RADIOApril 11, 2024

The REAL Reason DC Politicians NEVER Leave Office

Why is it that there are so many ancient politicians in Congress — Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer? Do they just love power, or is there another reason they take forever to retire? Glenn speaks with James Poulos, the host of the newest Blaze Originals documentary, “Bought and Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich.” In the documentary, James reveals what he believes is keeping the geezers in the Swamp: loads of money. Somehow, these lawmakers have become expert stock traders, and although they claim there’s no insider trading going on, the numbers look just a LITTLE suspicious. James reveals the most shocking thing the documentary exposed and also why he believes almost no one in Congress is interested in stopping these shady practices.

ICYMI: There's still time to watch the limited public release of "Bought & Paid For": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXuzS...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: James, how are you, sir?

JAMES: Hey, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: Good. That was a great documentary that you were a part of, last night.

JAMES: Well, I appreciate that.

GLENN: What was the -- what is the -- if you had to tell somebody in one fact, what do you think the fact is that makes people go, whoa!

What?

JAMES: Well, you know, there's so many to choose from. I guess, you know, if -- for most Americans, wars. Pandemics.

These things are not business opportunities.

They're not opportunities to make some quick cash.

But the reality is that in Congress, if you're -- you're sitting up there on the hill, you can take advantage of those opportunities, and people do.

GLENN: You know, Nancy Pelosi always says, insular -- I have nothing to do with the -- you know, the investments in my life.

It's my husband.

He's just a great investor.

He's like a world class, never seen before, kind of investor, to do what they do. What they do with their money, right?

JAMES: Well, yeah. It seems pretty clear what's going on. It's tough, though. Because the evidentiary standards for proving something like, quote, unquote, insider trading is very difficult to me.

GLENN: For them.

JAMES: Yeah. For them. Yeah. The reality is, if you have that kind of information, and you have a sense of what's going to happen before it does, and what stocks will pop before anyone else does, you know, it's fairly clear that you shouldn't start making trades. But you can say a kind word to a family member, to a staff member. To relatives. To the staff member.

And there's really legally to stop them from taking action on them. So it's a system that is ripe for abuse.

GLENN: There's a couple of things here. Let me play cut seven here.

This is George Santos, exposing how the congressional leaders silence opposition. And what would happen to Congress, if people started to actually look into their stock trading. Listen.

VOICE: I'm thinking, I want to sign on to Abigail Spanberger's bill on individual stock trading.

I was told that if I signed a cosponsor to the bill, and made too much voluminous flare over it, I wouldn't be seated.

So I shut up.

VOICE: Who told you that?

VOICE: I had staff from the majority. From -- telling me that. To my face, on the House floor.

Like, the threats that fly around, are just absolutely insane.

VOICE: My very first classified briefing, which I unfortunately can't tell you guys for obvious reasons. Unless you guys want me tried.

Or I would be tried for treason.

So --

VOICE: Maybe both.

VOICE: Both, right?

But it -- it becomes a -- a real issue, because you hear this information.

And instantly, you're like, oh, wow.

I know this better before the country.

VOICE: It's that level of scrutiny that I received in Congress. Was applied to anyone else in that building.

Or the people at the top of both parties. What do you think would have happened to them?

VOICE: You would be running 535 special elections today if they were real.

If they applied the same level of scrutiny to me, you would think the whole building.

GLENN: Why -- why was George Santos selected to be the one who talked to you?

VOICE: Well, Glenn, it's pretty simple really.

We reached out to just about everyone, who is involved or might be involved. Whether in a good way or a bad way, with these kinds of trading practices, and we were stonewalled.

Ro Khanna -- Rep Ro Khanna seems like he might be interested. He plays for us. Ghosted us.

A bunch of other people, including the sponsor. The cosponsor of that bill.

That George Santos mentioned there. Cosponsor with Chip Roy. Who we did talk to.

We got him on the dock.

Everybody else, just a big nope.

It was fascinating.

Maverick Matt Gaetz. George Santos, thee these guys are considered mavericks or worse, by a lot of Republicans.

When those are the only guys willing to speak to you.

It's because there is a code of silence. It's very tough to penetrate. So, you know, we were very grateful to be able to get the inside scoop from those guys. Because they have been through fire. And they are willing to say what others are.

GLENN: Here is Matt Gaetz from the special last night.

VOICE: Congressman gates offered to take us on the tour.

VOICE: So one of the committees that people have a lot of information. Is the appropriations committee. Because they can view almost any vector of government funding.

And so, you know, this is Mr. Rutherford's office. He's on the Ethics Committee and Appropriations Committee. One hundred fifty-two stock trades. Stocks go through the roof.

And, you know, actually brought Raytheon stock, the day that Russia invaded Ukraine.

VOICE: Yeah. That's a big one.

VOICE: Yeah. Imagine if every American can make money off of war.

VOICE: Yeah.

VOICE: Setting aside the whole shame and ethics questions. How many more on our hit list here?

VOICE: There are a few more. I wish there were fewer on the hit list. I wish we could only stop at one or two offices. But as it turns out, so energy is a sector that sees a lot of congressional stock trading. And we have members who are on the energy subcommittee of appropriations, like Michael Guest, chairmen of the Ethics Committee. And he's traded between somewhere between tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy stocks. He's been buying online gaming stocks. And just making a killing on them. You would think that the people on the ethics committee would be your best allies in this fight. But indeed, they are the most prolific traders. And not only trading, but trading in an area, where he has access to energy information. More so than any other American.

VOICE: No indication that he wants to slow down, pump the brakes. There might be some appearance of impropriety here.

VOICE: It seems as though, the pace is only accelerating.

GLENN: So -- so -- so let me -- let me go back to a bigger point, James.

What does this say about why these people are hanging out so long in Congress? Why they just never seem to retire?

JAMES: Well, look, I asked George Santos when he first got an inkling of how much patronage. How much of an insider's club and how much potential for corruption there was when he was in Congress.

And he said, basically, day one. First briefing. You sit down.

They give you information.

You know, he said, it was eye popping.

He realized, suddenly, the intensity of what he was dealing with. I mean, look, you heard Congressman Gaetz pointing out, that you have guys on the Ethics Committee. Chair of the Ethics Committee in Congress. And they're setting standards. You know, it's a domino effect.

You spend a few minutes on the hill, as an elected rep. You come to understand, very quickly.

There is -- there is a choice. Are on the team, or are you off the team? And this goes beyond Republicans and Democrats.

This goes to the heart of, what is it that we really are doing here?

And how do we protect our ability as public officials to avail ourselves of the -- the advantages of being insiders in that system.

It is a system that, you know, really works as designed, in that sense. And it is designed to keep people hanging around, taking advantage of what they can in whatever way they can, for as long as they can.

GLENN: One of my very good friends is Mike Lee. And Mike tells me all the time, what the hell am I doing here?

I am impoverishing myself. I could be out making a good living.

And his times of frustration. He will call me up.

What am I doing?

Why am I here? This is not even good for my family, blah, blah, blah.

When you have that kind of atmosphere. When you're not making money. You're -- it's almost costing you money to work there.

That tends to have people come in. Do it for a reason. And then get out.

We have these people who are hanging out for decades.

Well, why wouldn't you?

If I could get an 80 percent return on my investments, year after year after year?

Why wouldn't I?

You know, other than, it's wrong!

But wait a minute.

I could double my money, if I win two more elections?

I could start with $150,000 in a bank account. And I could be worth $30 million? If I just work here for the next 30 years?

Why wouldn't you?

GLENN: Yeah. And, you know what, Glenn. What you're alluding to here, this is really just the tip of the iceberg. Like, there's a symbiotic relationship, between public officials and major corporations. In some cases, multi-national corporations.

And this is one facet of that relationship. And the longer that people stay around. The longer those networks develop, and reinforce each other. And police themselves.

The more that both sides of the, you know, public sector. Private sector divide. The more that divide melts away.

And it enriches people. And it corrupts people. And it creates very sick patronage networks, that are just very tough to talk people out of participating in. If you do get reelected, then you're back for a second term.

And the pressure on you to play ball, and to be a part of the team. Is just mainstream. And I bet that some of Mike Lee's colleagues look at him. And they go, oh, this guy is -- this guy is a pansy. You know, he thinks he's better than us.

You know, he -- for some strange reason, he doesn't want to enrich himself. There's peer pressure, you know. It is sort of like a weaponized high school in Illinois.

GLENN: Jeez. What a great term.

Weaponized high school.

That is exactly what it is. James, thank you so much.

I appreciate it. God bless.

JAMES: Absolutely, Glenn. God bless.

GLENN: James is TheBlaze media editor-at-large.

He's also the host of Zero Hour. And he is also the host of this original from BlazeTV. If you haven't seen it, I so highly recommend it to you. It premiered last night. Bought and Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich. It is available to the public for a limited time now.

YouTube.com/BlazeTV.com.

Before the premiere, I laid out, I think one of the most disgusting chalkboards that I've ever done. And it is the dirty trick that Congress, you know, becomes rich on. And you would go to jail if you did the same thing. This is -- this is what the elites really are. When I say the elites, why would they do that? Why would they -- why would they do that? Well, if you know war is coming and you can openly just buy stocks of Raytheon and Boeing and Lockheed Martin, you know exactly the numbers of what we have left, what companies make those things that we're short on.

I showed you last night, it's in this doc. It's amazing! The people who got out of airlines, Carnival Cruise Line, all of these things, before you knew all of the -- what was coming with COVID.

Before you knew, they had already taken their gains, and got out before things went down south.

Because they had already been briefed. They're not representing you. The only way this stops, is if you spread the word.

You really have to get the word out on this.

If you're not a member of TheBlaze. Please, join us.

Use the promo code Glenn originals. And you'll get $30 off at your annual subscription.

That's Glenn originals. Get $30 off the annual subscription of BlazeTV.com/Beck.

Do it now.

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.