Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcasts
The Glenn Beck ProgramThe Glenn Beck PodcastThe Beck Story
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

The Staggeringly Stupid Six-Figure Problem Tearing Illinois Apart

July 26, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Illinois is $15 billion in debt --- and trying to borrow more money to get out of the hole. The state has been threatened with a downgrade to junk bond status by credit rating agencies after two years of spending without a state budget.

Wednesday on radio, Glenn listed examples of the state's reckless spending on salaries:

• Chicago auto pound supervisor: $144,453

• State correctional facility nurse: $254,741

• Junior college president: $465,420

• University doctors: $1.6 million

• Deputy police chief: $240,917 (with overtime)

• School superintendent: $398,229

“You're going to love this one. If you’re a barber in the prison, you make $100,000,” Glenn said.

“Well, I mean, I’m sure they give really special haircuts,” Co-host Pat Gray joked.

There are thousands and thousands of people on the government payroll in Illinois:

• 20,295 teachers and school administrators

• 10,676 rank-and-file workers and managers in Chicago alone

• 9,567 college and university employees

• 8,640 State of Illinois employees

• 8,817 small town city and village employees, including 84 municipal managers out-earning every U.S. governor.

Additionally, overtime is a huge expense for the Prairie State. In 2016, Chicago alone paid $283 million in overtime to 1,000 employees, making an extra $40,000 each on top of salaries. Altogether, Illinois directs around $12 billion in cash compensation to six-figure government workers, including federal employees.

GLENN: Oh, and some really good news. Especially if you live in Illinois. Illinois is in trouble. It is teetering on junk bond status. So what does that mean? That means the state's about to collapse. Why is it in trouble? Oh, my gosh. We'll show you the stats of Illinois, and we begin there right now.

Open the books.com has done some research. It's on Forbes now. Why Illinois is in trouble.

Well, as they're flirting with junk bond status and the states -- the courts have said "You have to pay all of the pensions" let me tell you about some of the expenses that are not the pensions. These are current expenditures.

Right now, they have 63,000 government employees bringing in six figure and higher salaries. Open the books.com went. Illinois consistently one of the worst offenders. They have an auto pound supervisor in Chicago. Guy who runs the auto pound. Making $144,453. If you want to be a nurse in a prison.

PAT: Wow. Just where they impound vehicles?

GLENN: Uh-huh. Well, he's a manager.

PAT: Wow. That's a good gig.

GLENN: That's only 144,000. How about this? If you're a nurse at a state correctional facility.

JEFFY: Dangerous.

GLENN: You're he didn't up to $254,741. A nurse. Junior college. Junior college presidents making $465,420. There's university doctors -- okay. Remember the nurses were 254. How much are the doctors? University doctors earning $1.6 million and 84 city managers or mayors outearning every single U.S. governor.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: But that's nothing.

JEFFY: They have to do an entire city.

GLENN: They have 20,295 teachers and school administrators that are paid like the superintendent Joyce Carmine 398,229. Park schools district teacher 384 --

PAT: Wait, just for a teacher?

GLENN: Uh-huh.

PAT: A teacher is making $384,000?

GLENN: 20,295 teachers and school administrators. The top five salaries are in the south suburbs and not the affluent north shore. 10,686 rank and file workers in Chicago including 216,200 for rob Emmanuel, 400,000 for Ginger Evans, commissioner of aviation, includes a $100,000 bonus on top of their $400,000 salary. A deputy police chief made 240,917, and that's with 146,860 in overtime. Ramona Perkins.

JEFFY: This is a good gig right here.

GLENN: Pulled down police communications operator. 121,318 and overtime of 196,726.

JEFFY: Almost $200,000 of overtime.

GLENN: Her salary is 121. Her overtime is 196.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: And, by the way, she's a operator -- police communications operator. That's what she's doing.

JEFFY: That's an important job.

GLENN: You have 9,567 college and university employees, including the southern Illinois junior college power couple Dale Chapman and Linda Chapman. The pair combined make $682,000 for working at Louis and Clark community college.

PAT: Doing what? What do they do?

GLENN: I think they run it.

PAT: Okay.

GLENN: I think they run it.

And then you have Fady Sharbell who is making 1.58 million.

PAT: Wait, doing what?

GLENN: These are college and university employers --

PAT: Employees.

GLENN: I'm sorry. Employees.

PAT: 1.58 million?

GLENN: You have Constantine making 1.4 million.

JEFFY: These are the doctors.

GLENN: Universal Illinois, you have 8,640 state of Illinois employees, including a contractual worker at the newly created department of innovation and technology making 258,000. You're going to love this one. If you're a barber in the prison, you make $100,000.

PAT: Well, I mean, I'm sure they give really special haircuts there.

GLENN: Wait, wait, wait. They're very hard.

PAT: And you want the inmates to be stylish; right?

GLENN: You do.

PAT: You want them to look good.

GLENN: So you have $100,000 barber at the prisons making $100,000.

PAT: That's crazy.

GLENN: But you have also at the prisons, the quote teacher of barbering who also makes over $100,000.

PAT: Well, how are the barbers going to know how to cut hair without a barber teacher?

STU: How can a barber barb?

PAT: I'm not usually shocked by this but those are shocking statistics. That is --

GLENN: In total, there is roughly $12 billion in cash compensation flowing to six-figure government workers when counting the 9,031 federal employees based in Illinois.

PAT: And then they're saying why are our finances so bad in this state? How do we go bankrupt?

STU: Well, and it goes even deeper than that because after these people retire with $185,000 salaries, they get pensions based off of those salaries that carry them for the rest of their lives.

PAT: Yeah, they'll get three-fourths or two-thirds of their salary for the rest of their lives. That's a heck of a lot of money.

GLENN: Some Illinois K through 12 schools are spiking salaries and padding pensions. Data reveals nearly 30,000 teachers and administrators earned $100,000 plus. However, 20,295 only -- so 20,295 out of the 30,000 are actually employed. The other 9,305 are retired and receiving their six-figure pension.

This is absolutely unbelievable. And it's not going away because all of them have unions. And so the state is saying "You have to pay the pensions because the unions made the deal with the government. They're still making this pensions. They're still paying those pensions. They're still making new covenants with the guys coming in now saying okay. Yeah, I'm going to pay you $100,000 now. But I'll pay you 196,000 in overtime to get your pension up so you'll have a six-figure pension for the rest of your life. Oh, and you only have to work here 20 years.

STU: Think about how -- we -- a lot of conservatives will say pensions are okay. And a good idea. And, you know, look, you enter into a situation where you -- that's part of the deal, and I honestly understand that. But what they're doing is telling you, you know, I'll pay you Thursday or Tuesday for a hamburger today.

GLENN: I'll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

STU: They're just saying we're not going to pay you what you're worth now. What we're going to do is send this out over a long, long period of time so you get paid for a lot of years that you do nothing.

That is not a good philosophy.

Warning: 97% fear Gen Z’s beliefs could ignite political chaos

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

In a republic forged on the anvil of liberty and self-reliance, where generations have fought to preserve free markets against the siren song of tyranny, Gen Z's alarming embrace of socialism amid housing crises and economic despair has sparked urgent alarm. But in a recent poll, Glenn asked the tough questions: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from—and what does it mean for America's future? Glenn asked, and you answered—hundreds weighed in on this volatile mix of youthful frustration and ideological peril.

The results paint a stark picture of distrust in the system. A whopping 79% of you affirm that Gen Z's socialist sympathies stem from real economic gripes, like sky-high housing costs and a rigged game tilted toward the elite and corporations—defying the argument that it's just youthful naivety. Even more telling, 97% believe this trend arises from a glaring educational void on socialism's bloody historical track record, where failed regimes have crushed freedoms under the boot of big government. And 97% see these poll findings as a harbinger of deepening generational rifts, potentially fueling political chaos and authoritarian overreach if left unchecked.

Your verdict underscores a moral imperative: America's soul hangs on reclaiming timeless values like self-reliance and liberty. This feedback amplifies your concerns, sending a clear message to the powers that be.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

Civics isn’t optional—America's survival depends on it

JEFF KOWALSKY / Contributor | Getty Images

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

I slept through high school civics class. I memorized the three branches of government, promptly forgot them, and never thought of that word again. Civics seemed abstract, disconnected from real life. And yet, it is critical to maintaining our republic.

Civics is not a class. It is a responsibility. A set of habits, disciplines, and values that make a country possible. Without it, no country survives.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Civics happens every time you speak freely, worship openly, question your government, serve on a jury, or cast a ballot. It’s not a theory or just another entry in a textbook. It’s action — the acts we perform every day to be a positive force in society.

Many of us recoil at “civic responsibility.” “I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I do my civic duty.” That’s not civics. That’s a scam, in my opinion.

Taking up the torch

The founders knew a republic could never run on autopilot. And yet, that’s exactly what we do now. We assume it will work, then complain when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the people steering the country are driving it straight into a mountain — and they know it.

Our founders gave us tools: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections. But they also warned us: It won’t work unless we are educated, engaged, and moral.

Are we educated, engaged, and moral? Most Americans cannot even define a republic, never mind “keep one,” as Benjamin Franklin urged us to do after the Constitutional Convention.

We fought and died for the republic. Gaining it was the easy part. Keeping it is hard. And keeping it is done through civics.

Start small and local

In our homes, civics means teaching our children the Constitution, our history, and that liberty is not license — it is the space to do what is right. In our communities, civics means volunteering, showing up, knowing your sheriff, attending school board meetings, and understanding the laws you live under. When necessary, it means challenging them.

How involved are you in your local community? Most people would admit: not really.

Civics is learned in practice. And it starts small. Be honest in your business dealings. Speak respectfully in disagreement. Vote in every election, not just the presidential ones. Model citizenship for your children. Liberty is passed down by teaching and example.

Samuel Corum / Stringer | Getty Images

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Start with yourself. Study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and state laws. Study, act, serve, question, and teach. Only then can we hope to save the republic. The next election will not fix us. The nation will rise or fall based on how each of us lives civics every day.

Civics isn’t a class. It’s the way we protect freedom, empower our communities, and pass down liberty to the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE