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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

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How government stops innovation with feel good laws

June 20, 2011
 Radio Clips

The Glenn Beck Program

Rereading Super Freakonomics over the weekend reminded me of yet another story of government getting in the way to stop innovation.

As seatbelts became more common in cars, people realized that they just didn’t fit children particularly well.  Sometimes they could even be dangerous for kids.  So, the booster seat was invented.  A great idea for its time.  Today, we take the booster seat for granted as the only option for child safety.  But, does that really make sense?

About half of passengers riding in the back seat are children.  Is an additional device that needs to be purchased separately really the best solution?  A device that has to be removed when adults sit in the back? Why not have adjustable seat belts that just fit the child better?  Or, why not another innovation that no one has even thought of yet?

Well, once the car seat was invented, and everyone agreed it was awesome, every state passed a law requiring child booster seats for kids riding in the back.  Now, if you’re a car manufacturer, not only do you have to invent the perfect seat belt to keep children safe—you also have to get 50 state governments to consider and change their booster seat laws to make your product legal to use.  Does that sound like something you want to take on?

Even if it were blatantly obvious that your solution was better, parents would be breaking the law if they used it without a booster seat.   Since manufacturers aren’t going to invest in manufacturing a product that’s currently illegal, they would have to change 50 sets of laws first.

Certainly, the booster seat law had good intentions, and has likely saved some lives.  But, the vast majority of parents want their kids to live. They would use booster seats to protect them anyway.  (And the parents that don’t care about the safety of their children--also don’t care about violating child safety laws.)

All of this puts car manufacturers in an impossible position.  If they attempted to lobby to change the laws, some group would claim that their invention wasn't as safe as the booster seats, true or not.  Strike one.  And then they would have to deal with the booster seat company lobbyists.  Strike 2.  Not to mention, all of the favors they would have to do: “Perhaps if you built your new plant in my district, I could help the process along.”  Strike 3.

After all of that, it’s simply not worth the effort.  So, booster seats will exist forever and ever, amen.  Thanks government!

Do YOU pass? Glenn Beck takes the WHITE PRIVILEGE test

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On his Friday Exclusive show, Glenn Beck took Monitor Racism's white privilege test, administered by psychologist Dr. Karlyn Borysenko. The test is comprised of 26 questions designed to assess how much white privilege plays a role in the test-taker's life.

Watch the video clip below to see how Glenn measured up:

Watch the full episode now on BlazeTV.com. Use promo code SAVETHEFAMILY for $20 off a year subscription or try 30 days FREE.

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Dr. Atlas: 'There is ZERO SCIENCE' to support closing schools amid 'second wave' of COVID-19

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Dr. Scott Atlas, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and former chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center, joined Glenn Beck on the radio program Monday to cut through the confusion and politics clouding our understanding of COVID-19 and to give the facts about the so-called second wave of this pandemic.

"I think everything should be done by looking at the data, instead of just models, or even just allowing fear to go into the exchange. So if we look at the data, we see there's no question that [COVID-19] cases are increasing in many states. And that's to be expected, for a few reasons," Atlas said.

"Of course, when we test more, we're going to detect more cases. And when they have thousands and thousands of people in the streets protesting, and screaming, and sharing megaphones, we're going to have more cases," he explained. "The question really is: What is the significance of these cases, and how we're going to handle these consequences?"

Atlas noted that the overwhelming majority of people getting COVID-19 in this "second wave" are younger, healthier people who are not at significant risk, according to "evidence from all over the world, including the United States."

"The overwhelming majority of people recover fully from the infection, so that's not really the issue. In fact, the issue is only two-fold," he said. "We need to protect the elderly high-risk people, particularly in nursing homes ... and prevent hospitals from being overcrowded. This is the point of the policy. The policy was never to stop all cases of COVID."

Dr. Atlas argued that political policies need to focus on protecting the most vulnerable without destroying the lives of those with extremely low risk.

"Frankly, one of the most egregious failures of the policy people is, not just allow[ing] fear to infiltrate their own thinking and do lockdowns, which are severely harmful," he emphasized. "But secondly, they have failed to reassure the public about the facts, and about the relative risk here. It's a very serious dangerous disease — for a group of people. And we know who those people are. They are high-risk, elderly people with comorbidities. Everyone else, it's not a high-risk disease."

Glenn asked Dr. Atlas to weigh in on whether or not schools should be opened in the fall.

"This is a slam-dunk issue," he answered. "There is zero science to back up claims that the schools should be closed or even opened with any constraints whatsoever."

Watch the video clip below for more details:

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.

SENTENCE COMMUTED: Roger Stone is no saint but the double standard is MIND-BLOWING!

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Roger Stone is kind of a scumbag but the outrage over his commutation by President Trump has gone off the rails. Thus far in his presidency, Trump has commuted the sentence for 11 individuals while in comparison, Bill Clinton had 61. Even worse, Barack Obama commuted the sentence of 1,715 criminals! Just by the numbers, the outrage is insane. But then add in that both Obama and Clinton commuted or pardoned the sentence of terrorists and/or "friends" of the the president and the double standard is outrageous.

Here is a list of just a few of the worst offenders:

Bill Clinton Pardons/Commuted sentences

Terrorists

  • Commuted the sentences of 16 members of the FALN, a Puerto Rican paramilitary organization that set off 120 bombs in the United States, mostly in New York City and Chicago. There were convictions for conspiracy to commit robbery, bomb-making, and sedition, as well as firearms and explosives violations.
  • Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg were both commuted and both were members of Weather Underground and the May 19 Communist Movement, and were convicted on weapons and explosives charges.

Case similar to Trump/Roger Stone

  • Susan McDougal was sentenced to 18 months in prison on contempt charges for refusing to testify about Clinton in the Whitewater scandal only to have Clinton pardoned her.

Pardons/commutations that look like a response to bribes

  • Carlos Vignali was convicted for cocaine trafficking. Almon Glenn Braswell was convicted for mail fraud and perjury, and was under investigation for money laundering and tax evasion. Vignali was commuted while Braswell was pardoned, but they were also both caught paying approximately $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective cases for clemency.
  • Marc Rich fled the U.S. after he was caught owing $48 million in taxes and was charged with 51 counts for tax fraud. Everyone was surprised when Clinton pardoned him. It was later revealed that Rich's wife made substantial donations to both the Clinton library and to Hillary Clinton's senate campaign.

Pardon for a member of Clinton's family

  • Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger Clinton, who had been convicted on drug charges. A year after the pardon he would be charged for Drunk driving and disorderly conduct.

Drug Cartel lawyer

  • Clinton commuted the sentence for Harvey Weinig, a former NY lawyer who was sentenced in 1996 to 11 years in prison for facilitating an extortion-kidnapping scheme and helping launder at least $19 million for the Cali cocaine cartel.

Obama Pardons/Commuted sentences - the most since Truman: Obama granted clemency to nearly 2,000 individuals, including 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations.

Terrorist

  • Obama commuted the sentence of another FALN terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Traitors

  • Chelsea Manning: the former Army Intelligence analyst was convicted of leaking documents that revealed classified information on military and diplomatic activities all around the world only to have her sentence commuted.

Case similar to Micheal Flynn or Roger Stone

  • Obama pardoned General James Cartwright, who had been convicted for lying to the FBI (sound familiar?!). Cartwright was considered "Obama's favorite general".

WATCH NOW: The Deep State Diversion: Unmasking Names in the Coup Against Trump

On his Wednesday night special, Glenn Beck goes where the Left and the media don't want us to go. The protests, riots, pandemic — it's all one big distraction being weaponized to shield the Deep State from the big reveal.

The case against General Michael Flynn is bigger than a phone call with the Russian ambassador; it exposes everything. Glenn reveals multiple cogs in the Deep State wheel that tried to destroy Donald Trump's presidency.

This story has everything: secret meetings, spies, glamorous European locations. Glenn puts all of the pieces together and interviews the man who was an eyewitness to all of it — former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Specifically targeted by this Deep State coup, his reputation and life may never be the same. He reveals the names of those he believes were behind his setup and the coup against the president.

Watch a preview of the full episode below:


Watch the full episode only on BlazeTV. Not a subscriber? Use promo code FIGHTTHEMOB to get $20 off your BlazeTV subscription or start your 30-day free trial today.

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.