Chris Wallace rips Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: ‘Your history is wrong’

Glenn opened the radio program this morning with some incredible audio from yesterday’s Fox News Sunday interview between Chris Wallace and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Wallace grilled Lew – repeatedly asking him questions regarding President Obama’s refusal to negotiate with Republicans.

“Chris Wallace, I think, hit a home run with Jack Lew. I think most of our audience will understand this, but most of America will not,” Glenn said. “They will say, ‘I think Jack Lew is making some great points’ because they have no foundation on which to build anything. Listen to the lying liars lie.”

LEW: Good to be with you, Chris.

WALLACE: This week both you and the President seem to be trying to panic the markets about both raising the debt ceiling and the government shutdown saying that they should be more concerned. Here's the President:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think this time's different. I think they should be concerned. When you have a situation in which a faction is willing to default on U.S. Government obligations, then we are in trouble.

“Stop. This is really important for people to understand. Never before. Why did I say in 2008, the President is not telling you these things,” Glenn said. “I sat with George W. Bush and I asked him specifically, ‘Mr. President, this is what the American people need to hear.’ And he said, ‘I can't. First of all, I made a promise. Second of all, the president has a bully pulpit unlike any other bully pulpit. They're watching everything I say all around the world. I cannot telegraph any kind of trouble because if I say it, it's worth ten times.’ For the president of the United States to say specifically on CNBC to the markets, ‘You should be worried.’ That's the president yelling fire. Now, here's the good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it. Bad news long term. This president has such little credibility that it didn't panic the markets. The markets stayed flat. Nobody believes the President of the United States.”

WALLACE: The markets are shrugging it off. The Dow Jones dropped just 1.2% this week. NASDAQ was actually up more than half a point. Aren't your efforts failing to try to use the markets to put pressure on Republicans to cave?

LEW: You know, Chris, it's my job to make sure that we strengthen the economy and I spend every day trying to do that. That's why it's so important owner Congress to act, to open up the government, to make sure we pay our bills.

“We have closed 15% of this government… If you can't make it with 15% of this government closed for two weeks, six weeks, six months, you can't make it for six months with 15%, then let me tell you something: You are the leanest corporation I've ever seen. Ever seen,” Glenn interjected. “Does anybody believe that they don't have 15% of fat to cut? This is the biggest game I've ever seen in my life. This is the biggest lie I've ever seen anybody try to pull off in the United States of America.”

LEW: …There's no question that if we were to have the unthinkable happen and have the United States default, it would cause real problems. The only question is how serious the problems would be and there's kind of ‑‑

“Nobody's talking about defaulting. By not raising the debt ceiling, you don't default. It means you can't take on additional debt. It means you're going to have to go back and cut,” Glenn said. “Are you telling me that you don't want to get another credit card? Well, then we default on our car and our house and there's no food. No! No. You pay for the important things. You're going to have to cut some spending, money, and we're not taking on any new debt. That's what that means.”

The President and many on the left have been claiming that Republicans are the fearmongers; Republicans are the ones looking to shutdown the government. But Glenn argued the actions of those like President Obama and Lew prove they are the ones who want American to default.

“Now, I find it amazing the lies that they are telling. And our President and our Treasury Secretary are trying to spook the markets. This goes into a longer conversation, but I think that they have everything they need,” Glenn said. “I think the fundamental transformation of America is done… I will tell you that they are farther ahead on taking control than you think. And I think they do want to go into default.”

“So you know, what the Treasury Secretary is saying here is the Republicans want us to go into default. The President is legally required to pay the interest on our debt. Nobody's going to be defaulting,” he continued. “The countries that say, ‘I want my money,’ we are legally required to pay those bills first. It's exactly the way bankruptcy works. We're legally required to do that. Now, the President picks and chooses laws to enforce and not to enforce all the time, so he might throw us into default. But that's not what a debt ceiling means.”

While Lew continued to pedal the Democratic talking points that the U.S. has never been in this situation before, Wallace was not about to let him get away with the lies.

WALLACE: What's unprecedented is not Congress tying strings. What's unprecedented is the President refusing to negotiate.

LEW: You know, Chris, let me be clear. The President has always been looking for a way to negotiate with a bipartisan group of members and Senators to do the right thing for the American people. He was. He is. He put out a budget that actually took an enormous step to do that. So the President is open to negotiation.

“I love this. He's put out a budget. He's put out a budget every year. His own party rejects it every year. He is not willing to negotiate. Who is he negotiating with,” Glenn asked. “His own party rejects it. 98‑0. I mean he doesn't even get anybody in his own party on board.”

LEW: And frankly I think your history is wrong. If you look at places where the debt limit was involved, there were many other things attached to the debt limit. The question of threatening to cause a default of the United States, not until 2011 did it become a positive agenda.

WALLACE: With all due respect, your history is wrong. In 1973 Democrats in the Senate to put in Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale wanted to attach campaign finance reform under Richard Nixon during Watergate to raising the debt limit. It ended up being a filibuster. Republicans had to filibuster to defeat it and take it out. This has happened over and over again, and presidents have negotiated and this President, what's unprecedented is, he's refusing to negotiate.

LEW: You know, Chris, I loved through the budget debates of the 1980s, the 1990s, the early 2000s. I know that there were many occasions when the debt limit was tacked onto other things. I actually remember ‑‑

“Oh, wait a minute. Now he admits he knows there were times when it was tacked onto other things,” Pat said exasperatedly. “You just said that never happened!”

“No, no, no. What he's saying is, they always intended on passing it,” Glenn corrected. “There were just never any terrorists in the Republican Party. That's what they're saying here. Unbelievable.”

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

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The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

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Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

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If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE