“Screwed”: We will eventually be Greece if we don’t change our path

July 08, 2015

WRITER

Why in the world would any American politician think they can help figure out the financial crisis overwhelming Greece and the European Union? After all, many of the problems in Greece echo those in America. And yet, President Obama inserted himself into the bailout talks. What kind of solutions could he really offer? Stu broke down the parallels between Greece and America on TV last night, and warned America to wake up before we end up in the same place as Greece

STU: Glenn has been going on and on about Greece for at least as long as I can remember. It’s one of his most passionate topics, I’d say. Finally, these morons are reaping what they sowed. Could these people be any dumber? I mean, beyond their own resources they’ve been spending, borrowing money, they had no earthly way of paying back, and increasing government handouts even after it became clear that they were crippling the country.

Greece owes various creditors about $271 billion, with Germany being the largest. So, how did they get into this mess? There are a few culprits, many of which are cited in the book Boomerang by Michael Lewis. They pay government officials almost three times as much as the average private-sector job.

An example of this overspending can be found in the national railroad. It pulls down about €100 million a year. It seems like a pretty good business, but they have to pay out about 400 million in payroll, plus another 300 million in other expenses. The average salary for a railroad employee, €65,000 a year about, 71,000 bucks. As one businessman pointed out, it would actually be cheaper for the government to scrap the railroad altogether and just pay for every Greek citizen to take cabs.

Public schools, Greece’s are among the lowest ranked in all of Europe, yet they have four times as many teachers per pupil than the rest of the best schools, which, by the way, the number one is Finland, and they’re four times as much. The school system is so bad that Greeks typically pay for tutors so that their kids actually get some learning done.

Greece is plagued with phony job creation programs such as 270 people that were paid to digitize the photographs of Greek public lands—sounds wonderful. The problem is they didn’t hire anyone with any digital photography experience at all, nobody.

The retirement age in Greece is insanely young, 55 for men and 50 for women. Wow, I thought Europe was so progressive. What is up with all that sexism there? This is at the heart of Greece’s struggles. This early retirement goes not just for police officers and firefighters, but anyone with an “arduous job,” that is including hairdressers and radio announcers. Maybe Glenn should move to Greece. He is approaching 55. Musicians even, everybody basically. So many people are retiring young and living longer, the austerity payouts are ballooning.

Government healthcare is wildly inefficient in Greece. Before the crisis, it was really just a mess. Citizens had to give medical staff cash gifts in order to make sure they’d get good treatment. While all this was going on, while everyone dipped their grimy fingers into the government pot, no one was counting how much was going in, nor how much was going out. By the time someone decided to take a breather from the spending orgy, the damage was irreparable. The debt to GDP ratio had expanded to a devastating 177%.

Greece’s unfunded liabilities are 875% of GDP. Federal spending in Greece is close to 50% of GDP. Even with all this information, people still went to the polls and voted against cuts in spending. Liberal outlets applauded the vote, referring to austerity cuts as harsh. People in Greece, of course, rejoiced at the news of the vote. I think it was 61-38 or something like that. They were happy to get another far left government to keep higher taxes, spending, and handouts in place.

What’s going to be harsh is when the day of economic reckoning arrives and they realize they really couldn’t afford any of this. This is how you destroy a country, not save it.

Here’s the best part about Greece, Pres. Barack Obama has inserted himself into the bailout talks. I can’t wait for this. Barack Obama is trying to give Greece financial advice. Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, meet pot.

Let’s go back through that list of things that helped destroy Greece again. This is going to be fun. Federal workers in Greece earn more than private citizens. Well, US federal workers earn 37% more than private-sector employees. Greece has an unprofitable state rail system. Amtrak loses over $1.4 billion every year. The biggest waste is being in the 15 little-traveled routes that cost $600 million to keep operational for no freaking reason at all.

Greece overspends on education despite failing schools. Well, the US Department of Education is $77.4 billion and increasing every single year, despite the fact that we rank 17th in the world in education. Greece has all those phony job programs. Could I remind you of the stimulus? That cost American taxpayers at least $278,000 per job with some estimates having that well over $1 million per job.

Greece’s retirement age is far too young, 55. America’s is 65. That’s a little better, but it hasn’t been changed since Social Security was invented. Even the life expectancies have dramatically improved. Greece’s government healthcare is crippling the nation. ObamaCare—I don’t think I need to go any further than that, but as you know, it’s already a mess. It’s costing us a fortune. It couldn’t even get the freaking website right to sign up to pay for it.

Greece’s debt is 177% of GDP. We’re at 101%, so we’re close. It’s worse though than France and Spain, and Spain is dealing with a 25% unemployment rate. Unfunded liabilities in Greece, 875% of GDP. In the US, it’s $90 trillion or about 500% of our GDP—not quite as bad as Greece but still terrible.

Federal spending in Greece, about 50% of GDP. America, it’s only 20.5, so we’re doing great there, and when factoring in state and local governments, of course, it’s more like 35 and is projected to rapidly rise. The economic disaster playing out in Greece is the American story in the short-term future. Our situation is not as bad as Greece’s, but we’re on the same trajectory. We will eventually get there if we keep making the same fatal mistakes as viewing austerity as harsh.

It may be harsh at times. There’s tough choices to come, but it’s necessary, and if someone in the room doesn’t have the courage to step away from the spending orgy and count the debits and credits, we’re all screwed.

Glenn: Why Memorial Day is not just another holiday

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They wore the uniform so you could live free. This holiday, ask yourself if you're living in a way that honors that sacrifice — or cheapens it.

Your son has been a Marine for what feels like an eternity. Only those who have watched their children deploy into war zones can truly understand why time seems to freeze in worry. What begins as concern turns to panic, then helplessness. You live suspended in a silent winter, where days blur and dread becomes your constant companion.

Then, in an instant, it happens. What you don’t know yet is that your child — your most precious gift — fell in combat 60 seconds ago.

This is a day for sacred remembrance, for honoring those who laid down their lives.

While you go about your day, unaware, military protocol kicks into motion. Notification must happen within eight hours. Officers are dispatched. A chaplain joins them. A medic may accompany them in case the grief is too much to bear.

Three figures arrive at your door. One asks your name. Then, by protocol, they ask to enter your home. You already know what’s coming. You sit down. He looks you in the eye and says:

The commandant of the Marine Corps has entrusted me to express his deep regret that your son John was killed in action on Friday, March 28. The commandant and the United States Marine Corps extend their deepest sympathy to you and your family in your loss.

This moment has played out thousands of times across American soil. In 2003 alone — just two years after 9/11 — 312 families endured it. In 2007, 847 American service members died in combat. In 2008, 352. In 2009, 346. The list goes on. And with every name, a family became a Gold Star family.

Honor the fallen

For most Americans, Memorial Day means backyard barbecues, family gatherings, maybe a trip to the lake or a sweet Airbnb. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying these things. But we must never forget why we can.

Ask any veteran who lived when others did not, and you’ll understand: Memorial Day is not just another holiday. It is a solemn day set apart for reverence.

So this weekend, reach out to a Gold Star family. Acknowledge their pain. Ask about their son or daughter. Let them know they’re not alone.

This is a day for sacred remembrance, for honoring those who laid down their lives — not for accolades but for love of country and the preservation of liberty. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

They died for the Constitution, for our shared American ideals, and the worst thing we could do now would be to betray those ideals in a spirit of rage or division.

We cannot dishonor their sacrifice by abandoning the very principles they died to protect — equal justice, the rule of law, the enduring promise of liberty.

This Memorial Day, let us remember the fallen. Let us honor their families. Let us recommit ourselves to the cause they gave everything for: the American way of life.

They are the best of us.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Trump exposes Left’s habeas corpus hijack in border crisis

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Democrats accused the president of declaring war on civil rights. In reality, he’s defending habeas corpus while they drown it in delays and legal loopholes.

Tuesday’s congressional testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem turned heads for all the wrong reasons. Pressed to define “habeas corpus,” she stumbled. And while I respect Noem, this moment revealed just how dangerously misunderstood one of our most vital legal protections has become — especially as it’s weaponized in the immigration debate.

Habeas corpus is not a loophole. It’s a shield. It’s the constitutional protection that prevents a government from detaining a person — any person — without first justifying the detention before a neutral judge. It doesn’t guarantee freedom. It demands due process. Prove it or release them.

Bureaucratic inertia, activist judges, and political cowardice have turned due process into a slow-motion invasion. And the left knows it.

And yet, this doctrine — so essential to our liberty — is now being twisted by the political left into something it was never meant to be: a free pass for illegal immigration.

The left wants to frame this as a matter of compassion and rights. Leftists ask: “What about habeas corpus for migrants?” The implication is clear: They see any attempt to enforce immigration law as an attack on civil liberties.

But that’s a lie. Habeas corpus is not an excuse for indefinite presence. It doesn’t guarantee that every person who crosses the border gets to stay. It simply requires that we follow a process — a just process.

And that’s exactly what President Donald Trump has proposed.

Habeas corpus, rightly understood

Habeas corpus is the front door to the courtroom. It simply requires the government to justify why someone is being held or detained. It’s not about citizenship. It’s about human dignity.

America’s founders knew this — and that’s why they extended the right to persons, not just citizens. Habeas corpus isn’t a pass to stay in America forever — it’s a demand for legal clarity: “Why are you holding me?” That’s it.

If the government has a lawful reason — such as illegal entry — then deportation is a legitimate outcome. And yet, the left treats any enforcement of immigration law as a betrayal of American ideals.

The danger today isn’t that habeas corpus is being ignored; it’s that it’s being hijacked. The system is being overwhelmed with bad-faith cases, endless appeals, and delays that stretch for years. Right now, the immigration courts are buried under 3.3 million pending cases. The average wait time to have your case heard is four years. In some places, people are being scheduled for court dates as far out in 2032. Where is the justice in that?

This is not compassion. This is national sabotage.

Weaponizing due process

The left uses this legal bottleneck as a weapon, not a shield. Democrats invoke due process as if it requires the government to play a never-ending shell game with public safety. But that’s not what due process means. Due process means the state must play by the rules. It means a judge hears a case. It means the law is applied justly and equally. It does not mean an open border by procedural default.

So no, Trump is not proposing the end of habeas corpus. He’s calling out a broken system and saying, out loud, what millions of Americans already know: If we don’t fix this, we don’t have a country.

This crisis wasn’t an accident — it was engineered. It’s a Cloward-Piven playbook, designed to overwhelm the system. Bureaucratic inertia, activist judges, and political cowardice have turned due process into a slow-motion invasion. And the left knows it.

Abandon the Constitution?

Remember, the Constitution is not a suicide pact. But how do we balance the Constitution and our national survival without descending into authoritarianism? Abandon the Constitution? No. Burn the house down to get rid of the rats? Absolutely not. The Constitution itself gives us the tools to take on this crisis head on.

The federal government has clear authority over immigration. Illegal presence in the United States is not a protected right. Congress has the power to deny entry, enforce expedited removals, and reject bogus asylum claims. Much of this is already authorized by law — it’s simply not being used.

President Trump’s idea is simple: Use the tools we already have. Declare the southern border a national security emergency. Establish temporary military tribunals for triage. Process asylum claims swiftly outside the clogged court system. Restore “Remain in Mexico” so that the border is no longer a remote court room. Appoint more immigration judges, assign them to high-volume areas, and hold streamlined hearings that still respect due process.

That’s not authoritarian. That’s leadership.

The path forward

Trump is not trying to destroy habeas corpus. He’s trying to save it from being twisted into a self-destructive parody of itself. Leftists have turned due process into delay, justice into gridlock, and they’re dragging the entire country into their chaos.

It’s time to draw the line. Protect habeas corpus. Use it lawfully. Use it wisely. And yes — use it to restore order at the border. Because if we lose that firewall, we lose the republic.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Betrayal of trust: Medicare insurers face lawsuit over kickback scheme

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Editor's note: This article is sponsored by Chapter.

The U.S. government has filed a major lawsuit under the False Claims Act, targeting some of the biggest names in health insurance—Aetna, Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), and Humana—along with top insurance brokers eHealth, GoHealth, and SelectQuote. The allegation? From 2016 to at least 2021, these companies funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to brokers to steer seniors into their Medicare Advantage plans.

If the allegations are true, it means many Americans may have been steered into Medicare Advantage plans that weren’t necessarily the best fit for their needs—not because the plans were better, but because brokers were incentivized by illegal kickbacks.

The Kickback Conspiracy

Navigating Medicare Advantage’s maze of plan options is daunting, so beneficiaries rely on brokers like eHealth, GoHealth, and SelectQuote, who claim to be unbiased guides. But from 2016 to 2021, insurers Aetna, Humana, and Elevance Health allegedly paid brokers millions in kickbacks to favor their plans, regardless of quality. Disguised as “co-op” or “marketing” deals, these payments were tied to enrollment targets. Internal emails revealed executives knew this violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, with one eHealth leader joking that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would miss a $15 million Humana deal for minimal enrollments. Brokers used call routing to prioritize high-paying insurers, betraying beneficiaries’ trust.

Discrimination Against the Vulnerable

The scheme wasn’t just about profits—it targeted vulnerable beneficiaries. Medicare Advantage must accept all eligible enrollees, including disabled people under 65. Yet Aetna and Humana allegedly pressured brokers to limit their enrollment, as these beneficiaries were deemed to be less profitable. Brokers complied, rejecting referrals and filtering calls to favor healthier enrollees, incentivized by bonuses. This violated federal anti-discrimination laws and CMS contracts, undermining the founding principles of Medicare by discriminating against the very people it was created to aid.

False Claims and the Pursuit of Justice

The schemes led to false claims to CMS, with insurers certifying enrollments as “valid” despite kickbacks and discrimination. The government paid billions, unaware of the fraud. Examples include Humana’s $12,477 for a 2016 enrollment and Aetna’s $79,047 for a 2020 case. On May 1, 2025, the U.S. filed suit, seeking treble damages and penalties under the False Claims Act. Aetna and others deny the allegations, per May 2025 reports, promising a fierce defense. The case, demanding a jury trial, seeks justice for beneficiaries and taxpayers.

POLL: Does Brooklyn crash expose a cyber sabotage plot?

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A Mexican Navy ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge has left the nation stunned, and Glenn is demanding answers.

Are recent devastating ship collisions—first Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, now Brooklyn in 2025—really just accidents, or is something far more sinister at play? Glenn recently warned that these incidents, both involving foreign vessels losing power near critical U.S. infrastructure, could be “shark bumps” by foreign adversaries testing our defenses through cyber sabotage. With the government and media quick to dismiss concerns, Glenn is calling for urgent investigations into possible hacking, independent audits of our ports and bridges, and a serious look at whether our enemies are exploiting vulnerabilities in our digitized systems.

Glenn wants to know what you think: Are these crashes coincidental, or are we under attack? Let us know in the poll below:

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