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Glenn Beck

Polls Provide Insight into Presidential Race; Expert Weighs in on Economy; Louisiana Appealing Supreme Court Decision on Death Penalty for Child Rapists

Aired July 25, 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, we do a little presidential poll dancing. A new survey suggests voters are more comfortable with McCain when it comes to values and experience. Huh. Sanity in America? No.

Plus, how does today`s economic problems stack up against history? From the Great Depression to the Savings and Loan crisis. We`ll find out if we`re near the bottom or still falling.

And just how much money would you owe the government if this guy gets elected? I`ll ask former presidential contender Steve Forbes.

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America. The election is about halfway over. Really? Is it? And then we can start the next one.

"Wall Street Journal" today puts in these terms. The presidential campaign looks less like a race between two candidates than a referendum on one of them, Barack Obama. Can Americans get comfortable with Obama`s background, level of experience, or what I believe is his Marxist globalist leanings? I mean, did you see the speech in Germany yesterday? Especially considering the unique problems facing our country today, is Barack Obama the guy?

It remains to be seen, but here`s something to think about. Politics and policies aside, there`s a new "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News poll that shows that, when it comes to the background and the values that people can identify with, Americans prefer Republican John McCain over Barack Obama 58 to 47 percent. How come I haven`t been hearing that? Here`s "The Point" tonight.

While Barack Obama loves to position himself as the kind of guy you would rather have a beer with, this is America, not "Cheers," and drinking buddies, not what we really need in the White House right now. And here`s how I got there.

Let`s get something straight right out of the box. It would be easy to dismiss these poll numbers as little more than America`s bout with racism. John McCain, his background in values. You know, he`s an old white guy. He makes me feel so much better.

You know, you can do that. You can dismiss Obama as an upstart African-American. Not only does that attitude dishonor the dramatic strides in racial acceptance that we made in this country, but it also ignores Obama`s strengths and Obama`s weaknesses.

Let`s look at the truth behind these numbers. Think of your own life. Aren`t there people that you have met or encounter every day in the office or whatever that your gut says, I`m not so sure. I think some people and their guts are finally coming around to what I`ve been saying now for a while.

No matter what you think about his policies, Barack Obama feels like an out-of-touch elitist with the charisma of a rock star but not the judgment and experience to effectively lead this country. From racist pastors to Hamas-loving Middle East advisers to a Pentagon-bombing supporter, Obama may be the worst judge of character in the history of all time and space.

John McCain hardly walks on water, but the company he keeps seems to walk the path of straight and narrow America. You know what I mean?

Barack Obama`s idea of foreign policy is blocking women in burkas from appearing on camera with him and giving speeches at a German war memorial. John McCain has decades in the Senate, an honorable military service record. Obama wants to pull out Iraq, leave the worst in the Middle East to fill that power vacuum. John McCain wants to finish the job and actually win the war because he believes we can.

At the end of the day, I pray that Americans realize this isn`t a popularity contest and we`re not trying to choose the flashiest candidate. This is our country. It`s our home. A profound responsibility to make sure that we protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. That`s what you`re supposed to base your decision on.

So tonight, America, here`s what you need to know. This may come to a shock to you, but I`m not voting for Barack Obama. But this may come as a shock to you: I may not vote for John McCain, either. I ain`t sold on him. I`m not comfortable with either of these clowns. I`m listening to my gut. And finally, it seems that a lot of people are listening to their gut.

Scott Rasmussen is the president of "Rasmussen Reports." Kevin Madden is a Republican strategist and former senior advisor to Mitt Romney.

Let me start with you, Scott. What are we seeing? What are you finding in these polls?

SCOTT RASMUSSEN, "RASMUSSEN REPORTS": What we`re finding is the race is very tight. And that`s the biggest surprise of all because the fundamentals are so favorable for a Democrat, the race shouldn`t be close.

The other big news, a lot of people are feeling the same thing in their gut that you are. Four years ago today, 97 percent of Americans either picked Bush or Kerry or were leaning in that direction. This year, only 86 percent have made up their mind at this point in time.

BECK: OK. Now, let me ask you this. Why isn`t it a run-away because, if you look at any of the coverage on the radio show, I do battle of the headlines every day, and they`re always calling -- you know, making some ageist remark about John McCain. It`s -- John McCain has not won a single day in the headlines of the newspapers since we`ve been tracking it.

You look at the -- they`re anointing this man as the messiah in all of the media. Why isn`t this a run-away race?

RASMUSSEN: Well, first of all, we just did some polling that shows people don`t trust what they`re hearing from reporters. They look at reporters like Wikipedia. And so there -- there`s an instant distrust.

Secondly, there are doubts about Barack Obama. The campaign is all about him right now. And people are not sure. The "Wall Street Journal" poll that came out today showed 55 percent believe he is the riskier pick for president. How big a risk do people want to take? They`re trying to weigh that right now. And if Barack Obama can overcome that threshold, he will be elected, because it is such a Democratic year. He`s not there yet.

BECK: Kevin, I heard somebody -- I don`t know, in the last couple of days -- that if the election were held -- in fact, it was Lanny Davis. If the election were held today, that John McCain would win. Do you believe that?

KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, if Grandma had a beard, she`d be Grandpa.

Look. You know, I think that right now, if you are judging a lot of these candidates on attributes, John McCain wins. And I think that`s probably the biggest challenge that Barack Obama has.

Barack Obama had a great act one. He could give a great speech, and he could talk in very hopeful terms. Act two is where the American people find out where he is on a lot of the issues that are important to them. Act two is going to be a significant challenge for Barack Obama. Because, as he will find out, he is significantly to the left of the American electorate on social issues, economic issues, national security issues.

John McCain is going to win on the attribute of confidence and readiness. He`s going to be able to go out there and point to the American people and, quite frankly, make this -- make this election a referendum on Barack Obama`s readiness.

And he can say that right now, say what you want about John McCain, but you know that I`m ready to make the tough decisions that are going to move this country forward. Barack Obama is still -- he`s still, you know, going through this political maturation, and a policy maturation, quite frankly. And that`s where this -- I think the contours of this race are going to go in the next few weeks.

BECK: Kevin, let me ask you this, because you worked for Mitt Romney for a while.

MADDEN: Right.

BECK: You ran his communications, if I`m not mistaken. Was it a requirement to have perfect hair to work for him? Scott, I mean...

RASMUSSEN: I didn`t work for him, obviously.

MADDEN: It`s -- actually, this hair is issued. I just put it on in the morning.

BECK: Yes, and mine`s not a hairpiece.

Here`s -- I want to go back to you, Scott, for a second. I have -- I`ve watched this happen time and time again in other things. Anything that rises as fast as Obama has and has gotten as white hot as Obama has, this guy is a phenomenon. Usually, it comes down just as fast.

Does that -- is that usually true or just anecdotal?

RASMUSSEN: Well, it`s usually true, but the question at issue right now is will that happen before or after November. And Kevin is exactly right. This is a referendum on Barack Obama. If people believe that when they go into the voting booth, that`s John McCain`s best chance.

BECK: You know, I`ll tell you Kevin, you know what I`m concerned about is this guy is, you know, supposedly going to unite the United States, but the people who are not voting for him are, quite frankly, I think -- I am -- this guy spooks the hell out of me because I think he`s a Marxist. I think he`s a globalist. And I don`t think he as the experience to lead us in some of the worst times that we could be facing with a war and energy and everything else.

There`s not going to be any consensus here, do you think?

RASMUSSEN: Go ahead. I`m sorry.

BECK: Do you think we can unite like we used to?

MADDEN: Well, look, you know, it depends on whether or not Barack Obama can convince the American public there`s actually substance behind his rhetoric about uniting -- uniting the country. Because when you really look at where he stands on the issues, he`s taken -- he`s taken a lot of stances that are actually outside the mainstream.

And I do think that, at the end of the day, the Americans right now that have not decided who they`re going to vote for or who are not drawn to Barack Obama are given pause because he doesn`t seem to have a very strong political and policy compass. Instead, it seems that he makes decisions based on what`s right for Barack Obama`s political career, rather than what`s right for the country. He`s done it on a whole host of issues.

And John McCain, the contrast that I expect he`s going to draw as we near -- as we get closer to election day, is that he`s going to put the country first. He`s going to make the hard decisions. And Americans right now, we all know, based on national security issues that are facing this country, and economic issues, that we face enormous challenges. And who is ready to be president from day one?

BECK: I`ll tell you, I don`t agree with a lot of John McCain`s positions. And, you know, one of the things is he`s so hard headed. I mean, he can be wrong and he`ll just keep going with it.

Obama is the opposite. Scott, let me ask you this. You know, when John Kerry was running, he flip-flopped on a few issues: "I voted for it before I voted against it." Obama has changed almost every position.

Do you see -- do you see any type of flip-flopping numbers coming in? Is that connecting with people, and if not, why?

RASMUSSEN: Well, what we see is there`s a little softening of the numbers over the last month for Barack Obama. That`s mainly because the glow is wearing off from his victory over Hillary Clinton.

What we also see is the people that aren`t decided are leaning one way or the other are starting to go a little bit more in John McCain`s direction. I think that`s because of some doubts.

And by the way, in this last week, we`ve seen an increase in the number of people who say that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be president. And I think that`s because all the focus is on foreign affairs, his greatest weakness.

BECK: OK. Guys, thanks a lot.

Now, coming up, our economic crisis in context. The current problems that we have, are they like the S&L melt-down, the Great Depression? What is it? We have some answers for you, coming up.

Plus, if Obama wins the election, there is no doubt that our taxes will be going up. How bad will it be? Former presidential contender Steve Forbes will be here in "The Real Story," coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, let me ask you this question. You feel like you`re already giving the government too much of your money? Well, just wait to see what happens when Obama is elected. We`ll be talking tax and how much is too much with the man who knows something about the subject. Former presidential contender Mr. Steve Forbes, coming up in just a second.

But first, when people talk about this country`s economic crisis, they love to toss around comparisons to the Great Depression, the Savings and Loan scandal, Black Monday, market crash of `87. Well, here`s the thing. Comparing today`s economic climate to points throughout our history is one thing. But explaining why the comparisons are valid is something else.

I don`t want to throw meaningless headlines at you. Instead, I`d rather define, you know, some terms so we can both move along and understand what`s happening. What is a recession? Would do bank failures mean to you, the average person? How bad is housing, unemployment, the strength of the dollar? Unless we all understand these basic ideas -- and believe me I spent -- like 2 a.m. in the morning I`m reading stuff, going, "Oh, my head hurts." Unless you understand them, it doesn`t matter how many stories you read or what I say.

So, while I don`t love everything the "New York Times" writes, in fact I don`t like, really pretty much any of the stuff the "New York Times" writes, there`s Steve Forbes back there. There we go. Thank you.

The paper`s national economic reporter, Peter Goodman, had a fantastic piece over the weekend that explains our shaky economy in even a way I can understand.

Hi, Pete, how are you?

PETER GOODMAN, "NEW YORK TIMES": Hi. Great, thanks.

BECK: Good. OK. Here`s the thing. Why don`t we go through some of these housing and the dollar and unemployment, and you explain and tell us if it`s better or worse than it`s been before and where you think it might end up, well, according to the experts, the economists, where you think it might end up?

GOODMAN: You bet.

BECK: OK. Let`s start with housing. Some people say that we have a lot more to go. You know, real estate agents are saying, "I think we`re at the end." Who`s right?

GOODMAN: Well, there`s a widespread view that we got a long way to go, for the simple reason that we had such a big speculative bubble that we now have so many houses on the market that if we didn`t build a single house we`d have enough houses that 2 1/2 years could go by before we`d sell them all, according to Economy.com (ph).

BECK: Right. And some cities are worse, like Miami has got...

GOODMAN: Yes, I mean, Miami is horrendous.

BECK: All of Cuba.

GOODMAN: Los Angeles. The San Francisco Bay Area. A lot of central valley, California. A lot of houses.

BECK: How much more do you think it`s going to fall, or do the experts say it`s going to fall?

GOODMAN: Well, the people I talked to say we probably need another 10 percent or so. We dropped 17 percent since the peak back in 2005.

BECK: Wow.

GOODMAN: And housing prices basically doubled between 2000 and 2005. We dropped about 17. And we may have 10, maybe 15 percent more to go.

BECK: OK. Unemployment 5.5 percent right now. Where -- where do the charts say, according to the economists, that that`s going to end up?

GOODMAN: Well, a lot of people think we`re going to hit 6.5 percent or so by late next year. And it could go up into 2010, even if the economy is growing, because remember, we have this jobless recovery after the last recession.

BECK: OK. So, explain this, because this would imply that we`re going to be in a double-dip recession, which they say is really bad. It goes -- it goes down, and then you hit something that makes it go up. In this case it`s the tax rebate. And then it goes up. And then it comes back down again.

If tax rate -- rebates are good, how come no one in Washington understands that lower taxes would be even better? Something you can count on?

GOODMAN: Well, I think I`ll punt that to people in Washington and stick with what the data tells us.

But I mean, the widespread sense is these tax rebates did a pretty good job convincing people to spend some money. And let`s remember that the American consumer is 70 percent of the American economy and, really, the engine of the global economy.

BECK: Right.

GOODMAN: So, we sent checks worth $100 billion out and people spent some of that money, but now that`s wearing out.

BECK: All right. The -- I have sat with some of the biggest -- you know, had dinner with some of the biggest names in the financial industry, and the scariest thing that anybody said to me was, "Glenn, we don`t really even know. We don`t know, because everything has been sold off. And we own a piece and they own a piece. We don`t know what they`ve done with their piece." This is a new thing for the financial markets, yes or no?

GOODMAN: Yes. I mean, that`s right. There`s an enormous amount of complexity. And that complexity was supposed to be a good thing when the banks were borrowing enormous sums of money and then lending enormous sums of money so people could buy houses. And they were borrowing against those mortgages and selling pieces of those mortgages in these very complex investments around the globe.

And the theory was, well, the risk spread, but the risk emboldened banks to take -- I`m sorry the spreading of risk emboldened the banks to take bigger risks. And now we can`t figure out...

BECK: OK. So, you actually say that the data points that our financial market, the banks are in as bad a shape right now as we were in the Great Depression. Is that possibly true?

GOODMAN: There`s a widespread sense that this is probably the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. I mean, let`s not get carried away. In the Great Depression you had massive run on banks and hundreds of banks going out of business.

BECK: OK. So this is the worse since that was over?

GOODMAN: Yes. That`s right.

BECK: OK. Then if that`s true, wouldn`t the added stress of anything else -- I mean I`ve been worried about a perfect store. We can handle anything. But we`ve got a perfect storm formulating. With all of the other things that -- you know, the uncertainty in, you know, the government and what they`re going to do and regulation and everything else. Oil. War.

Wouldn`t that lead us to believe the -- did you find any worry that a few of these things coming together at a precarious time like now could cause real, real havoc?

GOODMAN: This is a dangerous time in our economic history. That is - - that`s a widespread view out there, that there is a lot of uncertainty over the value of the dollar. We`re going to have some kind of new regulatory structure.

I mean, the biggest problem is -- in terms of uncertainty is that the banks have just lost, some people think, a trillion dollars on the mortgage market, and they have already recognized about $300 billion worth of losses. Well, that leaves $700 billion or more or, you know, somewhere in that ballpark to account for. And they have to raise money to replace it. And in the meantime, they`re hanging onto whatever dollars they have, which means you can`t get a loan.

BECK: Right, right. Peter, I have to tell you, the "New York Times," when they get it right they do it unlike any other paper in the country. And you did it right this weekend. A very good article.

GOODMAN: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

BECK: All right.

Coming up, I`m going talk to somebody who knows a little something about money. Last name, Forbes. Former presidential candidate Steve Forbes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, do you see this picture behind me? These guys know better than you, you little, little person. They`re the Supreme Court, and they struck down a Louisiana law that proposed giving a child rapist the death penalty.

State lawyers are now asking the high court to reconsider -- pretty please -- citing a 2006 federal law and a 2007 executive order making child rape a capital crime under military law. Joining me once again is Louisiana`s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.

Governor, here`s the thing. Child rape, is there -- is there anything that can get the death penalty if it`s not child rape?

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Glenn, you would think if there`s any crime that cries out for capital punishment, for the death penalty other than murder, it would absolutely be child rape.

What was so offensive about this ruling, not only did they strike down Louisiana`s law, look at the rationale behind it. The Supreme Court said not only was this not a proportional punishment for the crime. They said this was based on an emerging national consensus.

BECK: Yes.

JINDAL: They sounded like pollsters. I thought they were supposed to read the Constitution and interpret it, not try to write new laws.

BECK: Thank you very much for saying that. Let me give you the exact quote, because here it is. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in an opinion last Monday, including that "On balance and on light of evolving standards of decency, there is a national consensus against such punishment."

When did this ever become the rule of law? Consensus?

JINDAL: And what laws of decency is he talking about? He`s not talking the people of Louisiana. He`s not talking the little girl that was brutally attacked. He`s not talking the victims` advocates. I have no idea what he`s talking about. He talks about evolving norms and standards of decency.

Again, I thought their intent, their job is to read the intent of the Constitution, not to come up with new law, new precedents.

BECK: Governor, when did we -- when did things go off -- off the tracks here? When did the Supreme Court -- I mean, I know the history of the Mulberry case and everything. When did the Supreme Court start to tell us, and we start taking it? They have become -- I mean, why don`t we just go to the system in Iran? They`ve got a nice supreme counsel over there that just says what laws can be done and what laws can`t be. Why not?

JINDAL: Well, Glenn, two things. One is it`s not just the Supreme Court. We had a federal judge a year ago in Louisiana ruled that, literally, ministers couldn`t pray before school board meetings, because he was worried there -- in part, one of the rationales was they were worried that children may be accidentally exposed to prayer.

And you think about that, so they said it was OK for legislators and the Supreme Court to open in prayer, but not school boards because students may be there.

The second thing I think is so incredible about this. One of the attorneys is -- that is helping the state with this appeal, is helping the prosecutors with this appeal, he himself does not believe in the death penalty but said he thought it was so ridiculous the Supreme Court was trying to substitute their judgment for that of the people and their elected legislators.

So even an attorney that doesn`t believe in the death penalty is helping us to argue our side of the case, because even he thought the ruling was just wrong.

BECK: Are you going to castrate child rapists in Louisiana?

JINDAL: Absolutely. We`ve got a law that gives judges that option on a first offense, mandatory on the second offense. We`ve got several other laws, lifetime registration. We increased the penalties. We still would like to have the death penalty as an option. We`ve got mandatory life imprisonment without parole.

But we absolutely want to send a message. If you intend to do harm to our children, stay out of Louisiana.

BECK: Good for you, Governor. And let me tell you something, you`ve got a few alligators down there. I`m just saying. If they accidentally slip and fall into an alligator pit, it wouldn`t -- I wouldn`t cry my eyes out.

Governor, thanks a lot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, welcome to "The Real Story." A lot of people will say that Barack Obama will raise taxes on the rich to pay for all of his great new ideas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GLENN BECK, CNN HOST: Well, welcome to the real story. A lot of people will say that Barack Obama will raise taxes on the rich to pay for all of his great new ideas. In fact, Barack Obama says that Barack Obama will raise taxes on the rich. So my source on that one is pretty good. It`s Barack Obama. But if you`re part of the wealthiest one percent, have another scone, lovey, you may want to check the news while you`re getting the scone because you don`t actually have to start checking out Peru`s citizenship requirements just yet because the real story is that Obama may actually turn out to be one of the most rich-friendly presidents since - wait for it, Jimmy Carter. Not kidding. Hear me out. Right now, the wealthiest one percent pay about 40 percent of the country`s entire income tax bill. One percent pays 40 percent.

It`s about time they start paying their fair share. But that ratio only got that high after George W. Bush gave the rich, which was of course this supposed huge tax cut. Before then, the richest Americans actually paid far less, which brings be back to Barack Obama. According to the "Wall Street Journal" the change that Obama is hoping for is a change back to the rates of the Jimmy Carter era. It sounds quite frankly, just frightening to me. But if you make a lot of money, back then the rich paid 19 percent of this country`s bill. Remember, it`s over 40 percent now.

So, in other words, higher taxes can easily result in a less progressive system. Exactly the opposite of what Obama says he wants. When has anybody in politics ever gotten what they wanted? It`s always the opposite. When it comes to taxes, the only thing that is truly unbiased are the actual IRS statistics. OK, so you could say, blame your conservative, you want this. Let me not spin anything. Let me just give you the IRS stats. Listen to a couple of them that nobody from the left would like you to hear.

First one, after the 2003 Bush tax cuts, two big things happened in this country. One, the number of millionaires almost doubled. Oh, no. Two, our deficit compared to the size of our economy went from 3.5 percent in 2003 to 1.9 percent in 2006. That`s a good thing. Oh, but Glenn, your fancy numbers are great, but the middle class is shrinking. I know you have heard that a million times before, right? I`m hear to tell you that`s an absolute fact. It is true. The middle class is shrinking. Why is the next question that nobody asks. The answer, because they`re moving from the middle class to the upper class. Isn`t that the essence of the American dream? More families so we can move into higher tax brackets, the more our government makes. But look at the IRS data. That only happens with lower taxes. The higher taxes makes everybody move down the ladder the opposite direction.

The fact is since 2003, more people have become millionaires. Our economy has expanded rapidly, and consequently, our federal government now has more money than ever to waste.

Steve Forbes is the president and CEO, and editor in chief of "Forbes" Magazine. Hello, Steve.

STEVE FORBES, PRES./CEO, "FORBES" MAGAZINE: Good to be with you Glenn. Thank you very much.

BECK: You bet. You know a little something about the wealthiest one percent, I hear.

FORBES: So I`m told.

BECK: OK. Everybody has said these tax cuts have created these huge deficits and we just can`t afford tax cuts anymore?

FORBES: Well, as you pointed out, if you really want more government revenue, you get off the backs of people, as Ronald Reagan did, as John Kennedy did in the 1960s, and guess what, the economy expands, more jobs are created, higher salaries are created, and we all come out ahead.

BECK: You know, Steve, here`s the thing. I don`t know how to get across to people. I`m a small businessman. If we had a flat tax, I don`t know if you have heard of that idea, if we had a flat tax like Russia does, here`s what would happen. Me as a small businessman, I would keep more of my money so I would create more jobs. But people don`t understand that, and more importantly, Steve, we have created a bad situation. Tell me how to solve this. The top 10 percent of wage earners in America pay 71 percent of all income tax. The bottom 50 percent only pay 2.9 percent. People in the bottom 50 don`t care anymore. They don`t care about the tax argument because they`re getting more than they`re giving. How do you solve that?

FORBES: Well, one thing that I think that still works in our favor is that even though they pay less proportionate income tax, they do pay the social security and Medicare taxes. And that`s a big chunk of their salaries. They also get socked on the local level, state and municipalities hit them as well with property taxes, sales taxes, and the like. So I think there`s still an antitax constituency in this country that is still very strong, and I think that`s the one way, one of the key ways that John McCain could turn this election around, running on substance of taxes. Is higher taxes the way to get this economy moving again?

BECK: Then explain this to me, Steve, because I know you`re a John McCain guy and I`m not a John McCain guy. I mean, I don`t have any guy in the running right now.

FORBES: Why aren`t you running?

BECK: I would vaporize too many cities. Here`s the thing, John McCain may be good on income tax, and he says that he gets that and I`ve seen his plan, and it`s good. But in the same plan, he talks about capping trade. Gigantic tax programs, the biggest ever created. So you`re taking, sure, I`m not giving income tax, but I`m getting it here and here.

FORBES: Yes. I think cap and trade is going to go the way of some other things, as you may remember, when he came into office, Bill Clinton had a proposal of tax carbons and stuff like that. I don`t think those things are going to get very far as people start to examine the details of them.

BECK: But shouldn`t he have examined those details, Steve? Shouldn`t he have known that`s a bad idea?

FORBES: Yes, well, he`s moving in the right direction. You got to give him credit. He`s now for really having active exploration offshore. Going full bore on nuclear power plants, 45 in the next 20 to 25 years and that`s another thing that the democrats are squirming about. People know we should do more offshore production and drilling and they wish that issue would go away and we`re not going to let it go away.

BECK: OK. Who is going to help - I don`t want to ask this because I know you`re a John McCain guy. Tell me how to fix - let`s not get into politics. How do we stop the Fed from killing our dollar? It`s a very simple formula. I`m an uneducated guy. I`m a self-educated alcoholic DJ, for the love of Pete, and I can figure this out. As the dollar goes up, oil goes down. The stock market goes up. Everything is fine. We`re killing our dollar.

FORBES: Well, that`s the biggest mistake of the Bush administration, doing what Jimmy Carter did over 30 years ago and having a weak dollar policy. They have crazy reasons for it, but in the real world, it just means higher prices and giving hundreds of billions of dollars of wind falls to our enemies in Venezuela and elsewhere. And in terms of the Federal Reserve, they just think printing more money is the way to solve any problem. So, you are right. It`s very simple. Stop printing too much money, soak up some of the excess money you created, tell the market you`re doing it, and the dollar will recover.

There`s another factor on the oil front that hasn`t gotten much play yet. And that is in addition to the weak dollar, that is I think there`s real fears that the Israelis are going to strike Iran after the elections, especially if Barack Obama is elected, and I can`t guarantee it, but I think it`s a high likelihood that they`re going to take real action.

BECK: I think they`re going to do it on either of these guys. Real quick, I think I got about 30 seconds. Why is Wall Street for all these gigantic bail-outs? It`s insane.

FORBES: Well, because they`re the ones being bailed out. And so suddenly, when they`re drowning, they like life rafts wherever they come from. But the proper thing to do is what I think Ronald Reagan would have done, we sort of tried to do it, and that is take something like Fannie and Freddie, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bust them into 12 different companies, recapitalize them, send them to the marketplace like private companies, sever their ties with government. Those two companies, Glenn, as you know, are the biggest powerful lobbyists in Washington. Every one who wants gets a job from Freddie or Fannie.

BECK: Get your pitchforks and torches out, gang. It`s about time. Steve, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. Hope you had one too.

FORBES: Thank you.

BECK: You bet. That`s the real story tonight.

Coming up, clearly, a new Russia these days. Time is right now for a brand new kind of Russian spy thriller. I just finished reading this. It is fantastic. One of my favorite writers right around the corner, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: When it comes to spy novels, the old ones, the old rules no longer apply. Gone is the cold war and it`s icy blondes and back stabbing double- agents hiding microfilm in the heel of their shoe. Over the course of the ten previous books, my next guest has elevated the craft, establishing himself as one of the world`s finest writers. His latest book seems to be ripped right out of the headlines. I got to tell you it is something you look at and go, wait a minute, I think I read that.

Oil-rich Russia is the key to survival, now playing the "Moscow Rules." The author is one my absolute favorites, Daniel Silva, is with us now. Welcome, sir. How are you?

DANIEL SILVA, AUTHOR, "MOSCOW RULES": So nice to see you.

BECK: Huge fan of your work and huge fan of your books. This one is tremendous, off the charts.

SILVA: I have a little confession to make though. It`s a mutual admiration society tonight. Because I`m a huge fan of yours. The producer and I were talking backstage, and we want you to take a look at the following piece of videotape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I said this before I went on vacation and I still haven`t received one. Somebody in America, I can`t buy them in Manhattan, I need a pitchfork.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SILVA: Ask and you shall receive.

BECK: Holy cow.

SILVA: It`s a pitchfork. It`s actually a manure pitchfork, which is good for Washington.

BECK: That`s fantastic.

SILVA: It`s engraved for your collection. If you bring it to Washington, please don`t try to take it on the shuttle. And there are a couple buildings in Washington that you really don`t want to walk around with a pitchfork.

BECK: Yes, this is bad for the airport.

SILVA: Stay away from the White House and maybe this -

BECK: Enjoy.

OK. Let`s talk a little bit about Russia in the book that you`re writing because it is - it is the stuff with, you know, in real life, Putin poisoning all these reporters, killing them. Everything else and that`s how this book starts.

SILVA: It was. I have been waiting a long time to write a Russia book. Writers of my age, my generation, we were all raised on this stuff. And I have wanted for a long time to try to tackle Russia, but Russia, the `90s on its knees wasn`t very interesting to me. I thought about writing a historical look at Russia and during the cold war. Didn`t want to go there. And when Alexander Litvinenko was killed in the heart of London in 2006. That`s the polonium --

BECK: Polonium 210.

SILVA: The perhaps the most dangerous substance on the planet. I mean, we are rightly concerned about bad guys laying their hands on chemical, biological, other sorts of stuff. It is pretty clear now than the Russian secret services smuggled this highly dangerous stuff across Europe, sprinkled it around London and killed a man. Committed an act of nuclear murder in the heart of London. I felt, you know what, now is the time to write about it.

BECK: Right and that`s where the book starts. Do you - I have this theory. I mean, here you are again on the front lines of it. I have this theory that communist Russia never went - KGB Russia never went away.

SILVA: It didn`t.

BECK: Putin is an evil dude.

You don`t want to comment on it.

SILVA: I do. You know, I heard a wonderful story about a very senior British official who met with him recently and said I looked into his eyes and I saw pure evil.

BECK: Unlike what Bush said.

SILVA: Unlike what President Bush said. He was confronted face-to-face with Putin and a group of reporters. I think that if he could walk that one back, he probably would. But having said that, Putin comes from a KGB background. What people don`t realize is about 75 percent to 80 percent of the senior people inside the Kremlin are also from the security services. The Russians have a new name for it, Siloviki, men of the KGB. And these guys are running Russia.

BECK: Your book is - because now we only have a minute. You and your pitchfork. The idea of the book is, they`re in bed and they`re giving weapons to our enemies, real bad Middle Eastern stuff. I just read in the paper last week Russia tried to go after all of the carbon in Libya. They`re already dealing a deal with our enemies in Iran.

How realistic do you think what`s happening in your book?

SILVA: The book is - the plot of the book deals with a Russian oligarch billionaire and arms dealer who is planning to sell some very dangerous weapons to Al Qaeda. That is straight from the headlines. I mean, we have examples of Russian arms dealer named Victor (Boot), who did exactly the same thing. So unfortunately, it`s not too far removed from reality.

BECK: We just said that if Russia puts nukes in Cuba, that`s a red line for us. This just came out today.

SILVA: Yes.

BECK: Are they thinking about putting nukes in Cuba? What would that mean?

SILVA: I don`t know why that came out. I don`t know - look, when they get irritated with us over the missile defense shield, they threaten to target European cities with their missiles again. I mean, why Russia is a member of the G-8 and threatening to target European capitals.

BECK: Why? Everybody in the media and everybody place else, they all love Russia. This is an evil empire.

SILVA: I think that the debate is starting to run against Russia. I think you know great powers sometimes have - it`s difficult for them to walk and chew gum at the same time. Throughout the last seven years, we have been focused almost exclusively on the threat from Al Qaeda. Putin used that cynically to gather up power in Russia, cut off, strangle democracy in its infancy and impose an authoritarian capitalist system in Russia. That`s going to be a threat for a long time.

BECK: America, let me tell you something. This guy is one of my favorite writers. I think there`s a handful of writers out there that are right now doing what Hollywood used to do in World War II. You`ll learn something from his book, but the best thing is you`ll be entertained by it as well. The name of the book is "Moscow Rules." The author is Daniel Silva, and it`s in book stores today. Go get it.

Now, time for tonight`s "Real America," brought to you by CSX. Hard to meet a person who hasn`t actually been personally affected by cancer or at least knows somebody who has. That includes one young woman from Pittsburgh who has decided to take that seemingly sad fact and actually turn it into a positive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELSEY BARNER: (Joe Ethridge) was the principal my brother`s middle school and he had battled cancer for five years.

BECK: Kelsey and Taylor Barner saw firsthand what cancer can do when they watch their middle school principal battle colon cancer.

KIM & RON BARNER, KELSEY`S PARENTS: I think that made them think about most teenagers don`t realize how short life is. I think for them, that was eye opening.

BECK: So the kids got involved with the American Cancer Society`s Relay for Life. A 24-hour event that raises money for the organization. It was there that 15-year-old Kelsey came up with an idea.

KELSEY BARNER: We did seminars there. I was actually in a fund-raising seminar, and one of the ideas that was talked about was sharing cancer survivors` stories with other people. So, I thought it would be cool to put it in a book format so it would be easier to share.

BECK: That was eight months ago, and since then, the entire family has been working to make the book a reality. Kelsey even contributed $1,500 of her own contributed $1,500 of her own money.

KIM BARNER: She`s very ambitious. So when she had the idea, although it sounder ambitious it was very typical. Let`s come up with something new and exciting. And it was.

BECK: The book, "In Their Own Words," was published last month. It`s 30 personal accounts of how patients and loved one have dealt with the devastating disease.

KELSEY BARNER: They`re really sad but it`s inspiring to read. So, it`s hard to read them, but you feel better! And it will help other people.

KIM BARNER: The interesting thing is even though they`re sad in their content, they all end with optimism, with a purpose. There are firm purpose behind what they went through with cancer.

BECK: Though her school principal lost his battle with cancer, Kelsey hopes this book will inspire others to continue their fight against the disease.

KELSEY BARNER: It`s knowing that people like enjoy sharing their stories. And it helps other people with cancer to know that other people are going through the same thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: You know, I`ve been saying for a while lately that Americans are getting to the point where they`re ready to grab their torches and their pitch forks and throw the bums out of Washington. Well, this is the second one that I have received. I have asked people to send them to me on the radio program. It started last Friday getting out the address. And I`m going to have a collection of them here. He`s a picture of the first one being delivered yesterday to the office. Some might say that a lot of mail rooms in urban Manhattan aren`t used to getting large pieces of rural farm equipment, but I figure it will make life that much more exciting for everybody here at the Time Warner Center.

Actually, I want to put these pitch forks right here on the set, some place in New York city, that way, every time a weezly politician on the show comes on, and he starts talking, blah, blah, blah, shoveling bull crap. I`ll remind him exactly how the American people are feeling by my nice little collection of pitchforks and torches. Now, the torch and pitch fork have become our little symbol of a reminder to Washington, at least on this program or they`re about to be, if they don`t start doing their job and honoring the facts that their power comes from us, the people, we`ll just keep throwing them out until we finally find somebody who gets it.

This country was designed with a very specific pecking order in mind. The true power comes from god to the people, and then we lend that power to the government. When they start misusing that power, when they`ve had that power far too long, it`s time to take it back from them and give it to somebody else. Loan it to them.

I`ve been traveling around the country, talking to people from every walk of life and I`ve noticed a shift. It`s changing from are they listening to us to they`re not even listening to us, Glenn. Think of it as a kid in the back seat of a car. They start saying, dad, dad, dad. It gets louder and louder until you just can`t ignore it anymore. Well, that`s where we are now. The sooner Washington recognizes it the better. Washington, wake up.

For all of you looking to make this point without carrying around a sharp metal fork or something, or something that`s on fire. I offer you this, it`s a new t-shirt now available at glennbeck.com. Torches and pitchforks, protecting Americans from politicians since 1791. It`s available now at glennbeck.com.

Good thing really, about pitch forks, by the way, it`s not only, you know, not only do does a pitchfork or two help throw the politicians out, but there is also a great way to move manure which pretty much is the same thing, isn`t? From New York, good night, America.

END