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Glenn Beck: Government should take over BP?

June 03, 2010
 Radio Clips

The Glenn Beck Program




Related Video: CNN's Griffin to Reich on Idea to Seize BP: 'Illegal;' 'Smacks of Venezuela'

GLENN: By the way, did you see the Robert Reich interview on CNN yesterday?

PAT: Yeah, Drew Griffin impressed him a little bit on CNN because Robert Reich has been saying — he's been calling for a federal takeover of BP.

GLENN: I'm sorry. What?

PAT: He's been calling for a federal takeover of BP.

GLENN: So what you are saying is this liberal, what this liberal is all about —

PAT: To socialize... calling for basically —

GLENN: To take over.

PAT: And run.

GLENN: And run.

PAT: This company.

GLENN: This company, okay.

PAT: All of this company. So Drew Griffin presses in on that a little bit.

GRIFFIN: Mr. Secretary, I gotta tell you I have always considered you a very serious person, but this doesn't sound serious to me at all. Are you serious about this or was this some kind of a joke to get things going?

REICH: The government does have to be in the position of weighing the risks and benefits and also making sure the public is getting the right information and also making sure that all resources that BP has are being put to stopping this leak.

GRIFFIN: But to take over a company like this sounds not only highly illegal and counterproductive but seems to me to smack of something that we might see in Venezuela or in Russia under Putin.

REICH: Oh, please. You know, this is — definitely receivership is not a wild legal remedy.

PAT: Come on, please.

REICH: In fact, it's undertaken quite often.

GRIFFIN: So Mr. Secretary, just to wrap this up, a temporary receivership, put the power in the hands of the government, somehow appoint somebody who would be the government CEO of this oil company and then run the operation from there? That sounds incredibly time consuming and a waste of precious time.

REICH: I'm not suggesting, I'm not suggesting in any way that we wait. In other words, we ought to — BP ought to be doing exactly what it's doing now, the government ought to be doing what it's doing now. But alongside we need to have government take BP's operations over at least until this is, this is solved.

PAT: That is —

GLENN: That's incredible.

PAT: That's amazing.

GLENN: And if that's not helpful for BP, you know, hey, by the way, the government is trying now to take us over and put us out of business! Don't worry about it, though, because we're just going to be — we're going to concentrate on this. Can you imagine that? What is the distraction level of the people at the top of BP now on good God almighty. Lawyers, everybody, you've got the justice department going after them legally. So now you've got the people at the top, "Okay, wait a minute, don't — wait a minute. Keep them at bay. Let's look at what's going on here." You don't ever — when you have a group of people that want to take over, you don't just say, hey, yeah, whatever, you just go in here and you look at whatever you want; we're busy over here. You've got to be with them the whole time. You've got to be on them the whole time. This is a predator. This isn't your buddy. This is a predator. So you've got the DOJ going after them before they've sealed the oil. Do it afterwards, do — take them apart afterwards. Let them plug the hole, Daddy, let them plug the hole!

PAT: The heat's getting too hot for them, though. He's got to take the pressure off himself and I think —

GLENN: But it's not — that doesn't make any sense.

PAT: To take the pressure off himself?

GLENN: No, no. No. Who? You mean Obama?

PAT: Obama.

GLENN: Oh, well, yeah.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: But I don't think it's about taking pressure off himself. It's not. Go back to what's her name, go back to is it Waters, Maxine Waters? Go back to Maxine Waters.

WATERS: And guess what this liberal will be all about. This liberal will be all about socializing... would be about basically taking over and the government running all of your companies.

PAT: Never gets old. Never gets old.

GLENN: Now, what was she saying? What was this about? This was about the government taking over because they were charging too much for a gallon of gasoline. That's what it was about: You charge too much; so we're going to take you over, that's what this — now remember, she is a member of the progressive caucus. Who do you have in office? The progressives. So there's your stated goal. But doing it at that time and doing it for a will gallon of gasoline wasn't enough. But now you have an emergency. Never waste an emergency. So now you have somebody who is very credible, somebody that the press always looks at and says, oh, well, I've always taken you as a serious man. And listen to what he says again.

GRIFFIN: But to take over a company like this sounds not only —

GLENN: This is CNN.

GRIFFIN: — highly illegal and counterproductive but seems to me to smack of something that we might see in Venezuela or in Russia under Putin.

REICH: Oh, please. You know, this is — a temporary receivership is not a wild legal remedy. In fact, it's undertaken a great — quite often.

GLENN: Show me where it's taken over quite often.

GRIFFIN: So Mr. Secretary, a temporary receivership, put the power in the hands of the government, appoint somebody who would be the government CEO of this oil company.

GLENN: Good heavens.

GRIFFIN: And then run the operation from there? That sounds incredibly type consuming and a waste of precious time.

REICH: I'm not suggesting, I'm not suggesting in any way that we wait. In other words, BP ought to be doing exactly what it's doing now, the government ought to do what it's doing now. But alongside we need to have government take BP's operations over at least until —

GLENN: Unbelievable.

REICH: — this is solved.

GLENN: Unbelievable. You can see, just, "Oh, well, that's Robert Reich." Yes.

STU: I mean, you've got to remember, too, that the one major thing that they've done here is essentially have BP do five solutions they didn't want to try because — and skip all that time, all that failure the past, what, month has been BP trying things that they wanted to do out of order. They wanted to try the one they are doing now first, but the government told them no. I mean, they have been delayed through all of these past failures we've been seeing over the past few weeks by the government.

GLENN: I'm telling you BP seals this thing on this, on this idea, this is the biggest — and it won't matter because the press will not cover it. Have you heard that this was like the fifth or sixth idea that they've tried? You've heard that, right? But did you know that this was the first thing they wanted to do?

STU: One of the first, yeah.

GLENN: And the government said, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that; try... something else. I mean, have you heard that? I haven't seen that in the press. I don't watch a lot of news, but I haven't seen that in the press. Have you seen that on ABC? Have you seen that on NBC, the Today Show? Have you heard that the White House and the government has told them to do all of the other things and not do this one first? If this works, it is a repudiation of the government's involvement in anything. Have you heard that the government — BP wrote memos! "Hey, we're really concerned about this. This doesn't look good." What did the government do? What did the government do? They had the information. What did they know and when did they know it? You won't hear any of those questions.

I mean, what is it the government is going to do? Just plug the hole. Get it done. If the United States Navy can do it, tell BP get the hell away from it. We'll plug the damn hole. And send the Navy down and do it. But to take over a country, I don't understand that. You can take over the problem. But to take over a company? Hmmm. That's an interesting solution.

A contested Democratic convention could lead to the ONE candidate who could beat Trump, says Michael Medved

Paul Morigi / Stringer/ Getty

On Wednesday's TV show, Glenn Beck sat down with radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic, Michael Medved.

Michael had an interesting prediction for the 2020 election outcome: a brokered convention by the DNC will usher in former First Lady Michelle Obama to run against President Donald Trump.

Watch the video below to hear why he's making this surprising forecast:

Use code BECK to save $10 on one year of BlazeTV.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.

FLASHPOINT? Virginia Gov. Northam declares state of emergency to ban firearms ahead of gun-rights rally


Zach Gibson / Stringer

On Thursday's "Glenn Beck Radio Program," BlazeTV's White House correspondent Jon Miller described the current situation in Virginia after Gov. Ralph Northam (D) declared a state of emergency and banned people carrying guns at Capitol Square just days before a pro-Second-Amendment rally scheduled on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Jon told Glenn that Gov. Northam and the Virginia Legislature are "trying to deprive the people of their Second Amendment rights" but the citizens of Virginia are "rising up" to defend their constitutional rights.

"I do think this is the flashpoint," Jon said. "They [Virginia lawmakers] are saying, 'You cannot exercise your rights ... and instead of trying to de-escalate the situation, we are putting pressure. We're trying to escalate it and we're trying to enrage the citizenry even more'."

Glenn noted how Gov. Northam initially blamed the threat of violence from Antifa for his decision to ban weapons but quickly changed his narrative to blame "white supremacists" to vilify the people who are standing up for the Second Amendment and the Constitution.

"What he's doing is, he's making all all the law-abiding citizens of Virginia into white supremacists," Glenn said.

"Sadly, that's exactly right," Jon replied. "And I think he knows exactly what he's doing."

Watch the video to catch more of the conversation below:

Use code BECK to save $10 on one year of BlazeTV.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.

Ryan: Trump Louisiana Finale

Photo by Jim Dale

Part One. Part Two. Part Three.

At the end of Trump rallies, I would throw on my Carhartt jacket, sneak out of the press area, then blend in with everyone as they left, filing out through swinging doors.

Often, someone held the door open for me. Just 30 minutes earlier, the same person had most likely had most likely hissed at me for being a journalist. And now they were Sunday smiles and "Oh, yes, thank you, sir" like some redneck concierge.

People flooded out of the arena with the stupidity of a fire drill mishap, desperate to survive.

The air smacked you as soon as you crossed the threshold, back into Louisiana. And the lawn was a wasteland of camping chairs and coolers and shopping bags and to-go containers and soda cans and articles of clothing and even a few tents.

In Monroe, in the dark, the Trump supporters bobbled over mounds of waste like elephants trying to tiptoe. And the trash was as neutral to them as concrete or grass. They plodded over it because it, an object, had somehow gotten in their way.

It did not matter that they were responsible for this wreckage.Out in the sharp-edged moonlight, rally-goers hooted and yapped and boogied and danced, and the bbq food truck was all smoke and paper plates.

They were even more pumped than they had been before the rally, like 6,000 eight year olds who'd been chugging Mountain Dew for hours. Which made Donald Trump the father, the trooper, God of the Underworld, Mr. Elite, Sheriff on high horse, the AR-15 sticker of the family.

Ritualistic mayhem, all at once. And, there in Louisiana, Trump's supporters had gotten a taste of it. They were all so happy. It bordered on rage.

Still, I could not imagine their view of America. Worse, after a day of strange hostilities, I did not care.

My highest priority, my job as a reporter, was to care. To understand them and the world that they inhabit. But I did not give a damn and I never wanted to come back.

Worst of all, I would be back. In less than a week.

Was this how dogs felt on the 4th of July? Hunched in a corner while everyone else gets drunk and launches wailing light into the sky? configurations of blue and red and white.

It was 10:00 p.m. and we'd been traveling since 11:00 a.m., and we still had 5 hours to go and all I wanted was a home, my home, any home, just not here, in the cold sweat of this nowhere. Grey-mangled sky. No evidence of planes or satellites or any proof of modern-day. Just century-old bridges that trains shuffled over one clack at a time.

And casinos, all spangles and neon like the 1960s in Las Vegas. Kitchy and dumb, too tacky for lighthearted gambling. And only in the nicer cities, like Shreveport, which is not nice at all.

And swamp. Black water that rarely shimmered. Inhabited by gadflies and leeches and not one single fish that was pretty.

Full of alligators, and other killing types. The storks gnawing on frogs, the vultures never hungry. The coyotes with nobody to stop them and so much land to themselves. The roaches in the wild, like tiny wildebeests.

Then, the occasional deer carcass on the side of the road, eyes splayed as if distracted, tongue out, relaxed but empty. The diseased willows like skeletons in hairnets. The owls that never quit staring. A million facets of wilderness that would outlive us all.

Because Nature has poise. It thrives and is original.

Because silence is impossible. Even in an anechoic chamber, perfectly soundproofed, you can hear your own heartbeat, steady as a drum. A never-ending war.

I put "Headache" by Grouper on repeat as we glided west. We were deadlocked to asphalt, rubber over tarface.

And I thought about lines from a Rita Dove poem titled "I have been a stranger in a strange land"

He was off cataloging the universe, probably,
pretending he could organize
what was clearly someone else's chaos.

Wasn't that exactly what I was doing? Looking for an impossible answer, examining every single accident, eager for meaning? telling myself, "If it happens and matters the next year, in America, I want to be there, or to know what it means. I owe it to whoever cares to listen."

Humans are collectors and I had gone overboard.

Because maybe this wasn't even my home. These landmarks, what did they mean? Was I obvious here? When I smiled, did I trick them into believing that I felt some vague sense of approval? Or did my expressions betray me?

Out in all that garbage-streaked emptiness — despite the occasional burst of passing halogen — I couldn't tell if everything we encountered was haunted or just old, derelict, broken, useless. One never-ending landfill.

Around those parts, they'd made everything into junk. Homes. Roads. Glass. Nature. Life itself, they made into junk.

I cringed as we passed yet another deer carcass mounded on the side of the road.

As written in Job 35:11,

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?

Nobody. Look at nature and you feel something powerful. Look at an animal, in all of its untamable majesty, and you capture a deep love, all swept up in the power of creation. But, here, all I saw were poor creatures who people had slammed into and kept driving. Driving to where? For what reason? What exactly was so important that they left a trail of dead animals behind them?

So I crossed myself dolorously and said an "Our Father" and recited a stanza from Charles Bukowski's "The Laughing Heart"

you can't beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.

Out here, nothing but darkness. Needing some light, by God. Give me something better than a Moon that hides like an underfed coward.

Jade told me about some of the more traumatic things she'd seen while working at the State Fair.

"Bro, they pull roaches out of the iced lemonade jugs and act like nothing happened."

"All right but what about the corn dogs?"

"You do not want to know, little bro."

She looked around in the quiet. "Back in the day, the Louisiana Congress refused to raise the drinking age from 18 to 21," she said. "They didn't want to lose all that drunk gambler money. So the federal government cut off funding to highways."

We glided through moon-pale landscape for an hour before I realized what she had meant. That there weren't any light poles or billboards along the road. Nothing to guide us or distract us. Just us, alone. And it felt like outer space had collapsed, swallowed us like jellybeans.

Like two teenagers playing a prank on the universe.

In the cozy Subaru Crosstrek, in the old wild night, brimming with the uncertainty of life and the nonchalance of failure, we paraded ourselves back to Dallas. Alive in the river silence that follows us everywhere.

New installments come Mondays and Thursdays. Next, the Iowa caucuses. Check out my Twitter. Email me at kryan@blazemedia.com

Amid election security concerns, states should look to blockchain

Wikimedia Commons

The Iowa primary is just around the corner, and concerns of election interference from the last presidential election still loom. Back in 2016, The Associated Press found that a majority of U.S. elections systems still use Windows 7 as an operating system, making them highly susceptible to bugs and errors. And last year, a Mississippi voter tried multiple times to vote for the candidate of his choice, but the system continuously switched his vote to the other candidate. It's pretty clear: America's voting systems desperately need an update.

That's where blockchain voting comes in.

Blockchain voting is a record-keeping system that's 100% verifiable and nearly impossible to hack. Blockchain, the newest innovation in cybersecurity, is set to grow into a $20 billion industry by 2025. Its genius is in its decentralized nature, distributing information throughout a network of computers, requiring would-be hackers to infiltrate a much larger system. Infiltrating multiple access points spread across many computers requires a significant amount of computing power, which often costs more than hackers expect to get in return.

Blockchain voting wouldn't allow for many weak spots. For instance, Voatz, arguably the leading mobile voting platform, requires a person to take a picture of their government-issued ID and a picture of themselves before voting (a feature, of course, not present in vote-by-mail, where the only form of identity verification is a handwritten signature, which is easily forgeable). Voters select their choices and hit submit. They then receive an immediate receipt of their choices via email, another security feature not present in vote-by-mail, or even in-person voting. And because the system operates on blockchain technology, it's nearly impossible to tamper with.

Votes are then tabulated, and the election results are published, providing a paper trail, which is a top priority for elections security experts.

The benefits of blockchain voting can't be dismissed. Folks can cast their vote from the comfort of their homes, offices, etc., vastly increasing the number of people who can participate in the electoral process. Two to three-hour lines at polling places, which often deter voters, would become significantly diminished.

Even outside of the voting increase, the upsides are manifold. Thanks to the photo identification requirements, voter fraud—whether real or merely suspected—would be eliminated. The environment would win, too, since we'd no longer be wasting paper on mail-in ballots. Moreover, the financial burden on election offices would be alleviated, because there's decreased staff time spent on the election, saving the taxpayer money.

From Oregon to West Virginia, elections offices have already implemented blockchain voting, and the results have been highly positive. For example, the city of Denver utilized mobile voting for overseas voters in their 2019 municipal elections. The system was secure and free of technical errors, and participants reported that it was very user-friendly. Utah County used the same system for their 2019 primary and general elections. An independent audit revealed that every vote that was cast on the app was counted and counted correctly. These successful test cases are laying the groundwork for even larger expansions of the program in 2020.

With this vital switch, our elections become significantly more secure, accurate, and efficient. But right now, our election infrastructure is a sitting duck for manipulation. Our current lack of election integrity undermines the results of both local and national elections, fans the flames of partisanship, and zaps voter confidence in the democratic system. While there's never a silver bullet or quick fix to those kinds of things, blockchain voting would push us much closer to a solution than anything else.

Chris Harelson is the Executive Director at Prosperity Council and a Young Voices contributor.