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Glenn Beck

How Can Hillary Win?; Dems Headed for Contested Convention?; Fewer Americans in Organized Religions

Aired February 26, 2008 - 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, I`m angry. I know you`ve got an extra face. We have gone through it our whole life, Hillary. Well, I`m not the only angry white guy in the country. And guess what? It`s guys like me that will decide this election. I`ll tell you why.

Plus, some tips for Hillary Clinton. Experts say explain what Hillary needs to do to beat Barack and stage a comeback. Yes, she can.

And so long savior. Why more and more Americans are making an exodus away from organized religion and what that says about where our country is headed.

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

In every single presidential election, there always is one group that swings the election. It was soccer moms. Then it was NASCAR dads. So here`s "The Point" tonight: angry white men, it`s your turn. Angry white men will decide this presidential election, and here`s how I got there.

First, let`s define the terms. I don`t think that angry white men have anything to do with race or racism. He used to be called, before FDR, the forgotten man, and he still is forgotten. And that`s kind of why he`s a little pissy right now.

There`s a fantastic editorial in "The Aspen Times." I can`t believe I actually read "The Aspen Times." You don`t have any idea what my life is like. But it laid out this case beautifully.

Over the last few decades politicians have been giving their special attention to special interest groups. Do you remember the game Clue, where you would solve the crimes by saying, "Oh, it`s Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick." Well, that is how political pandering has become. You mix and match the cultural stereotypes, and then you suck up to them: "Vote for me, because I support left-handed, vegan environmentalists who like to watch golf and NASCAR on Wednesdays." That`s the one group.

There`s one group that has been repeatedly ignored and lost in the shuffle, and it is our forgotten man, who is usually white and now a little angry.

He`s from all walks of life. He takes care of his family. He works hard. He pays his bills on time. He pays his fair share in taxes. He isn`t looking for special treatment. He wants to be left alone, put his feet up at night with his family around him. He knows his job is safe, or at least he`d like to know his job is safe. He`s you.

Now, how many special interest groups are there? How many fringe groups are given special treatment than regular Americans, have it harder than most? Because they`re getting the special treatment, and you`re getting jack. That is certainly not fair, and it`s certainly not American.

Now, the point I agree most with is -- with "The Aspen Times" editorial, is that the angry white man is kind of pissed off. Just like me, he is hacked off that our sovereignty as a nation is under attack by our own leaders. How does that happen? Unchecked legal immigration threatens our national and economic security. Nobody`s doing anything about it.

He`s angry that some want to erase the Second Amendment from the Constitution. That the TSA misses 40 percent of bomb-like material in safety tests. Yet, he gets a cavity search every time he tries to bring four ounces of shampoo onto a plane.

Bottom line, the angry white man, the forgotten man, mourns the death of common sense, mourns the death of common courtesy, of common decency. I mean, aren`t you kind of angry about the same things?

So tonight, here`s what you need to know. The angry white man can be from either party, but he ain`t thrilled with any of the candidates. John McCain is no conservative and, while he may be a Republican, they`re just not making them like they used to. Barack Obama is modern progressive, but he`s starting to scare the pants right off of me. And that leaves Hillary Clinton.

And I got to tell you, I can`t believe I`m saying this, she may actually, in a weird sort of way, be the safest candidate. At least with her, you know that there will be opposition. She`s not going to be like McCain, who`s having play dates with the Kennedys or turning people into zombies like Obama.

Tonight, I decided -- this is weird for a conservative. I never thought I`d do this. I`m going to lay out chapter and verse, exactly what she needs to do to get elected.

Steve Moore writes editorials on economics for the "Wall Street Journal."

Stephen, in your wildest dreams, did you ever come to a place where you thought, "Hang on, let me see if I war game on how to get Hillary elected"?

STEVE MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Really. When your producer called me and asked, you know, what the formula is for Hillary to resurrect herself, you know, this Titanic is heading for the iceberg. I`m not sure I want to steer it away from it. I`m here to help.

BECK: Here`s why I`m doing this. I`m afraid of Obama. His economic policies are -- are the Titanic. She`s just a little lifeboat that`s like, "Oh, crap. I wasn`t paying attention. I guess that was the iceberg. We hit it, too."

MOORE: Yes, you know what Hillary needs to do if she`s going to pull this thing off. She still has a chance: Ohio and Texas or next week. Believe it or not, Glenn, she has to move more to the middle. She has to start attacking Barack Obama`s ideas as junk, left-wing, old-fashioned ideas that are not new, that are not change.

BECK: For instance, Stephen, couldn`t she make the case that she wants to raise taxes, too? "Hey, progressives, I love big taxes, but I`m only going to go as far as my husband did."

MOORE: Right.

BECK: "What Barack Obama wants to do is crazy talk."

MOORE: That`s right.

BECK: Shouldn`t she make that case?

MOORE: I think she could. She could say, "Look, you know, the economy grew in the Clinton years. But Barack Obama -- Barack Obama`s talking about taxes of over 50 percent on high-income people, raising the capital gains and dividend tax."

And the point I think she could make in states like Ohio is, look, if you want to bring the jobs back -- and you and I and everyone wants to do that -- how are you going to bring jobs back if you`re raising taxes on businesses, on entrepreneurs and small businessmen, the people who create the jobs?

BECK: But not only that, she also has -- I mean, they both love unions. But Barack Obama is in bed with unions in a way we haven`t seen maybe ever. Right or wrong?

MOORE: Yes. There`s a program that the left is -- is advancing called union card check issue. And basically what this would do is take away secret ballots for union elections.

And what this would mean, Glenn, is that potentially millions of American workers, people watching this show, might be forced into unions because of what Barack Obama supports, this idea that, you know, you just have the union thugs say, "Sign this card." And if you sign it, all of a sudden you`re in a union.

BECK: OK. And the Christmas list. I`m just looking for the differences. By the way, on that one...

MOORE: You almost need a crowbar to separate these two.

BECK: I know. But Hillary`s not for that. Or is she?

MOORE: Well, she`s been, you know -- she`s cozied up to the unions, too. This is what...

BECK: She was before it before she was against it?

MOORE: Something like that.

BECK: OK. All right. And when it comes to spending, could she...

MOORE: Yes. He`s a champion big spender.

BECK: Yes.

MOORE: And I think here`s another area where she can say, "Barack, how are you going to balance the budget? How are you going to get the nation`s finances back in order, close this $400 million deficit, with all of the new spending that you want to do?"

I mean, you look at his agenda, Glenn, it is the nanny state back in action. You know, government taking care of you from -- literally from cradle to grave.

BECK: OK. So Stephen...

MOORE: Yes.

BECK: ... is there any way that Hillary Clinton can point out these differences? Because I think Barack Obama is -- he is so far left.

MOORE: Yes.

BECK: I mean, that`s why you see the extreme left coming after him and saying, "We love you."

And Hollywood is like, "Shh, don`t jinx anything. Don`t say anything." They love him so much, they don`t even want to support him out loud.

MOORE: You know what it goes back to, Glenn, which you led off the show with, the idea of forgotten man? The -- what I call the silent majority. Middle-class blacks and white workers who are concerned about their jobs, concerned about their wages.

And to go to those people and say, look, you`re not going to be in better shape economically. There are not going to be more jobs. If we -- if we make America the highest taxed country in the world. I mean, my God, this country was formed on the idea that we would be -- would have no taxation without representation, that we would get rid of the high taxes. That`s what the Boston Tea Party was all about.

BECK: Stephen, thanks a lot.

Now let me go to James Carafano. He`s assistant director of the Heritage Foundation, leading expert in defense affairs.

Because that is the other target, James, that she could make the case, and say, look, he is not -- I mean, you want to say he`s JFK, but that actually is a problem if he`s JFK in the world we live in today.

JAMES CARAFANO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, you know, I do policy not politics. But looking back as historian, I mean, JFK did have a real problem, and it is the same problem as Barack Obama, which is Obama has no record.

And when you don`t have a record, you know, how do people believe that you can lead? And what Obama`s done is he`s put a bunch of lines in the sand: I`ll do this, I`ll do that and I`ll do this.

Well, the problem with that is twofold. One is you`re telling the other guys, here`s my playbook. Read what I`m going to do, so you know how to, you know, mess with me. And the other thing is, then people are going to expect you to follow through on that.

And so the problem there could be as, you know, if you say, "This is the line in sand," somebody`s going to put their toe over. And if you don`t do something, then you`ll lose credibility or you may wind up doing something stupid. That`s the problem JFK had. That got him into the Cuban missile crisis. That got him into the nuclear arms race.

BECK: OK. So, your -- your case is that the Soviets were testing him.

CARAFANO: Right. And that`s what people will do here. Obama said, "If somebody attacks, I`m going to invade Pakistan."

OK, so the Taliban says, "Let`s get him to invade Pakistan, because that will be great. Because that will really make the Pakistanis mad, and they`ll throw the Americans out of the country. And then we`ll have a free lunch." So they`ll attack and Afghanistan will say, "OK, now attack Pakistan."

BECK: OK. I did hear -- I did hear Hillary say, "You know, you can`t attack Pakistan. That`s insane."

I was -- I happened to -- the day he said that, I happened to be in the Oval -- Oval Office with President Bush. And I mean, the blood drained out of his face. And he said, "You can`t attack Pakistan. I mean, you just can`t do that. It will set the entire Middle East on fire."

CARAFANO: I mean, you know, it was just Obama trying to appear tough. I mean, you can`t solve the problem of Pakistan by just jumping in and attacking somebody. You`ve got to do what we do in Iraq. You`ve got to have boots on the ground. You`ve got to be persistent. That`s going to be done by the Pakistani military. You have to build them up to do that. This "I`m going to rush in headlong and do something," that just looks very, very immature.

BECK: At the same time, he wants to withdraw troops, which I think you`d agree would be an absolute bloodbath. I mean, George Clooney will be talking about the genocide that is going on in Iran -- Iraq if we just leave.

But the other part of it is, he is so full of hope and idealism and everything else. He wants to negotiate with some of the most brutal people in the world. He wants to sit down with them.

I don`t think he -- I think he -- I think he believes that everybody`s good and so, he fails to recognize evil is evil.

CARAFANO: Well, of course, this is another classic problem of, you know, saying what you`re going to do. You know, when you`re negotiating with somebody, the first negotiation is agreeing to negotiate. So if the first thing you do is say, "I`ll talk to everybody," in essence, you`ve already given away the store, because you already -- you`ve already sacrificed your playing card. If you`re willing to talk with me, you`ve already told me that, you know, I`ve got the upper hand. So it`s just not statesmanlike.

Look, when people normally run for president, they don`t do this. They don`t go out and they say, "This is what I`m going to do with foreign policy. And that`s what I`m going to do with foreign policy." For two reasons: they don`t want to tell everybody else in the world exactly what they`re going to do so people can figure out how to take advantage of him. And the other thing is that, you know, the world`s going to evolve.

I mean, Obama said what he said about Iraq in 2005 when things were very, very bad. Now, things are very, very good. And -- but he made a promise in 2005 to pull the troops out. If you pull the troops out now, you`ll be right back where you were in 2005.

BECK: And if you don`t, you just -- you just peed all over your base that got you in. And now -- I mean, how are you going to deny (ph) anybody.

James, thanks a lot.

Coming up, we`re going to look at the Democrats. They`re fighting it out all of the way to convention, at least that`s what they`re promising. The political carnage, will it leave John McCain the last man standing? Historically speaking, the answer to that is yes.

Plus, signs the government may be gearing up for a nationwide banking disaster. Is there a plan? More importantly, is it a good one?

Then, a disturbing example of how technology is making America worse. Child porn is illegal in this country, unless the child is computer generated. You`re not going to believe it, the people who actually have to decide this stuff and look at these pictures every day, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, all of us are feeling a cash crunch these days. So one company is offering an ingenious plan: debit cards for your 401(k). Fantastic. Now, we`re mortgaging our future. A great idea. The details in tonight`s "Real Story."

But first, there`s a lot of fighting going inside of the Democratic Party these day. A little later on in the program, I`m actually going to tell you about two brothers who got into a knife fight over Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

But, even if the Democratic convention doesn`t turn into "West Side Story," it could hurt the blue-state cause and leave a whole wide-open field for one man, John McCain.

Usually, the best way to unite a group of people is give them a common enemy: that evil Karl Rove. The Democrats don`t see it that way yet. Petty, self-serving interests, overwhelming egos are fracturing the party. If Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to think of themselves first and bring a feud to the convention floor in August, which they say is possible, get ready to rumble over rules and delegates.

And while they`re bickering like an old married couple, John McCain, a near-lock for the Republican nomination, could present a more attractive, less divisive option.

Jonathan Martin is a senior political writer at Politico.

First of all, Jonathan, I`m just looking at the history today. In 1976, you had Kansas City...

JONATHAN MARTIN, THE POLITICO: Right.

BECK: ... where you had President Ford and Ronald Reagan kind of going at it, and Ford lost. Then in 1980, New York City, you had Ed -- Teddy Kennedy going after Jimmy Carter, lost.

MARTIN: Right.

BECK: San Francisco, `84, Gary Hart, Walter Mondale lost. Eighty- eight, Atlanta, Dukakis and Jesse -- Jesse Jackson.

I mean, this has happened in recent times. Do you think it`s actually going to happen this time?

MARTIN: It`s possible, Glenn. But really, in recent history, only the `76 example you cite had any real action, any sort of real suspense as to what was ultimately going to happen there between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.

Look, I don`t think we`re ultimately going to get to a quicker (ph) convention. Us political junkies can dream of that scenario in Denver. But I think long before August, there`s going to be a Democratic nominee. Perhaps as early as next Wednesday, after Ohio and Texas.

BECK: I mean, I think so, too. I mean, I think Hillary Clinton is just so power-hungry, that if she -- she knows if she goes all of the way to the convention with this and pushes it all the way, she`s a pariah. I mean, you don`t want the witch, you know, flying on the broomstick, saying, you know, "Surrender, Hillary."

MARTIN: They do have to consider their legacy. Not just hers but also President Clinton. And so I think that has been the reason for the hesitation to sort of do the so-called scorched earth attacks on -- on Barack Obama, Glenn. They are very, very aware that there is a limit of going too far and sort of being seen as desperate. So that`s why you`ve seen the sort of measure of response. Some days it`s more aggressive than others.

So I think a better scenario, after Ohio and Texas next week, if those races are very, very tight, if Clinton pulls them out -- pulls one of them out, keeps on fighting, I think the next big thing to watch for, Glenn, will be Pennsylvania on April the 22nd. But there`s a lot of time between March 4 and April 22.

BECK: Is she still going after the Michigan, Florida delegates? What`s the update on that one?

MARTIN: Right. Well, there`re also a couple of scenarios, absent the actual state by state contests. One of which, of course, is the super delegates, that group of congressmen, mayors, senators that have a vote for Democrats if they do get to a convention.

Also, as you mentioned, Michigan and Florida, which did actually vote for her but whose delegates are not going to be seated, according to current Democratic rules. She was the only one whose name was on the ballot among those Democrats. So there will be quite a ruckus raised if it got to that point.

BECK: You know, I have to tell you, I don`t believe these super delegates. I mean, first of all, I can`t believe that they`re -- I mean, I can`t believe you can actually legally bribe them and give them money. But you know, Democratic rules.

MARTIN: I think you`re probably right, Glenn. Look, I don`t think it`s going to get to that point.

BECK: There`s no way they would.

MARTIN: The Clintons know ultimately what`s good and bad for the party. And I don`t think that they would go that route, especially if she can`t win next Tuesday in Ohio and Texas.

BECK: OK. Jon, thanks a lot.

MARTIN: Thanks, Glenn.

BECK: Now, coming up, shocking numbers that say less Americans are associating themselves with organized religion. But what does it say about the state of our country?

And if getting access to your 401(k) was easy as using a debit card, would you do it? One company, if they have their way, will make that option a reality. Tonight`s "Real Story."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: There`s a new Pew Research survey that`s out, says 25 percent of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood and joined another religion or just say, "I`m not part of any religion. I can be sacred on a mountain top."

I for one, find it sad and scary with the culture progressing in the ways -- ways that have been unimaginable just a few years ago. We`re losing touch with our moral center. And boy, we need it now more than ever before.

The Pew survey shows that, while all religions are losing in numbers, none are taking as big of a hit as the Catholics are.

Joining me now is William Donahue. He is the president of the Catholic League.

Bill, you know what? I don`t even want to talk about the Catholic Church, if you don`t mind. I want to talk about this as a bigger picture here. I think -- some will say that nobody wants anybody telling them what to do and jamming it down their throat.

I think churches all around are taking hits for the opposite reason, that people -- look, if you`re not going to tell me how to live my life, if you`re not going to help me make my life a better life and help me figure out the framework that will make my life a better life, I`m going to sit in my lazy chair, man. I can -- I can make up my own rules.

I think churches have relaxed the rules so much to the point that they`re irrelevant.

WILLIAM DONAHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: Well, you know, there`s a lot of truth to that. If you take a look at evangelical Protestants there. They`re not losing numbers. It`s the mainline Protestants who`ve assimilated into the culture.

Orthodox Jews, they`re gaining members.

And the Catholic Church, it`s kind of interesting, because you have a lot of these people who are in their 50s and 60s, who came out of the 1960s. They`re still angry at the Catholic Church, because it didn`t change the way they wanted it to. Others have just become purely lazy people.

As they get closer to death, a lot of these people will begin to rethink what`s going on.

BECK: Yes, but see, here`s -- I mean, you bring up a good point. They say it didn`t change the way they wanted to it to. Well, first of all, that`s part of the problem over in Europe, is these churches -- and it`s all denominations, really -- some of them have just gone right into politics.

And they`re -- and you listen to these ministers, and they get up and they start talking to you about the way the government should be or how we should be as a society. Not an inner change but an outer change. That`s why the -- the governments are telling people exactly what to say in Europe. And that`s why the churches are failing. We`re doing it here voluntarily.

DONAHUE: That`s right. You know, and the more you can`t distinguish between a church`s teachings and that of the cultural norm, you`re in trouble. The United Church of Christ has lost 50 percent of its members in the last 10 years. Episcopalians are going south. The Methodist, the Lutherans, but not the evangelicals.

Now, in the Catholic community, again, you know, you have a lot of young people who are somewhat disenchanted. But as soon as they hit their thirties and get married and have kids, they`ll come back.

The big scary thing, the common denominator, is this. More and more people say, I am spiritual but I`m not religious.

BECK: Yes.

DONAHUE: What does that mean? It`s the privatization of religion. I will make up my own moral code. You know, as society crashes, when you don`t have moral cohesion, you don`t have people walking around on automatic pilot, the idea of the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not, is actually a good product for most people, even though many people reject it.

BECK: Bill, this is -- this is exactly the reason. I think the churches taught that. You know, through the `60 and `70s and early `80s, they taught that. They said, you can just make it up. Whatever feels good. Well, we`re just going to change this, and we`re going to change this. And so they talked that, really, the churches could make it up as they go along. Why can`t you? I mean, I`d sit at home and say, why get up on a Sunday? I`ll just make it up at home.

DONAHUE: Well, if you can`t distinguish between a priest`s homily on Sunday and an editorial in "The New York Times" then you`re in trouble. And this is exactly what happens.

I taught Catholic schools in the 1970s in Spanish Harlem...

BECK: Yes.

DONAHUE: And at that time, all we were talking about God loves us. It`s got to be a little bit more than that, I`m sorry.

BECK: Bill, thank you very much. Back with "The Real Story" in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, law enforcement agencies are having problems distinguishing between real child porn and digitally-enhanced photographs depicting child porn. And our government actually believes there`s a difference between these two. And believe it or not, it is somebody`s job to look through all of this porn, and I want to talk to that unhappy person -- they`ve got to be unhappy -- next.

But first, welcome to the "Real Story."

Over the last 12 months, wholesale prices have risen to their highest rate since the early Reagan years. Inflation is back, and it is big. And you know it if you have bought eggs or milk at the grocery store. You know exactly what it means to your checkbook.

Now, if you`re living on the financial edge, there are people who have already maxed out their credit cards, their home equity lines. And there`s only one way to get extra cash, and that is something that would have seemed unthinkable to Americans just a few years ago. They are now raiding their 401(k)s.

In the old days -- you know, like in 2005 -- we actually tried to discourage people from draining their nest egg. But not anymore. These days, you can actually use a debit card to withdraw money directly from your retirement account at an ATM machine.

No surprise, this idea is catching on. How long before we bail these bozos out?

We`ll get to wisdom of this credit card here in just a second, but the "Real Story" is, 401(k) debit cards are just another example of how we are all learning a dangerous lesson from our government. They have taught us not to worry about retirement. Social Security will be there. No it won`t.

They`ve taught us, buy what you want, when you want it. They`ve taught us, live for the present, not the future. Well, guess what? We`ve listened, America, and we`ve learned these lessons.

One of the country`s largest 401(k) providers recently reported loans among their accounts were up 13 percent last year. Even worse, hardship withdrawals -- these are the ones where they make you pay 10 percent tax penalty -- up 14 percent.

Hardship withdrawals from Fidelity 401(k)s up 17 percent. That is the largest rise in that company`s history.

Here`s the problem -- when all of these people who no longer have a 401(k) pension plan, or Social Security to fall back on, realize they can`t retire, guess who foots the bill for the massive government program that will be needed to take care of them all? You will.

Jennifer Waters, the personal finance editor at MarketWatch.

Jennifer, have you ever heard of a more stupid idea than debit cards for your 401(k)?

JENNIFER WATERS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR, MARKETWATCH: Well, the idea overall of taking money out of your 401(k) is stupid to begin with. I mean, that has no bearing on anything. I mean, you should -- your retirement money is there for one thing, your retirement. So you should keep it there.

But having said that, Glenn, there are people who have catastrophic events that happen in their life.

BECK: No, no, no, look -- no, wait, wait, wait. Jennifer, I have taken money out of my 401(k). I don`t remember what the deal was, but it was a catastrophic event in my life. And I had to have the money and I took the money out. But that`s what it`s there for, for emergencies.

And there are people that -- we`re not talking about that. We`re talking about debit cards.

WATERS: But this is not a whole lot different though, Glenn, than taking it out of there. I mean, you can`t -- you don`t just get a debit card that has access to your total 401(k) that you can just go and use as you would on your -- maybe your line of credit on your home. But this is little bit different.

It`s a little bit tougher to get the money out. But once you get it out -- you know, when you take it out from your 401(k), as you well know, you have to do a certain amount of money. You have to let your company know how much you`ve got -- or how much you want and why you want it. You have to explain to them what that event is.

And then you have to pay taxes on it. And then you have to repay it back in, say, a five-year time period. Now, the biggest risk then is if you lose your job or you switch jobs. You have to then -- they`re going to say to you, OK, we need the lump payment, no matter how much it is within, say, 60 or 90 days. That`s huge.

But beyond all that, you also have to take into consideration that, kind of a rule of thumb is, for every $1,000 you take out, you can expect that`s going to be equal to about $10,000 down the road. So, I mean, overall, it`s just stupid to do it.

But if you`re doing this plan, if you need to do it, and you do this plan, you don`t tend -- well, they claim that you don`t tend to take as much out. But you also -- you don`t have the huge fees. You don`t have the huge foods.

BECK: Come on, Jennifer. We are generation now. That`s what we are.

And you know that this is targeted to the younger people. It is not - - this is not an emergency plan. This is a way for people to get access to their money, spend their money. And this is just a bad idea. You know as well as I know that the younger people just don`t think that retirement is even going to be there for them.

WATERS: Well, that`s a really good point. And I think what this might even be doing is compounding the problem for younger people, because most people in their 20s or 30s can pretty much tell you right now, they don`t plan on Social Security ever helping them out.

BECK: That`s why you have a 401(k).

WATERS: That`s why you have a 401(k). So you shouldn`t touch it.

BECK: Jennifer, thank you very much.

Now, the number of American homes facing foreclosure was up 57 percent in the last year. In Fort Myers, Florida, one out of every 86 homes is now in some stage of foreclosure process.

History shows us that when things turn bad in one corner of market, people flee to safety. To most people there`s no place safer for your cash than a good old-fashioned bank account. After all, it is FDIC insured, right? I`ve seen that sticker ever since I was a kid, but I don`t even know what that means. Where does that magic bailout money really come from?

A few months ago, I asked my "Fusion" magazine staff to look into those questions -- and we`ll get into what they found here in just a minute. But the "Real Story" is that the FDIC is simply not prepared to handle any kind of immediate crisis. And now they`re scrambling to play catch-up.

Earlier today, the FDIC released its list of problem banks and institutions that may not have enough capital to prevent a collapse. There are now 76 banks on that list. That`s up from 47 at the end of the 2006.

But should that number jump anywhere close to the -- I think it was 572 banks that made the list of the savings and loans crisis of the early 1990s -- the FDIC may not be ready to respond. Back then the FDIC had 15,000 employees. Now they have less of a third of that.

Back then, the government spent over $90 billion to bail out these failed banks. Right now, FDIC has just $52 billion in reserves.

Realizing that things could quickly worsen, the FDIC is now trying to "bulk up" for preparedness purposes by bringing back 25 veteran employees from the S&L crisis that had retired. But is that really enough?

And what happens if your local bank, or, god forbid, one of these big national banks fails?

Jaret Seiber is the Washington policy analyst for The Stanford Group.

Jaret, first of all, let me start with the FDIC. Seventy-six banks, up from 47. I don`t even know how the FDIC works. Is this -- do they take our tax money and do this?

How does this work?

JARET SEIBER, WASHINGTON POLICY ANALYST, STANFORD GROUP: Well, it`s a great question. Banks pay insurance premiums. And for a long time the FDIC fund was so overly-capitalized that banks didn`t have to pay anything. And that changed a couple of years ago, and banks have been paying in. And they have built up this reserve that the agency is supposed to tap in times of trouble.

BECK: OK. So -- but the FDIC was designed in during the Great Depression. It was not designed for the system that we have now. It wasn`t -- nobody -- there weren`t these gigantic banks. They were all local banks pretty much, right?

SEIBER: That`s true. But it was designed to prevent a run on banks from having depositors panic and run down and pull their money out, and thus cause a bank to fail and cause everyone to lose.

BECK: OK. All right.

Now, a hundred banks fail. The small ones that are, you know, your mom and pop banks, you say that`s not a bad thing?

SEIBER: Well, you know, bank failures happen during a credit cycle. And what happens is, some banks always get too aggressive. And they`re not able to cover their losses. And the agencies have very strict rules about when they have to step in. That`s one of the reasons why the FDIC is trying to get ready. You know, they know that we`re going through a typical credit cycle and they want to be prepared.

BECK: OK. So they`ve only got like $52 billion. What happens if -- and I know you don`t believe this could happen -- and if I hear this once, I`ve heard it a thousands times -- oh, things like Citigroup, that could never fail.

Really? It could never fail?

What about the huge bank because of the scandal in France? What about the bank in London? What was that, $299 billion that the government had to absorb?

What happens if, god forbid, one of these big banks in America fails?

SEIBER: Well, I mean, that`s what`s everyone always worries about. And regulators have been talking about that for more of a decade. The question really becomes, can we really ever allow a bank that is so large as some of our mega banks to go down? And the answer seems to be no, and they don`t...

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Right, but what does that mean? I mean, first, you`re just passing the problem on.

Everybody says we couldn`t let Citibank -- it`s too big, we could never let them fail. Well, but you`ve got a system where our government has so much debt already, they would have to borrow all that money from someplace else and borrow it from China. How do we not fail by not letting a bank fail?

SEIBER: Well, again, it`s another great question, because, clearly, money does have to come from somewhere. But the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have the ability to pump money into the banking system.

And that`s what they look to do during a time of crisis. And the decision has to be made as to whether or not it`s better for the economy and better for taxpayers to keep an institution standing, even if the shareholders are wiped out. Remember, we`re talking about bailing out the shareholders.

BECK: I know.

SEIBER: We`re merely talking about preserving the institution to save the deposit.

BECK: OK. Jaret, thank you very much.

SEIBER: Yes.

BECK: That`s the "Real Story" tonight. And if these kind of stories are interesting to you, you might want to seek therapeutic help, or looking into subscribing to my magazine, "Fusion" magazine. It is not "The Economist," and it is also not "Mad" magazine.

If you like great, thought-provoking stories with a sense of humor, also conservative viewpoint, then "Fusion" is right up your alley.

You can subscribe right now by going to glennbeck.com and clicking on the magazine button.

Coming up, the battle against child porn is getting tougher. I`m going to talk to somebody who is on the front line. You are not going to believe this person`s job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Last year there was a group of people in Virginia that looked closely at over five million images of child porn, and none of them were arrested. In fact, they`re being given more child porn to look at this year.

The group runs what`s called the Child Victim Identification Program. It is their job, believe it or not, to separate real child porn from computer-generated child porn.

Now, I don`t see a difference between the two, but apparently the Supreme Court ruled that computer-generated child porn, legal, it`s cool. Prosecutors around the country found themselves now having to prove to juries that the pictures that their cases were based on were real.

Fortunately, there are a few brave people out there like Christine Feller. She is the program manager of the Child Victim Identification Program.

I have to tell you, Christine, I think you have the worst job I have ever heard. You and how many people every day look at child pornography and try to figure out if it`s real or not?

CHRISTINE FELLER, CHILD VICTIM IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM: Within our team at the Child Victim Identification Program, we have 11 individuals who are reviewing these image and video files every day. Collectively, within the cyber tip line, we have a total of 30 individuals who look at it. But specifically, the CVIP, 11 of us.

BECK: OK. I`ll get to the facts here in just a second. First I have to ask, how do you do this job? How do you -- how do you look vile at images day after day? How many in an average day do you see?

FELLER: On an average day, we can review anywhere between 1,000 images within a 45-minute segment.

BECK: Oh my gosh.

FELLER: So, I could be looking at anywhere between 5,000 and 15,000 files depending on what the content is and how quickly I can move through that.

BECK: I don`t -- I don`t even want to imagine the most vile stuff that you have seen, because it`s video and stills.

FELLER: Correct.

BECK: Again, the question is, how do you do it? How do you -- how do you keep your humanity? How do you not go crazy?

FELLER: Right, Glenn. And that`s a question that`s commonly asked, is, how can you do it? But, however, knowing what is out there and having viewed these images and video files of child being sexually assaulted -- these are children who are as young as, you know, newborns, who are being raped by adult males that we`re looking at. Knowing that it`s out there, how could we not work with law enforcement in trying to review these files?

BECK: No, I understand that.

FELLER: Right.

BECK: But, I mean, there`s got to be -- you`re just like going to war. I mean, you`ve got to go out and you fight evil. But goodness, gracious, it`s got to leave scars on you.

FELLER: Well, definitely. You know, myself and other individuals in the unit, we can definitely say that we view life now through a different lens because of what we have seen. When I am out in public and I view interactions between, you know, children and adults, I definitely look at them differently.

BECK: I only have 30 -- about 45 seconds. And I`ve got two questions that I just want to -- I could spend forever with you, because I`m so fascinated by this.

One, you must have a real good screening process on who you work with, because this would be like a pedophile`s dream come true job. Yes or no?

FELLER: Obviously, yes, it would be.

BECK: OK.

FELLER: And we have a very, very tough process.

BECK: OK. And the second one is, does anybody really think there`s a difference between a computer-generated child being molested and a real child being molested as far as the person who`s viewing it?

FELLER: Right. With the person viewing it, obviously they have specific reasons for looking at that. And our focus when we look at each one of those images and videos, it`s to look to see, does this appear to be an identified victim that law enforcement has already notified us that, yes, I have met this child, I`ve interviewed them, and I`ve reviewed them from that victimization?

BECK: Holy cow. Christine, God bless you. And to your team, hats off to you. Keep up the good work. I don`t know how you do it, but God bless you.

All right. Let`s take a positive turn now to tonight`s "Real America," brought to you this evening by CSX. One man has take an unconventionally direct approach by helping the homeless. And by doing so, Felix Middleton is not only helping others, he`s also helping himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice over): Down in the basement of The Phoenix House, a drug treatment center in Brooklyn, New York, sits an electrical closet. But there are no circuit breakers or wires here. Instead, you`ll find a makeshift closet filled with sleeping bags, purses, and tons of tossed-out material. And a few feet away from that sits Felix Middleton, sewing, designing, and single-handedly making a difference one stitch at a time.

FELIX MIDDLETON, FOUNDER, PROJECT WEAR: This is one of the bags, the sleeping bags that I have made already. These plastic bags that are holding the sleeping bags, they were donated from a church in Queens.

BECK: It`s called Project Wear. The idea came to Felix while he was being treated for his own drug problems at The Phoenix House.

MIDDLETON: When I came here the facility was getting new blankets. And some of the older ones were damaged. They were going to throw them out. And I decided that since I was a tailor, maybe I could -- I put in a request with the director that I can make them into sleeping bags and go and give them out to homeless people.

BECK: He slowly stitched his idea into reality. And now he makes sleeping bags, sweatshirts, even umbrellas. Whatever material is donated, Felix will turn it into something useful. On weekends he hands them out to homeless people in need.

MIDDLETON: The person was asking for money, right? They were laying there. They had their blanket. They were laying on the street, they had a cup for money.

But when I said, "You know, I make these sleeping bags and I give them out to homeless people. I don`t have any money to give you at this moment," but the person was -- they were overjoyed. They were like, "You mean you`re going to give me this instead of giving me a $1?"

BECK: Ironically, Felix says if it wasn`t for the treatment center and Project Wear, he would be on the streets again, in the exact same situation as the people he`s handing sleeping bags out to.

MIDDLETON: I would have been sleeping in the parks, like I`ve done once before. It`s a shame that we as New Yorkers, we walk by people like this. And we consider it just like a piece of paper on the ground. We walk by them, and it`s like they`re not even there.

If one person tries to help, maybe another person will help. And then maybe another person will help. And maybe another person will help. We`ll have a lot more help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: As a recovering alcoholic and former scumbag myself, I know that the answer always lies in helping others.

If you would like to get involved and help out, log on to CNN.com/glenn. Look for the "Project Wear" section. There you`ll find out all the information on how to donate material.

Tonight`s "Real America" sponsored by CSX. It`s how tomorrow moves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, regardless of the outcome of Ohio and Texas, we do know one thing -- Hillary has told in the last debate that, no matter what happens, she`s going to be fine. I`m not sure if Obama is that confident considering his wife hasn`t found anything in America to be proud of since her adult life began.

But one thing we know for sure -- we know that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are bringing everyone together under the banner of hope and change. Right? Hopefully, we can bring the words "hope" and "change" together. Ah, chope and hange -- chopange.

Apparently two men, Jose Antonio Ortiz (ph), and Sean Shorels (ph) didn`t get the memo of chopange. Sean (ph) is an Obama supporter. His brother-in-law, Jose, is a Clinton supporter.

And it all started when the Obama guy said to the Clinton guy, Barack Obama is trashing Hillary. Despite the fact that this is undeniably true, the Clinton guy was upset and responded with some vicious trash talk himself.

He said, oh yes? Well, Obama isn`t a realist. And you know with fierce talk like that things were about to get ugly.

So, first, Obama guy and Clinton guy continued to argue. It began to get a little bit more heated, and at one point Obama guy came up behind Clinton guy and began to choke him from behind.

Sounds like the typical response to political discourse in this country. But things continued to escalate.

Clinton guy says the next thing he remembered was waking up on the floor while Obama guy was still choking him. The struggle continued when he was punched in the face by Obama guy. Finally, Clinton guy able to push Obama guy off of him and get both Clinton and Obama guy up off the floor.

So then Obama guy ran upstairs to get away because somehow or another in the middle of all of this, police say the Clinton guy wound up stabbing Obama guy. Oops.

For his part, Clinton guy says he doesn`t remember stabbing Obama guy. Never even saw a knife.

Later, Clinton guy changed his story, which is kind of surprising coming from Clinton guy. He said he saw a knife lying on the floor, he picked it up, put it in the dishwasher, that`s where it was found by police.

Thankfully, we have two Democratic candidates that can end all of this divisiveness. Now all we can do is hope that Obama guy isn`t one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance.

Don`t forget, if you would like to have more information on the news of the day, sign up for my free e-mail newsletter right now at glennbeck.com.

From New York, goodnight, America.

END