BLOGApril 27, 2017

Bill Wirtz of 'Young Voices' Says French Citizens Are Fed up With Politicians

Young Voices Advocate Bill Wirtz joined Glenn on radio to share his insights on the French presidential election, faux-conservatism in Europe and the similarities between France and America when it comes to politiicans.

From Young Voices: Bill Wirtz is a Law student at the Université de Lorraine in Nancy, France. After starting off in politics in his home country Luxembourg, and even running for parliament, he reconsidered his view on the role of government and became a local coordinator for European Students for Liberty. Today he blogs in four languages and was published by the Foundation for Economic Education, the Mises Institute, the Wasington Examiner or daily Luxembourgish newspapers.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: Thrilled to have Bill Wirtz on. He is from a group, Young Voices. With Young Voices. He is over in France. He's a young Libertarian studying law over in France. He originally was from Luxembourg. We wanted to talk to him about what is happening in France and what he feels the -- the rhythm of the street is, if you will, on Le Pen and -- and Macron. What France is going to do and what it will mean for the next few years. Welcome to the program, Bill, how are you?

BILL: Hello. Good to be with you. There's a lot to talk about.

GLENN: Yeah. So tell me -- I assume you were quite concerned that it might be the communist and the fascist that were going to battle it out.

Does Le Pen have a chance of winning?

BILL: Well, I mean, the first polls came out recently, which gave Macron a chance of winning by 60 percent of the vote. So quite frankly, it is quite unlikely she will win.

GLENN: Okay. Good.

BILL: Now, I've got Brexit wrong as well. So I'm not really going to put my advice forward here, but if it's -- anything could happen at this point. If there's going to be a terrorist attack in Paris tomorrow, it could all change.

GLENN: Yes. Okay. So, Bill, what does this mean for -- as I read France and Europe -- and I've been watching France since I was on Fox News and talking about, you know, The Coming Insurrection in France and the fact that people -- the media and the politicians, same here in America, are not hearing the voice of the people. And the voice of the people, I believe -- and this is where I want you to correct me, where I'm wrong. They are saying, you're not listening to us. We're not uber nationalists that hate everybody else. But we believe in, you know, our borders. We believe in sovereignty. There's a -- it's meaningful to be French.

We want to help refugees, but we don't want to have our country overrun by people who don't want to be here or who are just taking us for what it's worth. And we're tired of being lied to and stolen from by the politicians and the banks.

Is that what you're feeling over there?

BILL: Well, I mean, I think there's two things to say about this.

For once, if you look at the results of the first ballots, Marine Le Pen scored very badly in the big city, Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon. In these cities she didn't even get 10 percent of the vote. So the more you go in rural areas where there's less than a thousand people living, she gets very high scores because these people feel left out by Paris. So I compare it to US politics. I guess it's more or less the same. That people in rural areas feel left out.

But the perception that some people in these areas where they live among in the areas with the least immigrants are and where there's often no refugees whatsoever, the perception that these people have is sometimes quite wrong in terms of how bad it really is. Now, I hear these people who -- you know, when I write about the alt-right, they tell me on Twitter, "Oh, I was in Paris a few weeks ago, and it was horrible." And, yes, if you go -- there's a few streets in Paris which you can go to, which are very problematic. But that's not really representative of what's happening really in France. So there's a lot of misinformation I would say.

GLENN: So what is it that the people are fed up with? Are they believing a false narrative?

BILL: Sort of. But it is the classic example of blaming the economic situation on immigrants. France is doing very badly. That's absolutely true.

GLENN: But let's move off of immigrants and move into the section of the politicians and the -- and the banks and the corporations, kind of steamrolling everyone. Are they feeling that? Or is that a myth over there too in your opinion?

BILL: Well, I mean, if you just look at the candidates, you got quite an idea why people are fed up. Now running, you have a former investment banker, who was an adviser to François Hollande, who really screwed the country for the last five years. And also we're running another socialist candidate, the candidate who -- (inaudible), who paid his wife a lot of money to do no work whatsoever. So there's a lot of corruption going on and a lot of -- you know, these people they bailed out the banks in 2008 with taxpayers' money. And nobody, apart from a few outsiders, have really criticized that.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

BILL: So people are fed up with the politicians. But I don't believe that Marine Le Pen has any of the answers to that.

GLENN: So Farage has come out. I mean, he's an amazing guy. He loves Margaret Thatcher, is quite smart. But he's come out -- he's endorsed Le Pen. He's endorsed Donald Trump as well. What's your take on what's happening there?

BILL: I believe it's very disappointing. I like Nigel Farage an awful lot, but he's very wrong on this. And I don't know where this comes from. I always believe that people like Nigel Farage and others, American conservatives, are very principled. But now they turn out to be just contrarians. Because Marine Le Pen disagrees with the status quo, she disagrees with Brussels, and that's apparently now reason enough to just support her? No, she's a big government socialist. And her policies would lead France even further into disaster.

So why these people start endorsing her, I don't really understand. And that's what I've been warning about in -- in a piece for the Washington Examiner.

GLENN: Yeah, well, good luck with that. Because that's what we tried to do with Donald Trump. And we felt the same way about many people, but, you know, they were up against a horribly flawed candidate in Hillary Clinton, who Donald Trump didn't beat Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton beat Hillary Clinton. He just happened to be the one standing there, while she imploded.

How is -- how is the United States, conservatives, and Donald Trump -- separate them if you can -- viewed overseas in Europe?

BILL: Well, apart from the elections, in the same that the US only is interested in France when there's an election going on, people are now sort of disconnected from the discussion that is going on in the US. People are quite concerned with the discussion about North Korea, on foreign policy. People are quite interested. But in that sense, people don't really see a difference now. Now that Donald Trump is rising in the polls again, as soon as he starts bombing countries -- for people, there's no real difference. That's what we had for the last five years. And that's what we're going to get for the next five years.

As long -- France really is fed up with being called for interventionism. The French people don't want to intervene in foreign countries anymore. And that's why Marine Le Pen is also appealing to them. Because she -- she claims to be noninterventionist. She doesn't want to intervene in Syria, and she wants to get along better with Russia.

GLENN: She actually wants to switch the allies from the United States to Russia. What's the influence of Russia in France? And how is Putin viewed?

BILL: Well, I mean, there was -- I read this article in the Washington Post, where they claimed that Russia is now trying to influence the French election with paid news as well.

Here, people don't believe in these kinds of stories, as long as there's no proof for it. So the discussion is not as big as compared to the United States. But what is true is that Marine Le Pen has been getting loans for her campaign finances by Russian banks, which has been a concern in the past. Because she has been invited to the Kremlin as well. She obviously has close ties to Russia. How is that influencing her policies? I wouldn't be able to immediately tell. But some people are concerned. But it's not a major topic.

Her disastrous economic policies are far more interesting than people's interest in what she could have to do with Russia.

GLENN: Bill Wirtz from Young Voices in France.

Bill, the -- if I were to take us back to World War I, when the world was in more turmoil than it is now, but in the 1930s, it felt kind of like this, I think, you know, I could point out Franco and Mussolini and Hitler and Stalin. But I could also point to Churchill being number one. And, you know, FDR. The allies. And the resistance.

And you had a balanced table of good guys and bad guys in many respects. I don't see that now. Do you see anybody worth rooting for, coming up in Europe or America or anywhere that you think, "Oh, finally, this some guy showing up?"

BILL: Not really. The French people are usually looking for such a figure. Because they look for somebody like Charles de Gaulle. And Charles de Gaulle was sort of an authoritarian, but he was a symbol of the French Resistance. Now, today's politicians in France, they claim to be in his image, but obviously nobody comes even close in terms of popularity. Now in Europe, most countries are mostly occupied with themselves.

GLENN: So how is it going for a Libertarian? I mean, if I'm not mistaken, can you write for the Mises Institute. I mean, is that growing, or is that diminishing?

BILL: That's -- I mean, it's definitely not easy being a Libertarian, especially not in France, where almost everything is done by the government and highly regulated.

More people are getting interested in it because -- it's mostly young people who are interested in these ideas. There's no real Libertarian tradition. Nobody here is a Libertarian because their parents were. It's very rare.

We're mostly lacking -- what is mostly lacking is funding basically for Libertarian think tanks. Because there are people who want to start, to get something going. But it's not really easy to get it started. I have a small Libertarian group in my city here. But the university doesn't give me any funding. And doesn't even provide me a room, basically to hold conferences in my university. It's just -- it's really difficult to get started.

GLENN: Bill Wirtz, thank you so much.

What are you expecting? Your prediction for May 7th?

BILL: Oh, that's very difficult. I mean, if I would have to bet my money on it, it would definitely be Macron. But for those interested in the French election, I'd say look for the parliamentary elections next month. Because whoever becomes president this time means the majority in parliament. Otherwise, they can't do anything. So that's definitely something to look into.

GLENN: And which way --

BILL: Right now, it would be Macron.

GLENN: And which way does it lean? Does it lean more fascist? More communist? More status quo?

BILL: Well, the last poll was done a year ago. But Marine Le Pen would definitely not get a majority in parliament. So no matter what, she would be a president without power. Macron, on the other hand, he might be able to rally moderates of all sides, but that's uncertain. The party which is most likely to get a majority in parliament is the Republican Party, an establishment, center right party. And so, yeah, whoever becomes president is going to be very difficult to govern.

GLENN: Thank you very much, Bill. I appreciate it. And stay safe in France. Back in just a second.

RADIO

EXCLUSIVE: Chip Roy Explains His FIERY Rejection of Spending Bill

According to the media, there’s a big fight going on between Republicans over the House’s new slimmed-down continuing resolution spending bill. Some, including President-elect Donald Trump, wanted the bill to pass. But others, like Texas Representative Chip Roy, argued that it still wasn’t ready. However, is the Republican “unity coalition” really crumbling, like the media claims? Rep. Chip Roy joins Glenn to explain what’s really going on. He argues that he IS trying to give Trump and DOGE a 100-day “runway” to fix the country. But he makes the case that, by increasing the debt ceiling by $5 trillion without agreeing on other cuts, this bill gives bad actors the ability to be an “obstacle” to Trump’s agenda further down the line. Plus, he reveals to Glenn that he believes some of these bad actors LEAKED false information about his stance to Mar-a-Lago.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN:

I think we have a great opportunity today. To show you how to have a -- tough conversation, with friends, friends. Where you deeply disagree on something.

But you know that their intent is good. They know my intent is good. Or our intent is good.

And we actually have the same end goal, but we disagree on the path. And we're going to walk away friends.

Chip Roy is joining us today. And, Chip, I love you. And I always will. And I agree with your, we've got to cut spending. We have to. But Liz Wheeler is with me. And we've been talking about it all morning. It's the -- the -- the -- the system of DOGE and Trump, the call-out to the world, in saying, you've got to surrender the Capitol. You know, the bad guys are in and about to take all the money.

Surround, and tell them, come out with your hands up. And that happened. And we scored a massive win, in an entirely new way.

Ask then you stood on principle, one we both agree with.

And it failed!

And so here's -- here's what Liz and I were talking about. Here's what we want to say to you.

And then get your response.

LIZ: Hi, Congressman Roy, this is the way I see it. I want your take on it. I love you. I think you're one of the best members of Congress. I disagree with you on the process that's happening. And I think that is the difference. The process. We elected Donald Trump to be a disruptor. Because Republican members of Congress for decades have been telling they're fiscal conservatives. They want to decrease the debt SEAL. It hasn't happened.

It hasn't -- it hasn't been done. And so Donald Trump comes in with Elon Musk, and uses this DOGE process to first identify these pieces of garbage in the first 1500-page bill. And take those things to the people. We took them to members of Congress. Congress said, okay. We'll listen to you.

So that new process was very effective.

And my question to you is: Once that process was proved to be effective. Which I think is exciting and wonderful.

How do we bridge this divide, with you, to say, okay.

Let's put some faith in this new process. And trust Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the Dow Jones process, to eventually address the debt ceiling, but get this done right now?

GLENN: And not blind trust. Chip.

CHIP: So appreciate you guys. Appreciate being on the show. Particular order. I have to go through a couple of things.

GLENN: Yep.

CHIP: Number one, it's important to remember that my job and my duty is to the Constitution, to God, and the people I represent. I told them, when I came to Washington, I would not -- I would not let the credit card and the debt ceiling and the borrowing of the United States without the spending restraints necessary to offset it.

GLENN: Okay.

CHIP: Right now, all we have are promises and ideas and notions. What I know, that neither of you respectfully no, and that none of your listeners respectfully no are the people that are in the room, that I was in with yesterday. And the day before, who are recalcitrant.

And do not want to do the spending cuts that we need to do.

That I believe the president and the DOGE guys. And everybody want to do.

My job, is to force that through the meat grinder. To demand that we do our damn job. Okay?

GLENN: Okay. So hang on. Okay. So wait. Wait. You're right. You're right. You're right. Go ahead.

CHIP: Number thee, when we were going through the bill, I'm glad the bill dropped from 1,550 pages to 116 pages. Three-quarters of Twitter or X or whatever you want to call it, have been out there spreading false facts that we supported a bad bill and didn't like the better bill.

That's not true. But let's be Lear. The 1400 pages that were cut out. It's a panacea.

There were some good stuff in there. There were some bad stuff in there. There was a lot of disinformation.

There wasn't a $70,000 pay raise. There was a 3,000-dollar pay raise.

I didn't support any pay raise. I didn't support a lot of the stuff in there.

But there's a lot of misinformation. And here's the thing: The 116 pages that were left, and I opposed violently the first bill. I was leading the charge on fighting and killing the first bill.

GLENN: And I love you.

LIZ: The second bill for 116 pages. Turned off -- turned off the pay go requirement. That we slash 1.7 trillion automatically.

And added a 5 trillion that are increase.

My view was, I could not support that, without a clear understanding of what cuts we would get, in mandatory spending next year. And undo any of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The undoing of the student loans. The undoing of the crap with the food stamps.

And everything else. I yield back.

GLENN: Okay. I yield back.

Chip, you're not in a hostile room. We love you. And we agree with your end goals. It's our end goal too. We didn't make that promise that you made to the people that voted for you. So we have more wiggle room here.

But you say -- I think our big difference is, you say, I know the guys in the room.

You're right. You do. And we -- we ceded that earlier today on the show.

You are -- one of us is wrong on trust.

I don't trust any of the weasels in Washington.

But I think Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have earned enough trust, to get a grace period, here for the first -- maybe the first year.

Or at least six months.

To turn the economy around, and also reduce the size of the government.

And totally flip this thing.

And I know, as somebody who is -- you know, run a company, mainly into a ground. But run a company, and have to switch it, in the middle, and totally reshuffle. That -- that actually costs money, while you're doing it, to bridge the gap.

Because you have to fill up holes while you're filling in the gap.

You don't trust the people in the room. Neither do we.

But we do trust the system that worked on Wednesday with DOGE and Donald Trump.

Where do we disagree?

Can you give them --

CHIP: We don't disagree. And yesterday morning, I was making that precise argument in a room full of conservatives and then a follow-up room with people who will call it, less conservatives.

GLENN: Republican. Yes.

CHIP: And so we were making this argument. And then someone infamously. Something leaked out of the room, somehow out to Mar-a-Lago. That I was being resistant. Because I was negotiating trying to get the agreement to achieve the objective that you just said. I was trying to get, okay. In fact, yesterday morning, I made the argument to a group of conservatives. We need to give the president runway. We need to give him his first 100 days. We need to appreciate JD, and Vivek, and all the people -- and everybody involved. For the president to achieve the objective.

But to get there. We have to make sure that the guys in the room, that are an obstacle to that, don't have the ability to block it.

Because information flow matters. And when those guys tell the president, they can't achieve X.

Then the president will not achieve X. Our job was to force and demand, guys, we need actual understanding of what the cuts will be.

And because otherwise, we're asking us to accept a 5 trillion-dollar limit in our credit card increase. In exchange for nothing!

Literally, in exchange for nothing, but -- but hope.

So our job was to force that change.

Unfortunately, while I was trying to make the argument that we needed something in order to get the votes, someone leaked that down to Mar-a-Lago, and the president reacted.

But now I have to now manage that.

GLENN: Right. I know. I know.

CHIP: They're trying to enforce change in town.

GLENN: So hang on.

We have to leave this. Because I'm going to run against the clock.

I could talk to you all day about this. You were in a meeting this morning about J.D. Vance. Can you tell us anything about that meeting?

CHIP: That meeting happened, because despite what happened yesterday, I'm trying to get this done. Last night, talking to JD, we worked to get this meeting done. We had some good progress this morning.

But there still remains people concerned about spending. That we can work out, what agreement we can reach. On what spending cuts. We can actually get next year, in exchange for giving the vote on a debt ceiling increase.

So it remains fluid. Progress was made. But we have to keep working on it.

And I left that meeting to talk to you. Soil get an update in a minute.

GLENN: Thank you for that, by the way.

I hear there is a new bill that may be coming today.

Is that the one you're talking about?

Or is this another bill that could be another nightmare?

CHIP: Despite other people leaking crap, I refused. I can't say, because it's not been decided by the speaker.

And it's not right to talk about things they're talking about in private meetings.

GLENN: Yeah, but it's -- it's this speaker. I mean, is he really the speaker anymore, Chip, really?

CHIP: We need to hear what bill we need to get forward. And I can't talk about the private meetings. But, look, I'm going to keep fighting for what I promised people that I represent.

I'm going to fight to cut spending. I am going to represent article one.

I'm going to support the president's agenda, but we've got to do that together.

GLENN: Okay.

Chip, thank you.

I think we can -- I think we agree, but I await to see what that means to you. Because we may just have to agree to disagree on this.

But I love you. And I still want you to replace Cornyn.

CHIP: The short version is, for inflation's sake, we cannot increase the debt ceiling $5 trillion without knowing what we're getting for it.

And I don't think anybody should disagree with that.

GLENN: But you don't disagree that Elon Musk and Trump and Vivek are serious about gutting the system.

CHIP: I believe that is their objective. I believe there are obstacles to that objective. And I need to know the sincerity of how we deal with those obstacles, both structural, and human. And we have to figure that out. And that's my job.

America's Favorite Villain Is Ready for Nuclear Fallout. Are You? | Glenn TV | Ep 401

In this episode of Glenn TV — a theatrical how-to guide to survive the breakdown of society after a nuclear attack, according to the new movie “Homestead” from Angel Studios. Glenn Beck interviews the movie’s star and executive producer, Neal McDonough, who plays the head of a family trying to survive as society is breaking down in a postapocalyptic world. You’ve probably seen Neal in everything from the hit TV shows “Yellowstone,” “Suits,” and “Justified” to movies like “Captain America,” “Minority Report,” and the groundbreaking mini-series “Band of Brothers.” Glenn asks Neal what it’s like to play a villain so often, how TV and movies are changing, and how he survived Hollywood as a devoted Christian and husband who refuses to do onscreen kissing scenes with any of his female co-stars. They also discuss his battle with alcoholism, what it’s like working the legends like Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Costner, and the cultural craving for Western cinema. Note: Angel Studios is a sponsor of “The Glenn Beck Program.” Get your tickets for “Homestead” at https://Angel.com/Beck.

Glenn's Show Prep

Bill Wirtz of 'Young Voices' Says French Citizens Are Fed up With Politicians

Why the REAL story of Hanukkah sounds all too FAMILIAR

EXCLUSIVE: Chip Roy Explains His FIERY Rejection of Spending Bill

Transcript

America's Favorite Villain Is Ready for Nuclear Fallout. Are You? | Glenn TV | Ep 401

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