BLOGJune 21, 2017

The Twisted Logic the Federal Reserve Wants You to Believe

The stock market is at record highs, the unemployment rate is low, home prices are growing and wages are down. Collectively, what does it all mean?

Danielle DiMartino Booth, former insider at the Federal Resserve and author of Fed Up: An Insider's Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America, joined Glenn in studio to explain why the Federal Reserve is worried and what it means for the average Joe.

"The last time the unemployment rate was where it was, wages were growing at about four percent. Today, with the same unemployment rate, wages are running at two and a half percent. Yawn. We wonder why there's a shadow economy. We wonder why people are driving Uber at night. There's a reason. Their wages aren't growing. Their paycheck has barely moved and not kept up with inflation," DiMartino Booth said.

In a recent speech, Bill Dudley --- second in command at the Federal Reserve --- expressed concern about the unemployment rate crashing, causing run away wage inflation.

"The average working Joe wants their paycheck to go up. There's nothing intuitive about the reasoning right now at the Fed, nothing," DiMartino Booth said.

Enjoy the complimentary clip, listen to the full segments or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: Hello, America. Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.

You have so much to worry about, trying to hang on to your job, trying to educate your kids, just trying to make it through -- I don't know about you, but there are days that I just go -- I get up in the morning. I'm just like, my goal for today is just to make it back here to go back to bed. Maybe that's just me.

But life is tough. We want to arm you with information so you can prepare yourself for what's coming, both good and bad. A lot of great things happening in the world of technology. A lot of great things on the horizon.

But there's also some really big bumps in the road, as well. We are thrilled to have back with us Danielle DiMartino Booth. She's the author of Fed Up. She's a woman who worked on Wall Street and then said, "This is sickening." Got out, started to expose it for the Dallas Morning News.

The Fed here in Dallas, run by Richard Fisher, or was run by Richard Fisher at the time, he was I think brilliant and one of the really good guys in the Fed. And he saw her work and said, "Hey, she should come to work for her." She was working for the Fed, kind of in a lower position. She was ringing the bell about 2008 and the collapse. Most people made fun of her for that. The collapse happened, and Richard Fisher said, "You need to be my right-hand man for information and what is coming." So that's what she did. He left the Fed. She left the Fed. She is now ringing the bell on what's next. What's coming. Another 2008? She'll describe what she's saying in the last few weeks and last couple of months since we saw her last. We begin there, right now.

(music)

GLENN: Welcome to the program, Danielle --

DANIELLE: Let's get your circulation going.

GLENN: Yes. Welcome to the program, Danielle DiMartino Booth. How are you?

DANIELLE: I'm doing great. How are you doing?

GLENN: Very good.

A lot has happened since we last talked. The world is in a crazy place that we are just --

DANIELLE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: -- we are literally, last week, dodging bullets that could change the world.

DANIELLE: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: We have Syria and Russia this week, with a downed Syrian jet that we took down. And Russia said, "Oh, yeah, by the way, we're canceling our hotline. And if you cross the Euphrates, we'll shoot you down." So we have that on the horizon.

We have North Korea, with now three aircraft carriers, and they just dumped basically this poor kid out of Cincinnati -- they just dumped a practically dead body on our doorstep.

DANIELLE: Well, he is now.

GLENN: Yeah. Like -- you know, almost like a Don Corleone move, just saying, "Hey, here's -- here's your trash."

DANIELLE: The aftermath of years of doing nothing.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

And then last week, a shooting that could have changed the world. I don't know if you heard last hour. But I presented a scenario --

DANIELLE: Yeah.

GLENN: Any thoughts on that scenario? How crazy did that scenario sound to you?

DANIELLE: It didn't sound so crazy. I mean, there is something called the Plunge Protection Team, and it's dragged out in times of extreme market duress.

GLENN: Was that -- was that around, or was one of the first times we did in the '30s? because I know we the Rockefellers of the world, the Astors of the world kind of stepped to the plate and said, "I'm going to dump money in, and you're going to do it too."

DANIELLE: Right.

Well, bear in mind, before 1913, with the establishment of the Federal Reserve, when there were economic calamities, somebody like JPMorgan would bring people together in his parlor room and say, "Okay. Guys, we got to write some checks here. We got to save the world."

GLENN: Right. Right. Right.

DANIELLE: It was his realization that he was mortal, that brought about the Fed, after the Panic of 1907, really.

But even if you go to modern history, you know, Hank Paulson, others, they brought the biggest banks into a room and they said, "We've got trouble. You're all going to have to pony up." And a lot of the banks were saying, "No."

GLENN: I know.

DANIELLE: And Uncle Sam looks down and says, "No is not an option."

GLENN: You know what's really crazy is I have a friend who was in that room that night, that Sunday night, and he and his bank said, "No, we're not doing it."

DANIELLE: Don't need the money.

GLENN: Right. We don't need the money. We're not doing it.

And the banks get blamed. And I think the banks deserve a lot of blame. But the banks get blamed for this, when it really was the United States government, the Treasury, that said, "No, you are taking it."

DANIELLE: Right.

GLENN: In fact, the exact quote from Paulson is, "No one is leaving this room until you sign."

DANIELLE: Yeah. Until you brandish your scarlet letter. Put it on. Take the blame.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

Okay. So you said a few weeks ago, when you were here, that the one thing you were looking for -- I asked you for signs of the economy.

What do we look for as a sign that things are not going well?

DANIELLE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: If you pay attention at all to the Fed, as I do -- and I think this -- I'm a little more than the average person, to where I'll actually just read what Yellen has done, but I'm not going to read deeply.

DANIELLE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: The story that I heard last week was -- or, was it this week? Things are going so well.

DANIELLE: Oh, things are great.

GLENN: Right. The economy is so well.

DANIELLE: Smoking hot.

GLENN: Right. That they have to raise the interest rate again.

DANIELLE: I'm sorry. Who is in the White House? Oh, wait. But you digress.

GLENN: I'm just trying to figure out, what has changed to make things so great that we're raising interest rates?

DANIELLE: Well, things have gotten worse. So we should tighten so that we don't have to tighten -- wait. There's no logic there.

GLENN: Right.

DANIELLE: The head of the New York Fed gave a speech a few days ago, Bill Dudley. Bear in mind, this is the vice chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee that sets interest rates. If Janet Yellen -- if something happens to her and she's got the flu and she can't make the FOMC meeting, he's the guy in charge. People do not realize that the guy in charge of the New York Fed is really the number two in command at the Fed.

GLENN: Okay.

DANIELLE: He made a speech saying that the economy is doing so well that we're afraid the unemployment rate is going to crash. His words. Crash.

And, therefore, we're going to have to get out in front of this and tighten more so we don't have to tighten so much more down the road that we put the economy into recession.

GLENN: Wait. Wait.

DANIELLE: Exactly. Exactly.

GLENN: A, why would we be afraid of the -- of the unemployment rate crashing?

DANIELLE: Crashing?

GLENN: That would be, oh, my gosh, panic. We have a 0 percent unemployment rate. That doesn't make sense.

DANIELLE: Right. So the last time the unemployment rate was where it was, wages were growing at about 4 percent. Today, with the same unemployment rate, wages are running at two and a half percent. Yawn. We wonder why there's a shadow economy. We wonder why people are driving Uber at night. There's a reason. Their wages aren't growing. Their paycheck has barely moved and not kept up with inflation.

And Bill Dudley is worried that the unemployment rate is going to crash and make wage inflation run away. Sorry.

The average working Joe wants their paycheck to go up. It's -- there's nothing intuitive about the reasoning right now at the Fed. Nothing.

GLENN: Wage inflation. See, this is their problem. They're trying to convince the American people that there is no inflation. And on some things --

DANIELLE: Well, there's very little wage inflation. That doesn't take very much convincing.

GLENN: Correct. And on some things, there isn't inflation. But on -- on other things, there is gigantic inflation.

DANIELLE: Look at home prices.

GLENN: Yes.

DANIELLE: Today we had a report that came out that showed that home prices are growing at 5.8 percent. They're at record high prices right now. No wonder the average working Joe can't afford to buy a house, and it's finally begun to push back.

Look at college tuition. I buy a gallon of milk every day to feed my four gigantic growing children. I can tell you that gallon of milk keeps getting more expensive.

JEFFY: It sure does.

GLENN: It does. It does.

DANIELLE: It does.

These are not figments of our collective imagination. My retired mother tells me about what her copay is and what her -- what her drugs cost at the pharmacy. These are real things.

GLENN: Okay. So you said one of the things to look for -- so wait. Wait. Before we get on to that. What does this -- why are they raising the rate then?

DANIELLE: Well, the gallows humor is that they want it to make sure that they kept Trump in place. So if you slam the economy into a recession by tightening financial conditions, thus forcing a recession, then you've got Trump's attention and he doesn't put independent people, independent thinkers, dissenters in at the Fed who ruffle the doves' feathers.

GLENN: So this is --

DANIELLE: Give me two seconds.

GLENN: Yeah.

DANIELLE: Last Wednesday with the day the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, there was a story strategically placed on the front page of the Wall Street Journal that said Gary Cohn is looking for replacements for the Fed.

And, by the way, before you even had to open the page to get to the rest of the story, Janet Yellen's name was thrown out there as being a potential contender.

Do you think the administration has folded to the pressure? Because something has to make the Fed back off tightening interest rates.

GLENN: The rumor is -- and I don't know if this is true or not, but this is what happened to Ronald Reagan. That Ronald Reagan -- Volcker got in. And Ronald Reagan said, "Oh, you don't like the Fed? Oh, okay."

DANIELLE: Try me.

GLENN: And that's when interest rates went through the roof.

DANIELLE: And he had a recession 18 months into office.

GLENN: Correct. Correct.

DANIELLE: Trust me, somebody has read Trump this playbook.

GLENN: Yes, you did.

DANIELLE: I'm sure he read it himself.

GLENN: So what should the president do?

DANIELLE: I would like for him to stand firm. I wrote a whole book about it. We need independent thinkers. We need people at the Fed who are on the receiving end of their own policies, not bureaucrats who have been their entire lives in academics who don't understand the implications of the decisions they make. They don't understand what they've done to a generation of Baby Boomers trying to save for retirement.

GLENN: Who is around the president that can tell him this?

DANIELLE: Steve Cohen and Steve Mnuchin.

GLENN: And do you think he's stopped listening to them now?

DANIELLE: No, I don't.

GLENN: Good.

DANIELLE: In that same Wall Street Journal story, Steve Cohen was quoted as saying, basically, I have faith in the Fed. The Fed knows what it's doing. They need to be left alone.

I mean, these are the things that just stand up the hair on the back of my head. They really do.

GLENN: So what should we watch for or be wanting the president to do? What would be a sign that he's pushing back on them?

DANIELLE: If he comes out with a nominee to replace one of the three current open vacancies that does not comply with what the media has been suggesting those individuals should be.

GLENN: And when will -- when will he make those decisions?

DANIELLE: He's going to have to make them pretty soon. The fact that he's been in office, for what? 150 days or so.

GLENN: Yeah.

DANIELLE: And has not taken the opportunity to name a single individual to put up to the Senate is questionable.

GLENN: How will they fare in the Senate?

DANIELLE: Last I checked, the Republicans still have --

GLENN: Yeah, but I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means anymore.

DANIELLE: Well -- okay. So it's undefined.

GLENN: Yeah.

DANIELLE: But I think that given especially the representatives from Texas --

GLENN: Yeah.

DANIELLE: -- Hensarling, Brady, they've been pushing for reform at the Fed. I think they thought that we would have seen some independence reintroduced at the Fed by now. I dare say in private, they're probably a little frustrated that they haven't. Because there are leaders inside the Senate -- there are people on the Hill who will push through truly independent nominees.

GLENN: Okay. Now let's go to the next thing that you said we should watch for. And that is automobiles.

DANIELLE: Five months of weakness in a row.

GLENN: What does that mean to you? What should that tell the average person?

DANIELLE: Yesterday, a report came out. We know that automobile defaults, delinquencies are rising. We know that payments are beginning to cripple households. We know that especially in places where people are commuting, they have to have their car to get to work. It's the last thing they want to stop making a payment on. And the repoman can swoop in really quickly and just hit a kill switch. And you're not turning your car on anymore. And he's going to come and repossess it.

But we've seen reports come out in the last few weeks that show that the 2015 vintage of car loans made is going to be -- subprime car loans made in 2015 will reset, become the worst performing ones on record.

GLENN: Holy cow.

DANIELLE: We know that. And yesterday, Experian came out with a report that showed that credit card delinquencies have started to tick up as well. So you're seeing a trickle down in terms of household stresses rising.

GLENN: And anything on the horizon in the next few that you are looking at and say, "This could be the real big tripwire?"

DANIELLE: The Cheesecake Factory came out last week with a report that said things are really worse than we were anticipating --

GLENN: Right.

DANIELLE: -- they would be.

If restaurants, which employ 10.6 million Americans, if the restaurant industry begins to follow brick and mortar retail into the abyss, we are in the soup. They employ lots of people. A lot of these big restaurant chains, their footprints are too big. And they're going to have to start following the JCPenney's, the Macy's of the world, down the path of downsizing. This is not good news for people's whose skills are not transferable.

STU: That's why I'm going to the Cheesecake Factory today to support the cause.

JEFFY: Me too.

GLENN: I was thinking about that myself.

DANIELLE: I could go for some turtle cheesecake. Bring it.

GLENN: Me too.

The name of the book -- Danielle DiMartino Booth. The name of the book is Fed Up: An Insider's Take On Why the Federal Reserve is Bad For America.

A lot of people have been saying, you know, we want to disband the Federal Reserve. We want to have checks and balances on the Federal Reserve. Great. Read her book to actually educate yourself on what the Federal Reserve is, what they do, how it works, where they have gone wrong. Fed Up. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

GLENN: We have Danielle DiMartino on with us for a few more minutes. Because I -- we started talking during the break about Illinois.

Illinois is in financial meltdown, and I want you to listen to this line: We talked about this earlier. Top financial official just warned 100 percent of the state's monthly revenue will be eaten up by court-ordered payments.

Now, what that is, is when we were at Fox, remember I used Illinois and said, these pensions, these unions, it's a sham. And when the chicken comes home to roost, there's no money left.

It's now happening in Illinois.

DANIELLE: Right.

GLENN: And you said that there is a --

DANIELLE: There's an op-ed out today, look it up, that said we should potentially jettison Illinois. It's as bad as Venezuela. Let's get rid of it. Let's break the state up into many little pieces and have the neighboring states absorb it because they can -- this is year three with no budget. Moody's came out last week. And they were downgraded to one notch above junk. A junk bond state. Illinois is the fifth largest economy in this country, and it is in a state of shambles because the chickens, as you say, have come home to roost.

GLENN: How many states are approaching this --

DANIELLE: Well, I mean, you can talk about New Jersey. You can talk about Rhode Island. I mean, it's a really small state with a really bad problem.

GLENN: So what do you think the geniuses are going to do?

DANIELLE: As in?

GLENN: You know, what will the geniuses come up with to get us out of this?

DANIELLE: It remains to be seen. These are issues that are popping up with the stock market at record highs. Think about that.

GLENN: Holy cow. Holy cow.

Danielle, we appreciate your look at things. We would love to have you back. The name of the book is Fed Up: The Insider's Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America.

RADIO

How Somalis in Minnesota are FUNNELING Tax Dollars to Terror Groups

Minnesota is facing what may be the largest welfare fraud scheme in American history. Christopher Rufo joins Glenn Beck to expose how Somali-run networks siphoned hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds through fake child-care and food programs, money that federal officials say was funneled through Somalia’s Hawala system, where Al-Shabaab takes its cut. Rufo reveals how state leaders protected these networks, how political incentives and “suicidal empathy” blinded Minnesota’s institutions, and why the corruption spreading through the welfare system is far more widespread than anyone wants to admit. This is not just a crime story... It’s a warning about immigration policy, cultural incompatibility, and the collapse of accountability in modern liberal states.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So I first ran into Chris Rufo, oh, I don't even know how many lifetimes ago. He was working for the city journal. And he was starting to uncover things. And he started to do investigations on things he cared about. And all of a sudden, he's one of the best investigative reporters out there.

Extraordinarily credible.

Right almost every single time.

And he is joining us, at the Blaze. He is the host now of his own TV show. Rufo and Lomez.

And he is the guy who broke the story a couple weeks ago. About the Minnesota taxpayers who are funding a terrorist group. Al-Shabaab. I don't know. Is that a problem?

Can I ask you, am I more outraged?

And I haven't paid any Minnesota tax. Am I more outraged than the people of Minnesota?

I mean, I know there's origins up there. So Norwegians are like, yeah, sure. I mean, you know, they don't seem to get very excited about. And they're very, you know, socialized and everything else. They're very big heart. Blah, blah, blah. And they don't seem to -- you know, Swedish, Norwegian, you know. But is there any point where they're outraged? Is there any point where they're like, you know what, this socialization thing is good, but not like this? This socialized, hey, let's help everybody, but not like this. I mean, you have a billion dollars taken from the taxpayers. A billion.

Is -- and I don't hear anything from the people of -- I mean, if you're -- if you were taken for a billion dollars and your money -- you knew was being taken away from children who need food, they were faking all kinds of health issues for other children, and so taking money away from real autistic programs and then putting it in and sending it to a terror group. Wouldn't you be kind of pissed?

Because I know I would be.

Are the people in Minnesota pissed about it?

I don't know.

I mean, I don't think. If it was my state. I don't think the governor would be in the governor's office. But maybe that's just had he. Christopher Rufo joins me now.

Chris, we were just talking about -- thank you for not only this story, but all the stories and things you have exposed over the years. Thank you for doing all of the hard work, and being credible the whole time.

It doesn't -- am I more outraged by this story than the people of Minneapolis? Because they don't seem to have a problem with it. Is it just me?

JASON: It's even more bizarre, actually. You're outraged about the proper thing to be outraged about. Which is that a group that is a recent arrival was permitted, or asylum, refugee status into the United States. Has now systematically looted the Treasury of the state of Minnesota. But Minnesota politicians are also outraged, but they're outraged that we notice this.

And that we've called this out. And that we're saying, this is not okay. So you have the mayor of Minneapolis, speaking in Somali, saying that he will do whatever he can.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

CHRIS: Do whatever he can to shelter the Somali community from any criticism at all.

And, I mean, find this borderline suicidal. And the Scandinavian. Kind of the Scandinavian founding culture of Minnesota, is just being statistically exploited. And they seem to have no ability to even defend themselves against it.

GLENN: Yeah. I mean, what's happened to Sweden is happening in -- you know, in -- in Minnesota.

It's just -- they take the kindness and the socialized everything. And they just absolutely abuse it, until there is nothing left.

And, you know, I don't -- let me ask the question.

And I want to be really careful here. Because I -- and I know you're not.

Nobody is reasonably saying this. That all Somalis just want to rip us off. Not true. I think there's probably a lot of people that wanted to get away from Somalia, because it is an absolutely corrupt system.

And now, our politicians are just recreating, you know, what they had in Somalia. And I can't believe that everybody from Somalia and Minnesota is for that.

But when you -- when you look at where they came from, that is the way their government works.

It is so rife with corruption. Is this something that is being imported, or is this just a handful of bad guys?

CHRIS: Well, it's a little bit of both. And as you said, we have to be careful and precise as we think about it. What's happening, obviously, not every Somali is participating in these fraud schemes.

GLENN: Correct.

CHRIS: But it's true that many, many, many, many -- an extraordinarily high percentage of people in the Somali community were participating in these schemes, prosecutors have told me that there are dozens of these schemes that have been perpetrated. And some of them are involving dozens and in some cases hundreds of families. And so we're talking about a very high percentage of the population. But the -- the point is this: Related to immigration. We always have had an immigration system that makes group level analysis.

And so small ease, for example, for many decades, now, have been given special privileges, in America's immigration system.

You have special status for asylum, for refugee programs. And so we have rewarded Somalis on the basis of -- of a group identity.

And I think that it's totally fair to say, hey. Wait a minute.

We can't take everyone from around the world. We have to prioritize by group.

We can't judge every single human being around the world as an individual.

And the reality is that the Somali community is not coming as individuals. They're coming as a community. And so you can say, you know, there are absolutely great people. Wonderful Somalis.

The incredible Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali.
Incredible woman.

GLENN: Incredible.

CHRIS: But the fact is that they're bringing the cultural systems from Somalia to the United States, and they are just fundamentally incompatible. That's the brass tacks. The bottom line. The end of the story.

And -- and what I was looking for and hoping for, was that Somali leaders would stand up and say, what's happening in our community is wrong.
We're going to work with. We're going to work with law enforcement to stamp out this corruption within our own house. But instead, they have gone just the opposite. They are promising that members of their communities. No criticism. And should operate with impunity.

GLENN: Tim Walz and even the mayor. How do they survive this?

CHRIS: Here's -- here's the actual, sad truth. I know conservatives are waiting for the backlash to sweep away these corrupt leaders and these feckless and incompetent politicians. But there's something about liberal culture, where no amount of chaos, corruption, crime, murder, you know, theft, can dissuade them from their core beliefs that our society is bad. And as a form of penance or -- or -- or kind of self-flagellation. We have to accept any amount of crime, provided that it's committed by people who can check the identity boxes. And so I'm actually pessimistic, and skeptical of the idea that Minnesota voters are going to rise up. And command that this corruption stop.

GLENN: You know, I remember Michele Bachmann came to my apartment when I was living in New York City, probably about 2008, maybe '9. And she sat me down and she said, Glenn, you have to pay attention to what's happening to my State Department, in Minnesota.

And I said, what do you mean?

She said, they're moving whole communities into Minnesota. And she's like -- and I said, communities. What do you mean?

She said, Somalis.

And I'm like, why would they be moving to Minnesota? What?

You miss being surrounded by feet of snow for six months out of the year? And she said, no. She said, it is the State Department.

It's like they selected, you know, Minnesota, and moved people in as a communist community.

Was this -- was this done. I mean, I'm having a hard time separating.

Like USAID.

I know what that is. We all know what that is. This is corruption. And they knew exactly what they were doing.

Is this incompetence, just corruption?

Is there planning involved in this.

Is this, you know, I hate America so much.

Cloward and Piven.

What is this?

GLENN: So there are two arguments that have been floated to answer, this an attempt to answer this question.

The first argument is that the left knows how to gain power. And by importing dependent foreign groups into the -- into the populace, they have a client that can provide them with votes. In exchange for patronaging. Or in this case, corruption.

And that is a strategy to amplify their own domestic political power. The other hypothesis. And I think for me, the more persuasive hypothesis. Is that this is just simple, liberal, naivete. And a kind of suicidal empathy, where they are blind to the consequences of their own actions.

They judge on inputs rather than outputs. And for them, the measure is how compassionate they can be.

And any imposition of limits or consequences is seen as a violation of core liberal principles. You know, it might be a combination of the two. But I don't -- you know, again, barring evidence that emerges, I would assume that it's more the latter than the former.

GLENN: How do we know for sure that money went to Al-Shabaab?

CHRIS: Great question. First of all, there have been schemes over the last decade, where counterterrorism officials tell me that every time they're looking at ISIS recruiting, al-Shabaab recruiting, radical Islamist recruiting, Minneapolis always shows up. And, in fact, it's really the epicenter of foreign terror recruitment in the United States of America. But on a particular question of Al-Shabaab, there is the testimony of multiple counterterrorism officials who told us, hey. Some of this money is getting siphoned off. And essentially taxed by the Al-Shabaab terror network. Once it leaves the United States. And goes into the Somali informal banking system. But this is really not in dispute. Even a left-evening group like the foundation for domestic democracy has long noted that Al-Shabaab skins almost all remittance that travel through the country of Somalia.

And, therefore, it stands to reason, if -- if people are stealing from the Minnesota government, sending that money back to Somali, through the remittence system, and Al-Shabaab is taking their cut. We're talking about a significant amount of money, whether it's intentional or unintentional, that the end result is the same. Al-Shabaab is receiving American taxpayer dollars that were stolen and routed through their network.

STU: So how is this stopped?

Because I don't think anything in Minnesota will happen. How's this stop?

It feels honestly. Know better than I do. It feels like the tip of the iceberg. I mean, today, the story from the GAO on Obamacare. That's completely out of control. USAID. This is happening.

I mean, tip of the iceberg. How do we stop this, if our politicians won't do anything in the states?

CHRIS: Well, there's two things that we can do. I think first off, in this particular case. Federal prosecutors have done a great job, uncovering these Somali fraud rings. And implementing prosecutions. And so they really deserved enormous credit.

But the federal government should do much more.

And I would recommend that Health and Human Services. And other departments at the federal level. Start all payments to Minnesota. Until they have a third party audit. Until they get their fraud under control.

And, you know, ultimately, you have to stop giving these people money, if you want them to change their behavior. And so I think a stop payment order on all federal funding to Minnesota programs where there are suspicions of fraud. Will help clean things up fairly quickly.

The reality is, we have a system in the United States. Where it's always a third party payer.

Health insurance, welfare programs. Food stamps, autism services.

Whatever it might be. These are massive third person payer programs. The incentives are, you know, not aligned with people actually enforcing the rules. And they become easy targets for fraudsters.

And so Minnesota used to be famous for honesty, fair dealing, good government.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.
CHRIS: And in just a short number of decades, their reputation has now been completely inverted.

And it is, by all accounts. From all of the research that I've done, I think this is likely the largest statistic welfare fraud scheme, in American history.

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RADIO

Silenced voices: The growing concern of Islamic influence in America

America is witnessing cultural changes at a pace few expected, and even fewer are willing to talk about. Glenn Beck and Allie Beth Stuckey expose the growing concern among everyday Americans, especially mothers, as mosques replace churches, schools switch to halal-only menus, neighborhoods lose Christmas traditions, and crime spikes in communities transformed by rapid Islamic immigration. While politicians look away for the sake of power, ordinary families feel silenced, shamed, and increasingly unsafe. Glenn and Allie reveal how secularism failed to hold the line, how progressive politics weaponized empathy, and why many believe the West is approaching a cultural and spiritual breaking point.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: It's amazing to me how this -- the awareness of this Islamic takeover of the west, how quickly it is spreading, and how quickly people are waking up.

I don't know about the politicians. But the average person is really starting to wake up to this. Don't you think?

ALLIE: Absolutely. And, of course, you have been warning about this for years. But I think a lot of people are just seeing it infiltrate their neighborhoods.

There's mosques, where there used to be churches. And office buildings. There are people wearing hijabs. At their elementary schools. Middle school.

People celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah around this. And you're told that you're not allowed to notice this.

And you're certainly not allowed to care about this.

There's no such thing as American culture.

You can't care about sharing the celebrations with your neighbors.

But people do care.

It's very unsettling. And a lot of people are just finding the words and the courage to say something about it.

GLENN: You know, I don't have a problem with, you know, Halal, or kosher, or anything.

I don't have a problem.

But I do have a problem that my kid's school now has to only serve Halal food.

So wait a minute.

What. What's up with that?

And that's happening all over Texas. Where Halal is your choice now.

And I just --

ALLIE: Right. Can we have a conversation about this, please?

I think what most people just want. Can we at least have a conversation about what's happening in our country?

ALLIE: Right. You know, I asked my Instagram followers. Vast majority are women. Probably 85 percent stay-at-home moms. And when I asked this question -- my followers were about 850,000 on Instagram. And I just said. Totally open-ended. Wasn't looking for a particular answer.

Hey, what is your biggest concern with America right now?

I was just trying to come up with topics for my show. The number one answer over and over and over again was the spread of Islamic dominance, where they are living, in America, in the West. This is very destabilizing for a lot of people. And they're seeing it, not just affect people far off like we used to. But affect their own neighborhoods and their own schools. And so, you know, usually politicians kind of take a while to wake up to what the populace is really scared of.

We have seen some good action in Texas for sure. But this is a real problem. And it's not just an illegal immigration problem. That's the uncomfortable part of it. This is a cultural issue. This is an immigration issue in general.

So we need the people in Washington and in Austin, to come up with the solutions for the people who are concerned about this.

GLENN: So you said that your audience is concerned because it affects them.

How does it affect them?

ALLIE: Well, I think that they're scared of the violent crime that they've seen in places maybe in their own cities. Certainly in places where Islam has to me natured. When we look at places like Dearborn, Michigan.

When we look at our friends across the pond. That sexual crimes. Violent crimes. All increase, disproportionately when there is a large-scale importation of people from these Muslim majority countries. It doesn't mean they're all like that.

It doesn't mean that they can't be good neighbors.

But this is not only a cultural change. This is not only a shift in how their neighborhoods look and feel and the celebration and things like that.

But this also is potentially a threat to their own safety. Especially the safety of their daughters.

And people care about that.

GLENN: I was talking to somebody who was doing a posts with somebody over in London.

Yesterday. And he was talking about this. And I said, you know, I -- I -- I'm not -- you know, I don't follow the news all the time.

You know, closely like I do in America.

About, you know, the United Kingdom. But what I'm seeing coming out of Ireland. And when you think about Ireland. You think of a very Catholic country.

You know, or a Protestant. A very Christian country.

ALLIE: Right.

GLENN: And they fought wars over their own Christianity.

It is almost completely gone now.

You have to go to the way, way outskirts. You know, the northern part of the island, to find that kind of community. The Irish have almost been completely wiped out.

There's very few churches left. They're all being converted into mosques. And, you know, okay. Well, it passes. Et cetera, et cetera.

But to not notice, and not say, wait a minute.

That is the erasing of an entire people and their culture. And that culture is very important to the West.

ALLIE: Right.

GLENN: Should we not care about that?

ALLIE: Right. Well, certainly progressives care about it, when it comes to, you know, non-British. Non-British countries. Or countries that are not America.

They call that colonialism. They call that imperialism.

But apparently, when Muslims do this, it's fine. But the problem was not for Islam. The problem was secularization. The lesson there is that secularism doesn't whole. Atheism -- agnosticism don't hold.

People are looking for meaning. And eventually, ideology in one religion will win.

And right now, Islam and a lot of countries is winning.

GLENN: Yeah. You know, you wrote a book on toxic empathy.

And I think it's a mistake on this one to say, it is empathy that we have gone down the road.

I think this is -- especially if you look in Minnesota.

They turned a blind eye to what's going on in -- in Minnesota.

And I -- I'll bet you in Michigan as well.

Because if you don't have the Muslim population on your side. You're not going to be elected governor.

You're not going to be mayor. So it's not empathy. It's all politics. Which makes it even more grotesque.

But when I see us turning a blind eye to it. We're now entering the time of suicide. And those who are in power, are the -- the doctors engaging in medical assisted suicide for their country.

They know what they're doing at this point. They're just choosing their power, and hold on to their power for as long as they can.

Do you think toxic empathy at this point is still playing a role in this Islamic, you know, hostile, political takeover?

ALLIE: Yeah, I absolutely do. Now, do I think that's the case for Tim Walz or any of these? You know, probably not.

It's probably power. It's fear, as you said.

But for the average person, especially for the woman. Especially for the person who has been told that loving your neighbor means just accepting all forms of people, no matter what their behavior is.

Then, yeah. I do think people are more scared of Islamophobia. Or being called an Islamophobe. When they see the Islamification of their neighborhood. In fact, I think that they think their virtue is tied to how much they like Halal.

And how much they accept the -- the building of mosques around their neighborhood.

And so I do think people feel so strongly, that being exclusive or intolerant, in any way, is a sign of being a bad person.

That they won't speak up.

Because the media social incentives for speaking up against Islam, or against policies. Or anything.

It just, it doesn't exist.

The social incentives in the immediate is to be as progressive as possible.

People respond to incentives. So I think that's a big part of what's going on.

GLENN: Love to hear your comments on Trump over the holiday.

Tweeted out, the official United States foreign population stands at 53 million people.

Most of which are on welfare. From failed nations or from prisons. Mental institutions. Gangs or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from patriotic American citizens who because of beautiful hearts do not want to openly complain or cause any trouble in any way, shape, or form. They have put up with what's been happening to our country. But it's eating them alive to do so.

Wow. That's not very empathetic, is it?

ALLIE: Right. That's exactly what he's talking about is toxic empathy. He's talking about our compassion as Americans being weaponized against us. The problem, I wouldn't have said it's a problem. But now it's becoming a problem. For conservatives, we're thinking individually.

We're thinking about our family. And we're thinking, okay. Whatever. Just take my taxes. Do what you have to do. I will keep my head down.

I will work hard. I will move further outside the city. I am going to homeschool.

All of this, and kind of be a recluse, as long as my family is safe. As long as I can make money. As long as things are okay here, then I'll be fine.

Well, progressives for the most part, don't think that way.

They think collectively. They are looking to build a coalition. We are just thinking about our family. And about our immediate future. In our local community.

And that's not really a fair fight, when you have someone who is thinking in the big sense of what we're thinking.

And so he's absolutely right. And that is one weakness that we Christians and conservatives have, even if we're right in thinking that way.

It's hurting us now, especially in ideology, in Islam, that means submission. They're looking to conquer. And conservatives in general, we just haven't been thinking that way.

GLENN: I was talking to Jack (inaudible) from the United Kingdom, and I said, how close are you guys to Civil War?

I mean, I see what's going on. And, you know, collapse. And it's bad.

And he said, I think it's beyond saving, except for God.

What came to mind was, yeah. I agree with that. Except, you've become a godless country. I mean, the Church of England just raised the Islamic flag over the Church of England last week.

What God is there?

He said that there was a resurgence of faith, which would be great.

But how do we fix this, Allie?

ALLIE: Gosh, I pray to the Lord, that that is true. That there is some kind of revival that we don't see. It's important to know that God works -- it's not always a headline. It doesn't always go viral.

It seems he's doing one thing. He's actually doing a million things in unseen and unsung words, such as faithful believers, that may not have radio shows, their podcasts, but they are doing God's word.

And so I pray to the Lord, that that is true. I can't imagine like a better signifier that you've been conquered than another ideology raising its flag over your territory. That is literally a sign that you have been conquered. But God. But God can do anything.

We can pray. He works through the prayer of believers.

He works through the obedience of believers. The boldness of evangelism of believers. We can't all change the world.

But we can be faithful with whatever spot of eternity God has providentially placed us in to make it for the glory of God.

To share the gospel. And to speak beauty and truth and goodness into whatever sphere we occupy. That is the responsibility of a Christian.

That is how God has moved mountains for over 2,000 years, and I think he will continue to.

GLENN: Allie Beth, thank you. God bless you.

ALLIE: Thank you very much.

GLENN: You bet.

RADIO

How a Recent Conversation at Mar-a-Lago moved Glenn Beck to His Core

A deeply emotional conversation at Mar-a-Lago left Glenn Beck shaken, echoing the same chilling feeling he first experienced years ago during a private discussion with Charlie Kirk — long before Charlie’s recent assassination. As Glenn recounts his talk with Dave Rubin about danger, spiritual warfare, and the future of America, he warns that we are entering a moment where good and evil are unmistakably visible. From the overwhelming sense of divine presence at Charlie’s funeral to the rising chaos Glenn believes is driven by darker forces, this time feels less like politics and more like history unfolding in real time. The question now is simple but urgent: in a world losing its mind, which side will you choose — truth and light, or confusion and darkness?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So yesterday, I -- I -- I posted this when I got home. A picture my wife took of Dave and I.

We were kind of backstage at Mar-a-Lago. And we sat there for probably half an hour. And had a really honest conversation about what's happening in the world.

What's coming our way. And, you know, some things that are just concerning to both of us.

And I'm not going to get into all the details. Because I don't have permission to tell you everything that Dave said. I did ask him last night, if I could share some of this with you.

You know, he is -- he is Jewish. He's gay. He's married.

And he has two adopted children.

I mean, what else could -- leper? What else box could you check that would make you less popular in what the world that we're seeing come our way?

And he's a reasonable guy. He's a really reasonable guy. And, you know, when we talked years ago, when he was adopted. He was on the show. And he was like, Glenn. I've got to tell you. I've changed so much.

I don't -- I don't know how to justify -- because I know that it's best to have kids with a mom and a dad. And I believe in that. And I -- you know, I just don't know what to say. He was a guy in conflict when it happened. He's not in conflict now. He loves his children. Loves his children. And they're in a very stable home.

He would tell you not the ideal home. Because that would be a mom and a dad. But a great home.

And he said, I am finding myself in a situation to where, I mean, I just don't know what's coming.

And we talked about it. And I shared with him some things that I thought were coming.

Exactly what I did and I didn't realize it, at the time, until I walked away.

Exactly the way I did with Charlie Kirk.

When Charlie came to me in 2018, 2019, and he said, you've always been ahead of the curve. What's coming next.

And I said, well, I mean, if you just study history, Charlie. There's really two things that are left. One, is assassinations. And the second is war. And he talked about Donald Trump and that -- that they would try to assassinate. And I said, yeah. Honestly, Charlie. I think you and me are on that list too.

I said, one of us could go down in this as well.

We'll be targets as well. And we stood there. And I've told this story a million times. We stood there on the balcony of this hotel.

And we just looked over the ocean for a while. And we were both quiet.

And I think he said, one of us said, I can't believe we're having this conversation, and the other one said, I know. It's like we're in a movie, right? It's not real.

And lo and behold, just a couple years after, a few years later, Charlie is assassinated. David and I were having a conversation, and I said, Dave, I hope I'm wrong. But this is the way things could shape up.

And we talked about it for a while. And just as I was getting ready to walk away, he said, I can't believe we're having this conversation.

It's like we're in a movie. And I said, yeah. I -- I know that feeling. And then I walked away.

And when I got to my wife's side, I said, I'm sorry, I'm just really freaked out because of what Dave said to me.

Because of the last time somebody said that to me was Charlie.

We are living in extraordinary times. Extraordinary times. And we are seeing for the first time, we're seeing good and evil.

We are! We're -- we're seeing -- and in ways we've never seen before. You know, when the assassin tried to kill Charlie, he thought, there would be an equal and opposite reaction to that act.

And it would be that people would either side with him. Or they would rise up and they would start killing, you know, the left. And we would -- we would go into that Civil War thing.

But that's not what happened. An opposite action happened, as a reaction.

But it was not equal.

It was so far beyond equal.

That it was -- that it was clearly divine.

1.5 million people around the world watched. I'm sorry. 1.5 billion people watched that Charlie Kirk funeral. And that Charlie Kirk funeral happened, and if you were there, I don't know if you could feel it while watching it. I -- I imagine you could. But I'm telling you in the room, I've never felt anything like it.

You could feel the spirit there. I mean, it was like God was there. And every time somebody got up and started speaking about politics, you could feel the spirit withdraw. And then they would start talking about, you know, universal principles.

And the spirit would come back to the room.
It was amazing. And I wasn't just the only one feeling it. I had people around me. Elon Musk was two rose behind me.

Everyone around me were talking about, are you all feeling that?

This is amazing.

That was God! Showing up.

So the unequal, but opposite reaction was God working a miracle.

The only way I can understand what's happening, in our world today, where we have gone insane.

We've gone insane.

People that I know have lost their minds. We can't -- suddenly, we can't have conversations about things that have been settled for a very long time.

And suddenly, you're -- you have to be an enemy. That's why, when I talk about these things, I don't want to single out anybody. Because I'm not going to make this personal. I'm not going to make this personal.

I want to make this about the facts. Because the minute we make this personal, then we're immediately enemies of one another. And I don't -- there's one enemy, and it's the author of chaos. And that's who I fight.

God shows up. Now, what's the equal and opposite reaction? Because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I really believe Satan showed up.

God shows up. We have this resurgence of faith, this explosion. And then Satan shows up.

And all of a sudden, we're talking about insane things. Like, all of a sudden, you know, Jews rule the world. And -- and I hate Israel. And, you know, it's insanity. Insane stuff that we've always known was insane.

We're watching for the first time. We're watching the big boys play.

And we are pawns.

You just have to -- you just have to make sure you're on the right side of the board.

You know, who -- who are you a tool?

Whose hand are you in?

You on the good side, or the dark side?

Because you have to make that decision right now. And the way to make that decision is just to remember what you've always known to be true.

What is true?

When you know those things and you stay anchored in those things, it's going to be okay.

But if it feels like we're living in a movie, in some ways, we are. It just hasn't been made yet. But believe me, there will be movies made about this time.

And about people that you may know. There will be movies made.

How that is portrayed in the end, I'm not sure. But I do know that every time in human history, every time this road has been traveled. There is a winning side.

And the other side destroys itself and its civilization.

So to me, it's pretty clear. But it's for each of us to find.

Just do it peacefully. Make no enemies. Make no enemies.

I remember one time, we were in the throes of just real attacks. On every front.

And I thought, my whole world was coming apart. And it didn't matter what I did. What I said. Where I was. It didn't matter. Just attack, attack, attack, attack.

And I asked the Lord in prayer, you know, help me.

Help me. How do I defeat these enemies?

And once in a while, once if had a great while, I'll feel like he -- that I almost hear him.

And I don't know how to describe it. It's -- it's like I hear the words. But not hear the words. You know, I just know what he's saying.

And sometimes, it's so clear. It's jaw-dropping. And I remember in prayer, and I'm talking about, how do I defeat these enemies, et cetera, et cetera?

And it was so clear. And what I heard was, firmly, stop. These are not enemies of yours. They are enemies of mine.

These are my rights.

And I will solve the problem with my enemies.

You do the right thing.

Okay.

So I don't want to make any more enemies.

Because they're not enemies of mine.

They're his -- his enemies.

Anybody who is standing against the rights of all men, anyone who is standing against the Bill of Rights, the idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator. They're not my enemy.

I mean, I view them that way. But they're ultimately his enemy.

I need to remain on his side. That's all I need to do. Remain on his side. And when he tells me to act and tells me what to do, I will do it. And so far, all I know, is make no more enemies.

Just speak the truth plainly. Clearly.

Just keep saying the truth. The things that you have always known that are universally true.

I'll take care of the rest.

WAKE UP: The Islamist Takeover of America Is HALFWAY Complete | Glenn TV | Ep 472

Islamism is advancing inside the U.S. through Minnesota’s massive welfare fraud tied to Al-Shabaab, Sharia-style tribunals in Texas, Muslim Brotherhood campus networks, and failed immigration vetting that led to a CIA-trained Afghan migrant killing a National Guardsman. Glenn Beck ties these stories to the Muslim Brotherhood's 100-year plan to conquer the West, which is reportedly halfway complete. Europe has already lived through this collapse. British writer and podcaster Peter McIlvenna joins to reveal the parallels between Britain and what he saw while visiting Texas, and he reacts to Gov. Greg Abbott and President Trump cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Glenn's Show Prep

The Twisted Logic the Federal Reserve Wants You to Believe

How Somalis in Minnesota are FUNNELING Tax Dollars to Terror Groups

Transcript

Silenced voices: The growing concern of Islamic influence in America

Transcript

How a Recent Conversation at Mar-a-Lago moved Glenn Beck to His Core

Transcript

WAKE UP: The Islamist Takeover of America Is HALFWAY Complete | Glenn TV | Ep 472