Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcast
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Investor Jim Rogers: Obama is "delusional"

February 13, 2013
Wilson

Writer

Jim Rogers is one of the most successful investors in American history, and now, thanks to America's not so "business friendly" policies, runs his operation in Singapore. This morning on radio, Jim joined to radio program to give Glenn his reactions to the plan for the economy Obama laid out in last night's SOTU address. Did Obama convince Rogers to relocate back to the U.S.?

Transcript of the interview is below:

GLENN: Well, welcome to Hour Number 3. You're about to hear some truth. If you ‑‑ if you don't want to hear the truth, you know, I don't know. Watch, you know, watch ‑‑ go turn on CNN. If you want the truth here on what you're about to enter and the truth about our economy, you're about to hear it from one of the smartest guys. Been around and successful for a very long time, Jim Rogers. He's the author of a new book called Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets. Paul Krugman says Jim Rogers makes my head hurt. So please, Jim, keep it up. The ‑‑

ROGERS: You know, one reason I did the book was so I could put that on the cover, I make Paul Krugman's head hurt. I wanted the world to know.

GLENN: I just love that. I love that. Okay.

ROGERS: Glenn, is this television? There I am.

GLENN: Yeah, that's television.

ROGERS: Let me put on my tie for God sakes.

GLENN: You don't need to wear a tie, Jim. No need to wear it.

ROGERS: I thought it was radio.

GLENN: It is radio. It is radio and television.

ROGERS: Okay. Go ahead. Carry on. I'm sorry.

GLENN: You don't need to wear a tie.

ROGERS: I know I don't. I'm trying to bring a little class to this group.

GLENN: It's impossible. So Jim, you're going to be on television with me tonight at 5:00 and we're going to kind of go over, you know, the ideas that really quite honestly the president and many in the GOP are just going right along with. And we just had Rand Paul on who, you know, he's ‑‑ he's got I think a plan that would actually, might work at this point. Are we past the point of no return?

ROGERS: Yes, because the debt is physically impossible to pay off. We are the largest debtor nation in the history of the world, in the history of the world. Not just the largest debtor nation in the world, but in world history. And if you take in the off‑balance sheet, Glenn, it's physically impossible to pay it off. If everybody paid 100% of their earnings as taxes, we still couldn't pay it off.

GLENN: I actually, I talked to some banker friends of mine who are, you know, strangely, you know, like, "You know, hey, what we can do," and they don't notice the slide that they are in, you know. I talked to them for ten years and they ‑‑ and it's always, "Well, that's not going to happen." "Yes, it is." "No, it's not going to happen. They would never do that. And they just keep sliding down. The last conversation I had with one of them is they said, "Glenn, it's not so bad. And listen to this. It's not so bad." How do you believe it's not so bad? We still have the national parks.

ROGERS: So we're going to sell the ‑‑

GLENN: Sell the national parks.

ROGERS: You know what we could do? Second sell Santa ‑‑ we could sell the North Pole, too. We could occupy the North Pole, sell the North Pole.

GLENN: It's crazy talk. It's crazy talk.

ROGERS: I know. It's insane.

GLENN: Okay. So wait a minute. So how does this, how does this go from here? What are the road signs that we should look at? And, you know, people like you, you know, you can get on your plane and you can go to Singapore. I can't go to Singapore. And most people can't go to Singapore. And quite honestly if America goes away, I don't know how lucky you are in Singapore. You know, who's policing anything in the world or providing stability except dictators?

ROGERS: Well, there are people in the world who don't think that America's doing a good job of policing the world right now.

GLENN: No. We suck at it. We suck at it.

ROGERS: If that's your idea, you've got problems.

GLENN: Right, right. But at least there is some stability. You know, there's still some question on who wins, who fails here, at least in the minds of the average person, the average bad guy. There's still some ‑‑ you know, I think they know we're at the edge and just a little push will push us over and then the world changes.

ROGERS: Of course the world changes. The world changed when the U.K. ‑‑ you know, after the first world war, the U.K. was the richest, most powerful country in the world. There was no Number 2. They were bankrupt three generations later. One generation there was economic chaos because it was corroded from within. We're on the same path. There's no way we can pay ‑‑ you know, Glenn, right now interest rates are 0%. In America, the Central Bank is destroying the people who save and invest. You know all the people you know who save their money, who didn't get six houses, who didn't have ‑‑ make no down payments on their property, et cetera, they are being destroyed now. That whole class of people who saved and invested and did things right.

GLENN: So Jim, what do they do? I mean, because you're talking to ‑‑ I mean, you're right now eight million people and they're listening, and out of that eight million people 1%, 2%, we probably have 5% of this audience is in a class where they can actually, you know, they can maneuver and they've got a lot of money. Most people are living right at the edge. What does the person do who has saved their whole life? You know, I just read something that said if you are a saver, you lose. So really the best thing to do is just pile up debt. I'm like, okay, that doesn't sound good either.

ROGERS: That's not good for a society. They are save ‑‑ what they are doing, they are bailing out the people who did it the wrong way. The people who did save, you're right, they are being destroyed. All of those people are getting zero on their earnings to bail away, Glenn, to bail out the people who did it wrong.

GLENN: So let's take my parents. My in‑laws just retired. He still has his small business. He's an insurance agent. They have saved their whole life. She's got pension, they have got 401(k). What are they supposed to do with it? What do they do?

ROGERS: Well, Mr. Obama last night said everything is great.

GLENN: They don't believe him and neither do I, neither do you.

ROGERS: Don't your in‑laws know what Mr. Obama said?

GLENN: I know.

ROGERS: He said that everything is great and the middle class is on the way back and everything is fine now. I mean, the man is delusional. I was really afraid when I saw that. The only reason I watched it, I wouldn't watch that stuff except I was coming here to be with you.

GLENN: Oh, I didn't watch it. So you ‑‑ thanks for watching it for me.

ROGERS: I don't watch it either. I don't waste my time.

GLENN: I know what he's going to say and I know what the response is going to be.

ROGERS: But it's delusional. It's frightening. I don't live in the U.S. anymore. It was fright ‑‑ I'm still a taxpayer. So I have to know something about what's going on. But he was totally ‑‑ I don't know if he believed it or if he was just lying.

GLENN: I don't really care at this point. I mean, he's either ‑‑ he's either the best liar or he is completely delusional. I don't know which it is, but it doesn't matter.

ROGERS: There's a whole crowd of good liars.

GLENN: Right.

ROGERS: Up there in Washington. So ‑‑

GLENN: Right. But again, let me go back to the question: What does the average person do to be able to survive, Jim?

ROGERS: Well, that's an extremely good question and everybody in America right now is, at least the people who saved for the future, are facing that question right now. The only thing I can urge them to do is, like your in‑law, in‑laws, put their money back into their own business. That's at least what they know. Don't go putting your money into some hot tips you hear from a guy on radio or TV. Certainly don't listen to the government telling you what to do. Just stay with what you know. These are very perilous times. The government is not on your side if you're saving and investing.

GLENN: Okay. So the idea, when you say invest in your business, I've tried to explain, and you'll probably be able to explain this better than I can. I've tried to explain that I think the stock market is going to continue to go up because it's meaningless, and it's paper. And the cheaper the money is, et cetera, et cetera, that paper will go up and up and up. And so you'll read this and say two things: One, we're getting better because look at the stock market. We have this delusion of that that means something. But as that money is going up in your 401(k) and you're seeing, well, I'm making more, the value of when you turn that paper in is going down. So yes, it might be worth $1,000, but your buying power, once you turn that money in, your buying power is maybe $800.

ROGERS: Glenn, everybody listening to this knows that prices are going up. Go to the grocery store. Education, entertainment, anything, price ‑‑ healthcare, oh, my gosh. Prices are going up. The government says they're not going up. But you make a very good point. You could say you have $20,000, but the $20,000 is worth less and less and less because they're debasing the currency. It's an active policy in Washington. The head of the Central Bank, head of the Federal Reserve in America is dedicated policy to debase the currency. This is not good for you, me, or anybody in America except for some ‑‑ a few people in Washington and a few people on Wall Street.

GLENN: I've been urging people to become as self‑reliant as they possibly can, to take care of their ‑‑ make sure that they understand how fragile the food, the supply lines are, to understand that farming is going to become extraordinarily important again, to know that any way you can get off the grid and not be dependent on power from somebody else is very important. Anything you can do to make yourself free, independent as possible.

ROGERS: Well, you are doing a good deed for many people if they listen to you because there are going to be many breakdowns like that. We're going to have serious food shortages, not just in America but in the world coming up. And by the way, as an aside, farming's going to be one of the great professions of the next 10, 20, 30 years. You should become a farmer.

GLENN: I am. I am.

ROGERS: You have?

GLENN: Oh, I am. I have a ‑‑ I have cattle and a farm out West and I have cattle here as well.

ROGERS: I will tell you I ‑‑ when I speak to universities and students, I tell them all they should be studying agriculture. They don't want to do it. They all want to get MBAs. But it's a terrible mistake. They should be studying agriculture.

GLENN: Nobody ‑‑ and you said this to me a couple of years ago and it really sat with me. I've thought about it. In fact, I quoted you just the other day in a group of friends, that farming, nobody is studying it. And nobody wants to do that job. And it's not just here. It's around the entire world. And so farming has become a lost art.

ROGERS: The average age of farmers in America is 58. In Japan it's 66. In Canada it's the oldest in recorded history. In Australia it's 58. In ten years those guys will be 68 if they're still alive. Somebody's got to go into the fields. More people in America study public relations than study agriculture. We don't have any farmers coming up.

GLENN: Even if you do study, you know, farming or whatever, I don't even know what they would call it now, but it becomes about environmental studies. It's not even about how to grow things. It's how to get man out of touching the Earth.

ROGERS: That's true too, but some of the courses, if you go down to Texas A&M, I'm sure they show you how to ‑‑

GLENN: No, no, Texas ‑‑ no, Texas A&M, they will ‑‑ you know, here in Texas they'll, you know, they'll teach you something.

ROGERS: I suspect at Auburn they teach you to plow. You know, and to plant and to fertilize. There are some schools left that teach you the proper thing but not many because there are only 10,000 students, 10,000 study agriculture, 200,000 get MBAs. That's the graduate degrees.

GLENN: So if you want ‑‑ if you were ‑‑ if you had a 15‑year‑old and they were planning their future, you would say to them what?

ROGERS: I would tell her to go into the fields and if she likes the fields or he likes the fields to become a farmer. Because that's going ‑‑ the farmers are going to be driving the Lamborghinis. The farmers are going to be rich. We don't have any farmers. What more do you need to know? There's no competition. You know, and stockbroking and finance, there are lots of competition. 200,000 MBAs every year, Glenn, every year. Nobody ‑‑

GLENN: What makes you believe that farmers would be able to keep their land? I mean, if things break down, this government ‑‑ I mean, you watched him last night. He's already saying, you know, you don't do the environmental study, I'm going to do it for you. I'll just, executive order. I mean, he's going around the Constitution. He's going around everything. So makes you think that farmers would be able to keep their land?

ROGERS: Well, it's certainly not the land of the free that it used to be, you know. There's no more habeas corpus. They don't have to have a search warrant anymore to go into your house or to your bank account or ‑‑

GLENN: It's crazy.

ROGERS: ‑‑ anything. I know, it's just startling.

GLENN: When did you see this coming, Jim?

ROGERS: Well, I've seen it coming. You've seen it coming for a while, I've seen it coming, but I'm stunned at how rapidly it's happened. I guess ‑‑

GLENN: Were you stunned by ‑‑ because you're watching it from (loss of audio) you know, maybe I'll get away because I'll be driving the Lamborghini along with the farmers.

4 signs that PROVE Americans are hitting rock bottom

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

As we approach the presidential election in November, many Americans are facing dire economic straits.

Glenn has shown time and time again that Bidenomics is a sham, and more Americans than ever are suffering as a result. Still, Biden and his cronies continue to insist that the economy is booming despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. But who is Biden fooling? Since the beginning of the year, gas has gone up an average of 40 cents a gallon nationwide, with some states seeing as much as a 60-cent per gallon increase. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise, evictions are surging, and America is experiencing a record amount of homelessness. We can't survive another Biden term.

Americans across the country are hitting rock bottom, and here are four stats that PROVE it:

Evictions

John Moore / Staff | Getty Images

Across the country, people are being evicted from their homes and apartments. Between 2021 and 2023, evictions increased by 78.6 percent. With inflation driving up prices and employers struggling to raise wages to compensate, rent is taking up an increasingly larger percentage of people's paychecks. Many Americans are having to choose between buying groceries and paying rent.

Foreclosures

Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

Renters aren't the only ones struggling to make their monthly payments, foreclosures are on the rise. This February saw a 5 percent increase in foreclosures from last year and a 10 percent increase from January. More and more Americans are losing their homes and businesses.

Bankruptcies

Chris Hondros / Staff | Getty Images

High interest rates and inflation have driven bankruptcies through the roof. Total filings have risen 13 percent and business bankruptcies rose 30 percent in 2023. It's getting harder and harder for businesses to stay afloat, and with California's new law requiring most restaurants to pay all employees a minimum of $20 an hour, you can expect that number to keep climbing.

Homelessness

FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor | Getty Images

The result of all of these issues is that it is getting harder and harder for Americans to afford the basic necessities. January of 2023 saw a record-breaking 650,000+ homeless Americans, a 12 percent jump from the previous year. More Americans have hit rock bottom than ever before.

Stop blaming Gen Z for the problems WE created

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

I want to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

You’ve grown up with social media and the definition of narcissism: somebody gazing into the pond looking at themselves all the time. I don't mean this as an offense, and I am not just including you in this. We’ve become a culture of narcissists. It’s all about “me, me, me, me.”

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You’ve been in territory that my generation never had to enter. You’ve already navigated a landscape that we didn't have to, where nothing is true, and you can’t trust anybody. I wouldn’t trust anybody either if I were in your position. But I do know a few things to be true and a couple of things I can trust.

First, life is worth it. Life is tough, but it is worth it in the end.

Second, life is not about stuff. As a guy who is kind of a pack rat, I can tell you that none of that stuff will create happiness in your life. In fact, I think your generation has a better handle on happiness in some ways than anybody in mine. You’re starting to realize that pharmaceuticals may not be as good as natural solutions in a lot of situations, that the huge house may not be as satisfying as just having a smaller house, that living your life instead of having to work all the time may be a better way to live.

I want to talk to those of you who feel like it’s not worth even trying to go to work because you’ll never get anywhere. You work 40 hours a week or more, and you still can't afford a place to live. You’re still living with your parents. You can’t afford food. I think you're right to feel frustrated because the problems you're facing weren't always the case.

I blame a lot of the current problems we’re facing today on the hippies. That may be wrong, but I hate hippies. Hippies have been screwing things up since the 1960s. While on their socialist march, they have become everything that they said they were against: lying, greedy politicians. They just won’t let go of their power even though their time has passed.

These are the people who have come up with policies that make you feel like this is the way the world is. I hope I can convince you that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the way our country has always been. We don’t have to keep these people in power. Actions have consequences. Votes have consequences. These people allow crime, looters, squatters, riots, and somebody needs to pay for that.

You say you can’t afford health care. I understand. Since Obamacare passed, the cost of individual health insurance has doubled. You need to remember that politicians promised that if we passed this massive health care overhaul, it would mean a savings of $2,500 per family. You're in school. You must know that $2,500 savings is not the same as an 80% increase. Moreover, the cost of hospital stays is up 210%. I understand when you say you can't afford health care at these costs. Who could afford health care? Who could afford insurance?

The generation coming of age is right to feel frustrated.This mess — with high costs and a massive debt burden — was not of their making.

Iwant to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

You’ve grown up with social media and the definition of narcissism: somebody gazing into the pond looking at themselves all the time. I don't mean this as an offense, and I am not just including you in this. We’ve become a culture of narcissists. It’s all about “me, me, me, me.”

You’ve been in territory that my generation never had to enter. You’ve already navigated a landscape that we didn't have to, where nothing is true, and you can’t trust anybody. I wouldn’t trust anybody either if I were in your position. But I do know a few things to be true and a couple of things I can trust.

First, life is worth it. ≈

Second, life is not about stuff. As a guy who is kind of a pack rat, I can tell you that none of that stuff will create happiness in your life. In fact, I think your generation has a better handle on happiness in some ways than anybody in mine. You’re starting to realize that pharmaceuticals may not be as good as natural solutions in a lot of situations, that the huge house may not be as satisfying as just having a smaller house, that living your life instead of having to work all the time may be a better way to live.

I want to talk to those of you who feel like it’s not worth even trying to go to work because you’ll never get anywhere. You work 40 hours a week or more, and you still can't afford a place to live. You’re still living with your parents. You can’t afford food. I think you're right to feel frustrated because the problems you're facing weren't always the case.

I blame a lot of the current problems we’re facing today on the hippies. That may be wrong, but I hate hippies. Hippies have been screwing things up since the 1960s. While on their socialist march, they have become everything that they said they were against: lying, greedy politicians. ≈

These are the people who have come up with policies that make you feel like this is the way the world is. I hope I can convince you that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the way our country has always been. We don’t have to keep these people in power. Actions have consequences. Votes have consequences. These people allow crime, looters, squatters, riots, and somebody needs to pay for that.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You say you can’t afford health care. I understand. Since Obamacare passed, the cost of individual health insurance has doubled. You need to remember that politicians promised that if we passed this massive health care overhaul, it would mean a savings of $2,500 per family. You're in school. You must know that $2,500 savings is not the same as an 80% increase. Moreover, the cost of hospital stays is up 210%. I understand when you say you can't afford health care at these costs. Who could afford health care? Who could afford insurance?

You are also starting your life with thousands of dollars in debt. Your parents didn't have that burden. People used to be able to work their way through college and graduate debt-free. Others were able to get jobs that quickly paid off their debt. You can't do that now. Once the government said that they were going to guarantee all student loans, university costs skyrocketed, and it hasn't stopped. You can thank the progressive President Lyndon B. Johnson for that.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed.

You are also starting your life with thousands of dollars in debt. Your parents didn't have that burden. People used to be able to work their way through college and graduate debt-free. Others were able to get jobs that quickly paid off their debt. You can't do that now. Once the government said that they were going to guarantee all student loans, university costs skyrocketed, and it hasn't stopped. You can thank the progressive President Lyndon B. Johnson for that.

Once the government said that they were going to guarantee everybody’s college tuition, universities found out that they could just charge more because the government would give you virtually any amount in your loan. And they have been charging more and more ever since. In 1965, the average college tuition was $450 a year. Adjusted to inflation, that's $4,000 a year. You're currently paying an average of $26,000 a year as opposed to the inflation-adjusted $4,000.

What happened? The answer is always the same: government regulations. Gas is up. Why? Government regulations. Can't afford a house? Well, that's due to several things. Many of them revolve around the fed and our national debt. But the simple answer is the same: government regulations.

Moreover, the U.S. government has run a staggering national debt. We have been concerned about it forever, but the people in power haven't been listening to your mom and dad and people like me. A lot of other people just thought, "Oh, well. We could get away with it. We're the United States of America, after all. Somehow or another, it will all work out."

People like me have been saying, "No. We can't pass this on to our children." You're now seeing what we have passed on. When you say that the adults are responsible for creating this world of problems, in some ways, you’re right. We were lied to, and as many people do, they want to believe the lie because it makes them feel better.

There are big lies being pushed in your generation as well. You're being told that a man is a woman and a woman is a man. At the same time, you’re being told that gender doesn't even exist at all. It makes us feel better to go along with the lie because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

My generation believed the same kind of lie about our national debt. We were told that we could spend all this money on subsidized programs because it would provide you, our children, with a better life. Some people warned, "Wait, how will they pay this off? This will cost them." We didn't want to believe them. The lie sounded better, and it was easier to believe that than the truth. We never saw the consequences, and even if we did, they were always way out in the future. Nobody wanted to listen to the doomsday people saying, "No. It's going to come faster than you think."

And that time is right now. Our government now is printing $1 trillion every 100 days. That's never been done before. We have more debt than any country has ever had in the history of the world. But we’re not alone. Every country is doing this. They’re going into debt like we’ve never seen before, and we’re all about to pay for that. It’s going to make your life even harder.

There are Democrats and Republicans who still believe in spending all kinds of money and getting us involved in every global conflict. Then there are constitutional conservatives who believe that we should conserve the things that have worked and throw out the things that don’t and follow our Constitution and Bill of Rights. You haven't really learned about those most likely. But you should. All of our problems are caused by the government and the people who feel they can bypass the Constitution. That's what this election is really all about.

You might say, “I don’t really care. I don’t like either of the political parties.” I know a lot of people who don’t like either of them, but one is going to try to cut the size of this government and one is going to spend us into collapse.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed. You need to learn enough about the truth, about why this has happened to us, and about how our Constitution lasted longer than any other Constitution in the world. The average is 17 years. This thing has lasted hundreds of years. Why? How? And why is it falling apart today? That's what you should dedicate some of your time to figuring out today.

You can complain about the way things are. I complain. Everybody complains. But don't wallow there. Learn what caused this. And if you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework. They always end the same way, and that's exactly where we're headed right now. We can either repeat the dreadful past of nations that have tried it before us, or we can choose freedom, liberty, and prosperity. The ball is in our court.

Government's SECRET crackdown on preppers threatens YOUR right to grow food

Glenn recently had Representative Thomas Massie on his show to sound the alarm about an important yet often overlooked issue affecting what we eat. Whether you're trying to be prepared to weather a catastrophe or just trying to keep food on the table without resorting to eating bugs, it's more important now than ever to source local food. Unnoticed by most, our right to eat home-grown or locally-sourced foods is under attack. The government doesn't just want a say in what you eat; they want you vulnerable and dependent on their system, and they are massively overstepping their bounds to ensure your compliance with their goals.

How did the attack on your food begin?

Government overreach on food can be traced back to 1938 under the autocratic eye of FDR with the Supreme Court case "Wickard v. Filburn." The case was pretty straightforward, but the results were devastating. The case began with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which sought to control national food prices by placing limitations on how many crops farmers could grow in a season.

Filburn was one such farmer, who was allotted 11.1 acres of wheat to plant and harvest annually. Filburn planted and harvested 23 acres, arguing that the extra acres were not headed for the market, but were used for personal consumption. After being penalized for over-harvesting, he fought his case all the way up to the Supreme Court, arguing that Congress did not have the authority to regulate crops that never left his farm.

Unfortunately for Filburn (and the rest of us), the Supreme Court didn't agree. They ruled that the mere existence of that extra wheat—whether it left Filburn's farm or not—had an effect on the national value of wheat. Congress assumed the power to regulate just about anything that could be roped under the umbrella of "interstate commerce."

Under the precedent set by Wickard v. Filburn, Congress might bar you from growing tomatoes in your backyard, because it could affect national tomato prices. This was a major blow to our right to feed ourselves, and that right has been eroding ever since.

How is our right to feed ourselves under attack today?

Last June, the Virginia Department of Agriculture shut down Golden Valley Farms, a small Amish farm owned and operated by Samuel B. Fisher in Farmville, Virginia. Golden Valley Farms had started out selling dairy products, primarily, and processed some meat for personal consumption. However, by popular demand, Fisher began selling meat.

Fisher initially hauled his animals to a USDA processing plant, paid to have them processed, and then hauled them back. This process was time-consuming and costly, and Fisher's customers didn't want the meat processed by the plant. A survey done on Golden Valley Farms customers found that an overwhelming 92 percent preferred meat processed by Fisher. So naturally, Fisher began to process more and more meat for his customers.

Moreover, COVID shut down the USDA plant, which made it impossible for Fisher to process the animals by the USDA anyway, though the demand for meat was greater than ever. Fisher made the call to process 100 percent of his animals himself and didn't look back. That was until June when the Virginia Department of Agriculture caught wind of Fisher's operation and shut it down. The VDA seized all of Fisher's products, and he wasn't allowed to process, sell, or even eat his meat. Then they loaded it up in a truck and left it at the dump to rot.

Nobody ever got sick from eating meat from Golden Valley Farms. This was NOT about "health and safety." This was about control. The fact is that informed adults were not allowed to make a simple transaction without the government sticking its slimy fingers into Fisher's business and claiming it was somehow for "our benefit." But it's not for "our benefit." It's so they can regulate and control what we buy and what we eat, and they cannot stand it when we operate outside of their influence.

What comes next?

Where does this end? With so much of our ability to feed ourselves already eroded, is it too late? Is it going to get worse? Before long, will it be illegal to eat eggs from your chickens or pick vegetables from your garden without getting government clearance first? Fortunately, a solution is already in the works.

Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie recently told Glenn about a new constitutional amendment designed to limit government overreach regarding food production. The proposed amendment reads as follows:

And Congress shall make no law, regulating the production and distribution of food products, which do not move across state lines.

The amendment is still on the drawing board and has not been formally introduced to Congress yet. But this is where you come in. Call your representative and tell them to support Massie's amendment and take a stand for your right to provide sustenance for you and your family.

If we can build skyscrapers, we can rebuild bridges

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

I am sick and tired of hearing about our limitations. The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge this week is an amazing hero story of the cops and first responders who saved an untold number of lives by doing exactly the right thing quickly. But I’m really tired of hearing about how long it’s going to take us to recover from this catastrophe and how bad it’s going to be.


The immediate impact for Americans regarding this bridge collapse seems dire. If you're waiting for a new car to come in from overseas, prepare to wait longer. The Port of Baltimore stands as the nation’s leading import-export site for cars and trucks. It’s also the leading nexus for sugar and gypsum, which is used in fertilizer, drywall, and plaster. A record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo was transported through Baltimore just last year.

To expect more from our leaders is rational. But to expect the most from ourselves is essential.

The bustling port is now cut off after the 1.6-mile-long bridge crumbled and fell into the river early Tuesday, blocking the only shipping lane into the port.

The officials have said the timeline for rebuilding the bridge will be years. The Port of Baltimore creates more than 15,300 jobs, with another 140,000 jobs linked to the activity at the port. This is a major disaster and will continue to cause significant problems on the East Coast for U.S. importers and exporters.

The bridge collapse means it will not be possible to get to the container terminals or a range of the other port terminals in Baltimore. Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paul J. Wiedefeld told reporters on Tuesday that vessel traffic in the port would be suspended until further notice but noted the port is still open to trucks.

Michael Mezzacappa, an attorney and expert on property damage cases in the shipping industry, told the New York Post that the collapse will have a major impact on shipping and traffic routes in the East Coast for the foreseeable future. “It’s not going to get fixed any time soon,” Mezzacappa said. “It’s going to take a lot longer than anyone expects. This is going to be a major problem for the Northeast.”

Remember the American spirit

I am absolutely sick to death of all of these stories that say things like that. Have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten what we’ve done?

Let me remind you of the American spirit, a spirit so potent and so vibrant that it has scaled towering mountains, mountains nobody thought they could cross.

It’s the spirit that constructed marvels of engineering. Have you ever been to the Hoover Dam? Have you seen the New York City skyline? The skyscraper was invented here for a reason. Here we are on the threshold of tomorrow, and none of us knows what is going to happen. But I'm getting the impression that we’ve been so beaten down that we believe we’re not going to make it tomorrow.

Have we forgotten who our ancestors are and what they did? If you look through our history even briefly, you will see a group of people who never take no for an answer. You will see a people who can do anything.


I want to stop just briefly in 1930. The Great Depression had its icy grip on us. It was a time that felt like a flickering candle in the vast darkness just barely holding on. Yet, it was in this crucible of adversity that Americans did great things.

The Empire State Building rose. It wasn’t just a structure of steel and stone. It was a beacon, a beacon of hope and American resilience and ingenuity. The way that thing was built — no one has ever seen anything like it before and since. In a record-shattering one year and 45 days, an army of workers, as many as 3,400 men on certain days, transformed this audacious vision into a cowering reality.

If you look through our history even briefly, you will see a group of people who never take no for an answer.

The Empire State Building wasn’t constructed. It was conjured into existence with a symphony of clanging metal and roaring machines and the inexhaustible spirit of its builders. The men perched on steel girders that were being flown in by giant cranes whispered tales about how they could still feel the warmth of the freshly poured metal beneath them. That beam was still warm, even though it was poured in Pittsburgh, put on a train, then put on a boat, then on a truck, then hauled up into the air.

They could fill the warmth because we moved that fast. It was a feverish pace of construction. It seemed to defy the laws of time and physics.

For a long time, it was the tallest building in the world — an architectural achievement. It was also a declaration to the world that America was a land where the impossible became possible, that we are a people of determination, innovation, with a relentless will to succeed.

These aren't merely historical footnotes. They are blazing torches illuminating our path forward. They remind us that when we're faced with adversity, we don't just endure it. We overcome it. We don’t wait for history to chart our course. We write it with the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs. That’s who we are. Have we forgotten that?

What are we waiting for?

We find ourselves at another crossroads faced with the challenges that threaten to dim the bright future that we all dream for our nation, for our children. The spirit that built the Empire State Building, laid down miles of railroads, cut through the Rocky Mountains, and sent astronauts to the moon is still inside of every heart of every American, somewhere.

Awaken that spirit. Scale new mountains. It's not just rock and earth. Scale the mountains of innovation. Build. Not just physical structures but a future that upholds the spirit of adventure, hard work, and ingenuity. Stop tearing everything down. Let's start building.

Why are we waiting? If this isn't a national emergency, I don't know what it is.

And I don't just mean the bridge. I mean all of it. You might say, “Well, our government has to lead.” Really? Does it? Maybe that’s our problem. America is led by its values and principles that are found in the souls of those who still remember who we are and who we serve. Americans lead the way. The government always follows.

You might say again, "Well, we can’t act without the government." Nonsense! Where are the bridge builders who will stand up today and say, “I'll get it done!” As soon as that happens, you’ll see who is leading and who is stalling. The government is the one that stalls the engine out. To expect more from our leaders is rational. But to expect the most from ourselves is essential.

There is nothing we can't achieve when we all stand together, united by our dreams, and driven by the will to see them fulfilled. Don't listen to anybody else who tells you differently.