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COS TAKE ACTION: 1,000 People Needed at Texas State Capitol on Jan 31

January 19, 2017
Lori Hanes

Writer

Texas Governor Greg Abbott will deliver his State of the State address at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, January 31, 2017.

The Texas Convention of States Project (COS) team hopes to have an overwhelming presence at Governor Abbott’s State of the State address, thanking him for his support and making clear that Texans support invoking Article V of the US Constitution and calling a Convention of the States by passing HJR39 and SJR2.

The governor has been a vocal supporter of a Convention of States and their resolution, making it a legislative priority in 2017.

Be among the 1,000 supporters filling seats in the Texas Capitol House Gallery on January 31.

>>> SIGN UP TODAY

As Texas Goes, So Goes the Nation

Mark Meckler, one of the nation’s most effective grassroots activists and a national leader for the Convention of States Project, recently visited The Glenn Beck Program to talk about the important role Texas will play in exercising Article V of the US Constitution.

"The most important state is Texas. Texas is big. Texas leads the way in the South and the Midwest. Always, other states look to Texas. It's really extraordinary what's happened in the state of Texas," Meckler said. "We are the very first priority outside of the Texas Constitution."

The Answer to the Cancer

For decades now, the federal government has overreached its constitutionally-established boundaries, unchecked by an entitled, ineffective Congress. The Founders knew the federal government might one day become drunk with the abuses of power. The most important check to this power is Article V, which gives states the power to call a convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution. By calling a Convention of the States, we can stop the federal spending and debt spree, the power grabs of the federal courts, and other misuses of federal power. The current situation is precisely what the Founders feared, and they gave us a solution we have a duty to use.

Be a Part of History

Help achieve real change and be a part of history by attending Governor Abbott's State of the State address. Texas can help lead the way for a two-thirds majority of states to apply for a ​Convention​ of the States​, a full-proof process for real change that Congress has no authority to stop.

>>> SIGN UP TODAY

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program or read the transcript below:

GLENN: Stage 19 in the Mercury Studios in Dallas, Texas. Mark Meckler is joining us. He's with Article V ConventionOfStates.com. Welcome, Mark. How are you?

MARK: I'm glad to be here. Always better when I'm in Texas.

GLENN: Yeah, I know.

We were just talking about this historic opportunity. You know, the confirmation hearings are happening this week, and a lot of liberals are really freaked. And I'm not talking about the ones that are in Congress, because I think they'll play to anybody who will give them their power. But the average person is, for the first time in eight years, afraid of exactly the same things we were afraid of. Right?

MARK: It's really interesting how the narratives converged. You know I'm from California, and suddenly in California you have people on the left talking about nullification and succession, which apparently was the province of the rightwing crazy fringe, is now the province of the leftwing crazy fringe. Everything comes full circle.

GLENN: Correct. So I'm talking to my friends who are telling me great things from inside of the Trump administration, that they're gonna make some real changes, etc., etc. And I keep saying, but they're not structural changes. That is just reversing legislation or reversing executive orders. We have to have Constitutional changes. Otherwise we're gonna play this back and forth every four or eight years.

MARK: You know, I'm in the fight for my kids and my grandkids and our posterity, and you're exactly right. Even if we presume that we're gonna get great stuff out of this administration, it's temporary because the pendulum will swing. You know we all look at the map, the red map with excitement after the election. If you take that same map and look at it and only count voters age 18-35, the entire map is blue. So, you're gonna see some demographic shift in this country over time, and if we don't make the structural changes that protect liberty, then we're in trouble. And that's what the Founders knew, right. They knew it was about structure and not about people.

GLENN: So tell me some of the new things that are happening. You know, when we talked to you it was just before the election.

MARK: Yeah, it was right before the election.

GLENN: So now, tell me what's happening on the ground. Is there more steam to get there, less steam?

MARK: Yeah, there's a lot more steam. And I think because the public sentiment in the country is just continuing to be anti-DC. And now, again, this weird alignment, both sides are anti-DC. Folks on the right, we've always been skeptical of concentrated power at the federal government level. Folks on the left are jumping on that bandwagon talking states rights and federalism for the first time. So, you have this sort of unity of narrative. Different purpose coming out of the narrative, but a unity of narrative.

GLENN: What's the purpose from the left?

MARK: Well, from the left it's to defend themselves against Donald Trump and federal overreach. And then a lot of the things that we say, conservatives, we want to defend ourselves against the federal government all the time, in the image of the Founders. The left, it's about personality and people. So now they fear Trump, they fear a Republican Congress, they fear these people coming through the confirmation hearings, they fear a conservative Supreme Court, so now they're on the bandwagon, at least temporarily, about federalism.

GLENN: So, do you trust the people that are getting involved. Because, you know, we have been very leery of a highjack, which last time you were here you explained just cannot happen. It cannot happen because of the laws and the rules of Article V. But are there any states like California that, I guess they would be alone, wouldn't they? I mean, if they came up with their list of things and it wasn't the same, then --

MARK: Well, and they will come up with their list of things, and they will attempt to introduce them at any convention. And if they're not germane, if they don't fit the rails that have been set for a convention, somebody from Texas or North Carolina will stand up and object that it's not germane, and it will be ruled out of order.

GLENN: Texas could say, "We move to -- we move for secession." And it would --

MARK: It's not germane. Right. And so that will be objected to, and we'll move on.

You know, we saw sort of the ultimate example of that this week. I thought it was really interesting to see of all people Joe Biden shut down the protests over the count on the electoral college, right?

And he basically said, "Look, there are rules. It's game over. We follow the rules. It's an institutional thing."

And he shut down the protests in Congress over the electoral count. So rules work, institutions work. This is the way our country is set up. We've survived a lot of crises. We know how to do this kind of stuff in this country.

GLENN: So what are the states that are moving -- where do you need help?

MARK: Well, I think, to me, the most important state -- I'm not saying it just because I'm here, is Texas. Texas is big. Texas leads the way in the South and the Midwest. Always other states look to Texas. It's really extraordinary what's happened in the state of Texas.

They've named the resolution in the Senate SJR2, the second joint resolution. That's a priority. The first one is reserved, by the way, for Texas constitutional matters, specifically in Texas. So we are the very first priority outside of the Texas Constitution.

By the way, that same thing is happening all over the country. In Utah, we have a low priority number. Just found out, in Missouri, we've got a low priority number. Those are three states that for me are really important right now: Texas, Utah, and Missouri. Likely to happen early -- very high priority states for us.

GLENN: So what is the word? Because I have heard that here in Texas, there are many in the G.O.P. who are, again, kind of the progressive arm of the G.O.P. saying, "Oh, it's not so bad. We don't need to have this now." Are we -- who is winning on that argument?

MARK: I think we, those who say we need to have it now, are winning. But I think there are those who are saying it. And to be fair, there are even some good conservatives who are saying that. They're excited by the fact that Trump has taken office. They're hearing the same things you and I are hearing from the transition team. What I say about that is, with all due respect to the Trump administration, be -- don't be Trump drunk. And what I mean by Trump drunk is, if you think things are going to change, then you're not looking at Congress, right? This is the exact same Congress that didn't stand against Obamacare. This is the exact same Congress, same leadership that didn't stand against illegal, unconstitutional executive amnesty. So the idea that these guys are suddenly going to get a spine -- all we have to do is look what they tried to do with the ethics office. Look what they just tried to do with the pork barrel spending and earmarks. Same Congress. So the idea that suddenly we're going to have a magical transformation in Washington, DC -- if you believe that, then you're Trump drunk.

GLENN: And anybody who is a real conservative should -- even -- if I had Ronald Reagan in the office, I would still be for Article V. And I would think Ronald Reagan would be for Article V as well.

MARK: In fact, he was. And he spoke about it, and he was in favor of Article V.

Now, look, Reagan, the great conservative icon, with everything he tried to do and everything he said he was going to do was such a great communicator of conservative ideals. The federal government grew under Ronald Reagan's watch.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK:: He specifically set out to do away with the Department of Education. He appointed a secretary to do that. It grew under his watch. So the idea that somehow Donald Trump or any other individual is going to magically transform the federal Leviathan is just fantasy.

GLENN: You can't. Because -- I mean, even if -- if you've ever run a company, and you're like, "I've got to shut this division down," that division will spend all of its time trying to find ways to show you, you cannot shut it down.

MARK: Absolutely. So, you know, Glenn, that's another thing. When I talk about being Trump drunk, this idea that 1.35 million federal employees are simply going to roll over, give up their jobs, give up their benefits -- I mean, this is not to be critical against them. It goes against human nature. They're not going to be in favor of shrinking their own agencies, just not human nature.

GLENN: Okay. So how do people get involved?

MARK: ConventionofStates.com. And what we need is people to get serious. Go there. Sign petition. Volunteer to be involved. That's the most important thing they can do.

GLENN: What do you do to get involved?

MARK: So primarily what you do is we generate the people who are interested in helping. I mean, there are literally now 2.1 million volunteers in the field. We need people who are willing to just help send the emails, make the calls. Make sure people show up for legislative hearings. You know, we're going to have the governor here in Texas at the end of the month, we intend to have over 1,000 people there. So that takes people calling. You can't just send emails. And one of the things our organization believes in is high touch. We definitely use technology, but we believe in reaching out and building this network of people.

GLENN: Thank you. Thank you for everything you're doing. I think you guys are absolute patriots and the answer to the cancer that is eating us. Over 100 years ago, the progressives introduced a cancer that was designed to eat the Constitution. It's time to look for the pill that the Founders gave us if the Constitution were being eaten. And it's Article V. Thank you so much.

MARK: Thank you for your support, Glenn. I appreciate it.

GLENN: It's ConventionofStates.com. Volunteer. ConventionofStates.com.

Trump's Zelenskyy deal falls apart: What happened and what's next?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

Trump offered Zelenskyy a deal he couldn’t refuse—but Zelenskyy rejected it outright.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington to sign a historic agreement aimed at ending the brutal war ravaging Ukraine. Joined by Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump met with Zelenskyy and the press before the leaders were set to retreat behind closed doors to finalize the deal. Acting as a gracious host, Trump opened the meeting by praising Zelenskyy and the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. He expressed enthusiasm for the proposed agreement, emphasizing its benefits—such as access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals for the U.S.—and publicly pledged continued American aid in exchange.

Zelenskyy, however, didn’t share Trump’s optimism. Throughout the meeting, he interrupted repeatedly and openly criticized both Trump and Vance in front of reporters. Tensions escalated until Vance, visibly frustrated, fired back. The exchange turned the meeting hostile, and by its conclusion, Trump withdrew his offer. Rather than staying in Washington to resolve the conflict, Zelenskyy promptly left for Europe to seek support from the European Union.

As Glenn pointed out, Trump had carefully crafted this deal to benefit all parties, including Russia. Zelenskyy’s rejection was a major misstep.

Trump's generous offer to Zelenskyy

Glenn took to his whiteboard—swapping out his usual chalkboard—to break down Trump’s remarkable deal for Zelenskyy. He explained how it aligned with several of Trump’s goals: cutting spending, advancing technology and AI, and restoring America’s position as the dominant world power without military action. The deal would have also benefited the EU by preventing another war, revitalizing their economy, and restoring Europe’s global relevance. Ukraine and Russia would have gained as well, with the war—already claiming over 250,000 lives—finally coming to an end.

The media has portrayed last week’s fiasco as an ambush orchestrated by Trump to humiliate Zelenskyy, but that’s far from the truth. Zelenskyy was only in Washington because he had already rejected the deal twice—first refusing Vice President Vance and then Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It was Zelenskyy who insisted on traveling to America to sign the deal at the White House. If anyone set an ambush, it was him.

The EU can't help Ukraine

JUSTIN TALLIS / Contributor | Getty Images

After clashing with Trump and Vance, Zelenskyy wasted no time leaving D.C. The Ukrainian president should have stayed, apologized to Trump, and signed the deal. Given Trump’s enthusiasm and a later comment on Truth Social—where he wrote, “Zelenskyy can come back when he is ready for peace”—the deal could likely have been revived.

Meanwhile, in London, over a dozen European leaders, joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, convened an emergency meeting dubbed the “coalition of the willing” to ensure peace in Ukraine. This coalition emerged as Europe’s response to Trump’s withdrawal from the deal. By the meeting’s end, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a four-point plan to secure Ukrainian independence.

Zelenskyy, however, appears less than confident in the coalition’s plan. Recently, he has shifted his stance toward the U.S., apologizing to Trump and Vance and expressing gratitude for the generous military support America has already provided. Zelenskyy now says he wants to sign Trump’s deal and work under his leadership.

This is shaping up to be another Trump victory.

Glenn: No more money for the war machine, Senator McConnell

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

Senator McConnell, your call for more Pentagon spending is as tone-deaf as it is reckless. The United States already spends more on its military than the next nine countries combined — over $877 billion in 2023 alone, dwarfing China ($292 billion), Russia ($86 billion), and the entire EU’s collective defense budgets. And yet here you are, clamoring for more, as if throwing cash at an outdated war machine will somehow secure our future.

The world is changing, Senator, and your priorities are stuck in a bygone era.

Aircraft carriers — those floating behemoths you and the Pentagon so dearly love — are relics of the past. In the next real conflict, they’ll be as useless as horses were in World War I. Speaking of which, Europe entered that war with roughly 25 million horses; by 1918, fewer than 10 million remained, slaughtered by machine guns and artillery they couldn’t outrun.

That’s the fate awaiting your precious carriers against modern threats — sunk by hypersonic missiles or swarms of AI-driven drones before they can even launch a jet. The 1950s called, Senator — they want their war plans back.

The future isn’t in steel and jet fuel; it’s in artificial intelligence and artificial superintelligence. Every dollar spent on yesterday’s hardware is a dollar wasted in three years when AI upends everything we know about warfare. Worse, with the Pentagon’s track record, every dollar spent today could balloon into two or three dollars of inflation tomorrow, thanks to the House and Senate’s obscene spending spree.

We’re drowning in $34 trillion of national debt — 128% of GDP, a level unseen since World War II. Annual deficits hit $1.7 trillion in 2023, and interest payments alone are projected to top $1 trillion by 2026.

This isn’t sustainable; it’s a fiscal time bomb.

And yet you want to shovel more taxpayer money into a Pentagon that hasn’t passed a single audit in its history? Six attempts since 2018, six failures — trillions unaccounted for, waste so rampant that it defies comprehension. It’s irresponsible — bordering on criminal — to suggest more spending when the DOD can’t even count the cash it’s got.

The real threat isn’t just from abroad, though those dangers are profound. It’s from within. The call is coming from inside the house, Senator — and not just the House, but the Senate too. Your refusal to adapt is jeopardizing our security more than any foreign adversary.

Look at China’s drone shows — thousands of synchronized lights painting the sky. Now imagine those aren’t fireworks but weaponized drones, each one cheap, precise, and networked by AI. A single swarm could cripple our planes, ships, tanks, and troops before we fire a shot. Ukraine’s drone wars have already shown this reality: $500 drones taking out $10 million tanks. That’s the future staring us down, and we’re still polishing Cold War relics.

Freeze every bloated project.

Redirect everything — every dime, every mind — toward winning the AI/ASI race. That’s the only battlefield that matters. We’ve got enough stockpiles to handle any foreseeable war in the next three years and a president fighting to end conflicts, not start them. Your plea for more spending isn’t just misguided — it’s a betrayal of the American people sinking under debt and inflation while you chase ghosts of wars past.

Or is it even that senator? Perhaps I have buried the lede, but I am not sure if the following stats will help people understand why this op-ed might have been written by someone in your office.

Your state, Kentucky is:

  • 45th in GDP Per Capita
  • 44th in Employment
  • 42nd in High School Diplomas

And 11th in Defense-related defense contract spending

Who are you actually concerned about, Senator? The safety of the American people or your war machine buddies?

Thanks, but no thanks.

'MAD AS HELL': Here's what happened with the Epstein Files and what's next

Andrew Harnik / Staff, SAUL LOEB / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Jeffery Epstein's despicable low-life clients escape justice yet another day.

If you followed last week's commotion surrounding the release of the Epstein Files closely, you likely came away from the situation feeling frustrated and confused. Many anticipated the full release of Epstein's damning evidence, with names and details that would bring the hammer of justice down on those who indulged their wicked desires on that infamous island. Instead, we were dealt another disappointment, vexed once more by the swamp creatures Trump swore to destroy.

Many have turned their frustration towards the ensemble of new media representatives, including Glenn's friend and BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler, who was among those chosen to break the story. But don't shoot the messenger, if you take a moment to hear Wheeler's side of the story as Glenn did on radio, it's clear that the party at fault is the same enemy we've been fighting the whole time: the Deep State.

While Trump has won back-to-back victories during his first few weeks in office, he hasn't even been president for two months yet. It should come as no surprise that the swamp is still full of monsters, and they are starting to fight back. The events surrounding the release of the Epstein Filesprove there is still a lot of work left to do.

What happened?

JIM WATSON / Contributor | Getty Images

To fully understand last week's events, we need to go back to an interview Trump's new attorney general, Pam Bondi, did with Fox on Wednesday, February 26th. On the night of the 26th, Bondi sat down with Fox News host, Jesse Watters, where she first announced that the next day, Thursday the 27th, she would be releasing the long-awaited Epstein Files, and even made hints that the contents would be of interest, saying they would "make you sick."

The next morning, Liz Wheeler and other "new" media hosts were summoned to the White House, though they did not know why at the time. No mainstream reporters were present and Wheeler speculates that the purpose behind that was to deny them this story in retribution for Trump's poor coverage. Then Bondi and Kash Patel, the new director of the FBI, came in with the now-infamous binders, along with a letter Bondi had written to Patel and informed the reporters of the bad news. They told them that the binders contained what they had previously believed to be the full Epstein Files, until Bondi received information from a FBI whistleblower. This allegedly happened after her interview on Fox, and revealed that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the FBI had withheld large portions of the Epstein Files from both Bondi and Patel.

After this meeting, the reporters were let out of the White House where they were ambushed by the mainstream media. Believing that they were going to immediately break the news, the new media reporters smiled and waved, gloating their exclusive access to the story while their antiquated counterparts took photos. Then the new media reporters learned that the White House forbade them from breaking the news until 3:30 pm EST, to avoid Trump's conference with the UK Prime Minister from being focused solely on the Epstein Files story. This explains why Liz Wheeler and her fellow media representatives were silent for so long. It was a bait-and-switch that they never intended.

What did we learn?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

While initially this seems like a complete bust, there is new information we learned from this fiasco.

First, there was some new information in the binders, although a large portion of it was information we already knew. There was a copy of Epstein's Rolodex, essentially his contact list, which contained many of the same names we already knew had associated with Epstein in some capacity, though it's certainly not proof of any wrongdoing. The biggest reveal was a long list of known victims of Epstein and his degenerate client, although it was entirely redacted to protect the privacy of those on the list. This list was, allegedly, what Bondi was referring to on the Wednesday Fox interview, although Bondi's exact timeline is unclear and potentially suspicious.

The real takeaway from yesterday came from the letter Bondi sent Patel in response to the FBI leak. Not only did it prove our suspicions right, that this story is much deeper than we are being led to believe, but it reveals blatant betrayal within the government. The letter from Bondi orders Patel to knock some heads, get the real files, and compile a report highlighting who is hiding these files from Trump, Bondi, Patel, and the American people.

There are Deep State swamp creatures that are actively working against President Trump and his administration. Glenn likened this to aninternal Civil Warand encouraged Trump to take an axe to the whole system. We need to pull out this corruption root and stem.

What needs to happen next?

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The next step is learning what Kash Patel found when he started knocking heads. According to Bondi's letter, the full Epstein Files and Patel's report were due on her desk by 8:00 AM February the 28th. The American people need to know what he found and soon. We have waited long enough.

There also needs to be immediate and hard-hitting action taken against SDNY, the corrupt FBI agents, and whoever else seeks to undermine Trump's presidency. Really, this should not come as a surprise, Trump has been in office for less than two months. That is a very short time to completely uproot the Deep State which has been twisting its corruption around every branch of our government for the better part of a century.

This is the first major hiccup of Trump's second term, amid nearly two months of victory after victory, and if anything proves the validity of DOGE's work gutting the government. While we can't let this slide, now is not the time to abandon hope, now is the time to double down and demand answers.

DOGE's top 5 BIGGEST cuts

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

President Trump has only been in office for a month, and already, he seems to have accomplished more than most presidents do in their entire careers.

Nothing defines Trump's first month more than the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Equally controversial as it is popular, the department, headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has made it its mission to root out wasteful government spending. DOGE has already combed through a handful of agencies and eliminated billions of dollars of waste, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

DOGE is part of Trump's initiative to curb runaway government spending and to start to chip away at the Fed's crushing debt. At the time this article was written, U.S. debt sat at over $36 trillion, with an estimated $1.9 trillion a year federal budget deficit. According to the U.S. debt clock, Musk and the DOGE crew have already saved more than $136 billion, and that number only keeps growing.

To help track DOGE's progress, we've assembled a list of their top five biggest cuts:

1. USAID

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has been hit with the some of largest cuts out of any government agency and will potentially even be shut down. This comes after Musk and his team revealed theabsurd things USAID was funding, including a transgender opera in Colombia. The total cut came out to approximately $6.5 billion.

2. Department of Education

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

The Department of Education is another agency that faces extinction, much like USAID. The American school system has been found seriously lacking, with many students struggling to meet expectations despite the torrent of cash spent on education. Trump's new Secretary of Education pick, Linda McMahon, has sworn to turn the agency around and even oversee the closure of the department. DOGE has reportedly cut almost $1 billion in waste within the agency.

3. Institute of Educational Sciences

Steven Gottlieb / Contributor | Getty Images

The IES, or Institute of Educational Sciences, is tasked with tracking the academic progress of America's students and helping improve outcomes. The changes made by DOGE will not affect NAEP, also known as "The Nation's Report Card," and the College Scorecard, which tracks the spending, costs, and outcomes of universities. The agency was all but gutted by Musk's deep cuts, totaling $900 million.

4. Social Security Administration

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

For years, we've speculated that the Social Security Administration was a colossal waste of resources, but after Elon Musk posted a screenshot from the SSA database showing that there was a significant number of people over the age of 100 that were still consideredalive by the agency, it seems our suspicions are proved true. It's no small wonder Musk was able to trim over $230 million from the SSA.

5. General Services Administration

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The GSA is the latest agency to be hit by the DOGE crew. The administration, which manages federal property and contracts, has started a massive "reduction in force" push, thinning the numbers of employees by a large margin. As of yet, upwards of $300 million have been cut by the once-bloated agency.