BREAKING: Kinder, Gentler Glenn Beaten to Death by Old Glenn

July 25, 2017

WRITER

Members of Congress are struggling. The Speaker of the House only makes $223,500 annually. Aside from that, there's a cap on how much they can spend on personnel and office expenses --- just $3 million to $5 million.

"Well, Staples and Office Max, the prices have gone up several percentages," Co-host Stu Burguiere clarified.

Tuesday on radio, Glenn read a list of the outrageous benefits and perks available exclusively to our lawmakers.

Screw Obamacare, 'We the People' Want Everything Congress Has

Along with money toward living expenses and travel expenses, they also receive a tax break of $10,000 toward health care.

“A supermarket of 300 private health plans,” Glenn said, describing health care options available to government employees from 1959 to 2014.

In addition to private gyms, tennis courts, salons and barbershops, members also get airline privileges, retirement benefits, investment breaks and death benefits. Members who die while in office receive a full year’s salary --- ranging anywhere from $174K to $223K while deceased military personnel receive only $100K.

“It is grotesque,” Glenn said.

"I'm glad we're talking about health care today because I'm concerned about the coma that the kinder, gentler Glenn Beck is in right now," Stu noted.

Trump Pressures Republicans: You Either Side With Obamacare Architects or With Their Victims

Glenn shared some insight on what may have happened after hearing the senate would vote again on Obamacare.

"He was beaten to death last night," Glenn said. "Yeah, by the old Glenn. He was beaten to death."

GLENN: So Sessions may be out today. Unprecedented. Rex Tillerson is now making waves that he -- if sessions goes, he may go. He thinks it's unprofessional what's going on here.

The senate is voting on a bill they don't really know what's in the bill. This is chaos.

PAT: Well, you have to pass the bill to find out what's in it. I mean, we found that out.

GLENN: Maybe we don't pay our senators enough. Maybe $174,000 a year is just not enough money for them to actually care. You know, the speaker of the house only.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Is struggling on $223,000.

PAT: Oh, no. Don't say that.

GLENN: Yeah. I don't know how they do that.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: I don't know how they do that.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: They also get --

PAT: Can we take up, like, a fund me page of some sort.

GLENN: A GoFundMe page, yeah.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Well, they're allowed to deduct living expenses, so let's help do on their health care. They get $3,000 in living expenses that they can deduct. Also, they get a tax break of $10,000 on their health care, which is very nice.

PAT: Is that enough, though? Is that enough?

GLENN: Well, I'm not really sure. I mean, the health plan that they're on did start in 1959, and it was, you know, to cover everybody, you know, the civil workers, the post office, the important people, members of Congress. It wasn't a single plan. It was a supermarket of 300 private health plans.

JEFFY: Huh.

GLENN: Which is really nice. It's really nice. But then they got to have their own "shop" exchange, and they can do that with, you know, the $10,000 that the -- that everybody gets, of course.

PAT: And then. And then Jason Chaffetz has the nerve to say that they need, was it $2,500, $3,500 for a second residence in Washington, D.C., for all of them.

GLENN: Well, the Senators also have a personal and office expense account of $3 to $5 million each.

JEFFY: You can't run --

PAT: That's not every month.

GLENN: That's a year.

STU: Well, Staples and Office Max, the prices have gone up several percents.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Uh-huh. And the physical office space is a nightmare. It's -- yes, it is in the most important building in the country, and you -- but you only have between five and 8,200 square feet.

STU: But five square feet is really small. And people don't realize that. 8,200 is okay but five?

PAT: It's 5,000.

GLENN: If you have five.

STU: Oh.

GLENN: If you have 8,000 square feet, they expect you to furnish that with only $40,000 with taxpayer money.

STU: What?

GLENN: All of it over $5,000, I think you can get -- what is it? A couple thousand dollars more for every --

JEFFY: Oh, good.

GLENN: 200 square feet, I think.

STU: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: So I don't know how they do it. But they --

PAT: Can you imagine decorating a room with only $40,000?

GLENN: Imagine that?

PAT: I just.

JEFFY: No.

PAT: You can't do that.

GLENN: Right. And they also receive $250,000 budget for travel and office expenses.

STU: Well, yeah.

GLENN: So they can -- you know, they can do that, and their employees are all making $172,000 to $168,000. Plus they get the taxpayer funded members only gym, so they don't have to worry about the riffraff. And then they also have the members only salon where they can get their, you know, hair done and a barbershop too.

STU: Yeah, everyone has to have a haircut.

GLENN: The members only tennis court. Oh, and the airline privileges, which are really nice. They can book any flight -- they can book every flight that they wanted and then just cancel last minute, no penalties. And so they generally book several flights because they're never really sure when they're going to be able to get out of there, and you don't want to have them worry about that. So then they can just drive to Washington National where they get to park their car for free, which is $740,000 in foregone revenue for Reagan National. They just park their car there.

STU: They just eat that, probably.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. The taxpayers can eat that. It's no big deal.

STU: Yeah, we've got that for you guys. No problem.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

PAT: Well, because of the hard work that they're doing for us. You don't mind doing that, right?

GLENN: Amen, brother.

PAT: We don't need all of those expenses.

GLENN: You've worked hard your whole life, so you've put into social security, and you get $15,000 a year. The public workers pension, you get $26,000 a year on top of your 15,000.

STU: Well, yeah.

GLENN: If you're a public servant, you get that. And of course if you're a member of congress, you get $59,000 of pension for the rest of your life. On top of the . . .

JEFFY: Plus.

GLENN: Yeah. And of course you can do all of the insider trading that you did and everything else.

STU: I'm still stuck of the fact that they're honoring the memory of Ronald Reagan by giving away $700,000 of parking spots. That's an -- and free flights.

PAT: Yeah, but they're only making $174,000 a year.

GLENN: Well, if they ever die while they're in office, they get one year full salary of $174,000. However, if one of our soldiers die, they're capped at $100,000. They can't get more than $100,000.

STU: Well, who's doing more important work.

GLENN: Amen, brother. Who's working harder for the American people?

STU: And I think you can definitely say our senators and congressmen.

GLENN: Right. I think so.

STU: When you put them side by side, it's pretty obvious.

GLENN: It's grotesque. It is grotesque what is happening right now. I can't --

STU: I'm glad we're talking about health care today because I'm concerned about the coma that the kinder, gentler Glenn Beck is in right now. It seems to be --

GLENN: He was beaten to death last night.

STU: It's terrible.

GLENN: Yeah, by the old Glenn. He was beaten to death.

PAT: It does get frustrating sometimes. There are going to be days like this; right?

GLENN: Yeah, there are. Everybody --

PAT: It's too agonizing.

GLENN: It's too outrageous.

PAT: It is.

GLENN: I literally could not come up with appropriate words. I cannot come up with appropriate words. I just can't on how obscene and grotesque all of this is. And we're taking it.

PAT: Yeah. I mean --

JEFFY: We sure are.

PAT: We look with disgust on Rome and the way the senate -- the way the Roman senators acted and conducted themselves. And the outrage and the eating vomittoriums and all of that kind of --

STU: That's a move toward respectability at this point.

PAT: It is. It is. If they were just puking after every meal so that they could eat more, I would like that better.

STU: That's not bad.

PAT: So what. Go ahead. So you have bulimia, whatever.

GLENN: What I know it is making --

PAT: Stop raping the American people.

Who will be Kamala Harris' VP pick?

JIM WATSON / Contributor, Chris duMond / Stringer, Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

Over the weekend, President Joe Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential election and put forward his endorsement behind his Vice President Kamala Harris.

Glenn recently predicted that Biden would step down due to the mountain of pressure within his party to do so. But now that we are here we are faced with an all-new line of questions, like, who will be the candidate on the Democratic ticket? Who will be their pick for vice president?

As of now, the answer to the first question seems to be Kamala Harris, who received the support of the president and several prominent democrats. It's still too early to call for certain, and Glenn doesn't think it's likely, but assuming Kamala becomes the Democrat nominee, who will her VP pick be? There are endless possible options, but there are a 5 big names that could prove beneficial to Harris' campaign:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Bill Pugliano / Stringer | Getty Images

Governor Newsom has spiked in popularity within his party since his taking office in 2019 due to his scathing criticisms of President Trump and other Republicans. Newsom has been a popular contender as a possible Biden replacement, and a future presidential bid seems likely.

His widespread recognition may be a boon to Kamala's ticket, but the California governor comes with a dark side. Newsom was famously nearly recalled as Governor in 2021, hanging on to his office by a narrow margin. He also faced criticism for his hypocrisy during the COVID lockdowns, attending large gatherings while the rest of his state was locked inside. There's also the issue that both Newsom and Kamala are from California, meaning that if they were to appear on the same ticket, that ticket would lack geographical balance and would potentially lead to a Constitutional issue that would force the duo to forfeit all 54 of the states' Electoral College votes.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

Another prominent Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro has also been floated as a potential VP pick. Governor Shapiro has become a viable pick due to his well-received performance as Pennslyvania's Governor. The governor has good support within the swing state due to his handling of the I-95 bridge collapse, the train derailment in East Palestine, which had effects on his state, and the assassination attempt on the former president last week. Shapiro would bring much-needed support from the swing state if he was put on the ticket.

That being said, Shapiro has little time to build nationwide name recognition before the DNC in August and the November election. This would be Shapiro's debut on the national stage, and he would find himself in the most unforgiving situation possible.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor | Getty Images

Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and opponent of Biden during the 2020 Democratic primaries, "Mayor Pete's" name recognition might be what Kamala needs on her presidential ticket. Buttigieg rose to popularity during the 2020 election due to his youth and status as "openly gay." Buttigieg has served as the Secretary of Transportation during the Biden administration for the past four years and has formally endorsed Harris.

Nevertheless, Buttigieg has some dark spots on his resume. The East Palestine train derailment disaster has besmirched his reputation as Secretary of Transportation. And while his youth may work in his favor when compared to the other elderly members of our federal government, it also means Buttigieg lacks the experience and prestige that other politicians enjoy.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Noam Galai / Stringer | Getty Images

Yet another governor of a crucial swing state, Whitmer was elected in 2018, two years after President Trump was elected, helping secure the state for the Democrats. Whitmer is known for her strong opposition to Trump, both during his presidency and his reelection campaign. Whitmer serves as co-chair for the Biden-Harris campaign and as vice chairperson of the DNC, which gives her influence over the Democratic party, something that would come in handy as a Vice President. Gov. Whitmer also established the Fight Like Hell PAC, which is dedicated to helping Democrats get elected and to stopping Trump by any means.

On the other hand, in a statement following Biden's resignation from the election, Governor Whitmer stated that her role “will remain the same.” It is also worth noting that if she were to be chosen as Kamala's VP, that would make their ticket all-female, which may foster some "woke points," but is politically risky.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

Lexington Herald-Leader / Contributor | Getty Images

Andy Bashear has seemingly beaten the odds twice, having been elected and reelected as the Governor of Kentucky, despite the deep-red nature of the state. Beshear, who has moderate tendencies, would be a boon to the Harris campaign as he has a track record of reaching rural, typically conservative regions where Democrats tend to struggle. He is also known for his propensity to talk about his Christian faith and willingness to work with Republicans, which are traits that might help win over moderates.

But, like Gov. Shapiro, Bashear has very little time to whip up national support and recognition. He also is unlikely to be very much help for the Harris campaign in winning over important swing states.

Five times Glenn had J.D. Vance on his show and where he stands on key issues

CHANDAN KHANNAMANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

We finally have an answer to the long-awaited question of who Trump will pick for his running mate, and it's none other than Ohio Senator and friend of the show, J.D. Vance. At the RNC in Milwaukee, Trump officially accepted the party's nomination as the Republican candidate and announced J.D. Vance as his running mate.

Glenn has had Senator Vance on the show several times to discuss everything from DEI to the Southern Border. If you are looking to familiarize yourself with the next potential Vice President, look no further, here are five conversations Glenn had with Trump's VP pick:

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How RFK's example can help our nation in the wake of Trump's attack

Rowland Scherman / Contributor | Getty Images

How did you feel last Saturday when you heard the news that a former president of the United States narrowly avoided an assassin's bullet by a mere few inches? Were you angry at the media for their constant demonization of Trump and his conservative contingency? Did you blame the left for curating a political climate that fostered an assassination attempt?

In his immediate reaction to the news, Glenn pointed us back to a similar moment in American history: April 4th, 1968—the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

"The best speech I've ever heard given was by RFK Sr. on the day Martin Luther King was killed" - Glenn

Robert F. Kennedy, the father of current independent presidential candidate RFK Jr., was en route to Indianapolis when he heard the terrible news. His security team, expecting violent outrage across the country, asked RFK Sr. to turn around and head back to safety. But as Glenn said, RFK Sr. believed in the good in people and demanded to give his speech. He arrived in Indianapolis Park late in the day, and he addressed the crowd of predominantly black campaign supporters.

There were no riots in Indianapolis that night.

The message RFK Sr. gave that night wasn't one of vengeance, hatred, or hopelessness, but of calm and goodness. He appealed to the best in people. He called for people to set aside their differences, anger, fear, and confusion and instead express love and compassion towards one another. RFK Sr. asked for wisdom and the pursuit of justice so that we might be resolute in our unity as the country faces another difficult chapter.

What we need in this country is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another.

Glenn has made a similar plea to our nation—a plea for unity and not to lash out in fear and anger. Don't use this time to blame your friends and family who disagree with you politically for what happened or to tell them "I told you so!" Instead, reach out with compassion and grace. This is a turning point in American history. Let's turn it upward, away from hatred and violence and towards unison and compassion.

Remembering Corey Comperatore: The man who died at the Trump rally protecting his family

Allyson Comperatore | Facebook

Fortunately, President Trump walked away from his attempted assassination with very minor injuries. The bullet that wounded Trump's ear could have just as easily ended his life, and his survival is nothing short of a miracle.

Sadly, that miracle didn't extend to everyone attending Trump's ill-fated Pennsylvania rally. Three other people were shot. David Dutch and James Copenhaver, both Pennslyavia residents, are thankfully in stable condition. Corey Comperatore, however, tragically died after being shot while protecting his wife and daughter from the hail of gunfire.

“Corey died a hero."

Camperatore, a 50-year-old loving father and husband from Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania leaves behind his daughter Allyson, his wife Helen, sister Dawn, and many other friends and family. Camperatore was a man of service, having spent 43 years as part of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company and had worked his way to becoming the fire chief when he stepped down to spend more time with his daughter.

Corey Comperatore's firefighting gear outside the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

Corey's friends and family have nothing but good things to say about him, and judging by their testimonies, Corey's final heroic act was consistent with how the volunteer firefighter lived his life.

According to many people who knew Compertore, he was a true patriot who loved his country. He was a fan of President Trump. Compertore was very excited to attend Saturday's rally, which he expressed in his last social media post.

Corey_Comper/X

During his speech addressing the shooting, President Biden expressed his condolences to the Comperatore family, stating that "He was a father. He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired.”

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