How's That Economic Equality Working Out, Obama?




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• How's that economic equality working out, Obama?

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It's going to be a fascinating conversation because -- and this isn't to be critical of the outgoing president, but we do know that Barack Obama's policies -- this is about Americanism. It has nothing to do with Republican/Democrat. This is just about what's best for us as a nation. And the American voters vote largely with their wallets. There are people that are card-carrying Democrats that will vote Republican. They are not party loyalists, and vice-versa. Based on what they believe is going to be best for them in the next four years, when they look at the policies of a president.

Because we're looking at right now consumer confidence at a 15-year high. Now, Donald Trump taking all the credit in the world for that, which maybe to some degree he should because I think it's also about more -- it is more about the fact that the economic policies of this administration are on their way out.


What the Obama administration wanted to accomplish largely economically, has been an abysmal failure, whether it's Obamacare or -- especially Obamacare. With what it's going to cost the American people.




So the American people vote with their wallet. They don't vote by race or gender or sexual orientation. There are social issues that carry people, especially in a primary process. I am adamantly and proudly pro-life. I'll defend that position on any level with anyone. And when I look at candidates. I want candidates that are pro-life. That to me can be a deal breaker in voting for somebody.


And then also a conversation -- I mentioned my admiration for Mike Rowe and somebody I hope someday to be able to have a conversation with. I'm not -- I don't get starstruck. It's not about meeting a star and getting a picture with them. I'd love to have a conversation with Mike Rowe about his career path and why he has decided and he has made a great career out of speaking for the working man, you know, with the shows like The Deadliest Catch, which is one of my favorite shows on television where you are admiring the hard work and the dangerous things that people do to make a living and how they can make a really good living, but work in ways that many people couldn't even fathom, couldn't even tolerate, and yet there are people that do this every single day of their lives for a living and kind of honoring them and the way they do that and exposing the great work. And it shows and the American people love it. Because it's one of the most popular shows on television and has been for a long time. And the spin-off shows that have come from that. And so I would love to be able to talk with him about that.

But he was asked about the job market in America and what our problems are. He gave a great answer. I think in this hour, it would be a great time to discuss where we should be and where we can be going in this country, with -- there's a class of people. There is a working class of people that could be doing great things and making a great living, given an opportunity.

So that will discuss. Some of the headlines if you're kind of jumping back in the car, getting back in the real world from vacation time. The Israelis say they've got ironclad proof that the US was behind the UN resolution that made the new West Bank settlements illegal in the eyes of the UN. The US abstained from that vote, which is ridiculous on its face. But the Israelis believe they have proof that America was behind the resolution.

If that's true, can you imagine what that does to US/Israeli relations? We talk so much in this country about propaganda. Everything he do -- we can't -- we can't talk about limiting or more scrutiny on refugees because that's being used as a recruiting tool by our enemy. We can't do these things -- we're not going to say, fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, because by using that phrase, it emboldens our enemies. And they use it as propaganda to recruit against us. And everything is about appearance.



John Kerry -- in the last hour we talked about this -- giving his final speech in the Middle East, with a backdrop of what's happening in Israel. I don't know what he could possibly say. What has he accomplished in the Middle East? The only thing he has done is the nuclear deal with the Iranians, that has the rest of our allies in the region terrified and angry. What could he possibly have to say in this speech?

Actress Carrie Fisher dies. Singer George Michael dies. Big stories all over the internet and Twitter. I'm not -- I'm going to get a lot of people angry. I'm not a big Star Wars fan. So I wasn't struck by the death of Carrie Fisher like a lot of people were. You know, I'm a Star Wars generation. But I'm not a big fan of the movie. So it's not that big of a deal to me in the celebrity of things. George Michael passing. You know, again, why do people get so enamored with celebrities? That's just part of life, and that's how it is. When people of -- you know, notable people pass away, these things happen. So it doesn't mean I'm not sad for her family or his family, it's just, it's not as big a deal to me as it has been to a lot of others.

There was a China aircraft carrier that made its way into the Pacific. They were doing some maneuvers. Again, flexing their muscle in that region of the world. President Obama is working on ways, whether it's through economic sanctions or political sanctions, against the Russians for tampering our elections.

Just some of the headlines of what's been going on in the world. This hour, we talk about economic inequality in America, which was supposed to be fixed under this president and his tax plan and his redistribution of wealth ideas and taxing the rich to help the poor, which never has worked before. It certainly isn't working right now. And why, if that was the solution to the problem, is the consumer confidence higher now than it's been in 15 years?

I've got two answers to that question, which we'll get to here in just a few moments. Again, if you want to reach out to me via social media, on Twitter, I'm @BroomheadShow. On Instagram, MikeBroomhead, all one word. And Facebook: The Mike Broomhead Fan Page on Facebook. Would love to interact with you on all those social media platforms. I'll be back here in a few moments to talk about the economy of the United States. My name is Mike Broomhead. And this is the Glenn Beck Program.


MIKE: So they say consumer confidence is at a 15-year high. But the inequality between the haves and the have-nots in America is getting wider. The gap between the two. The rich and the poor. The middle class is shrinking. I believe all of that's true. There's two answers to both of these issues: One on the consumer confidence side of things, I believe the policy changes that are coming -- with any president coming in -- I'm not taking anything away from what Donald Trump is doing about job creation and the comments he's made about jobs coming here and saving jobs and, you know, 15 billion-dollar investment from foreign companies and other companies that are staying here now. I'm not taking away anything.


There's a word for any business owner of any size: It's called compliance. Ask a business owner -- you want to see someone perplexed that owns a business. You ask them which would help your company be more profitable? Lower taxes or less regulation? I guarantee you it's not as easy as you would think. The average person would say, "Lower my taxes. Let me keep more of my profits." Obviously that makes a lot of sense for businesses.

But what they spend on compliance. What they spend on just trying to make sure they can -- in the construction business, MSDS, which is material safety data sheets. You've got to keep a log of the things that you have on a job site that would be dangerous in case there were a fire so the fire department has them. You could have a small job site. You know what it's like for compliance?



And you're talking about forests where they can't go in and fight the fires. They can't get equipment in to fight those fires, because EPA regulations say you can't thin the forest. You're going to damage the habitat for the wildlife.


Compliance. So the inequality keeps getting uglier according to this CNN story. The rich and money-making machines. Today, the mega wealthy, the top one percent, earn an average of $1.3 million a year. More than three times as much in the '80s. They only made 428,000 on average in the 1980s. But they are saying now that the bottom 50 percent of American population, an average of $16,000 in pretax income in 1980 hasn't changed much.

If you want an increase -- and I'm in favor of people making more money in this country. I think that it's the lifeblood. I think wealthy business owners love it when they have wealthy people living around them. If you own a restaurant, you want people with the discretionary income to eat at your restaurant. Come into your store. If you sell furniture, you want to sell high-end furniture. You want people to be able to afford new furniture in their homes. New cars.

It's ridiculous to think that the average American business owner doesn't want to pay their employees. But a business owner has the responsibility -- they are tied to the bottom line. Oh, incidentally, the employees get paid first.

Business owners don't get a check until the employees get a check. You've heard the old clichés: You know, I've signed both sides of the check, front and back. I've been the same thing. I've been a small business owner. It's not easy, and it keeps you up at nights. You want what's best for your employees, but you are a slave to the bottom line.

At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the month, at the end of the year, you have got to make sure that bottom line is covered, that your employees are paid, you're paying your vendors, you're paying your taxes, you're meeting the compliance issues that the federal and the state and local governments have.


We could talk about Obamacare and how it's terrifying everybody, even the people that believed in it. Now, the Republicans are talked about something called universal access, which I think will be a great thing. But solving a problem by deregulation, first of all, by inviting more people to the party is a much better way of doing things. Shared risk. It's just like automobile insurance.

And I always -- the detractors always say, it's not a perfect analogy. Nothing is a perfect analogy.

But in this regard, it works. If you own a car that's 15 or 20 years old and it's not worth a whole lot of money, you have basic coverage, which in some places is called PIP and liability. Personal injury protection and liability insurance. So if you damage somebody else's vehicle, it's covered by your insurance. If you injure other people in an accident, their medical bills are covered by your insurance.

Your car is not covered. You don't have theft. You don't have fire. You don't have vandalism. You don't have glass coverage. Because the car is old and not worth anything. So you pay a minimal amount to make sure you're covered, if you damage somebody else's property or you hurt somebody in an accident.

If not, you've gotten to be my age and you've accumulated some stuff and you drive a newer vehicle. You not only have full coverage, but you jack your limits. You jack your liability on those things. You know, I have 100,000, 300,000 coverage on my vehicle, if I hurt somebody. God forbid. Or damage somebody else's vehicle.

Full glass coverage. I have all towing. I have everything else. I pay a lot of money for insurance because I want to be covered. But the full gamut is there. And there's a ton of insurance companies out there, and they share the risk with bad drivers that have tickets or accidents or claims. Shared risk by the insurance companies. Lower premiums because they're fighting for people's businesses. You can do the same thing for health insurance. But aside from the solution of Obamacare is the problem with Obamacare, what it's going to do with the discretionary income of Americans. Consumer confidence is up because that's one of the things that's going to change.


If the Congress is able to work with the president and they come up with a good billion that is what they would call budget neutral or fiscally neutral, where it's not going to cost more in taxes, where it's actually going to bring more tax dollars in. If they're able to pull that off, you will see consumer confidence rise. You'll see wages rise.

We won't need a falsely inflated 15-dollar an hour minimum wage. By the way, in the Pacific Northwest, where the $15 an hour minimum wage has been implemented in those cities. Have you seen what they're going to do there? They're going to automate fast food restaurants. You'll now go to a kiosk to place your order. Somebody will cook it and bring it to you. All those front-end jobs where they take your order, gone.

There's your $15 an hour minimum wage fallout. They're going to eliminate the jobs. So we don't need to falsely inflate wages. There will be jobs available.

So I don't know why we don't see that. It's not about rich versus poor. It really should never be. We've turned it into that.

In the next segment, Mike Rowe was talking about American job markets and why it's suffering in some industries and what he believes is the cause of the problem. And I think his answer was a brilliant one. And it's something I have agreed with, but I haven't been able to articulate it as well as Mike Rowe has in this story. And, by the way, I got this from If you want to go over to, you can see this story and Mike Rowe's answer to the economy.

We'll talk about this in a few moments. Because there is a segment of our society that I believe -- I've come from it, that is the backbone of the American economy. And it's underserved. And a way we can serve this community where they can really be a part of a thriving economy. And this is the way to bolster the middle class. I believe the answer is there. We'll talk about that here in the next segment of the show. I'm Mike Broomhead. This is the Glenn Beck Program.


MIKE: My name is Mike Broomhead. I'm in for Glenn today and tomorrow. Thanks for joining me. I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. On Twitter, I'm @BroomheadShow. I love the interaction with people so far. Only one negative -- one hater. But I even -- I even like the disagreement. So @BroomheadShow on Twitter. The Mike Broomhead Show Fan Page on Facebook.

Or if you're an Instagram user and you want to see some of my blurry pictures that I'm famous for, MikeBroomhead, all one word on Instagram is where you can find me there as well.

I mentioned earlier -- we were talking economy mostly this hour and what's happening in America with consumer confidence being higher. And what we always are talking about is the disparity, the haves and the have-nots. And it's turned into politics in America. And it never should be that way.

You know, I talked about the Communist Manifesto on the show way too much, about the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and the emiseration of the proletariat, where if people don't know how bad they have it, let's go ahead and tell them how bad they have it. And it's almost the platform for the Democrat Party as of late. And it shouldn't be that way, nor was it intended to be that way. And we can lament how the two parties have gone in different directions and left a lot of people behind collectively.

But when you look at America, most people that I know don't want anything handed to them. They want to earn everything they own. And when you look at a government that largely is saying we're going to give free college and we're going to give you this and we're going to give you that, well, nothing is free, someone is paying for it.

And if you think you're going to get free college when you're 18 to 22 and not pay for everybody else's college from when you're 22 to 62, you're crazy. That's what's going to happen.

But Mike Rowe was being asked about the American job market. And it's a story I got from

And his show, Dirty Jobs, where he goes around the country at some of the hardest working jobs that there are and difficult and just backbreaking disgusting -- and sometimes -- work. And he said along the way he would see "help wanted" signs. He wanted to know what was going on. He was talking with Tucker Carlson.

And one of the reasons he gives is he said maybe one of the barriers are the people guiding them in schools at the secondary level. Liberal arts and poetry majors. He said, "Not that there's anything wrong with that, but they don't see the dignity in welding maybe. Is that part of the problem? Because in North Dakota, there's a young man who is a welder who is now making $140,000 a year as a welder."

He said, "We're also spoiled in that wonderful way that any advance in society becomes when they flip the switch and they don't pause for a second and say, "Holy crap, I can't believe the lights came on again." We are not properly gobsmacked by the reality of the civilization we live in. Consequently, the people who are on the front lines of those jobs are by and large transparent. In fact, he said, when you pay attention to big chunks of people who are typically ignored, interesting things happen.

So I've mentioned, I think he's one of the most interesting people because he's tapped into something that I have believed for a long time. And he's done it in a way that I could never do. He's articulated the working man, not as a hero, but as an example.

And it's just how things are. In our society, the underserved population is the category I fit into. Maybe that's why I feel so much -- so passionately about this.



Within two months, I saw it as my career path at 18 years old. And it served me to the point where I was management, then I was -- I had my own company with a partner. Then I had my own company.

And I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I saw a way to use my hands and my brain and make a living for myself and my family. Trade schools should be a huge focus for the American government. The NEA and secondary education and college, I wish -- my biggest regret, by the way -- I know this is going to be contradictory. My biggest regret in life now is that I don't have a college degree. What I wouldn't do for an American history degree.

And I know I can go back to school. But that's my regret, that I didn't have the discipline to do the coursework. I'll put my knowledge of American history up with a history major in many regards because I'm self-educated. But I didn't have the discipline to do the coursework to get the certificate and the diploma. And I wish I had.

But Mike Rowe is tapping into something in our society that's largely underserved. And that is, we see, you know, the Carrie Fisher's of the world. Nothing wrong with idolizing somebody that was in such an iconic movie series like Star Wars.


Small business owners -- not the large business owners that we hear so much about. But the small business owners that are employing ten and 20 people, or even less than that.

And when you look at that, he's right. They're largely transparent. When you think about, you know, when the lights believe on -- which really struck home with me because I was an electrical contractor. When, you know, there are people -- the building that I'm in right now in Phoenix, Arizona, is being remodeled. They're remodeling our offices.

And so I'm ducking my head around on the construction side of what's going on because I miss it. I miss the feeling that happens at the end of the day when you look at -- for the electricians out there, when you look at a panel that you're wiring or you're running conduit somewhere and you see it, and you think you can see what your hands have created, at the end of the day. I miss that, as much as I love what I do right now.

But there's an underserved part of our population that will drive this economy in the years to come. When Donald Trump went into those states that he flipped, when he was in Florida and he was -- you know, especially when he was in Pennsylvania and he was in Michigan and he was in Wisconsin, when he was telling people, "We're going to keep these factories open. We're going to get the ones that are closed reopened. We're going to give you your jobs back." People weren't looking for a handout. People weren't looking for a minimum wage increase. They were looking for a job. They want their career back.

I know what it's like to have a 5-gallon bucket of tools in the back of a pickup truck and go and do a day's work for somebody and be proud of what you've done.

It's funny. Now that I'm doing what I do, I speak at a lot of events. Or I'm invited to attend a lot of events in ballrooms at beautiful resorts here in Arizona, all over the place. You know what's funny, is when I walk into these places now as a guest, I walk past the electrical work I did on the lights outside or the fountain that I worked on. It makes me laugh to myself. I'm the same person I was then, except now I'm in a suit and a tie walking into the ballroom, instead of a bucket of tools in the back entrance, fixing something so you never see me.

So the CNN story we talked about at the beginning of the hour and the disparity between the have and the have-nots in this country. It's not about limiting what the haves get. We should really be happy that the wealthy in this country have become wealthier, that the successful people have learned how to become even more successful than they ever dreamed of. What are we doing to serve -- and what I mean by serve is not hand anybody that's not making a decent living money or a job.

What are we doing to create an opportunity?

You take somebody that's in the fast food industry, that's working away or in retail, that's working away -- they're working very hard.

But give them an opportunity at a career, whether it's a trade like I was in. Whether you're an electrician, plumber, HVAC, or a welder, and show them the honor and dignity in a job like that. But not just honor and dignity, but a nice living.

You can provide for your family and be proud of the work you do. I think that's Americanism. The wealthy getting wealthier. Good for them. I'm happy -- everybody wants to work for someone that's wealthy. I know I do. I want my check to cash on Friday. I don't ever want to worry that my paycheck is going to bounce. So I don't care how wealthy my boss is.

But when I work hard, Christmas bonus, pay raises, paid vacation, benefit package, and be able to do a job that my family respects, that I can look at myself in the mirror. I think what Americanism is. And Mike Rowe -- nobody paints that picture better than Mike Rowe has. He's done it with dirty jobs. He's done it -- you know, the deadliest catch shows. And the spin-offs from that have just been -- I love that show.

That's the underserved part of our society. The young men and women in high school right now that may not be going to college. And if they do, they're going to get a business degree and barely squeak by and then wonder why they're saddled with student loans. And what did that degree do for them? They could go to a trade school. They could learn a skill that in a couple of years, they are making a nice living, and they're not saddled with such a student loan debt. And they're out contributing to society. And they've got careers that they can lean on, as opposed to just a job.

Not everybody has to be a superstar or a millionaire. There's a lot of people that are happy making a really nice comfortable living, knowing they -- proud they can feed their families on their own without assistance from the government.

So more on this I think before we finish up the hour. Social media users, if you want to reach out, I'd love to hear -- if you're part of that working class I'm talking about, I'd love to hear your story. On Twitter, I'm @BroomheadShow. The Mike Broomhead Show, Facebook page. If you want to reach out to me there. I'd love to hear your story. It really is a great story.



Well, what do you think is happening in California? We'll talk specifically about that from another story in the next hour. So we'll do all that here in a few minutes. Close out this one, and then jump into hour number three in a few minutes. I'm Mike Broomhead. And this is the Glenn Beck Program.


MIKE: All right. Mike Broomhead in for Glenn Beck today and tomorrow. Before we get into the next hour where we're going to talk about the California -- which have caused gun sales to skyrocket. It's a story. If you want to go and read up on it at, before we get to it in the next hour.


I'm very fortunate. I'm blessed. You know, I was raised by a single mom. I've mentioned this before. And we were raised with very little. So I've been on that side of it. And I was happy, although I wished I had had more.

Now I'm in a career. I've got more than I ever dreamed I would have. I'm no less or more happy because of the things I've accumulated. It's just different.

Success for me was always the ability to take care of myself. And I think for most Americans, that's what we want. We don't want to be cared for. We don't want -- and I'm not -- when people are in need, it should be available to them. We should be a benevolent society. And we are.


Keeping jobs here -- you want to know why people are largely becoming more optimistic about a Trump presidency, it's because he is saying he is going to keep jobs here. And there is proof now that those things are beginning to happen.

Will we stop with the class warfare? Will we stop with the rich versus poor? The haves versus the have-nots? We've got to stop.

There are greedy poor people, and there are greedy rich people. There are kind and giving poor people, and there are kind and giving wealthy people. It's human nature on both sides. And your economic status has nothing to do with what kind of person you are. And political parties have divided haves and have-nots for political purposes way too long.


And the nice thing about these things is as the job market becomes more competitive, if you don't believe your boss is paying you what your job is worth, there is going to be more opportunity out there for you, when other businesses are opening or expanding. There will be -- that's how things work.

Falsely inflating the minimum wage will do nothing for the economy. The poor working class person that's working at minimum wage level, if it goes up to $15 an hour, their lifestyle does not change because the basics of keeping them sustained will also increase in cost, where their lifestyle won't change. And a wealthy person will eat the increase in the costs that go with an increased minimum wage. What's left of the middle class? Who pays the price?

You know, if restaurant food goes up by, you know, 10 percent, I'm in a place right now financially, I can eat the 10 percent. I'm still going to the restaurant. I may complain about it, but I'm still going. Middle class family, maybe not.

We should be thinking about what's best, instead of what's going to hammer the people we don't like. We got to stop with the class warfare. I just think it's damaging to us as people. And it's damaging to our economy as well.

So I am hopefully optimistic going into next year. And the inauguration. We'll see if economically any of these things continue to go in that direction.

Coming up in the next hour, California's gun sales are skyrocketing right now because the changes in their gun laws that are getting ready to go into effect.

Sound familiar? Sounds like the last eight years nationally to me. That coming up in the next hour. My name is Mike Broomhead. I'm in for Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck Program.





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