The Glenn Beck Program - Best of The Program ｜ Guests： Gov. Greg Abbott & Todd Staples ｜ 4⧸22⧸20

00:00:00.000 Welcome to the podcast. Today we have a special coming up on the TV show with Glenn where he's going to be addressing this plan to deal with a pandemic in which you kind of see the outline of what has happened over the past month or so and what could happen in the future.

00:00:16.800 This is all something that was discussed in advance and with this going on we need to understand what the approach is going to be by the people making these decisions. A lot of scary stuff in this. It's going to be on Glenn's TV show tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central. BlazeTV.com slash Glenn is the place to go. Use the promo code Glenn and you'll save 30 bucks.

00:00:41.600 You also get access to all of the other episodes of the show as well as my show Stew Does America, Pat Gray Unleashed, all the shows you know and love at BlazeTV.

00:00:51.480 Today we have Glenn goes into some of this stuff that's going on with the World Health Organization and all of the shadiness that is involved in the way they've handled this thing.

00:01:01.120 We're really in the sort of situation where it's a great idea to stop their funding and they really can they be trusted? It seems like the answer to that is no.

00:01:10.120 We have one of my favorite authors Matt Ridley on the show who is talking about how innovation can actually get us out of this and how the National Health Service in Britain is as you'd expect screwing this up.

00:01:23.740 Greg Abbott is the governor of Texas. He was the first governor in America to say you know what? Here we go. Time to open up the economy. Here's how we're going to do it.

00:01:32.020 He comes on to talk about the plans for Texas and they apply to states all over the country who are trying to figure out how to open things up in this environment.

00:01:41.940 And another update about Chris Cuomo and CNN the way they're handling his disgraceful situation.

00:01:49.120 We'll get to that all on today's podcast.

00:01:51.620 You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck program.

00:02:07.140 This is the Glenn Beck program.

00:02:08.600 There is a couple of really, I think, good news, but I want to talk to Stu about it.

00:02:13.320 Also, our guest, Matt Ridley, coming up in about a half an hour, he's made his money on being a skeptic.

00:02:23.320 In fact, he's one of Stu's favorite people because he questions absolutely everything.

00:02:28.260 And I remember the morning when Stu came in and said, I think we should be concerned about this.

00:02:34.220 And I said, why?

00:02:34.700 And he said, because Matt Ridley just said, I question everything.

00:02:38.400 I don't think any of this stuff is real.

00:02:40.940 Coronavirus is real.

00:02:42.900 But there's some good news.

00:02:44.200 We're going to talk to him about the 55, 55, is it million?

00:02:49.840 Stu, 55 million people.

00:02:53.140 What was it out of California?

00:02:55.100 Or 55 times bigger.

00:02:57.260 More people.

00:02:57.880 Yeah, 55 times more people were infected in L.A. County than previously thought.

00:03:04.780 That's really, really good news.

00:03:06.920 And we'll tell you why coming up in just a second.

00:03:09.760 Right now, I want to talk to Todd Staples.

00:03:13.940 Todd Staples is the president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association.

00:03:18.320 He has also been appointed by our governor on the strike force to open Texas up.

00:03:23.360 And so we wanted to talk to him a little bit about oil, what that means for everybody around the country, what it means to America strategically, and what we should do, and what should states be doing, and what are the metrics they're using so we know when we're going to open up a little bit more.

00:03:42.660 Welcome to the program, Todd.

00:03:43.820 How are you?

00:03:44.840 I'm great, Glenn.

00:03:45.840 Glad to be back on your show, and thanks for what you do for our country.

00:03:50.140 Yeah, thank you very much.

00:03:51.180 All right, so let's start with oil and gas.

00:03:54.220 For the first time, America is energy independent.

00:03:58.540 We are exporting more than we import, which is fantastic news.

00:04:06.120 However, with that being said, now our oil industry is on the verge of collapse, we're told.

00:04:14.500 What do we do?

00:04:15.740 What should we be doing?

00:04:16.900 Well, producers are doing exactly what they need to be doing.

00:04:21.500 The market is reacting appropriately to these catastrophic circumstances.

00:04:27.640 Producers are limiting production.

00:04:30.160 They are looking at the markets and making certain that they are the ones that are making the decisions for their operations.

00:04:37.160 And quite frankly, we don't need government to step in and develop a North American OPEC.

00:04:44.480 That's not the answer, because producers can respond appropriately.

00:04:49.080 Okay, so you don't think Texas should tell the Texas oil producers throttle back?

00:04:55.020 That's right.

00:04:55.420 You're saying they're already doing it.

00:04:57.560 They are.

00:04:58.620 Our companies have already announced over $50 billion in capital expenditure reductions that were planned for 2020,

00:05:08.160 that because of the dynamic shock that we've had to demand because of stopping global commerce.

00:05:15.020 And, look, we know in Texas that if it costs you $8 a pound to make barbecue and you sell it for $4 a pound,

00:05:22.760 you don't need government to tell you to stop making barbecue.

00:05:25.260 You can kind of figure that out yourself.

00:05:27.320 And that's what our producers are doing.

00:05:28.860 You know, we believe, Glenn, that is the most and best way to restore our economy,

00:05:34.840 to get oil and gas back moving again and employing, you know, thousands and thousands of Texans,

00:05:40.120 is to allow operators to look at their assets, look at their contractual obligations, and to make those decisions.

00:05:46.780 Now, it's not to say that there are – these are horrific circumstances.

00:05:51.860 When you have oil that trades for negative values like we saw a couple of days ago, that's scary stuff, right?

00:06:00.920 But you don't need to react.

00:06:03.300 You need to respond appropriately, and that's what our producers are doing to get through this extremely difficult time.

00:06:11.320 Okay.

00:06:11.460 Is it true that Russia was targeting our oil and gas industry and trying to collapse us?

00:06:19.040 Well, so let's talk about the global picture for a minute.

00:06:23.460 That's a great question.

00:06:25.000 A lot of people believe that Russia and the foreign powers overproduction was an attempt to gain back market share

00:06:36.580 that U.S. energy producers have captured.

00:06:39.960 I mean, look, because of innovation and technology, the U.S. has been the powerhouse.

00:06:44.820 As you mentioned, we are at a new level of national security because of energy security.

00:06:51.360 And it is contemplated that foreign global producers wanted to regain some of that market share.

00:06:59.100 And so they planned to – because the Saudis and Russians got in a tiff, they were fighting amongst one another,

00:07:05.700 and it would certainly – their actions would negatively impact U.S. producers.

00:07:09.920 They didn't plan on COVID-19.

00:07:11.880 It is accurate, however, to say that the last time we had trouble in America, we retooled, we reinvented,

00:07:24.000 we reinvented the way we drill and the way we pull oil from the ground.

00:07:30.300 So the last time we had trouble, we reinvented while they just bailed themselves out because they're government-owned.

00:07:38.820 And is that what you're trying to avoid here, Todd?

00:07:42.220 Glenn, that's exactly right.

00:07:43.840 In the 1980s, those of us that lived through that, we remember the job losses, the drastic loss of value.

00:07:52.680 We didn't go to the government and say, bail us out.

00:07:56.060 We hunkered down.

00:07:57.980 We reinvented.

00:07:59.380 And then 2008, that occurred again in 2014, 2015 time period.

00:08:03.960 It's 70 percent drop in prices, and because of innovation, hydraulic fracturing, Texas and America is an incubator for ideas because of our free enterprise system.

00:08:15.760 And our philosophy is don't abandon that now in a time of crisis.

00:08:20.060 Let's go stronger through this, as difficult as it's going to be.

00:08:23.800 So the federal government has been saying now, they've got another stimulus package, and the Democrats said last night, this is just the beginning.

00:08:33.820 There's a lot more where that came from.

00:08:36.480 I don't know where they're getting it.

00:08:38.060 The cupboard seems to be a little bare.

00:08:39.720 But there is a problem with people paying their rent and getting food, et cetera, et cetera, and businesses staying afloat.

00:08:46.540 But the real problem is not a shortage of money.

00:08:49.200 It's a shortage of commerce.

00:08:51.340 So you're on the task force to open the country back up or to open Texas back up.

00:08:57.160 What are the metrics that you're looking at that will keep us safe but also get us back to work?

00:09:04.320 Well, we appreciate Governor Abbott's leadership and focus on getting this economy moving again.

00:09:09.600 You're exactly right.

00:09:10.600 When you normally use 100 million barrels a day in the world and that drops to 80 million barrels a day, there's nothing that can fix that except getting the economy going back again.

00:09:20.740 And so what the oil and natural gas industry is doing is looking at operational procedures that we need flexibility on in order to manage through the crisis and to restart our sector of the economy, things like permits, getting extensions from the regulatory agency.

00:09:37.660 We want to be very careful that we do not compromise safety.

00:09:41.180 We don't want to compromise environmental standards.

00:09:43.580 Our industry spends more than any other industry or the government combined on innovative procedures.

00:09:50.980 And so we're looking at things that can be done to help managers manage their assets the way they know to by looking at flexibility in government permits and regulatory programs so that we can get through this system

00:10:07.000 and get back to going as quickly as quickly as we can.

00:10:09.420 We also know that critical infrastructure, many of our field operations have been exempted, but the back office efforts, the planning and the strategy and the promotion, they have been curtailed.

00:10:21.700 We need to get them back to work, maintain social distancing, use good protocols in terms of making certain masks and gloves and all these kind of things.

00:10:33.180 But those are the types of things that we'll be recommending to the governor.

00:10:36.640 And I think he's got another press conference for Monday, and we're hopeful that we'll have some more leniency pretty soon.

00:10:44.060 Yeah, he's going to be on with us in about an hour and 15 minutes, so we'll talk to him a little bit more about that.

00:10:50.060 But the one thing that I'm concerned with the oil industry is these are the kinds of times that, you know, nations go to war in.

00:11:02.400 I'm not predicting one. I don't want one.

00:11:04.960 I think it could be the worst thing that could ever happen to us if we go to a global war.

00:11:09.920 However, when people are backed into a corner, this is what happens.

00:11:14.560 And I am very concerned that our oil industry is not damaged long term, that we would be able to be energy independent.

00:11:27.080 Is there any concern?

00:11:28.280 I mean, one of the oil CEOs just said, we're going to disappear like the coal industry.

00:11:33.520 I think that concern is valid.

00:11:35.460 I think ensuring that we have a domestic energy supply so that we can have energy independence is vital.

00:11:43.180 But let's look at the facts here.

00:11:45.700 The infrastructure that we have in the state of Texas alone, our pipelines, our ports, our refiners, our LNG export facility that's moving clean natural gas all around the world to improve air quality, is right here in Texas.

00:12:01.600 We know that our refining capacity, the ability to move product through our pipelines, the ability to access markets around the globe, our ports, our infrastructure is here.

00:12:11.700 Now, is it a very valid concern about the future of this industry?

00:12:17.420 You bet it is.

00:12:18.700 And we know that uncertainty is the enemy of recovery.

00:12:24.460 And so we need stable policies.

00:12:26.580 We need tax policy that is not punitive.

00:12:28.600 We need science-based regulatory approaches.

00:12:32.380 And we need to not react in a way to get government to put its tentacles further into this industry by mandating the level of production because the market can react much quicker than a government body can.

00:12:48.680 And let's think about it, Glenn.

00:12:50.820 How likely is it that Texas can coordinate with North Dakota and Oklahoma?

00:12:55.980 And can we get all producing states?

00:12:58.380 No.

00:12:58.920 And so will all producing states have the same regulatory schemes that Texas would have?

00:13:05.740 That would be very difficult.

00:13:06.920 And it would be more difficult to enforce and ensure compliance.

00:13:10.300 And so we think making certain the fundamentals are there where we can grow and to make certain – look, we know that monetary policy is important, right?

00:13:20.480 We know access to capital.

00:13:23.300 We need to make certain our federal government is focused on those things.

00:13:25.700 And, look, they need to be very cautious in dealing with our trading partners to make certain they're not flooding the markets.

00:13:32.560 And those are things that will all make a difference, we think.

00:13:35.100 Okay, I'm up against a network break, so I just need a quick answer on this one.

00:13:39.080 But Tuesday, they are going to – the Texas Railway Commission is going to delay their decision on what's called pro-ration, which is what you're talking about.

00:13:51.800 Do you think we're past that, government stepping in and saying we need everybody to work together and start to fall in line with the government?

00:14:01.360 I'm afraid there is incredible pressure from some on the commission for the commission to take action.

00:14:10.480 We firmly believe pro-ration would make matters worse, not better.

00:14:14.640 And our message is we need to focus on recovery, not on creating a cartel.

00:14:19.040 So the pressure is not over and the decisions haven't been made yet.

00:14:22.460 There's three commissioners, and we appreciate the fact that they have not unnecessarily intervened, and we just need to get them focused on recovery.

00:14:32.140 So we're not out of the woods, even in the Lone Star State here.

00:14:35.180 On the day after we celebrated the Battle of San Jacinto, where we won our independence, we're thinking about becoming dependent again, and that's the wrong move, in our opinion.

00:14:43.520 Todd, thank you very much.

00:14:45.740 I really appreciate your free market attitude and your aversion to government, state, local, federal, or whatever, getting involved in making free market decisions.

00:14:57.380 Keep it up.

00:14:58.280 If there's anything we could do to help you, you just let us know.

00:15:01.500 Glenn, you're the best.

00:15:02.300 Thanks a bunch for letting me be on.

00:15:03.760 You bet.

00:15:04.060 This is the best of the Glenn Beck program, and we really want to thank you for listening.

00:15:21.940 We're skipping our coronavirus update because I think we have a much more important update.

00:15:26.000 We have Governor Greg Abbott from the great state of Texas on with us.

00:15:29.220 He is the 48th governor of Texas and my favorite governor that I've lived all over the country.

00:15:36.140 I think this guy is the best I've ever seen, a native Texan, and the first guy to try to open up a state.

00:15:44.500 Governor Abbott, how are you, sir?

00:15:47.900 Doing terrific.

00:15:49.240 We are excited about getting Texas open back up, but open in a safe way so that we will continue to protect the safety of everybody

00:15:58.000 and reduce the spread of COVID-19, but we know that we can open up so many businesses in the state of Texas

00:16:04.260 and get people back to working.

00:16:06.260 We can protect both lives and livelihoods at the very same time.

00:16:11.380 So, Governor, I know you have to say those things, but not to this audience because I hate this argument that's going on right now

00:16:20.280 that if you want to open things up, you just want everybody to die because you love money.

00:16:25.020 No, there is a balance.

00:16:26.660 There is a balance.

00:16:27.500 We can't kill the, you know, it's like chemotherapy.

00:16:31.620 Us staying at home is chemotherapy.

00:16:34.500 We want it to kill the cancer, but we can't give too much of it or kill the whole body.

00:16:39.860 So, what are the tripwires that you are looking at that will allow us to open up more and more?

00:16:47.780 One of the tripwires is making sure that we continue to have a downward trend

00:16:53.540 and the number of people who test positive for COVID-19.

00:16:57.280 We hit our high water mark about 13 days ago on April the 9th.

00:17:02.360 I haven't done the math, but that's about 12 or 13 days ago.

00:17:05.060 And that was the only day in the state of Texas where we had more than 1,000 people test positive.

00:17:10.640 But I will tell you more important than that are the numbers about the number of people who are in hospitals.

00:17:17.920 And that number, even though we've had more people test positive for COVID-19,

00:17:22.260 the number of people in hospitals has remained pretty much flat.

00:17:27.200 And Texas, even though we've had too many people pass away,

00:17:32.220 Texas pretty much has the lowest rate of fatalities related to COVID-19 in the country.

00:17:38.900 And so we...

00:17:39.440 What do you think that is?

00:17:40.980 You know, it's a great question because the disparity is so wide.

00:17:47.320 We're second best in the nation for the number of...

00:17:50.320 Let me give these numbers because they are amazing.

00:17:52.820 New York, 989 deaths per million.

00:17:56.200 Over the entire U.S., 131 deaths per million.

00:18:00.340 Texas, 17 deaths per million.

00:18:04.920 Right.

00:18:05.240 And so they're in one day in New York, there were far more people who lost their lives

00:18:11.860 than we've had during this entire pandemic in the state of Texas.

00:18:16.840 And our goal is to make sure we keep it that way.

00:18:20.380 And here's something important for you and your audience to know.

00:18:24.060 And that is Texans have done a good job in slowing the spread.

00:18:27.820 But it doesn't mean that the coronavirus has departed the state of Texas.

00:18:31.940 As we begin the process of opening up, we must maintain these distancing practices that

00:18:37.900 have led to great success in the state of Texas.

00:18:40.680 Here's the deal.

00:18:41.860 If you've gone grocery shopping or whatever the case may be, you know that you've gone

00:18:46.080 to the store and you've been able to do that without spreading the coronavirus.

00:18:49.940 We want people, as they begin to go to the hair salon or as they begin to go to restaurants

00:18:56.280 or as they begin to go to a movie theater, whatever they may be doing, as we begin to

00:19:00.320 open up businesses, maintain those safe, healthy distancing practices so that we can ensure

00:19:07.400 that we can open up without spreading the coronavirus.

00:19:12.020 So if you see the numbers start to go up again, are we going backwards?

00:19:18.000 Are we going to close things again?

00:19:19.840 Here is what doctors and infectious disease experts have said, and that is when you open

00:19:28.060 back up, you do need to expect some level of increase in the infection rate.

00:19:34.220 What matters is not so much what the infection rate is.

00:19:37.540 Again, what matters the most is the number of people who are hospitalized and the number

00:19:42.180 of people who are losing their lives.

00:19:43.900 Understand this very important fact, and that is of the people who have lost their lives,

00:19:49.100 most or over 50 percent are over the age of 75.

00:19:55.240 And what we need to do is we need to protect our most vulnerable population, many of whom

00:20:00.200 are in nursing homes.

00:20:01.580 And so we have stricter standards for nursing homes to make sure that COVID-19 is not being

00:20:06.460 imported into nursing homes.

00:20:08.280 And if we can safeguard our seniors in Texas, we can do a terrific job at minimizing the loss

00:20:14.960 of life.

00:20:15.420 So I'm really concerned, Governor, about our southern border, because Mexico and many Latin 1.00

00:20:24.620 American countries are they have not hit a peak yet.

00:20:28.580 And it is I think it's Ecuador is the numbers are off the charts.

00:20:33.800 And there will be a movement, I would think, to come to America, especially Texas, where it's

00:20:40.620 it's good.

00:20:42.220 I know I would do that if if nobody was watching the border and I need to get my family to someplace

00:20:47.120 safe or get some medical care.

00:20:49.440 What are we planning on doing on the border?

00:20:51.680 They're already they're calling everybody a xenophobe if you do this.

00:20:55.380 But if there is a crisis on our border, the left is going to pound us on how we're not

00:21:04.420 letting these people in for health care.

00:21:06.340 What are we thinking?

00:21:07.140 No one has let up on watching the border.

00:21:12.300 I stay in contact with the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety that has a

00:21:17.360 high level of involvement of watching the border.

00:21:20.480 We have assigned in the Texas budget 500 Texas Department of Public Safety officers to be

00:21:26.920 involved in border security related missions.

00:21:30.260 And then on top of that, I have been in conversations with federal leaders about what's

00:21:35.240 going on on the border.

00:21:36.320 And what's happening is cross border traffic has dwindled to just a trickle right now.

00:21:43.260 It's been a long, long time since we've had as few people coming across the border as there

00:21:49.100 is right now.

00:21:49.920 That said, we will always remain vigilant, making sure that for one, the laws are applied.

00:21:55.600 But second, we want to make sure that there is not going to be any cross border importation

00:22:01.100 of COVID-19 into our border counties.

00:22:03.820 So far, it has remained good.

00:22:06.400 But as usual, we're going to stay on top of it.

00:22:09.880 Do you see the schools opening up this fall?

00:22:14.100 Are you concerned about a rebound in a new flu season?

00:22:18.500 Again, all the talk is from all the doctors that there could very well be a rebound until

00:22:28.740 there is a vaccine for this.

00:22:32.680 And what's going to happen, however, between now and the school year is there will be a

00:22:37.360 medication that will come out that people can take that will treat COVID-19.

00:22:42.540 So right now, if you have COVID-19, there's no FDA approved drug that will help you be able

00:22:47.380 to take a medication that will help you overcome COVID-19.

00:22:50.320 However, before the school year begins, that should be available in mass scale.

00:22:56.880 And we need to see how well that works, how well it diminishes it.

00:23:01.420 And again, the population that typically goes to school is at lower risk.

00:23:06.940 Our goal is to be able to open schools in the fall.

00:23:10.860 But we simply will not be able to make that call until we get closer to that time period.

00:23:14.880 How are the government's finances here in Texas?

00:23:19.900 I know these states that had these unbelievable retirement programs, they've all been crashing

00:23:26.360 for a long time.

00:23:27.360 And I think they're using this to grab some as much federal cash as they can for these

00:23:32.100 collapsing states.

00:23:33.200 How are we financially?

00:23:36.220 Well, listen, our revenues are down for the state.

00:23:39.360 Our revenues, our number one revenue is sales tax revenue, which of course is down.

00:23:45.560 And we also have revenue coming in from oil and gas severance tax, which of course is down.

00:23:52.580 And so our revenues are not as challenged as what you see in some other states like Illinois,

00:24:01.520 New Jersey, New York, et cetera, California.

00:24:04.060 And so we will not be as challenged in that regard.

00:24:08.040 And so we're going to be okay with regard to our pensions.

00:24:11.420 We need just to weather this immediate storm and then we can figure out where we are on

00:24:19.000 our finances.

00:24:19.880 As you know, as you were kind of talking about in your lead up to it, and that is there's

00:24:24.320 been a tidal wave of financial support coming in from the federal government, some of which

00:24:30.740 is going to the states, some of which is going to local governments, in part to fill holes

00:24:37.500 because of lack of revenue.

00:24:39.300 And we need to see what that will total.

00:24:41.240 As you know, we have a multi-billion dollar rainy day fund in the state of Texas that we

00:24:46.380 will be able to tap into to help address any type of budgetary shortfall.

00:24:51.520 And right now, we simply are not able to figure out the math of what our shortfall may be as

00:24:59.180 we continue to figure out what the cost and the extent to which these costs will be reimbursed

00:25:03.680 by the money coming in from Washington, D.C.

00:25:06.500 I have so many questions I know you have to run.

00:25:08.860 Let me ask one more question.

00:25:10.980 Sure.

00:25:11.320 And that is, Texas is, I mean, I moved to Texas because it's the freest state.

00:25:16.960 Uh, and I hope we're doing things that we're going to, um, you know, ease some of the restrictions

00:25:23.480 on businesses so they have an easier time opening, uh, back up.

00:25:27.260 Um, but one of the things that has really disturbed me is, for instance, I live in Dallas.

00:25:33.380 Police officers now have the authority to stop people to check that if they are essential

00:25:38.740 workers, uh, just, or they're just people driving around.

00:25:42.580 What is that?

00:25:45.080 Why can't we drive around? 0.90

00:25:47.020 Don't you think some of these restrictions are ridiculous?

00:25:51.240 Well, uh, by law, uh, the, the, when we are in a time of disaster, uh, is the, is the governor's

00:25:58.540 disaster declaration, uh, that has the, uh, supremacy power, uh, over local, uh, disaster regulations.

00:26:06.820 And, and as a result, uh, for one, uh, under my disaster declaration, you are free to drive

00:26:13.460 around wherever you want to.

00:26:15.100 For another, uh, I'm going to be announcing another declaration that opens up, uh, so many

00:26:22.420 businesses across the state of Texas.

00:26:24.640 And, uh, that will be the law in the state of Texas and every county will be required

00:26:30.100 to follow that law.

00:26:31.220 And so we will be injecting a whole lot of freedom, but I will tell you this along the

00:26:35.660 lines of what you're talking about.

00:26:36.720 And that is, uh, another thing that happens in, in disaster declarations is, uh, we, we

00:26:41.620 waive this regulation or that regulation, uh, injecting a whole lot more freedom, uh,

00:26:46.280 and ease of doing business.

00:26:48.000 And a lot of people are saying, you know what, this has worked so well, uh, we just need to

00:26:52.680 continue on even after this disaster, uh, to, to do away with those regulations, uh, and

00:26:58.360 make sure we have even more freedom in the great state of Texas.

00:27:01.140 Right.

00:27:01.320 I would, I'd love to see those and discuss those, uh, with the audience.

00:27:05.660 Not necessarily with you, but I'd love to see them because I, that's the direction

00:27:08.860 that we, uh, we should be going.

00:27:11.220 Um, governor, thank you very much.

00:27:12.980 I appreciate, uh, your time.

00:27:14.540 Appreciate all your hard work.

00:27:15.680 I know this has been a stressful time for you and everybody on the staff.

00:27:18.600 Uh, but thank you for, uh, for the job that you are doing.

00:27:21.720 Governor Greg Abbott.

00:27:22.620 Well, Greg, thank you, Glenn.

00:27:26.500 The best of the Glenn Beck program.

00:27:28.320 This is the Glenn Beck program.

00:27:36.620 One of the things that I think Donald Trump really needs to get a handle on, uh, and,

00:27:41.920 and make sure that he is, uh, out front on this is the PPP.

00:27:49.340 The, the mom and pop shops, the, the small businesses of America are the ones that provide

00:27:57.720 48% of the jobs in America.

00:28:00.820 Uh, and when you have, when you have these huge companies, which I would deem as huge,

00:28:11.140 I mean, you know, if you're a, if you're a half a billion dollar company, I think you're

00:28:15.800 big, you know, you're not the pizza place and the pizza place, uh, should have equal

00:28:21.880 footing with everybody else when it's coming in line.

00:28:25.320 In fact, I think some of these mom and pops, if we're not, if we're not helping the entrepreneur,

00:28:31.300 you will lose the next line of entrepreneurs.

00:28:34.820 And that is what makes us, uh, different.

00:28:38.380 You know, you have Fiesta restaurant group.

00:28:41.020 Um, they employ 10,000 people.

00:28:46.140 Okay.

00:28:46.780 So they got a loan of $10 million.

00:28:50.340 Now Fiesta restaurant group.

00:28:52.080 Let me look up what do you, let me see if I can jump on here and see what that is.

00:28:56.500 Uh, the Fiesta group.

00:28:58.340 No, I just, no, it just sends me to their stock and their stock is crashing.

00:29:02.140 It's like a Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana, uh, several of in that realm.

00:29:07.280 Um, okay.

00:29:09.100 So at least 75 companies that have received the aid were publicly traded and received a

00:29:16.320 combined $300 million in low interest taxpayer based loans.

00:29:20.900 Okay.

00:29:22.080 I think these are big businesses, but what are we doing for the little guys?

00:29:30.060 So there's this whole, did you see the list of the, of the public companies, the big publicly

00:29:35.660 traded companies that were helped out?

00:29:39.620 I've, I've seen, uh, bits and pieces.

00:29:41.720 Some of the companies.

00:29:42.400 Yeah.

00:29:42.700 I mean, you know, I know steak, uh, excuse me, Shake Shack was one we talked about earlier

00:29:45.880 this week and they actually were returning their loan.

00:29:48.180 They gave the money back.

00:29:49.160 Yeah.

00:29:49.640 And it's not like, look, I understand that there's differences.

00:29:52.960 If you're a franchise owner and you own one of these places, you are running a small

00:29:56.460 business.

00:29:56.880 And the concept is, you know, look, uh, I've got a location.

00:30:00.740 I've only employed, you know, 30 or 40 people in this location.

00:30:04.380 Well, I am a small business, just like another small business with that same size.

00:30:07.620 But under that, a big umbrella, it's definitely not what the average person pictured when they

00:30:12.080 talked about small business loans.

00:30:13.820 And you wonder if there's a better way to go through the larger corporation for some of

00:30:17.380 that stuff.

00:30:18.880 Right.

00:30:19.380 So if McDonald's is getting a small business loan, I have a problem with it.

00:30:23.280 But if my local guy filed with a local bank and he owns a McDonald's, that's totally

00:30:28.940 different, but McDonald's is a corporation should not be standing in line with everybody

00:30:34.620 else because McDonald's is always going to get to the front of the line, you know, so

00:30:39.600 they have an advantage when they go to the front, when, when they are employing so many

00:30:44.200 people, that's not a small business.

00:30:46.600 The local McDonald's is a small business.

00:30:49.720 And if it's locally owned, I understand that Starbucks, if Starbucks goes in and files

00:30:55.620 for, you know, a loan is a small business, excuse me, no, but my local Starbucks is a

00:31:03.640 franchise.

00:31:04.520 That guy only makes money two days out of 30.

00:31:08.560 So he's not going to be able to keep that open.

00:31:12.160 So, yeah, I want to help him keep his doors open, but I don't necessarily want to help

00:31:17.980 Starbucks.

00:31:19.340 Does that make sense?

00:31:20.660 Of course.

00:31:21.300 And that's not what anyone thought of when they talk, they talked about this thing, you

00:31:26.280 know, when it was approved, I think everyone recognizes people think of like, okay, I've

00:31:30.680 got a, a guy, you know, there was a story I heard yesterday of a guy who dumped his life

00:31:34.880 savings into opening a restaurant in January. 0.92

00:31:39.020 That sucks in a major way.

00:31:42.640 And it's like, well, that person, it's totally not their fault. 0.93

00:31:46.860 They didn't do anything wrong.

00:31:48.480 They were asked by the government to go out of business, basically.

00:31:54.320 So of course, those are the types of people that if we're going to comply with these policies

00:31:57.980 in a short term basis until we can get things restarted and understand this thing and build

00:32:01.640 up our PPE and all those other things, then it makes sense to offer them some sort of compensation

00:32:08.040 to get them through this time so they can hopefully keep their employees employed and

00:32:12.100 everything else.

00:32:12.680 But I will bet you that that guy gets nothing.

00:32:16.280 Well, yeah.

00:32:16.600 I'll bet you that guy goes in for a loan and he doesn't have 12 months of records.

00:32:20.480 Yeah.

00:32:20.720 So he doesn't have any business record to show that he would have succeeded.

00:32:25.500 So I can guarantee you that guy's just out.

00:32:28.780 And that's just one part of it.

00:32:30.620 That's not right.

00:32:30.940 You know, we know a lot of small business owners across the country that we've dealt with over

00:32:34.040 the years, and so many of them I've heard from that say basically version of the same

00:32:38.440 story, which is if you went to the bank all the time and had a relationship with a specific

00:32:44.800 banker and you did business there all the time, you got in front of the line.

00:32:49.500 If you were a business that was running on cash flow and didn't need loans from the bank

00:32:53.100 all the time, well, then you didn't have a relationship like that and you were not able

00:32:57.480 to get in line.

00:32:58.300 And a lot of those people got, you know, tossed out of the program.

00:33:01.700 Now, they did approve all this new money.

00:33:03.940 Maybe we'll see that get solved here with a second batch.

00:33:06.800 I'm never optimistic with a government program, though.

00:33:09.660 Never, never optimistic on that.

00:33:12.220 By the way, who thinks Harvard should get $9 million of federal aid?

00:33:18.340 Oh, come on. 0.87

00:33:19.340 Harvard?

00:33:21.400 Harvard.

00:33:22.140 They've got a multi...

00:33:23.320 Harvard.

00:33:23.880 They have a $30 billion endowment, right?

00:33:26.540 Or more?

00:33:27.020 No, no, no.

00:33:27.180 It's $41 billion.

00:33:29.420 No, sorry.

00:33:29.900 $41 billion in their endowment and they came and had their handout for $9 million and they

00:33:38.200 say they can't make it without it.

00:33:40.200 Oh, come on. 0.87

00:33:40.920 Excuse me?

00:33:43.860 That is like...

00:33:45.100 That's like Bill Gates coming and saying, I need a bailout.

00:33:48.460 I'm sorry.

00:33:48.980 I need a bailout.

00:33:49.860 You know, Richard Branson is looking for a bailout right now.

00:33:52.740 But at least Richard Branson is putting his island and all of his assets up as collateral.

00:33:59.380 I don't mind if you need to go get a loan and you're willing to put your assets up for

00:34:06.100 collateral and you're a billionaire.

00:34:08.860 Okay.

00:34:10.180 Well, at least you got skin in the game. 0.90

00:34:14.300 Harvard needs $10 million from us when they have $41 billion in their trust fund?

00:34:21.440 I don't think so.

00:34:22.400 I don't think so.

00:34:24.540 I don't think so.

00:34:25.280 They should be able to run that place just on the interest being generated from, you know,

00:34:30.940 the investment income being generated from that.

00:34:34.180 I mean, there's no reason for us to be ever giving them another dime in any circumstance

00:34:38.700 when you have a $43 billion endowment.

00:34:40.980 So, the Ivy League is comprised of eight elite private colleges that control endowments with

00:34:48.120 a combined value of over $140 billion.

00:34:54.020 $140 billion as of last year.

00:34:58.360 Five of the schools reported operational surpluses of over $200 million in their last financial

00:35:07.660 statement and eight of these schools are now set to receive $61 million from you, from

00:35:16.160 you.

00:35:17.220 Your kids are never going to go to Harvard.

00:35:19.460 Your kids are most likely never going to go to Princeton.

00:35:21.880 They're never going to go to these Ivy League schools.

00:35:23.780 They have $140 billion in cash reserves right now.

00:35:31.860 And they came and they made $200 million in profit that they could just put off to the

00:35:40.260 side just last year.

00:35:41.900 And they're crying poor mouth today.

00:35:44.100 Oh, my gosh.

00:35:45.560 Oh, my gosh.

00:35:46.560 I mean, is there no shame?

00:35:47.540 Well, no, there's not.

00:35:48.420 There's no shame.

00:35:49.620 There's absolutely no shame.

00:35:51.140 I should point out that my kids are smarter than everyone else's kids, so they may very

00:35:54.960 well go to Harvard or Princeton.

00:35:57.420 So I'm going to make sure America knows that.

00:36:00.200 I just want you to know, even if my kids were smart enough, I'm not sending them.

00:36:05.940 No, I'm not kidding.

00:36:06.960 I am not sending them.

00:36:08.300 Especially with this stuff going on.

00:36:09.640 I mean, you know, you see how it turds kids, you know, I don't know, foundations inside

00:36:16.180 out.

00:36:16.520 Almost all colleges seem to do that these days.

00:36:20.680 But there's no need for this, right?

00:36:23.020 And I think, like, you look at the people who are legitimately struggling.

00:36:27.340 I talked to a small business owner who said, I am looking at this program.

00:36:31.020 This program will give me about two and a half months or two months of money to pay my

00:36:37.240 employees.

00:36:37.680 However, it is not a grant unless I keep them employed for four months.

00:36:47.240 What's the difference here?

00:36:48.400 How do I make up that difference?

00:36:49.740 I can't pay them for four months because you've told me I'm not allowed to make any money.

00:36:54.220 So what am I supposed to do here?

00:36:56.520 I'm already behind.

00:36:58.040 All my reserves are out the window.

00:37:00.020 I've got a couple weeks left of cash.

00:37:01.880 What am I supposed to do?

00:37:03.160 And that is where, like, you're seeing this thing, I think, start to creep up now, Glenn,

00:37:08.060 in the media where they're doing the same thing they did with the Tea Party, which is

00:37:11.960 talk about these protesters in this.

00:37:15.900 They're all astroturf.

00:37:17.220 Here's the rich millionaire who also supports them.

00:37:19.780 He's probably behind them, too.

00:37:21.000 And all of this stuff, as if there's nobody in America who is feeling the pinch of an entire

00:37:28.120 economy being shut down and now can't run their business, can't pay their bills, can't

00:37:33.160 put food on the table.

00:37:34.080 These people are begging to get back out there.

00:37:37.540 And look, we may need to keep this closed down for a longer period of time, particularly

00:37:42.720 in certain areas where it's really bad.

00:37:45.240 Still to this day, the tri-state area is probably the top of that list in New York, Connecticut,

00:37:50.300 New Jersey.

00:37:51.480 But the bottom line is these people are real people who have real jobs and real families,

00:37:55.560 and you're not letting them go to work to earn money to support their actual kids and

00:38:00.680 spouses.

00:38:01.560 That's a massive problem.

00:38:03.000 I'm not surprised they're out there protesting.

00:38:05.900 Would anyone, would anyone have compassion for Google or Apple coming with their handout at

00:38:16.100 this point?

00:38:16.780 No.

00:38:17.000 They've got cash.

00:38:18.420 They're making money hand over fist.

00:38:20.460 Listen to this.

00:38:21.080 Brown University has $4,200,000,000 in endowment.

00:38:26.920 They just got almost $5,000,000,000 from the United States government.

00:38:30.840 Columbia has $10,950,000,000.

00:38:34.260 They just got $12,000,000 from the federal government.

00:38:37.680 Cornell has an endowment of $7,000,000,000.

00:38:40.920 They just got $12,000,000.

00:38:42.440 Dartmouth, $5,000,000,000,000 in their endowment.

00:38:47.660 They just got $3,500,000,000.

00:38:49.520 Harvard, $40,000,000,000 in their endowment.

00:38:52.900 They just got $8,500,000,000.

00:38:54.960 University of Pennsylvania, $14,000,000,000 in endowment.

00:38:59.180 They just got almost $10,000,000,000.

00:39:01.600 Princeton has $26,000,000,000.

00:39:04.520 They're getting $2,500,000,000 from the United States.

00:39:07.920 Yale University, $30,000,000,000.

00:39:11.500 They just got $7,000,000,000 from you, the taxpayer.

00:39:16.220 For what?

00:39:17.300 None of these people ever pay taxes.

00:39:20.360 They don't pay taxes.

00:39:22.220 They don't play by the same rules.

00:39:24.720 This is despicable what is happening.

00:39:28.140 Donald Trump needs to hold these corporations and these kinds of institutions accountable.

00:39:35.340 They should not get a single dime, period.

The Glenn Beck Program - April 22, 2020

Best of The Program ｜ Guests： Gov. Greg Abbott & Todd Staples ｜ 4⧸22⧸20

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