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Glenn Beck
Obama Does Damage Control over Rapper`s Song; Bipartisan Congressional Group Works to Solve Energy Problem; Families of Jailed Border Agents Face Troubles
Aired July 31, 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, who cares about the issues when we can talk about this? This is great. Another ode to Obama hits the airwaves. But this time, it`s crazy.
LUDACRIS, RAPPER: McCain don`t belong in any chair unless he`s paralyzed.
BECK: Nice, seriously nice.
Plus, again, two congressmen from opposite sites of the aisle who -- get this -- are working together. There`s a crazy idea. We`ll see if they`re making any progress on our energy problem.
And let`s talk about the country with a country star, Toby Keith. His new family, album, America, and so much more. Tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Well, hello, America.
You know, political campaign ads really usually don`t tell us anything useful about what the candidate thinks or feels. Actually, if they`re good for anything, they`re good for showing us exactly what a candidate doesn`t want to talk about.
Let me show you something, the latest ad about Barack Obama from John McCain`s campaign. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Britney, Paris, Obama, oh, my. Don`t you just love commercials about the issues?
Here`s "The Point" tonight, America. Ads filled with slop distract us from the real problems facing our country, the problems the politicians themselves have created. And here`s how I got there.
You know -- you know, I wish the candidates would talk -- no, I don`t. I just wish they`d actually do something on the real substantial things like gas prices and the border.
There is no denying the truth of this McCain ad. Barack is a way bigger celebrity than Britney or Paris Hilton. Come on, obviously. You don`t think there`s a club owner -- name one on earth who wouldn`t rather have Barack at his opening than tired old Paris Hilton exposing herself.
Obama`s rock star status cannot be seen as a qualification for the highest office in the land; however, don`t you think it`s just kind of a convenient distraction from the fact that his political positions are either socialist, scary or both? I mean, John McCain does have a point here, but John, really, releasing an ad showing how wildly -- wildly popular your opponent is might not be the best strategy to win. I`m just saying, maybe it`s just me.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is busy playing damage control today. Rapper and Obama supporter Ludacris just dropped a new track -- I`m down with the lingo -- called "Obama is Here." It shows Luda`s support for Obama by fronting on Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, John McCain and President Bush. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUDACRIS: Put me in office make me a vice president. Hillary hated on you, so that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is irrelevant. Now Jesse is talking slick and apologizing for what? If you said it then you meant it how you want it, have a gut!
Paint the White House black and I`m sure that`s got `em terrified. McCain don`t belong in any chair unless he`s paralyzed. Yes I said it, because Bush is mentally handicapped. Ball up all of his speeches and just throw `em like candy wrap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I just love his music.
Sure, the rhymes may be off the hook, but the spokesman for Obama`s campaign said, quote, "While Ludacris is a talented individual" -- uh-huh - - "he should be ashamed of these lyrics." Yes, he should. Ideas like that don`t further the political dialogue at all. They take us further away from the real problems and the real solutions. So America, here`s what you need to know tonight.
You remember one thing, remember this: politicians don`t actually want to solve the problems, because it puts them right out of a job. Once these dopes fix things like they should, we`re not going to need them, are we?
I mean, in a very real sense, it`s their job to put themselves out of a job. Small government puts power where it belongs, with we, the people. Too bad those in power and those who want it keep talking around the problems and distracting us with rap songs and commercials full of celebrity eye candy. Wake up.
The world is on fire, boys, and the American people know it. How about you spend some time off YouTube and get your butts to work?
Ben Stein is the co-author of "How to Ruin the United States of America."
Ben, there`s two things. First of all, you agree that Barack Obama is a bigger celebrity than Britney Spears and Paris Hilton?
BEN STEIN, CO-AUTHOR, "HOW TO RUIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA": Better looking, too.
BECK: Yes. I`m just going to leave it at that. But you know something else I`ve never heard anybody even mention? It shows how out of touch John McCain is, again, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. I mean, Ben, wouldn`t you agree, the it-girl of the season is Miley Cyrus?
STEIN: She is, but there you get a little bit close to pedophilia.
But let`s talk about something. This is a great ad. I think this is McCain`s best ad by far. I love this ad. I`m not joking. I think this ad says I`m one of you out there in America. I`m not a celebrity guy and going to nightclubs. I am one of you.
Now, true, he isn`t exactly one of us. He`s a senator. He`s married to a millionaire. But he is saying, "I`m one of you." And I think it`s a very, very effective ad.
BECK: You know, here`s something that Barack Obama said. And it was up in the press, and the press -- some people in the press have taken this thing on Obama and turned it around. They`re trying to make a case that, look, his ego is out of control. It`s not what he said. It`s not what he meant.
He said, if I can quote here, "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." What he meant by that, if you read the whole thing in context, was that the crowds aren`t coming out to see him. They`re coming out because of what people are projecting on him, that he is the symbol of we can return and be a better - - better America.
But I think by him saying this, it`s so true, and I think he`s missing the problem that he`s the unnamed Democrat or the unnamed Republican that always wins in the poll. People are not willing to look at his policies.
It`s kind of like -- don`t you have a friend that you have that you`re like, "OK, don`t talk to me anymore about that because I like you? And just leave it alone." I think people are doing that with Barack Obama. Just, "Shh. Don`t tell me anything more about you. I like you. I want to have hope."
STEIN: I think it`s way beyond that, Glenn. I think it`s all about race. I think it`s Americans thinking they`re going to -- we`re going to make up for our past racism by electing a black man. I think it`s 100 percent about race. I mean, he`s a very talented guy. He`s a very smart guy. I have heard him talk about legal issues. He does it very, very well.
He`s obviously an extremely capable human being, but I think an awful lot of his popularity has to do with whites saying we`re going to make it up now by electing a black man.
BECK: I think that`s insulting. I think that`s insulting.
STEIN: No, it really isn`t insulting. He`s a very capable man. He would go tremendously far, no matter what he did, but I think the fact of white guilt has a lot do with it.
BECK: Well, here`s -- let me play the race card the other direction. This is what he said July 30. He said, quote, "You know, people are going to say he`s not patriotic enough. He`s got a funny name. You know, he doesn`t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
Let me go to another quote that kind of -- go to screen -- let`s see - - go to screen five. The first black president -- this is the Ludacris lyrics from that same song, "The first black president is destined, and it`s meant to be. The threat ain`t phasing us, the nooses or the jokes."
I think both of these things. First of all, Ludacris, show me where the nooses are, because I`ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you to put those people, you know, in the place where they belong. And I`d like to hear from Obama, who is it that` saying he doesn`t look like all the other presidents on the dollar bills and he`s got a funny name? With any credibility, who`s saying that?
STEIN: I don`t know that anyone`s saying it. But the point is, he is different, he is new, and he is a new possibility.
BECK: Yes.
STEIN: And I welcome that. Look, I welcome that. It`s been a long, long time since African-Americans, or Africans, were brought here as slaves. It`s about time one of them had a shot at being president.
But let`s not kid ourselves. Some of the fact of his appeal is white people thinking in their hearts we have been very guilty of wrongful conduct towards blacks. Let`s try to make it up.
I -- maybe I`m wrong about that, but I think that`s a large part of his appeal.
BECK: Shar (ph), who is an African-American working camera two. Insulting, Shar (ph)? Insulting. Who is it insulting to? African- Americans or all people?
STEIN: In what possible way is it insulting?
BECK: I think -- I`m with Shar (ph) on this. I think this is insulting to Americans to think that we`re so shallow. I mean, I think there are those people...
STEIN: You think it`s insulting to say that Americans feel guilty about several hundred years of extreme mistreatment of African-Americans?
BECK: Yes. You know what?
STEIN: That`s not insulting. That`s saying they have a decent conscience.
BECK: No, it doesn`t.
STEIN: Yes, it does.
BECK: Ben, I have nothing to do with slavery. My people weren`t even here during the slave days. We have had shameful periods in our history, just like every other country, just like -- hang on -- every other people. How is this -- how is this -- we stopped it. And we have a guy now who might be president of the United States that`s black. God bless America, man.
STEIN: Do you think that there is not a huge residue of guilt in this country over the way African-Americans were treated?
BECK: Did we not pay for the -- for the slave trade in blood through the Civil War?
STEIN: There was still incredible mistreatment of African-Americans.
BECK: Of course, there was. Of course, there was. And there has mistreatment in the 1960s there was mistreatment. And there`s mistreatment all around. There`s enough mistreatment for everybody. How about women? Do you feel bad...
STEIN: I couldn`t agree more.
BECK: ... that we treated women this way? I don`t.
STEIN: I feel incredibly bad about the way women are treated.
BECK: Did you say the same thing about people feeling guilty, voting for Hillary Clinton, because of the way we`ve treated women?
STEIN: No, I think it would have been great if we`d had a woman president.
BECK: Because she would have been the most qualified.
STEIN: The fact is that women have been seriously mistreated. African-Americans have been seriously mistreated. There is a certain fraction of the population that feels guilty about it.
BECK: Get over your guilt. Pick the person that`s the best first. I believe it was...
STEIN: I hope -- I hope people do that. I hope.
BECK: ... Martin Luther King that said judge by the content of the character.
STEIN: And I hope -- and I hope they do that. And I hope they do that. But I think, in their heart of hearts, an awful lot of people feel guilty about the way America has treated the black man, and they should.
BECK: No, they shouldn`t. No, they shouldn`t. Unless you were the one responsible for it, no, you shouldn`t.
STEIN: Well, maybe you shouldn`t, but plenty people do.
BECK: Those are two different things.
STEIN: We`re not talking about whether they should or...
BECK: No, I want you to stick around. We`ll be back with Ben Stein here in a minute. About halfway through the program.
Also, I`ve got to show you some progress in Washington next. A bipartisan group. We have these congressmen on, pushing their politics aside to find real solutions to our energy crisis. They were on a couple of weeks ago. We`re going to find out from these two congressmen whether - - was there any progress?
Plus, country music superstar Toby Keith will be here a little later on in the program. We`ll talk about his two latest projects: new album, plus a new movie. And his take on the current state of our union. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Coming up, the GOP is clearly in disarray. And honestly, they don`t have anybody to blame but themselves. Compromising on your beliefs to win elections doesn`t work. It makes you get lost awfully darn quick. Fortunately, I have an idea on how they can fix their problem, and I`ll tell you all about it in tonight`s "Real Story."
But first, you know how they say that two heads are better than one? I tend to agree with that except when we`re talking about the two heads that belong to politicians. Then the more of those heads you get together, I start to worry.
However, I`m trying really super hard to be a little less cynical these days, you know, kind of a glass half full kind of guy, but we`ll see after the next break. I am keeping my fingers crossed for this new bipartisan group. There`s 22 legislators in the House of Representatives. And they say that they are frustrated with the leadership sitting on their hands while gas prices and energy prices spin out of control. That`s the way I feel. I tend to believe these guys.
They`ve crafted their own energy bill called National Conservation Environment and Energy Independence Act. It would lift most of the restrictions on offshore drilling and puts the money towards development of alternative energies, including one of my personal favorites, coal to oil.
We had these guys on a couple of weeks ago, and they`re back with an update. Congressman John Peterson, he`s a Republican from Pennsylvania and Congressman Neil Abercrombie, he is a Democrat from Hawaii.
Guys, last time we spoke, you said that you wanted to -- you wanted to be able to have something in front of the House before they went on vacation. They go on vacation tomorrow, don`t they?
REP. NEIL ABERCROMBIE (D), HAWAII: That`s correct.
BECK: You have something?
REP. JOHN PETERSON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We have a bill. We have a bipartisan bill, backed by Republicans and Democrats. No lobbyists, no special interests and no leadership staff had anything to do with it.
BECK: OK. You actually said, we don`t even need it. We know everybody`s opinion. And you brought everybody up together and you closed the door, and then you hammered it out. What did you hammer out?
PETERSON: We opened up the Outer Continental Shelf. We opened up the tar -- or the oil shelf in the west. We removed the prohibition of biomass being used off of our federal lands, and we`ve removed the provision that prevents us from using Canadian tar sand oil, which was harmful because that all comes to this country.
ABERCROMBIE: And we moved money into conservation, money into the environment, money into seeing all of the alternative energies are going to be funded. We went from talk to action.
BECK: OK. So where did you get the money?
ABERCROMBIE: The money comes from oil leases, the royalties, the rents that is going to be directly put into all of these products for wind, for solar, for biomass, for new fuels, synthetic fuels, reprocessing of radioactive waste from nuclear plants.
We take money from the Strategic Oil Reserve that we have right now to be able to fund projects that are already authorized. We move immediately into seeing that we take an alternative -- alternative energy bridge with a future and make it work. This is paid for.
BECK: OK. OK, the only thing that I have heard so far, because I know you`ve got to compromise. You`re never going to get everything you guys want. But did I just hear you say take oil out of the Strategic Oil Reserve?
ABERCROMBIE: Ten percent.
PETERSON: Ten percent.
BECK: Did anyone in that meeting bring up that we`re at war, a country at war that currently doesn`t have enough domestic oil to fuel ourselves, let alone our military for very long? I mean, where would people who have control of our oil?
PETERSON: We`re going to replace it with -- we`re going to replace it.
ABERCROMBIE: We`re going to replace sweet crude, which we have too much of.
PETERSON: Too much of.
ABERCROMBIE: We don`t have enough sour crude.
PETERSON: We don`t have enough of. And you can only use so much per week out of the reserve. You only can get so much per week out. We intend to replace this. We just...
ABERCROMBIE: We get the price differential.
BECK: I`ve got to tell you guys, I love listening to you talk. I`d vote for you as vice president and president of the United States. This is great, isn`t it?
ABERCROMBIE: Glenn, we`re legislators. We`re not theologians.
BECK: Yes.
ABERCROMBIE: We look at the practical legislative realities. We have the Strategic Oil Reserve. We`ve got oil in there we don`t need and can`t use and could sell at a price that`s going to fund the alternative energies that we need to get under way.
BECK: You know that...
ABERCROMBIE: We have domestic oil that we need to get out of the ground here so we`re not sending our wealth overseas. And we`re going to use the royalties from that to be able to fund the alternative energy.
BECK: One last question. And one last question on the actual plan. And that is, you know that -- you know that secret oil buddy meeting that Dick Cheney had? The report when it came out, it said the No. 1 thing that should be done is nuclear energy. Are you -- did you guys decide on building more nuclear...
PETERSON: The capital -- the carbon seacrest (ph) fund is for two things. It`s for the production of fuels from coal or any substance and gases and feed stocks and for the reprocessing of nuclear waste to be reused.
ABERCROMBIE: So we get away from the argument about where do we store nuclear waste to how do we use it and reuse it for energy?
BECK: Does this clear a path to be able to buy or be able to build more nuclear power plants?
ABERCROMBIE: Well, it takes us into what most other countries do. We only use 21 percent of the actual energy...
PETERSON: The answer is yes. France reuses it.
BECK: So it goes tomorrow to the house. But you guys go on vacation tomorrow. So you`re expecting a vote on this when?
ABERCROMBIE: We want to get it in September. What we want is for the next month, for people like Glenn Beck to take a look at the bill, take a look at the summary of the bill, and to get the message out. If you conclude and your listeners conclude that this bill is worth it, that we can get energy independence and stop sending our wealth out of this country, that your listeners across the country will demand of their legislators, when they come back in September, vote on this bill.
BECK: Guys, I`ve got to tell you. There`s not -- I mean, you know, I understand we`ve got to compromise, we`ve got to do things that we don`t want to do. I will give you my word I`ll look at it. And if I find it reasonable I will...
PETERSON: You will.
ABERCROMBIE: You will.
BECK: ... I hope so, and I will absolutely stand behind you. And I know the American people will, too.
ABERCROMBIE: Guaranteed. This is energy independence. This is keeping our wealth in our country. This is investing in our economic and our energy independence future.
BECK: You are a -- you are a Democrat my family would have voted for.
ABERCROMBIE: Glenn Beck, you`re going to be with us.
BECK: Thank you, sir.
ABERCROMBIE: OK.
BECK: All right. Coming up, our wrongfully imprisoned border guards, Nacho Ramos and Jose Compean, have denied -- been denied their latest appeal. Now, they face serving out their entire sentences. Well, OK, that`s them. But what about their families, their wives, their children that they leave behind? Coming up.
Plus, country music superstar Toby Keith hits the silver screen with his new movie, "Beer for my Horses." He`s going to stop by in a few minutes. Don`t miss Toby Keith, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: This week, we got tragic news about the federal appeals court. They upheld most of the convictions of the border agents Ramos and Compean, and now it looks like they may have to serve out their decade-plus prison sentences. This is a miscarriage of justice that not only hurts Ramos and Compean but also their wives are left to struggle in their absence, their children growing up without fathers. And quite honestly, in both families without medical insurance, wait until you hear the whole story here.
Joining me now with an update and news in this case is Pat Gray, best friend, also radio talk show host for KATV in Houston, Texas, our affiliate down there.
This morning, Pat, I had you and Monica and Patty on. And let me just give a little clip here of what Monica alone is facing on just one health issue. Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Tell America something we haven`t really shared with our audience about your son Jacob.
MONICA RAMOS, WIFE OF IGNACIO RAMOS: My son Jacob right now is undergoing some testing. It seems like they have found, some dysfunction with his kidneys.
BECK: Back in April, you brought him into the E.R. He was dehydrated. He had a fever. They -- when you brought him into the E.R., they said, "We can`t treat you. You don`t have medical insurance."
RAMOS: I said, "I was sent here by my pediatrician. And this is where he asked me to bring my son. Now you`re asking me to, you know, give you $1,000 up front."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Pat, I couldn`t believe this story when I heard this, that now she`s $50,000 in debt. They didn`t even want to take her son in the emergency room even though there were illegal aliens sitting in the same emergency room getting free health care.
PAT GRAY, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes. Well, that`s what I`m struck by. There`s no government bail-out for either of these families. There`s no LULAC, League of United Latin American Citizens. And these are citizens. It seems like LULAC is only interested in non-citizen support.
And the really bad thing is that the Compeans are in the same situation. Patty Compean has already lost her house, as you know. So they`re both in dire straits and in debt over their heads.
BECK: Right. And you have set up the case, a way for people to donate. I mean, neither one of us believe in government bail-outs. We believe you go to your friends, you go to your family, you go to your churches. And they have. And lucky for them, you`re one of their friends. And you have put together a way for people to donate to the Ramos and Compean family so they -- they don`t continue to lose absolutely everything.
GRAY: We have, and I think the information will be at the bottom of the screen, but you go -- you can go to GlennBeck.com and find all the information you need there. What we`re looking -- what we`re hoping to do is to give equally to both families so that if, you know, you have $20, donate $10 to each family. We`ve got the spellings there. We`re got the address listed at your Web site.
BECK: OK. And this is not a tax-deductible donation. This is -- you just want to help these people out. This is not -- I mean, this are just people who just say, you know what? They don`t have any insurance. They`ve declared bankruptcy. Mrs. Compean doesn`t even have a job. She`s been looking for a job. These families are an absolute wreck.
Do you know, have you -- have the checks been rolling in? When did you start?
GRAY: They have. We just started this week, but already, we`ve gotten a lot of great -- a lot of great help. This is what we talk about all the time. This is what it`s about. Neighbor helping neighbor, individual helping individual. Not the government handout. This is us wanting to extend ourselves to our fellow man. And so here is our chance right now.
BECK: Good, Pat, thanks a lot. Great job on this.
And you can find all the information on how to get those checks out, if you feel so compelled, at GlennBeck.com.
Coming up next, the "Real Story" on how the Republican Party can repair its battered image. Here`s an idea: be true to yourself. That`s coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, welcome to "The Real Story".
It`s Barack Obama. When Barack Obama wins this fall, there are going to be plenty of pundits out there ready to declare, "The Conservative movement it`s just dead."
Don`t listen to those clowns. Here`s "The Real Story," the movement is stronger than ever. It`s the Conservatives, no, no, it`s the people masquerading as Conservatives, named Republicans, that are the problem.
If you consider yourself a true Conservative, not the Republican but a Conservative, now you know how frustrated are you with everything that what is going on in Washington right now? I mean its no secret why Conservative politicians are selling out their values.
They think, oh if I just keep moving to the left, that will help me with the votes. You got it completely backwards. Moving to the left, especially when you don`t really believe in what you`re saying, only makes voters from both parties hate your guts. When you don`t stand for something, you don`t stand for anything.
And despite Barack Obama`s making his best effort to change that -- standing for nothing -- it usually doesn`t win elections. If you want to see what happens when a party tries to be all things to all people, just take a look at the Conservative Tory Party over in the U.K. I told you a little bit about this last night but listen to this story.
After getting blown out in 1997, their leader decided, "Hey, I know. Let`s embrace these new environmental policies." And they proposed I mean big, huge taxes on everything, from cars to garbage dumps to out of town parking. One Conservative actually said publicly that domestic airplane flights should be taxed out of existence.
I`m sure you`re not shocked but that been didn`t really work. The Conservatives pulled in 33 percent in 2005. And worse, they`re moving to the left, actually prompted the actual left to be moved even further into crazy town. That meant even bigger pollution taxes, a doubling of taxes on air travel and massive gas hikes that left drivers paying $9 a gallon because of taxes.
Well, by 2007, the Conservative party was a complete and total disaster, until they did something crazy. They said, "Hey, I`ve got an idea. What do you say we go back to the values and principles that we all actually believed in at one time?"
Well, they ditched all the green stuff. They called for the inheritance tax to be slashed. They campaigned for school of choice, welfare reform and then they got tough on crime. Now a year later, polls show the Conservatives have now surged to a historic 22-point lead over the Labor Party.
Are there any Republicans listening? Are you paying attention? After you lose this fall, you don`t need to hire you know a fancy strategist or some ad firm to get our message out there.
We heard it. We don`t like it. We want you to be actual Conservatives, and then go a step further. Say what you believe and believe what you say. I know that`s the hard part, isn`t it?
Ben Stein is co-author of "How to Ruin the United States of America." Ben, how has the Republican Party strayed here? And can they get it back - - it`s too late for this election to get it back.
BEN STEIN, AUTHOR, "HOW TO RUIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA": I don`t know that it`s too late. I really think the new campaign direction by Senator McCain is going to pay off very big, saying I`m one of you. I`m not him. I`m not an exotic guy like Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. I`m one of you. I think that`s going to work pretty well --
BECK: Wait, wait, wait, here is the thing they do is not going to work out well for him. This week, he`s also been so darned confusing on taxes. Is he for them or against them? It`s like the taxes are bad, but there`s nothing off the table.
STEIN: Well, you know it`s interesting. I`d like to see a Republican Party that harks back to Dwight Eisenhower. Now Dwight Eisenhower was a president whom an awful lot of people loved, and he said, "Let`s balance the budget."
Let`s balance the budget. If we have to cut spending, we`ll balance the budget.
However it is we`re not going to leave our children in an enormous deficit. There`s an awful lot to be said for that, there`s an awful a lot to be said for saying, Americans have the right to bear arms, and the Americans have the right not to pass on new deficit to our children, Americans have the right to live.
I mean Senator McCain is a big pro-lifer. We never hear anything about it. I just went to his Website this morning and studied it carefully. There`s nary a word or barely a breath about rights. There`s not one word about lowering the deficit.
I`d like to see an Obama campaign that says that it believes that we`re extreme leftist, and the McCain campaign that says he believes what he believes and I hope an America for people who are hard-working, honest citizens.
BECK: Ben, don`t you think that -- I think John McCain is the Democrat that my grandfather would have --
STEIN: He`s a Democrat in many ways. There`s no doubt about that.
BECK: Yes and there`s nothing wrong with that, but that`s the kind of guy -- my grandparents were Democrats. Everybody in my family forever they were Democrats, but they would kick the butt of these hippie freaks that are in you know before the far left and they`re posing as Democrats now.
This is a Democrat, well, where is the bat; we`ve got, Marxist, Democrat and --
STEIN: We have Ralph Nader. Don`t forget him. Well, you know it is true, I think McCain is in many ways a secret Democrat. But he`s also a war hero. He`s also a guy who`s starting to serve in Iraq, he`s also --
BECK: Now, no, no wait a minute. Hang on just a second. Are you saying -- you see that`s insulting to Democrats. Democrats can be war heroes as well.
STEIN: I agree. I agree. A great many Democrats -- Democrats are in every way as good as Republicans. They just believe in different things.
But this guy is -- here is the Senator McCain, he`s got some incredibly strong selling points. He`s got the character selling point, he`s got the right-to-life selling point, he`s got the maverick who stands up even to his own president selling point. He`s just not hitting hard.
What he is hitting hard is "I`m one of you, I`m all American, in other words I`m white and therefore you should vote for me."
BECK: I have not heard him say anything that sounds like, "Hey, I`m white, you should vote for me."
STEIN: No, no of course he`s not saying "Hey I`m white."
BECK: The point he`s not saying anything. He`s not even implying that. You know what Ben, Ben --
STEIN: When he says Obama is exotic. Or sort of like an exotic type, I think that is a very low-key way of saying, I`m white.
BECK: The moment that he comes out wearing a snake around his neck, that`s when he becomes exotic, at least in my book.
All right Ben, stay right where you are for a second. Shut the pie hole for a second because I want to put you on trial because you just did it again.
I think you`re actually a liberal sent in by the left to destroy Conservatives. Yes, and I`m about to prove it. And in this courtroom, I`m the judge.
Now, Mr. Stein, actually claims to be a Conservative. Yet, in this "New York Times" piece earlier this year, Mr. Stein wrote this, quote, "The Republican Party... has for the last 30 years or so been operating under a demonstrably false and misleading premise; that tax cuts pay for themselves by generating so much economic growth that they replace the sums lost by tax cutting. This would be a lovely thing if it were true. In fact, tax cuts lower federal revenue and generate federal deficits. ...In other words tax cuts do not pay for themselves, at least not on any basis I can see."
Mr. Stein, shaking in your boots yet? Oh, you should, because I do know how to use Google. You didn`t think so.
And it all is about to get much, much worse because Ben Stein then actually offered a convenient and creative solution to his little problem, and that is tax the rich.
Quote, "The poor are, well, poor. The middle class is struggling to pay for its middle-class. That leaves the rich. It would be lovely if we did not have to tax them. Many have worked hard for their money. Many have created useful businesses. Many of them are fine people. But as Willy Sutton said when asked why he robbed banks," he said, quote, "Because that`s where the money is." "By definition, the truly rich have a lot more money" -- I love this line -- "than they need."
And Ben you also said that all to the "New York Times" no less. You disgust me.
I would like to now call to the standing prosecutor in this very serious case of stealth liberalism; Steven Moore, "Wall Street Journal" economics editorial writer, Steven?
STEVEN MOORE, WALL STREET JOURNAL ECONOMICS EDITORIAL: Well, he`s guilty. I mean guilty, your honor. Look, I`m a big fan of Ben Stein`s. I read everything that he writes. He`s one of my favorite Hollywood actors and economist.
But Ben I just think you`re wrong on this one. You look over the last 25 years. Ben we`ve had enormous tax revenue growth, when Reagan cut taxes and in fact even when Bush cut taxes, we got a lot of money.
The problem is the federal budget just goes up year after year, Glenn. In the last two years, federal spending is up 400 billion. And my problem is if Ben had his way and we`d had a big tax increase fund, they wouldn`t use that money to balance the budget. You know this, Ben, they would just use it to spend more.
BECK: Go ahead Ben.
STEIN: Well, you know the fact is, and you can find this in any book of data about federal revenues. Revenues fell dramatically when Reagan cut taxes. They recovered it eventually-- they recovered after eight years. But they fell dramatically.
The have fallen dramatically under Bush. They recovered after four or five years. But they fall, revenue falls dramatically. Eventually, it does recover. But why should we give the rich a tax cut? If they`re rich, they don`t need a tax cut.
BECK: Go ahead.
MOORE: Look, I mean the rich are paying the taxes. You know, you read our editorial page. We talk about this almost every week. That the numbers just came out two weeks ago that the richest one out of 100 Americans, people like you, Ben, you`re paying about 40 percent of the total income tax burden in the country.
STEIN: And we should.
MOORE: And the top five percent are paying over half. Do we really want that tax system Ben? We`re only two or three or four or five percent are paying all of the tax burden? I don`t think that good for our democracy. Then the other 90 percent are just going to vote for bigger and bigger government all the time.
STEIN: I think it`s unfair that if a person has enough money to have a $10 million house, if a person who has a $5 million income, he should pay a very large log of that. In fact, it`s not going to cost him the heat in the swimming pool. It`s not going to cost him his full-time service; it`s not going to cost him his first-class air fare.
I assure you, this is true, I know this for my own life, look if people are rich, they can pay more taxes.
BECK: Here is what I don`t understand, because you are -- you are so far away from our founding fathers on this stuff, it amazes me. No man is better or worse than any other. Abraham Lincoln said it is wrong -- it is immoral to tell -- tear down one man`s house to build another one for the other man.
STEIN: He was talking about slavery, Glenn. Well, look the income tax originally only applied to very, very rich people. The income tax should apply primarily to rich people; I mean middle-class people just don`t have the means anymore.
MOORE: That`s the whole point. Ben, that`s the whole problem, though. I mean you just put your finger on it. Every time the left or people on the right say just tax the rich, the middle-class knows that what they really mean is they`re going to come after them.
STEIN: You said they weren`t.
MOORE: But the point is to get where the money really is in this country, I don`t care what you say, it`s in the hands of the great middle- class. And if the Democrats or the Republicans want to build up big government spending problems, they`re going to have to go after the middle- class.
BECK: You shouldn`t be -- you know unlike you, Ben, I earned every dollar I ever made. You inherited your wealth.
STEIN: I inherited a very small part of what I have.
BECK: You`ve got wealth guilt. And God bless you for that.
Let me ask you this Ben, you`re an economist. You know what you`re doing. Would you rather have -- would you believe that it would be better too for you to invest your money, or do you think the government would be better at making the decision and investing your money?
STEIN: Well, I`ll put it to you another way, I would rather than them investing my money, I would rather them give a pay raise to people in the military.
BECK: Here is the question, Ben, the question was, do you think you would be better at investing your own money or the government? Because you can pay more, but you don`t because you know, sir, that you can invest it, and invest in people through charity and everything else.
STEIN: That is not the issue, Glenn. The issue is that the government is going to tax either me, my generation or my children`s generation. I`d rather they tax my generation.
BECK: Why can`t we get this government spending under control?
STEIN: We can`t.
MOORE: Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
BECK: Toby Keith is going to be here in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: You know that song by Frank Sinatra "New York, New York, you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." I think, I have a new perspective on that. When you start living in New York City, you realize if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere because most likely you won`t make it here because you`ll go crazy after about two months here.
Sometimes you need to connect with real values and real life in "Real America." For me, there`s no better way than putting on a CD from Toby Keith. Sings a great music, he`s won a billion awards, sold a zillion CDs and he also knows how to drive a tractor. A regular guy, a superstar, Toby Keith.
TOBY KEITH, SINGER: Hey, man, we finally worked it out didn`t we?
BECK: I know, been trying to get you on the program for quite a while. And the last time was a couple weeks ago when your wife was having a birthday. And don`t mess with the wife`s birthday.
KEITH: You called at 6:00 in the evening. And it was just -- I didn`t want to be on the business end of a .38 hollow-point.
BECK: Ok, you have been telling me about a new movie that you`ve been putting together. You put your own money in. And you wrote it, right. You star in it. A bunch of people are in it, Ted Nugent, Willie Nelson. Who else is in it?
KEITH: Claire Forlani, Rodney Carrington actually is my co-star and wrote it with me the screenplay at my house, but it`s a -- me and Rodney, Claire Forlani, Willie Nelson, David Allenco, Tom Skeritt, Barry Corvin, Mack Davis, Mel Tulip --
BECK: Mack Davis, the Mack Davis? Get out of here.
KEITH: Mack Davis, Yes. Starting Mel Tulips. It`s a cast of Gina Gershon.
BECK: Whoa. I`m suddenly interested. Is it like the old "Smokey and the Bandit?"
KEITH: You know what I`m working with Burt Reynolds on my last project; I did a movie called "Broken Bridges" for CMT films and MTV films. And Burt and me talked a lot. And I didn`t know Burt was such a big fan.
He said, man, I took this movie because I wanted to work with you. I`m a fan. In talking to him, I missed all those movies he used to make about the south people.
People don`t make enough of those anymore. "Smokey and the Bandit" and Hooper and Gator and so in talking to him, he gave me a lot of advice. And I said, you know what I`m going to make this character be charming and dangerous and fun. And it`s a comedy, and we make as much fun of ourselves in the south as anybody.
BECK: Here`s a clip from it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, stranger. What you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was about to ask you the same thing, driving on the wrong side of the road like that. Isn`t that illegal?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not if it`s official police business, it`s not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So that`s what this is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if anybody asked it is. So are you lost?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Just came into town to pick up a few things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How`s your momma doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s all right. She`s resting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I was going to run over to Alice`s and catch a movie tomorrow night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`re not going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I`m going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Well, she a good kisser?
KEITH: You know what`s amazing? It`s proof right there that rednecks and British can get along. Didn`t she sound like she was from Dixie?
BECK: Yes she did. I was really surprised when I first heard her speak. She a good kisser?
KEITH: Yes, she is.
BECK: But that didn`t mean anything to you, right. How long you get honestly, when you were kissing her, did you come home and your wife --
KEITH: She hates those things but she don`t like the time that it takes to do a movie; it took us ten months to write the script, three months to shoot it. So it took me 13 months of my life to be involved with this project.
BECK: Rank it. In all the things you do, rank it. Be in a movie or doing a movie.
KEITH: You know what as far as creative goes, it was a new thing for me. I do music every day. I`m thinking I`ve got a song on my mind and a title and an idea all the time that I`m writing and so music comes so second nature to me that I`ll be a songwriter.
BECK: You write the music for the like guitar in the back, did you write that.
KEITH: Not on this one I didn`t. We had so many stars in this movie that are musicians. Nugent and -- did I mention Ted a while ago? Ted`s in this movie.
BECK: Ted Nugent.
KEITH: He`s a big star. I mentioned him.
BECK: He`s crazy.
Yeah, Ted, Willie and Dave, and Mel Tilson and Rodney. And so you`ve got all of these knuckle heads.
Let me ask you, what it is -- we have 30 seconds, I tell you what, America here`s the thing, Toby`s going to be back tomorrow for a full hour. And we`ll talk -- with Toby Keith.
We`ll talk about his new movie, his new album, his take on the current state of our nation and all kinds of stuff. So we`ll be back in just a minute with the rest of tonight`s show." but tomorrow, don`t miss it; full hour of Toby Keith.
KEITH: All right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Hey, next week, the Olympics start up in Beijing. And when the Chinese government isn`t crushing dissent or trying to change the weather or cutting off Internet access to its citizens, there will be some really great action in the world of gymnastics and swimming and of course there`s also the people running really fast, usually away from government agents with guns but I digress.
How can you not be excited for the Olympics? Really. I mean nothing captures the imagination of Americans more intensely than male wrestling, or female shot put. But how can you tell who`s really a female shot- putter?
I mean it might be male impostor. That was actually posed by the Chinese the other day, and I mean, I for one, I mean I think I know a test. But apparently that`s not enough.
In fact, guys have been pretending that they were women to try to win an Olympic medal since the 1930s. I mean I don`t really know exactly how you display that bronze medal for the 400 meter that says Glennwina Beck on it, but I mean don`t you think that your grandkids are going to go, "Grandpa, you posed as a chick?"
But China actually had to put together an entire lab designed specifically to find out what gender the female athletes are. Now, not every female is going to be tested. The ones that are tested are only the ones where there are serious doubts raised about one of the competitors.
And the most recent case is an Indian runner who won a silver medal in the 2006 Asian games. She was stripped of the medal after failing a gender test but she`s still fighting the results. Doctors believe she has a rare medical condition that may have given an incorrect test result.
And imagine spending your whole life going, "Wait a minute I`m a guy?" But trying to win medals by thinking femininity was really, and this one`s not come as a surprise to you, a favorite tactic of Adolph Hitler. Trying to prove the superiority of the Aryan race, he hoped to win medals on the international stage.
One his high-jumpers named Dora had the world record until they discovered, ah, it`s actually a waiter named Herman. By the way, in the 1936 Olympics, Dora/Herman could only manage fourth place. Those crazy Nazis.
By the way, don`t forget that you can sign up for my free daily e-mail newsletter; it`s all free at glennbeck.com.
From New York, good night, America.
END
