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Glenn Beck
Bush Asks Congress to Remove Drilling Ban; Michelle Obama Appears on "The View"
Aired June 18, 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, with gas prices at $4.00 a gallon, President Bush kindly steps to the plate.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For many Americans there is no more pressing concern than the price of gasoline.
BECK: But I would have liked a little more. I`ll tell you what the president should have said and where he should have said it.
Plus Michelle Obama`s makeover. Democrats are doing ever thing they can to soften her image, including putting her on "The View."
MICHELLE OBAMA, WIFE OF BARACK OBAMA: I have to be greeted properly. Fist bump, please.
BECK: Aw, isn`t that sweet?
And it`s time for some common sense. Last night on the way home I called my friend Trace Adkins. I said it`s not just me, is it? Common sense from Trace Adkins, his thoughts on everything from Midwest floods to gas prices to the election.
All this and more tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: All you have to do, America -- Hello America, by the way -- just make it to the end of the show. Trace Adkins will set things straight. Common sense, finally.
OK. President Bush gave a speech this afternoon urging Congress to pass legislation, listing the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Anybody with a car and a brain has been screaming about that for a long time. It`s about time the president finally spoke up. But here`s "The Point tonight. President Bush gave the wrong speech. And here`s how I got there.
Here`s just a little taste of what the president said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We should expand American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. It would be enough to match America`s current oil production for almost ten years.
The problem is that Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: And so did his dad through executive order in the early 1990s.
You know, I am so tired of my president looking timid, raising his hand: "Can I -- can I go to the bathroom please?" Stop protecting your job. Stop protecting the party. Start protecting our way of life. Will somebody in Washington have a spine?
You know what? If I were advising President Bush, this is what I would have said: "Mr. Bush, I need you to go to Denver, Colorado. You`re going to get a team of the biggest, greasiest, oil-working roughnecks, and we`re going to put them right behind you. The mountains is going to be the landscape behind you, as well."
Then I`d say, "You know what, Mr. President, this is what you do. You go on television, and you give this speech. `America, as soon as I`m done talking, these guys right behind me, they`re going to start drilling right here. They`re going to drill, because I`m standing on about a million barrels of oil right there, and they`re going to suck up every last drop of it. I`ve got another guy, you know, a group of them up in ANWR. They`re going to grab all the oil there, too. And sorry little polar bear. It sucks to be you, doesn`t it? Then I`ve got boats off Florida, and Cape Cod, and Virginia, and California. So if you`re going to the beach, you`d better bring ear plugs, California, because they`re going to drill all the way to China to look for more oil, because we`re in an energy crisis, and it ain`t going to get any better without it.
"I want you to know, America" -- in my dreams George Bush would have said this -- "I`m doing it right now by executive order. And Congress, if you don`t like it, impeach me, because I don`t care anymore. Just remember, Congress, if you do, the guy who will replace me, Dick Cheney, we had a little chat. He`s going to do exactly the same thing. So you better bring up impeachment papers for two presidents."
That`s what I want to hear from the president of the United States. I want a leader who`s going to man up and do what needs to be done.
Tonight, America, here`s what you need to know. Bush got the ball rolling, but unfortunately for us, it`s going to take an Indiana Jones- sized boulder to make a dent in our oil troubles.
He could used his executive powers to lift the ban on offshore drilling, at least the presidential ban, but he didn`t.
The truth is, politicians, and especially those in Congress, they`re worse. They answer to special-interest groups. These days the environmental lobby is pulling all of the strings and setting the agenda. And until we can make Washington understand that they work for us, we, the people, and not the green mafia, we`re going to continue dying of our thirst for more oil.
Dana Perino, she is the White House press secretary and assistant to the president.
Dana, I saw the speech today. It had a lot of good stuff in it. But one thing jumped out at me. And that is, "I will remove the executive ban after Congress does their part." Why didn`t he just remove the ban?
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think there`s a couple of key things here.
One is, if we`re going to have access to this resource that we have in America, two things need to happen, two keys need to happen at the same time. If the president were to act alone, we still wouldn`t be able to do anything, because there`s a legislative moratorium, a congressional moratorium that has to be lifted, as well. The president is calling on Congress to finally do something. The Democrats in Congress have been...
BECK: Wait, wait, wait.
PERINO: ... for a long time.
BECK: Hang on just a second. Look, I`m on your side. But what I`m asking is, lead, don`t follow. "Look, Congress, I`m doing it right now. Get off your butt and do your part."
PERINO: I think that the president needs to make sure that Congress realizes that they have something to do here, as well. I -- I would anticipate if the president were to is just go unilaterally and do it on his own, that members of Congress -- at least Democrat members of Congress, would just blow it off and not act. The president wants them to act.
BECK: OK.
PERINO: What he said is let`s work together on it. We can lift it at the same time.
BECK: OK.
PERINO: There`s legislation in Congress right now that they could take up.
BECK: Let me -- let me be pessimistic here just a little bit, jaded maybe...
PERINO: That`s your job.
BECK: That is my job. I`m a little jaded right now. I`m sharpening the pitch forks and coming to Washington.
Is this just a game to make the Democrats look bad and just say, "Well, look, see, they don`t want cheap oil?"
Because they have to make a choice. They have to either go against the environmentalists, or they have to go against the American people. And the president has clean hands on it if he makes them make the first move or not make the move.
PERINO: No. I think that this is actually -- things have changed. You know, whereas people maybe weren`t able to -- weren`t wanting to take action at $2 a gallon or $3 a gallon, we`re now paying $4 a gallon.
And I think that the fundamental concerns of the constituents of every member of Congress and, of course, every citizen of the United States that the president represents, leaders in Washington have to take a different look at this now that it`s $4 a gallon.
The president didn`t just talk about deep water exploration. He talked about oil shale and ANWR and the refinery capacity here in the states. Those are four things that he asked Congress to work on with him.
BECK: OK. This kept me up last night. And that is, two years ago, three years ago, the Air Force started testing our B-52s with coal to oil. What is it, in the next six years, all 6,000 planes in the Air Force are going to be able to fly with this new fuel. The head of the Air Force field program says, the idea is to develop a domestic industry to supply that fuel.
Now, if it`s good enough for the Pentagon -- because they told the environmentalists to go pound sand, because that`s what we`re going to do, because it`s for national defense, which I agree with. If it`s good enough for the Pentagon, and the White House and the Pentagon can see we need to have an independent oil source or fuel source, why isn`t it good enough for the American people?
PERINO: I`m not familiar with the Air Force program. But it doesn`t surprise me that they`re looking at ways to trim costs or to figure out a way to lesson our dependence on foreign sources of energy.
And the Pentagon obviously sees the national security aspects of this. And the president does, too. And that is we need to have more control over our own destiny. We want to get to a place in the economy where we can run by alternatives or renewables. But that`s going to being a while. So we need to do more here at home so that we can get to that point.
It could be that coal or liquids could be within that mix. The important thing to remember on deep shore -- offshore oil drilling is that, with the legislation the president is recommending, states will have a say. And they can decide whether or not they want to have drilling within 100 miles or not. And they`ll also be able to share in revenues.
So I do think that we might have a chance to actually get this done.
BECK: Well, Alaska has been begging for quite a while, please drill.
Dana, thanks a lot.
PERINO: OK.
BECK: Now let`s see how the president`s speech played in the financial circles. Steven Moore writes editorials about economics for the "Wall Street Journal."
Steven, was -- was this enough for you?
STEVEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, I agree with you, Glenn. I think that George Bush should have said, "Let`s start drilling now. I`m putting my John Hancock on this executive order right now." I think it would have sent a stronger signal.
But there`s no question we should be doing this, Glenn. I`ve been saying this for the last year in and a half on your show. I mean, it`s almost criminal that we haven`t done this until now. And now the big question is will the Democrats in Congress act? I don`t think they will.
BECK: I don`t think they will either.
MOORE: Even at $130-a-barrel oil. And I`ll tell you why, Glenn, I`ll tell you why I don`t think they`re going to do it. The left, the environmentalists, want high-priced gasoline and they want high-priced oil.
BECK: OK. We`re going to talk in just a few minutes -- I want to hold you over for the next break -- we`re going to talk in a few minutes about -- I mean, I read three stories today about the collapse of the airline industry that, you know, some people are saying it`s coming right around the corner if we don`t get this under control. So there`s lots of reasons why high-priced oil is a really bad idea.
Could you do me a favor? I hear all the time: "Oh, it`s speculators. Speculators, they`re just controlling this market." First of all, I don`t buy it. I buy maybe 10, maximum 20 percent of this price of oil is speculation.
Well, let`s just say it`s 50 percent. Wouldn`t standing up and saying, "We are drilling in every place we have, even if it`s ten years away. We`re going to start building nukes. We`re going to build coal to oil. We`re going to do wind. We`re going to do solar. We are going to be energy independent," wouldn`t that drive the speculation or the risky speculators out of the market, because they would sense stability coming this way?
MOORE: Yes. Glenn, you get an "A" in economics today. That`s exactly right. What would happen, is you know, if you really want to put the hurt to these speculators -- and I want to -- I want to see these guys lose their shirts. Start declaring in the marketplace that we`re going to build nuclear power, that we`re going to drill in Alaska, that we`re going to drill offshore, that we`re going to drill on public land and that we`re going to -- that we`re going to exploit our coal resources, which are huge.
BECK: These -- these guys are betting that...
MOORE: That`s right.
BECK: ... hurricanes or war or instability or just any disruption in oil is going to drive the price up.
MOORE: You know what, Glenn? Do you know who`s the best friend of the speculators? The environmentalists. The environmentalists are the ones who are preventing any of the oil drilling. And in this kind of weird sort of way, while the Democrats are criticizing the speculators, they`re on the side of the environmentalists who won`t let us get at our resources.
BECK: See, the other thing I don`t understand. They`re going for the oil sands in Canada.
MOORE: Canada.
BECK: Vietnam. For the love of Pete, Vietnam is trying to get an oil lease of our shore off of Florida. Do you think Vietnam or China that`s sending us our lead-paint toys are going to be doing a safer job with the environment? Why is it we feel it`s OK for somebody else to rape the environment, just not us?
MOORE: Not just Vietnam, but as you mentioned on your show the other day, Cuba and China talking about drilling off of our, you know -- off of the Pacific shore, not far from Florida. It means that our oil will be going to communist countries.
Another point to remember: the environmentalists say, "Oh, it`s going to cause all sorts of damage to the waterways if we`re drilling." Remember, Glenn, what happened after Hurricane Katrina, with 200-foot waves and, you know, 300-mile-an-hour winds? There wasn`t a drop of oil spilled. So if they can withstand, you know, Hurricane Katrina, we can build oil rigs that are not going to cause spills.
BECK: Steven, hang on just a second. We`ll come back to you in a second.
I don`t care, quite honestly, if we drill for oil up and down the entire East Coast. It`s going to take a moon shot to lead us towards energy independence. And I`ll take anyone with a plan. I think I have a guy who had a plan next. We`ll go back to Steven, as well.
And country music star Trace Adkins. I called him last night, and I said, "I`m alone, Trace. You`ve got to help me out, brother." I needed to talk to somebody who had some common sense and a tractor. We`ll get his opinion on the day`s news, coming up in a second.
And a reminder: tonight`s show is brought to you by the Sleep Number Bed by Select Comfort. Sleep Number, it`s the bed that counts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: You know, if I told you that there was a school with a graduation rate here in America of 100 percent, you`d want to send your kids there. Right? What if I told you that this was in the middle of one of the toughest neighborhoods in all of Washington, D.C. This is a school that is defying all the odds. And the teachers` union not really happy about it. I`ll have the entire story in just a bit.
Now, times weren`t what they -- what they are, I`d say this afternoon`s speech with President Bush was a first good step on oil. Sadly, things are in such bad shape, it`s not nearly enough for an economy that, you know, may be drawing its last breath. First step should have happened a long time ago.
Still with me is "Wall Street Journal" editorial writer Steven Moore. And joined by Vin Weber, former advisor to Mitt Romney.
Steven, again, I ask you every time that you`re on, because you are a bull. But I saw three stories today in three different papers about the end of the airlines as we know it. The -- the pressure that this oil situation is putting on businesses here in America are -- it`s enormous.
Are you -- are you looking at this -- because I know you were encouraged by the speech today. Are you looking at this with rose-colored glasses, or do you think you`re looking at this reasonably?
MOORE: I think the economy is in a lot of trouble now, Glenn, no question about it. I mean, just go to the grocery store, and you pay more money for cereal and for tomatoes and for fruits and vegetables. Everything is more expensive. You go to the gas price -- pump and you`re paying -- I`m paying $4.49 a gallon, by the way.
I think Americans are extremely concerned. I think our monetary policy is out of control.
BECK: Out of control.
MOORE: Our spending policies in Washington are out of control. And I was pleased to see that, finally, George Bush is talking about "let`s exploit our domestic natural resources with respect to energy."
BECK: I have to tell you, the Bank in Scotland said they prepared their -- their creditors, and they said prepare for an economic collapse today.
MOORE: I don`t know if I`m there yet.
BECK: Well, know, I know. But that`s what they said. I think it was Merrill Lynch said, because our monetary policy is so far out of whack, there`s going to be a collapse, you know -- or 1990s-style economic problems with -- with the exchange rate.
Vin, let me go to you, because you were with Mitt Romney. Here`s a guy that I supported because he got the economy -- he was the only one with a moon shot. What is it going to take for -- for any of these candidates to get what Mitt Romney had already?
VIN WEBER, FORMER MITT ROMNEY ADVISER: Well, I think we`re getting there, Glenn. I mean, I understand all the problems you`re talking about. Don`t disagree with either of you guys.
But I do think that the country is at a tipping point on some of these issues right now, because they understand what`s happening to airlines. They understand what`s happening in their own lives. They understand -- and it`s changing people`s attitudes on drilling.
The very fact that you think the president didn`t go far enough today is an indication of that tipping point.
And of course, Governor Romney also took into account the international implications of this. He really understands the global economy. He understood that, no matter what we do, China and India and other countries are going to continue to suck up more and more and more energy. And they`re competing with us for energy supplies all over the planet. And we`re sitting here on large supplies doing nothing with them.
BECK: But it`s not...
MOORE: Glenn, I just looked at the statistics today for your show on what it`s costing us from the price of oil going from $60 to $130 a barrel. It`s costing us about $800 million a day -- a day -- in terms of what American consumers are paying in higher gasoline prices. It`s -- this is just completely crazy.
BECK: See, Vin, you said something a minute ago about -- that Governor Romney understood the global effects. I don`t think the average person gets that. I don`t think the average clown in Washington gets that.
Inflation is going up all over the world. They`re all blaming it on us. They`re saying it`s because of our economic policies. The food is going out of control, expensive because America`s bread basket is having to buy wheat and import it for the first time. Corn is off the charts.
What happens to the world?
WEBER: Glenn -- Glenn, let me clarify something you said a few minutes ago. The average person not getting it is not the same as the average person in Washington not getting it.
BECK: Yes.
WEBER: I think the public is ahead of the game.
BECK: They are. Way ahead.
WEBER: I think they understand that the price of food is related to this energy issue. I think they understand that transportation is the energy issue. I believe people understand the strength of the dollar, as arcane as that topic may be, is directly related to this problem. They want to see a strong dollar policy along with drilling and along with all the other stuff we`re talking about.
BECK: I`ll tell you, I truly believe the first candidate that actually steps to the plate and hits this issue on oil out of the park wins the election.
Steve, Vin, thanks a lot.
WEBER: Thanks a lot.
BECK: Coming up, Michelle Obama is getting a make over to soften her public image. She was on "The View" today. Did it work? You be the judge. Coming up in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: ABC`s "The View" gets weirder and weirder. Potential first lady Michelle Obama stopped by for the full hour. Here`s what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
M. OBAMA: Just let me tell you, of course I`m proud of my country. Nowhere but in America could my story be possible. What I was talking about was having a pride in the political process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. By the way, that`s the exact line her husband uses. It`s a little rehearsed.
Amy Holmes is a CNN political contributor.
Amy, first of all, do you buy that story?
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think that`s a little bit of spin. That wasn`t in her original statement. But you know, hey, if it works for the ladies of "The View," why shouldn`t it work for us?
BECK: OK. Here`s -- here`s the thing. I want to play this clip from "The View" today. Because this is why I said it gets weirder and weirder. It felt very rehearsed, very staged, almost like a political commercial. Watch -- watch this piece.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
M. OBAMA: So I hear you have a fan in your household, James Wilke.
MATTHEW BRODERICK, ACTOR: That`s right.
M. OBAMA: You know?
BRODERICK: A big supporter of your husband.
M. OBAMA: Tell me, why do you think -- why do you think James Wilke think that Barack Obama should be the next president of the United States?
BRODERICK: He`s 5. So the answer might not be as sophisticated as you would like. But for one thing, he likes the man to beat the lady.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": I`m on really good behavior today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK, the whole thing was -- "so I understand you have a fan" and yada, yada, yada. It just felt like a political commercial.
HOLMES: I actually thought this was one of the better moments of the show, where you saw her with her great reaction shot when, you know, the son prefers the lady -- prefers the man to beat the lady.
You know, I thought that Michelle Obama came off as polished, poised, elegant. I thought she was thoughtful, serious-minded lady.
I thought it was a really big missed opportunity that she could have shown us a little more of who she is personally. What is family life like in the Obama household? You know, it could be a day where she said, "I`ve got my two daughters in the front row. And after the show we`re going to go to Serendipity and get some ice-cream sundaes. Then we`re going to go to the American Girl store." I didn`t really see her connecting in that way.
BECK: I don`t think -- I don`t think that`s who she is. I mean, I don`t...
HOLMES: Glenn, I can also tell you as someone who has actually co- hosted "The View" two times, that the executive producer, Bill Getty, he really encouraged me to say, you know, connect with the audience, relate to them. Come to them with personal stories. They see Amy the pundit on CNN. They want to know who you are personally. I was heavy encouraged to do that. And before the show we were chitchatting backstage in the makeup room.
That`s what this show is going for. It`s an interesting platform, a unique platform for that reason. And it has tremendous reach.
BECK: But look, Amy, you`re different than somebody who whines about having a hard time paying off their education at Harvard and Princeton and that makes $215,000 a year and still whines about the opportunities to go to Harvard and Princeton.
I don`t think -- I just don`t think this is who she is. She`s not somebody who -- maybe I`m wrong. She just doesn`t seem like she can relate to the average person.
HOLMES: Sure. But Glenn you know that she has a campaign staff that was supposed to be preparing her for this appearance. They were supposed to be, you know, getting her ready for great anecdotes about family life, about what it`s like to be a mother and a wife.
BECK: But that was my -- that was my point: she seemed too staged. It just didn`t seem natural.
HOLMES: Sure. What would have been another great thing. As I was watching, I was thinking they could have brought signed copies of her husband`s book and put it on -- under every chair. "The View" has their little gift giveaways. I know Rosie O`Donnell used to do that. If anything I just thought it was a really missed opportunity for Michelle Obama.
BECK: All right, Amy. Thanks.
Coming up next, "The Real Story." In case you haven`t found your candidate, maybe Mary Matalin can sell you John McCain. She`s going to try to sell it to me, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Coming up, I had a conversation that started last night with a friend of mine, Trace Adkins. I called him up and I said, "Trace, it`s not just me, is it, really?"
He`s a former oil roughneck. Yes, he worked for the evil oil companies. Of course, he`s a conservative, I think.
We`ll talk to him. Some common sense, something you don`t get a lot of on television lately. It`s coming up in just a bit.
But first, welcome to "The Real Story."
Doesn`t it seems like sometimes everything gets a lot more complicated than it really is? Let me just remind the weasels here in Washington about the basic free market formula. Here it is.
Free choice, plus less government equals lower prices and higher quality. It`s just that simple. You can apply that to, you know, pretty much anything in Washington. It works.
I mean, the whole reason why we`re in the energy crisis is because of that formula. We have too few choices and too much government.
You can also apply the free market formula to education. It`s not surprising, at least to me, when parents have more choices on where to send their kids, when you allow private schools and charter schools to actually compete with public schools, the result, higher quality education. That might seem obvious to you, but -- and if it does, maybe you should run for office, because the weasels in Washington, they don`t get it.
"The Real Story" is the empty suits still can`t figure this out. There`s a pilot program called the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Fund. It provides school vouchers for about 2,000 low-income kids, one of the nation`s poorest cities of Washington, D.C., and it is under attack by, guess who? The Democrats, who apparently care more about unions than education.
I want you to imagine yourself as a parent. This is a parent that lives in Ward 8 of Washington, D.C.
You`re a parent. You`ve got kids. This is a neighborhood that you live in. It is home to a full 30 percent of all of D.C.`s homicide victims.
The schools in your area have the lowest high school graduation rates in the entire city. Your average income is $14,000 a year.
Ask yourself, how does my child have a chance to succeed? Well, if you are able to send them to Thurgood Marshall Academy, a 7-year-old charter school located right there in the heart of Ward 8, it`s actually pretty darn good.
Listen to this. Every single member of Thurgood Marshall`s first four graduating classes have been accepted to college. Every single one.
The test scores are the third highest in the entire city, attendance is at 95 percent. Kids not only have a chance to succeed, they are succeeding.
So how is it this school is making it when so many others have failed?
Joshua Kern is the executive of the academy.
Joshua, six to seven times better test scores, 100 percent acceptance rate in colleges. You don`t have any metal detectors in the school, but there are drive-by shootings outside of the school.
How are you guys doing it?
JOSHUA KERN, CO-FOUNDER, THURGOOD MARSHALL ACADEMY: Well, Glenn, let me just first say, thank you forgiving me the opportunity to talk with you today. I greatly appreciate it.
BECK: Sure.
KERN: Well, you know, there`s a lot of things that we`re doing right at the school. But if there`s one thing I would like to talk about, it`s that we -- everyone at the school, the students, the faculty and the staff, have a singular focus on our mission. And our mission is to prepare our students to succeed in college.
And we have a no-excuses attitude at this school. There`s, you know, a number of any reasons why we should be failing. But with everyone at the school, the students and the staff, not having an attitude that there`s just no excuses for failure, we can achieve incredible things.
BECK: How are you getting away with no excuses? In today`s America, how are you getting away with that attitude of no excuses?
KERN: Well, you`ve got to find the right people. I mean, a lot of what our success is built upon is making sure that we have the right people.
We have 70 faculty and staff at the school, and they are just extraordinary individuals. And they`re working, you know, around the clock, 24/7, six days a week, and a mandatory summer prep program as well. They are 100 percent committed to making sure that our students get into college and are successful in college.
BECK: Joshua, first of all, are the unions involved in your school?
KERN: No, our teachers are not unionized.
BECK: OK. There`s no tenure at the school?
KERN: That`s correct, yes.
BECK: What a surprise.
The other thing is, I have this theory. And I don`t know if this is true, and maybe you can answer this.
I believe the more choice you have, the more competition you have, the more a parent is required to be involved to make the choice, that parent has done the work to find the school, fight to get what your kid in that school, done everything they can, you send a message to the student, this is important to me. And they automatically do well -- better because of that.
True or false?
KERN: I couldn`t agree more. School choice is very important, and I think that parents should have the right to send their student, their kid to the school of their choice.
I think that`s a critical component to a successful public education system. And it`s important to note that Thurgood Marshall Academy is part of the public education system. We are a public school open. We`re open to all students.
BECK: But they`re trying to shut down -- the unions and Congress, the Democrats in Congress, are trying to shut down the school voucher program. They don`t -- you know what? They don`t want to shut you down because they`re afraid you`ll fail. They want to shut you down because they`re afraid you`ll succeed, don`t you think?
KERN: Well, you know, Thurgood Marshall Academy kind of operates outside the teachers union. So we`re not so much impacted by their practices or policies. So I don`t have a strong opinion about that. We`re just trying to, in our one school, give our students the best chance for success.
BECK: Good for you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
KERN: Glenn, I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.
BECK: Not a problem. Anything we can do.
KERN: OK. Bye-bye.
BECK: All right. Now, if you ever saw the movie "The Breakup," you might remember the Jennifer Aniston character. She yells at her boyfriend. She says, "I want you to want to do the dishes!"
Remember that? Every guy went, "Oh, jeez."
Well, that`s kind of how I feel about John McCain right now. I mean, I want to vote for him. I want to feel passion for him. You know, I don`t want to just feel, he`s better than Barack Obama.
Maybe there`s a glimmer of hope, a it little bit of hope yesterday when he announced his support for a few commonsense things, like offshore drilling and building more refineries and nuclear power plants. But that leaves me with his positions on illegal immigration, drilling in ANWR, and global warming.
One day at a time, Glenn. One day at a time.
Earlier I spoke to Republican strategist Mary Matalin, because I think if anybody could make me understand John McCain, maybe it`s her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Convince me I should vote for John McCain, because I`m just not there.
MARY MATALIN, GOP STRATEGIST: OK. There`s a whole litany of reasons, but let`s start with the Supreme Court. We had a decision that came down last week that is literally -- literally endangers our country in ways that...
BECK: Got it.
MATALIN: OK.
BECK: Wait, wait, wait. Let me ask you this question. How does John McCain get somebody who will be good onto the Supreme Court with the Congress that we`re going to have?
MATALIN: Because he`s reached across the aisle.
BECK: Oh, like they care.
MATALIN: He`s been able to do that before. That`s what he`s running on now. I also like his tax program, I like his market-based health reform. You can`t...
BECK: Wait, wait. Let`s take tax, because I can balance the other side. The tax thing, he`s for cap and trade. That`s one of the biggest tax program in the history of the world.
MATALIN: Yes, but that`s ephemeral. That`s going to go away. It just got blasted out of Congress last week. That`s never going to pass.
But, you know, tax cuts being permanent can pass. Cutting corporate tax rates, the highest -- you know, second highest in the world, that can pass. He can get some of that stuff done.
BECK: But wait, he doesn`t understand capitalism. He himself says about the corporate taxes on oil companies, he thinks they`re too high.
MATALIN: Corporate taxes are too high.
BECK: No, no, no. I`m sorry. That they`re too low, that they`re making too much money.
MATALIN: No, that`s wrong.
BECK: No, it`s not. I don`t have the quote in front of me.
MATALIN: No, I`m not saying he`s...
BECK: Oh, OK.
MATALIN: I`m not saying you`re wrong. I`m saying that`s completely wrong, that the oil business, which is bust and boom, takes those profits and they reinvest them and they explore. Right now the problem is not their profits, it`s that we`re stopping them from using those profits to do further exploration and extrication. It`s crazy.
BECK: OK. So, tell me, because this is where I`m going, I don`t want Barack Obama. I think the guy is a nightmare. But you know what? I haven`t seen the pivot point in the Republican Party that they go, oh, I get it, we sold our soul to Satan.
So when are they going to turn around? They won`t do it unless we hand their head to them.
MATALIN: Well, you know what? The campaign has not started yet. There was no substance in the primary. This one has just started. They`re all like boxes in the rain. They`re just sort of rope-a-doping.
BECK: It`s been going on for 15 months.
MATALIN: No, no. The Democratic contest was a personality, not a policy.
Our was over quickly, and there weren`t too many policy differences. Now there will be a policy contrast. They`ll get serious about this.
But I`ll say again -- and the reason I have confidence that we will be heard is because when I was working in the White House and people disagreed with what the president put forth, they were heard and it was stopped from the Supreme Court nomination to immigration policies. So it`s really up to us. I`m not trying to be like the Declaration of Independence here.
BECK: Oh, no, no, no.
One last question. What do you think about the idea -- because this is my latest, because I just don`t know if I can pull the lever. What about the idea of just, let`s just work really hard to get good candidates in Congress and the Senate and forget about the president? Get a filibuster. At least get them able to slow this train the hell down.
MATALIN: Well, they`re not mutually exclusive. We should do that, too, but then you get back to the media and whatnot. People don`t want to run for Congress if they have to put their families through the kind of campaigns that make -- make up things about them. You know, these good citizens that want to run.
We should demand that people who want to be public servants, you know, you ask them what their policies are and that`s what we should vote on.
BECK: Has it always been this way, Mary?
MATALIN: No, no. And I`m old enough to remember when it was -- the debates were healthy and they were loud and they were -- but they -- you know, Ronald Reagan, a billion times. Tip O`Neill, drinking at night, fighting at day.
BECK: I would like to -- and I don`t even know if this is possible -- to convince your husband to come on this program with you. I`d like to spend an hour with the two of you and talk a little bit about the changes in the tone and tenor and how do we get out of this? Because I just think we`re being pitted against each other. And if you two can live together, surely we can agree on something.
MATALIN: Well, trust me on this, Glenn, we don`t spend hours talking about this at home for the preservation of our marriage. And also, I think we`re going to hang up our James and Mary jersey.
BECK: Really?
MATALIN: Yes, that was a -- that was a -- you know, we only did that with Tim.
BECK: That`s too bad.
MATALIN: And I don`t know if I could do that again, but...
BECK: That`s too bad.
MATALIN: You should get him on and just grill him. You can grill him.
BECK: Oh, no. He drives me crazy.
MATALIN: He drives you crazy, drives you crazy, drives you crazy.
BECK: I don`t care how good of a kisser he is.
MATALIN: That`s -- we`ve been married for 15 years, so I wasn`t going to lead with that. He`s a good man. He`s very start. He has a lot of attributes. He is good at that, but other attributes.
BECK: Too much information.
MATALIN: TMI.
BECK: Mary, thanks.
Bye.
MATALIN: Thanks. See you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: So if you`re anything like me and you can`t decide which candidate is best for you, then subscribe to my magazine "Fusion." This is the next month`s issue, the July issue.
It`s our voters guide. We compare McCain and Obama`s stance on issues like taxes, immigration, education, gun control, and their stance against the founding fathers, and also some famous communists. You will not believe whose quotes sound most like.
Again, the voters guide edition for "Fusion" magazine. It`s my magazine. You can subscribe now at glennbeck.com.
Coming up, some common sense with a guy who actually did a little oil drilling, a former roughneck who also happens to be a huge country music star.
Trace Adkins joins me after the break, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: All right. Last night I was driving home and I called a friend of mine. I told him, "I`m starting to feel like I`m crazy, like I`m the only one in the country that wants to drill for oil and not save the polar bears." Oh, you mean guy. I`m the only one that thinks it`s crazy that Barack Obama wants to redistribute our wealth more equitably.
I feel like I`m alone. And maybe it`s in New York. You know, I feel like we`re winning the war. I read the papers, I read what`s on page 22, while everybody else is saying that we`re losing the war.
A good friend last night told me, "You aren`t crazy, buddy." In fact, he said, "I`m little worried about you. You sound a little down."
Just because I had rope in my hand and a stool under my feet.
That conversation I`d like to continue now with my friend and Grammy Award winner Trace Adkins.
Hi, Trace.
TRACE ADKINS, MUSICIAN: Hello, Glenn.
Yes, I think my words were you sound a little disheartening tonight, my friend.
BECK: Yes. You know what it is, Trace? And I told you this last night, or maybe I said it out loud before I called you. I need to talk to somebody who has at least seen a tractor in the last month.
You know what I mean?
ADKINS: Yes. Well, I was on one yesterday actually. So yes, I`ve seen one.
BECK: So, the polar bear thing, first of all, did you see the president`s speech?
ADKINS: I did.
BECK: OK. You`re a roughneck.
ADKINS: Yes.
BECK: You worked in the oil industry. You`re one of those guys who was covered in oil and doing all that stuff.
ADKINS: Yes, I worked...
BECK: Go ahead.
ADKINS: I worked in the oilfield for 10 years. Six of those years I spent offshore on the drilling rigs. You know, one of the things they`re talking about on the Outer Continental Shelf. You know, drilling out there.
All the six years that I worked offshore on a drilling rig, I can`t recall a time whenever, you know, there was some significant spill of anything, you know. And even back then we had the technology to be able to drill with zero discharge, is what we called it. In other words, none of the stuff was going just over the side into the water.
They`d pull barges up, and all the discharge from the drilling process would go into this barge. And when it got full, they`d tow it away. I don`t know what they did with it then, but still, anyway...
BECK: Hopefully towed it to the beaches of Malibu.
ADKINS: Maybe.
BECK: You know, I read someplace -- and you might even know this -- that there is more natural seepage on the ocean floor than there is from spills from offshore.
ADKINS: Yes. And there`s all kind of gases that are coming up from the ocean floor all the time, you know, stuff just bubbling up out of there. Yes, sure. But, you know, there -- I mean, we have the technology these days. And by the way, I think we are the only country on this planet that really cares, you know. We try to drill.
BECK: Thank you.
ADKINS: We try to drill without just ruining everything around us. We`ve always been that way.
BECK: You know, I -- we were just talking about this. For the love of Pete, we`re talking about Vietnam drilling off the coast of Florida. Vietnam. China, the one that`s sending us poisoned toys, for the love of Pete. We won`t be better than those guys?
ADKINS: Yes. That`s insane. You know, they`re getting -- they`re securing those leases from Cuba, right? Aren`t they?
BECK: Yes. Yes.
ADKINS: Why don`t we just get some from Cuba?
BECK: Why don`t we just get the ones we have?
ADKINS: Why don`t we do that? Sure.
BECK: Yes. I mean, we`re there.
Are you a nuke guy? Do you believe in nukes?
ADKINS: Absolutely, yes. You know, that`s the thing -- yes, I`m about drill, drill, drill. We need to drill. But I`m also about -- you know, I`m as green as the next guy, man.
I think that we ought to be researching and developing all these alternative energy sources. Sure we should be doing that. But in the meantime, let`s face reality. You know?
And you know, I was thinking about this whole drilling thing and, you know, the environmentalists screaming about it because of whatever the impact. But I was thinking, you know, the other -- I`ve had to have surgeries in the my life, many of them. And the doctors have always said to me, you need to have this surgery. And I say, you know, I`m opposed to that, really.
I really don`t want you to cut me open. You know? I`m opposed to that. And it`s going to hurt, it`s going to leave a big scar.
But they go, you know, you need to do this in order to stay alive. This is something that we have to do.
And I think it`s pretty much the same way. I mean, let`s face reality. We are an oil-based economy, and that`s not going to change.
That`s not going to change in the next decade. That`s not going to change -- I don`t care if they build enough solar panels to floor this whole country. It`s not going to be done in the next decade.
BECK: See, America, this is what happens when you stumble upon a tractor every once in a while.
Back with Trace Adkins in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Back with country superstar and regular guy and friend Trace Adkins.
Trace, you were talking about, you know, that we -- we`re not going to get of oil any time soon. Everybody says that we`re right around the corner on this new technology.
Did you see the new Honda that came out that is hydrogen, just been released this week, $600 to lease this car? Did you see this?
ADKINS: No, I haven`t.
BECK: Yes, it`s 100 percent hydrogen. There are going to be I think a hundred of them on the streets of California. You can lease them for $600 a year.
It sounds fantastic. And everybody says, oh my gosh, see, look, we`re right around the corner from this technology. Those cars cost Honda a million dollars a piece. We`re not anywhere close to getting off of oil at this point.
ADKINS: No, we`re not. You know?
And, you know, the hypocrisy of it all to me which has just been so -- it`s becoming startling. It`s shocking that, you know, the Democrats on one side say, you know, people can`t afford to survive in this economy now, the price of everything is getting so high, so high. You know. And then they`re the ones that are putting up all the roadblocks to keep the energy costs from going so high.
You know, I was thinking the other day, the cost of electricity here in the state of Tennessee -- I`m in Tennessee today -- the electricity costs have gone up and up and up. And I get my electricity from the TVA. That electricity is created because water is coming through a hydroelectric dam and turning that turbine.
Did they start costing them more to do that? I mean, I don`t -- you know, what`s going on, you know?
BECK: Trace, I realized today that I live in Manhattan, and I don`t think I could find a pitchfork or a torch in this entire city. Will you send me a pitchfork so I have one handy?
ADKINS: I`ll stop at tractor supply today and pick you one up. But I can`t spare mine.
BECK: I know.
Let me tell you something, America, stock up on pitchforks. You`re going to need them.
Thanks a lot, Trace.
ADKINS: All right. Thank you.
BECK: We`ll talk to you again.
ADKINS: OK.
BECK: That`s it America.
Make sure you check out the e-mail newsletter. It will have all kinds of information from today`s radio show, what`s on tomorrow, and maybe, just maybe, I`ll give away a Trace Adkins pitchfork. No promises.
From New York, good night America.
END
