Governor Abbott: Locking Your Doors Doesn't Mean You Don't Like Your Neighbors

Texas Governor Greg Abbott called into The Glenn Beck Program today, March 2, a day that also happens to be Texas Independence Day.

"I'm speaking to you from the Sam Houston bedroom in the governor's mansion in the state of Texas. I'm living in a governor's mansion that Sam Houston lived in . . . the historical connection is profound." Governor Abbott said.

RELATED: History of Texas Part III: Sam Houston

In addition to recognizing an important holiday for Texans, the governor also discussed current issues like the Texas Senate approving measures for a convention of states, as well as the status of building a wall on the southern border.

"Mexico is our neighbor, and we need to have a good relationship with Mexico. And we need to be respectful of them, and they need to be respectful of us enforcing our rule of law and protecting our own sovereignty. We can foster that goodwill while building a border," Governor Abbott said. "If we can do all of that, Glenn, this will be something that will have a lasting effect, a positive effect for both Texas, the United States and Mexico."

GLENN: Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the federal government is beginning to accept contract bids for the building of the wall along the border with Mexico.

Governor Abbott, have you heard anything about that?

GREG: I have. But before I say that, I know you have listeners from across the world. But here in the state of Texas, we're celebrating Texas Independence Day.

GLENN: I know.

GREG: This is the day we became an independent nation ourself, many years ago, on March the 2nd.

GLENN: Yeah. We have a last piece in our serial this week. We've been doing Texas history. At the bottom of this hour, the last -- is it the last one? Or is tomorrow the last one?

PAT: Tomorrow is the last one.

GLENN: Tomorrow is the last one. Today we talk about Davy Crockett and Sam Houston. Which Sam Houston is an amazing guy. Has to be a governor that you look back on and say, "How could I be half the man that he was?"

I mean, taking on and standing against slavery in the South --

STU: At that time.

GLENN: -- at that time was a big deal. That guy was really brave.

GREG: He's amazing. And as I speak to you this moment, I'm speaking to you from the Sam Houston bedroom in the governor's mansion in the state of Texas. I'm living in a governor's mansion that Sam Houston lived in.

GLENN: Wow.

PAT: That's pretty cool.

GREG: And so the historical connection is profound.

GLENN: Yeah. So, Greg, let's talk a little bit about the border wall. Do you believe it is actually going to be built?

GREG: Oh, I know it is. And as you were alluding to in your intro, the request for bids has already been issued. And people are making bids right now. The time period for the bids closes here in just a couple of weeks. The bid will be announced in early April. Meaning that the work is going to begin in early April. So the administration is moving very quickly on this.

This round of bids is what's called a first tranche. And it will involve three sections across the border. One of the sections is in Texas. It's near what we call the Presidio region. It's going to be about 1- to 200 miles southeast of El Paso, Texas. It's that border-crossing area that has been penetrated heavily by cartel activity. And it's kind of in urgent need to build the wall in that sector.

The other two new sectors will be in other states. I think, if I recall correctly, it is in New Mexico and Arizona.

Bottom line, this is the first of what should be three different tranches of adding wall to the border. And this is going to get done.

PAT: So, Governor, are they keeping you in that loop? Are you being involved in those discussions? Because it would seem pretty logical for you to be a part of that.

GREG: Yes. I just returned from a five-day trip to Washington, DC, visiting with administration officials. And this is where it was first announced to us, being the governors. We have an annual governors' conference in Washington, DC, at the end of February. And one of the topics was the border wall. And it was told to us at that time what was going to be taking place at the border. But frankly before that, several weeks before that, I was on a flyover of the border with a new secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, when we were talking about the very issue. So at multiple levels in multiple time frames, I've been informed about what's going on, and they are keeping Texas in the loop.

GLENN: So do you see a time, in a short period, relatively speaking, where the border is actually closed off, with a big, beautiful door?

GREG: Well, remember this, and that is, there are large segments of the Texas Mexico border and US-Mexico border that already have walls along there. Several weeks ago, I had US Homeland Security secretary John Kelly. And we flew around. And he got to see for the first time for him the border wall as it currently exists in the Rio Grande valley. And so there are large multi-mile segments of border wall already there, that are working very effectively, that serve as a funneling device for those who are trying to cross the border, especially cracking down on the cartels and what they are trying to do along the border.

GLENN: How are you going to get around the people who say you're going to cut my land in half -- I know this will be a favorite question of yours. The EPA.

GREG: The EPA is under a new regime. One of the people I met with in Washington, DC, is Scott Pruitt, the new EPA administrator. And he is restoring the EPA to its original intent, which is not to be the dictator-in-chief in Washington, DC.

But the EPA is supposed to work in collaboration with the states. And believe me, that's exactly what he's going to do. The EPA challenges will be greatly diminished. That aside, we know that private parties will be filing lawsuits along those lines.

But going back to the first part of your question, a lot of the easements, a lot of the right-to-ways (phonetic) have already either been purchased or agreements entered into by the United States government. Remembering this, because people forget, it was under the Bush administration that the border wall -- or let's call it border fence. They call it different names. Was initially entered into. If I recall correctly -- don't hold me to this, but you'll know this. And you'll be able to bring it up later.

I think even people like Nancy Pelosi voted in favor of it at the time. So there was a border fence in the territory or land needed for that border fence, stretching from Brownsville all the way to San Diego. And many of the segments are already either owned or have building rights by the federal government.

That said, there are portions that the federal government does not have. It could be private land. It could be other parts of land they don't have. And they will work around that.

But let's go back to kind of the premise you're talking about here. And that is, I can't tell you there's going to be a yard by yard border wall stretching from Brownsville, Texas, to El Paso, Texas. There could be segments where there is not a border wall. But what I do know from talking to the administration, learning about what their game plan is, and that is, they are finally going to regain sovereign control over the border through multiple layers of security. One of those layers is a wall. A key factor is even a wall alone is not going to stop cross-border activity. You have to have boots on the ground so they are dedicating 5,000 more border patrol agents. Many more ICE agents so that they have the personnel which are needed, but also the detection equipment, the boats, the planes, cameras, et cetera, so that they are going to regain control of our border.

GLENN: So, Governor Abbott, how do we make this -- I mean, here's the problem that we've had now with the last administration. And, quite honestly, I fear with this administration, is it's not -- we're not changing laws, and we're not strengthening the laws. What we're doing is strengthening the Oval Office and the administration.

So this president can be great on the border. But what do we do -- what do we have at the end of this that, in four years or eight years, somebody else doesn't just come in and reverse it all?

GREG: Well, you raised an important issue from two perspectives: First of all, what the Trump administration really is doing is -- is -- as you say, they're not making new laws. They're finally applying and enforcing the laws, as they have long existed. The reason why we're in the problem that we are in today is because over a period of decades, there's been a gradual erosion in the enforcement of the laws.

And this is what's going to happen. When you refuse and fail to enforce the laws, in that people will continue to gradually evade them and not abide by them. And that is what has led us to the position today, where a new administration finally says, "We have to put up a wall."

After the -- after the current administration -- listen, life changes. And you can't say for certainty. Someone may not come back in and tear down the wall. Here's what we need to do to make it more effective. And that is, if you look at some of the concerns raised about the wall, especially concerns raised by Mexico, what really needs to be done is to establish both a better attitude and a better approach about why we're doing it. This is not a signal of hostility towards Mexico. This is a signal of our own concern of protecting our own home.

It's the way that you or your listeners act probably every night, that is many of you lock your doors at night. You don't lock your doors at night because you don't like your neighbor next door. You want to protect your own safety and your own family, living in friendship with your neighbors.

And that's the attitude that we need to foster with Mexico. Mexico is our neighbor. And we need to have a good relationship with Mexico. And we need to be respectful of them, and they need to be respectful of us enforcing our rule of law and protecting our own sovereignty. We can foster that goodwill while building a border. This will be a border wall. This will be -- and maintain our positive -- Mexico is a huge trade partner with us.

If we can do all of that, Glenn, this will be something that will have a lasting effect, a positive effect for both Texas, the United States, and Mexico.

GLENN: How do you feel about a tariff on Mexico?

GREG: You know, I've heard a lot of analysis about this. And especially when I was in Washington, DC, this past week and go through the analysis, and here is what I am hearing: It's called the border adjustment tax, or the bat tax. And I'm hearing the real reason for that is to pay for the other corporate tax reduction.

And when people talk about going through the mathematical equation of how the border adjustment tax is supposed to work, it seems like it keeps running into challenges. And I hear that the administration may not be in favor -- I hear the US Senate may not be in favor of it.

I hear that businesses may not be in favor of it.

And so it seems like it keeps running into obstacle after obstacle. And I would say it's tough to predict that the border adjustment tax will actually come into effect.

GLENN: We're just going to run out of time with you. So let me just get to the Convention of States. Passed in the Senate, are we going to see this push through? And do you have any idea what happened to Utah or other states as you're meeting with the border -- or, with the governors?

Are other states jumping on board, or is this taking a backseat now?

GREG: On the Texas side, remember that in the last legislative session that we had two years ago, the Convention of States' plan passed in the Texas House of Representatives.

So there's every reason to expect that those same representatives will not change their votes. They will vote the same way they did last time -- and so -- and it did not pass in the Texas Senate last time. So getting it passed in the Texas Senate was a game-changer. And it should lead to the passage in the state of Texas of the Convention of States.

Texas will join now a growing number of states that have passed a Convention of States. And when we do so, it unleashes me and other leaders in the state of Texas to explain to people across the country why this is needed. Remember this -- and I know we're running out of time. But let me make this really important point. And that is, I was not one of the leaders or a promoter of the Convention of States up until recently. What changed me and what brought this out of me, it was very simple, it was more than a philosophical idea. It was a practical idea.

My necessity for passing a Convention of States was borne out of filing 31 lawsuits against the Obama administration and realizing how not just the federal government, but the federal courts have been broken in, they had departed from our United States Constitution. And there's only one way that we as a country are going to restore our Constitution the way that it was intended, and that is for the people of the United States of America to take back our country and to restore the Constitution to what it was intended. Not rewrite it.

Remembering this, you, Glenn, you know, and your listeners know, you can recite what the Tenth Amendment said. And that is, all power not delegated to the United States in the Constitution is reserved to the states or to the people, period.

And that's the problem. It doesn't contain the additional clause that it needs, that says, and the states have the power to enforce the Tenth Amendment. And we need that additional clause in there so that courts will stop denying states the authority to enforce the Tenth Amendment.

GLENN: I think one of the best governors in America. In fact, people in Texas feel -- the last poll came out last week. Texans, asked their opinion of all of the statewide officeholders, including our US senators, who are awful popular here. Ted Cruz very popular, he -- Governor Abbott was the most popular by a wide margin. Congratulations on that. And thanks for being with us, Governor Abbott.

GREG: Thank you so much, Glenn. God bless.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

Dependable, affordable electricity has been a staple of American life for decades, but that might all be coming to an end. Glenn has discussed recent actions taken by Biden, like orders to halt new oil and gas production and efforts to switch to less efficient sources of power, like wind or solar, the price of electricity is only going to go up. This, alongside his efforts to limit air conditioning and ban gas stoves, it almost seems Biden is attempting to send us back to the Stone Age.

4 signs that PROVE Americans are hitting rock bottom

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

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

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

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

Evictions

John Moore / Staff | Getty Images

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

Foreclosures

Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

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

Bankruptcies

Chris Hondros / Staff | Getty Images

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

Homelessness

FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor | Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

First, life is worth it. ≈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How did the attack on your food begin?

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

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

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

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

How is our right to feed ourselves under attack today?

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

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

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

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

What comes next?

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

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

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

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