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Glenn Beck

Taxpayers Fed up with Financial Policy; Are Russians Striving to be a World Food Power?; Princeton Grad Stands up for Conservatives on Campus

Aired August 21, 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, more proof Americans are fed up with our government. From bailouts to subsidies, people have had enough, and now more are demanding change.

Plus, the evil empire is back. Comrade Putin is rebuilding the old Soviet empire. Not with weapons but with oil, gas, and now food. I`ll explain.

And with Obama and McCain neck and neck, will the choice of VP really make a difference?

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America. You surprised me there for a second.

I will probably never write a book on parenting, you know, because I don`t know what the hell I`m doing. But with four kids, there is one thing that I know pretty well. And that is "no." I got saying no down. If you`ve got kids, you know exactly what I mean.

"Mom, I want Frosted Flakes because Michael Phelps eats them."

"No."

"Dad, I want a puppy."

"No."

"Mom, Dad said we could have a puppy."

"No, I didn`t, honey." And it goes on and on and on. So here`s "The Point" tonight.

If our leaders could govern more like parents than politicians, we might actually have gotten out of this financial crisis. Or here`s a better idea: we might not have ever gotten in. And here`s how I got there.

Let me play a little, you know, Dr. Phil scenario for a second. You`ve got two kids. One of them is always acting out, throwing temper tantrums, demanding exotic pets: "I want a cockatoo." And the other one is just a little angel. One day you decide the best way to stop your Satan child from acting out is to give him everything he wants.

"I love candy." Sure. A kitten, no problem. But meanwhile, even as you hand out all the stuff to the demon boy, you give your angel boy squat. In fact, you take some of your angel child`s candy and give it to demon boy. What do you think is going to happen? Will your devil boy stop asking for stuff, and start asking like the angel? Or will your angel child turn into devil because she realizes, wait a minute, he`s getting all my stuff. I mean, break the rules and you get good stuff. I`m in.

The answer is obvious. But for some reason, ideas that work so well in our homes, laughed at when they`re applied to Washington. You people from the center of the country, you`re just so small thinkers, you know.

There`s hardly a person left now who doesn`t believe that the government is soon going to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with their $5.4 trillion in loans. But there`s also hardly left a politician who -- who thinks that that`s not a good idea.

OK. So here`s what you need to know tonight. When you reward bad behavior, be it with a new pet hamster or a massive federal bailout, you encourage other people to copy that behavior. This isn`t some far-flung macroeconomic principal. It`s common sense.

The millions of Americans who have played by the rules, have you? Have you lived within your means? Do you save your money? Do you now feel like you`re being punished with rates on your savings that don`t even match inflation? Do you feel like you`re going to be punished through higher taxes because you have to bail somebody else out? Meanwhile, our devil child brother or sister are getting rewarded with free stuff from the government.

So what do you think`s going to happen next? Are all of those companies and greedy homeowners, you know, suddenly going to change, you know, and act like angels? Or are all the people who have done the right things over the years going to start thinking, you know what? I mean, this isn`t worth it. Maybe the best way to be the American dream is by taking the short cut.

Carl Denninger, he is a trader, founder of the Market Ticker blog and inspiration behind the new grassroots -- grassroots group called "Fed Up USA." And actually, you are the inspiration. You`re not the -- you`re not the guy who started this, right?

CARL DENNINGER, TRADER: That`s right. Yes. I run the Market Ticker site, and there were a significant number of people who have read the blog and also are participants on the Ticker forum, which is an interactive Internet forum, and we all kind of got together and said, you know, we`ve had enough of this. And...

BECK: Yes. What did you -- what did you write that everybody connected with?

DENNINGER: We`ve been doing petitions for about six or seven months. And when Bear Stearns was bailed out, we finally had a relatively small group of people that said, "You know what? We have to get out there and get in the streets and start protesting about this, because this is just out of control. And if we don`t stop it, we`re going to get the kind of things that we`re getting now like Fannie and Freddie, for example.

BECK: It`s got to get even worse. You say that actually, what`s coming now is a hidden tax, a hidden tax on credit cards, students loans, car loans, everything, that the good people are paying a hidden tax. Explain.

DENNINGER: Yes. It`s -- well, it`s actually much worse than it appears. Fannie and Freddie have about 10 percent of their portfolio that is comprised of garbage. It`s loans that were given to speculators, people that lied about their income. They don`t talk about that. They claim that this is all about helping sustainable homeownership. That`s part of the truth, but that`s not why they`re in trouble.

And so now they`re screaming that they want a bailout. The problem is, is that if the government comes in and does that, what`s going to happen is the cost of government credit will go up, and everything else is referenced off of that.

So you`ve seen the Federal Reserve has cut their interest rates. It went from 5 1/2 percent down to 2 percent recently. That was all fine and well, but mortgage rates haven`t gone down at all. Well, why not? Because in fact, what`s happening is the risk is being put back into the system, and people are saying, "You know what? There is no such thing as a free launch, so we`re going to charge you a little more."

So your savings rate goes way down. You can`t get anything on savings account or on a CD. But your credit card rate goes up. Your interest rate on your mortgage goes up. Who`s this helping? Obviously not you.

BECK: Let me -- Carl, let me ask you this, because honestly, if I didn`t know better, and I just -- you know, I was just the average person, I would start at this point saying, you know, "Why am I working so hard? Why not just get on the gravy train, because I keep getting screwed by trying to do the right thing?"

I actually had a conversation with a friend of mine, and we were both talking. We were joking about it, but we were like, "I shouldn`t have worried about my credit. Why did I buy -- I should have bought a house twice this size. I could have gotten bailed out."

DENNINGER: Well, the problem is that, at the end of the game, nobody can get bailed out, because the money simply isn`t there. And that`s what we`re looking at right now. That`s what`s happening in the financial system.

You give people wire loans, and the person that makes $8 an hour cutting hair, and they buy a $500,000 house. This is all great as long as you can find a bigger sucker who will pay more for the house.

BECK: Right. Hope there are suckers left.

DENNINGER: The problem is, eventually, you run out of suckers. And now you`ve got this problem. And so the prices have to come back to sustainable levels, which is three times average incomes. And that`s going to happen whether we want it to or not.

BECK: OK.

DENNINGER: All we`re arguing over now is who gets the bill.

BECK: OK. Carl, thanks a lot.

Now, whenever you incentivize something, and that`s what they`re doing now, this bailout includes $7,000 of incentives for first-time home buyers. What the hell is that? The more you incentivize homeownership by keeping rates low and, you know, you get people to buy lots of houses, but they`re houses that they can`t afford.

You incentivize poverty by offering free public assistance. You get lots of women having babies they can`t afford. Should I have said that on the air? What a hatemonger. Did he just really say -- did he just say that people on welfare have, actually, more babies? No, actually, it was the hate-mongers over at the U.S. Census Bureau that said it.

They just released this today. They found out in 2006 the birth rate for women receiving public assistance was three times higher than those not receiving it. You`re on welfare and you`re a woman. You`re three times more likely to have children. Why? Because just as subsidizing ethanol means more ethanol, using welfare to subsidize poverty breeds more poverty.

Steven Moore is a senior economics editorial writer for the "Wall Street Journal."

Where am I wrong, Steven?

STEVEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, you`re exactly right. And going back to your analogy that you used at the start, you know, it`s like if you have a normal puppy and the puppy poops on the living room carpet, and you give him a dog biscuit. I mean, you`re giving them all the wrong incentives. And that`s what we have done in so many of these government programs.

You mentioned the welfare program. Let`s just see how this works, Glenn. You basically say to young teenage girls, if you drop out of school, if you don`t get married, if you don`t work, and you have a baby, we`ll give you money. Well, guess what? We had a lot of women who did exactly this, because the financial incentives were there. And that happens over and over again with all sorts of programs where we essentially punish virtue and reward vice.

BECK: See, and here`s one thing I don`t understand. So tell me why we`re subsidizing tobacco farmers at the same time we`re saying tobacco is bad?

MOORE: Yes, exactly. I mean, that`s one of my favorite examples. For years, we were giving tobacco farmers huge amounts of grants to grow tobacco at the same time that we were spending billions of dollars trying to convince people not to smoke.

I mean, we have programs where we tell people they should conserve energy. You know, it`s good for America. Conserve energy. Let`s not use so much oil. And then we have Congress is now passing these multi-billion- dollar programs subsidizing people to use more energy through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. I mean, it goes on and on.

BECK: OK. Tell me about -- explain the Fannie and Freddie, the bailout. That included, when it went through Congress, $7,000 incentives for new home buyers. Why would you -- for first-time home buyers. Why would you do that?

MOORE: This is what created the sub-prime crisis in the first place. What we did for years was we basically pushed people into homes that they couldn`t afford. And that`s through the mortgage interest deduction, through all the housing subsidies. You know, housing is the most subsidized area of the U.S. economy.

So what do we do when we want to ask people to become more responsible in the future? We`re giving them more money to buy houses they can`t afford. It`s going to cause another housing bubble.

BECK: How do you break -- how do you break this cycle, Steven?

MOORE: Well, I like this idea. What do they call it, Fed Up USA? I want to join that club, because I`m fed up and I know you are. And I think the American people are starting to say, "Wait a minute. We`re bailing out all these people who made bad decisions."

There was an article in the paper about a newspaper -- about a home mortgage company that gave a $500,000 loan to two McDonald`s workers. I mean, this is craziness. And then they know that if the person can`t pay the loan, along comes you and I, the suckers, Glenn. We`re going to bail these people out.

BECK: You know, you`ve read Amity Shlaes` book "The Forgotten Man." They forgotten man used to be the guy who was just the poor McDonald`s worker. The forgotten man is not the McDonald`s worker now. The forgotten man is the one who`s carrying the bill. The McDonald`s worker gets the house. The bank gets the money. The forgotten man is the one they keep taking the money from in the middle.

MOORE: And the worst thing about this is, you know, what is the word they use? The mantra in Washington is fairness, fairness, fairness. Where is the fairness of people who play by the rules, who pay their taxes, who have to now pay more taxes for the people who cheated and cut corners?

BECK: All right, Steven. Thanks a lot. You hatemonger. Why do you hate the poor so much?

Coming up, just how bad is the world`s food crisis? Well, here`s a tip for you. Iran is now buying wheat from us. You`d think their friends in Russia could help them, but they`re not going to. Here`s a hint why they won`t. It`s not about stockpiling weapons anymore.

Plus, vice-presidential pick that could make a difference to Obama`s stalling campaign. Is there one? We`ll check in with our token liberal in tonight`s "Real Story."

And don`t forget, please tune in tomorrow night for our full-hour special, "Life on Campus." If you have kids that are going to college this year, you know, maybe you don`t want them crushed by the liberal academic machine. Well, then don`t miss this hour, packed with smart insights, stories from the professors and students, about navigating the tree-hugging Birkenstock-wearing bong crowd that`s in college. That`s tomorrow night, 7 to 9.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: I have to tell you, I woke up this morning, and I saw something that I have never seen before. Bad headlines for Barack Obama. What? The question remains in the Democratic year: running against the worst Republican of all time, why can`t Obama close the deal? I`ll explain my thoughts in tonight`s "Real Story."

But first, I was reading the paper, and I had this whole intense monologue that I wrote out early this morning about the price of eggs and grain and how it relates to Putin`s long-term plans for Russia and blahdy, blahdy, blah. But it`s so close to Friday, I can`t do it. I can`t do it to me; I can`t do it to you.

Let me boil it down to a simple little question. Why did Iran just purchase wheat from America for the first time in 27 years? Iran hates us. We`re the -- we`re the Great Satan, you know. And Russia, their big enabler at the U.N., is the world`s fifth biggest exporter of wheat. So why us and not Russia?

Maybe it`s because Putin understands the two most important resources to control on this planet are food and energy. Given what Putin has done to Georgia because their pipeline with oil has circumvented Russia, should the leaders of the neighboring countries that have a lot of wheat, like the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, which are the seventh and eighth largest wheat exporters in the world, should they already have the U.S. on speed dial?

Peter Choharis, he is the principle in Choharis Global Solutions and an adjunct fellow at American Security Project.

Peter, we are not looking at your grandpa`s or you dad`s Soviet Union or your dad`s communist party in Putin. We have got something growing in the former Soviet Union unlike what we have seen before, right?

PETER CHOHARIS, CHOHARIS GLOBAL SOLUTIONS: I think that`s correct. A lot of people are saying, is this a new Cold War? And obviously, it`s not a new Cold War. But as I stated in an op-ed recently, it might be the new cool war. And I don`t want to be too cute about that, but this is not -- Russia cannot project the way the old Soviet Union could into Latin America and Africa. It`s not going to foment rebellions. It doesn`t have the global reach, but it does have regional power, and it`s seeking to expand that power.

BECK: But it also has -- what I mean is that you`ve got -- you`ve got a capitalist kind of system that has merged with this totalitarian system that is coming. And so you have an ability to act quickly, have the power of the state, and the resources of capitalism that is grabbing onto energy, great, great energy reserves.

CHOHARIS: That`s right, and it`s something that we, I think, have to take -- take a close look at: how do we respond? They`ve been able to use capital markets and private investment very effectively. Now, some foreign investors are discovering it`s kind of an unsafe territory in which to invest. And a number of companies, big major oil companies, powerful companies like Shell and BP, are learning that it`s not necessarily a safe place in which to invest. And that`s all working its way through. But...

BECK: Did you see a couple of -- did you see a couple of weeks ago -- maybe it was last week -- that I read a story and, to me, it sent off alarm bells. But you know, I`m a boob on TV. You`re an expert here. Where it said the state was taking over wheat production in Russia. To me, that says they`re doing the same thing that they`ve done with oil.

CHOHARIS: I argued that, actually, in my op-ed, that this is part of a strategic plan. I think they like their companies to make profits, and I think they certainly like to attract foreign investment, but they`re using their companies strategically as part of their political goals as much as it is to try to make money. That`s absolutely true.

BECK: So should the Ukraine, which has an awful lot of wheat, should they feel like Georgia does because of their pipeline?

CHOHARIS: No. I think they should be feeling nervous and are feeling quite nervous, quite honestly, but it`s not because of the wheat. And you know, we grow a lot of wheat. There are a lot of sources of food. I think the point about food is that Russia will probably use food in certain places, perhaps in the future around. There`s nothing that`s saying that they won`t sell wheat to Iran. Perhaps, I think, someplace like Egypt would be a very interesting place for the Russians to explore. But they will use their wheat commodities the way they use oil and gas.

BECK: Do -- do you agree or disagree with me? Or can you explain why would Iran come to us? Why are we doing this? Not us on our side, but why are they doing it? We`re the Great Satan. It must have killed them to buy all this wheat from us.

CHOHARIS: One thing about Iran, and I think it becomes -- it becomes almost a cartoon character. Iran is not Ahmadinejad. It`s -- there are lots of different power centers in Iran. Some of them compete with each other openly and some of them quietly. So you know, Iran needs food. If they got a good deal from us, they`re going to take it. So it`s more complex than just us being the Great Satan.

BECK: Real quick, because I`ve only have a couple of seconds here. We`re always told this lie that the rest of the world is just waiting for us to lead the way on global warming. I see the way Russia is just piling on the carbons. Are they waiting for us to lead the way in global warming, or do they give a flying crap about an invisible gas?

CHOHARIS: I do think that, but Glenn, the real answer is what this really underscores is alternative energy is not just something nice for liberals or conservatives. It`s not only important for American business, but it`s crucial for American security. We can`t keep staying dependent on hydrocarbons. It`s bad for our security.

BECK: OK. Peter, thank you very much.

Now, coming up, it is time to send your kid to college. And if you`ve been to a college campus lately, holy cow. When are the conservatives going to stop being the victims and start standing up for their -- what they believe? I`m going to introduce you to one student that is doing just that as we continue our week-long series, "Life on Campus." It`s coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All this week, we have been looking at what it`s like to be a conservative on a college campus, on a liberal campus. I mean, what is it like to be 18 and conservative and go to college now?

Over the last few days, I`ve had chance to spend some time with amazing students from Princeton University, just one of the campuses. One thing that stuck out the most to me is that none of them want to feel like a victim for them, you know, not being willing to conform. Their message is stand up for what you believe in.

You can catch an incredible hour tomorrow night at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern. But I`m joined now by one of those guys on the panel. His name is Donyell Mark (ph). He is a Princeton graduate who spent a lot of his time on campus standing up for what he believes in.

Donyell, you know, it seems to me that college campuses now and universities just don`t want to offend anyone. They want everybody to celebrate diversity unless that diversity includes a conservative point of view, true or false?

DONYELL MARK, PRINCETON GRADUATE: Yes, you`re absolutely right. One of the worst problems of political correctness is that it`s all about everyone`s feelings and we don`t want to offend anyone. And of course, we always have to be civil, but when that crowds out the opportunity to make arguments, then everybody loses out.

BECK: OK. You actually protest -- you`re Jewish.

MARK: I am.

BECK: You protested an anti-Catholic display at Princeton University. What was the display and why did you protest?

MARK: Yes, that`s exactly right. There was -- there was an art display in the Woodrow Wilson Schools gallery which was very offensive to - - to Catholics. One of the most offensive pieces was called "Shackles of the AIDS Virus." It had scapulars, which are Catholic holy objects, images of Jesus and of Mary in a chain, and that was supposed to represent -- you know, chained together in a circle, and that, of course, to represent the shackles of the AIDS virus. And so it was a criticism of Catholicism and of the church.

And it was exactly this example of political correctness, where they would never, ever do this to offend another minority group, but because it`s so acceptable to offend Catholics, apparently, they thought that this was OK. And they admitted as much.

And that`s why it was really important for me, not as a member of the Catholic community, to speak up and say, "If you wouldn`t do this to me, you shouldn`t do it to anybody else either.

BECK: You know, we talk about this a little bit in the special tomorrow night, but I just want -- I just to want to ask you to explain. In my perfect world, you wouldn`t shut down that speech. You would fight for the right to offend everyone.

Because in a university, as long as it`s -- you know, as long as it`s done without hatred, in a university setting, shouldn`t all points of view, shouldn`t -- shouldn`t we always be pushing everybody up against the wall to challenge what they believe every step of the way, and hear all viewpoints?

MARK: Yes, pretty much we should. I mean, like to think of myself as an equal opportunity offender. Now, we do need to be civilized, I said.

BECK: Yes.

MARK: We`re not out to hurt people`s feelings, but all of the arguments need to be in play. And this is -- that`s why, for example, you know, if the university were willing to have art that, you know, offended other groups, then something like this might be OK, too. But it`s not OK if they`re just going to single out one group.

We don`t want to claim that we`re victims. That`s not the point. We don`t want to say protect us like another privileged minority group. What we want to say is that don`t have a double standard. Give everybody the opportunity to argue, everybody the opportunity to express a point of view.

BECK: Good. Donyell (ph), thank you very much. We`ll see you tomorrow night.

MARK: Thank you very much.

BECK: Now, if you would like more information on what college is really like these days, sign up for my free e-mail newsletter. All this week, we have some of the most brilliant professors and students sharing their personal stories from our "Life on Campus" series, but you can only get it if you sign up at GlennBeck.com. Do it now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, we`re just a short few weeks away from the seventh anniversary of September 11th. Can you believe that, seven years?

Nearly a decade later, we`re all sewn up, we`re secure. Yes. One filmmaker doesn`t think so, and you have to see some of the shocking footage to believe it. She`s going to prove it here coming up in just a second.

But first we go to "The Real Story."

I was reading the paper. There`s a story about this guy, in the "Wall Street Journal" I think it was, this morning. He runs 23 miles to work, because, you know, it`s good for the environment and better than overpaying for gas. Are you kidding, 23 miles?

He gets up at 6:00. He rides to work at 10:00. I would rather be gagged and bound to a chair and forced to listen to Susan Sarandon discuss politics all night than run to work. Take the bus, you dope. Or work for a company with an energy friendly four-day work week. Ride the bike, anything but run.

City governments love promoting different ways to go to work. You should ride a bike, really. Chicago now has spent $1 million on bike parking. Of course, once the government gets involved, it`s fixed.

"The Real Story" is like so much that the government tries to do their incentives often result in the unintended consequences. You know, like the green government programs. You and I know once the government gets involved, 100 times worse the problem it becomes.

They spend their time trying to fix problems that they created. For example, corn ethanol incentives, that`s fantastic. Subsidies totaled $7 billion in 2006; as a result, 14 percent of the nation`s corn used for ethanol. A figure expected to reach 30 percent by 2010.

Well, with all this huge amount of corn going to ethanol, shocker of all shockers, the price of corn skyrocketed? The politicians in Washington, what? How did that happen? Also the price of other crops skyrocketed because we`re growing less of those as farmers decide we should plant corn.

In California, incentives and tax breaks for alternative fuel cars has led more than 300,000 of those vehicles on the road. Good, right? No, not so much.

Now there`re complaints that cars are dangerous because they`re too quiet. So the California legislature has passed a bill to ensure that the cars make enough noise and they have established a committee to study the issue to figure out how much noise or what kind of noise cars should make.

You know, I just talked to the people at GM because I`m driving this hydrogen that they have coming up in like three or four years. It`s silent. They have a panel to discuss what it should sound like so people don`t get hit by it. That`s a private business.

What is the state of California studying that for? Taxpayer money at work. San Francisco, they have incentivized biking now.

But one man is arguing that the city`s proposed program will actually hurt the environment. Rob Anderson says more street space for bikes means less space for cars leading to more traffic jams therefore more pollution. Don`t you just love the irony?

Rob Anderson is running for a Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. And Rob, I read the story about you a couple days ago; I don`t know when it was in the paper. There`s a chance you`re just nuts as hell. Are you?

ROB ANDERSON, RUNNING FOR SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: I don`t think so, Glenn.

BECK: Ok, all right, I`m just saying it because I love you. I read some of the stuff you`re saying and I just love it. Why do you have a problem with the big bike lobby in San Francisco?

ANDERSON: Well, the bike lobby is very strong in San Francisco as you can imagine. And the issue on the table in San Francisco is a 500-page bicycle plan which they rushed through the process without doing any environmental review, which is a big no-no in California.

BECK: Yes, you can`t cross the street without an environmental study in San Francisco. How do you change roads? Change parking and everything else without an environmental impact in California?

ANDERSON: Exactly. That`s what we said. We took it to court, and the judge agreed with us. He ruled the city has to do an environmental impact report on the massive bicycle plan.

Okay, you say that -- you say the biggest problem in San Francisco is the PC culture.

ANDERSON: Yes.

BECK: What does that even mean? What?

ANDERSON: You know what it means. You talk about it all the time.

BECK: You know what I love about you? I love the fact that you`re a guy, correct me if I`m wrong, you`re a guy that spent time in jail, to avoid the draft in Vietnam. You live in San Francisco, and you`re the sane one.

ANDERSON: I`m the bad guy here. Yes, that`s right.

BECK: I can`t believe it, man. So what are people saying to you, the bike lobby? Because they have this -- the people that are all the greenies and everything else, they just have this morally superior attitude, and you just must be a cretin that hasn`t progressed or evolved.

ANDERSON: They think because they`re progressives they know what`s best on every issue. And they`re quite shocked that anybody in San Francisco would oppose redesigning city streets on behalf of perhaps 2 percent of the city`s commuting population.

BECK: Unbelievable. We`ll follow your story, Rob. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Keep up the good fight.

The guy could be a Socialist just out of Communist. I don`t know what a conservative kind of viewpoint is in San Francisco, California, but there it was.

Recent polls show McCain and Obama in a dead heat. How did that happen? Wasn`t Obama cleaning McCain`s clock just like ten minutes ago?

"The Real Story" is Barack Obama cannot close the deal. He is running against one of the weakest Republicans of all time. I mean, the GOP, it might as well be the Nazi party. They`re just that popular in America today.

It would be easier if Obama were running against James Polk. And I mean the dead version of James Polk. That guy. I mean, I don`t even know if Polk was a Republican, but I`m not really sure if McCain is, either.

I think we`re beginning to see the pattern here. Barack Obama couldn`t close against Hillary Clinton. Remember the New Hampshire comeback? Now he can`t close against McCain. The question is why?

Here is my theory. I think something in people`s guts say you can`t trust him. There`s just something not right here because the risk is too high.

You have the character issues with Reverend Wright and Tony Rezko and William Ayres; all that stuff. That just adds up. People know instinctively, we`re in a very important time in our country`s history.

It`s really -- it`s the economy, stupid. We want solutions. We want something new, but we don`t want radical solutions, which is why Obama is not making us feel any better. In the latest CNN poll, 57 percent say Obama would be a risky choice for president; 57 percent. 31 percent say he would be a very risky choice. This is what Senator Obama has to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I`ve got to say, I don`t find myself particularly scary or particularly risky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Oh. Of course you don`t. That`s not the issue here.

Obama may not realize it, but he`s turned in to be a polarizing candidate. I don`t mean left and right. It doesn`t sound like the change he was hoping for; he has still divided the Democratic Party.

Obama had a chance to seal the deal months ago by announcing Hillary Clinton was his running mate after she dropped out. Now there`s speculation he will choose her. But don`t you think now that would make him look like he`s grasping for straws, doing anything to get back ahead in the polls?

I have to tell you something, do you really want to owe favors to the Clintons? Can Obama`s VP choice help him win or at least make him seem less risky? Less Stalin and more like Mussolini. You know, Mussolini in the good years.

Radio talk show host and token liberal, Brian Whitman. I`m just saying many of these things just to piss you off.

BRIAN WHITMAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Wow, I just sit here and get hotter and hotter and hotter.

BECK: And you don`t have lot of hair to keep that heat in.

WHITMAN: No, I burn and then I chafe. It`s terrible.

BECK: Okay, so Brian, first of all, do you think Clinton is going to be the VP?

WHITMAN: I certainly hope so. You know, I`m a big Hillary Clinton supporter. And certainly, absolutely, certainly a big supporter of President Clinton too; I like the Clintons. I`m a Clinton kind of guy.

BECK: I got it, I got it.

WHITMAN: You got it. Don`t you think -- You asked. You got me into this thing now you start yelling at me all the time.

BECK: Don`t you think it would look like because he could have done this when he was in a position of strength. But now, even if he was planning on doing it because the polls are coming down, don`t you think it would look like a position of weakness?

Not necessarily in the general public`s eyes, but you don`t want to be beholden to the Clintons. You don`t want to have to -- I did you a favor. Now it`s your turn.

WHITMAN: I think we all owe the Clintons a thank you. A thank you, absolutely. The Clintons were good for this country. They brought the Democratic Party back. I think it`s a little premature. We haven`t even had conventions yet, Glenn, to talk about closing the deal or unable to close the deal.

BECK: Come on, Brian. Are you telling me John McCain is a good candidate for the Republican Party? He`s a great candidate for the Democratic Party.

WHITMAN: Well, Republicans will complain about John McCain, but they have no other choice. John McCain attracts independents, too, and some proud Democrats. I think John McCain is not a bad candidate.

There`s a lot of conservatives like yourself who have been whining a lot lately about John McCain because he`s just not conservative enough for you. But he`s a lot more conservative than he was eight years ago. Come on, in another eight years, he`ll be to the right of Reagan.

BECK: That the problem with McCain. Eight years ago, he was this. Last week, he was that. Somebody said to me today, they said, Glenn, he`s for drilling. I`m like, he was against drilling just a little while ago. He`s also for global warming. They said, but he might wake up to that. Like, you have to --

WHITMAN: John McCain when he`s 80 years old, you never know what you`re going to get. Every cycle, he kind of reinvents himself. At least Senator Obama seems to know where he stands on most of the issues.

BECK: Here is a statement that really riled a lot of conservatives also when I said this. I think, and this is not a ticket I would necessarily vote for, but I think John McCain if he wants to win, he should pick Lieberman because people want change, but again, like we said a minute ago, it`s not risky change.

They just want Democrats and Republicans to come together and be Americans and do the right thing. And I think if John McCain said Joe Lieberman and I, we can work together. And he`s a Democrat for the first time in American history and I`m a Republican, we`re going to do it. I think a lot of people would run to that ticket.

WHITMAN: I would be for it. I want as many Democrats on the ticket as possible. If we can squeeze one more in there and have three out of four, that wouldn`t be so terrible.

BECK: You`re really not helping me. You`re really not. How much time do we have? I have to wrap it up. Brian, we`ll talk to you again.

WHITMAN: Thank you, my friend.

BECK: That`s "The Real Story" tonight.

Coming up, you would think after 9/11, the gaps in Homeland Security would be closed? Yes, not so much. Not according to one new documentary. It`s footage you have to see to believe and it`s coming up next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: When you read that he was worth $50 million now, was anybody surprised? Because I was, I was shocked. I went, only $50 million? I really thought he was a $100 million man. There`s a lot -- he`s got the greatest story ever. And what an athlete the trampoline guy; you ever think you`re going to see the trampoline guy on the box of Wheaties? Really?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Trampoline. That`s not even a sport. Come on, bring it on.

If you`re a viewer to this program, nightly, you might think I have, you know, I have it out for the weasels in Washington. The weasels in Washington care more about keeping themselves in power than they do, let`s say, about you and me. What gave that away? Was it the big box of pitchforks that I have here on the studio floor?

Really, the only reason why I hate these weasels so much is because I want this country to remain the kind of safe, prosperous kind of country that I was raised in, that you were raised in. The one I hope my children and my children`s children can be raised in as well.

It`s why I believe that we, the people are the answer to our problems and it`s within the individual, not this gigantic government, where we find solutions.

My next guest is certainly an example of that kind spirit, taking the pain of losing friends and colleagues on 9/11 and channeling it into a new career and a new film she hopes will impact what she sees as the glaring insecurities that still exist at our ports of entry.

If you think our government is being as vigilant as it should be about protecting our borders -- I think that`s maybe Bob in Kansas that thinks that -- you want to hear what she has to say.

Her name Surya Iacono and she joins me now. The film is called "Green Cards for Al Qaeda." What does the name mean?

SURYA IACONO, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Actually, we took it from one of the guests we had on the program when we were filming. We had been trying to come up with a name for it that would get your attention, frankly.

And the gentleman literally paraphrased a statement, and it was in regards to giving individuals here in the United States green cards, basically, to guest worker program, without having done a thorough background investigation. Not a background check, but a background investigation.

BECK: Okay, you were a flight attendant. You were dating somebody who was a border guard at 9/11, and you started talking to him, and he said you don`t know the half of it. Is that right?

IACONO: That is correct. That is correct. It was very interesting for me being a flight attendant. I was based at the time out of John F. Kennedy airport and commuting to the San Diego area, living literally within walking distance of the u.s./Mexican border and near a border patrol station.

For me, the two contrasts after 9/11 were incredible.

BECK: I want to show you something because we asked the Department of Homeland Security for a statement about you and your film. I don`t think they like me to much. Here`s what they say.

"The claims of the alleged security concerns are the worst kind of uninformed sensationalism as they appear to be made in pursuit of profit. It`s disappointing that CNN would provide the platform for this sort of misinformation."

What kind of information are you -- for instance, let`s start at the waterways? What are you saying about the waterways? The Department of Homeland Security says the waterways of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes are heavily patrolled, not only by armed coast guard, but customs and border protection assets but also local and state law enforcement.

IACONO: Well, I understand that, except that if you were to actually go and place yourself there on the ground like we did, we traveled extensively to both of those areas and actually talked to agents on the ground in undercover interviews, in ride-alongs that they did on their time off.

If you were to actually go there physically, you would see what we were talking about. We do show extensive footage in the film about that. Frankly, the Homeland -- the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. needs to take a field trip.

BECK: They need to take a trip someplace.

What is the most shocking thing that you found? The thing that you said, I can`t believe this? Every American needs to know about this.

IACONO: One of the things for me personally was being a flight attendant. At our airports, for example, after 9/11, I really sincerely thought the government was given carte blanche to secure the airports or the ports of entry to our country.

And frankly, as a flight attendant and pilot -- pilots, my colleagues, we would go to go through security screening, time in and time out at every airport. And yet, the Homeland Security Department through the Transportation Security Administration doesn`t see fit that they have to screen the mechanics, the ramp agents and gate agents.

BECK: And I tell you what, hang on for a second. Come back after the break because I want to give the response from Homeland Security and then tie it in to a story that happened just last week. We`ll be back in just a minute.

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BECK: We`re back with Surya Iacono, she is the creator of the documentary called "Green Cards for Al Qaeda."

Before we went into the break, we were talking about the Department of Homeland Security. You`re saying that pilots and stewardesses, and I don`t know -- what`s the PC thing now -- the flight attendant.

IACONO: The flight attendant.

BECK: They have to go through security. The Department of Homeland Security said, "Pilots and flight attendants only pass through checkpoints at airports other than their home airport, at their other home airports, just like mechanics, gates, and ramp attendants and aircraft carriers. They`re issued security identification, display area, blah, blah, blah."

So they`re saying that they check everybody else. But wasn`t it just last week -- does anybody remember this -- When Dulles Airport found everyone working on the tarmac were all illegal aliens?

How -- homeland security how did they -- how did they get those identification cards from you if they`re illegal aliens? You said in your movie that there`s problems up in one airport in Maine. Can you fill me in on the airport in Maine?

IACONO: Sure. We toured extensively in the northeast and we were lucky enough to have some inside information about it. The airport up Rangely, Maine, which does happen to have one of the larger border patrol stations in Maine.

And through you know -- through the information there from those agents on the ground, that particular airport is a private airport. And it does not have an actual -- an actual per se tower controller there. There is a tower. It is open to flights from international locations such as Canada which is literally a 20-minute flight. And they do often have international flight, planes land in at all times of day and evening.

Unfortunately, the customs and border protection station that`s assigned to check those aircraft is about 120 miles away, according to the source.

BECK: They`re saying that -- again, they responded to this. And they said that -- that`s illegal and if you have information on illegal activity you should notify the authorities immediately.

IACONO: Well, the border patrol agents that told us that did notify their superiors. And their superiors told them that they were not within their jurisdiction to even be notifying anybody.

BECK: Thank you very much, we`ll look for the movie. When does it come out?

IACONO: It should be out sometime in late October, early November. We`re hoping right before the election.

BECK: Great. Thanks a lot.

Now a quick reminder. Make sure you tune in tomorrow night. Full hour special of "Life on Campus." If you`re a conservative and you`re looking to avoid the liberal line of fire in our universities, if you have kids going to universities, you need to watch this special. It is really, really good. From Princeton or the Princeton area tomorrow at 7:00 and 9:00.

We`ll see you then. From New York, good night, America.

END