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Glenn Beck

Innovative Solutions to Oil Crisis Proposed; Are Days of Cheap Oil Gone?; Hillary Wins by Double Digits in Pennsylvania; Actor Promotes Buying American

Aired April 23, 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, record-breaking oil prices threaten our way of life. Yet, we`re still unwilling to tap into our own resources. That`s the question: why? And drilling in Alaska, is it the answer yet?

And, Hillary Clinton takes Pennsylvania.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I`ve won the states that we have to win.

BECK: For the love of Pete, when will this thing ever end?

And what happens when the world`s largest provider of hunger aid gets hunger pains itself? I`ll tell you the disastrous global repercussions of an American food crisis.

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

I know I`m not telling you anything new. But doesn`t it seem like everything seems to be going in the wrong direction? I mean, the dollar is hitting record lows. That`s happening virtually every day. Oil, gas, food, hitting record highs. That`s -- you know, maybe it`s just me. It doesn`t seem like the best recipe for avoiding that recession that President Bush and everybody else, you know, cross their heart and hope to die, swears we`re not in.

Here`s "The Point" tonight. I hate to say this, but I believe it`s true. If we don`t wake up pretty soon, then history is going to one day judge America as the most suicidal superpower of all time. And here`s how I got there.

Even a big, dumb rodeo clown like me understands food and fuel, the price of them, go hand in hand. Look at the numbers. Since 2005 food prices are up about 83 percent. Gas price, up 81 percent. Wow, what a coincidence. Not so much.

I -- honestly, I`ve been thinking about this all day. I don`t know if it`s our stupidity or our arrogance. I think -- I think it`s our arrogance. Maybe it`s a little bit of both. We`ve taken food and fuel and loaded them into a gun and aimed it right at our own heads.

Think about this. On food, we have spent decades giving government subsidies to incentivize the wrong things. We`ve mandated that huge areas of this fertile land of ours, farmland, stay open for conservation. Then, we`re using grains that could feed tens of millions of people to make a crappy biofuel that barely works. And you can`t buy it anywhere, anyplace. Is that arrogance or stupidity?

Our fuel policy, even been more crazy. We`re now almost 100 percent at the mercy of foreign countries. Many of them hate our guts. That`s arrogance and suicidal stupidity. President Bush asked about this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We`ve had an energy policy that neglected hydrocarbons in the United States for a long period of time, and now we`re paying the price. We should have been exploring for oil and gas in ANWR, for example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Yes. How many times do we have to hear this? Yes, we should have been drilling in ANWR. We should have been drilling there a decade ago. Along with the national parks, the wildlife preserves. We should have been in the Gulf of Mexico. You know what? I`ll drill right through the head of a freakin` caribou, if we need to. Call me crazy, but I think the United States of America should survive. But now, a little too late, a little too little.

Opening ANWR now, kind of like stopping to go to the bathroom on the way to the electric chair. You know, you`re only really delaying the inevitable. Why don`t you wait?

So tonight, here`s what you need to know, America. Believe it or not, I actually think $120 oil actually has an upside, as crazy as that sounds. It means that a lot of alternatives will finally make economic sense.

For instance, back in 1980 -- I don`t know if you know this -- Congress created the Synthetic Fuels Corporation, gave them the equivalent of $223 billion in today`s dollars to create two million barrels a day of synthetic oil. Six years later, we shut it down. Why? Because, OPEC knew we weren`t serious. They dropped the price of oil to under $14 a barrel and put Synthetic Fuels Corporation right out of business.

Well, you know what? The math doesn`t work that way anymore. We can make synthetic oil for about $45 a barrel. A 60 percent discount from what it costs us to buy the real stuff from people who hate us and want to kill us. So let me be the big, dumb rodeo clown here who asks the obvious question. Why won`t -- why aren`t we doing that?

Tom Wallin is the president of Energy Intelligence.

Tom, why aren`t we doing that?

TOM WALLIN, PRESIDENT, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: Why aren`t we...

BECK: Why aren`t we -- why aren`t we drilling in ANWR? Why aren`t we drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? Why aren`t we making synthetic fuels? Why are sitting on all of this technology and everything else and doing nothing?

WALLIN: Well, I think the main reason is there isn`t a political constituency to go into these areas and develop those reserves and -- potential reserves that are out there. We have a kind of a gridlock in Washington on the policy side that doesn`t permit anything to go forward there.

BECK: So what does the price have to before we start -- for instance, to drill here in America, you need 1,000 different permits to be able to drill. I mean, even the Department of Homeland Security -- I love this -- when they tried to build the fence, they have so many permits that they have to do.

They have so many laws on the books that they finally said, "OK, we`re the government. We suspend all of these laws to be able to buy the -- to be able to build the border fence."

How much does it have to be before we start saying, "None of this is making sense. Let`s start drilling. Let`s start making synthetic fuels out of coal oil"?

WALLIN: Well, I think that $4 gasoline is getting people`s attention. I think the problem here, though, is that this is a long process. All of the fixes for the problems that we`re facing in terms of oil prices and oil supply are -- take a long time. They take a lot of investment.

They`re not things that can be switched on. Even if you got the permits tomorrow and started developing all this area that`s off-limits. It would take years and years to bring on the supply.

BECK: But you know and I know it`s only going to get worse. Even with new fuels coming onboard, we can`t afford to leave any kind of energy on the table. I mean, you know what -- you know what the amazing thing about the arrogance of our own government -- correct me if I am wrong.

Aren`t the military -- aren`t they now flying jets with synthetic fuels? Didn`t they just test this? Aren`t they the ones who are really pursuing the coal to oil so the military can operate?

WALLIN: Well, yes, there`s -- the U.S. military`s largest petroleum buyer the world. And they have a program. It`s partly, you know, driven by these exact issues you`re talking about in terms of self-sufficiency and so forth to develop alternative fuels.

They`re obviously not in the fuel business themselves. They`re trying to create a market that will supply them with these kind of fuels. So they`re changing the specifications for jet fuel. They`re changing the requirement. There`s legislation to change the purchase process, so they can have long-term contracts.

There are number of steps that are underway by the military to do this. And coal to liquids is just one of them. They`re also talking about biofuels, too. Second-generation biofuels.

BECK: Yes, yes. Tom, thanks. I appreciate it.

Now we have to switch gears here. The world may not be running out of oil anytime soon, but it is running out of cheap oil. And that`s what really matters, isn`t it? I mean, our whole economy is built on cheap oil.

Next year Saudi Arabia`s planning to bring an enormous new oil field online. It is the size of Connecticut. Great news, right? Not really. The oil that is -- they`re bringing out of the ground is costing them billions of dollars, possibly four times more per barrel than any other oil that we`ve ever extracted.

So what happens to the oil price and the gas price when those costs start to get factored in over in Saudi Arabia?

Simon Henderson is a Baker fellow at the Washington Institute and director of the institute`s gulf and energy policy program.

Simon, are we at the place now where cheap oil is at an end?

SIMON HENDERSON, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE: Cheap oil to get out of the ground is at the end. And the Saudis have been getting most of their oil out of the ground for $2 or $3 a barrel. When you consider the price is near $120 a barrel, it means that they`ve been getting a profit of $117 for each barrel.

They`re going to have to take less of a profit. But they`ll still be in the money. But we, as consumers, will still be paying relatively high prices at the pump. It might go up and down a bit. But the days of really cheap oil are probably gone for us. And it`s probably a good thing.

BECK: OK. I was looking at the major suppliers of oil to our country. And -- because my thesis -- I got up this morning. I was reading some stuff. I thought, we`re just suicidal.

If I said, "Hey, let`s build our entire economy on these countries, on products that we must have from these countries." Canada, OK, good. Mexico, pretty good but a little unstable. Saudi Arabia. The next in line is Venezuela and Nigeria. You`d say, "What, are you crazy? We can`t do that."

We`re in bed with some of the worst countries, and they all hate us. How much longer -- how much longer before we start waking up?

HENDERSON: Well, it`s a good -- it`s a fair point. Although, I think you`re being a little harsh, perhaps not on Canada but certainly on Mexico...

BECK: No, no, Mexico -- look, you know and I know, 7.8 percent reduction in -- in their oil fields and their oil production just last year. And come on. Mexico`s a stable country? I mean, it`s not the -- you know, it`s not South America. But...

HENDERSON: Well, we`ve got to twist the Mexicans` arms so that they can bring in more conducive investment regime. So that they can get more oil out of the ground.

Venezuela, it`s a good example, but Venezuela, at the moment, only shouts nasty words at us. The oil is still good, and they still want to sell it in our direction.

Nigeria, their oil is good, as well. Although they seem to have tremendous domestic problems at home with all sorts of trouble going on there.

BECK: All right. Simon, thank you very much.

I mean, America, let me ask you an honest question. I mean, do you think Rush Limbaugh would say, "Hey, I should use all of MoveOn.org`s servers." No! Not really a friend. Stop it.

Coming up, Hillary said the road to the White House went through Pennsylvania. What about North Carolina? Can she continue this seemingly improbable comeback? You bet she can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, the growing global food crisis has people pointing fingers. Guess which direction? Yes, us again. We`re not the most popular kid on the planet, even though that we are the most generous. So now, what happens when that generosity slips because of our economic strain? Oh, the answer in tonight`s "Real Story."

But first, last night, Pennsylvania Democratic Pennsylvania primary was won by Hillary Clinton by a 10-point margin. She proved, once again, that she will just not go away.

It`s really not surprising that she won. Just about everybody saw it coming. However, what is surprising is the exit poll results, at least to many. Hillary won the majority of Pennsylvania gun owners, churchgoers, blue-collar workers and moderate Democrats. She is closing the delegate gap between her and Obama. And then there`s the pesky little popular vote. You know, the little people and what they actually think.

Well, with the Keystone State victory and the disputed totals of Florida and Michigan, if you factor those in, she now leads in the popular vote, which means unless Obama can win Indiana, the nomination decision will lie with the super delegates. Which is exactly the way they like it: let the elite make the decision for the Democratic Party.

Mary Matalin is a former White House advisor, Republican strategist.

Hello, Mary.

MARY MATALIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hello, Glenn. How are you?

BECK: I -- you know, good. I actually think that the best way to describe the difference between a conservative and a liberal is just to look at the delegate system and the way it has been lined up by both parties.

The Republicans are like, let the chips fall where they may.

MATALIN: Right.

BECK: The Democrats have put the super delegates in there, because they believe that it`s the best because the little people just might make a mistake.

MATALIN: There is that. There is that whole notion of superiority, which the Democratic elite faction of the party has long exuded.

But there`s also this other element of Democrat nature, which is there`s never any losers. Everybody`s going to win. It`s like day care. Do you know? Like every -- all the kids run around and everybody gets a seat. There`s no such thing as musical chairs. And what do you learn? You wouldn`t raise your kids like that.

BECK: You know what? There`s going be a big loser. It may just end up being the Democratic Party. I can`t -- I cannot believe how this thing is just being screwed up every step of the way. It has got to get more divisive if one of them is going to walk away the winner.

MATALIN: It doesn`t matter how it goes, because they`re not going to let Obama lose. The super delegates are -- have put their -- invested in Obama. That`s what they -- they will go down with the ship on this. And not...

BECK: He`s damaged goods.

MATALIN: They don`t care. If they don`t -- if they take it away from him, they will blow up the party. They don`t really care if they win the White House, because they presume they`re going to hang onto both chambers of -- of Congress, where they can continue being the object of special interests. And that`s what they`re going to do. They don`t care. They think they can work with McCain, and that`s the way it`s going to go.

BECK: Let me -- let me show you an ad from the GOP that`s running now in South Carolina. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor.

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, FORMER PASTOR, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: And then wants us to sing "God bless America." No, no, no. Not God bless America. God (EXPLETIVE DELETED) America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, Beth Purdue and Richard Moore endorse Barack Obama. They should know better. He`s just too extreme for North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The North Carolina Republican Party sponsored this ad, opposing Beth Pursue and Richard Moore for North Carolina governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK, here`s -- here`s the GOP using an ad to not go after Barack Obama but to go after others. I mean, this guy is an anchor around the Democratics` neck. And do they see that at all?

MATALIN: They -- now, you have absolutely put your thumb on the pulse on where they could turn against him. If he starts hurting the down-ticket races. As I`ve said, they care more about maintaining their majorities in Congress than they do about the White House. And if he looks like he`s hurting those down-ticket races, that will be problematic.

As you know, their greatest expanse, particularly in the houses, was conservative Democrats. Even there in North Carolina. That is a conservative state. Indiana, conservative Democrats took Republican seats. It looks like all of his peccadilloes, from Wright to Ayers to -- there`s another one, Saddam`s bag man, coming out soon. If those look like they`re weighing down the bottom races, the down-ticket races, very problematic.

BECK: OK. He is going now -- they`re saying that he`s going to start going after Travelgate and Whitewater and all these things. I mean, they`re going to go after this.

And then I saw in an interview with him, where a reporter was trying to ask him, "Hey, how do you go with -- and meet with Syria and Iran but not with Hamas, like Jimmy Carter?"

And Obama said, "Let me just eat my waffle. Can you let me just eat my waffle?"

I think this guy -- I think they`re tired. I think that he is surprised that people are now starting to come out, just like Bill Clinton was. I think you`re going to see the ugly side of these people.

MATALIN: Well, they`re all tired. And that`s what is Mrs. Clinton`s strength. I mean, she`s the ever -- she`s the Energizer bunny. She just keeps on. You can`t knock her down. And people like that she`s fighting. Democrats particularly like that. They like that fight in her, although, again, they`re not going to give it to her.

And his issue was he cannot connect to people. He just cannot connect. They`ve created this monster. They had this messianic myth that they blew up, and now they`re stuck with him.

BECK: Yes. Mary, thanks a lot.

MATALIN: Thank you.

BECK: Now, coming up, we`ll speak to a man who does it all, from television to animated films. Now he`s advocating on behalf of the American workers to save manufacturing jobs. He`s coming up next.

Now, in case there`s any confusion, we`ll try to find out what Hillary really meant when she said she was willing to obliterate Iran. That sounds hot. Like, 7,000 degrees hot. End of days? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, since starring as Cliff in "Cheers," my next guest has stayed incredibly busy. He lends a voice to every single Pixar movie you`ve possibly seen. And he`s set to begin a new brand-new season of his big series, "John Ratzenberger`s Made in America." Good friend, John Ratzenberger.

How are you, sir?

JOHN RATZENBERGER, ACTOR: Glenn, always good to see you.

BECK: Good to see you. I`m sorry, that we`re actually not in the -- I think we`re in the same building.

RATZENBERGER: We`re in the same building but two different rooms.

BECK: Yes. It`s -- that` television for you.

Tell me -- you know, we`ve been talking on the program the last few days about farmers. We`ve been talking about the American worker, the truckers. And times are starting to get tough for everybody. What are you sensing when you go across the country and you -- you`re filming "Made in America"?

RATZENBERGER: Well, an enormous frustration, because the seats of power are woefully out of touch with the people in the rest of the country, as we know. New York and Los Angeles really don`t understand their audiences in the media. You do, certainly. But not many people do.

Washington is certainly out of touch. When you have presidential candidates showing up at a bowling alley and think that people are stupid enough to say, "Wow, she`s at the bowling alley. Wow, I`m voting for her. He`s eating a waffle. He`s getting my vote."

I hate that. I hate that, when they`re flipping pancakes. And that`s -- and that`s what you see. Do you think I`m this stupid?

RATZENBERGER: I mean, you can`t be more disingenuous.

BECK: Yes.

RATZENBERGER: You want to impress me, change the oil in my car.

BECK: Right. I don`t think I could even do that, John -- but here`s the thing. When I hear the politicians talk about, you know, "Hey, we`re going to get the American worker their job."

And then they propose, you know, giant health-care packages that the - - that the companies are going to have to do, or they`re going to tax these companies even more when we have the highest tax rate, what -- what can anybody do to help the jobs in America come back?

RATZENBERGER: Well, reinstate shop courses, because everyone`s forgetting the average of a factory worker now is 52 years old. Six to ten years, they`re gone. There`s nobody coming up after them.

The average high school student cannot read a ruler when they graduate from high school. And that`s the biggest concern right now of CEOs across the country.

BECK: Yes.

RATZENBERGER: As a matter of fact, the folks at my foundation, we`re going to be putting together a summit before the end of the year, of 200 to 300 politicians, educators, CEOs, union leaders. Because they`re all very aware of this. But the media hasn`t picked up on it yet. We`re heading for an industrial tsunami, because we haven`t taught our children the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver.

BECK: John, I have to tell you, it is our arrogance. You know, we used to -- we were so arrogant that we`ll always make steel.

RATZENBERGER: Right.

BECK: We`ll always make the best car. And then when that changed in the 1970s, we -- we became this really sick, arrogant nation that said, "Oh, well, they`ll always need us as we buy our products." That`s not true. We have to be able to have some skills of our own to be able to survive and rebuild.

RATZENBERGER: That`s right. That`s World War II for us. It wasn`t because we were bigger, faster, stronger. It`s because we made things.

BECK: Yes.

RATZENBERGER: And now we have other countries making goods for our own military.

BECK: So John, you let me know when that summit is coming, because I`d like to cover that. Real quick, because I`ve only got 10 seconds. Are you in "WALL-E"?

RATZENBERGER: OK. We`ll invite you. You can be one of the speakers.

BECK: I`d love to. Are you in "WALL-E"?

RATZENBERGER: Oh, yes, sure. Of course. We started "Toy Story 3."

BECK: All right. John, thanks a lot. We`ll talk to you again soon, my friend.

Back in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, when it comes to politicians, talk is cheap. Of course, none of their ideas are ever cheap. But I mean, it`s not very often that you actually get one who will actually do what they say. So I`m not sure if I should worry when Hillary Clinton said that if Iran attacked Israel, the U.S. would "be able to totally obliterate them."

What does that -- is she prepared to push the button or does she just not understand the end of the world scenario that many in the Middle East understand. We`ll find out in just a bit.

Now first let`s go to the "Real Story." I told you last night, the two biggest issues facing America, food and gas, right? Doesn`t get any simpler than that. And every time you stop for a tank of gas or shop for groceries, you probably get just as insane as I do, blood shooting out of my eyes.

But we`re not alone. Soon the rest of the world could be even angrier than we are. And in many places, they are already in the streets. No secret that a lot of countries hate us. Right? We have been hearing it for the last few years. The "Real Story" is, our food and fuel crisis may end up turning the rest of the planet against us.

A number of countries in the Middle East and Asia hate America for a myriad of reasons. How about this one. Just our decadent secular lifestyle. We export sub-mental morally bankrupt television shows like "Gossip Girl" or "The Hills," or -- man, I saw something last night on MTV that made blood shoot out of my eyes. We elevate crazies like Britney Spears to icon status.

We worshipped at the altar of the almighty dollar and the big screen TV, no, that may not reflect your lifestyle or mine. But that`s the message that we`re sending. On the brighter side, America also sends food all across the globe. I mean, we give more money than any other nation on Earth.

However, that`s about to change. Soaring food prices driven in part by the demand Washington`s precious little ethanol and biofuels made from corn have helped slash the amount of food the government buys to its lowest level in a decade.

According the Department of Agriculture, in 2007, the United States bought la less than half of the amount of food than it did in 2000. Plus that food is usually flown to countries in need. With oil prices heading toward $120 a barrel, that could keep a lot of those planes on the ground.

So food aid and the means to deliver it, more expensive than ever. And that means, less food will get to the needy. It`s bad enough that we sent over our pop culture or our foreign policy that just makes everybody hate us, but now, our backward food and energy policies, and quite frankly monetary policies, are literally helping starve the people who rely on the United States and don`t hate us yet.

When you add hunger into the anti-American sentiment already in place, it`s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Sallie James is a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and trade policy analyst for the Cato Institute.

Sallie, the problems are what exactly worldwide? I know that China is consuming more, but they`re consuming more of a lot of things, right?

SALLIE JAMES, TRADE POLICY ANALYST, CATO INST.: Right. And that`s not necessarily a bad thing. I don`t think it`s bad that China is lifting millions and millions of people out of poverty. What we have going on is a confluence of events here. We have growth in China and India, meaning they`re eating more and they`re eating different foods. They`re eating more meat, for example, that requires grain to feed the animals.

We have high oil prices, as you mentioned. We have an American dollar that`s, you know, depreciating.

BECK: You know, I`ll tell you, Sally, I have described this, oh, I don`t know how long, as the perfect storm. When it comes to the war, when it comes to the economy, now it comes to food and everything else, it`s not that America can`t weather these things, or the world can`t weather these things, we have had in the past. But it is all of them at the same time that`s lining up to create a storm, I don`t know if the world has ever seen this before.

JAMES: That`s right. And we certainly haven`t seen it for a long time. Historically what we`ve seen in the last decades is long-term decline in world commodity prices. What has happened here is, combined with some of those demand factors we`ve already talked about, we`ve had supply disruptions in major exporting countries. And it has all come together at the same time, which would cause these food price increases.

BECK: OK. So how do we look to the rest of the world as they -- I mean, you know, I hear this global warming talk where we say, hey, you can`t use DDT and the millions of people are dying from malaria. Or you can`t have electricity, but we can have our big SUV.

Now that we`re hurting the food supply because we`re burning some of it up biofuels, us and Europe, how exactly does the West look to those in extreme poverty?

JAMES: Well, I think you`re right. I think where the U.S. has suffered from some public relations problems in the past in very poor and hungry places, it doesn`t look good to them either to know that Americans are basically putting corn in their fuel tanks. And meanwhile, they`re lucky if they get, you know, a meal a day, or two meals a day. So it`s not a good look for America.

BECK: Sallie, and maybe it`s because I grew up with my grandparents who lived through the Depression, and if I heard the lard sandwiches story one more time from my grandparents, I mean -- but I guess it`s the arrogance that has come to me today that I keep thinking we`re so arrogant, people keep saying, oh, these things can`t happen in America. That will never happen.

These bad things can happen in America. It has happened before. Are we -- are we facing anything like this?

JAMES: I don`t think we`re, in America, facing anything like the Great Depression of the `30s. However, Americans spend a relatively small proportion of their income on food. In other words, Americans can afford these higher food prices. Certainly poor Americans will have to cut back in certain areas. But it`s not going to be anything like what really poor people in really poor countries face.

BECK: OK. Sallie, thank you very much.

Now we see the effect of our food shortages on the national and international stage. But we should get to the cause of all of this. We`ve already talked biofuel, weak worldwide crops are part of the problem. But that`s not the whole thing.

There is another thing I`m trying to get my hands and my arms around. The "Real Story" is, hedge funds and speculators also deserve a lot of blame. Food staples like wheat and corn are known as commodities. And their likely health and supply are known as futures. So there`s a commodities market and it`s where people trade on grain futures the same way that other people trade stocks and bonds.

And like all speculators, they want to make money, these people are out to make a buck and by any means necessary, it doesn`t matter of the price is going up or down, they`re going to make money.

They`re worried about their bank accounts, or maybe retirement accounts. Not the food supply. Stay with me on this one for a second. Due to the fact that oil prices are so high these days, there`s a ton of cash floating around the oil-rich countries in the Middle East. That money is funneled into the U.S. investment firms. The result is vast amounts of cash flooding the world`s commodities market.

That has driven up the prices of staple foods like wheat and rice. That has resulted in the reported food shortages at places like Costco and possibly some of America`s reduced ability to supply the world with the food aid that it so desperately needs.

So while the world is playing the blame game and pointing the finger at us, I say at least some of that blame is on the shoulders of the same reckless types that sent Bear Stearns and the stock market tumbling. Jim Bower is the president of Bower Trading.

Jim, you know what, I`m a little iffy on this whole thing because I believe in the free market system. I believe that speculation is good. It actually helps balance the market. But it -- there`s so much money out there that is not tied to the markets, to the actual food itself, it`s just about betting to be able to make a buck. And I`m afraid that we`re going to create the same kind of bubble with food that we created with housing.

JIM BOWER, PRESIDENT, BOWER TRADING: Glenn, there`s a lot there that you just discussed. But one thing that we know, you and I wrangled about this back in February when the wheat price was making spectacular moves both up and down.

We saw a $5 per day move in wheat in just one day. This injection of funds that we`re talking about here from overseas, particularly a lot of it oil money, index fund money had a role in that, because it did create a situation where the market kind of rekindled itself on a daily basis.

I will say, though, Glenn, however, that the market in wheat, at least short-term, has pretty much done its job. It told the rest of the world when it made that spectacular rise, we need for the world to plant more wheat. We need to get this situation under control. The market did its job. It put more growers in a position to grow wheat. And now we have seen the price of wheat slide.

However, we`ve now see the shoe drop on certain markets such as rice and the one I think that is coming down the road is the corn market. Why? Because the input costs for corn, a seed of corn, coupled with fertilizer, nitrogen, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, propane, diesel fuel, gasoline, makes up what eventually becomes an ear of corn.

But those costs are going out the roof right now. And again, a lot of it led by this extremely high price of fuel which has only encouraged them to put more money into the commodity market. It`s setting the stage, Glenn, where I think this summer, if we have a crop shortfall in corn, if you think the wheat market was wild back in February and March, just wait until to see what happens this summer if we have a yield-reducing crop.

BECK: OK. So help me out, Jim, because the commodities market is not really regulated. I mean, people are in Congress who are calling for regulation, et cetera, et cetera. And the government getting involved never helps things out.

But help me understand, if the commodities market -- people say, hey, you know what, I can make more money over in commodities, and they get in, they`re not guaranteeing that they`re going to buy that wheat at that time, right? They`re just saying, I`m buying future wheat at this.

So they put their money in it. It drives the market price up. If a bunch of people pull their money out, doesn`t that collapse the price and then all of these farmers that are sitting there and they have planted all of this wheat and borrowed all of this money, aren`t they stuck for that money and that wheat, right?

BOWER: Glenn, you`re absolutely on track. What happened here in this wheat situation is when that price escalated so high, it caused tremendous margin costs, particularly for the commercial grain companies and end users, who are short the market.

Some of those commodity margin calls were into hundreds of millions of dollars. That eats into the profit margins of those end users or pricers inside the structure of the market. So what has happened, a lot of these commercial grain companies, Glenn, even haven`t put out bids for 2009, 2010. They`re afraid of what can happen to them on margin.

What can happen here is, if we take the price of fuel as well as the price of grains so high so quickly that eventually the world decides, hey, the only way we can uncouple from this is a significant slowdown globally, namely recession/depression.

Then all of those people and all of these farmers who have put in tremendous amounts of money are going to be in a severe hardship case if that price then rolls over on them. We`re in for volatile summer.

BECK: Yes. And that money, again, not only the farmers, but they owe it to the banks which the banks are in trouble. I mean, it`s -- it could be a horrible snowball. Jim, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. We`re -- I know you were on the story and we were on it together in February. And unfortunately it`s coming true.

That`s the "Real Story" tonight. If you would like to read more about this or if you`ve found a "Real Story" of your own, please tell us about it, visit glennbeck.com and click on the TV button.

Now, coming up, Hillary Clinton, is she more hawkish than John McCain and Barack Obama combined? Find out next.

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BECK: This thing is going to come down to a bar fight. It`s going to be kind of fun to watch? Just put the two of them in, just breaking bottles. Come on! You want a piece of me! Yes, you could pay per view it. You could pay back some of the national debt. Whoa, whoa, whoa!

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BECK: Now why would we do that? Hillary Clinton won yesterday`s Pennsylvania Democratic Primary by a big 10-point margin. That is huge. We saw it coming for weeks. And the likely win may have filled Hillary with just a little extra courage because I don`t understand where this one came from.

She was asked by ABC News, you know, what do you if you`re president of the United States and Iran launches a nuclear attack against Israel? All of a sudden she turned into Darth Vader, she said, obliterate them.

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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I want the Iranians to know that if I`m the president, we will attack Iran in the next 10 years during which they might foolishly considering launch an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.

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BECK: I mean, I`m no defense expert, but obliterate is kind of a strong -- I mean, is it -- Death Star comes to mind. So, I don`t expect this kind of talk -- I mean, Dick Cheney, you bet. Hillary Clinton, is this tough talk? Is it real? Is it saber-rattling? What is she doing?

And it`s especially a good question when you look into the role that Iran plays in the end times prophesies and what these nutjobs actually believe. One man who knows this better than most is my next guest. He is here with me to talk all week, and we`ll also sit down with him for a full hour on Friday on this topic of end times, Joel Rosenberg. He`s the founder of the Joshua Fund, author of the new book "Dead Heat."

And I have to tell you, one of the reasons I have had you on all week is, I`m a big fan of yours, because I think you got it. But this book is absolutely great. It`s -- I mean, anybody who read the "Left Behind" series, that`s a great book and everything, this is the news of the day. So, you can actually see how you get -- it doesn`t start with people just disappearing on an airplane, you can see how we get there and how these end times prophesies are starting to really come one right after another.

Let me go to Hillary. Hillary says -- she`s talking tough about obliterating them. Isn`t this to you a gigantic flare that this woman doesn`t understand that in intimidation or deterrence won`t work with these people?

JOEL ROSENBERG, AUTHOR, "DEAD HEAT": She certainly understood Pennsylvania. Use a big gun to obliterate to Iran. She seemed a little bitter, but maybe -- you know, she won. She beat Obama by 10 points. But yes, there`s a fundamental misunderstanding on two issues.

First of all, she`s talking about waiting until Iran has nuclear weapons and attacks Israel. Look, if Ahmadinejad can obtain nuclear warheads, and attach them to the high-speed ballistic missiles he already has, he could do in six minutes what Adolf Hitler took six years to do and that is to kill 6 million Jews. What she just described was waiting until after a second Holocaust to attack.

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BECK: Right, and that is, Ahmadinejad and the theology of the 12th Imam, or the Madhi, is there has got to be a reign of fire, and blood from the great Satan. So he`s calling us -- he wants us to do these things.

ROSENBERG: You have to understand the eschatology, or end time theology of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or you will not understand what is driving Iranian foreign policy. He believes he has been chosen by God to annihilate two countries, Israel, whom he claims is the little Satan, and the United States, whom he claims is the great Satan.

He believes this is what he was chosen to do. So how do you deter someone for whom that is his God-given mission?

BECK: You don`t. If I can put it in Christian terms, he believes he`s like John the Baptist.

ROSENBERG: Exactly.

BECK: He is just preparing the right. On Friday, I want to get into.

ROSENBERG: The difference being John the Baptist in Christendom baptized people, said go and sin no more, and he wants to annihilate people, baptize by fire.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: I mean, literal fire, not the holy spirit kind of stuff.

ROSENBERG: Absolutely.

BECK: Yes. All right. I want to spend some time with you on this. And we`re going to get into the whole -- all of these prophecies that are really starting to come fast and furious on Friday for a full hour. Once again, thanks a lot. And the book is "Dead Heat." Please read it, it`s fantastic, and we`ll be spending a full hour on Friday.

ROSENBERG: Looking forward to it.

BECK: Thank you, sir.

ROSENBERG: Thank you.

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BECK: 2006 not exactly a great year for Republicans. Had a little problem with the election thing. But I want to focus on the positive here. Sarah Palin, she was elected as the new governor of Alaska. I didn`t even know that a Republican won in the election in 2006. But she did.

Sarah Palin, impeccable record, one of the names being thrown around for a possible vice presidential candidate for John McCain. But I don`t want to make this about politics, because it`s not.

Governor Palin returned to work this week, just three days after giving birth to her fifth child called Trig, the name means both "true" and "brave victory." A spokesperson for the governor confirmed that Trig was born with Down syndrome.

Now about the birth, Palin said: "Trig is beautiful, already adored by us, we knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives."

I read that story today, I thought, why have we not heard about this story? Here`s an incredibly accomplished, smart, powerful woman who beyond all of her talent has something it seems like no politician possesses, perspective.

She understands what a gift she has been given. It has been my experience with the parents of children with special needs that God usually gives those children really as a gift to truly amazing people.

Listen to her language that she used. She feels "privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow unspeakable joy." I have a daughter of special needs. And I can tell you that there`s no one in my life that I have learned more from than my daughter. No one that has such a special spirit. No one that can inspire me the way that she does.

I mean, it`s tough sometimes. She knows and it and I know it. But she is truly an incredible gift. And I`m privileged to be entrusted with her. I believe the American people generally can sense when they find somebody that stands out from the crowd, somebody who is able to shine, even in a dark realm as the world of politics.

That`s probably why Sarah Palin is one of the most popular governors in the country, approval ratings in the mid 80s. Sure, I`m sure she`s doing a great job. But it takes something more than that, doesn`t it? Something, by all accounts, this woman has. Congratulations, Governor Palin, a happy mom for the fifth time.

From New York, good night, America.

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