BLOGMay 19, 2017

Bill O'Reilly: One Thing Separated Roger Ailes From Other Media Executives

Bill O'Reilly, former host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, was one of the first people Roger Ailes hired at the fledgling network. He joined Glenn's radio program on Friday to share his thoughts about his former boss. Ailes passed away on Thursday at the age of 77.

Additionally, O'Reilly shared details about his recent opinion piece for USA Today, in which he said the following about the iconic news executive:

To say that Roger Ailes led a full life is a massive understatement. A force of nature with an agenda, RA, as fellow executives called him, was a man on a mission.

Both Glenn and O'Reilly gave perspectives on their former boss, with O'Reilly detailing, in his opinion, the one characteristic that set Ailes apart from other news executives.

Enjoy this complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: This is going to be a fascinating hour. We are so fortunate to have joining us on Fridays Mr. Bill O'Reilly. One of the steady voices of reason for two decades on Fox News. And was one of the first hires at Fox News from Roger Ailes, who passed away yesterday. We're going to talk to him about Roger Ailes, James Comey, the president, the world at large, and have him try to help make some sense out of this week in review. We begin there with Bill O'Reilly right now.

Mr. Bill O'Reilly, how are you, sir.

BILL: Good. Thanks for having me back. I appreciate it.

GLENN: You are so warm and friendly and personable, I don't know if you catch that every time. But I can feel the --

PAT: It oozes out of the phone.

GLENN: You say very little to me. Just at that opening, you feel he loves me and loves being here.

BILL: Well, I rehearsed that all morning. Did I do okay?

GLENN: Oh, yeah. It sounded so sincere.

PAT: The depth and the warmth.

GLENN: Anyway, Bill, I thought of you a lot yesterday.

PAT: Are we in a wind tunnel.

GLENN: Or an oxygen tent? What the hell is happening? What the hell is happening?

BILL: I am outside. Can you hear me clearly?

GLENN: Oh, god. We're going to do a professional radio program.

BILL: I understand, but I'm a child of nature.

GLENN: Yeah, I know. You're, again, I feel that exuding from you.

So yesterday I thought of you, Bill, because of Roger Ailes, and you probably knew him better than anybody at Fox. And he didn't reveal all sides of himself to everyone. He's one of the most complex men I have ever met. He is in some ways an icon to me, an idol to me in some ways. And honestly, personally, one of the biggest disappointments in my life at the same time, and I have a -- it's weird. I've never liked someone as much as I like Roger Ailes and then despised some of the things that he did at the same time.

BILL: Well, I can't speak to your situation because for two reasons, number one, you're my friend. And number two, he was my friend.

GLENN: Right.

BILL: And I as you know didn't get involved in that when you were at Fox News, only to the extent that I told him quite clearly that you were very beneficial to the network, and then I -- you and I partnered up to do a tour together.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: So he knew that I was in your corner. So I don't know any more than that. And when you left, I obviously was disappointed because I didn't think it was good for the network at all. But, you know, you're you, and he was him.

GLENN: Yeah, I'm not even talking about that, Bill. I just -- you know that Roger when he wanted to be, would be ruthless. And I don't want to get into all the charges back and forth of what happened to other people because that's going to happen in court or, you know, none of us were there for that, so I don't even want to talk about that. I mean if Roger wanted to protect you or somebody else, you knew he would. He would be loyal, loyal, loyal.

BILL: Yes.

GLENN: But there was also the side of him that when he wanted his way, he could be the most ruthless man ever.

BILL: Well, I don't know about that, but he was certainly a businessman who operated in a world where what was good for him was going to happen. And so if you were going up against what was good for him, then there would be a conflict. And I understand that. And I had to deal with that too.

GLENN: I know.

BILL: That thing about Ailes. But you and I both know, and this is important, and I want people to read the USA today op-ed that I wrote about you and I both know that what television and radio is all about. It's about one thing. Money. And if you get in the way of money, you're going to get hammered, and you're going to die. If you can make them money, you'll prosper.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: That's what it's all about. So Ailes that was his basic business plan. I'm going to be successful. I'm going to crush the opposition. Not just beat them. I'm going to crush them. Okay? Because there were very, very strong psychological reasons why he hated the establishment, he felt that they were arrogant, and they were never fair to him and all of that.

But the one thing that separated him and everybody should know this, even if they don't have any motion invested in Fox News or Roger Ailes is that if you got into trouble, if he thought you were a loyal person, he would do anything to help you. And that is very different from most of the executives that work in radio.

GLENN: Very true. Very true.

Bill, what was it like at the beginning of Fox News? When you were there, I mean, you were one of the first hires, and he came to you, and you said in your USA today article today, your op-ed piece to him, you know, do you want to see a treatment of what I want to do? And he said, no, just tell the truth, take no prisoners, don't make any, you know -- no sacred cows, and don't screw it up.

BILL: Yeah, well, he knew me from "Inside Edition" where I had anchored that program for six years and made it a success after David Frost got fired after three weeks on the air. And Ailes is a business man, so he knew me. He knew that I turned a program around. He knew that I could do it. But I was surprised that -- because I had heard, well, he's this ideological guy and, you know, he wants it his way, and I was surprised he never told me, hey, I want you to do this or hammer this guy or be friendly to that guy. Never. He just wanted me to go and do it, and that's why we were successful.

GLENN: Roger Ailes is gone. He left Fox News. They started changing Fox News, obviously you are no longer with Fox News. I remember somebody said to me when I was there, so who's going to replace Roger Ailes? And I said I don't think anybody can replace Roger Ailes. But they certainly weren't grooming anybody. Bill Shine was probably the closest that could begin to think like Roger. But he never in his mind, I think left the roots that he had in Ohio. He could still think like somebody in the center of the country, which is nobody in New York City at an executive level is doing.

We've seen this --

BILL: No doubt.

GLENN: Go ahead. Comment on that.

BILL: Yeah, look, Roger was a child. He was one of the first baby boomers. Okay? He was a little bit before that, born in 1940. But he had that mentality. And his father was a tough guy and, you know, Roger was a working class, and he was a human philiac, so as a child, he had tough health issues, and he was a small guy, so I think he was a victim of bullying. He took all of that, and he said you know what? I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you, and I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan or if you're the head of GE, I'm going to show you. And I'm going to show you how it's done because I have a link, just as you have and I have with regular Americans, working Americans. I have that link. And that's what made him successful.

GLENN: You think that's what he saw in you? Because I think that's --

BILL: Oh, there's no doubt about it. No doubt about it. You know, he could have had all the stones and forests and, you know, all of these network people who were named after inanimate objects, he could have had them. He could have done that. He could have had pocket Hankies all over the place. British accents, Peter Jennings, clones. He could have done all of it. But he wanted regular people. So he hires Hannity. He hires a bunch of tough Irish guys who we knew would be brawlers. He hired you, and he put together the staff that he knew blue-collar people would identify with.

So, you know, he was a genius. But what he did wasn't genius, it was just out of the mainstream. And that's why Fox News became a $2.5 billion a year grossing bank. I mean, can you imagine that much money? And that's what happened.

GLENN: He was a genius. And what he did, I think, was genius. It was just out of the -- it was just actually in the mainstream but not the mainstream of media. You know as well as I know, Bill, that you could be confused by one of the most complex issues of health care and the bills and everything else. You would see Roger Ailes for two minutes, and he would boil it down off the top of his head in two lines, and you would go "That's freaking genius. I've never -- that's brilliant."

He could just --

BILL: Yeah, that came from his political background. He told me a story one time about Ronald Reagan, and I have this in my book. I have this exact story in the book. And Reagan was lost when he was running second time around, and he got hammered the first debate. So they brought Ailes in the second debate because the poll numbers are going down for Reagan, Reagan looked discombobulated, so here comes Ailes walking in. Okay? And he didn't know Reagan that well. And he sat Reagan down and looked him in the eye and said going to lose. The whole thing is going to blow up unless you start to wise up. And then Reagan was startled because who talked to Ronald Reagan that way when he was President of the United States? Nobody but, you know, you could see Ailes doing it. And then Ailes said here's what you're going to do. We're going to have three or four themes that we're going to -- that you're going to have to emphasize, and I'm going to give you two strike lines that when we know he's going to say certain things, you're going to go back at him. And one of them was I'm going to hold my opponent's age and inexperience against him. You remember that.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: So Ailes was a political guy, political consultant, and he basically brought that over to TV. And he didn't want pinheads on the air with, oh, well, I think we have to go back and look at the amendment. That gets you fired faster than anything. So his formula worked. Works to this day. They're still doing Roger Ailes on Fox News. The personnel has changed, so they're having a hard time. But they're still doing what he put into place.

GLENN: You know, you said that he didn't hire rocket science people. But I don't know if I've ever told you about my interview with him. The first time that I had met him, two or three times, and he had just said "Let's have a casual dinner. I just want to know you.

And then he said I would like to talk to you about joining Fox, and we had dinner together in some private room at a steakhouse in New York.

And the first question he asked me was "What did you think about the 1972 China trade deal?"

And I said "Roger, I've got to be honest. I don't know."

And then the next question was "What was the biggest accomplishment of the Eisenhower administration?"

And I looked at him and I said Roger, I have two ways to go here. I could either bluff and kind of make something up, or I could tell you the truth. I'm not up on that one either. And possibly end the interview right here, but I'm going to bank on not bluffing with you. I don't know.

He said really? And then he said nothing to me for ten long minutes as we ate.

BILL: Really? You ate your salads, huh?

GLENN: But he got up. Neither of us had salad. And we got up afterwards, and then he pushed me to the wall. Pushed me to the wall. I mean questioned my faith. Got in my face so much. And then I thought this is over. I lost 15 pounds of sweat, and I thought this is over. I'm never going to work at Fox. He stood up at the end and he said it is great to meet a man who actually knows what he knows, isn't afraid to say it, and isn't afraid to say what he doesn't know. Good for you.

And that was the end of the interview. It was a nightmare. A nightmare. He was wicked smart and knew exactly what he was looking for.

BILL: Yeah, and he carried that over, and that bluntness got him in trouble, as I wrote in the op-ed. You know, there's two ways to take it. The way you took it, and the way that some other people that hated him. And they --

GLENN: But, you know, there's a lot of people -- because I watched you closely because you have a reputation of being a hothead, and I never saw that. And I saw -- what I did see was Bill O'Reilly expects you to do your job and to do it with excellence because he's doing his job with excellence and not phoning it in. And if he doesn't screw it up, you don't screw it up. So the only time I saw people have a problem with you is when they were bluffing. And it was the same with Roger Ailes and the same with me. Don't bluff. Don't do it.

BILL: If you're going to run a successful enterprise in a ultra hypercompetitive situation, you have to demand excellence. You have to. It's like the military. If you're going to be one of the elite troops -- I mean, you can't allow people to slough off or give you 75 percent effort. So, you know -- but a lot of people don't like that and a lot of people don't want to be challenged and a lot of people don't want to be criticized. So therefore, Ailes made enemies after enemies after enemies plus conservative ideology alienated the press right off the jump, and they were out to get him. I mean, if you look at the clip file from the time Fox News started in 1996 to this very day, the negative Fox News articles run 100 to one.

GLENN: All right. Bill O'Reilly at BillOreilly.com. We're going to continue our conversation. I want to ask him when we come back if -- MSNBC is beating Fox News for a week after Bill O'Reilly leaves. Does Fox News survive without Roger Ailes? Without Bill O'Reilly and others in possibly a new direction? We get that. Also, I want to talk about Trump, the week's he's had, Comey, and you can hear him every day on his podcast at BillOreilly.com.

[break]

GLENN: Bill, I've got about two minutes here, and I want to switch and go onto something about Trump. Something stunning happened that has never happened before. You leave cable news and Rachel Maddow is now number one person on cable news. And MSNBC won cable news for the week. What does that say about -- what's happening? I know you watch the ratings. Is this beginnings of fox actually having to really work hard to hold its place?

BILL: They have a problem. Fox News has a problem. There's no doubt about it. Whenever you lose key personnel in any industry, competitive industry, sports media, you better have a plan. And it doesn't look like FNC has a plan.

The Trump haters are going over to MSNBC and there's a lot of them. A lot of haters. So they're being bolstered by the problems the president is having. But by the Fox News side, you know, they made their decisions, they didn't have to make those decisions, and they didn't have a plan. You know, when you take a guy like me out of the line up, and I'm doing five, six million viewers a night, you better have a plan to replace that. Tucker Carlson is very talented. He's very good. But I don't see a plan.

RADIO

The Right WON’T WIN Unless it Does THIS

Recently, “America’s Cultural Revolution” author Christopher Rufo warned that “the Right faces an inflection point.” Instead of focusing on actually changing policies and culture, he argued, some on the Right have leaned into “conspiracy theories that lead nowhere.” Some of these, especially related to Israel, have caused massive debates. But how should we approach this divide? And what’s causing it? Christopher and Glenn make the case that the answer is self-discipline, NOT censorship, and providing better content than just “cheap attention” tweets. In order to win against the progressive elites, conservatives must get their own house in order first.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Last week, I saw Christopher Rufo, who I greatly admire.

Write and talk about something we don't need to talk about. But in that, he said, the right faces an reflection point. There are serious people, who are trying to advance a serious political movement, with a vision for governing.

There are also unserious people, who are willing to sell conspiracy. Leading us nowhere.

I care about politics, because I believe we have substantive work to do for the country. This requires putting together a coalition that is capable of taking responsibility. The choice is ours.

I responded to that. And people -- and I'm hoping Christopher didn't. But people thought that I was coming after Christopher and I, but I wasn't.

I was really frustrated with, he's right. But what does a serious option look like?

I said, I have great respect for Christopher Rufo. He has done more to expose the rot than many of us combined. But, Chris, the only option that I see that is viable is a return to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. All of our problems stem from the violation of these documents. Congress doesn't care.

Nor does it even attempt to do its job. Every administration is worse than the last. At this point, it is all powerful.

Supreme Court has trouble defining a woman. May God help us, with them defining any of the Amendments. Our Justice Department, Intel, and every agency has been co-opted by radicals. Those who believe in a constitutional republic are not the radicals. There is another option.

Return to e pluribus unum. The Bill of Rights and Constitution.

So I wanted to get Christopher on. Because I heard from so many people, that we were warring. And, Christopher, I'm sorry, if I've let anybody, to think I would stand against you.

Because I have some admiration for you.

CHRIS: Of course not. I didn't take any offense to it.

I found we were actually in agreement. I'm glad we have a chance to talk in greater depth.

I think you translation canned the problem there perfectly. But the question I'm raising is, how do we get there?

What kind of coalition do we need?

What kind of intellectual leadership, do we need? And then what kind of political leadership do we need?

And what I noticed on the right, especially on the horrific I can attacks against Jews in Israel, is that there's been a fragmentation.

And there's people chasing conspiracy theories. There's a rise. Kind of resurge answer, on the outer fringes of anti-Semitism on the right.

And then there are people elevating their profiles in media. On conspiracy theories, that lead nowhere, on kind of tabloid-style dossett that doesn't offer any kind of concrete possibility.

And so I think we have a media problem. And we have, in addition, a leadership problem.

GLENN: When you say a media problem, you mean the right media?

CHRIS: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I just -- I think if you look at kind of serious conservative media figures. And, of course, I would include you in this. You're always doing the reporting, the conversations, trying to guide people, towards something, that that they can do. Some legislation that politicians can pass. Some policy that we can adopt. Some counterculture that we can build. But I think given the dynamics of online media advertising, audience building, and then just the dynamics of kind of general tech and media trends.

Some people are being, you know, kind of generously rewarded with clicks and attention. Who don't actually offer anything substantive. And I think it gets some of our audience. And some of our listeners. In this outrage cycle.

Where they're outraged for outrage sake.

They're not being directed for guiding that outrage towards something constructive. And I've seen it. It can be really be damaging to people. And it's certainly damaging to a political movement.

And I don't think it's a failure of the audience. I think it's actually a failure of us, in the media, in positions of authority, in positions of leadership. You always have to guide people towards something that can make their lives better, and if we're not doing that, we're taking advantage, and we have to stop.

GLENN: So I completely agree with you.

So what is -- because we agree with the solution. And this is my point, back to you, was, I am very afraid of serious options. Because there is another split in the right. That is -- is willing to look at -- at extra constitutional solutions. And that's really dangerous. And starting to say, well, this Constitution, maybe it's old and dusty. Like the left has been saying.

No, no, no, no. No. All of our problems are solved, by two things.

One, the people living a better life. And I don't mean like, you're making more money. I mean, you're more decent, humble, and just better person. Plus, the rule of law. Being restored, as written.

So where do you see anybody coming up and really promoting that, Chris?

CHRIS: Well, I think that's exactly what we need to do. And I've been very vocal. There's a lot of frustration on the right. There's a lot of anxiety. But all of our problems can be solved through kind of normal -- Democratic -- peaceful Democratic means. We still have a great system.

But our system is atrophying because we're not using that system. And soiled point to the leadership of someone whom I admire very much. Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida. He had the same legislature, that Jeb Bush did. He had the same state Constitution.

And yet, he's using power effectively within the law, to make Florida a better state for people to live, work, and raise families.

And so I think we have to really discipline our own coalition, we have to stop engaging in these kind of fantasies, of extra judicial or extra parliamentary politics. And we have to say, if we are going to be the conservative, political party, the conservative political movement, we have to respect the documents that just be smarter. Be more persistent. Be more diligent.

In actually practicing politics. And so there are models out there, that are successful. And I think, we have another model of the kind of more, say, radical, extra constitutional model. That is the dismal failure. It's always been a dismal failure. When the left did it in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with those radical movements, the American people rejected them. If the right does it at any time, now or in the future, the people, the citizens will reject them.

It's a dead end. And we need media figures, that are kind of telling people to straighten out. To have self-discipline. To remind people of the constitutional principles that we're fighting for. And then to lay out a plausible plan.

Because people get desperate, when they think we have no other options. So it's our responsibility to show them the concrete options, not just spin out into conspiracy land.

GLENN: So, Chris, I do not -- I do not -- I don't listen to anybody else. I don't watch anybody else.

I read. But I have tried to cut my reading back to about four hours a day.

Because it's just poison. It's just all poison. But it's part of my job.

I have to read and be informed. So I don't -- but I don't hear things. You -- I am very concerned about just somebody doing something stupid. I'm also very concerned about this very, very small group of people.

That are Christian nationalists. But it's very small.

I am not concerned about the -- the average listener, if you will.

CHRIS: Correct.

GLENN: You seem to be -- I don't know if your concern is greater than mine.

And I'm pretty concerned about things. I want to -- I want to judge why -- what is it that you're feeling or is bringing this out, in such a passionate way? I want to make sure I'm not missing it.

CHRIS: Yeah. Well, I think we are approaching a critical period, in our country's history.

And, you know, I think the genesis of my comments. Was this -- you know, blowup between Candace Owens. And the Daily Wire. You know, Ben Shapiro's publication.

And, you know, I think that -- I tried to be disciplined. In my criticisms. People within our coalition. Within our movement.

But, you know, Candice had been arguing that there are secret gangs of Jews. Murdering people in Hollywood. She had rationalized Kanye West's, you know, kind of deranged antisemitic outbursts. She had been pushing stories about how the president of France's wife is actually a man. And these are stories that drive clicks. They drive controversy.

But they actually don't create anything substantive. And unfortunately, there is a kind of rising group of commentators and media figures. That have figured out, that the way to get cheap attention. Is to put forward stories like these.

And I just think that, we have to be, of course, kind of tolerant of a range of opinion.

But there also is an out of bound or a limit, that any political movement needs to maintain its own coherence and its own discipline.

GLENN: And you're not talking about censorship. You're just talking about self-control.

CHRIS: That's right. It's first self-discipline, and then it's also giving people a better option.

Of course, I don't think any of these opinions should be censored. They shouldn't be stricken from the record. The government shouldn't have any sway whatsoever.

But I think it's up to us, to have that discerning judgment. And to also show people, why this is such a limitation.

Why -- why it actually is not helpful.

And to get people out of this outrage cycle, that depletes them, and into a cycle of participation and politics in a real sense.

You know, politics is not, you know, tweeting conspiracy theories. Politics is actually winning elections. Changing the law. And managing institutions.

And so we needed a movement that is capable of doing that. And if we're not a movement that is capable of doing that, we don't deserve power.

We don't deserve to win, and we don't deserve to have our ideas shaping the law.

GLENN: I am -- we're talking to Christopher Rufo.

I am gravely concerned, that any time between now and really probably January 20th of next year, is the most dangerous place our republic may have ever been.

And that's including in the Civil War. We are -- we are at the edge of losing everything. Somebody does something stupid. We go to war. The economy collapses.

Whatever it is. There is -- there is a real shot, that we lose our freedom. It's happening all -- I mean, look what's happening in Brazil. This is -- this is happening all over the West, right now.

And I know, I have self-edited more than I've ever edited. Because I want to be very careful with my word.

Because I am so concerned, about the cries of dis and miss and malinformation. That will be wrongly pointed in people's direction by the state.

But it's important now, that we are speaking clearly. And as -- and as accurately, as we possibly can.

Do you feel the same way?

CHRIS: I feel the same way, and I'm very concerned about it. And I think this really dovetails nicely with my argument. If we don't have the self-discipline and if we engage in these kind of wild lines of media narratives.

It will provide, you know -- it's fake. But it will provide a kind of rationalization or justification for continued censorship. If the government and organized left, can point to a verifiably false conspiracy theories. They can then use it as justification for censorship.

Obviously, I don't support that. I think you should -- I think everyone has the right to say whatever they want. True, false, good or bad.

But, you know, we have to be realistic about it. And this is a major threat, of getting deplatformed. Of getting debanked.

GLENN: Yep.

CHRIS: Of getting kind of de-anonymized, exposed. And so we have to -- we unfortunately. Look, the New York Times can publish conspiracy theories for three years about Russiagate, they will be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and they'll pay no price when it turns out to be all a pack of lies.

We don't have that luxury. I wish we did. But we have to take the reality for what it is.

We have to be more disciplined. We have to have higher standards. And we have to fight much smarter than our opponents.

That said, the good news, is that when we fight smart, like DeSantis has done in Florida.

There is a wide open vista of possibility for us.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

CHRIS: And we can truly create, you know, what I think of as a counter hegemony. That will create a bulwark or a defense against all of the awful things that the organized left is doing.

GLENN: Christopher Rufo, thank you so much. Thank you for being a friend. Friend of the show. And friend of freedom. Appreciate it.

SPECIALS

How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion WILL Create the Next Public Health Crisis | Glenn TV | Ep 348

Everything is a “public health crisis” these days. Racism. Climate change. The lack of access to “gender-affirming care.” But there’s one ACTUAL public health crisis the far Left has created: diversity, equity, and inclusion. The future of YOUR health care is at stake as this dangerous reform movement is being forced upon American medical schools, all of the professional medical organizations, and hospitals, with total endorsement from Biden’s White House. Glenn Beck exposes how this academic cancer is changing medical school admissions and graduates, what caused this movement to accelerate, the real-world life-and-death consequences of this insanity for patients, and how any resistance to this movement brings swift crackdown from the Thought Police. Glenn is joined by Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, the founder of “Do No Harm,” a network of doctors, nurses, medical students, and patients working to get identity politics out of medicine. Dr. Goldfarb taught medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and published more than a hundred articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and other top medical journals. He debunks the racist claim that “black patients need black doctors” and sounds the alarm on deadly efforts to push unqualified doctors on patients.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

EXCLUSIVE: Will RFK, Jr. Change Glenn's Mind?

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. once called Glenn a traitor because he thought Glenn's opinions on climate change were "dangerous" and should be shut down. But now, he's one of the biggest CRITICS of censorship. So, what changed? Glenn decided to sit down with the independent presidential candidate to find out.

RADIO

SHOCKING: You Need HOW MUCH Money to “Live Comfortably” in Each State?!

With inflation still on the rise, Glenn and Stu review another shocking number: how much money you need to “live comfortably” in America. The numbers have gone through the roof and it’s no surprise that the most expensive states are blue states. Thanks to inflation, a single adult now needs to make over $100,000 a year in order to live comfortably in many states. So, can you afford your state?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. So there's a new number out now, on what it costs to live in the United States of America. It's a little higher than it used to be.

And I -- I don't know if anybody has noticed they're having a hard time making ends meet.

Comfortable to live comfortably is defined as the monthly income, needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget, which allocates 50 percent of your earnings for necessities like housing and utility costs, 30 percent for discretionary spending, and 20 percent for savings or investments.

STU: Wow. I don't think a lot of people are living like that.

GLENN: Nobody is living like that. Nobody is living like that.

STU: That -- but wait. Percent of what? If you're making $10 million. You know. What is it -- you don't need to have a 50/30/20 lifestyle to live comfortably, right?

GLENN: Right. Right.

They're saying this is the minimum. This is what it takes to, you know, live comfortably. In America.

STU: So -- this is not talking about -- I think Jeff Bezos is pretty good. I don't think he needs an article.

STU: You're saying, they're basically reverse engineering the number you need to hit that. Is that what you're saying?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

Okay. All right? Jeez.

STU: I was trying to understand.

GLENN: Here they are.

Most costly states: Massachusetts. $116,000.

STU: Hard-core conservative state.

GLENN: Hawaii. You'll see this a lot. Hawaii, 113.

STU: Another conservative -- red state.

GLENN: California, 113.

STU: Big red state there.

GLENN: New York, 111.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: I'm rounding out the top. Topping out the top five is Washington State, with 106.

STU: Another big red state. That's amazing. So $100,000, and you cannot live comfortably.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: That's incredible.

GLENN: Okay. Now, to live comfortably in these states, you need to earn double what most single earners typically make. The median income for a single full-time worker is around $60,000. The national median for living comfortably is $89,000.

So there's a shortage there.

STU: And those are statewide numbers to point out. It's a lot worse in these cities.

Like, there was a time. I don't know this is eight to ten years old now.

When I remember looking at this. They gave you these guide lines, what you need to earn to buy an average home in the market. In the market of San Francisco, the -- several of the players on the roster of the San Francisco giants, did not earn enough money, to buy the average home.

GLENN: It's crazy.

STU: In the market.

GLENN: So let me go through this. Alabama, to live comfortably, $83,000.

Alaska, $96,000.

And I don't know if that's ever -- I don't know if you're ever comfortable living in Alaska, unless you can change the climate completely.

GLENN: Yeah. Right.

Arizona, $97,000. Arkansas, 79

STU: Gosh.

GLENN: California, 113. Colorado, 103. Connecticut, 100. Delaware, 94. Florida, 93.

Think of that. In Florida, it's 93. In Colorado, it's 100. Georgia, 96. Hawaii, 113. Idaho, 88. Illinois, 95. Indiana, 85. Iowa, 83. Kansas, 84. Kentucky, 80. Louisiana, 82. Maine, 91.

Why? Bear traps? Maryland.

STU: That's a northeast state.

GLENN: Maryland, 102. Massachusetts, 116. Michigan, 84. Minnesota, 89. Mississippi, 82. Missouri, 84. Montana, 84. Nebraska, 83.

STU: A lot of these -- these are like the bargain basement states. You are having $85,000 to live comfortably.

GLENN: I know. Yeah.

STU: That's just putting away some money for retirement. That's not living -- you're not flying private.

GLENN: I know. Yeah, but you're not living paycheck to paycheck. If you would live that way. If you would do 50/30/20.

STU: Right. Right.

GLENN: Nevada, 93.

Nobody does that. Do you know anybody who is young, that put 20 percent of their salary away for savings?

STU: Depends what you mean by young. As you're starting out, you're just trying to make it, pay your bills. As you get older, you're trying to put some money away.

GLENN: 20 percent?

STU: It's hard to do.

GLENN: Really hard to do. Nevada, 93.

STU: By the way, 50/20/30. What are the taxes on this one? This is post-tax revenue, I assume.

GLENN: Yeah. Where are the taxes?

STU: Another 30 is going to taxes. So which part of it are you taking out?

GLENN: That's why nobody saves. New Hampshire, 98. New Jersey, 103. To live in New Jersey. New Mexico, 83. New York, 111. North Carolina, 89. North Dakota, 52.

STU: North Dakota. This is -- this is hwy people go to the Dakotas, I suppose. It's --

GLENN: Is it worth Dakota, though? You don't even have the presidential thing on the mountain, that Dakota.

STU: That's true. Was that the Doug Burgum state?

GLENN: Yes, it is. Fifty-two.

STU: You got those eyebrows. They are kind of like -- on the Mount Rushmore of eyebrows. I don't know if that counts.

GLENN: Ohio, 80. Oklahoma, 80. Oregon, 101.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Pennsylvania, 91. Rhode Island, 100. Oh, my gosh, for Rhode Island!

South Carolina, 88. South Dakota, 81. Tennessee, 86. Texas, 87. Utah, 93. Vermont, 95.
Virginia, 99. Washington, 106. West Virginia, 78.
That's a state you could live in. Wisconsin, 84. Wyoming, 87.

Wow.

STU: First of all, the red and blue state is -- I don't know if it's perfect. It's darn close to perfect, as far as the difference is.

GLENN: It is. It is.

STU: You look at that, and you think -- it wasn't that long ago, that we would say, oh, my gosh, nap guy is earning six figures. Doing really well.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: That's just not even doing really well.

GLENN: No.

STU: It's the way you're supposed to plan for your future. And now you need to earn six figures, in most states. Or at least close to most states.

GLENN: And it's going to get worse. That's the problem. It will get worse.

How will companies be able to keep up with it? How is that going to happen?

GLENN: The presses.
STU: Yeah. But eventually, people can't afford to produce the products that people want, and people can't afford to buy the products that they need.

STU: I mean, you just recited the slogan for Bidenomics. That's exactly --

GLENN: Yes, I did. Starts bottom up. Bottom up. First people to be heard.

The bottom. And eventually, it's heard all the way up.

The -- in another remarkable story, the IMF has come out and said, that Biden has got to stop money.

Printing money, and spending money.

The International Monetary Fund, sounded the alarm on the Biden administration's rampant spending as, quote, out of line with what is needed for long-term fiscal stability.

STU: No!

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: What? It feels like it's right in line with the exact -- what you're supposed to do with each budget is spend trillions of dollars than you have.

I thought that's the way you're supposed to be fiscally responsible. What is the 50, 30, 20 number for the United States right now? It's like 80, 50, zero. Eighty, 50, negative 30. Right?

That's what we're doing. The savings is negative 30 percent of the budget. We're spending mandatories, like 80 percent of what we have. Then there's another 50 percent discretionary. It's insanity. And we're getting to the point very soon. Just the interest on the money already spent will be more than our entire defense budget.

GLENN: We will have to borrow over a trillion dollars a year, just for the interest.

STU: My God.

GLENN: I mean, this is unsustainable.

And I really don't understand, why more people can't see this.

STU: You keep seeing this word.

I don't think it means what you think it means.

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How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion WILL Create the Next Public Health Crisis | Glenn TV | Ep 348

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SHOCKING: You Need HOW MUCH Money to “Live Comfortably” in Each State?!

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