Glenn Beck: Obama tax flip flop

January 12, 2010

The Glenn Beck Program

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/v/l46t_nrySg4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0 expand=1] The Obama National Anthem...

GLENN: We have, we have some problems, I guess, with the unions. They are very, very upset that this Cadillac tax is going to go through. First of all, you know, don't count, don't count anything out before it actually happens. In this, in this world that we're living in now you know they started again that healthcare's hanging by a thread, it's probably not going to pass. Oh, please. What makes you believe this isn't going to pass? I mean, besides the fact that 35% of America like this plan and want this plan. Democrats don't want it, Republicans don't want it. It's at an all time low now. It's going to continue to go through. And Barack Obama is going to give a Cadillac tax now on your health benefits. What is a Cadillac tax? You have too good of health insurance.

Now me, if I'm the president of the United States, I'm going to encourage people to give their employees the best health care possible. Preventative care, you name it, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to incentivize these companies. I'm going to give them tax cuts if they increase the healthcare, if they do a great job on healthcare, I'll give them tax breaks. What does this president do? You can have too good of healthcare. So he's going to fine those companies. If you have too good of healthcare, you get a tax. Well, what happens, do you suppose, to your healthcare? For instance, I have the best healthcare for my company, best healthcare I can possibly buy for my employees. We cover them 100%. Nothing. Nothing is off the table. We give them everything we possibly can. By law I'm covering everything I can and the only thing I could do that would be better is to buy a plan across state lines, which the government won't let me do. So if this Cadillac tax passes, what happens to the insurance? I can't afford to pay the tax and give them the best kind of benefits. So what happens to you as that's the employer's point of view. What happens to you as the employee? Well, you've worked hard for that. That was a great benefit. Now you lose it? Yeah. Now you lose it. If you're a union worker, that was part of your negotiation. You didn't take a certain amount because you got better benefits, et cetera, et cetera, and you were promised those benefits. Well, now the unions are saying you can't tax us. Well, don't worry about it. They are not taxing all of the unions. Most of the unions are getting an exemption from this. But if you're a regular business? See, we're no longer about equal justice. We're all about who do you know? Who has power? Equal justice, no, no, no. Social justice. And the ones who deserve more justice than you are the unions. Don't you wish you had a union job now?

The problem with this tax plan is this is the exact opposite of what Barack Obama campaigned on. He made a very big deal about John McCain and his Cadillac tax. If I'm not mistaken, though, John McCain, he had a rebate. So you paid in for this Cadillac tax but then there was a rebate and he claimed that that way there's no tax and that doesn't make sense to me, why would you get a rebate, why collect the tax at all then.

PAT: Yeah, but his pledge was, you know, that was ridiculous. The first time in American history and, you know, he certainly changed his tune since

GLENN: Yeah. So let's listen to what Barack Obama has said today and has said in the past about the Cadillac health tax.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: For example, I'm on record as saying that taxing Cadillac plans that don't make people healthier but just take more money out of their pockets because they're paying more for insurance than they need to, that's actually a good idea.

John McCain calls these plans Cadillac plans and in some cases it may be that a CEO's getting too good a deal. But what if you're a line worker making a good American car like the Cadillac? What if you're one of the steel workers who are working right here at Newport News and you've given up wage increases in exchange for better healthcare? Well, Senator McCain believes you should pay higher taxes, too. The bottom line: The better your healthcare plan, the harder you fought for your good benefits, the higher the taxes you'll pay under John McCain's plan.

And I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.

GLENN: But wait. He goes further.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And my opponent can't make that pledge and here's why. For the first time in American history John McCain wants to tax your healthcare benefits. Apparently Senator McCain doesn't think it's enough that healthcare premiums have doubled. He thinks you should have to pay taxes on them, too. That's a $3.6 trillion tax increase potentially on middle class families.

GLENN: Okay. So that's what he said in the past. I mean, if you just want to know what he said in the past, what he has said in the past is all of that stuff. Now what is he saying?

PAT: Going to tax your Cadillac healthcare plan.

6 in 10 AMERICANS think AI threatens human civilization

PETER PARKS / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn has hosted several GlennTV episodes exclusively on AI this year ALONE, warning of the existential threat AI technologies could pose to humanity. And he isn't alone.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that the rapidly advancing technology could result in our extinction. AI researchers are already sounding the alarm bells concerning the fast and largely uncontrollable progression of AI advancement, often comparing the technology's impact to that of the atomic bomb—yet we aren't putting in the same degree of guard rails around THIS research as we did during the Manhattan project.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that AI could result in our extinction.

It is no wonder why 61 percent of Americans think AI poses a real threat to human civilization, according to a poll recently published by Reuters and Ipsos. To put that in perspective, nearly two-thirds of ALL Americans think AI poses an existential threat. Only 22 percent of Americans are not threatened by AI, while the jury is still out with the remaining 17 percent.

Poll: Reuters/Ipsos

And the overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations. Though conservatives and evangelical Christians showed the most concern for AI, non-evangelicals/non-religious and those who did not vote for Trump follow close behind.

The overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations.

Participants who voted for former Trump in 2020 were more likely to be concerned about the threat of AI, with about 70 percent agreeing that AI could threaten humanity within this demographic. However, a whopping 60 percent of those who did not vote for Trump view AI as a threat. When is the last time the Left and the Right disagreed on something by only a margin of 10 percent?

Similarly, 32 percent of Evangelical Christians say they “strongly agree” with the claim that AI threatens humankind, compared to 24 percent of non-Evangelical Christians, a margin of only 8 percent.

Elon Musk recently called for a six-month pause on AI research and development, warning that the technology could pose “risks to society.” Musk further warned that there is a chance AI “goes wrong and destroys humanity," calling AI a “double-edged sword,” due to the difficulty of predicting how the technology could develop on its own.

Glenn aptly posited the following question:

We are the products of a grand Creator. However, when it comes to AI, we are the creator. Will our creation turn on us, as we have turned on our Creator?

According to the Christian tradition, God created mankind with his own free will with the ability to turn towards or away from his Creator. We turned away in an act of rebellion. Unlike other technologies, AI has the potential to develop its own "will." Whether AI's "will" is equal to the humans' in terms of value and degree is another philosophical and theological question entirely, which will not be discussed here.

AI has the potential to develop its own "will."

However, the fact of the matter is that AI does have the ability to act according to its own processes that we, its creators, can neither control or predict. As Glenn so poignantly asks, will our creation rebel against us, as we rebelled against our creator? Is it any wonder why Evangelical Christians have the greatest reservations against AI, because they know the consequences of creation's rebellion from its creator?

Until we can answer this critical question, perhaps we should take heed both to Musk's warning and the intuition of six out of ten Americans and press the pause button on AI research... before it's too late.

FIVE examples of Biden's blatant HYPOCRISY that will make your blood boil

Glenn has been bashing the corruption and deceit within the Biden family—and how they are NOT being held accountable. When you’ve been in politics as long as Joe Biden has, it's easy to get caught in a lie or two. In Joe Biden's case, there are many.

Here are five examples of Joe Biden making a complete hypocrite of himself:

In a 1995 Senate debate on a balanced budget amendment, Senator Joe Biden urged Congress to cut the government's growing deficit.

Fast forward to 2023, Biden's multi-trillion-dollar budget as President contributed to the whopping deficit of $1.1 TRILLION DOLLARS. That number is just from the first SIX MONTHS of the 2023 fiscal year alone, not to mention his multi-trillion-dollar budget from 2022. What happened to Zero Deficit Joe?

If you want to learn more about Biden’s deficit you can watch this clip from the Glenn Beck Program.

Senator Biden criticized President Roosevelt for his 1937 court-packing scheme, calling it “a bonehead idea.”

However, on April 9, 2021, Biden signed an executive order forming the “Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States" to examine “the membership and size of the Court.” Who's the one with boneheaded ideas, now?

President Biden gave a speech condemning the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn 'Roe v Wade.' Biden said “I believe Roe v Wade was a correct decision."

This remark is nearly the opposite to a comment Biden gave in a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian where he shared his opinion on the recently settled Roe v Wade case, harshly stating:

I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.

Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the newest member of the Supreme Court, stating in an event a few weeks before Jackson took office: “I believe so strongly that we needed a court that looks like America.”

This was not the same tune Biden sang as he led the controversial hearings surrounding the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas, an affair Thomas resentfully called “a high-tech lynching.”

To see Biden's comments about Justice Jackson, click here.

On April 20, 2021, President Biden gave a speech where he claimed that “systemic racism is a stain on our nation.”

Only a few years prior, Biden spoke at the memorial service of Senator Byrd, where he said, “I never called Senator Byrd ‘Senator,’ I always called him, Leader.” Robert Byrd was a decorated Senator, held many leadership positions within the Senate and, oh yeah, was responsible for the rebirth of the KKK in West Virginia.

I am FED UP with the Biden corruption—let's fight it together

Charles McQuillan / Stringer | Getty Images

So, last week we learned that back in 2020, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the FBI alleging that Joe Biden had taken bribes from foreign governments to influence U.S. policy.

The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to obtain that report.

Well, the other day the FBI told Congress to go screw themselves. They’re not handing over the document.

Let me repeat that: The FBI is REFUSING to comply with a congressional subpoena to hand over evidence that could prove Biden has been compromised by foreign agents.

Frankly, I’m fed up.

I’m fed up with a corrupt government that weaponizes the justice system to punish enemies and shield allies. I’m fed up with feckless politicians who talk a big game but fail to actually DO something to hold Biden accountable. And I’m fed up with being told that there’s nothing we can do about the Biden family’s obvious corruption and criminal behavior.

It’s time to take matters into our own hands. We can’t just wait for Congress to issue more subpoenas that are just going to be ignored. I have a plan to finally hold the Bidens accountable—and I’m going to need your help to make it work.

I’ll be outlining this plan next Thursday evening, May 18, at 8 p.m. ET. I will explain actions that YOU can take to ensure Biden faces the reckoning he deserves.

We’ll be streaming this special on YouTube, Facebook, and at BlazeTV.com. But frankly, Big Tech is NOT going to like what I have to say, and I won’t be surprised if YouTube or Facebook cuts off our stream.

To ensure you can watch the full special, even if Big Tech censors us, please subscribe to BlazeTV today.

Your support is vital to ensuring that we have the resources to continue exposing the Biden crime family and all those in power. This is so important that I asked my team to activate the code FEDUP for $30 off your first year of BlazeTV. This is the biggest discount we ever offer—because it’s that important that you join us.

So subscribe today, and then join me next Thursday evening at 8 p.m. ET, and let’s start fighting back.

Yours in the fight,

P.S. The cavalry isn’t coming to the rescue. We ARE the cavalry. We can no longer wait for weak-kneed politicians to make good on their empty promises. It’s time for action. Join BlazeTV today and help us fight back. Don’t forget to use the code FEDUP at checkout to get $30 off your first year of BlazeTV.

Twitter is the LAST DIGITAL HAVEN of free speech

BRITTA PEDERSEN / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

I want to talk specifically here to those people in journalism.

Don Lemon, I used to think we just really disagreed with each other. I don't believe that anymore. I think you might be sick. I think you might be living under some delusion that makes you believe the things you're saying are true. But they're not.

Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2023

I have never, ever wanted you silenced. I have no problem with someone trying to make their point of view. That doesn't mean I agree with you. It doesn't mean I'm not going to counter your arguments or point out I believe these things are total falsehoods. But I do not want anyone silenced. Not anyone—even on the left.

I sincerely ask you to take Elon Musk up on his offer and take your show to Twitter. And I mean it. Right now—and this could all change—right now, what Elon Musk is doing is reasonable and American. He is trying to turn Twitter into an actual town square.

What Elon Musk is doing is reasonable and American.

A town square is a place where, traditionally, in America, you could always go, and there would be somebody on their soapbox. You would listen to them. Then, you would go to another person that was on their soapbox, and you would listen to them. They might be disagreeing. But you could hear everything. That's the way we did it in the 1700-1800s.

Last year, the New York Times put out a poll that found one in five Americans say politics hurt their relationships with their friends or families. I don't believe that number is that low. Only one in five! Across the political spectrum, do you know the one thing we all agree on? We're too divided.

There are two solutions to this.

One, I believe, is evil. You liquidate all the people that disagree with whatever the government says. Whatever the leaders or the elites say is true becomes "permitted speech." For all those who dare challenge the official narrative, you either liquidate them or put them in jail. It's been done before. If you were an awful, evil person who believes in dictatorship, that's a legitimate way to deal with things.

The other solution, which has always been the American solution, is open communication. ALL voices. It used to be the case in America that people of all stripes could get all pieces of information. Why is this so important? Because if I am lying to you about what's happening, you should be able to hear it. When you are able to hear something openly, then others are able to discredit it through free and open speech.

We need the space for speech to be protected and to say whether something is orisn't true. Let someone dare speak their mind, and we THE PEOPLE can debate amongst each other whether their statement is true or false. This was the intention of the First Amendment.

This is really important. But we don't have that now.

When you are able to hear something openly, then others are able to discredit it through free and open speech.

Right now, people like me, and Ben Shapiro, and Tucker Carlson are being throttled by social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. We actually have teams of people to manage this. You can't believe the amount of time and money and energy it takes to strategize every single day on how NOT to get censored for sharing what we believe to be true!

Tucker Carlson has found a very ingenious way to make sure his voice isn't blocked. Fox News is, I believe, doing some very Fox-News-sort-of-things to keep him silent, for at least a couple of years. That can't happen. Legally, they think they can get away with it. I don't think so, but I've not read Tucker Carlson's contract.

Tucker Carlson has found a very ingenious way to make sure his voice isn't blocked.

But this is what makes Tucker's move so ingenious. The one outlet that is most likely not prohibited by his contract is Twitter. We all own our own Twitter feeds as individuals. Our employers don't own our personal accounts. Companies don't own our Twitter feeds. WE DO.

At Fox, they have been ignoring the power of the internet for years. When I left, they didn't cover anything online. Because Roger Ailes thought "online" was a fad. I told him, "No, it's not, Roger." And he said, "Well, you go ahead and do that internet thing. That won't amount to anything."

I responded, "Roger, you really need to pay attention to the internet. I know people thought television is a fad. This is not a fad. This will come and destroy Fox News, as you know it." He laughed at me. They never took it seriously until we built TheBlaze and became a threat, and they started to build Fox Nation.

They never took it seriously until we built TheBlaze and became a threat.

We have been in discussions already with Elon's team about the possibility of streaming something exclusive and special on Twitter. God willing, if Elon stays his course, Twitter will become one of the only social media platforms that actually supports free speech and transparency.

I do not expect Elon Musk to censor anyone on the left, and I believe he actually wants the left to take him up on his offer of “you stream things too.” This is the idea that YouTube and Facebook were supposed to be. That's how they pitched Facebook to us in the first place. We were the ones that helped build Facebook. And then they turned it all around on you and took all of our subscribers. Now we have to pay for access to the very same people we brought to Facebook.

We have been in discussions already with Elon's team about the possibility of streaming something exclusive and special on Twitter.

This is why I started TheBlaze 12 years ago. We needed a space to speak freely. And we still do. It's not enough just to have BlazeTV, because you need an additional microphone. If you can speak all you want to a group of people, it doesn't matter—if those people are behind a wall. That's where we are with social media today.

The Germans found out that putting people behind a wall is a very effective way to shut your dissidents down. Just put them in a ghetto. And we've talked about the digital ghetto for a long time. Between what Elon is doing and the Twitter Files, we have seen Big Tech and the government's coordinated effort to put political dissidents behind a digital ghetto. Now, Elon is breaking us out, at least on Twitter.

We can amplify everything we say on BlazeTV on Twitter in a way that no other social media platform has allowed anyone to do. Anyone who believes in the right to free speech—I see us all as a team—myself, BlazeTV, the Daily Wire, Twitter—I am thrilled to partner with anyone who believes in the First Amendment.

We can amplify everything we say on BlazeTV on Twitter in a way that no other social media platform has allowed anyone to do.

I doubt Elon Musk and I agree on an awful lot. But we don't need to agree. We only need to agree that freedom of speech is paramount for a free society. And anyone who is against censorship, all censorship, I stand with you!

This is why Tucker Carlson is taking a version of his show to Twitter. And it's a brilliant move. It wouldn't be possible if Elon Musk hadn't put his money on the line and, quite honestly, his neck on the line, to turn Twitter from the "Ministry of Truth" into a marketplace of ideas.

I urge everyone in this audience to get on Twitter and to learn how to disagree again without hating each other. Why not treat Twitter as an intellectual coliseum to hash out the real issues we are facing? Because we may finally—at least for a while—have an even playing field online.

Why not treat Twitter as an intellectual coliseum to hash out the real issues we are facing?

So, Don Lemon, I would never ask you to join BlazeTV. You don't belong here. We are looking for people who love America, love the truth, and love the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I don't believe you fit that. But on Twitter, you absolutely fit that. As do I. As does Tucker.

Join us on Twitter. And may the best ideas win.

Glenn's Show Prep