The world is on fire, and President Obama is partying with... Ricky Martin?

September 16, 2013

Writer

Tonight, a bevy of celebrities will overtake the White House for Música Latina: In Performance at the White House. The event, which will kick off at 7pm in the East Room, is in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, and will feature Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, among others. As TheBlaze reported, the event is the second such concert held since the sequester went into effect and the 12^th since President Barack Obama took office five years ago.

According to TheBlaze:

This is the 12th such concert since Obama has taken office. The last concert was on April 9 with a “Memphis Soul” theme. It will be the 52nd overall “In Performance at the White House” event, a program which began under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

The White House said the concert is about “reflecting the influence of richly diverse Latino communities from throughout the Americas. The program celebrates the beauty and diversity of that music.” The concert will be broadcast Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. on PBS stations nationally and on Oct. 13 on the American Forces Network.

…

First Lady Michelle Obama will host a special daytime event at the White House for Washington, D.C. area student about the history of Latin music.

The April concert featured Al Green, Justin Timberlake and Queen Latifah.

“You may be having some real problems and some difficulties in your life, you know, and you might want somebody to pay attention to the economy and help free people up so they can create jobs,” Glenn said on radio this morning. “Well, you're not invited to this. But there is a really exciting night happening at the White House tonight. Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin are all going to be performing. They are among the list of stars that are going to be performing tonight at the White House. And we've got another gala happening at the White House.”

“But it's only the 52nd overall performance at the White House,” Pat quipped. “Just the 52nd.”

“Who goes to these,” Glenn asked. “What is the point of these?”

“To have a good time, Glenn. Okay,” Pat explained sarcastically. “To have fun. To listen to enjoyable music by the likes of Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, and Natalie Cole.”

“I just think it's a disgrace honestly that we've only had 52 of these,” Stu added somberly. “Why haven't we had 520 of them?”

All kidding aside, Glenn explained why these events in particular illustrate just how out-of-touch this administration has become.

“But the real part of the story is our president is leading the life of King Louie. The same life of being inside of his own little world had his own elite friends. They all come over to his house, they all have parties, they all get dressed up, they all listen to some music, all elitist stuff, and say everything is good in the country. And all of his expensive vacations,” Glenn said. “If you really cared, wouldn't you just feel bad at some point? You talk about these people who are struggling all the time. Wouldn't you feel bad? I mean, at least Jimmy Carter would carry his own luggage because he was like, ‘I'm going to be a man of the people.’ And he wasn't opulent or anything else… It was a ridiculous thing to do, but at least he was trying to connect with people and he wasn't living a double life. He really was that guy in real life. I disagree with everything he did, but he really was that guy.”

“This president tries to make you think he understands poverty and everything else. He doesn't understand poverty. Look at the life that he's leading. Look at what he's doing. He's living a movie star life, and he loves it,” he continued. “Nobody holds anybody accountable… These guys get so out of touch with the American people because nobody will criticize them. In the end the ones who are going to be the strongest are the ones who are being attacked all the time. Because we've had to figure out who we are. What is it we really believe in? Because nobody wants to be a pariah. I mean, honestly if you could be popular or you could be a member of the TEA Party, which would you rather be? You'd rather be popular. But now which one are you? Because popularity means nothing. And you are smarter than that… This is not a glamorous gig. I don't think anybody wants to be the person that they are right now. You don't want to be the pariah.”

As Stu explained, President Obama has been able to capitalize on that very fact. “And this is how the president wins votes,” Stu said. “Because younger people who haven't put all the thought into decades and decades of research are going to do what feels better. What's easier, what looks good, what their friends do. And they wind up voting for this moron.”

“Right. And so they are just doing it because it feels good,” Glenn agreed. “And you also get the added benefit of a Ricky Martin concert.”

“If we could just get Ricky Martin on our side,” Stu concluded sarcastically, “then the tide would turn. Am I right on that?”

Front page image courtesy of the AP

Trump's education secretary has BIG plans for the DoE

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

Our education system is broken, and the Department of Education is a massive failure. But that all ends now.

It's no secret that America's school system is seriously lacking in many ways. President Trump pointed out that despite our massive spending per pupil, we are behind most of the developed world in most metrics. Our scores continue to plummet while our student debt and spending skyrocket—it's utterly unacceptable performance and America's students deserve better.

That's where Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for Secretary of Education comes in.

The former WWE CEO and leader of the U.S. Small Business Administration during Trump's first term, McMahon laid out her harsh criticisms of the DoE during a confirmation hearing on the 13th and revealed her promising plans to turn things around. McMahon described the public education system as "in decline" and promised that under her authority, the DoE would be reoriented towards student success.

Here are the top three changes to the Department of Education:

1. Dismantling the Department of Education

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

From the beginning Trump's orders for McMahon were clear: oversee the end of the Department of Education.

During her Thursday hearing, McMahon clarified what dismantling the DoE would entail. As Democrats have repeatedly pointed out, Trump does not have the authority to destroy the DoE without Congressional consent, as an act of Congress created it. That is why Trump and McMahon's plan is to start by shutting down programs that can be stopped by executive action, then approach Congress with a plan to dismantle the Department for good. The executive orders have already begun to take effect, and once McMahon is confirmed she will author a plan for Congress to close the Department.

McMahon also promised that the end of the Department of Education does not mean an end to all the programs currently undertaken by the doomed department. Programs that are deemed beneficial will be transferred (along with their funding) to departments that are more suited to the task. The example given by McMahon was IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funding, which instead of being cut would be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services.

2. School Choice

Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc / Contributor | Getty Images

In a huge win for parents across the country, McMahon pledged her support for School Choice. School Choice is the idea of allowing parents to enroll their student in any school of their choice, including religious schools and private schools. It would also mean that part or all of the funding that would have gone to a relocated child would follow them and continue to pay for their education.

This gives parents the ability to remove their children from failing schools and seek a better education for them elsewhere. A growing body of evidence suggests that the way we run our schools isn't working, and it is time to try something new. School Choice opens up education to the free market and will allow for competition.

Our children deserve better than what we can currently offer them.

3. COVID and DEI

SAVO PRELEVIC / Contributor | Getty Images

Trump's government-wide crackdown on DEI will ironically serve to increase inclusion in many American schools.

McMahon said as much during her Senate hearing: “It was put in place ostensibly for more diversity, for equity and inclusion. And I think what we’re seeing is, it is having an opposite effect. We are getting back to more segregating of our schools instead of having more inclusion in our schools.” She also spoke in support of Title IX, and the push to remove biological males from women's and girl's sports. In the same vein, McMahon pledged to push back against the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, which many Universities have failed to adequately address.

On Friday, February 14th, President Trump signed an executive order barring any school or university with COVID-19 vaccine mandates from receiving federal money. This only applies to the COVID-19 vaccine, and other vaccine mandates are still standing.

POLL: What DARK government secrets will Trump uncover?

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Will the dark secrets of the Deep State finally see the light of day? Or will they slip back into darkness, as they have many times before?

The Trump administration is gearing up to fulfill one of Trump's most anticipated campaign promises: to make the contents of the JFK files, along with other Deep State secrets, available to the public. Kash Patel, who has promised to publicize the highly anticipated files, is expected to be confirmed next week as Trump's director of the FBI. Moreover, the House Oversight Committee created a new task force headed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called "Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets," which is tasked with investigating and declassifying information on the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, UFOs, the Epstein list, COVID's origins, and 9/11. This all comes after the FBI found 2,400 "new" records relating to the assassination of President Kennedy following Trump's executive order to release the files.

Glenn discussed this topic with the cast of the Patrick Bet David podcast. Glenn expressed his confidence in Trump's radical transparency—on the condition that Kash Patel is confirmed. The cast was not as optimistic, expressing some doubt about whether Trump will actually unveil all that he has promised. But what do you think? What files are likely to see the light of day? And what files will continue to linger in the dark? Let us know in the poll below

Do you think the JFK, RFK, and MLK files will be unveiled?

Do you think the 9/11 files will be unveiled?

Do you think the COVID files will be unveiled?

Do you think the UFO files will be unveiled?

Do you think the Epstein list will be unveiled?

Transgender opera in Colombia? 10 SHOCKING ways USAID spent your tax dollars.

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has been doing what with our tax money!?

Under the determined eye of Elon Musk, DOGE has rooted out the corruption that permeates USAID, and it turns out that it's worse than we thought. Glenn recently read a list of atrocious causes that were funded by USAID, and the list was as long as it was shocking.

Since the January consumer index report was published today, one thing is clear: eggs are bearing the brunt of inflation. That's why we illustrated the extent of USAID's wasteful spending of YOUR taxpayer dollars by comparing it to the price of eggs. How many eggs could the American people have bought with their tax dollars that were given to a "transgender opera" in Colombia or indoctrinating Sri Lankans with woke gender ideology? The truth will shock you:

1. A “transgender opera” in Colombia

USAID spent $47,000 on a transgender opera in Colombia. That's over 135,000 eggs.

2. Sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala

$2 million was spent funding sex changes along with whatever "LGBT activism" means. That equates to over 5.7 million eggs!

3. Teaching Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary-gendered language

USAID forked over $7.9 million to combat the "gender binary" in Sri Lankan journalism. That could have bought nearly 23 million eggs.

4. Tourism in Egypt

$6 million (or just over 17 million eggs) was spent to fund tourism in Egypt. If only someone had thought to build some impressive landmarks...

5. A new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq

USAID spent $20 million to create a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. That's just short of 58 million eggs...

6. Helping the BBC value the diversity of Libyan society

$2.1 million was sent to the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) to help them value the diversity of Libyan society (whatever that means). That could have bought over 6 million eggs.

7. Meals for a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda

$10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. That comes up to be just shy of 29 million eggs.

8. Promoting inclusion in Vietnam

A combined $19.3 million was sent to two separate inclusion groups in Vietnam inclusion groups in Vietnam (why where they separated? Not very inclusive of them). That's over 55 million eggs.

9. Promoting DEI in Serbia's workplaces

USAID sent $1.5 million (4.3 million eggs) to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

10. Funding EcoHealth Alliance, tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "bat research"

EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key NGOs that funded the Wuhan lab's bat virus research, received $5 million from USAID, which is equivalent to 14.5 million eggs.

The bottom line...

So, how much damage was done?

In total, approximately $73.8 million was wasted on the items on this list. That comes out to be 213 million eggs. Keep in mind that these are just the items on this list, there are many, many more that DOGE has uncovered and will uncover in the coming days. Case in point: that's a lot of eggs.

POLL: Should Trump stop producing pennies?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

On Sunday, February 9th, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to halt the production of pennies. It costs the mint three cents to produce every penny, which Trump deemed wasteful. However, critics argue that axing the pennies will be compensated by ramping up nickel production, which costs 13 cents per coin.

In other news, President Trump promised on Truth Social that he would be reversing a Biden-era policy that mandated the use of paper straws throughout the federal government. From potentially slashing entire agencies to saying farewell to pennies and paper straws, Trump is hounding after wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

But what do you think? Was Trump right to put an end to pennies? And should plastic straws make a comeback? Let us know in the poll below:

Glenn's Show Prep