zuhdi, thank you very much. Ahmed, as always, thank you.
Where am I wrong? I think there are huge double standards in our country. If we`re going to put foot baths in our schools for Muslim students, which we are in some colleges, we should be able to put the Ten Commandments in the front of our courthouse. Do you agree or disagree? Go to CNN.com/glenn right now and cast your vote.
Back in a second with O.J. Simpson. He has been ordered to surrender his Rolex to the Goldman family. My question is, is this going to hurt his chances for finding the real killer? I mean, you know, how`s he going to coordinate with the stars if he doesn`t have a watch? Find out after the break.
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BECK: More bad news today for O.J. Simpson. Yesterday, a judge ruled that the Juice must relinquish his beloved Rolex watch to the Goldmans as part of the civil settlement. I don`t know about you; I feel bad for O.J. But I don`t think that something like this is going to get in the way of his true mission in life, and that is finding the real killer.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After being acquitted in the brutal murder of his wife, Nicole, O.J. Simpson made a vow that he would stop at nothing in his quest to track down Nicole Simpson`s real killer. His search for the real killer began in this remote region of southern California. Unable to find the killer here or here or here, O.J. decided to widen the search, focusing specifically on the area surrounding Miami Beach.
To aid in the investigation, he engaged the services of one Christie Prody. Prody`s expertise in the field of cocktail waitressing would certainly prove helpful as the two scoured Miami Beach in search of the real killer, and the fact she looked exactly like Nicole Simpson didn`t hurt.
Of course, like in any major investigation, there was the occasional road bump, like when Prody was allegedly paid $50,000 by the "National Enquirer" to tell how O.J. confessed to her about actually killing Nicole, or when O.J. called the police on Prody, or when Prody was caught using Simpson`s handicapped parking decal and then arrested on a bench warrant for driving with an expired license, or when Prody accused Simpson of entering her home without permission, stealing pages from her address book and erasing her voice mails, or when Simpson was charged with road rage in 2000, or when Prody pleaded no contest to animal cruelty after her cat was found dead from abandonment inside her apartment, or when Prody was arrested for marijuana possession at Thompson Park in southwest Miami-Dade last year, or when Simpson allegedly accused his handyman of having an affair with Prody and then threatened to kill him, oh, and don`t forget about the time he got sued for illegally pirating his cable TV.
No, not even O.J.`s recent Las Vegas arrest and those 10 felony charges against him could get in the way of their search for the real killer. And now with O.J. having to give up his beloved Rolex watch, O.J. will still continue in his search for the real killer, even if he will no longer be able to tell what time it is.
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BECK: Well, there it is. Don`t forget, if you want to know what`s on tomorrow`s show or if you`d like a little more in-depth commentary on the news of the day, or if you`d like to hear the audio that I had with Mike Huckabee today on the radio program, sign up for my free daily e-mail newsletter. Do it right now at glennbeck.com. From New York, good night, America.
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