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Glenn Beck

Security Expert, Congressman Speak Out on Border Crime; Trial of the Century, Part Deux

Aired November 15, 2007 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, losing touch in Laredo. A border town teetering on the brink could be pushed over the edge by politicians more worried about their jobs than their citizens.

And buckle up, America. It`s O.J.`s trial of the century, part deux. Wake me up when it`s over, will you?

Plus, political correctness gone wild again. A Colorado school district stops honoring class valedictorians. This just might make the kiddies feel good, but feelings don`t pay the rent. Wake up!

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America. Since I started talking about the border town of Laredo, Texas, my eyes have been wide open. I have received more letters and e-mails than any other topic that we`ve covered.

Now Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, Laredo sheriff Rick Flores, and Laredo mayor Raul Salinas have all started playing the blame game, pointing fingers at one another, and they`ve pulled me into that debate. Some have even tried to paint me as a racist. Whoop-di-doo.

Here`s "The Point" tonight. I want you to know I don`t support the congressman. What a surprise that is. I don`t support the sheriff. I don`t support the mayor, because I don`t know them. I don`t care.

I do support the innocent citizens of Laredo, the families of the 60 victims of kidnapping, and the 21 men and women with an American passport who are still missing.

Everybody in this case seems to be more eager to talk about the feud than the problems behind it. And you know what? I ain`t going to play that game. I refuse to dishonor the dead and the missing by playing along. And here`s how I got there.

Now that I`m shining a bright light on the problems facing Laredo and the border towns like it, I have received comments -- stop with the e-mail, please. People saying, "I want you to know Congressman Cuellar is the best"; and others, "He`s the worst representative ever."

"The sheriff, Flores, he`s done the most, and he`s done the least to curb crime. The mayor of the town is helping and hurting the city of Laredo." Shut up. It`s not about them. No matter who`s right, who`s wrong, let me say it again, I don`t care.

The one thing that`s beyond debate is the innocent men and women, American citizens just like you. They`re being kidnapped. They`re being killed. And nobody`s doing anything about it.

Remember, politics and magic have a lot in common. It`s the same device, misdirection. Politicians figure if they can distract you, look over here, look over here, with a lot of blame and bickering and cries of racism, they`ll hope that you forget the problems. You`ll forget that the problems are still there and only getting worse.

So tonight, here is what you need to know. This story in Laredo ain`t about me. It`s not. Doesn`t matter. Doesn`t matter if Congressman Cuellar`s office claims and then denies that my comments seemed racist or if the mayor of Laredo calls me a sensational journalist, because I`ve never claimed to be sensational or a journalist.

The harsh reality is this: Nuevo Laredo is a Mexican border town where drug lords and street gangs have taken the place of the government and the police. Violent chaos has crossed the river into Laredo, Texas, and U.S. towns just like it all across the Mexican border.

American citizens are paying the price for an impotent and corrupt Mexican government, our own insecure border, the failures of local, state, and federal officials to stop the madness. Corruption is rampant.

And heaven forbid if Americans try to cross legally into Mexico. Death and kidnapping all too often await.

I like to think of myself as fair but biased. I`m going to give all sides a chance to speak their piece, but in the end I`m going to tell you exactly where I stand.

So for the record, I stand with my fellow Americans, the victims from Laredo and their suffering family. I stand with the forgotten Americans all along our southern border. And to everybody down at the "Laredo Morning Times," you can quote me on that.

Fred Burton is the vice president for counterterrorism at Stratfor, and he is a former State Department counterterrorism agent.

Fred, I`ve seen your credentials. They are as long as the -- long as the day. I fear I have opened Pandora`s box here. Somebody told me last week, "You`re going to open up a can of worms that you don`t even understand." I`m beginning to. What have I opened up?

FRED BURTON, VICE PRESIDENT FOR COUNTERTERRORISM, STRATFOR: Glenn, I think all you`ve done is told the truth.

The facts are that border violence is out of control and we have a tremendous amount of crime creeping north into the United States. We have money laundering; we have cross-border abductions; we have threats against journalists; we have investigative journalists along the border that are scared to report on the threats because they`ve been intimidated. And that`s in the United States.

BECK: Nobody wants to do anything. Nobody wants to talk about this on the border. Media is afraid. Victims are afraid.

But the towns, they`re not afraid. They`re afraid of losing business. This comes down to the almighty dollar for so many people: the Chamber of Commerce, the mayor, the congressman, and everyone else. Does it not?

BURTON: Well, I think that it also comes down to the effect on multinational corporations doing business in Mexico that are paying a lot of money now to protect their manufacturing facilities, their country managers, and their executives.

The cost of doing business in Mexico is increasing the cost of the security costs. You have a tremendous number of abductions that are not reported for a lot of different reasons.

And the two trip wires that I find alarming, having been in this business for a long time, are the threats against the journalists inside the United States, as well as the scope of corruption on our side of the border. I`m basically talking about dirty cops. And that infuriates me, as a former cop and a former federal agent.

BECK: Yes, I have to tell you that I see that, as well, and I also -- I also have to give the media a break, because a lot of people say, "Oh, well, they`re not reporting it because, you know, it`s just Hispanics that are missing," or whatever that crazy claim is. I think it`s because partly, at least down by the border, they are afraid; they`ve been terrorized.

BURTON: Absolutely. And again, most of America doesn`t understand the scope of this and doesn`t understand the push north into the United States. As well as the flow of weapons and the flow of stolen vehicles south. It`s like a revolving door of crime.

BECK: Fred, I thank you very much, and I hope to be able to talk to you again. I appreciate it. And America, you will understand the scope because I ain`t giving up on this one.

Now let`s turn to Republican Congressman John Culberson for some Texas point of view on this one.

Congressman, I am -- I am amazed at the scope of this and how -- how some, let`s just put it this way, how some are just doing everything they can to try to turn the tables on me so we don`t talk about the real issue.

REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R), TEXAS: Glenn, you should stay focused on law enforcement. You should stay focused on the safety of the people and families that live in Laredo and along the river, because you`re absolutely right.

The moms, the dads, the business owners, the wage earners in Laredo and up and down that border from Brownsville to San Diego, what they care most about are safe streets, the safety of their kids, the quality of their neighborhoods, and the only way you get that is with enforcement of the law.

And in fact, Glenn, the only thing we should stay focused on is law enforcement on the border. This is not only a law and order issue, but it`s a national security issue because we know now we`ve got Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists coming across the border. You`re doing the right thing.

BECK: How do you, if you`re a citizen down on the border -- they`ve been crying out. They`ve been saying it. But the media don`t cover it because they`re afraid or because, you know, of agendas. Nobody in Congress will do it.

Your mayor doesn`t want to do it because he doesn`t want to bring attention to how dangerous the border really is and stop these big corporations from coming in and building factories there. How -- who do you turn to if you`re a person on the border town?

CULBERSON: Well, in fact, I came to the conclusion after many years of trying to get the law enforcement authorities in Washington to secure the border, Glenn. I just unfortunately came to the conclusion we were never going to get homeland security or the White House to secure the border.

So I remember, that if you think about it, the only successful defense America had on the morning of 9/11 were when the passengers on United Flight 93 stood up and took back the plane on their own. And I`m recommending that all of us as Americans step up and take back the border on our own.

And here`s how we do it, by going directly to the local law enforcement authorities on the border, Glenn, not only the local sheriffs like Sheriff Flores, who we need to support, who I`ve sent money to directly to help them hire more deputies and equip them.

But more importantly to the local Border Patrol sector chiefs. And in the Laredo sector because of my initiative, I was able to persuade the sector chief there, Carlos Carillo (ph), on October 30 that he implemented in Laredo a zero tolerance policy, Glenn, enforcing existing law. This has been on the books since 1952.

And in Laredo and in Del Rio and in Yuma, Arizona, if you cross the border illegally, you are prosecuted under this 1952 law and thrown in jail for six months, and the results have been dramatic.

BECK: What a -- what a novel idea, to enforce our own laws. Congressman, thank you very much. I`d like to have you on next week, if possible, to talk about us giving money to Mexico, $1.4 billion. We`ll do that, hopefully, next week.

Coming up, presidential candidate draws a connection between our broken border and the terrorists. Yes, I couldn`t believe it either. Tom Tancredo tells me all about his new campaign ad and why he`s the best candidate to protect our borders.

And O.J. Simpson. My producers are forcing me to do this block. Believe me, it will be the last time until this man is behind bars forever. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, America is basically run by polls. You know it and I know it. But are the surveys even accurate, or are they just as useless as the politicians who rely on them? Do you need my answer? It`s coming up in the "Inconvenient Segment" in just a bit.

First, I realize that my opinions are not everybody`s opinions. And nor should they be. But sometimes, honestly, I can`t understand how people let their political agenda get in the way of common sense. Whatever happened to it?

I want you to think about this. Whether you support the rights of illegal aliens or not, I think we can all agree that our border is so insecure that half a million people stream across it every year. And that`s just to the south. If you add the northern border, the number would shoot way up. All right.

I think we also can agree that since 9/11 it has gotten harder, although not hard enough, for terrorists to get into America through the normal channels. Well, if I know this and you know this, don`t you think well-funded, well-educated terrorists are smart enough to realize that, if 500,000 illegals can just waltz across the border into Texas, California, and Arizona, maybe they should just fly into -- you know, into Mexico city from the Middle East and avoid all that pesky U.S. security and literally walk into the United States?

I mean, if day laborers can do it, so can Islamic extremists, right?

Our weak border is not an illegal immigration issue only. It is a national security issue. And finally, more and more people are starting to understand that.

Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo has been saying it for years. Now he has a new campaign ad that is generating a lot of heat on this issue. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who`ve come to take our jobs. Islamic terrorists now freely roam U.S. soil, jihadists who froth with hate, here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia. The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Tom Tancredo joins me now, presidential candidate and congressman.

Congressman, how are you, sir?

TOM TANCREDO (R-CO), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I`m well, thank you.

BECK: OK. The commercial that we just saw, this is -- some would say that this is just a ploy to get votes. Others would say this is real; maybe we should pay attention to it.

TANCREDO: Well, I think it could be described, I guess, as both. I am a presidential candidate, and very few candidates run commercials that they don`t expect will get them votes.

But the reality is that we are talking about issues that truly are affecting us and are truly -- issues and events that make us at risk. And so combining the two makes it a powerful message, I think.

BECK: You know, Congressman, you were -- you brought to my attention, I don`t even know how long ago, the connection between the border and big business. And you`re one of the only people that I know that I`ve talked to that will actually play all the cards face up on the table.

Everybody else kind of hems and haws. And there are a lot of people in Congress and running for president that won`t even address the idea that business is really the driving force behind our border problem.

TANCREDO: That`s undeniably true. If we had not been so pressured by the business establishment -- you should see what happens up here every time we have a bill on immigration. The National Chamber of Commerce is up here in force. All the business interests are up here in force. And believe me, they have a lot of power.

Now, you combine that, their opposition to any sort of border control or to anything that smacks of sending the people back who are presently here illegally, when you combine that opposition to the opposition that is from the Democratic party`s establishment that says listen, all these people are going to vote for us eventually. They`re all going to be Democrats. That`s why we have been unable to actually do anything.

But those reasons are -- well, they`re horrible because, of course, the consequences of what has been happening here the last several years are as I think I accurately depict in that commercial. They put Americans at risk.

It`s not just the jobs. It`s not just the impact on our schools. It`s not just the impact on our hospitals. All of those things are real. It`s not just the crime rates, which are enormously increased by illegal alien activity in this country.

Twenty-eight percent of all the people in federal prisons are criminal aliens, 28 percent. Now, I will tell you that, beyond that, there are bigger and more significant issues. One of course, is the impact on our culture itself. We are becoming a bilingualized, biculturalized culture. That`s not good.

And the other of course is the threat that is posed to our very existence by so many people who are here and who are here to do very bad things to us.

BECK: You know, it`s -- it`s amazing. I have seen it firsthand here in the last few weeks. And I have seen the effort to marginalize. Do you think the average person, Congressman, can stand up -- I mean, look what`s happened to you. How many years have you been called a racist, a hatemonger. You`ve been marginalized every step of the way: "Oh, you`re crazy for thinking these things."

Do you think the average person can or will do it before we lose our sovereignty?

TANCREDO: I don`t know the answer to that. All I know is this, that I have seen, since I came here nine years ago and I could not get a single person to pay the slightest bit of attention to me here.

I remember putting up a video for the Republican conference, something we do every -- every week, and I`d only been here like a couple of years. And I had this great video of illegal aliens coming across the border at night, carrying guns and drugs. And they were coming through a campground where we had -- you know, there was Mom and Pop sleeping in the tent and all these people were passing through carrying m-16 rifles. And there were hundreds, actually, coming across the border.

I said, "Can I have five minutes to show this?" And I put it on the screen. Before it was over with there were like four people left in the room. Everybody walked out. They wouldn`t pay the -- I mean, they didn`t even want to watch it. I couldn`t get anybody to listen to me.

Now, now we`ve got Democrats introducing bills that look like stuff I wrote. And so we have made some progress. The answer to your question, though, is will it be fast enough?

BECK: Soon enough, yes.

TANCREDO: I cannot tell you, sir. All I can tell you is I have to do and you have to do everything we can each day and then put it...

BECK: Congressman, I have to tip my hat to you. I know you are a guy that is doing everything you possibly can. And I appreciate that as an American. Thank you for your time, sir. Best of luck. We`ll talk to you again soon, hopefully.

TANCREDO: All right.

BECK: Coming up, O.J. is back in the news and back in the courts. I don`t really care, quite honestly. I want to talk to Lisa Bloom from Court TV and find out is the guy finally going to jail? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, just when you thought it was safe to turn on cable news again, O.J.`s back. Yes. I can`t get enough of it. Oh, can we do the glove thing over again and draw out the trial?

I was happy to see that Kato Kaolin was back having a second bite at that celebrity thing. I don`t know if he`s quit the work at the car wash or what`s been going on in his life. But I can`t wait to find out.

Lisa Bloom is the attorney and anchor for Court TV.

Lisa...

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: You`re already funny.

BECK: I just can`t take it. O.J. Simpson. Put him in jail or don`t put him in jail.

BLOOM: We shouldn`t have a trial?

BECK: No. Just put him in jail or don`t put him in jail.

BLOOM: No little details like a trial. No.

BECK: What the hell? You know what? I`m kind of watching it halfway, and I thought we were in a trial. That`s the longest damn hearing I have ever seen.

BLOOM: Well, actually, it wasn`t all that long. It was a holiday weekend. So it was a couple days last week, one day this week. It wasn`t all that long.

But boy, these witnesses were all over the map. I mean, I don`t know who`s worse: the arsonist, the stalker, the thief, or the alleged pimp. And notice I only have to say alleged before the pimp.

BLOOM: Yes.

BLOOM: That`s what the prosecution has in this case.

BECK: OK. All right. But wait a minute. You think that, because it is the arsonist -- what are they again?

BLOOM: The arsonist, the stalker, the thief, and the alleged pimp.

BECK: Yes.

BLOOM: And that`s not counting O.J.

BECK: Right, right. You -- you say that that`s going to actually hurt his case. You know what I think of when I hear that?

BLOOM: What?

BECK: The phrase that my mother used to say: show me your friends, I`ll show you your future. They were all in jail.

BLOOM: Exactly. I mean, one of the alleged victims in this case, Beardsley, had to be brought out of jail to come in and testify at the prelim. That`s one of the victims. He`s a stalker.

BECK: OK. So how -- how do people say that this is going to hurt their credibility? The guy was the golfing partner of him. It`s not like these are upstanding individuals. Oh, yes, it`s way out on a limb, I had no idea these guys might have a gun.

BLOOM: The prosecution`s got to build a case beyond a reasonable doubt. They`ve got to have credible witnesses. These guys were selling evidence before they turned it over to the police. They were talking to "Inside Edition" and "E.T." before they talked to law enforcement. Are we going to believe these guys? O.J. actually has a plausible story.

BECK: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. Your choice is to believe these guys or O.J.

BLOOM: O.J. has a plausible story: "These guys had my stuff. I went to law enforcement twice, which is documented."

BECK: I was returning the sunglasses.

BLOOM: Law enforcement wouldn`t help him. He went in with his posse to get the stuff back. A couple of guys brought guns unbeknownst to him. You know, there`s hours and hours of tape of the incident itself and of conversations afterwards. Nowhere on the tapes does O.J. ever talk about a gun. There`s got to be a gun to get a conviction against the guy.

BECK: That poor guy.

BLOOM: No, I`m not saying that. I read his confession. I read "If I Did It."

BECK: I just -- I just want to put this out there. Conway Cliff, we will cover this one more time when he starts the trial and when he ends or if he hangs himself in prison or whatever. That`s it. No more O.J. news. My head will explode.

BLOOM: Well, look, I think it`s a fascinating story. It`s like the modern-day Al Capone. Are they going to finally get him for something? We all know he got away with a double murder. Are they going to get him now for armed robbery, for stealing the sunglasses and a lucky suit?

BECK: Is there -- is there a chance that you can get somebody in the jury box that doesn`t know -- I mean, what kind of cretins are like, "O.J. Simpson, I don`t know. He had a record or something?"

BLOOM: It`s OK to know who he is. It`s OK to know about the past. They`ve just got to keep an open mind and listen to the evidence.

And by the way, in 2001 he had a road rage case in Florida. He beat that rap.

BECK: Yes, I know. I know.

BLOOM: So for everybody who says he`s going to get convicted, everybody that hates him, not necessarily true.

BECK: All right, Lisa, thanks.

Coming up, "An Inconvenient Truth" and "An Inconvenient Segment." The media loves political polls. But do they accurately represent your point of view or the public? Here`s a clue for you. Not in the least. I`ll explain in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, you and I both know that our country is literally run by opinion polls. Unless, of course, the politicians have already sold out to special interest groups and big business. But if not it will be the opinion poll that they steer their policy with.

Today I want to focus our "Inconvenient Segment" on how the polls that our leaders rely on are at best misleading and at worst completely inaccurate. After all, polling is like science. I mean, it is a science. And like any science, global warming comes to mind, it`s nowhere near perfect.

For example, start with chapter 19. "Opinion Polls: Our Country`s Real Leaders." I started this chapter out by telling the story about a national survey done by the "Washington Post" where they asked people whether or not they were in favor of repealing the Public Affairs Act of 1975. They went through all the normal polling procedures. They tabulated the results. And you`ll be glad to know by a five percent margin the public`s opinion was clear. Americans wanted the act gone.

One small problem -- the Public Affairs Act of 1975 never existed. The "Washington Post" made it up to prove a point. Nobody`s knowing what they`re talking about in these polls. It is a basic human trait. People want to have their opinions heard. And having absolutely no understanding of an issue doesn`t dissuade them from offering an opinion.

But if the people who take these polls -- and quite honestly, that`s a whole different issue. I mean, honestly, are you answering the phone at night and jumping up at the chance to spend 20 minutes on the phone with a stranger giving a poll? No, I didn`t think so.

But if these people offer an opinion on things they have no idea about, what else will they do? What other underlying problems are inherent in almost every opinion poll? Herb Asher is an Ohio State political science professor and the author of "Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know."

Herb, the -- well, let me just start with the name of your book. What is it that everybody should know?

HERB ASHER, OHIO STATE PROFESSOR: They should know both the strengths of polls and how polls can be used. They should also know how polls can be misused. They should have some understanding of what goes into a poll so they don`t automatically buy the results totally on faith.

BECK: Tell me how they are being misused. For instance, you say that papers actually use polls just to sell papers.

ASHER: Well, what we find here, whether you`re talking about television or newspapers, that in fact polls become a part of news coverage, that they in fact are events, that the media wind up covering their own polls. So what you really have here, it`s almost unfathomable today to imagine talking about the presidential contest without talking about the polls showing which candidates are ahead or which are behind.

BECK: I have always loved these opinion polls where they say -- because I`ve always wanted to know, who doesn`t have an opinion on something? But actually I think I now, after looking into polls, I have more respect for people who say I don`t know, I don`t have any opinion.

ASHER: Well, you just actually identified for me one of the key issues in polling. People talk about sampling error and confidence levels. But that`s a technical thing. And that gets taken care of pretty well.

One of the things that I`m concerned about, which you`re really illustrating right now, is what I call the phenomenon of non-attitudes. There are certain topics that simply may not be appropriate for polling because citizens may not have enough information about it. Good pollsters will try to identify those kinds of topics, perhaps by asking citizens have you ever heard about this kind of issue? And if they say no, perhaps you shouldn`t even ask them about it.

The problem, though, is oftentimes when a pollster contacts a citizen to ask them about an issue or a non-issue. As you mentioned, the Public Affairs Act, oftentimes there`s a pressure to indicate that you as the citizen are informed.

So I think pollsters have a challenge here to recognize -- you know, if you and I went out and asked people today were you in favor or opposed to the expansion of SCHIP? That would be a terrible question.

BECK: Most people would have no clue.

ASHER: So the first thing we should have done there would be to say do you happen to know what SCHIP is?

BECK: But nobody`s .

ASHER: No, hang on.

BECK: First of all, who`s taking these polls, Herb? If somebody calls me at home, click. I have no interest.

ASHER: Oh, I think actually you may be the exception there. Because I actually hear a lot of my fellow citizens say gosh, I hear about all these polls, but nobody`s ever called me. I`d really like to participate in a poll. So what you have here .

BECK: Not worth it, America. Play with the kids.

ASHER: Well, you sound like some journalists from previous years who were encouraging people to either say no to the pollsters or encouraging people to lie to the pollsters .

BECK: No, I don`t say lie to the pollsters. I`m just saying make up your own mind, keep it to yourself, and just move on. Herb, I`m out of time, but thank you very much.

Now, another chapter in "The Inconvenient Book" that is going to cause all sorts of white hot hate for -- people that are going to write me, they`re going to see the title and jump to all kinds of conclusions. And this is the name of the title. "The Income Gap: the Rich Get Richer, Good for Them."

By the way, just to make the whole hate mail process easier, my e-mail address is me me@glennbeck.com. Anyway, the so-called income gap is in the news today because of an appearance that Warren Buffett, our country`s second richest person, made on Capitol Hill yesterday where he begged and pleaded with Congress, please, please-w a cherry on top, please tax me more. He was talking about the death tax.

This tax system, he said, has become dramatically tilted in favor of the rich, which of course is not true. The wealthiest one percent paid 40 percent of all taxes in 2005, the highest ever. But it`s simply inconvenient. To let the actual facts interfere with the emotional pleas to help the poor and the middle class.

But back to Warren Buffett who, full disclosure here, I believe is a great American capitalist and a great businessman, but when it comes to taxes he`s not only misguided he`s completely biased. Do you really expect a guy who has a net worth of over $50 billion really understands the plight of the average hard-working American or small business owner? The people that the death tax impacts the most.

After all, Buffett`s company, Berkshire Hathaway, he`s not really going to be in danger of bankruptcy when he passes on. But many small businesses, the engine of this country`s growth, will be. So Warren, if I may call you Warren, I know the tax code has like 45,000 pages in it. But I`m pretty sure there`s not one single line in there that stops you from paying more taxes if you want to. Why don`t you just do that and leave me be, OK?

The "Wall Street Journal`s" Stephen Moore has got a great column on this in tomorrow`s "Wall Street Journal," but you`re going to hear it from him here first in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, we`re back, talking about Warren Buffett`s plea to Congress yesterday to keep the death tax intact. I mean, could a guy that rich and that smart really not understand how much that tax hurts small businesses, the engine of our country?

Or is there perhaps more to this story? Stephen Moore is a friend of the program, senior economic writer for the "Wall Street Journal." Steven, I mean, let`s start in the -- let`s start in the conspiracy part of this. Where there is no conspiracy. It`s out in the open. The death tax actually helps people like Warren Buffett.

STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yeah. You know, it was amazing yesterday on Capitol Hill. This guy, Warren Buffett, gets this hero`s welcome. You know, the red carpet treatment because he came to Washington, said I want to pay more taxes. And politicians love to hear that.

But you know, the people really get hammered by this tax are people who have family-owned businesses, whether a farm or a ranch or a store or some kind of business. And those are the ones at time of death have to break up the business. And guess, Glenn, who`s there to buy up those businesses.

BECK: Oh, I wonder. You know, my favorite thing in your article that comes out tomorrow in the "Wall Street Journal," my favorite part is you went and looked some of this stuff up. Has he ever bought a business that went out of business because of death tax? Go ahead.

MOORE: He`s bought scores of businesses. And I interviewed a number of people who said yeah, we had to sell the family business because we couldn`t pay the 45 percent or 50 or 55 percent death tax. And if you think about how really immoral this tax is, a family just suffers the trauma of a death of a loved one, let`s say a father, and then the body isn`t even cold yet, Glenn, and the next knock on the door is the IRS, wanting to take 50 percent of that person`s wealth away.

Now, if you`re a billionaire like Warren Buffett with $50 billion, you can probably afford to pay the death tax. But for a lot of these small businessmen they say we go out of business. And of course don`t forget, Glenn, the people who are really hurt if a business goes out of business is the employees.

BECK: Right. You know, we talked on the radio show a little bit today, Stephen, about small business owners. I`m a small business owner. I was thinking about opening up another line of business that has nothing to do with the media or anything. And it would have employed I don`t know, 20, 30 people. And I`m holding off because I`m not sure what the government is going to do with the taxes. Now, that doesn`t hurt me. That hurts people I would have employed. How is it -- is it just that these congressmen have not been businesspeople, that they just don`t understand how this works? It`s not going to hurt people like Warren Buffett or rich people. It hurts working people.

MOORE: Yeah, it`s the Congress -- the problem with Congress right now, it really is a Congress of people who`ve never met a payroll before. Most of them are lawyers or lobbyists or come from the talking professions who really don`t know what it`s like to actually have to make a payroll and to pay these taxes. When you think about what we`re hearing out of Washington today, you know, from the Democrats, it`s we`re going to raise the capital gains tax, the dividend tax, the income taxes, the cigarette taxes, now the death tax. And as you know, the death tax is supposed to go away in 2010 when there`s going to be a zero death tax but in 2011 it goes all the way back up to 55 percent. How do you plan for that?

BECK: Stephen, I`ve got to tell you, I bet there would be people that would plan for that in nefarious ways. Come on, grandpa, die this year.

MOORE: Oh, yeah, people are going to be disconnecting on December 31st, 2010, they`re going to disconnect grandma from the life support system.

BECK: They will. You bet. Stephen, thank you. You can read all about it in the "Wall Street Journal" tomorrow and you can read my take on the income gap and opinion polls in my new book "An Inconvenient Book." It comes out next Tuesday. You can reserve your copy right now at glennbeck.com. We`ll send it out to you.

You think the roadside crosses honoring fallen state troopers would be no big deal, right? Well, for some folks it`s ruining this great country. Another example of the war on religion when we come back.

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BECK: The men and women of law enforcement are said to perform their greatest act of bravery on the day they swear an oath to serve and protect you and me. They put their lives on the line every day for the greater good, and for that they deserve our profound and enduring respect. And when an officer falls, they should be remembered.

Sadly, while everyone says they support our troops, they often forget that police and Border Patrol are no different. They are on a no less deadly front lines. There is a stretch on the highway in Salt Lake City.

On this stretch of highway they have 14 large cross that`s have been erected to memorialize state troopers that have been killed in the line of duty. In addition to honoring those that have served, authorities also say the crosses act as a reminder to slow down and drive responsibly.

But the American Atheists disagree. It`s traumatizing them, I guess. They say the crosses violate the principle of separation of church and state. There`s a lawsuit pending, and some suggest the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court. Oh, I can`t wait.

Ellen Johnson has been traumatized. She`s the president of American Atheists. And Robert Kirby is a columnist for the "Salt Lake City Tribune." Ellen, let me start with you. Has your life been traumatized by these crosses?

ELLEN JOHNSON, AMERICAN ATHEISTS: No, they haven`t. In fact, we would like to see a memorial to these very brave men and women.

BECK: Right.

JOHNSON: We respect their service .

BECK: Sure.

JOHNSON: . as much as everyone else does. But these religious symbols violate not only the Utah State Constitution but the United States Federal Constitution .

BECK: So how about the crosses in Arlington?

JOHNSON: Lady Bird Johnson -- well, that`s a cemetery.

BECK: Right.

JOHNSON: And a cemetery is different.

BECK: No, it`s public land.

JOHNSON: It`s not a cemetery.

BECK: It`s public land.

JOHNSON: These crosses, Glenn, also violate the Lady Bird Johnson Highway Beautification Act of 1965, the Utah Department of Transportation rules, the Utah advertising rules. They violate all kinds of laws .

BECK: The advertising rules. Robert, tell me your take on this one. The advertising rules have been really -- have been violated here.

ROBERT KIRBY, "SALT LAKE CITY TRIBUNE": Well, we use the cross as a symbol of -- as a death scene. It`s kind of a universally recognized symbol of death.

BECK: OK. Robert, I`m not going to let you get away with that. No, it`s not. It is -- yes. That`s like putting an electric chair up. I get it. It`s a symbol of death. But it is also a symbol of much more than that. I mean, come on, both of you guys, I need to knock your heads together .

JOHNSON: Glenn, let`s memorialize these very brave men and women by putting these 13-foot-tall steel crosses on private property. Let`s build the biggest, best memorial .

BECK: You know what .

JOHNSON: . to their service in a place that doesn`t violate the law. After all, Glenn, it`s a very bad idea to memorialize and honor these very brave men and women by violating the very laws they died to uphold.

BECK: Really? Tell me about the separation of church and state. Tell me about -- you know what? Tell me about our founding fathers` version of American religion. Did they have one? Was there -- is there such a thing as an American religion?

JOHNSON: No. We live in a pluralist society where the laws are the laws and we uphold the laws .

BECK: May I -- hang on. I don`t want your propaganda. Hang on.

JOHNSON: You can put the cross anywhere you want .

BECK: Ellen, hot the pie hole because I have to educate you .

JOHNSON: Glenn .

BECK: Hang on, Ellen. I have to educate you by using the words of our founding fathers on the American religion. And you can look it up. It`s Thomas Jefferson. It`s Benjamin Franklin. It`s Samuel Adams. John Adams also said this. Here are the five points of the American religion. There is a creator. He made all things. And mankind should recognize .

JOHNSON: The Constitution trumps that, Glenn.

BECK: Excuse me.

JOHNSON: The United States Constitution trumps that .

BECK: Then why did our founding fathers, the first thing they did with school books .

JOHNSON: Glenn, tell it to the courts.

BECK: Excuse me, Ellen, I`m not going to let you get away with trying to twist the separation of church and state. It was not about anything that you`re talking about. It`s to make sure that we`re not a Catholic -- that you`ve got to be a president or you can`t be a Mormon and be president.

JOHNSON: Glenn, this is not related to the issue at hand.

BECK: Yes, it is.

JOHNSON: Let`s get together and find a way to do this that doesn`t break any laws.

BECK: It doesn`t break any laws.

JOHNSON: We want to memorialize these brave men and women. Why can`t we do it on private property? You can build all the crosses you want and put it on private property. Let`s get it done. Let`s memorialize them.

BECK: Robert, what is -- this was actually your idea.

KIRBY: Yes. That`s correct.

BECK: You`re going to lose this idea. Do you think? Or not? I mean, these people are just taking and just twisting our laws and our country. You`re going to lose it.

KIRBY: We`re waiting for a judge to decide right now. We should hear in the next few days from Judge Samm (ph) as to whether or not we`re allowed to keep them there.

BECK: And you think .

JOHNSON: Whether or not the Constitution will be upheld, the laws of the land. The transportation laws, the advertising laws, the Highway Beautification Act law.

BECK: Tell me about the advertising laws, Ellen. I just have to hear this so I can laugh all the way home tonight.

JOHNSON: It`s a little complicated, but you can`t -- only certain things can go up, like signs that say like you`re cleaning the highway and signs that -- there are certain signs. There`s three categories that are allowed.

You can`t just decide that because somebody died, which we respect that, that you`re going to violate the law and you can put up any display. You cannot put up any display you want anywhere you want because you want to do it.

BECK: Here`s what we do. Robert, just put Burma Shave -- put "Jesus Christ, Jesus cleans this highway."

JOHNSON: Glenn, let`s not trivialize what happened here.

BECK: Don`t play that game with me, Ellen. Thank you very much, Robert. I appreciate it. Let me know what happens.

KIRBY: Thank you.

BECK: Coming up, when a society makes everybody a winner, why even bother? That`s why one high school is planning to get rid of their valedictorian honors, so they don`t insult all the dummies. That`s coming up next.

ANNOUNCER: There is an Islamic extremist group based right here in America whose website features an Islamic flag flying over the White House. Meet them. On page 40 of "An Inconvenient Book" by Glenn Beck. Order your copy right now at glennbeck.com.

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BECK: Well, our "Inconvenient Segment" ends with Boulder, Colorado tonight, where the Boulder Valley School District has decided in its infinite wisdom to get rid of the valedictorian honor, starting with the class of 2010. Why? Because their top students there are only separated by a few hundredths of a point and you wouldn`t want to hurt the feelings of a second place super genius by not giving them a fancy title as an award, would you? How do they do it?

This is the same school district that earlier abolished the class ranking to reduce unhealthy competition. Which former state of the Soviet Union do we live in?

In "An Inconvenient Book" I talk about this sort of trophy mentality that creates victims. We talked about it earlier on today`s show. The income gap. It`s unfair that some people live in luxury and others struggle to get by. How would your grandparents respond if you told them you couldn`t succeed because the world is unfair, I didn`t get a trophy?

I know what my grandfather would have said. We have to stop coddling our kids and attempting to remove every single struggle from their lives. We`re dooming them to a life of failure. When did we stop recognizing that struggle builds character? The best people on the planet became the best people by overcoming struggles.

If you finish second place by 1/100 of a point in your GPA, then guess what? You finished second. And that`s OK. Try harder next time. Our country didn`t get to be what it is because of whining. We didn`t complain ourselves across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. We believed it could be done. And because of that we did it.

And you know what? A lot of people didn`t make it. Oh, well. But you know what? Now we seem to turn everybody into a victim. Even worse, we convince them that there is no hope in America.

One of the most harmful quotes I have ever read came from Michael more. What a surprise. You can see it. I reprinted it on my book, page 86 of "An Inconvenient Book." He said, and I quote, "Listen, friends, you have to face the truth. You`re never going to get rich. The system is rigged in your favor and the favor of a few, and your name is not among those few. Not now, not ever."

This coming from a man who rose up armed with just an opinion and a hairy, fat back? And he`s a multimillionaire? The American dream is alive and well, my friend. And Michael Moore should know because he`s living it.

Don`t forget, full hour tomorrow with country music legend Trace Adkins. None of the politically correct bullcrap tomorrow night. Until then, good night, America.

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